Final Fantasy 7 Remake Enemy Skill Materia locations and abilities explained

In the spirit of the Blue Mage job class common to some Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy VII Remake features the Enemy Skill Materia from the original game that allows the player to learn various abilities used by enemies. A useful Command Materia for just about any party member, the Enemy Skill Materia is a quest in itself that's totally worth the player's time.

When players reach Chapter 14 of FF7 Remake, they can reconnect with Chadley, the Shinra intern who doles out VR missions and intel assignments so he can develop mew Materia for you. When you speak to him this time around, he'll have new missions, including one rewarding the player with the Enemy Skill Command Materia.

In the original Final Fantasy VII, the Materia could nab you 20 different skills. FF7 Remake, however, only features four skills. Each ability can become a helpful boon to your arsenal, but first, you need to know how to get the Materia and acquire the skills.

Where to get the Enemy Skill Materia in FF7 Remake

To get the Materia, chat up Chadley once you reach Chapter 14. Chadley will have a few new Intel missions for you to complete. If you're having trouble finding Chadley, he should be stationed within the Sector 5 Slums.

One of the new missions will ask you to use your Assess ability on 30 different foes. Once you've done that, return to Chadley to purchase the Enemy Skill Materia. If you've been using Assess on foes all along, your efforts will count retroactively, meaning you won't have to complete any additional work to obtain the skill.

How to use the Enemy Skill Materia in FF7 Remake

Chadley provides you the Enemy Skill Materia with little explanation as to how it works (per usual). To acquire an enemy skill, all you need to do is equip the Materia to a character and then allow that character to be hit by the skill. A message listing the specific skill will pop up in red above an enemy's head before they're about to use it, so there's a brief window during which you can rush into the blast zone.

If you're hit, a "Learned" notification will flash across the screen. When you're trying to steal a skill, make sure you're in control of the character using the Materia, otherwise, you might miss out.

To make sure a foe you're facing is one that has a skill you can steal, rely on the Assess ability. If you can steal an ability from them, there will be green lettering underneath their main description stating that you can. Once stolen, the ability will appear in the standard ability section, but only for the character that has the Enemy Skill Materia equipped.

What FF7 Remake abilities can you acquire with Enemy Skill Materia?

1. Spirit Siphon Skill Location

Spirit Siphon will let you drain HP from all nearby enemies for the cost of two ATB charges.

You can obtain it by fighting Phantoms in the Chapter 14 Side Quest called "Missing Children." Let them use the ability Essence Drain on you to acquire the ability.

2. Algid Aura Skill Location

Algid Aura places an ice elemental effect on the user's weapon, overriding any previously equipped Elemental Materia, so the ability can also be useful in lieu of Elemental Materia. It costs one ATB to activate.

You can obtain it by fighting a Cerulean Drake and allowing them to hit you with the ability "Icy Aura." Cerulean Drakes can be found in "The Climb," Chapter 15's main mission on the third floor of Distillation Tower 2.

3. Self-Destruct Skill Location

As the name implies, Self-Destruct allows you to blow yourself up, doing damage to all surrounding foes at the expense of the user's life. It costs two ATB to activate and will leave the user incapacitated. You can learn it from the foes Varghidpolis and Bomb by being hit by their Apoptosis ability.

You can encounter Bomb within the Corneo Colosseum Challenge "Two-Person Team vs. Team Payback" that's available in Chapter 14. A Bomb will appear in Round 4 alongside a Cerulean Drake (two for the price of one!). Various Varghidpolis can also be found throughout your ascent of the Shinra Building in Chapters 15 through 17.

You can also obtain the Self-Destruct ability by letting a Smogger use "Self-Destruct" on you. A Smogger can be found by using the Shinra Combat Simulator in Shinra HQ during either Chapter 16 or 17. They're also located in the mission "Three-Person Team vs. Team Ragbag" and encountered in Round 4. So there are plenty of options for this one.

4. Bad Breath Skill Location

Bad Breath allows you to inflict Poison, Silence, and Sleep on a foe and costs two ATB to activate.

Unlike the other three skills, which may all be obtained during your initial playthrough, Bad Breath is only available on Hard Mode, which isn't unlocked until after beating the game. Luckily, you can just head back to the needed section via chapter select, another post-game feature.

You can learn Bad Breath by allowing the secret boss, Malboro, to use it on you. They're located in the Shinra Combat Simulator in Shinra HQ during either Chapter 16 or 17. They'll be the last fight in the mission "Three-Person Team vs. Monsters of Legend." You can only fight them on Hard Mode, so make sure you're prepared.

With that out of the way, you've obtained all Enemy Skills available. The trophy "Master of Mimicry" should trigger for you as well.

It's possible that you'll find most of the foes listed here in other locations as you play, the ones we mentioned are only their most consistent locations, ensuring an easy time in gaining all the skills.

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