How to Farm AP Fast in Final Fantasy VII Remake

Fast AP farming in Final Fantasy VII Remake means earning ability points for materia by repeating battles with a strong party and AP-boosting equipment. You will need access to repeatable combat, at least one useful weapon or accessory, and enough game progress to reach the area that suits your level.

What You’ll Need

• The base game and a party able to clear battles consistently. The most efficient options depend on your chapter and whether you have finished the story.
• Materia you want to level, equipped in linked or unlinked slots as appropriate. Materia gains AP only while equipped on a character who takes part in battle.
• The AP Up materia, if available. Link it to the materia you are training in a connected pair of slots; AP Up doubles the AP earned by that linked materia.
• For post-story farming, access to Chapter Select and the Shinra Combat Simulator in Chapter 17. Completing the game unlocks Hard mode and the manuscript-related challenges, but Hard mode is not required just to earn AP.

Step-by-Step

1. Choose the materia before choosing the route. Equip the materia you want to grow, then check its current AP and next rank in the Materia menu. Put your highest-priority materia in active party members’ slots. If a materia is not equipped, it earns no AP. Avoid removing it between battles if you want to keep the setup simple.
2. Link AP Up to a target. Put AP Up in one slot of a linked pair and the desired materia in the other. AP Up does not boost every materia in your inventory, and it does not make an unlinked pairing work. If you have more than one AP Up, check that each one is connected to a materia you are actively training. AP Up itself can also gain AP.
3. If you are still progressing through the story, farm a repeatable nearby encounter. Use a chapter with a bench, a short walk to enemies, and a nearby route back to the battle. Chapter 16’s parking-garage enemies are a commonly used late-game option: clear the enemies, return to the area or checkpoint that resets them, and fight again. Exact enemy groups and reset points can depend on your chapter progress, so test the loop once before settling in.
4. After finishing the story, use Chapter Select to reach Chapter 17. Select the chapter, play until you can access the Shinra Combat Simulator, and choose a challenge your party can finish quickly and reliably. The simulator is convenient because you can repeat battles without traversing a large area. Higher difficulty is not automatically faster: compare clear time and failure risk, not just the displayed AP reward.
5. Clear the whole challenge, then repeat it. AP is awarded for enemies defeated, so finish every wave rather than leaving or restarting early. Once the battle ends, check the results and materia ranks. Re-enter the same challenge if it remains efficient; switch to another one if a particular wave is slowing you down.
6. Use a routine that reduces downtime. Set a party and materia loadout before starting. Use area attacks on grouped enemies, exploit weaknesses where practical, and avoid spending time on optional actions that do not speed up kills. Heal between runs with the simulator’s available recovery or a nearby bench, rather than risking a failed challenge.
7. Rotate materia after a rank-up. When a materia reaches its desired rank, replace it with another target so future AP is not wasted on a finished upgrade. Recheck linked slots after swapping: AP Up must still be paired with the new target. Repeat until the important materia is complete.

Common Mistakes

• Expecting AP Up to boost the entire loadout: it applies to the materia linked directly to it, not all equipped materia.
• Farming with materia in reserve slots: only equipped materia receive AP. Check each active character’s weapon and armor slots.
• Choosing a challenge that is too difficult: a long, risky fight can produce less AP per minute than an easier repeatable battle.
• Leaving before the fight is complete: AP comes from enemies defeated. Abandoning or restarting can throw away the value of the run.
• Assuming every version has the same content: Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade have different additional content. Do not assume a DLC combat challenge is available in the base game.
• Forgetting that AP and experience are different: AP levels materia, while character experience levels characters. A route that is good for one is not necessarily the best for the other.

Tips

• Prioritize materia with useful upgrades or abilities you expect to use, rather than leveling everything at once.
• Use the Materia menu between runs to confirm AP progress and rank changes; the battle results screen may not make every target’s progress obvious.
• Keep one reliable healing option and a combat setup you can execute quickly. Consistent clears usually beat a theoretically higher reward that often fails.
• If you are early in the game, simply keep target materia equipped during normal battles. You can gain useful AP without stopping story progress to grind.
• For a fair comparison, time several complete runs, including loading and setup, then compare total AP gained. A single unusually fast run can be misleading.

Troubleshooting

AP is not increasing: check that the materia is equipped on an active party member, that the battle was completed, and that the relevant enemy was defeated. Confirm the materia has not already reached its current maximum rank.

AP Up is not doubling the target’s progress: open the equipment screen and verify that AP Up and the target occupy the two slots of the same linked pair. A slot pair that is not connected cannot pass the effect. Also check that you are looking at the linked target, not another materia of the same type.

The enemies do not return: leave the combat area far enough to trigger a reset, use a nearby checkpoint or chapter transition where available, or select the encounter again through the simulator. If the route depends on story progress, advance the chapter before trying it again.

The simulator challenge is taking too long: choose a lower or shorter challenge, adjust your party’s materia and equipment, and focus on enemy weaknesses. The best farm is the one you can clear repeatedly without restarting.

You cannot access the recommended post-game route: finish the main story to unlock Chapter Select, then load Chapter 17 and progress until the simulator is available. Until then, farm a repeatable encounter in your current chapter or let equipped materia gain AP naturally.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest AP farm in Final Fantasy VII Remake?
After the story, repeat a Shinra Combat Simulator challenge in Chapter 17 that your party can clear quickly. The best choice depends on your build and clear time.

Does AP Up double all materia AP?
No. AP Up doubles AP for the materia linked to it in a connected slot pair. It does not affect every equipped materia.

Can I farm AP before finishing the game?
Yes. Equipped materia earns AP from regular battles. Repeat nearby encounters if you want to grind, but the post-game simulator is a convenient repeatable option.

Does Hard mode give more AP?
Hard mode is not necessary for AP farming. Choose a battle based on reliable AP gain and time; difficulty alone does not guarantee a faster farm.

Do materia earn AP when they are not equipped?
No. Equip them in a party member’s weapon or armor slots before battle. Keep the character in the active party for the fight.

Does this method work in Intergrade?
Yes, the core AP system and Chapter 17 simulator approach apply. Intergrade adds content, but you do not need its additional episode to use the base game’s AP farming methods.

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