There are seven playable characters in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and they all have very different play styles which are better for certain combat situations. Barret excels at ranged combat and has tanking capabilities if used correctly. On this page, we’ll provide you with the necessary steps to better utilize him.

View Full-size

Barret’s Weapons can pack a punch,

How to Play as Barret - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth¶

Barret is another ranged character like Aerith and Yuffie, but he has a lot more HP (Health) than the others so you’ll want to use him to take the aggro off your allies by using skills like Lifesaver. The best way to utilize Barret from a DPS standpoint is to have him continuously use Maximum Fury until your opponent is pressured and then follow up with Focused Shot to stagger them. You can then return to using Maximum Fury while getting in the odd Overcharge to deal the most amount of damage as possible.

Overcharge is where Barret shines, as it deals tons of damage and massively increases the pressure gauge. We recommend that you use it while having the Bonus Round ability active as it’ll further increase the damage output. Unfortunately, overcharge doesn’t have the quickest of recharge times but you can improve it by equipping the Overload Overcharge Weapon Skill.

Best Abilities For Barret¶

You will find a list of what we consider to be Barret’s best abilities in the table below, which are learned via obtaining new weapons.

Ability	Description
Steelskin	Temporarily reduce damage taken and how easily you are interrupted.
Lifesaver	Temporally increase your HP and take damage intended for others members.
Focused Shot	Consume all ATB charges to unleash a concentrated burst of energy. Significantly increases stagger
Maximum Fury	Consume all ATB charges to fire a long stream of bullets at an enemy.

Steelskin and Lifesaver¶

Barret is essentially the tank of the team, so you’ll want to always have Lifesaver active as it’ll increase his HP (Health) and cause him to take any damage which was intended for your allies. This will become extremely useful when you’re tackling the harder levels of the Combat Simulation later in the game. Steelskin is another skill which you’ll want to have active alongside it as it’ll decrease the damage he’ll take which reduces the risk of him dying.

Focused Shot and Maximum Fury¶

Focused Shot and Maximum Fury are some of the more harder hitting skills in Barret’s arsenal, but they excel in very different scenarios. Maximum Fury is best used when you’re trying to deal damage to multiple enemies at once whereas Focused Shot is a skill you’ll only want to use when your opponent is pressured. Additionally, both of these attacks can deal extra damage if you use them with two ATB Charges.

View Full-size

1

2

(1 of 2) Barret has four different synergy abilities.

View Full-size

View Full-size

Barret has four different synergy abilities. (left), Barret has seven weapons which all excel at different things. (right)

Barret’s Weapons and What Abilities They Grant¶

You can find seven weapons for Barret throughout the game and a lot of these provide useful skills which will make the harder battles easier. If you want to deal more magic based damage with Barret then you’ll want the Fafnir Rifle as it has the highest magic stat out of all the available weapons. Alternatively, if you want to deal more physical based damage then you’ll want to go with the Hi-Caliber Rifle.

Weapon	Ability	Chapter	Location
Gatling Gun	Focused Shot	Chapter 2	Initial Equip
Hi-Caliber Rifle	Bonus Round	Chapter 2	Grasslands, on the northern end of the large island in the middle of the swamp
Barrage Blaster	Lifesaver	Chapter 7	Inside of Railway Control Tower - 1F inside of the Coal Mines
Vulcan Cannon	Charging Uppercut	Chapter 8	Northeast part of Scrapyard Prison Cell in the Corel region desert
Fafnir Rifle	Point Blank	Chapter 9	Compete the side quest, The Pursuit of Perfection
Calamitous Bazooka	Smackdown	Chapter 10	In the Gate of Anger room inside of the Cave of Gi
Battle Cry	Turbulent Spirit	Chapter 13	In the Corridor of Catastrophe

All Synergy Skills for Barret¶

There are three different Synergy Skills you can use with Barret (depending on who’s in your party) and these are good to use when you’re trying to generate ATB. Mad Dash is a good option to use against enemies that are staggered as the three-hit combo can deal lots of damage and Friendly Fire is a good shout when dealing with flying enemies, such as the Cyclone Drake.

Ability	Character	Description
Mad Dash	Cloud/Red XIII/Yuffie	Team up with your partner to charge forward while guarding against incoming attacks. Activate in sequence to trigger a three-hit combo
Iron Defense	All	Team up with your partner to take a strong defensive stance
Friendly Fire	Tifa/Aerith/Cait Sith	Team up with your partner to perform a ranged scattershot attack.

All Synergy Abilities for Barret¶

Barret has five Synergy Abilities in his arsenal, and these can be used by using certain attacks with your ATB charges to build up pips. United Refocus isn’t worth wasting your pips on until you get your hands on level 3 limit breaks which won’t be unlockable until the final few chapters of the game. We recommend that you use Arcane Blast for the unlimited MP and then use Purrfect Shot or Avalanche Two-Step when you’ve staggered your opponent.

Ability	Character	Description	Effect
Arcane Blast	Aerith	Barret imbues his shots with Aerith’s magic and unleashes a ranged attack.	Temporary Unlimited MP
United Refocus	Cloud/Red XIII	Barret and Cloud/Red XIII hone their focus.	Temporary 3-charge ATB Gauge
Ninja Carbine	Yuffie	Barret and Yuffie lean into their shared prowess and unleash a ranged attack.	Limit Level Increase
Purrfect Shot	Cait Sith	Barret uses Cait Sith for support while he unleashes a ranged attack.	Attack Power Boost / Staggered Time Extension (Staggered Foe)
Avalanche Two-Step	Tifa	Barret and Tifa team up to take down an enemy.	Attack Power Boost / Staggered Time Extension

More Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Guides¶

Rebirth has so much to offer so if you’re feeling lost, or just want to find out more about new features, tips and tricks on the combat system, or how to use certain Materia, be sure to check out the links below!

• Queen’s Blood Tutorial - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Steal Materia Guide - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Level Boost Materia Guide - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth