There are a lot of moves and spells that you will need to master if you wish to survive Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s dangerous world. From potent spells to special sword techniques to all-powerful Summons, there’s a lot to balance in this game’s combat. Thankfully, Final Fantasy 7 Remake allows you to hotkey up to four spells, abilities, or items so you don’t need to navigate the menu during combat. This can remove some of the headaches from battles as it won’t interrupt the flow of battle. Hotkeys are especially useful in the latter half of the game when you’re facing more diverse enemy rosters and bosses.

How to Hotkey Spells, Abilities, & Items

To hotkey spells, open up your Main Menu and select the Battle Settings tab that’s third from the top. This will bring you to a separate menu where you can select one of your party members. It doesn’t matter if they are currently in Cloud’s party or not, so long as you’ve actually unlocked them as playable characters. Once you’ve selected your Party Member, pick which of the four hotkeys you want to set.

All of these are tied to holding down the L1 button in conjunction with one of the face buttons (X, Square, O, Triangle.) Select which button combo you want to use and then choose which spell, ability, or item you want to equip to this. Try to select spells or skills you end up using a lot in battle so you can combo into moves and up your damage potential. Keep in mind, you don’t have to hotkey anything, it’s perfectly fine to just go through the menu when time is slowed down. This is just a helpful option for those who prefer that fights are left mostly uninterrupted.

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Remember, you have to have the Materia actually equipped to that character to use a specific spell tied to a hotkey. For example, I cannot use the Blizzard spell even if it’s tied to a hotkey unless Cloud is holding Ice Materia. Because of this, we suggest not using hotkeys for elemental spells unless you know you’re in a fight where you’ll be constantly using it.

Try and think about a character’s role in your party and what they do to help your team. For example, Aerith is a superb support mage, so hotkeying spells such as Cura, Pray, Poisona, and Arcane Ward lets you quickly back up your hurt party. Inversely, someone like Cloud thrives on being able to rapidly switch between sword Abilities since these typically combo into one another, allowing you to rapidly take down foes. We do suggest that both Cloud and Tifa have at least one healing item tied to a hotkey. You won’t always have Aerith or points to spend on your healing spell. Having a back up is always useful and will save you a lot of time.

There’s no penalty for using hotkeys, so feel free to experiment to your heart’s content!

How to Hotkey Spells, Abilities, & Items in FF7 - Final Fantasy 7 Remake Guide

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