Barrier is a magic spell in Final Fantasy VII Remake and "Episode INTERmission". It is the first spell provided by 
Barrier Materia, and applies the 
Barrier buff. This halves all incoming physical damage, and is multiplicative with any other defenses to physical damage. Barrier is a counterpart of 
Manaward, which reduces magical damage by half, and is superseded by Manawall, which halves both forms of damage.
Barrier is also a materia in the Fort Condor minigame in "Episode INTERmission", present on Battalion Board II, and Battalion Board III. It mitigates damage taken by allies that enter the spell's area of effect.
Mechanics[]
| Magic Materia |
Barrier Materia
|
|---|---|
| Effects | Applies Barrier to target
|
| Interrupt stats | Interrupted by attacks with ≥40 interrupt strength |
Compatible  Support Materia |
Magnify Materia
|
Use[]
Barrier costs 11 MP to cast, and can be used by characters with barrier materia at level 1. The spell applies the Barrier buff, which lasts for one minute (the duration can be lengthened with Enchanted Ring), and halves all physical damage taken. This makes it very effective against enemies whose damage is mostly physical. The effect is multiplicative with other defenses against physical damage; for instance, a character who is blocking will take 40% less damage, and the remaining damage taken will be further halved by Barrier.
Barret can make great use of Barrier for this reason. Using Steelskin reduces damage he takes by 30%, and with Barrier applied on top of this, he will reduce the damage even further. This can also be useful in conjunction with Barret's Lifesaver; although Barret will not reduce the damage that Lifesaver projects from other characters onto him, if another character with Barrier on receives damage, this will be greatly reduced, meaning that Barret will himself receives less damage while Lifesaver is active.
Barrier can be a good pair with Magnify Materia. Using it will reduce the duration of Barrier, but not its effects. By casting Barrier on all allies at once, all characters will resist physical damage, which can be especially useful in certain encounters. Manawall applies both the barrier and 
Manaward statuses at once; even after the player unlocks Manawall, Barrier remains useful if only physical damage is a threat to save on MP. When both types of damage are a threat, using Manawall is a better choice.
