Allows you to use defensive spells.
Description
Barrier materia is a 
Magic Materia in Final Fantasy VII Remake and "Episode INTERmission", equipped to provide the defensive spells that provide resistance to damage. These spells are 
Barrier, providing 50% resistance to physical damage; Manaward, providing 50% resistance to magical damage; and Manawall, providing 50% resistance to both types of damage.
Barrier is also a materia in the Fort Condor minigame in INTERmission, present on Battalion Board II and Battalion Board III. Its spell mitigates damage taken by allies that enter the spell's area of effect.
Obtained[]
Barrier Materia location.
A barrier materia is given by Jessie Rasberry in "Remaining Payment". One is also found in an alleyway in Wall Market. Barrier is sold in shops for 1,500 gil from Chapter 8, "Budding Bodyguard", onwards.
In INTERmission, barrier materia is sold in the Sector 7 Slums item shop, and in all vending machines.
Stats[]
Growth[]
| Level | AP required | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | Barrier |
| 2 | 300 | Manaward |
| 3 | 900 | Manawall |
Abilities[]
| Magic | MP | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Barrier | 11 | Applies the  Barrier buff, granting 50% resistance to physical damage.
|
| Manaward | 14 | Applies the  Manaward buff, granting 50% resistance to magical damage.
|
| Manawall | 20 | Applies the both the Barrier and Manaward buffs, providing 50% resistance to all damage. |
Use[]
The barrier materia grants spells that apply damage-mitigating buffs. The first spell, Barrier, applies the Barrier buff, halving physical damage received. The second, Manaward, applies the Manaward buff, halving magic damage received. Manawall applies both buffs at once. Depending on the damage used by the enemy type, barrier materia spells can provide great durability in lengthened battles.
Combining barrier materia with 
Magnify Materia allows the buffs to be applied to all party members. This can be a useful and very ATB- and MP-efficient way to keep the party near full HP throughout a fight, especially against more challenging opponents. If combined with means of healing HP outside of using MP, such as HP Absorption Materia, 
Chakra Materia, and Prayer Materia, they can keep a character near full HP without needing to spend much MP. This is useful during hard mode where MP is scarce.
The barrier materia also provides many attribute bonuses: +2 to max MP, +2 to 
Magic Attack, +1 to 
Magic Defense, +1 to 
Magic attribute, and +1 to 
Spirit. There are no penalties for equipping it, though the bonuses all mostly benefit characters who are built towards spellcasting. This is normally Aerith Gainsborough or Cloud Strife due to their naturally high Magic attributes, though depending on the equipped weapon and materia, it can be equally or more useful for Tifa or Barret Wallace, particularly if they have more MP to spare.
Barret can benefit greatly from barrier materia spells. His Lifesaver causes him to tank damage intended for other party members; Barret can then be protected with Barrier or Manaward, causing him to take less damage of his own. This can also be combined with 
Provoke Materia to cause enemies to focus on Barret, and then resist their damage. Though the materia's bonuses benefit spellcasters, the spells have equal effectiveness regardless of the caster's Magic stat, making them equally good on characters with low Magic and thus potentially a good use for these non-spellcasters' MP pools.
In INTERmission, barrier materia is good for some of the harder battles, especially in hard mode, such as the "Top Secrets" gauntlet in the Shinra Combat Simulator and the final boss.
