A Quick Guide to Leveling Materia and Limits

A trick to leveling up your limits faster than regular gameplay is the use of the Fury status. When a character is inflicted with Fury, taking damage raises the Limit bar faster. Some enemies are capable of inflicting the status on you, but you really want to keep the status. There is a glitch in the game that when you use a Hyper to cure Sadness, you can use the Hyper again, including characters without Sadness, to inflict the Fury status. Hypers serve a great purpose once you know this trick. Now, we need to know what it takes to reach the next limit. Some limits require using previous ones numerous times, while others require enemy kills. Listed below is a breakdown of what each character requires.

When you want to have a character focus on obtaining the first limit skill for each tier, just equip them with a Master Cover materia and set them to Fury. Their limit bar will fill in no time at all. If you are wanting to obtain the second skill in each tier, equip either Ultima or a powerful summon, and just have them wipe out all enemies in one shot, rinse and repeat.

Tip: Aeris will HAVE to have learned Great Gospel before the battle with Demon Gate in the Temple of the Ancients if you wish to obtain the achievement Great Gospel. After the fight with Demon Gate, she will no longer be playable. You can continue grinding in the room with the Black Materia puzzle and rest at the spirit outside if you have not learned the necessary limits beforehand.

• Braver - Initial Limit that attacks just one enemy, no pre-requisites.
  
• Cross-Slash - Limit that damages one enemy and also has a chance of inflicting Stop, requires the use of Braver 9 times
  
• Blade Beam - Limit that strikes one enemy before splitting off and striking adjacent enemies for less damage. Requires 120 enemy kills
  
• Climhazzard - Limit that attacks just one enemy, requires the use of Blade Beam 7 times.
  
• Meteorain - Limit that strikes random enemies, requires a total of 320 enemy kills.
  
• Finishing Touch - Limit that has a chance of removing enemies from battle. Requires the use of Meteorain 6 times.
  
• Omnislash - Limit that deals 15 strikes. Purchasable from the Battle Arena in the Golden Saucer for 64000 Battle Points on Disc 1, and 32000 on Disc 2 and 3.

• Beat Rush - Initial Limit, no pre-requisites.
  
• Somersault - Requires the use of Beat Rush 9 times. You can Miss and have it still count.
  
• Waterkick - Limit that causes Water damage, requires 96 enemy kills.
  
• Meteodrive - Requires the use of Waterkick 7 times. You can Miss and have it still count.
  
• Dolphin Blow - Requires a total of 192 enemy kills.
  
• Meteor Strike - Requires the use of Dolphin Blow 6 times. You can Miss and have it still count.
  
• Final Heaven - Damages all enemies. Obtained on Disc 2 and 3 after Cloud is rescued, go to Nibelheim and play Tifa's piano for the ability.

• Big Shot - Initial Limit, no pre-requisites.
  
• Mindblow - Damages enemy MP instead of HP. Requires the use of Big Shot 9 times.
  
• Grenade Bomb - Limit that damages all enemies. Requires 80 enemy kills.
  
• Hammer Blow - Chance to instantly kill an enemy. Requires the use of Grenade Bomb 8 times.
  
• Satellite Beam - Limit that damages all enemies. Requies a total of 160 enemy kills.
  
• Angermax (Ungarmax) - Deals 18 attacks on all enemies. Requires the use of Satellite Beam 6 times.
  
• Catastrophe - Deals 20 attacks on all enemies. Obtained by saving Corel from the train on Disc 2.

• Healing Wind - Initial Limit, no pre-requisites.
  
• Seal Evil - May Paralyze and Silence all targets. Requires the use of Healing Wind 8 times.
  
• Breath of the Earth - Cures all status ailments. Requires 80 enemy kills.
  
• Fury Brand - Fills other two ally Limit bars to full. Requires the use of Breath of the Earth 6 times.
  
• Planet Protector - Temporarily makes the party invincible. Requires a total of 160 enemy kills.
  
• Pulse of Life - Fully restores all characters. Requires the use of Planet Protector 5 times.
  
• Great Gospel - Fully restores all characters and temporarily grants an invincibility buff. Obtained from the blacksmith shop on the Gongaga peninsula.

• Sled Fang - Initial Limit, no pre-requisites.
  
• Lunatic High - Party is Haste-buffed, Red XIII has Defense % raised by 50% for every party member alive. Requires the use of Sled Fang 8 times.
  
• Blood Fang - Deals damage that absorbs some HP and MP dealt. Requires 72 enemy kills.
  
• Stardust Ray - Deals 10 random hits to enemies. Requires the use of Blood Fang 7 times.
  
• Howling Moon - Adds Haste/Berserk to Red XIII, ups Attack by 60%. Requies a total of 144 enemy kills.
  
• Earth Rave - Attacks 1-2 enemies five times total. Requires the use of Howling Moon 6 times.
  
• Cosmo Memory - Deals damage to all enemies. Found after defeating Lost Number in the Shinra Mansion.

• Greased Lightning - Initial Limit, no pre-requisites.
  
• Clear Tranquil - All party members healed by half HP. Requires the use of Greased Lightning 8 times.
  
• Landscaper - Hits all enemies with an earth-elemental attack. Requires 64 enemy kills.
  
• Bloodfest - Deals 10 random attacks. Requires the use of Landscaper 7 times.
  
• Gauntlet - Deals a critical hit to all enemies. Requires a total of 128 enemy kills.
  
• Doom of the Living - Deals 15 random hits. Requires the use of Gauntlet 6 times.
  
• All Creation - Deals damage to all enemies. Obtained by defeating Godo at the Wutai Padoga.

• Dice - Initial Limit, no pre-requisites.
  
• Slots - The results of the slots determines the effect applied. Requires 40 enemy kills.

• Galian Beast - Initial Limit, no pre-requisites.
  
• Death Gigas - Transforms into Death Gigas. Requires 40 enemy kills.
  
• Hellmasker - Transforms into Hellmasker. Requires a total of 96 enemy kills.
  
• Chaos - Transforms into Chaos. Obtained by by visiting Lucrecia's cave after obtaining the Submarine.

• Boost Jump - Initial Limit, no pre-requisites.
  
• Dynamite - Damages all enemies. Requires the use of Boost Jump 7 times.
  
• Hyper Jump - Damages all enemies with chance to instakill enemies. Requires 60 enemy kills.
  
• Dragon - Damages an enemy while recovering HP and MP. Requires the use of Hyper Jump 6 times.
  
• Dragon Dive - Deals 6 random strikes with a chance to instakill enemies. Requires 136 enemy kills.
  
• Big Brawl - Damages 8 random enemies. Requires the use of Dragon Dive 5 times.
  
• Highwind - Deals 18 random attacks. Obtained by searching the sunken Gelnika after obtaining the submarine.

Now, you're probably wondering if there is an easier way to power-level your materia. The answer is yes, and it requires another two items to perform. The first one is an Elixer, so make sure that you play through the game while keeping one or two in your inventory (preferably two). The second item you need is the W-Item materia, which you can find during your second visit to Midgar, or by digging it up in Bone Village.

There is a glitch regaring the W-Item materia, and it's performed during battle. The W-Item allows you to use two items at once in battle, but the catch is that when you go to select your second item, cancel it to return to the options for the first item, and continue to select that item, and de-select it. Upon doing this, you will be able to clone the item in your inventory as many times as you need! Do this for your elixers so that you can throw them at Magic Pots, found in the Northern Crater on Disc 3. Magic Pots yield 8000 EXP, 1000 AP, and 8500 Gil each. They're the enemies that always ask in battle, "Gimme Elixer!". Simply throw an Elixer at it, and murder it. Rinse and repeat, and you'll have your equipped Materia MASTER in no time. Magic Pots can be encountered in either groups of 1 or two. In the chance of a group of two, use the W-Item to toss both Elixers at both Magic Pots, and get your hands dirty!

Another alternative, although it requires more random battles in the same area of Northern Crater, are the Movers. Movers are the groups of three red balls that bounce up and down. These enemies do not provide any EXP, but you can earn up to 2400 AP and 50000 Gil from the fight. These mobs are quite useful if you're wanting to obtain the achievement for 99,999,999 Gil!

That's it for the guide, I hope that it was simple to follow through, and that you get those achievements!