Leveling Party Level

Learn the best ways to increase your Party Level in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Boost your bonds and unlock crucial Folio abilities by completing World Intel and Side Quests.

The in-game tutorial for Party Level in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a bit vague, only mentioning that 'Overcoming challenges, helping people in need, and exploring the world will deepen your bonds, thereby increasing your party level.' While you do get a nice chunk of Party XP (100 XP) when Red XIII officially joins in Chapter 2, this is more of a special event than the norm. Most of your Party XP will come from two main activities: completing World Intel events and tackling Side Quests.

World Intel events are your typical open-world tasks, like monster hunts and activating Mako towers. Each one usually gives you 5 Party XP. It might not sound like much, but since there are tons of these scattered throughout each region, they really add up. Side Quests, on the other hand, offer more XP (10+ XP per quest) but are fewer in number. If you make a habit of fully clearing out a region's content, you'll gain a significant amount of Party XP, likely leaving players who just rush the main story quite a bit behind in Party Level.

Why does Party Level matter? It doesn't directly boost your stats like in traditional RPGs. Instead, it acts as a gatekeeper for unlocking new mechanics, specifically within your characters' Folios. Folios are essentially skill trees where you spend Skill Points (SP) earned from Manuscripts and character leveling. Some skill cores within these Folios require not only SP but also a certain Weapon Level and, crucially, your Party Level. Many of these skill cores won't even show up in the Folio menu until you've reached the required Party Level – you can usually only see cores that are one level higher than your current Party Level. These skill cores are vital for unlocking Synergy Abilities, Synergy Skills, and other useful passive bonuses, so clearing side content is definitely encouraged!