How to Pressure enemies & Stagger them in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

How to Pressure enemies & Stagger them in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Images via Square Enix Creative Business Unit I

Written by 

Ben Williams

Published 

29th Feb 2024 00:01

Learning how to Pressure enemies is one of the tougher FF7 mechanics that Final Fantasy players will need to get used to again with Rebirth - along with learning to Stagger.

Thankfully, learning how to put on the literal pressure in the game is not too challenging once you learn what to do. Read on to learn how to apply the Pressure status and Stagger enemies to make them defenceless in FF7 Rebirth. 

How to Pressure enemies in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

To Pressure an enemy in FF7 Rebirth, you simply need to exploit their weaknesses by using a combat ability or element they’re vulnerable against. 

To find out the weakness of enemies, use the Assess Materia on any new foe to scan them. After this, their weaknesses will be permanently logged and you can see it on their intel page throughout the rest of the game by pressing the Touchpad in battle. 

A Pressured Insectoid Chimera after exploiting its weakness to Ice in FF7 Rebirth
Click to enlarge

When you utilise an enemy's weakness as you face them in battle, you’ll soon see the 'Pressured' status attached to their health bar. Take the above Insectoid Chimera for example, which was Pressured after I attacked it with the Blizzard spell to exploit its weakness to Ice.

As the Pressure status is active, attacked enemies will have their Stagger gauge fill up far quicker. 

How to Stagger enemies

Each enemy becomes Staggered in FF7 Rebirth by having their Stagger Gauge slowly fill from taking damage - eventually dropping for a short time and being vulnerable to additional damage before getting back up. 

However, some attacks fill up a Stagger Gauge more quickly than others, like applying the Pressure status, along with specific moves which increase Stagger as well.

For example, the Focused attacks of party members like Focused Thrust in Cloud’s arsenal will Stagger foes faster. 

As an enemy Stagger meter does fall, that’s when you’ll have the best opportunity to unleash your most powerful moves and knock off as much HP as possible thanks to the state’s damage multiplier. 

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For more on FF7 Rebirth, check out how to play Queen's Blood, the full list of mini-games you can play, its voice cast, and what the best materia is.

Otherwise, visit our Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth guides & news homepage for even more essentials and updates.

Ben Williams
About the author
Ben Williams
Ben is a Senior Guides Writer at GGRecon. Alongside his BA (Hons) in Business Management is a wealth of gaming and entertainment writing experience, having previously occupied roles as a Copywriter in e-commerce at Overclockers and Guides & SEO Writer at GameByte and FragHero. When not whipping up guides and reviews, Ben’ll be off playing the latest Pokemon games, Overwatch 2, Spider-Man, The Witcher, and Final Fantasy - all before reading manga and listening to Ice Nine Kills.
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