Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles' Cloud Strife is better than ever thanks to this one powerful item

Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles’ Cloud Strife gets a new lease on life in this remake, and he’s actually worth putting in your party! Once he’s been unlocked, you can immediately go get something to make the decent character even better. Thankfully, in this version of the game, he starts off at level 47, instead of level 1, and already comes equipped with the Materia Blade.

In a recent interview with Kazutoyo Maehiro, we learned that there might be a secret item where you normally find the Materia Blade, and after digging deep into Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles, we can confirm this is a must-get item if you plan on using Cloud: Materia Blade+.

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Materia Blade+ is Cloud Strife’s best weapon, and it’s easy to get in Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles

The Materia Blade+ is the best weapon you’re going to find for Cloud in Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles, and it’s in the same place the normal Materia Blade was at. This is a great improvement and acknowledgment of the secret character being relatively weak when he was originally added to the game. Instead of having to do a monumental amount of grinding, he comes ready to fight, right out of the box, with one exception.

Just jump up from where you start, and it's as simple as that (Image via Square Enix)

You need to get the Materia Blade+, so here’s where you can find it. It’s actually on a map that got introduced earlier in the game, but you never have a reason to travel there: Mount Bervenia. You’ll find it directly south of Riovanes Castle.

You just need to bring a character with Treasure Hunter equipped, which is in the Chemist Job. I brought someone with Jump 3 also, just to make sure I got there in one turn. Just head to the location above (literally right above where you spawn in on the map), and you’ll unlock the item.

Normally, you want a Low Brave character for the Treasure Hunter skill, but this is a special item. Once you land on this space, you’ll get the notification that you found Cloud’s Materia Blade+ in Final Fantasy Tactics. You can’t equip it until the fight is over, unless you gave Cloud Change Equip, but that seems unlikely.

As you can see, it's a definite upgrade from the original (Image via Square Enix)

This will also serve as an achievement unlock if it’s your first item found with Treasure Finder, so that’s another positive. But what makes this sword so great? Materia Blade+ has an Attack Power of 16, 10% Parry Rate, and +4 Magic Attack. To those who didn’t play the original, that doesn’t sound like a lot, but Cloud’s Limit Break skills all use Magic Attack to determine damage.

This weapon is a perfect blend of high physical damage, and high magical damage, so you can melee with him, or use his Limit Breaks to wreak havoc on the battlefield. You’ll still have to wait for his skills to charge up though; Haste helps, though. If you’re going to use Cloud (and why wouldn’t you?), go out of your way immediately to grab this weapon and equip it.

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Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles launches on September 30, 2025, and is truly a masterpiece. You can learn more about the revived genre-defining tactical RPG in our in-depth review.