Materia Smuggling
Materia Smuggling is a glitch that makes use of blank character slots in the materia exchange menu to bring materia to unexpected locations. This glitch is not present in the PSX version, and is most powerful in the PC version. It is one of the primary glitches used in PC NG+ runs.
Execution
PC or HD Console
This glitch can be performed when a character is removed from the global party, which occurs at the following times:
- Barret storming off at the Gold Saucer
- Red XIII leaving the party at Cosmo Canyon, before and after Cave of the Gi
- The Wutai sidequest
- Aerith leaving the party at the end of Temple of the Ancients
- Giving someone the Black Materia at Whirlwind Maze
- Cloud leaving the party at Whirlwind Maze
- Tifa leaving the party at Mideel
- The party splitting up at North Crater
Before the character leaves the party, the player must open the materia exchange menu and scroll down to the bottom. Leave the cursor there, and close out of the menu. After the cutscene, the player can then reopen the materia exchange menu, to find that the cursor is pointing to a blank character slot. Scrolling over it will reveal an invisible set of MP Plus materia, with only the first two weapon slots being accessible. The player can remove these two materia, or store two materia for later use, e.g. bringing materia into the Wutai sidequest. After a game reset (or a game over on HD console), the slots will be refilled with MP Plus materia, and any materia stored in the blank slot will be permanently lost.
PC only
Due to the PC port not clearing memory after a game over, this glitch is even more powerful on PC, allowing the player to transfer materia between save files. Doing so requires three save files:
- A save file the player wishes to transfer materia to
- A save file with more characters available in the global party than save 1
- A save file with fewer characters than save 2, with the materia the player wishes to transfer
To begin the transfer, the player must first open save 2, scroll to the bottom of the materia exchange menu. Leave the cursor there, and close out of the menu. Then, the player must intentionally trigger a game over, and load save 3. Here, the player can open the materia exchange menu to find the cursor pointing to a blank character slot. The player can then store the materia they wish to transfer in this blank slot, as long as they do not scroll too far up that the blank slot is pushed off-screen. Once the materia is in place, the player must again trigger an intentional game over. Finally, the player can load save 1, and open the materia exchange menu to claim the smuggled materia from the blank slot.
Use in runs
This glitch is used in the PC NG+ category in order to smuggle the following materia into Midgar:
- Mastered Enemy Away
- Mastered Revive or Seal
- Mastered Throw
- Mastered Sneak Attack
The player can then equip Throw + Sneak Attack and Enemy Away, and sell the Revive/Seal materia for gil. Enemy Away significantly reduces the encounter rate, while Throw + Sneak Attack has an 80% to immediately kill any enemy with Coin.