Managing your squad effectively is key to surviving the tough encounters in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. With a expanding roster of playable heroes, knowing how to swap party members allows you to adapt to various enemy weaknesses and combat situations.

Accessing the Combat Settings Menu

To begin customizing your active lineup, open the main pause menu while exploring the world. Navigate down to the Combat Settings option to view your current active party and bench members.

From this menu, press the Square button to open up the party edit screen. Here, you can freely replace inactive characters with your preferred combatants to build a balanced fighting force.

Setting Up Preset Party Formations

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth allows players to construct and save up to three distinct party layouts. Using L1 and R1 buttons lets you cycle through these presets to assign different character combinations quickly.

Setting up diverse presets ensures you are always prepared for different combat scenarios without needing to manually reassign members every time. For instance, you can keep one group focused on aerial targets while another emphasizes heavy physical stagger damage.

Quick Swapping in the Open World

While roaming the open world, you do not need to open the main pause menu every time you want to switch groups. Simply press the X button to pull up the field command menu.

While the command menu is visible, hit L1 or R1 to instantly cycle between your three pre-configured team presets. This quick swap shortcut makes exploration smooth and lets you heal or re-organize before plunging into battle.

Changing the Party Leader

By default, Cloud acts as the primary combatant you control when a battle initiates. However, you can change your starting active character by designating a new party leader.

Inside the Combat Settings party editor, highlight your chosen companion and press the Triangle button to set them as the leader. This allows you to immediately start fights controlling characters like Tifa, Barret, or Aerith without manually switching in combat.