FF7 Remake Manuscript Guide: How To Get Every Weapon Upgrade

Note: This post contains spoilers for late-game bosses in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, so if you haven't completed it, read on at your own risk.

Fighting your way through Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Chapter 18 to finish the game is only the beginning--once you've bested it, you can return to the game on Hard Mode for some serious challenges. Those include unlocking Chadley's final summon, checking out all the different scenes in Chapter 14, and defeating the optional Pride and Joy Prototype boss. If you want to compete on Hard Mode, you're going to need to upgrade your weapons, and late in the game, the only way to earn more upgrades is to find collectibles called Manuscripts.

You'll come across some Manuscripts in FF7 Remake's normal mode, but to track down them all, you'll need to complete a bunch of side-quests and take on some tough Hard Mode bosses. Here's where to get every Manuscript in the game for each character.

What Manuscripts Do

As you level up in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, you'll earn "skill points," or SP, that allow you to purchase new upgrades for your weapons. Manuscripts award you SP without leveling up, and each character has their own specific type of Manuscript. Once your characters reach Level 50, Manuscripts are the only way to gain additional SP, so you'll want to invest in tracking them down.

There are also four Manuscripts you can earn in the Corneo Colosseum in Normal Mode that unlock new Limit Breaks for each character. Get them in Chapter 9 and Chapter 14.

Most Manuscripts are located in Hard Mode, which is only accessible from the Chapter Select menu that unlocks once you've finished the game. But some you'll find along the way in Normal Mode, if you know where to look. Here are the Manuscript types for each character.

• Cloud: Art of Swordplay
• Tifa: Way of the Fist
• Barret: Sharpshooter's Companion
• Aerith: Telluric Scriptures

Manuscripts are numbered, so if you find you're missing any, you should be able to narrow down where it's found based on the volume number that follows the title. There 14 Manuscript volumes for each character, plus one Limit Break Manuscript each.

Normal Mode Manuscripts

Your first set of Manuscripts can be grabbed from the Moogle Emporium in the Sector 5 Undercity and by completing certain side-quests.

Chapter 8

Purchased form the Moogle Emporium (5 Moogle Medals each):

• Art of Swordplay Vol. I
• Way of the Fist Vol. I
• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. I
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. I

Chapter 9

• Art of Swordplay Vol. II
  • Complete "Cloud vs. Shinra Thugs" in the Corneo Colosseum
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. II
  • Complete "Aerith vs. Shinra Thugs" in the Corneo Colosseum
• Legacy: Ascension Limit Break (Cloud)
  • Complete "Cloud vs. Wild Animals" in the Corneo Colosseum
• Legacy: Planet's Protection Limit Break (Aerith)
  • Complete "Aerith vs. Wild Animals" in the Corneo Colosseum (do this before returning to Madam M after the Corneo Cup battles)

Chapter 14

• Way of the Fist Vol. II
  • Complete "Tifa vs. Shinra Thugs" in the Corneo Colosseum
• Way of the Fist Vol. III
  • Complete "Wavering Hearts" side-quest
• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. II
  • Complete "Barret vs. Shinra Thugs" in the Corneo Colosseum
• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. III
  • Complete "The Power of Music" side-quest
• Art of Swordplay Vol. III
  • Complete "Corneo's Secret Stash" side-quest
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. III
  • Complete "Secret Medicine" side-quest
• Legacy: Dolphin Flurry Limit Break (Tifa)
  • Complete "Tifa vs. Wild Animals" in the Corneo Colosseum
• Legacy: Catastrophe Limit Break (Barret)
  • Complete: "Barret vs. Wild Animals" in the Corneo Colosseum

Hard Mode Manuscripts

You'll mostly get Hard Mode Manuscripts from defeating tough enemies--either bosses or the challenging opponents you find in some side-quests. Check out our full Boss Fight guide to help you get through those battles, and tap into our side-quests guide if you're struggling to track anything down.

Chapter 1

• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. IV
  • Defeat the Scorpion Sentinel

Chapter 2

• Art of Swordplay Vol. IV
  • Defeat The Huntsman

Chapter 3

• Art of Swordplay Vol. V
  • Defeat the Doom Rats in the "Rat Problem" side-quest
• Way of the Fist Vol. IV
  • Defeat the Wrath Hound in the "On the Prowl" side-quest

Chapter 4

• Art of Swordplay Vol. VI
  • Defeat Roche
• Way of the Fist Vol. V
  • Defeat the Enigmatic Specter

Chapter 5

• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. V
  • Defeat the Crab Warden

Chapter 6

• Way of the Fist Vol. VI
  • Found in the ventilation fan that previously housed the Chocobo & Moogle summon Materia (click for details).

Chapter 7

• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. VI
  • Defeat the Airbuster

Chapter 8

• Art of Swordplay Vol. VII
  • Defeat Reno
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. IV
  • Defeat Rude
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. V
  • Defeat the Monodrive Mk. II enemies in the "Weapons on a Rampage" side-quest
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. VI
  • Defeat the Hedgehog Pie King in the "Kids on Patrol" side-quest
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. VII
  • Defeat the Chromogger in the "Angel of the Slums" side-quest
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. VIII
  • Defeat the Venomantis enemies in the "Paying Respects" side-quest

Chapter 9

• Telluric Scriptures Vol. IX
  • Defeat Hell House
• Art of Swordplay Vol. VIII
  • Defeat Beck's Badasses in the "Price of Thievery" side-quest
• Art of Swordplay Vol. IX
  • Defeat the Jury-Rigged Cutter in the "Shears' Counterattack" side-quest
• Art of Swordplay Vol. X
  • Defeat the Bombs in the "Dynamite Bodies" side-quest

Chapter 10

• Way of the Fist Vol. VII
  • Defeat Abzu

Chapter 11

• Telluric Scriptures Vol. X
  • Defeat the Ghoul
• Way of the Fist Vol. VIII
  • Defeat Eligor

Chapter 12

• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. VII
  • Defeat Reno and Rude

Chapter 13

• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. VIII
  • Defeat the Failed Experiment

Chapter 14

• Art of Swordplay Vol. XI
  • Defeat Beastmaster and Hellhound in the "Tomboy Bandit" side-quest
• Way of the Fist Vol. IX
  • Defeat Abzu and the Abzu Shoats in the sewers
• Way of the Fist Vol. X
  • Defeat the Phantoms in the "Missing Children" side-quest
• Way of the Fist Vol. XI
  • Defeat the Trypapolis enemies in the Collapsed Expressway in the "Chocobo Search" side-quest
• Way of the Fist Vol. XII
  • Defeat the Sahagin Prince in the sewers in the "Corneo's Secret Stash" side-quest
• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. IX
  • Defeat the Tonberry in the "Malicious Goons" side-quest
• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. X
  • Defeat the Behemoth Type 0 in the "Subterranean Menace" side-quest
• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. XI
  • Defeat the Rust Drake in the "Chocobo Search" side-quest

Chapter 15

• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. XII
  • Defeat the Valkyrie

Chapter 16

• Art of Swordplay Vol. XII
  • Defeat Specimen HO512

Chapter 17

• Art of Swordplay Vol. XIII
  • Complete "Cloud vs. SOLDIER 3-C Candidates" in the Shinra Combat Simulator
• Art of Swordplay Vol. XIV
  • Defeat Rufus and Darkstar
• Way of the First Vol. XIII
  • Complete "Tifa vs. SOLDIER 3-C Candidates" in the Shinra Combat Simulator
• Way of the Fist Vol. XIV
  • Defeat Jenova Dreamweaver
• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. XIII
  • Complete "Barret vs. SOLDIER 3-C Candidates" in the Shinra Combat Simulator
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. XI
  • Complete "Aerith vs. SOLDIER 3-C Candidates" in the Shinra Combat Simulator
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. XII
  • Defeat the Swordipede
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. XIII
  • Defeat The Arsenal

Chapter 18

• Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. XIV
  • Defeat the Whisper Harbinger
• Telluric Scriptures Vol. XIV
  • Defeat Sephiroth