You've Been Playing Barret All Wrong In Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Barret is big, brash, and built like a tank, which is good because he is one. As the tank in your party, Barret is fine with taking damage and dealing it in turn. Can't go wrong there, right? Wrong. If you're not mindful of your Barret build, you might be taking more damage than you're dealing. To avoid such a tragic fate, read further for some suggestions about how you can turn Barret into the ideal tank for your Final Fantasy 7 Remake playthrough.
Barret starts off with a Gatling Gun. It's literally attached to his right arm, and it's easily one of his most balanced weapons. Like Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith, you're able to switch out weapons as you find them. If you want a balanced Barret, however, you'll want to stick with the Gatling Gun.
The Gatling Gun can be augmented with magic like Fire, Lightning, and Ice to hit even harder, but magic isn't exactly Barret's specialty. You're better off leaving that to mages like Aerith. Materia you might want to consider, however, is HP Up Materia. As a tank, Barret already has a ton of HP. Increasing it even further can help ensure Barret will survive any skirmish.
Some of Barret's later weapons like the Wrecking Ball and Steel Pincers will turn him into a melee fighter like Tifa. While these are pretty cool (Barret seems to enjoy them), remember to consider your team's composition. If Tifa already has melee covered, wouldn't Barret be more useful as a ranged attacker? If Aerith is your mage, wouldn't it be better to let Barret handle the pointing and shooting rather than the healing?
By the way, you can boost Barret's pointing and shooting skill points by purchasing The Sharpshooter's Companion Vol. 1 from the Moogle Emporium in Chapter 8. This is something you should definitely do.
To summarize, you'll want to focus on building up Barret's Gatling Gun into the ultimate weapon. Y'll also want to boost his defense against attacks, magic and otherwise so he can stay by your side even in the toughest of fights. This is how you can build Barret into the tankiest of tanks.