Final Fantasy VII – Limit Break Mechanics Guide
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Limit Break Mechanics Guide (PS) by gideond
Version: 3.1 | Updated: 01/04/2020
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( ____ \( ____ \|\ /|\__ __/\__ __/ GideonD's Limit Break
| ( \/| ( \/| ) ( | ) ( ) (
| (__ | (__ | | | | | | | | Mechanics Guide for
| __) | __) ( ( ) ) | | | |
| ( | ( \ \_/ / | | | | Final Fantasy VII
| ) | ) \ / ___) (______) (___
|/ |/ \_/ \_______/\_______/ Email: guides@poppameth.com
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Version 3.1 Current as of 01/04/2020. (c) 2001-2020 GideonD (PME)
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CONTENTS [contents-001]
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1) Contents [contents-001]
2) Disclaimer [contents-002]
3) Updates [contents-003]
4) Introduction [contents-004]
5) Learning New Limit Breaks [contents-005]
a) The Basics [learning-a]
i) Notations [learning-i]
ii) Starting Limit Breaks [learning-ii]
iii) Learning the Second Limit of a Set [learning-iii]
iv) Learning the First Limit of a New Set [learning-iv]
v) Learning Level 4 Limits [learning-v]
b) Strategy for Learning Limits Early [learning-b]
c) Acquiring Level 4 Manuals [learning-c]
d) A Glitch in the System [learning-d]
6) Limit Break Details and Requirements [contents-006]
a) Cloud Strife [limits-a]
b) Barret Wallace [limits-b]
c) Tifa Lockheart [limits-c]
d) Aeris Gainsborough [limits-d]
e) Red XIII [limits-e]
f) Yuffie Kisaragi [limits-f]
g) Cait Sith [limits-g]
h) Vincent Valentine [limits-h]
I) Cid Highwind [limits-i]
7) Conclusion [contents-007]
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DISCLAIMER [contents-002]
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All work in this guide is original and gained through my own experience with
the game. This guide may not be altered or posted in any way without my express
permission. You may of course print, view, or reproduce this guide in any other
way for your personal use only.
You may post the guide at a personal website on the following conditions:
1) You must not alter this guide in any way.
2) You must not use this guide to make any sort of profit.
3) You must notify me that you wish to post this guide at your site. A simple
email with the site URL included will suffice. I'll get back to you with
permission in short order. I check my email on a daily basis at the very
least.
Addendum: Arct!c has full permission to use any of the information found in
this guide in his own Final Fantasy VII FAQ/Walkthrough.
This guide can currently be found at the following websites:
http://www.poppameth.com (official website)
http://www.gamefaqs.com
http://www.neoseeker.com
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UPDATES [contents-003]
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v3.1: Minor corrections to Table of Contents.
v3.0: Full guide overhaul. Attempting to cleanup some of the most common
complaints. Major tweaks include:
a) Removal off all but the control set of data.
b) Reworked charts.
c) Added detailed description of each limit.
d) More in-depth info about characters that lack certain tiers of limits.
Also please note that the primary email address has changed at the top of the
guide.
v2.5: Added links to the new website http://www.poppameth.com. The online
version of the guide has undergone a major face lift to make navigation much
easier for the user. A PDF version of the guide is also available on the site.
v2.4: Added Control Set of data taken from the game's memory dumps.
v2.3: New website and forum information added/updated.
v2.2: Just updating my email address. I got hijacked despite all precautions. I
guess seven years of the same junk mail address isn't too bad though. Time for
a change.
v2.1: Nothing major here. Just changing links to my website since its changed
servers again. Find it at http://users.adelphia.net/~gideond.
v2.0: A big ole whopping full point update!! I've added a second note at the
bottom of section 5a concerning some recent research into types of kills that do
NOT count toward kills totals. I've added a second full set of kill/usage totals
for reference. And lastly I've rearranged the format just a bit, though not
likely enough to be noticeable, as well as added a few tidbits of info here and
there.
v1.5: Some minor grammar fixes and an email address that actually works.
Thanks to Feenyx for pointing out the typo in my email addy. Evidently it got
screwed up when I tweaked my format and I never noticed.
v1.4: Disclaimer updated. A note about the limit system has been added at the
end of Section 6: Limit Break Mechanics Study, to clear up a little confusion.
v1.3: At the request of a few GameFAQs board users I've added a few notes on
learning Tifa's limits. These notes can be found at the end of Tifa's value
listings contained in Section 6: Limit Break Mechanics Study.
v1.2: New info added on a known glitch in the limit learning system.
v1.1: New information added on how to more efficiently go about
accumulating the required kills and uses needed to learn new limits.
v1.0: Original version.
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INTRODUCTION [contents-004]
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This document contains an explanation of the Final Fantasy VII Limit Break
System and a study on how exactly the system works. While how to use limit
breaks in battle is common knowledge, the process by which you gain new limit
breaks is often found to be in question. Even among those of us who know how
the basic limit gaining system works there remains much debate on the exact
mechanics of that familiar system. The information below is a summarized
version of the Limit Break Mechanics study, designed to be used as a guide
for gaining limits breaks in your game. The full study can be found at
http://www.poppameth.com
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LEARNING NEW LIMIT BREAKS [contents-005]
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THE BASICS [learning-a]
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Notations [learning-i]
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First of all, for reference I will explain the notations I'll be using.
There are 4 sets of limit breaks for most of the characters in the game.
Likewise, most of the characters have 2 limit breaks per level. When referring
to these limit breaks separately I will be using the following notation: X/Y.
X = the level of the limit break. Y = the number of the limit break within
the level indicated by X. For example the notation 2/1 would indicate the
first limit break in the second level or set of limit breaks.
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Starting Limit Breaks [learning-ii]
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Each character in the game starts with one limit break already in his/her
possession. This is limit 1/1, the first limit in the first set of limits.
This means you have immediate access to your preset limit break.
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Learning the Second Limit of a Set [learning-iii]
-----------------------------------
Now, to learn the next limit in a set, for example limit 1/2, you simply need
to use the first limit of the set, limit 1/1, a certain number of times. The
actual number of times you need to use the first limit in a set varies from
character to character. This formula holds true for each set of limits. In
other words, to learn the second limit in any set of limits you simply use
the first limit in that set a certain number of times. Everyone who has a
4th level limit break will have only 1 limit break in the 4th level. Therefore
this formula is irrelevant to the level 4 limit breaks since there is no second
in the set. Also, certain characters, namely Vincent and Cait Sith, have only
one limit per level, so this formula also does not apply to these two
characters.
Example:
Cloud starts the game with Braver as his 1/1 limit break. He uses Braver
in battle 8 times and he learns Cross-Slash, his 1/2 limit break. Likewise,
he would use his 2/1 limit 7 times to learn his 2/2 limit, and he would use
his 3/1 limit 6 times to learn his 3/2 limit. You may notice that the number
of times a limit needs to be used declines as the limit level increases.
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Learning the First Limit in a New Set [learning-iv]
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Now to gain the first limit break in a new set the procedure is entirely
different. Gaining the first limit break in a new set has nothing at all to
do with using previously gained limit breaks. Instead, a character must make
a certain number of kills to gain the first limit in a new set. What this
means is that the character you wish to have gain the new limit break must
actually deliver the killing blow to a certain number of enemies. The number
of enemies varies from character to character. You may deliver the killing
blow using almost any means possible. Details on what counts and what doesn't
can be found below.
1) Kills made with Odin's Steel Cutting Sword attack do NOT count.
2) Kills made by residual poison damage, i.e. the damage taken each round, not
the damage caused by the initial casting, do NOT count.
3) Kills made by enemies you have manipulated do NOT count.
4) Kills made with Death Sentence do NOT count.
5) Kills made with the Death spell DO count.
6) Kills made with Flash command DO count.
Also of interest, miming your limit breaks DOES count toward the usage totals.
It's also worth mentioning that apparently nothing you do in battle arena, be
it kills or uses, will count toward your totals.
This formula applies to all characters in the game, including Vincent and
Cait Sith. Cait Sith, however, only has 2 sets of limit breaks and only 1 limit
in each set, limit 1/1 and limit 2/1.
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Learning Level 4 Limits [learning-v]
------------------------
Once again, learning Level 4 limits is an entirely different process. Level
4/1 limits are taught to a character by using special limit manuals found
during the course of the game. These manuals are items and are used from the
items menu on the character whose final limit the manual details. Level 4
limits may only be taught to a character after that character has learned all
of his/her previous limit breaks. Cait Sith is the sole exception to this.
Cait Sith only has two limit breaks, level 1/1 and level 2/1. Therefore there
is no Manual for a Level 4 Limit for Cait Sith. There is only one Level 4 limit
for each character that has one. There are no 4/2 limits in the game.
Example: (continued from above example)
Now that Cloud has learned Cross-Slash he simply continues to kill enemies,
dealing the killing blow each time. Once he has killed 115 enemies he gains
his 2/1 limit, Blade Beam. After using Blade Beam 7 times he learns his 2/2
limit, Climhazzard. Continuing to fight, Cloud kills an additional 195
enemies and gains his 3/1 limit, Meteorain. Cloud then used Meteorain 6 times
and learns his 3/2 limit, Finishing Touch. Cloud may now use his level 4
limit manual if he has it to learn his 4/1 limit, Omnislash.
Also note Limits aren't always gained in exact order. If you simply go around
killing enemies like mad for a few hours you can learn the first limit in each
set before you ever learn the second limit in any of the sets. You can not
learn all of the second limits in each set before the first, however, because
you need to use the first limit in each set in order to gain the second in the
set.
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Strategy for Learning Limits Early [learning-b]
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This section details my personal method for gaining limits as quickly as
possible early in the game.
The first thing you'll want to do is progress through the game until you reach
the Mithril Mines. Grab the Matra Magic enemy skill from the Custom Sweeper
near Midgar on the way. Now usually I'll make my way through the mines to the
Junon area on the other side of the mountains. Here you'll find a patch of
forest you can use to obtain Yuffie early on. By this point you should now
have Cloud, Barret, Aeris, Tifa, Red XIII, and Yuffie, all of whom you can now
start acquiring limits for. That will leave only Cait Sith, Vincent, and Cid
to work on later.
Now you can save up and begin the limit learning process. Take three people
into the mine. You'll want to go to a specific room. To find this room, enter
the mines from the Junon(western) entrance and head north on the first screen
of the mine. In this room you will always fight enemies in groups of 4-5.
From this point forward it's quite simple. Simply have the person you are
trying to gain limits for use matra magic to slaughter these large groups of
enemies. If you missed getting matra magic on the Enemy Skill materia, then
you can use a multi-target magic instead although they tend to cost more MP to
cast. This will quickly net you the kills you need to gain the */1 limits.
Use your limits whenever they come up to get you closer to the needed uses.
By the time you are done with learning the */1 limits you'll still be working
on the */2 limits in most cases. At this point you'll want to start looking
for a specific enemy. This enemy comes with a group of 3 other enemies and is
basically a flying dragon with fairy wings. I believe he's called an Arc
Dragon. He has the flamethrower enemy skill, which you'll want to pick up.
When he uses this skill on you it'll also deal a good bit of damage at this
point of the game, which means it's about the quickest way to fill up your
limit gauge and get the needed uses to learn your */2 limits. It's also a good
idea to use a hyper on your people. This will put them in Fury status and as
a side effect their limit meter will fill up twice as fast as normal. You may
also want to equip Cover materia to the person you are working on to help
direct most attacks at that person and fill his/her meter more quickly. I've
never really bothered with Cover myself, but a few people have pointed out that
I didn't mention it so I thought I'd add a note about it. You may find it more
useful if you let it build up to a higher level before working on learning
your limits.
Just repeat these steps to learn limits for all of the people you currently
have in party and then switch to the others to learn theirs. You can come back
later to learn limits for the other 3 characters and it'll be even easier since
Vincent and Cait Sith only require kills, and Cid's uses can be gotten easier
since you'll have the manipulate materia and can target flamethrower on Cid
only.
By the time I left the Mithril Mines for Fort Condor, I had all the limits up
through level 3/2 for all 6 of the people I had. As an added bonus they were
all about level 30 and I had 99 hi-potions in inventory since the enemies in
the mines tend to drop those a lot.
Happy hunting!!
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Acquiring Level 4 Manuals [learning-c]
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!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Now just for reference I'll give a brief run through on where to find
everyone's level 4 limit manuals and how to get them.
Cloud Strife:
You gain the Omnislash manual for Cloud in the Gold Saucer Battle Square.
You'll need to take plenty of gold with you, at least 200 to be safe, and fight
until you earn 32,000 battle points. You can then buy the manual as an item.
If you do this on disk 1 I've been told the price for the manual is about
51,200, so I recommend you wait until disk 2 or 3. You don't really need
Omnislash any earlier anyway.
Barret Wallace:
You can get the Catastrophe manual for Barret any time after stopping the train
in Corel on disk 2. Once this part of the game is done, enter the house
closest to the inn on the upper tier. There is a lady inside who says something
about her late husband and will give you a memento of the man, which is the
Catastrophe manual.
Tifa Lockheart:
Tifa's Final Heaven manual can be gained on disk 2 or later, anytime after
getting Cloud back from his coma. You simply return to Nibelheim with Tifa in
your party, and make your way to her room in her house. You want to play the
piano there. You'll need to remember the tune you played in the flashback. If
you can't recall, it goes like this: X, Square, Triangle, R1 + Triangle,
R1 + Square, X, Square, Triangle, R1 + X, O, X, Square, X. If you did it
correctly she should say something about having the sheet music for the song
and you'll also get her Final Heaven manual.
Aeris Gainsborough:
This one is a bit tricky to get. It has to be done on disk 1 if you actually
intend to teach it to her so I'm writing this assuming you will be trying for
it on disk 1. Okay, to get Aeris's Great Gospel manual you'll first need to
wait until you have the buggy, just after the Corel Prison sequence. Once the
buggy is in your possession, drive it into Costa del Sol. Note: do not get off
the buggy before entering town, just drive it right on in. Now head to the
docks and talk to the sailor by the cargo ship. He'll let you ride the ship
back to Junon for 100 gil. When you get to Junon leave town and you'll discover
you've brought the buggy along with you. You now want to head north east to the
river. There is a shallow spot you can cross using the buggy. Do so and head
east until you find a cave entrance. Inside the cave you will find a sleeping
old man. He won't talk to you much until you battle a certain number of times.
The trick is to make the last two digits of the number of battles you fought
match. For example, when you've fought 33 battles or 244 battle he will talk to
you since the last 2 digits match. Just fight outside of his cave until you
get a number that works. When you talk to him again he will give you an item,
sometimes it's a Bolt ring and sometimes it's Mythril. You are after the
Mythril. If he gives you a Bolt ring just go outside and fight 11 more battles
to get to the next number of fights that puts your last 2 digits at the same
number. For example if you have fought 22 times and he gives you a Bolt Ring
go out and fight 11 more times. You'll now have 33 fights and he'll talk to
you again. Just keep doing this until you get the Mythril. He will give you a
Bolt Ring when the matching numbers are even and a Mythril when they are odd.
Now you can proceed with the game until you get to Rocket Town. Once you go
through the Rocket Town sequence you'll have Cid as a party member and you'll
also have use of the Tiny Bronco. Take the Tiny Bronco to Nibelheim. Once there
use the plane to travel up the river and across the continent. You should come
out near Gold Saucer. Near the end of the river you'll see a little house on
your right. This house was previously unoccupied, but now you can get off the
plane and go inside. The guy inside will talk about the keystone for a bit.
When you get the chance tell him to change the subject and he'll talk about the
weapons he makes and having a shortage of mythril. Give him the mythril and
he'll reward you by letting you pick a chest as a prize. Go up the stairs to
the top floor and go all the way left. Open the little box on the wall to
receive the Great Gospel manual. The big box on the lower floor just contains
a Gold Armlet.
Red XIII:
You get Red XIII's Cosmos Memory pretty early in the game, on disk 1. The first
time you get to Nibelheim you'll be heading to the Shinra mansion. You'll need
to open the safe on the 2nd floor to get the Odin materia and the basement key
that you'll need to find Vincent. When you open the safe you'll fight a boss
called the Lost Number. For winning this fight you'll receive the Cosmos Memory
manual.
Yuffie Kisaragi:
You can get Yuffie's All Creation Manual as early as disk 1 when you have the
Tiny Bronco. Simply travel to Wutai and challenge the masters of the Pagoda.
Once you beat the last boss, who is Godo, Yuffie's father, you'll receive the
Leviathan summon and the All Creation Manual.
Cait Sith:
He has no level 4 limit break and therefore no manual to teach it to him.
Vincent Valentine:
You can get Vincent's Chaos manual as soon as you gain access to the submarine.
Simply put him in your party and then take the sub to the river mouth north of
Cost del Sol. Make sure not to miss it altogether. Dive underwater and look
for a small cave entrance. Just follow the path until you come to a circular
room. Surface and you'll be in a small lake. You can dock the sub on the side
and go into a cave hidden behind the waterfall. You'll see a flashback sequence
with Vincent here. Once its over leave the area, and go somewhere that you can
fight. I suggest the Gold Saucer area since it's the closest sub dock. After
you've fought at least 10 times return to the cave where he had his flashback
and you'll receive the Chaos manual and his final weapon, the Death Penalty.
When looking for the unde water tunnel be aware that it branches off of the
tunnel that leads you to the Key of Ancients. You can also use a green, black
or gold chocobo to do this in place of the sub.
Cid Highwind:
Cid's Highwind manual is easy to get. Once you have the sub travel to the Gold
Saucer sub dock. Now you want to dive underwater. There will be the wreckage of
a cargo plane nearby. You can find all kinds of goodies in this plane, called
the Gelnika. One of the chests in the cargo room contains the Highwind manual.
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A Glitch in the System [learning-d]
----------------------
There is a known glitch in the limit break system that can cause some major
problems with your game. This glitch generally does one of two things.
1) When you start a new game sometimes this glitch will occur. When this
happens you will find that instead of starting out with just your 1/1 limit
break your character(s) will have all limit breaks already learned. This may
appear as a wonderful occurrence at first but don't count it as a blessing just
yet. I'm not sure what ramifications if any this has later in the game. It's
possible this could screw a few things up later on, such as getting Final
Attack from Battle Arena since you need to buy Omnislash and teach it to Cloud
as one of the requirements to access the special battle. You can't exactly
teach it to him if he already knows it and I'm not sure if the game will count
it or not. I haven't had this glitch happen to me so I'm not sure if this would
really happen but it definitely seems possible. Anyone who has learned
omnislash via GameShark will know that the game doesn't count it when you try
to access the special battle, so it's quite possible the game won't count the
glitch either. If anyone knows for certain that there are problems caused by
this glitch please let me know so I can list them here.
2) The second occurrence of the glitch can be even more frustrating. Have you
ever learned all of a character's limits except the last one and then tried to
use his/her manual but the game still won't let you learn the level 4 limit?
Well that would be the glitch coming into play again. Once again I haven't had
this happen to me, but I know a few people who have, and by all reports they've
never found a way to fix the problem short of starting a new game. Basically
you just have to start all over or just keep playing without use of the level 4
limit for the character(s) that this happens to.
Those are the two most common results of the glitch. There are a few other that
I've heard of but I don't know for certain if there is any truth to them, never
having personally witnessed them. I'll list them anyway for reference.
1) You can't learn limits at all. You get stuck with your 1/1 limit for the
entire game no matter how many times you meet the requirements to learn the new
limits.
2) Learning a new limit gets delayed. You make the required number of kills or
uses to get the next limit but you still don't learn it. Then later on,
sometimes after learning the limits after the one that wouldn't work, you'll
suddenly learn the limit you missed for no apparent reason.
Well that's all I can tell you on that topic. This glitch is known to happen,
but fortunately it doesn't seem to happen very often. I've played through FF7 a
total of 13 times so far and I've never had any of it happen to me. Just hope
you are as lucky as I've been.
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LIMIT BREAK DETAILS AND REQUIREMENTS [contents-006]
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This section will provide descriptions of each character’s limit breaks as well
as details on how to acquire them. The number of uses and kills in this section
are taken from the hard coded data in the game’s memory dumps and are what I
previously considered my control set for the Limit Break Mechanics Study.
For anyone wondering exactly what the Limit Break Mechanics Study was, it
basically boils down to myself and a few other people actually physically
counting kills and uses throughout multiple play throughs of the game. This was
done to try and clear up confusion about the actual kill and use numbers. This
confusion initially occurred for two main reasons. First, the original official
strategy guides for this game were actually published with incorrect data on
this subject. I’m not sure where the data came from, but it was flat out wrong.
Second, many people had noticed issues with the limit break system in the game.
Even when the glitches mentioned above were not coming into play, people had
started to notice that kills and especially uses just didn’t seem to add up to
what the data in the guides was saying.
The data below is accurate according to what the data in the game says is
correct. Our study found that the game itself is sometimes correct, but also
sometimes not. I can only assume that some minor bugs in the coding can on
occasion keep the game from counting correctly. The more we played, the more
we discovered exactly what does and doesn’t count toward uses and kills so
I’m pretty confident in saying that the game gets it close, but it doesn’t
get it perfect.
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Cloud Strife [limits-a]
-------------
Cloud’s limits, as expected for the lead character, are some of the most
powerful limits available in the game. They are all aimed at causing damage to
your enemies. This in combination with Cloud being your main party member for
the vast majority of the game result in a higher kill and use requirement to
obtain all of his limits.
Limit 1/1: Braver
Requirements: None
This is Cloud’s starting limit break. Braver consists of a single downward
slash, which deals 3 times the normal damage to it’s target.
Limit 1/2: Cross-Slash
Requirements: Use Braver 8 times to learn
Cross-Slash is a single physical attack consisting of three slashes. It deals
about 3.25 times the normal damage and may inflict paralysis on the target.
Limit 2/1: Blade Beam
Requirements: Kill 120 enemies (from a starting count of zero)
Blade Beam strikes a single enemy and releases a wave of energy doing 3.5
times the normal damage to the primary target. Shock waves from the strike
deal roughly normal damage to other enemies.
Limit 2/2: Climhazzard
Requirements: Use Blade Beam 7 times to learn
Climhazzard is a single thrust into the enemy followed by a jump that pulls
the sword up through the enemy. This results in roughly 4.25 times the normal
damage.
Limit 3/1: Meteorain
Requirements: Kill 200 enemies (320 total including the previous kill count)
Meteorain, as the name implies consists of six falling meteors. Each meteor
hits for roughly 1.5 times normal damage.
Limits 3/2: Finishing Touch
Requirements: Use Meteorain 6 times to learn
Finishing Touch hits enemies with a tornado attack dealing instant death to
those not immune. Those immune to death effects take about 3 times the normal
damage.
Limit 4/1: Omnislash
Requirements: All 6 previous limits learned and use Omnislash Manual
Omnislash consists of 15 randomly targeted strikes with a critical hit
effect at about 0.75 the normal damage each.
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Barret Wallace [limits-b]
---------------
Barret’s limits are mostly strikes in nature. He does have one limit that can
drain enemy MP, which can be helpful when using him as a secondary magic user
or healer.
Limit 1/1: Big Shot
Requirements: None
This is Barret’s starting limit break. Big Shot targets one enemy with a large
fireball dealing 3.25 times the normal damage.
Limit 1/2: Mind Blow
Requirements: use Big Shot 9 times to learn
Mind Blow is a single target gravity elemental attack. It consists of a blue
ball of energy, which drains MP from the target.
Limit 2/1: Grenade Bomb
Requirements: Kill 80 enemies (from a starting count of zero)
Grenade Bomb launches a grenade at your enemies. It can deal about 3.5 times
normal damage to a single target. It can also hit multiple targets instead at
reduced damage.
Limit 2/2: Hammerblow
Requirements: Use Grenade Bomb 8 times to learn
Hammerblow is a close range attack using Barret’s mech arm. It deals instant
death to enemies not immune to such effects. Enemies that are immune to death
effects take no damage.
Limit 3/1: Satellite Beam
Requirements: Kill 80 enemies (160 total including previous kill count)
Satellite Beam, as the name implies, calls down an aerial beam attack against
all enemies for a critical hit of about 2.25 times normal damage.
Limit 3/2: Ungermax (Angermax)
Requirements: Use Satellite Beam 6 times to learn
Ungermax is a bullet barrage consisting of 18 shots aimed at random enemies.
These shot deal about 0.5 times normal damage.
Limit 4/1: Catastrophe
Requirements: All 6 previous limits learned and use Catastrophe Manual
Catastrophe is a wide beam attack that hits 10 times against random enemies for
1.25 times the normal damage.
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Tifa Lockheart [limits-c]
---------------
Tifa’s limits are a bit different than most. They work kind of like a slot
machine. You have a set of reels that spin during her limit break and you have
to stop the reel on “Hit” to connect, or “Yeah!” to connect and deal double
damage. Landing on “Miss” results in no damage being dealt. The higher the
level of the limit the harder it becomes to stop on “Yeah!”
As Tifa learns her limits a new reel is added to her limit break. That means
that the more limits you learn the more hits you can make during her limit
break. Each limit has a reel and you have to stop each reel at the correct time
in order to keep her attacking. Each attack deals physical damage to a random
enemy.
Limit 1/1: Beat Rush
Requirements: None
Beat Rush is Tifa’s starting limit break. Tifa will run up to a single enemy
and punch it a few times resulting in about 1.25 times normal damage.
Limit 1/2: Somersault
Requirements: Use Beat Rush 9 times to learn
Tifa will Somersault into the air as she kicks an enemy dealing about 1.25
times normal damage.
Limit 2/1: Waterkick
Requirements: Kill 96 enemies (from a starting count of zero)
Tifa performs a circling sweep kick, which is followed by a blast of water.
This results in about 1.5 times normal damage.
Limit 2/2: Meteodrive
Requirements: Use Waterkick 7 times to learn
Tifa picks up the enemy and suplex slams it into the ground. This deals about
1.5 times normal damage.
Limit 3/1: Dolphin Blow
Requirements: Kill 96 enemies (192 total including previous kill count)
Tifa performs an uppercut, which is followed by a spout of water and a leaping
dolphin. This attack deals about 1.75 times normal damage.
Limit 3/2: Meteor Strike
Requirements: Use Dolphin Blow 6 times to learn
Tifa, will pick up her enemy, spin it around, and leap into the air before
launching it into the ground. This attack deals approximately 2 times the
normal damage.
Limit 4/1: Final Heaven
Requirements: All 6 previous limits learned and use the Final Heaven Manual.
Final Heaven is a punch that creates a huge energy blast. It will deal about
2.5 times normal damage.
Note: There has been some confusion on the hit, miss, and yeah slots and how
they pertain to learning limits. You MUST land either Hit or Yeah in order for
the strike to count toward the use total needed to learn the next limit. Also
of note, is that you can only learn a */2 limit for the level you have her set
to. So if you hit her kill total and learn all of her */1 limits, you can’t
just set her to level three and expect to learn all of her */2 limits even
though you are using them in combat. You would only be counting toward her 3/2
limit if you did this and still would not learn 1/2 or 2/2.
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Aeris Gainsborough [limits-d]
-------------------
Aeris defaults to the group healer. This is reflected in her selection of limit
breaks. Most focus on either healing the party or providing status buffs.
Aeris has limited involvement in the game after a certain point rather early on
so it’s important to retrieve her very powerful Level 4 limit as early as you
can if you want to actually make use of it.
Limit 1/1: Healing Wind
Requirements: None
Healing Wind is Aeris’s starting limit break. It heals the entire party for
half their maximum hit points.
Limit 1/2: Seal Evil
Requirements: Use Healing Wind 8 times to learn
Casts Paralyze and Silence on all targets that are not immune to these effects.
Limit 2/1: Breath of the Earth
Requirements: Kill 80 enemies (from a starting count of zero)
Breath of the Earth cures many status effects on the party including Sleep,
Poison, Silence, Sadness, Fury, Confusion, Slow, Stop, Frog, Small, Slow-numb,
and Petrify. The one drawback here is that you sometimes want a status such as
Fury to be in effect. Getting uses for this one can slow down your limit bar
because of this.
Limit 2/2: Fury Brand
Requirements: Use Breath of the Earth 6 times to learn
In recompense for Breadth of the Earth killing your Fury status, Fury brand
will immediately fill the limit bar of your two companions when used.
Limit 3/1: Planet Protector
Requirements: Kill 80 enemies (160 total including previous kill count)
Planet protector grants all party members temporary invincibility.
Limit 3/2: Pulse of Life
Requirements: use Planet Protector 5 times to learn
Pulse of Life fully restores the party’s HP and MP and also cures all negative
status effects.
Limit 4/1: Great Gospel
Requirements: All 6 previous limits learned and use Great Gospel Manual
Great Gospel completely restores the party’s HP and MP and temporarily makes
them invincible against all physical and magical attacks.
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Red XIII [limits-e]
---------
Red XIII has some of the most diverse limits in the game. The lower level ones
tend to focus on stat buffs. The upper level ones get into multi-hit attacks.
His final limit can deal some massive amounts of damage, although being single
hit this becomes limited later in the game compared to multi-hit final limits.
Limit 1/1: Sled Fang
Requirements: None
This is Red XIII’s starting limit break. Red pounces on his enemy dealing 3
times the normal damage.
Limit 1/2: Lunatic High
Requirements: Use Sled Fang 8 times to learn
Lunatic High adds the Haste status to the entire party. It will also boost
Red’s Defense % by 50% for each surviving party member.
Limit 2/1: Blood Fang
Requirements: Kill 72 enemies (from a starting count of zero)
Blood Fang targets a single enemy doing 1.25 times normal damage. It also
absorbs about 25% of that damage as HP and MP to heal Red.
Limit 2/2: Stardust Ray
Requirements: Use Blood Fang 7 times to learn
Stardust Ray is a barrage of stars that fall on the enemy for 10 random hits at
about half normal damage.
Limit 3/1: Howling Moon
Requirements: Kill 72 enemies (144 total including previous kill count)
Red will howl a the moon granting himself Haste and Berserk Status. His attack
will also be boosted up to 60%, but cannot exceed 100%.
Limit 3/2: Earth Rave
Requirements: Use Howling Moon 6 times to learn
Earth Rave attack 5 random enemies doing nearly 2 times normal damage.
Limit 4/1: Cosmo Memory
Requirements: All 6 previous limits learned and use Cosmo Memory Manual
Red will howl to Cosmo Canyon, which summons a massive energy beam that hits
all enemies for about 8 times the normal damage. Unfortunately the damage cap
is 9,999 on a single hit so it isn’t as useful as multi-hit limits late game.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yuffie Kisaragi [limits-f]
------------------
Yuffie is another very diverse character. Her attack oriented limits have good
power and often target multiple enemies. She also has one of only two healing
limits available outside of Aeris’s arsenal. It’s possible to get Yuffie very
early in the game, but the developers didn’t expect her to be obtained until
fairly late. As a result her kill requirements are lower than the other
characters.
Limit 1/1: Greased Lightning
Requirements: None
Greased Lightening is a dashing attack that deals 3 times normal damage to an
enemy.
Limit 1/2: Clear Tranquil
Requirements: Use Greased Lightning 8 times to learn
Clear Tranquil is one of two healing limits not held by Aeris. It heals all
party members for half their maximum HP.
Limit 2/1: Landscaper
Requirements: Kill 64 enemies (from a starting count of zero)
Landscaper is an earth element attack. It causes an earthquake that damages all
ground based enemies for 3 times normal damage. Aerial enemies take no damage.
Limit 2/2: Bloodfest
Requirements: Use Landscaper 7 times to learn
Bloodfest is a series of 10 randomly targeted attacks that do about half normal
damage each.
Limit 3/1: Gauntlet
Requirements: Kill 64 enemies (128 total including previous kill count)
Gauntlet consists of Yuffie launching a large bomb targeting all enemies. This
attack deals 1.75 times normal damage and ignores the enemy defense stats when
calculating damage. It’s also always a critical hit.
Limit 3/2: Doom of the Living
Requirements: Use Gauntlet 6 times to learn
Doom of the Living consists of 15 randomly targeted hits doing about half
normal damage.
Limit 4/1: All Creation
Requirements: All 6 previous limits and use the All Creation Manual
Much like Red XIII’s Cosmo Memory, All creation is a large energy beam that
hits all enemies and does 8 times normal damage. It suffers from the same
damage cap as Cosmo Memory as well.
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Cait Sith [limits-g]
----------
Cait Sith is...well...different. Sometimes that’s good and sometimes bad. He’s
a gambler type character and he only has two limits total. The damage these
limits inflict is random and as such they can be extremely powerful. They can
also be laughably weak. Cait Sith can be fun to play, but never count on his
limits to win a fight.
Limit 1/1: Dice
Requirements: None
Cait Sith throws down his dice and a multiple of the result is the amount of
damage he inflicts on the enemy. He gains one die every 10 levels, so there is
an increase in damage as his character grows. Damage is calculated based on the
sum of all dice, times the sum of the highest repeated number, times 100. So
damage can range from decent to terrible depending on your luck.
Limit 2/1: Slots
Requirements: Kill 40 enemies (from a starting count of zero)
Slots can be dangerous. It’s basically just a slot machine and depending on
what slots you stop of you will get various effects as a result.
///Slots///
Toy Soldier:
A battalion of toy soldiers appear and fire at all enemies dealing 5 times
normal damage.
Mog Dance:
A Moogle dances to restore all HP and MP for the party.
Lucky Girl:
A cat-girl appears to grant all characters automatic critical hits for the rest
of the batter. Anyone KOed and revived will not have this status restored with
the revival.
Transform:
This requires at least one other party member to be alive. Cait Sith being solo
will cause it to fail. Basically your allies are absorbed into Cait Sith and he
grows into a stronger version of himself. His new stats are an average of the
characters absorbed, but cannot exceed normal stat limits. Cait Sith will stay
in this form the rest of the battle and can do everything as normal except use
additional limits. When the battle is over the remaining HP and MP will be
divided evenly back to the individual characters and anyone that was KOed will
be revived.
Game Over:
This will cause instant death to all enemies in a two sided battle. Those with
death immunity will still be killed by this attack. In rare 3 sided battles,
where you are being attacked from both sides, only one side will get hit with
the Game Over attack.
Death Joker:
All allies are instantly killed. Normal methods of resisting death will not
work to save you. The only way you can survive this is if you are in three
sided battle with the enemy in the middle. Only one half of you party is hit
this way and the other side will survive the attack.
Summon:
A random summon is performed. Cait Sith’s level affects how strong of a summon
is called. The higher his level, the more likely a strong summon will appear.
Toy Box:
A random object is dropped on one enemy.
Falling Rock:
Hits a single enemy for 2 times normal damage.
Icicles:
Hits a single enemy for 2.5 times normal damage.
Weight:
Hits all enemies for 3 times normal damage.
Hammer:
Hits a single enemy for 3.5 times normal damage.
Fat Chocobo:
Hits a single enemy for 4 times normal damage.
Hell House:
Hits a single enemy for 4.5 times normal damage.
Meteorites:
Hits a single enemy for 5 times normal damage.
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Vincent Valentine [limits-h]
------------------
Vincent is another character with an unusual and unpredictable set of limits.
I find them to be a bit more useful than Cait Sith’s, but they can still get you
into trouble.
Vincent has only one limit break per level for a total of four. When he uses a
limit he will transform into an uncontrollable monster. This means that he will
auto-fight for the rest of the battle or until he is KOed. While in this form,
he will automatically use one of two available abilities.
Limit 1/1: Galiant Beast
Requirements: None
When Vincent transforms into the Galian Beast, he takes on the appearance of
what looks to me to be a cross between a werewolf and a behemoth. Oh, and he’s
purple. His Defense increases by 20%, his Dexterity by 50%, and his Max HP is
set at 130% normal. His abilities in this form are:
Berserk Dance:
Single target physical attack that hits for 1.5 times normal damage.
Beast Flare:
A magical attack that targets all enemies for 3.75 time normal damage as a
fire elemental attack.
Limit 2/1: Death Gigas
Requirements: Kill 40 enemies (from a starting count of zero)
Death Gigas bears a resemblance to Frankenstein’s Monster. Defense is increased
by 50%, Mdefense is decreased by 70%, and Dexterity is decreased by 20%. Max HP
is set at 200% of normal. His abilities in this form are:
Gigadunk:
A physical attack targeting a single enemy for about 2.5 times normal damage.
Livewire:
A magical attack targeting all enemies for about 4.5 times normal damage as a
lightning elemental attack.
Limit 3/1: Hellmasker
Requirements: Kill 56 enemies (96 total including previous kill count)
Leatherface!!! Well not exactly. Hellmasker is kind of a cross between old
Leatherface and Jason of Friday the 13th fame. Both Defense and Mdefense are
increased by 50% in this form. Abilities in this form are:
Splattercombo:
This is a physical attack for five random hits at half damage.
Nightmare:
A status attack that inflicts Sleep, Poison, Silence, Confuse, Frog, and
Mini on one enemy.
Limit 4/1: Chaos
Requirements: All 3 previous limits and use Chaos Manual
Finally we get to the demon bat vampire monster we were waiting on. In this
form Defense and Mdefense are increased by a full 100% Abilities are:
Chaos Saber:
A physical attack for 2.5 times normal damage against all enemies.
Satan Slam:
This does 5.5 times normal damage against all enemies with a 28% chance to
inflict instant death on those not immune to the effect.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cid Highwind [limits-i]
-------------
Cid can be a real powerhouse, featuring limits that often hit multiple enemies
or multiple times. His final limit has the potential to be one of the most
devastating in the game. He is also fairly easy to learn limits for as being
introduced later in the game results in lower requirements to learn.
Limit 1/1: Boost Jump
Requirements: None
A classic dragoon’s jumping spear attack. Boost Jump targets a single enemy for
3.25 times normal damage.
Limit 1/2: Dynamite
Requirements: Use Boost Jump 7 times to learn
Cid will light up a stick of dynamite with his cigar and toss it into the enemy
ranks, targeting them all for 2.25 times normal damage.
Limit 2/1: Hyper Jump
Requirements: Kill 60 enemies (from a starting count of zero)
Another dragoon style jump attack. This one is followed up with an explosion
and targets all enemies for 3.5 times normal damage with a 20% chance of
causing instant death to those not immune.
Limit 2/2: Dragon
Requirements: Use Hyper Jump 6 times to learn
Cid will summon a dragon to attack a single enemy for 1.25 times normal damage.
He will absorb about 25% of that damage in HP and MP with a capped limit equal
to the enemy’s current HP/MP.
Limit 3/1: Dragon Dive
Requirements: Kill 76 enemies (136 total including previous kill count)
Another dragoon style spear attack. This one consists of multiple hits on
random enemies for 1.5 times normal damage. There is a 28% chance to inflict
instant death on those not immune.
Limit 3/2: Big Brawl
Requirements: Use Dragon Dive 5 times to learn
A slashing attack against 8 random enemies dealing slightly more damage than
normal.
Limit 4/1: Highwind
Requirements: All 6 previous limits and use the Highwind Manual.
Cid calls in the Highwind for an aerial strike for 18 hits on random targets at
0.75 normal damage. Late game, this along with Omnislash and Ungermax are the
most devastating attacks in the game.
Section Complete
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CONCLUSION [contents-007]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well that concludes my Limit Break Mechanics Guide. Due to various requests of
GameFAQs board users and comments in the rating system at GameFAQs and other
sites I’ve decided to rework the layout of the guide a bit and make it more of
and actual guide and less of a study. The additional counts we did as part of
the study can be found on my website at http://www.poppameth.com if you are
interested. Otherwise this guide is complete for the foreseeable future.
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END
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