Gold Needle Gold Needle , also known as Soft , is an item that appears in various games in the series . It can be used to cure the Petrify status ailment , and in some games , it causes Instant Death to opponents based in stone . Appearances . " Final Fantasy IV " . " Final Fantasy IV - Interlude - " . Gold Needles can be bought in all stores , and can also be found or dropped from various enemies . " Final Fantasy V " . Gold Needles are an effective way of gaining ABP because they instantly kill the enemies in the basement of Bal Castle . This method also works on all stone based enemies , making it a somewhat limited , but still fairly useful trick to remember . In the Game Boy Advance version , Cannoneers can use Gold Needles with the Combine ability to create Needle Shot , Needle Burst , and Needle Cannon , respectively , each of which are based on 1000 Needles . Shot deals 1000 guaranteed damage , Burst deals 2000 , and Cannon deals 3000 . " Final Fantasy IX " . Princess Garnet and Steiner have to help Marcus and Baku retrieve a rare key item called Supersoft from Doctor Tot in Treno . They need this item to rescue their petrified " brother " , Blank , who is trapped in Evil Forest . All " Stone " type enemies can be killed instantly by using a Soft on them , displaying the message " became too soft to live " before vanishing . No EXP will be awarded for an enemy killed in this manner , but AP will still be given . " Final Fantasy Tactics " . The ability required to use it can be learned from the Chemist job for 250 JP . " Final Fantasy Tactics Advance " . A Ranger can use a Gold Needle with Mirror Item to turn targets to stone . " Final Fantasy Adventure " . Soft can be bought for 90 GP and remove the Ston status , it has 3 uses . " The Final Fantasy Legend " . Needle can be bought for 500 GP . It removes the condition of Stone from a party member and it has 3 uses . " Final Fantasy Legend II " . The item is called Soft and it has a potion icon before its name . It can be bought in numerous towns across the various worlds for 1000 GP . It has 4 uses , and also increases a Robot ' s HP by 9 when equipped on them . The item heals Ston from one target . " Final Fantasy Legend III " . Soft heals the Petri status . It can be bought for 200 GP in the following locations : Cirrus , Darius , Dharm , Donmac , Elan ( Past and Future ) , Floatland Town , Knaya , Muu ( Past , Present , and Future ) , and New Dharm . Gold Needles can be bought for 50 G at Urbeth and Invidia . Non - " Final Fantasy " guest appearances . After Matoya stoned Lana . Pit helps her remember them , and she materializes a Soft potion to remove the petrification on Lana that pours on her . The Gold Needle was called SOFT with a potion icon after its name ( Soft Potion ) in the original Nintendo translation . Etymology . The concept for this item could originate from ( needle therapy ) . However , the original intent as shown by the early artwork is clearly a sewing needle , rather than an acupuncture needle . Gold - plated needles intended for cloth are reputed to have a smooth glide both through the cloth and when threading , which may be intended as a means of piercing the stone .