Enhance Sword (Final Fantasy VII)

The Enhance Sword is a weapon for Cloud in Final Fantasy VII. It is acquired midway through the game. Notably, it provides eight Materia slots, four sets of two linked slots, which is more than any of Cloud's weapons aside from the Ultima Weapon. However, its Attack stats are inferior compared to other weapons available at this time, notably the Organics. The player can equip it to Cloud or throw it.
==Obtained==
The Enhance Sword can be found on Gaea's Cliff during "Beyond the Snow Fields". It can also be purchased for 12,000 gil at Junon, once the player has the Highwind.
==Mechanics==
As the Enhance Sword has a base Attack stat bonus of 43, the base damage for physical attacks when the Enhance Sword is equipped is in the following formula:
:\text{Base Damage} = \text{(43 + Strength)} + \frac{\text{(43 + Strength)} + \text{Level}}{32} \times \frac{\text{(43 + Strength)} \times \text{Level}}{32}
where "Level" is Cloud's current level and "Strength" is his Strength stat. The Enhance Sword also has an Attack% (Accuracy) of 107%, and grants a +16 bonus to Cloud's Magic stat when casting spells.
==Use==
The Enhance Sword's main strength is its eight Materia slots, four sets of two linked slots. This is more Materia slots than any of Cloud's weapons until Ultima Weapon, which does not provide AP gain to Materia. The main drawback to Enhance Sword is that its Attack stat is only barely better than Butterfly Edge's, and though it has a higher Magic stat and slightly higher Attack%, it has a much lower Attack stat than the Organics. Which sword is better depends on how the player is using Cloud: if primarily used for casting spells, the Enhance Sword is the better choice, while if his physical damage and Limits are more important, Organics is better.
The Enhance Sword's Materia slots are all linked, meaning they can benefit from Support Materia. Equipping the weapon makes Cloud a good choice to equip many Summon Materia or Magic Materia, benefiting greatly from Cloud's Magic stat, and equipping four Summon and/or Magic Materia will also increase Cloud's Magic stat even further, making him a powerful spellcaster. Though Cloud can also equip other Materia, they will not benefit as much from the weapon, meaning other characters are better choices for certain Command Materia abilities.
Enhance Sword is outclassed overall by Crystal Sword, which provides a higher Magic stat and significantly higher Attack, but two fewer Materia slots. Though the Enhance Sword can equip several Materia at once, it does not have access to Double or Triple AP, like later weapons for Cloud, such as Rune Blade or Apocalypse. This means that Enhance Sword is less useful later on. After Ultima Weapon is acquired, if the player has Double or Triple AP weapons to level up Materia, it is effectively redundant.
Category:Weapons in Final Fantasy VII