Spiral Shuriken (Final Fantasy VII)

The Spiral Shuriken is a weapon for Yuffie in Final Fantasy VII. It can first be purchased after the player has the Highwind. The Spiral Shuriken has above average stats, but more notably has eight Materia slots, two of which are linked.
==Obtained==
Spiral Shuriken can be purchased for 14,000 gil from Costa del Sol after the party has the Highwind. It is available around the same time as the Crystal Cross.
==Mechanics==
As the Spiral Shuriken has a base Attack stat bonus of 68, the base damage for physical attacks when it is equipped is in the following formula:
:\text{Base Damage} = \text{(68 + Strength)} + \frac{\text{(68 + Strength)} + \text{Level}}{32} \times \frac{\text{(68 + Strength)} \times \text{Level}}{32}
where "Level" is Yuffie's current level and "Strength" is her Strength stat. The Spiral Shuriken also has an Attack% (Accuracy) of 110%, and grants a +18 bonus to Yuffie's Magic stat. The Spiral Shuriken also has a +2% boost to Yuffie's critical hit rate.
==Use==
The Spiral Shuriken is available around the same time as the Crystal Cross. By comparison, it is slightly cheaper with moderately lower stats, but two additional Materia slots, although fewer are linked. The Spiral Shuriken is one of only three weapons for Yuffie that provides eight Materia slots, along with Oritsuru and the Conformer. Yuffie's average stats mean she can build the weapon towards either physical or magic damage, depending on player preference. Though her Limit Breaks include powerful multi-hit abilities, she also has Clear Tranquil, a powerful free heal if left on level 1.
Spiral Shuriken's eight Materia slots give her access to a wide variety of options, but because only two are linked, she can only equip one Support Materia. This limitation slightly weakens her position for magic damage, but can lend itself well to equipping Materia for a physical damage role (such as using Elemental or Added Effect), and the unlinked slots allow her to equip many Independent Materia with no repercussions. Conversely, the large abundance of Materia mean she can have more spells and more stat boosts to Magic that are provided, and her armor can be used for any excess Magic Materia needing linked slots.
Whether Spiral Shuriken is preferable to Crystal Cross depends on how much the player values linked Materia slots, or values the additional slots. If eight largely unlinked slots is preferable to six fully linked ones, then Spiral Shuriken is a better choice, as any stat advantages are negligible. When Yuffie has the Oritsuru, however, it renders Spiral Shuriken redundant as it has as many slots but four linked rather than two. Conformer also outclasses Spiral Shuriken, though its eight Materia slots have no AP growth.
==Etymology==
Category:Weapons in Final Fantasy VII