Shield (Final Fantasy VII ability)

Shield is a magic spell in Final Fantasy VII granted by the Shield Materia. The spell is only granted by the Materia once it reaches level 2. It grants the Shield status effect, an extremely powerful status that voids all physical attacks and absorbs elemental damage for its duration, meaning characters under the status can only be damaged by items and non-elemental damage. The status can only be removed by DeBarrier and DeSpell, but it also lapses fast (faster than Barrier and MBarrier).
==Mechanics==
Magic Materia 	Shield, Master Magic
Effect 	Grants Shield status
Compatible Support Materia	Added CutFinal AttackHP AbsorbMagic CounterMP AbsorbMP TurboQuadra MagicSneak AttackSteal as well
==Use==
Shield can be used by characters with the Shield Materia at level 2, meaning its Materia provides no effect aside from stat changes until it receives 10000 AP. The spell is the strongest defensive spell, as its status effect when granted nulls all physical and elemental damage against the target. This means those under the Shield status can only be damaged by items and special non-elemental damage. The spell cannot be reflected, and its only drawback is its huge MP cost.
Shield is an extremely useful spell and provides great durability to most enemies. However, it also has an immense MP cost of 180 and is obtained late into the game, as the Shield Materia is only found in the final dungeon, and the other way to use it from the Master Materia would require the player to kill a superboss. This means that it is niche in its use, but can be useful against endgame bosses and enemies in dire situations.
Though Shield is compatible with Support Materia, it does not benefit from any, since it is incompatible with All.
Category:Magic in Final Fantasy VII