Slots (Final Fantasy VII)

Slots is Cait Sith's level 2 Limit in Final Fantasy VII where a slot machine determines the effect. Slots can lead to incredibly powerful effects that boost the party or damage the enemy, but can also sometimes lead to devastating effects on the player that uses it.
Slots is one of only two Cait Sith Limit Breaks. Once he obtains Slots, he does not require any Limit Break manuals or further grinding as other party members do.
Slots operates similar to Tifa's Limit Breaks, where her attacks depend on landing "Yeah!", "Hit", or "Miss". The main difference is that Cait Sith's Slots are more random in their effects, and he will only have three reels throughout the game.
==Obtained==
Slots is obtained by Cait Sith killing 40 enemies. The large forest in the Nibel Area past Mt. Nibel serves as a convenient place to grind for this, as it can have six enemies in a single wave (Battery Caps), and approximately 4.4 enemies appear per encounter. Cait Sith's powerful Magic stat means he can use Magic Materia with All, or use Enemy Skill Materia abilities, such as Aqualung, to kill multiple enemies in one turn.
Because Cait Sith has only two Limit Breaks, his Limit Breaks can be obtained quickly, and require little grinding compared to the other characters.
==Mechanics==
===Combinations===
Depending on Slots' combination, the following effects can occur:
Name	Combination 	Effect 	Image
 	Crown/Crown/Crown 	Toy soldiers appear and fire at all of Cait's enemies dealing five times normal damage. 	
 	Star/Star/Star 	A moogle appears and dances restoring all allies' HP and MP. 	
 	Heart/Heart/Heart 	A cat-girl appears. Makes all characters' attacks automatic critical hits until the battle ends or a character is KO'd (ceases function for that character). 	
 	Moogle/Moogle/Moogle 	Will fail if Cait Sith is alone in the battle. Cait's allies disappear and his moogle grows larger; his new stats are the summation of all three allies, but still cannot surpass the natural limits (e.g. he cannot surpass 9999 HP or 255 strength.) In this form, he can do anything Cait can do, except using Limit Breaks. When the battle is over, the amount of HP and MP left are split among all three characters (and in the process, anyone who was dead before Transform was used is revived). This means that using this move may drop the party's current HP level if their HP amount is over 3000 points.	
 	Face/Face/Face 	Causes instant death to all enemies. Game Over is not blocked by death immunity and therefore is effective against any enemy. If the battle is an attack from both sides, only one side of the enemy party is hit, and thus not all enemies are killed. 	
 	Face/Face/Bar 	All allies are instantly killed. This cannot be prevented by normal means of death immunity with Safety Bit or Death Force. If the battle is a Side Attack, only one side of the party is hit, and thus the battle will not end in a Game Over, unless the side not hit was already KOed or under other conditions that would normally result in a Game Over. 	
 	Bar/Bar/Bar 	A summon is summoned.
Random = Rnd(1..10) + Rnd(1..10) + Rnd(1..10) + Rnd(1..10)
Variable = Random + [Cait Sith's Level / 21]
ID = [Variable / 2] - 3The ID is then given to the order of the summons. The lower Cait Sith's level, the more likely the player is to use the lower summons and vice-versa. Knights of Round has a very small chance only at higher levels.The attack name is the Materia name, not the summon's name, with the exceptions of Gunge Lance and Fat Chocobo. 	
 	Else 	A random object of seven is dropped on one enemy. The abilities are not named in-game but are listed in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega: 	
 	Hits a single enemy for 2 times normal damage. 	Hits a single enemy for 2 times normal damage. 	
 	Hits a single enemy for 21⁄2 times normal damage.	Hits a single enemy for 21⁄2 times normal damage. 	
 	Hits all enemies for 3 times normal damage. 	Hits all enemies for 3 times normal damage. 	
 	Hits a single enemy for 31⁄2 times normal damage.	Hits a single enemy for 31⁄2 times normal damage. 	
 	Hits a single enemy for 4 times normal damage. 	Hits a single enemy for 4 times normal damage. 	
 	Hits a single enemy for 41⁄2 times normal damage.	Hits a single enemy for 41⁄2 times normal damage. 	
 	Hits a single enemy for 5 times normal damage. 	Hits a single enemy for 5 times normal damage. 	
===Manipulating slots===
There is a trick to manipulate Cait Sith's Slots reels: pressing will stop the reels, and tapping it repeatedly slows the reels down. This allows the player to find out where in the pattern they are and what symbol is coming up next. It also becomes easy to memorize the reels.
The first reel in Cait Sith's slots always stops when the player presses the action button, however, the next two reels behave differently depending on whether the so-called "Evil Flag" is activated. Without the Evil Flag, the second and third reels help the player get the same symbol as on the first reel by moving on for up to four spaces. With the Evil Flag on, the reels stop exactly where the player presses the button.
If the player matches the symbols on the first two reels, the third will entirely prevent the player from getting a matching three by moving on to the next space. Thus, it is impossible to line up three symbols and access the best attacks under normal conditions. There is a trick to overcome this: the game decides whether to activate the Evil Flag depending on what the symbol is on the first reel and on the timer. Evil Flag is deactivated if the number of seconds the player has played is divisible by a certain number, and the number varies from symbol to symbol.
* Crown and Star: Flag is always off.
* BAR and Moogle: Flag is off if the time is divisible by two (50% chance)
* Heart: Flag is off if the time is divisible by four (25% chance)
* Cait Sith: Flag is off if the time is divisible by 64. (1.5625% chance)
Each reel consists of a pattern of sixteen symbols that is repeated.
* Reel 1: Crown, Moogle, Star, Heart, BAR, Crown, Star, Cait Sith, BAR, Heart, Moogle, Crown, Star, Cait Sith, Moogle, BAR
* Reel 2: BAR, Crown, Star, Cait Sith, Crown, BAR, Heart, Moogle, Star, Cait Sith, Crown, BAR, Moogle, Star, Crown, Heart
* Reel 3: Crown, Star, Heart, Crown, BAR, Star, Cait Sith, Moogle, Crown, BAR, Heart, Crown, Star, BAR, Crown, Moogle
To get the desired symbol on the first reel, the player must know its preceding symbol to know when to press the button. Once the first symbol is acquired, the second and third reels are easy to manipulate if the Evil Flag is deactivated. If the Evil Flag is activated, the player can trick it by first lining up two matching symbols, and for the final symbol, quickly hit the action button twice when it shows up. If done correctly, the third reel doesn't really stop, but the three symbols are lined up when the player confirms the action. The feat is most easily achieved while playing on an emulator and slowing the game's speed.
==Use==
Slots' unreliability makes it a risk to use in the majority of circumstances. Though some effects, such as Toy Soldier, can be devastating and deal damage greater than the Level 2 Limit Breaks of other characters, and Game Over can be extremely effective at ending very difficult battles, others are subpar in comparison. There is also a risk of landing Death Joker, though the chance of this is extremely low.
Most of Slots' damaging abilities are lower than some Level 3 Limit Breaks of other characters, but being a Level 2 Limit Break means Cait Sith can charge it more quickly. Slots' damaging Limit Breaks, unlike Cait Sith's Dice, are based on his currently equipped weapon and Strength stat. As Cait Sith is best built towards spellcasting, this means if Slots does not land on Summon, it will not be able to take advantage of his superior Magic stat and will rely on physical damage that he is not typically built towards. Ultimately, the potencies on some Slot abilities, such as Toy Soldier, are high enough that this is not a problem. Cait Sith's Mog Dance is also an excellent healing Limit Break and is available to the end of the game unlike Aeris's Pulse of Life and Great Gospel.
Players who master the ability to manipulate Slots will find it more useful. By reliably landing on powerful abilities, it is possible to consistently achieve powerful desired effects with Cait Sith, making Slots a potentially game-breaking ability in the hands of the right player.
==See also==
* Final Fantasy VII Party Mechanics Guide by Terence Fergusson on GameFAQs
==Citations==
Category:Limits in Final Fantasy VII