Limited Moon (Final Fantasy VII)

The Limited Moon is Red XIII's ultimate weapon in Final Fantasy VII. The weapon has eight linked Materia slots, very high stats, and a more complex mechanic: the weapon deals damage based on the portion of Red XIII's current MP. The Limited Moon has the highest physical damage output of any of Red XIII's weapons, and is extremely useful for magic damage.
Like all Red XIII's weapons, Limited Moon is not rendered or visible in-game, and also cannot be thrown.
==Obtained==
The Limited Moon is obtained in Cosmo Canyon in the endgame, "Feelings from the Heart of Every Place". Following the events of "Mako Cannon Rampage", the player can return to Cosmo Canyon and talk to Geisel Bugenhagen, who will give Red XIII the weapon after a cutscene.
==Mechanics==
The Limited Moon has the greatest Attack stat bonus of any of Red XIII's weapons, and the second-highest Magic stat. It comes with a damage formula where it deals physical damage based on Red XIII's current MP in the following formula:
:[(3 \times Power \times Red XIII's~MP) / Red XIII's~Max~MP] + 1
This is then modified by the attack's power; for normal attacks, the multiplier is 1.0. Unlike most other damage modifiers, each character's ultimate weapon applies the damage modifier after all other modifiers, instead of modifying the attack strength of the weapon itself.
Assuming Power is 1, the weapon would have 4x its normal attack at full MP.
==Use==
The Limited Moon is Red XIII's ultimate weapon, and serves his needs both as a physical damage and magic damage weapon. This makes it the best choice for him in the majority of situations, with its only real drawback being that its slots have zero AP growth. As such, the Plus Barrette is still Red XIII's best weapon for AP grinding.
Red XIII is typically best built towards spellcasting due to his base stats. Because the Limited Moon's physical damage output depends on Red XIII's current MP, it is important to use the MP Absorb Materia if continuing to play Red XIII as a spellcaster, his preferred role. By pairing this with the Master Magic or Master Summon Materia, it is still possible to mix Support Materia with other Magic or Summon Materia.
Another option is to simply forgo spellcasting and build Red XIII purely for physical damage, giving him various Command and Independent Materia. This is entirely viable on Red XIII, and with his second level Limit, Stardust Ray, he can deal 10 hits that each deal considerable damage, and his Earth Rave allows him to deal 5 hits at higher damage per hit. With the right Strength stat boost provided by Power Sources, he can reach 9999 damage a hit with these.
The Limited Moon should be used in most cases for Red XIII once acquired, aside from when the player is level grinding. In these instances, Plus Barrette is a better choice as its Materia slots have double AP growth. In other areas, Limited Moon is Red XIII's best choice of weapon.
==Etymology==
Category:Weapons in Final Fantasy VII