Thunder (VII Rebirth)

Thunder is a magic spell in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. It is granted by either or , and is the basic -elemental spell below and . Thunder deals a small amount of lightning-elemental damage, but has the lowest MP cost, and the shortest casting time. The spell when cast causes a bolt to hit the targeted enemy.
It is also used against the player by the following enemies: Crown Lance, Forgotten Specimen, and Two Face.
==Use==
Thunder costs 4 MP to cast with a level 1 lightning or lightning and wind materia equipped. The spell is effective broadly due to its reliable damage output, but is particularly strong against enemies that are weak to lightning (particularly mechanic enemies). Among its peers—, , and —Thunder's reliability in hitting targets makes it strong against single enemies, with a slight drawback in its area-of-effect damage.
Although Thunder is outclassed by Thundara, Thunder's quick cast time and low MP cost means it retains use. As party members' increases, the spell becomes stronger, meaning it can remains effective (albeit less ATB-efficient) even against stronger enemies that have a lightning-elemental weakness. Though Thunder is also outclassed by Thundaga, Thundaga is even costlier and uses two ATB charges.
Thunder can be amplified with . The spell is cast automatically by party members who paired either lightning or lightning and wind materia with or . This is useful in battles against enemies with a lightning weakness, or as a reliable means of magic damage output. The and can increase a party member's sustainability when using the spell. can increase the spell's damage, and can make for a powerful combination when it hits all enemies at once. and provide little help to the spell, and should be used with Thundara and Thundaga instead.
Using Thunder with Aerith's Arcane Ward will cast it twice. Further using Yuffie with Doppelganger when in Arcane Ward can cast Thunder four times, potentially overwhelming enemies.
If the party member casting Thunder has unlocked their lightning-elemental weapon ability (e.g. Rolling Thunder for Aerith), Thunder becomes Thunder α, which will bestow a lightning-elemental sphere to the spellcaster for the rest of the battle (unless the player changes the element with Fire α etc.) that will supplement small magical lightning-elemental damage when defending against certain enemy attacks (perfect-blocking not needed) and when using ATB abilities. The attacks from the "lightning sphere" do build stagger and can be critical hits.
Category:Magic in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth