Hardedge (VII Remake)

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## Hardedge

ハードブレイカー (Hādo Bureikā?, lit. Hard Breaker)

> A mighty blade able to cleave in one stroke anything foolish enough to stand in the wielder's way.
>
> Description

The **Hardedge** is a weapon for Cloud in *Final Fantasy VII Remake*. It provides the Infinity's End ability that has slow buildup and high ATB cost, but tremendous burst damage. The blade has the kanji (一刀両断, Ittō ryōdan?, lit. one-bladed bisection) written on it, a Japanese term for "cutting into two with a single stroke."

Hardedge provides the highest raw File:Attack Power from FFVII Remake icon.png Attack Power of any of Cloud's weapons, while also providing good durability due to its Bloodsucker ability. Its File:Magic Attack from FFVII Remake icon.png Magic Attack attribute, however, is significantly lower than most of Cloud's other weapons.

## Obtained

The Hardedge first becomes available to purchase in Wall Market during Chapter 9, "The Town That Never Sleeps", for 2,000 gil.

## Stats

 Usable by
 File:Attack Power from FFVII Remake icon.png Attack Power | 57
 File:Magic Attack from FFVII Remake icon.png Magic Attack | 19

## Use

The Hardedge provides the highest raw attack power increase of any of Cloud's weapons, and most of its abilities focus on improving Cloud's physical damage, such as boosting Cloud's aerial damage and to damage dealt against bosses' specific parts, and plain boosts to his attacks both generally and further when in Punisher Mode. Hardedge provides the Bloodsucker ability, which recovers Cloud's HP when enemies are defeated in battle. This makes it excellent for Cloud's durability and is very MP-efficient. A 5% boost to Cloud's limit break damage can also be unlocked.

Hardedge is the strongest weapon for Cloud's physical damage, and its abilities lock Cloud into this role. The only comparable weapon is the File:Cloud broadsword from FFVII Remake icon.png Nail Bat, which provides physical damage in the form of critical hits, but Hardedge has far fewer limitations to Cloud's potential elsewhere. Hardedge provides a few boosts to Cloud's magic damage, but ultimately lags far behind weapons such as the File:Aerith staff from FFVII Remake icon.png Mythril Rod, or even the more rounded File:Cloud broadsword from FFVII Remake icon.png Buster Sword or File:Cloud broadsword from FFVII Remake icon.png Twin Stinger. Compared to Twin Stinger and Mythril Saber, Hardedge's slow materia slot growth can also feel limiting. As Hardedge has linked slots early on, Cloud can still equip File:Support Materia from FFVII Remake.png Elemental Materia, or File:Support Materia from FFVII Remake.png HP Absorption Materia with the weapon.

If Cloud is used for a physical damage role, Hardedge is his best weapon to equip all around, providing solid physical damage stats, decent MP-efficient durability with Bloodsucker, and not too many compromises to his magic capabilities. However, Cloud's balanced attributes mean he can be used in a wide variety of ways, and though Hardedge optimizes Cloud's potential for physical damage, it wastes his magic damage potential. In encounters against enemies more resistant to physical damage, or among players who prefer to use Cloud for a more magic-oriented or mixed role, other weapons may be better suited than Hardedge. For a pure physical damage role, Hardedge is possibly the best choice for Cloud.