The 5 Best Final Fantasy VII Enemy Skills

Now I love using enemy skills during my playthroughs of Final Fantasy VII - some of them are invaluable during early stages of the game and many provide an effect that cannot be replicated by a single spell or item - or can’t be replicated at all. One thing that always intrigued me about enemy skills was the level of secrecy involved in collecting them… Playing the game in the late 90s/early 2000s when the internet was in its infancy, all I had to guide me was the Brady Guides strategy guide - which for all it did help with - is very incomplete and lacks a lot of information, especially about enemy skills. So I would go around manipulating everything in sight, always on the lookout for new attacks I’d never seen used before in the hope of finding a new skill. I’ve already made a list of my top 5 WORST enemy skills - today we’re doing the opposite - my top 5 BEST enemy skills!

5 - Magic Hammer
Firstly we have Magic Hammer - an enemy skill that drains 100 MP from an enemy and then gives it to the caster to refill their own MP. Not only is this enemy skill a useful alternative to wasting precious ethers or turbo ethers when you’re not within hiking distance of an inn but it can also be used on powerful enemies and bosses in order to “use up their skill power” and stop them casting the high-damaging spells that could cause instant deaths. At 3 MP per cast, it’s also very economical, restoring up to 97 MP per cast and can be used multiple times on the same target until they have been sapped of all their magic power. Also, unlike many enemy skills that quickly become obsolete once you’ve learned higher level spells to replace them, Magic Hammer is useful from disc one right the way up to fighting high level creatures in the Northern Cave.

4 - Trine
In fourth place we have Trine, a lightning-element spell that damages all opponents. It costs 20 MP per cast and unlike spells from the Bolt family, is unaffected by reflect. Trine’s base power is equal to 2.125x base magic damage and can easily wipe out whole groups of weaker enemies and does well at holding its own against early bosses. It even comes in useful against later bosses who are weak to lightning damage such as the Carry Armour. The only problem with Trine is that it can only be learned from 3 enemies in the whole game, two of which are bosses and one that is native to Gaea’s Cliff, an area that becomes inaccessible upon completion.

3 - Aqualung
Next we have Aqualung, a water-element spell that damages all opponents in battle. It costs 34 MP per cast and is one of only two spells you can cast that are water-elemental. Aqualung’s base power is equal to 3.25x base magic and is useful against both groups of weaker enemies and bosses. As many creatures, especially fire-based ones like dragons have a weakness to water - Aqualung remains useful throughout large sections of the game and has multiple opportunities to be learned. It can also be used as a healing spell against a party who are set up to absorb water damage (i.e. with elemental-Leviathan or wearing the water ring.)

2 - White Wind
In 2nd place we have White Wind, an enemy skill that restores the caster’s current HP to all party members, in addition to curing over 12 different status effects, including slow-numb, petrify, frog and small. If the caster has a large amount of HP, i.e. is high-leveled, wearing HP plus materia etc, White Wind can actually be more effective at healing than the restore materia. In addition to being useful for healing party members, it can also be used offensively against enemies that are weak to holy magic. As well as causing damage, it will also inflict the status effects it can cure. Most enemies in the Cave of the Gi in Cosmo Canyon can be instantly killed with White Wind as it will petrify them. White Wind wins out against Angel Whisper for numerous reasons - namely that White Wind can be learned early in disc 1 and remains useful for the rest of the game, whereas Angel Whisper is learned far too late in the game to be of any real use. A final-attack revive combination can easily negate the usefulness of Angel Whisper - while White Wind is useful whether you’re level 19 or level 99.

1 - Big Guard
And the best enemy skill in Final Fantasy VII, in my opinion of course is Big Guard - a spell that costs 56 MP and casts barrier and magic barrier (also known as Wall) and haste on all party members. The MP cost alone proves how useful this spell is, as Wall alone costs 58 MP to cast. Also useful to note is that this skill can be learned as soon as you leave Corel Prison, as soon as Cait Sith has joined the party and blessed you with his manipulate materia. Big Guard can be learned before you are able to even BUY the barrier materia, let alone level it up high enough to be able to cast Wall in the first place. The convenience of casting both Wall and Haste is an invaluable skill to have in later fights and boss battles and can help you to defeat bosses even when you’re under-leveled. The only downside of Big Guard is as you also cast haste, the barrier and magic barrier will drain faster than usual - but I think that’s a small price to pay.