Cloud Strife/Gameplay

Final Fantasy VII
Cloud is best placed in the front row to ensure solid attack power despite being the second strongest magic caster after Aeris. His Limit Breaks are among the strongest in the game, but Cloud learns them slower than anyone else.

Cloud's stats are well rounded and he is among the characters with the highest values in every stat, notably Strength and Magic. His lowest stat is his Speed, which is still about average. He starts at level 6 but levels up to 7 in the first battle; this is an allusion to the number 7. However, stat growth is somewhat random in Final Fantasy VII, with characters having a chance to gain a boost in stats when they level up, but how much they get has a random element in deciding it.

Cloud is the only character in Final Fantasy VII to have two battle models: his regular model is used throughout the majority of battles, but a is used in the scripted battle against Sephiroth inside the Lifestream, that takes place after the final battle.

Flashback
The Cloud used in the flashback, more commonly known to fans as Young Cloud, has stats and could technically level up like a normal character, even though this is not possible in a normal game.

This Cloud shares his stat growth with Cait Sith, and has a unique Exp curve. His Exp curve is technically also Barret's Vitality curve, although in reality this does not mean much because both stats grow in a different way, with Exp only using half the values a normal stat does. Since this curve is not specifically designed for Exp, his growth starts out roughly twice as slow as a normal character, levels out between level 50 and 60, and then ends with a roughly a third of the standard max Exp for level 99.

Equipment
Cloud wields a variety of weapons throughout his appearances. His most iconic weapon is the Buster Sword, a massive two-handed broadsword he wields in Final Fantasy VII and most of his spin-off appearances. In Final Fantasy VII Cloud can equip katanas and other greatswords as well, though he continues to wield the Buster Sword in cutscenes.

Cloud's ultimate weapon is the Ultima Weapon, which sports the strongest Base Attack stat in the game, that increases in power the higher Cloud's HP is. Among his arsenal is the Apocalypse, one of only two equipment pieces in the game to give Triple Materia Growth, the other being Cid's Scimitar. Apocalypse is also one of two weapons that does an overall growth of greater than eight, the maximum amount of materia in any weapon or armor. Apocalypse has three triple materia growth, meaning it does the work of nine materia slots. The only other weapon in Final Fantasy VII that offered an overall materia growth of higher than eight is the Javelin, a weapon also belonging to Cid. As such if the player is looking for the most efficient way to develop their materia, a party with Cloud equipped with the Apocalypse and Cid equipped with the Javelin is the most desired set up. His Yoshiyuki increases attack power by the number of dead allies in the active party.

Limit Breaks


Cloud has seven Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VII: Braver and Cross-slash are his level 1 limits, Blade Beam and Climhazzard are his level 2 limits, Meteorain and Finishing Touch are his level 3 limits; and his level 4 limit is Omnislash.

These attacks reappear as special attacks for Cloud in his spin-off appearances in Final Fantasy Tactics and Dissidia Final Fantasy, and he has some of these skills in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Cloud has an eighth Limit Break introduced in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, "Omnislash Version 5", where he splits the Fusion Sword assembly into its six individual parts, then performs a series of six slash attacks on an enemy. It was christened "Omnislash Version 5" during development as it is the fifth version of the attack designed. In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, Cloud's finishing blow to Sephiroth is a longer sequence of thirteen slashes instead of six, and was dubbed "Omnislash Version 6" by fans.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-


Cloud is fought as a boss in the Training Mode.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Though Cloud is not playable himself, Zack gets Cloud's portrait to the Digital Mind Wave. When Cloud's portraits line up during modulating phase, Zack performs Meteor Shots, his versions of Cloud's Meteorain Limit Break. Cloud is added to Zack's DMW after Zack meets him partway through chapter 6.