The Atomic Scissors is a weapon for Barret in Final Fantasy VII. It can be stolen early after leaving Midgar, and purchased in shops later on. Atomic Scissors is a melee weapon with four Materia slots, and strong stats particularly if acquired early, though on-par with weapons available at Junon later. It can be equipped to Barret or thrown.
Obtained[]
Atomic Scissors can be stolen after leaving Midgar from Custom Sweeper. This means it can be acquired before the inferior Cannon Ball, making Barret fairly strong early on. If not stolen, it can be purchased later at Junon or Gongaga.
Mechanics[]
As the Atomic Scissors has a base Attack stat bonus of 17, the base damage for physical attacks when the Atomic Scissors is equipped is in the following formula:
where "Level" is Barret's current level and "Strength" is his Strength stat. The Atomic Scissors also has an Attack% (Accuracy) of 99%, and grants a +4 bonus to Barret's Magic stat.
Use[]
If acquired early by stealing, Atomic Scissors is a major step up from the Assault Gun in every way, aside from not being a long range weapon. It has decent stats, ahead of any weapon that can be acquired after leaving Midgar, and four Materia slots. If the player steals Atomic Scissors, they can forego ever purchasing the Cannon Ball.
Atomic Scissors is a melee weapon with moderate stats and four Materia slots, two of which are linked, while the remaining two are unlinked. On the linked slots, Barret can link Magic Materia with a Support Materia, namely All and Elemental early on. However, Barret's Magic stat is average compared to other characters, and the weapon does not provide considerable Magic stat boosts, meaning Barret is better off focusing on physical damage at this stage. He can nonetheless pair Magic Materia with Elemental to deal physical damage that exploits enemies' elemental weaknesses, or simply pair All with Restore. The unlinked slots can be used effectively for Command Materia or Independent Materia.
Atomic Scissors is significantly greater than Assault Gun, though it is not a ranged weapon. Though this means Barret will take more damage being placed in the front row, he will also deal more physical damage than most characters can, particularly if Atomic Scissors is stolen early, meaning the trade is normally worth it. Atomic Scissors is outclassed by Heavy Vulcan, which has greater stats and is also ranged. It is slightly outclassed by the Enemy Launcher, which has marginally better stats and is ranged.