A firearm that boasts unrivaled destructive force. Found in the slums' black market.
Description
Big Bertha is a gun-arm for Barret in Final Fantasy VII Remake. It provides Barret the Maximum Fury ability, which consumes all ATB charges to fire a barrage of bullets at an enemy.
Big Bertha has the highest 
Attack Power of Barret's ranged weapons, and its unlocked abilities boost Barret's HP. This makes it an excellent choice for him if used either in the physical damage role or in the role of tanking to draw damage away from other party members.
Big Bertha is a large gun arm, modeled akin to a magnum revolver with a large revolving chamber that holds its munitions and an enormous caliber barrel reinforced with steel slide plating schematics. This gives it a "salvaged from the ground up" look, befit for its role as a black market weapon available in the slums. Its alternate name, Largemouth, can be attributed to its expanded muzzle, which in firearm dynamics allows greater propulsion to its ordinance to launch more accurately and cohesively.
Obtained[]
Big Bertha can first be purchased in Chapter 13, "A Broken World", for 2,500 gil, from the weapons dealer in the Sector 6 Slums Evergreen Park. It can also be bought in Chapter 14, "In Search of Hope", if missed in "A Broken World", and in the Shinra Building in Chapter 16, "The Belly of the Beast".
Upgrades[]
Materia slots[]
| Materia slots purchased |
Minimum Weapon Level |
Slots |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 |  
|
| 1 | 1 |
|
| 2 | 5 |
|
| 3 | 5 |
|
| 4 | 6 |
|
| 5 | 6 |
|
Skills[]
| Big Bertha Core - Weapon Level: 1 - Required SP: 10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| ATK Up | Attack Power +8 | Increases attack power attribute. |
| MATK Up | Magic Attack Power +10 | Increases magic attack power attribute. |
| Max HP Up | Max HP +250 | Increases maximum HP. |
| Max HP Up | Max HP +250 | Increases maximum HP. |
| Max HP Up | Max HP +250 | Increases maximum HP. |
| Needs More Materia | New Materia Slot | Adds an additional materia slot or links two existing slots. |
| Big Bertha Sub-Core I - Weapon Level: 4 - Required SP: 12 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dominant Physical Offense | Attack Power +5 with High HP | Increases attack power when HP is 75% or higher. |
| Dominant Magic Offense | Magic Attack Power +5 with High HP | Increases magic attack power when HP is 75% or higher. |
| Desperate Physical Defense | Physical Defense +10 with Low HP | Increases defense when HP is 25% or lower. |
| Desperate Magic Defense | Magic Defense +10 with Low HP | Increases magic defense when HP is 25% or lower. |
| Trade-Off | Trade-Off | Recover MP when taking significant damage. |
| Desperate Recovery | Self-Healing 50% Boost with Low HP | Significantly increases the effectiveness of healing spells cast on you when HP is 25% or lower. |
| Big Bertha Sub-Core II - Weapon Level: 5 - Required SP: 14 | ||
|---|---|---|
| ATK Up | Attack Power +10 | Increases attack power attribute. |
| ATK Up | Attack Power +10 | Increases attack power attribute. |
| MATK Up | Magic Attack Power +10 | Increases magic attack power attribute. |
| Max HP Up | Max HP +250 | Increases maximum HP. |
| Enhanced Limit Breaks | Limit Break Damage 5% Boost | Increases damage dealt by limit breaks. |
| Desperate Limit Breaks | Limit Break 5% Boost with Low HP | Increases the rate at which the limit gauge fills when HP is 25% or lower. |
| Needs More Materia | New Materia Slot | Adds an additional materia slot or links two existing slots. |
| Needs More Materia | New Materia Slot | Adds an additional materia slot or links two existing slots. |
| Big Bertha Sub-Core III - Weapon Level: 6 - Required SP: 16 | ||
|---|---|---|
| ATK Up | Attack Power +10 | Increases attack power attribute. |
| ATK Up | Attack Power +10 | Increases attack power attribute. |
| MATK Up | Magic Attack Power +12 | Increases magic attack power attribute. |
| Max HP Up | Max HP +250 | Increases maximum HP. |
| Elemental Defense Up | Elemental Defense 5% Boost | Reduces fire, ice, lightning, and wind damage taken. |
| Needs More Materia | New Materia Slot | Adds an additional materia slot or links two existing slots. |
| Needs More Materia | New Materia Slot | Adds an additional materia slot or links two existing slots. |
Use[]
Artwork.
Big Bertha provides Barret the best ranged attack power while not compromising heavily in terms of magic damage. Most of the weapon's abilities boost Barret's durability, either in terms of pure HP or in terms of abilities that rely on Barret taking damage. Trade-Off allows him to recover MP after sustaining damage, while other abilities boost his self-healing by +50%, his resistance to physical and magical damage, and the rate his limit break fills when his HP is low. Another ability boosts his limit break damage by 5%.
Big Bertha focuses more on using Barret to tank damage and to deal physical damage with his gun. With ranged weaponry, Barret's physical damage focuses on single target damage and allows him to hit otherwise unreachable enemies. This is in contrast to Barret's melee equivalent weapon, 
Wrecking Ball, which provides higher physical damage that is used more for area-of-effect damage, but makes him less effective in a tanking role. One of Barret's other weapons, Light Machine Gun, also makes Barret an effective tank, but focuses more on boosting his spellcasting.
Barret's potential as a tank is a unique role, which allows him to draw damage away from other party members using his Lifesaver, and thanks to his naturally high HP (further boosted by Big Bertha), he can sustain more damage than the other party members. Big Bertha capitalizes on this while also boosting his physical damage, in contrast to Light Machine Gun. Barret's naturally low MP pool and low 
Magic attribute in contrast to his more respectable 
Strength may encourage players to opt for Big Bertha and give Barret a physical damage role, though he can still be a useful spellcaster. If Barret is used for pure physical damage, and if melee damage is acceptable, Wrecking Ball is a better choice.
Etymology[]
Big Bertha was a nickname for the 42 cm kurze Marinekanone 14 L/12, a German siege howitzer built by Krupp AG and fielded by the Imperial German Army from 1914 to 1918. This nickname has also been applied to other inconceivably large objects in a more colloquial context (e.g. a tunneling drill machine).
Big Bertha is called "largemouth" in Japanese. A largemouth is a species of black bass generally native to eastern and central North America. Its name alludes to the weapon's wide barrel.