Black M-phone

Black M-phone
(ブラックメガホン, Burakku Megahon?, lit. Black Megaphone)
Availability
Obtained	Found: Cave of the Gi Purchase: Junon (after Highwind)
Character users	Cait Sith
Value	2,800 gil
Classification
Type	Megaphone
Range	Melee
Element	Hit
Specifications
Attack	31
Magic atk	10
Attack%	104
Materia slots	x3
Related pages
Recurring appearance	Black Megaphone

The Black M-phone (also known as the White M-Phone) is a weapon for Cait Sith in Final Fantasy VII. It has moderate stats, but more notably provides four Materia slots with double AP growth.

As with other Cait Sith weapons, the Black M-phone itself does not strike an enemy, but commands his Mog, meaning Cait Sith's damage is still Hit rather than Shout. However, its Attack stat still counts towards damage dealt.

Obtained

The Black M-phone is found in the Cave of the Gi during "In the Land of the Study of Planet Life". Later, it can be purchased at Junon for 2,800 gil.

Mechanics

As the Black M-phone has a base Attack stat bonus of 35, the base damage for physical attacks when it is equipped is in the following formula:

$\text{Base Damage} = \text{(35 + Strength)} + \frac{\text{(35 + Strength)} + \text{Level}}{32} \times \frac{\text{(35 + Strength)} \times \text{Level}}{32}$

where "Level" is Cait Sith's current level and "Strength" is his Strength stat. The Black M-phone also has an Attack% (Accuracy) of 106%, and grants a +14 bonus to Cait Sith's Magic stat.

Use

Promotional render.

The Black M-phone has fairly low stats and few Materia slots compared to Cait Sith's other weapons overall. Its main benefit it providing double AP growth, meaning all Materia equipped on its slots grow at double the rate they would normally. It can therefore be used when bringing Cait Sith along for level grinding.

The Black M-phone's four unlinked slots should be given to Materia that can and need to level up. Since Cait Sith relies on his spellcasting a lot due to his high Magic stat and high Materia slots from many of his weapons, the inability to benefit from linked Support Materia can be a detriment to hi when grinding. As such, it is important to give him armor for a linked Materia slot so he can still take advantage of pairing All with Magic Materia, or giving him Enemy Skill Materia (on an armor slot, since Enemy Skill cannot level up), to clear enemies faster.

Black M-phone is Cait Sith's best weapon for grinding Materia. When available, Cait Sith is equally as competent as other characters for Materia grinding. However, later in the game, Cait Sith is weaker than Cloud, Tifa, or Cid in this role, who each have greater weapons with double AP (or higher) growth. Therefore, though Black M-phone can be useful for players with Cait Sith in their party that wish to grind Materia, it is made redundant after weapons for other characters are acquired.