The Conformer is Yuffie's ultimate weapon in Final Fantasy VII. It is found in the Sunken Gelnika. Much like most ultimate weapons, Conformer has very high stats, eight linked Materia slots with no AP growth, and a unique mechanic: the weapon deals damage based on how high the enemy's level is. Conformer is a unique and reliable ultimate weapon, and also allows Yuffie to use Morph at full damage.
Obtained[]
Conformer is found in the Sunken Gelnika. This can be visited as soon as the submarine is acquired from the Underwater Reactor. As there are several powerful enemies within the Sunken Gelnika, it is best to visit it well prepared. There is a save point in the opening area.
Mechanics[]
The Conformer has the highest Attack stat of any of Yuffie's weapons at 96, and a +42 boost to her Magic stat. The weapon deals damage in the usual formula, multiplied to deal more damage the higher the enemy's level is in the following way:
When targeting multiple enemies, the average level will be taken (sum of all Target's Lv / qty of targets). If using the Morph command, Power will be set to 2 (1/8 of its normal value which is 16), but the reduction is immediately overwritten with the target's (average) level. It is the only weapon in the game that overrides the Morphing penalty, and its damage is not reduced when using Morph.
A Power of 16 is the equivalent of 1x damage, a Power of 32 is 2x damage, a Power of 64 is 4x damage, and so on. The highest Power the Conformer can reach is 99 against Emerald Weapon, which is 6.1875x normal damage.
It is unknown whether Conformer ignoring Morph's damage penalty is a programming oversight or not, however, it would have been easy enough to implement a formula that accounts for the 7/8 reduction in Power. While most ultimate weapon damage formulae multiply the base power, the Conformer just replaces it, so the Morph penalty is removed from the equation. Due to Conformer's unique damage formula, Yuffie is one of the few characters able to exceed x4 base damage with her ultimate weapon.
Use[]
Conformer's mechanic makes it a very reliable ultimate weapon in comparison to some other characters', whose ultimate weapons' damage fluctuates more considerably. Conformer's mechanic means that Yuffie will remain consistently powerful as a damage dealer with little investment required on the part of the player.
Because Conformer consistently increases Yuffie's damage considerably, it makes her a very powerful physical attacker. With many multi-hit Limit Breaks, notably Doom of the Living, Yuffie can deal immense damage to powerful enemies and bosses simply by equipping Conformer. However, its eight Materia slots and its strong +42 Magic boost mean it can just as easily boost Yuffie's magic damage.
Conformer has four lots of paired Materia slots. Because of Conformer's large damage increase, maximizing Yuffie's base physical damage can be advisable. This would mean focusing on Command Materia, such as Slash-All and Double Cut, a number of Independent Materia for stat boosts, and few Magic Materia so as not to reduce her physical stats too heavily. Any equipped Magic Materia or Summon Materia can be paired with Added Cut. Yuffie can also take advantage of the weapon's +42 Magic boost and high Materia slot number to equip more powerful Magic and Summon Materia, such as Ultima or Knights of Round, supported by Magic Plus and HP Plus, though doing this would waste Conformer's damage modifier and so should only be done if this is the player's preferred playstyle or if Yuffie is needed to fill a void.
Because Conformer deals full damage with Morph, it is the perfect min-maxing weapon for morphing stat-boosting items from enemies. With the Mega All Materia, she can use Morph on all enemies simultaneously, helping with farming Luck Sources at the Gelnika.
Due to Conformer's reliability, once obtained, the only reason not to equip it is when leveling up Materia, as Conformer has no AP growth. In these instances, the Rising Sun provides Yuffie a powerful weapon with double AP growth, while the Oritsuru is her second-best weapon that still has AP growth.
Etymology[]
The Conformer derives its original name from a yojijukugo proverb adopted from the Chinese Book of Rites, which is heralded as one of the Five Classics of Chinese literature, and an instrumental Confucian guideline that was adopted in early Japan. It is taken from verse 2 of Chapter 5 of the first book: "With the enemy who has slain his father, one should not live under the same heaven. With the enemy who has slain his brother, one should never have his sword to seek (to deal vengeance). With the enemy who has slain his intimate friend, one should not live in the same state (without seeking to slay him)." Ultimately, it is a maxim detailing retribution and revenge for loved ones.