Equips "Earth" magic
Description
Earth is a Magic Materia in Final Fantasy VII equipped to provide the user Earth-elemental spells. It can also be linked with the Elemental Materia to add Earth damage to attacks or resist from Earth.
A similar materia named petrify materia exists in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which casts the same spells but also inflicts a petrify status rather than using an element.
Obtained[]
The Earth Materia can be purchased for 1,500 gil from Kalm, Costa del Sol, and Junon during part 1.
Stats[]
Growth[]
| Level | AP required | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | Quake |
| 2 | 6000 | Quake2 |
| 3 | 22000 | Quake3 |
| 4 | 40000 | MASTER |
Abilities[]
| Magic | MP | Formula | Power | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quake | 6 | Magic | 11 | Low earth-elemental damage. |
| Quake2 | 28 | Magic | 24 | Moderate earth-elemental damage. |
| Quake3 | 68 | Magic | 70 | High earth-elemental damage. |
Use[]
The Earth Materia grants three tiers of Earth-elemental spells, beginning with the base Quake spell. It then provides the Quake2 spell upon upgrading to level 2, after 6000 AP. Upon further upgrading with 22000 AP, it grants the spell Quake3. These spells are increasingly powerful for greater MP costs, and are more powerful than the spells provided by the equivalent Fire, Ice, and Lightning Materia.
Characters who equip the Materia receive moderate stat changes, granting +2% to MP and +1 Magic, but also -2% HP and -1 Strength. These stat changes are small enough to not be detrimental to physical attackers, but when giving the Materia to a character with the purpose of spellcasting, it is still best given to those who already have a high Magic stat and are less reliant on physical attacks. This includes Aeris, Red XIII, Yuffie, Cait Sith, and Vincent. Cloud is also a good choice, as he can be easily built towards magical or physical damage. Titan has the same stat changes, with no Strength penalty.
If it is used primarily for spellcasting, Earth can be augmented with Support Materia. MP Turbo can increase its spells' damage (but also their MP costs), as can Quadra Magic. All allows its spells to hit all enemies. Using HP Absorb or MP Absorb can also improve a player's endurance in long battles. Earth spells are useful against enemies weak to Earth damage.
Alternatively, Earth can be paired with the Elemental Materia for a different purpose. When paired with Elemental and equipped on armor, it provides resistance to Earth-elemental damage, and when equipped on weapons and paired with Elemental, it grants Earth damage to physical attacks. This can be a good use case in situations where enemies encountered deal mostly Earth-based damage or are weak to Earth damage respectively. If used in this way, it is best to use it exclusively for this purpose, as the same Materia cannot be paired with any other Support Materia that would boost its spellcasting ability. When giving it to characters to amplify their physical damage with the Earth element, it is best given to characters that are well-equipped to deal high physical damage, including Cloud, Barret, Tifa, and Cid. The only downside to this is that Titan has the same use, with no Strength penalty.
At higher levels, Earth spells remain useful against enemies weak to Earth-elemental damage until the player obtains Break from the Contain Materia, which deals more damage, and provides a chance to inflict Petrify. However, the ability to pair the Earth Materia with the Elemental Materia to resist or deal Earth damage remains useful.