HP Absorb is a Support Materia in Final Fantasy VII. It can be linked with a wide variety of Materia, including all Magic and Summon Materia, as well as many Command Materia, to restore the user's HP when the paired ability is used, at 10% of the damage dealt. If the ability heals the target, HP Absorb will hurt the character instead. Linking HP Absorb to an attack that does damage overflow to a target will kill the attacker.
HP Absorb can be paired with all Magic and Summon Materia, as well as Steal, Sense, Throw, Morph, Deathblow, Manipulate, Mime, and Master Command. When linked to Magic or Summon Materia, HP Absorb applies its effects to all abilities the Materia grants, but when linked with a regular Command Materia, it will apply its effect to the ability highlighted on the Materia in the Menu.
Obtained[]
HP Absorb can first be found in Wutai Village in the 'cat house' after completing Yuffie's quest there (otherwise the path to the treasure is blocked by a cat). Later, it can be found in the second section of the final dungeon. Beyond this, more HP Absorb Materia can be obtained by mastering one. This requires 100000, and the best way to do this is to equip weapons and armor with Double or Triple AP.
Stats[]
| Level | AP required | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | When linked Materia deals damage, user regains HP equal to 10% of the damage inflicted. |
| 2 | 100000 | MASTER |
Use[]
HP Absorb can be linked to a Materia to heal the user at 10% of the damage dealt. This will apply to all abilities granted by Magic and Summon Materia, or to the highlighted ability in the menu of a Command Materia. The darkened ability of a Command Materia will only gain the effect if the character has another source for that ability; for example, if a character has Level 2 Throw, which grants Coin, the HP Absorb applies to Coin only, and not Throw, unless the character also equips another Throw Materia at Level 1.
When linked with Master Command, HP Absorb will apply its effect to all commands in the Materia, plus the Attack and Item commands. Throw, however, is exempt unless the character has another source for the Throw ability, since Master Command doesn't support Throw as a separate ability. Equipping HP Absorb with Master Command allows the character to gain HP for performing regular attacks, but using healing items and magic will add damage equal 10% of gained health.
HP Absorb can be very useful for spellcasters, who tend to have lower HP due to the stat changes involved in equipping Magic or Summon Materia, to improve their durability. It can be used with powerful attacks and is best linked to whichever spell the character casts most often. This will normally be Magic Materia, such as Comet or Ultima. It could also be useful with Contain, though the danger with this is that if the enemy absorbs one of the elements, HP Absorb will hurt the character instead, as it harms the character if an ability heals the enemy. It should not be linked to attacks that deal damage overflow.
As an alternative, HP Absorb can be given to characters that deal physical damage. This is either done by linking it with certain Command Materia, such as Steal (by using Mug, or Deathblow, but when linked with the Master Command, it will apply to normal physical attacks. Using Master Command can therefore heal attackers often, though it also means the character should never use items to heal others as doing this will hurt the character.