Drains 100 MP out of one opponent.
Description
Magic Hammer is an MP-draining spell in Final Fantasy VII. It is an enemy skill used by Razor Weed, and can be learned on the Enemy Skill Materia for the player to use. It is a highly useful spell to learn and use till the end of the game.
Obtained[]
If obtaining all enemy skills the earliest they are available, Magic Hammer is learned slightly past mid-way through mastering the Materia. It is learned from the Razor Weed in the grassy plains of Wutai Area, where groups of them will attack the party. This is available as soon as the player has the Tiny Bronco. Landing on the southern part of Wutai (the western island on the map) and heading toward the rope bridges starts the "Homecoming of a Miserable Daughter" quest, meaning the player cannot learn Magic Hammer until they get the Enemy Skill Materia back at the end of the quest. There is a patch of grassy field near to where the player can disembark their plane where Razor Weeds appear, to learn the skill before starting the "Homecoming of a Miserable Daughter" quest.
Razor Weeds do not use Magic Hammer independently; the player will need to manipulate them to cast the spell on the character(s) with the Enemy Skill Materia equipped.
Mechanics[]
Since the attack costs 3 MP, the caster will gain 97 MP at the most. If the enemy has less than 100 MP, the caster will only gain as much MP as the enemy has.
Use[]
Magic Hammer is useful both for draining MP from enemies, making them unable to use their abilities when they run out, and to replenish the player's MP when running low, reducing or even eliminating the need to use Ethers or even inns. Enemy Skill Materia is good to bring to the Battle Square, where the player can then wantonly use their best spells and then replenish MP with Magic Hammer when low. Almost every enemy encountered from the point of entering the world map for the first time, has MP, even those that don't use magic attacks.
Bringing the Enemy Skill Materia on Yuffie for the pagoda gauntlet lets her siphon MP from her opponents, and drain Godo of his MP to the point he can only use Beast Sword. Other bosses the player may want to drain of MP to neuter them are Midgar Zolom, Jenova∙LIFE, Schizo, Wolfmeister, and Carry Armor. While it is possible to deplete all of Ruby Weapon's MP, it would take a very long time at 100 MP per use.
Using Magic Hammer on Hungry on the way to the Forgotten Capital renders it unable to use Mini, and thus unable to eat and eject a party member. Using Magic Hammer on Stilva in the Gaea's Cliff caverns makes it unable to use its dangerous Magic Breath attack. Though L4 Suicide is superior against the Unknown 3 and the Serpent in the Sunken Gelnika, if the player lacks it Magic Hammer can be used to drain them of MP and make them unable to use many of their attacks. The Gargoyle in the Northern Cave has the potentially devastating L4 Death attack, which the player can render them unable to use by draining their MP.
Behind the scenes[]
Cait Sith has a Limit Break in his Slots that uses the same animation as Magic Hammer: the Hammer.
Uchide no kozuchi is a legendary Japanese "magic hammer" which can "tap out" anything wished for. In Issun-bōshi ("One-Inch Boy"), the hero gains the mallet defeating an oni and amassing wealth. In modern embellishments, he also transforms himself into full adult-size.