Final Fantasy Wiki
Advertisement

Earth element attack

Description

Quake3 is an attack magic spell in Final Fantasy VII. It is granted by the Earth Materia at level three, and is the strongest Earth spell above Quake and Quake2. Another way to use it is via the rare Earth Mallet item.

Mechanics[]

Magic Materia Earth, Master Magic
Effect Large earth-elemental damage
Compatible Support Materia Added Cut
All
Final Attack
HP Absorb
Magic Counter
MP Absorb
MP Turbo
Quadra Magic
Sneak Attack
Steal as well

Damage formula:

where "Level" is the caster's current level and "Magical Attack" is their Magic atk stat. This is effectively 4.375x the base magic damage.

Use[]

Quake3 can be used by characters with the Earth Materia at level 3. Though it deals significant damage, it also has a very high MP cost, meaning it should be used sparingly and saved for boss battles. It is best used against enemies weak to Earth damage, as other spells with a similar MP cost can deal more damage. It misses against flying opponents; Final Fantasy VII does not have a "flying" state like some other entries to the Final Fantasy series, but most flying enemies have their Earth affinity set to Immune. Usually when an element is used on an enemy that is immune, it does 0 damage, but in the case of Earth, it will miss. Earth will miss Earth-immune enemies even if they are grounded (this also applies to when player's own characters are immune to Earth).

Quake3 can be amplified by pairing the Earth Materia with Support Materia. MP Turbo or Quadra Magic can be useful to amplify its already high damage and Magic Counter allows it to be used without using up a character's turn. Pairing it with MP Absorb also mitigates the high MP cost, while HP Absorb can grant greater endurance to the caster by healing them. All allows the spell to clear groups of enemies, though using Mega All will have the same effect and allows for more options for paired Support Materia. Quake3 has a different animation when used with All. If the character has multiple Earth Materia linked to different Support Materia, the spell can take on various effects simultaneously.

Quake3 is useful against all enemies that are weak to Earth, or that do not otherwise resist or absorb the element. It can remain among the top tier of spells, and is particularly useful if paired with the right Support Materia, but it is outclassed by other spells. This includes Break, another Earth-elemental spell granted by the Contain Materia, which has a chance to inflict Petrify.

Quake3 can be cast by Gigas and Bizarro∙Sephiroth. Sephiroth uses it during Cloud's retelling of the Nibelheim Incident against groups of enemies that do not contain flying enemies or any enemies that would absorb Earth. Effectively, this means he will not use it against Sonic Speeds. Sephiroth spends no MP when using his spells.

Advertisement