The Rune Blade is a weapon for Cloud in Final Fantasy VII. It is acquired midway through the game, and provides double AP growth to its four Materia slots. This makes it a strong choice for grinding Materia, until Apocalypse is obtained.
Obtained[]
Rune Blade can be found in the first area of Mt. Nibel, earliest obtained during "Unnatural Hometown". It can later be purchased for 3,800 gil at Junon after the player has the Highwind.
Mechanics[]
As the Rune Blade has a base Attack stat bonus of 40, the base damage for physical attacks when it is equipped is the following formula:
where "Level" is Cloud's current level and "Strength" is his Strength stat. The Rune Blade also has an Attack% (Accuracy) of 108%, and grants a +9 bonus to Cloud's Magic stat when casting spells.
Use[]
Promotional render.
Rune Blade has moderate stats, and its most notable benefit is providing double AP growth to its four Materia slots. This means that Materia equipped to its slots level up at double their usual rate, effective for level grinding to improve Materia. It also has stronger stats than Force Stealer, and an additional Materia slot.
Since Rune Blade's Materia slots are unlinked, none of them can benefit from Support Materia. This includes All, meaning that unless the equipped Materia has an ability to hit all enemies (such as a Summon Materia), Cloud will be unable to clear waves, which can slow down level grinding. To mitigate this, the player can bring another character with abilities that hit all, notably one with Enemy Skill Materia equipped, and abilities such as Aqualung, or simply equip to Cloud's armor and spare the slots on Rune Blade.
Rune Blade is outclassed later on by Apocalypse. Though it has one fewer Materia slot, its slots provide triple AP rather than double, and the weapon has far greater stats. Prior to this Rune Blade is the best way to grind Materia using Cloud. Additionally, the player can equip Platinum Bangle or Rune Armlet, which provide double AP to two and four Materia slots respectively, either as an alternative to or in addition to Rune Blade.
Etymology[]
Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets, which were used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter. Historic anthropology regarding the Germanic and Norse peoples that used runes also note that the language was also highly used in magical practices related to these cultures, whether it be in divination, enchantment, and incantation.