Limit Breaks

There are four Limit Break levels, and each level has two attacks to use. So, from level one, you start with one Limit attack. We'll use Cloud as an Example. Cloud starts with Braver, so to get his next limit, Cross Slash, he has to use Braver a certain amount of times. So, for example, You might use Braver eight times, and you'll unlock Cross Slash. Once the Second attack has been unlocked, you need that character to kill a certain amount of enemies for them to advance to the next Limit level. I believe that the game starts counting for the second limit straightaway, you don't have to wait to get the second attack first.

Now, Here is a list of this for all of the characters. The numbers may vary each game, but it won't be by too much, maybe five either way for enemies killed, give or take one for number of limits used.

There are some strategies that can be used to get to the next limits as fast as possible. First of all, always use hypers on your party when you want to learn the second limit break of a level, it makes the limit gauge fill up much faster. Also, for the fastest results go to some difficult opponents, like at Junon before you go on the boat. Pull the alarm in the room with the soldiers to fight some tough battles that will fill up your gauge in no time. Just remember to constantly heal and go back to save every once in a while. A fast method of learning new levels of limit breaks is going to the forests outside of Junon. There you will encounter either two bird-like monsters, or a lot of little monsters. Use All+Lightning materia to make short work of the little monsters, this will give that character a lot of finishing blows quickly. As for the flying monsters, have the other two party members weaken it, and then use the All+Lightning to kill those. This should get 80 kills within 10 or 15 minutes.

Cloud Strife

Limit Level 1:
Braver: Already there.
Cross Slash: Use Braver 8 times to learn.
Limit Level 2:
Blade Beam: Have Cloud Kill 115 enemies to learn this.
Climhazzard: Use Blade Beam 7 times to learn.
Limit Level 3:
Meteorain: Have Cloud kill a further 80 enemies for him to learn this.
Finishing Touch: Use Meteorain 6 times.
Limit Level 4:
Omnislash: Won at battle square for 51,200 BP (Disc One) or 32,000 BP (Discs Two and Three). Can teach to him as soon as you have learnt all other limits.


Barret Wallace

Limit Level 1:
Big Shot: Already there.
Mind Blow: Use Big shot 9 times.
Limit Level 2:
Grenade Bomb: Have Barret kill 80 enemies to learn this.
Hammer Blow: Use Grenade bomb 8 times.
Limit Level 3:
Satellite Beam: Have Barret kill 70 enemies to learn this.
Ungarmax: Use Satellite Beam 7 times.
Limit Level 4:
Catastrophe: Given to you in North Corel.


Tifa Lockheart

Limit Level 1:
Beat Rush: Automatic.
Somersault: Use Beat Rush 9 times.
Limit Level 2:
Water Kick: Have Tifa kill 96 enemies.
Meteodrive: Use Water Kick 7 times.
Limit Level 3:
Dolphin Blow: Have Tifa kill another 96 enemies.
Meteor Strike: Use Dolphin Blow 6 times.
Limit Level 4:
Final Heaven: Return to Tifa's house during Disc 3, and, with Tifa in the party, play the World Map theme on her piano. The buttons you need to press are: X, Square, Triangle, L1+Triangle, L1+Square, X, Square, Triangle, L1+X, O, X, Square, X.


Aeris Gainsborough

Limit Level 1:
Healing Wind: Automatic.
Seal Evil: Use Healing wind 7 times.
Limit Level 2:
Breath of the Earth: Have Aeris kill 80 enemies.
Fury Brand: Use Breath of the Earth 6 times.
Limit Level 3:
Planet Protector: Have Aeris kill a further 80 enemies.
Pulse of Life: Use Planet Protector 5 times.
Limit Level 4:
Great Gospel: This is perhaps the trickiest level 4 limit break to find. Once you get the Buggy (after the Gold Saucer), ride it to Costa Del Sol. Take a boat back the first continent, and leave Junon. For some strange reason, the buggy is back with you again. Ride it over the river to find a cave tucked away in the side of the mountain range. Go inside and speak to the man there. You want him to say how many battles you have won so far. If he says something else, exit and reenter against until he says it. If the numbers are the same (eg: 55 or 111), he will give you Mythril. If they are not, go outside the cave and fight until they are. Then go back and he will give you the Mythril. Then ride the buggy back to Junon, and go down past the Gold Saucer. You will find a small house along the east coast. Go inside and give the Myrthil to the man. He will say that you can pick either of the two treasure chests. Pick the SMALL one, and you will get the Great Gospel. Phew!


Cait Sith

Limit Level 1:
Dice: Automatic.
Limit Level 2:
Slots: Kill 40 enemies for him to learn this.

Cait Sith has no more limit levels.


Red XIII

Limit Level 1:
Sled Fang: Automatic.
Lunatic High: Use Sled Fang 8 times.
Limit Level 2:
Blood Fang: Have Red XIII kill 70 enemies.
Stardust Ray: Use Blood Fang 7 times.
Limit Level 3:
Howling Moon: Have Red XIII kill 70 enemies.
Earth Rave: Use Howling Moon 6 times.
Limit Level 4:
Cosmo Memory: Open the Safe in Shinra mansion.


Yuffie Kisaragi

Limit Level 1:
Greased Lightning: Automatic.
Clear Tranquil: Use Greased Lightning 8 times.
Limit Level 2:
Landscraper: Have Yuffie kill 63 enemies.
Bloodfest: Use Landscraper 7 times.
Limit Level 3:
Gauntlet: Have Yuffie kill a further 63 enemies.
Doom of the Living: Use Gauntlet 6 times.
Limit Level 4:
All Creation: Won at the Pagoda from Godo.


Vincent Valentine

Limit Level 1:
Galean Beast: Automatic.
Limit Level 2:
Death Gigas: Have Vincent kill 42 enemies.
Limit Level 3:
Hell Masker: Have Vincent kill a further 52 enemies.
Limit Level 4:
Chaos: Visit the waterfall cave near Nibelheim on Disc 2, and once again at least 10 battles later, with Vincent in your active party on both occasions. On the first visit you will observe some of Vincent's past, and on the second you will receive Chaos and the Death Penalty. You can access the waterfall cave with either the submarine or a Green Chocobo.


Cid Highwind

Limit Level 1:
Boost Jump: Automatic.
Dynamite: Use Boost Jump 7 times.
Limit Level 2:
Hyper Jump: Have Cid kill 60 enemies.
Dragon: Use Hyper Jump 6 times.
Limit Level 3:
Dragon Dive: Have Cid kill 80 enemies.
Big Brawl: Use Dragon Dive 5 times.
Limit Level 4:
Highwind: Found on the sunken Gelnika.

1. Cloud
2. Barret
3. Tifa
4. Aeris
5. Red XIII
6. Yuffie
7. Cait Sith
8. Vincent
9. Cid

All of the playable characters in Final Fantasy 7 have limit breaks, which are powerful attacks used when a character is hurt enough times. Unlike Final Fantasy 8, it does not matter if the characters HP is very low, just how much they've gotten hurt. Every time a character gets attacked, their limit gauge fills up. A small attack will only fill it up slightly, or not even at all, while a very strong attack could fill it up completely. Except for Cait Sith and Vincent, everybody has 4 levels of limit breaks. There are two limit breaks in the first three levels, and one ultimate limit break in the fourth level. As the game progresses, the first and second level limit breaks become obsolete, so it is important to try to get everyone to level 3 and 4.

Cloud's Limit Breaks
Level	Limit	Description
Level 1	Braver	Cloud jumps into the air and chops the enemy with his sword.
	Cross-Slash	Cloud causes strong damage to an enemy by slices it several times with his sword. More powerful than the Braver, it also paralyzes its enemy, if successful.
Level 2	Blade Beam	Cloud makes waves of powerful energy fly out of his sword and collide with an enemy. After striking the first enemy, the energy waves split and lose most of their power, hitting all of the other enemies for less damage. This is a good limit for multiple enemies, one being stronger than the other. You can then hit the strongest one with the first energy wave, and the weaker ones with the weaker ones.
	Climhazzard	The Climhazzard limit break makes Cloud skewer his enemy, and then jump high into the air to cause even more damage. This attack is useful against a single, powerful enemy, but pretty pointless against weaker, multiple enemies.
Level 3	Meteorain	Cloud jumps into the air and hurls a shower of meteors at his opponents, causing six seperate hits. This attack is good against single and multiple enemies, and can pack a lot of damage for your foes.
	Finishing Touch	Cloud blows away his opponents with a large whirlwind. This usually completely blows away weaker enemies, but bosses and large enemies will come crashing down for massive damage instead. This is a great limit break that should only be used against strong enemies, don't waste it on weak opponents.
Level 4	Omnislash	This is the best limit break in the game, and is sometimes more powerful than the Knights of the Round Table summon. Cloud pulverizes his opponents with a flurry of fifteen strikes with his sword, causing incredible damage. This can be used against single or multiple enemies. Only use this in really hard battles, it is wasted on easy enemies.

Barret's Limit Breaks
Level	Limit	Description
Level 1	Big Shot	Barret makes this big ol' fireball fly out of his gun and it looks quite powerful and manly.
	Mind Blow	Barret attacks somehow and does MP damage (useful).
Level 2	Grenade Bomb	Barret totally decides to flip out and just chuck a grenade at whatever monsters he's up against, spelling BIG DAMAGE for Mr. Bad Guys.
	Hammerblow	Using a well placed punch, Barret hits an enemy completely out of combat. This may sound useful, but it can only be used on small, non-boss enemies. Not only that, but it does no direct damage, so it either works or it doesn't. Add the fact that it only hits one opponent, and Grenade Bomb is typically the second level limit break of choice.
Level 3	Satellite Beam	Barret apparently has connections with people in high places, as this limit breaks summons an air strike against all of his enemies. Powerful beams of energy hit all opponents for a decent amount of damage to all opponents. Try to use this attack against multiple enemies, as it is much more effective.
	Ungarmax	Barret throws a huge amount of ammunition to his enemies, which explodes to cause massive damage with 18 hits. It is difficult to determine is this is better than Satellite Beam. Although it hits enemies more times, the hits are not as strong.
Level 4	Catastrophe	Barret jumps over his enemies and lets a plasma blast fly from his gun right into them, causing incredible damage. Although it works great on all kinds and numbers of enemies, it works slightly better against a group. Hits 10 times.

Tifa's Limit Breaks
Level	Limit	Description
Level 1	Beat Rush	Tifa punches her opponent for her first combo.
	Somersault	Tifa flips, kicking her opponent as she does it.
Level 2	Waterkick	Tifa makes a wave wash over an enemy.
	Meteordrive	Tifa backdrops her enemy.
Level 3	Dolphin Blow	Tifa summons a dolphin to attack an enemy.
	Meteor Strike	Tifa grabs an enemy, jumps into the air with it, and slams it down hard on the ground.
Level 4	Final Heaven	Tifa focuses massive energy into her fist and slams it into an enemy to cause a huge explosion.
Tifa's limit breaks are not like the other character's. Instead of just using one limit breaks, she chains all of them together that she has learned so far. So obviously, it pays to learn them all, as she will do a total of 7 attacks to her enemies, all in 1 turn! Before performing one of her combos, a spinning wheel will appear that has the words 'normal,' 'yeah!,' and 'miss' on them. Normal makes her perform her attack regularly, yeah causes her to do extra damage on that attack, and miss makes her miss the attack completely. Although you should usually try to stop the spinning wheel on yeah, the final few attacks have the 'yeah!' surrounded by misses. So if you don't have good timing, it may be wise to just do a normal attack instead, since there is less risk of missing it completely.

Aeris' Limit Breaks
Level	Limit	Description
Level 1	Healing Wind	Aeris restores half of each party member's maximum HP.
	Seal Evil	Aeris silences and stops all of her enemies (if successful).
Level 2	Breath of the Earth	Aeris cures the party all negative status effects.
	Fury Brand	Aeris give the other two character's in her party their limit breaks by sacrificing hers. This is a good way to learn the second limit break in a level for the other two characters.
Level 3	Planet Protector	Aeris makes a barrier that makes her party invulnerable for a certain period of time.
	Pulse of Life	Aeris completely restores the party to life with full HP and MP with no status effects.
Level 4	Great Gospel	This limit break simply rules. Not only does it completely revive all characters with full HP and MP, along with restoring all negative status effects, but it makes the whole party temporarily invincible as well! In FF8 that is the equivalent of a Magalixir and a Holy War, and anyone who knows FF8 will know that is darn good! Too bad you won't have it for too long....

Red XIII's Limit Breaks
Level	Limit	Description
Level 1	Sled Fang	Red XIII runs into his opponent causes a decent amount of physical damage.
	Lunatic High	Red XIII casts Haste on the whole party. This is great for boss battles. It should also give everyone in the party a nice ol' defensive bonus, too, but since Square were slacking off and let a bug slip through their fingers, it only affects our furry red friend +50% for each other character alive.
Level 2	Blood Fang	This is just like Sled Fang, but it is more powerful, and Red XIII gains a small amount of HP and MP.
	Stardust Ray	Red XIII calls a cluster of 10 stars to fall on his enemies. This causes more damage than Blood Fang, and unless you desperately need HP, is the better of the two.
Level 3	Howling Moon	The full moon causes Red XIII to go crazy. For the rest of the battle, he will have the Haste and Berserk status' in addition to a 60% attack bonus. This is decent most of the time, but definitely not good for boss fights, as he can't use any magic or items.
	Earth Rave	Red XIII attacks his enemies five times with strong pysical attacks. This is a much better limit break than Howling Moon.
Level 4	Cosmo Memory	Red XIII releases a physical attack that engulfs his enemies for incredible damage.

Yuffie's Limit Breaks
Level	Limit	Description
Level 1	Greased Lightning	Yuffie does a quick attack on an opponent that causes a strong amount of physical damage.
	Clear Tranquil	Just like Healing Wind, Clear Tranquil restores half of each party member's max HP.
Level 2	Landscaper	Yuffie makes a tremor that explodes beneath her enemies. This is best used against groups of enemies.
	Bloodfest	Yuffie strikes her opponents ten times. This is better against small groups or bosses than large clusters of monsters.
Level 3	Gauntlet	Yuffie summons a blue vortex below her opponents, damaging all of her enemies. Like Landscaper, this is best against large groups of enemies.
	Doom of the Living	This is just like the Bloodfest limit break, except it works against groups and single enemies equally, and hits 15 times for more damage.
Level 4	All Creation	Yuffie toasts her enemies with a huge blast of energy.

Cait Sith's Limit Breaks
Level	Limit	Description
Level 1	Dice	Cait Sith throws dice on the ground, which determines how much damage is done to an opponent. This limit breaks grows stronger over time.
Level 2	Slots	Slots is like a slot machine. Sometimes the results are fixed no matter when you stop each slot, sometimes they are not. 3 stars - Mog Dance: A small Mog restores the party's HP and MP. 3 kings - Toy Soldier: Six toy soldiers appear and attack all enemies. 3 bars - Summon: Cait Sith uses a spell at random. 3 Mog - Transform: Cait Sith turns into a giant, and his teammates disappear for the rest of the battle. Only Cait Sith gets experience from this battle. His HP and MP is based the average of the party. His attack is the party average x2. His Def, Mag, and MDef are the party average x1.2. His Def% is the party average x0.8 His MDef% and Luck are the party average x0.5 His luck is the average of the party. 3 Hearts - Lucky Girl: All physical attacks are critical hits. 3 Cait Sith - Game Over: This incredibly rare slot combination kills all enemies on the screen. This works even for bosses, but is very hard to get. 2 Cait Sith and a bar - Death Joker: The party is instantly killed. Don't worry, much like Instant Victory, this is very rare. Anything else - Toy Box: A toy box will appear and do a small amount of damage to enemies.
Cait Sith, unlike the other characters, has only two limit break levels. Not only that, but there is only one limit break in each level. Although he only has 2 limit breaks, he makes up for it with the variety in each one. For example, his second limit break can do 8 different things.

Vincent's Limit Breaks
Level	Limit	Description
Level 1	Galian Beast	Vincent turns into a purple beast that does fire based attacks. Galian Beast gains 20% Defense, 50% Dexterity, and an additional 30% max HP beyond Vincent's normal stats. Beast Flare: Vincent throws orbs which explode to damage to all enemies with fire magic. Berserk Dance: Vincent does a combo attack on an enemy.
Level 2	Death Gigas	Vincent transforms into a monster that bears a striking resemblance to Frankenstein. He uses physical and lightning attacks in this form. Death Gigas gains 50% Defense and an additional 100% max HP beyond Vincent's normal stats, but suffers -70% Magic Defense and -20% Dexterity penalties. Gigadunk: Vincent punches an enemy. Livewire: Vincent attacks all enemies with an electrical charge.
Level 3	Hellmasker	Vincent turns into a lunatic with a chainsaw. Hellmasker gains bonuses of an additional 50% Defense and 50% Defense% beyond Vincent's normal stats. Splattercombo: Vincent hits an enemy with his chainsaw five times. Nightmare: This is a great attack that gives an enemy the Confusion, Poison, Mute, Sleep, Frog, and Mini effects all at the same time.
Level 4	Chaos	Vincent transforms into a winged demon and uses powerful, non-elemental attacks. Chaos receives bonuses of 100% Defense and 100% Magic Defense beyond Vincent's normal stats. Chaos Saber: This is just like Slash-All, but doesn't use Vincent's weapon. Satan Slam: This powerful attack creates a large skull that causes massive damage to all opponents, randomly adding in 'Death' status to your enemies. Not only that, but any survivors are hit afterwards by flaming skulls.
Vincent only has one limit break in each level, but each has two variations. All four of his limit breaks turn his into some kind of beast for the rest of battle, and you will have no control over what he does. This is sometimes bad for long fights, but his limit breaks are still great for regular enemies or easy bosses.

Cid's Limit Breaks
Level	Limit	Description
Level 1	Boost Jump	Cid jumps into the air and lands on an enemy with his spear.
	Dynamite	Cid throws some dynamite at his enemies. Unlike Boost Jump, it effects all enemies, and is probably the better of the two.
Level 2	Hyper Jump	Cid jumps high into the air and comes down with his spear embedded in the ground. This causes a large blue explosion that hurts all enemies. If you're lucky, it'll also add Death.
	Dragon	Cid absorbs both HP and MP from a single target.
Level 3	Dragon Dive	Cid jumps up and down on his opponents, making an explosion each time. This causes strong damage to a single opponent and possible death.
	Big Brawl	Cid jumps into the enemies and starts hitting them with his spear. This does about the same amount of damage as the Dragon Dive.
Level 4	Highwind	Cid calls his trusty airship to drop a barrage of bombs onto all enemies, hitting 18 total times. This is great against a single enemy or a group, as it is culmulative and inflicts a huge amount of damage.