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Crisis Core: How to break the HP, MP, and AP limits

by Alex Donaldson on 24 December, 2022

Zack is a powerful and formidable SOLDIER First Class in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, but that doesn't mean he's overpowered. You can make him that way, though - by breaking limits of his stats. This page explains how to break the HP, MP, and AP Limits in Crisis Core, leading to extreme power.

We all know about Limit Breaks in the world of FF7, and in Crisis Core they take on a slightly different form. There's the DMW Summons and Limit Breaks, yes, but the most significant Limit Break Zack can undertake is the one that lets him increase his HP, MP, and AP past their initial top limits.

How to break the HP, AP, and MP Limit in Crisis Core

Breaking the Crisis Core FF7 HP Limit can increase your maximum HP by ten times.

In Crisis Core Reunion and the PSP original, Zack’s HP is capped at 9,999, though it’ll start even lower than that. The same is true of MP for casting magic and AP for casting abilities; MP and AP are initially capped at a much lower 999. 

Zack's HP, MP, and AP will gradually rise as you level up, but it still will cap out relatively low. However, as with the breaking the damage limit, HP, MP, and AP can all be raised beyond those caps.

By breaking out of Zack’s HP Limit, you can make him more of a tank and able to survive hits more healthily. By breaking past his AP and MP limits, Zack can cast more magic and use more abilities without needing to use restorative items. 

The upper HP limit is actually 9,999, and the upper MP and AP limit is 9,999 - in both instances ten times the initial cap.

There’s two key ways to break the HP, AP, and MP limits: the first is naturally, through the DMW, where Crisis Core’s slot machine style gameplay mechanic will occasionally reward you with going into ‘Break’ status, giving you more than your maximum HP. Our DMW guide will explain more on that.

The second way to break these limits is by equipping Special Items, which we describe below:

To break the HP Limit, you'll need one of a few specific items.

HP Limit Breaking Items

  • Adaman Bangle: Raises the HP limit to 99,999. 
    • It’s a guaranteed mission completion reward for Mission 7-3-6, “P’s Prerecognition Lv. 6”. 
    • Alternatively, this accessory can be found in chests in 9-2-4 and 9-5-4.
  • Genji Armor: Raises HP Limit to 99,999, and also keeps Endure and Regen active. 
    • Obtained by raising all DMW to 100%, which happens by seeing all Summon and Chocobo mode summons once in battle, and seeing all Character DMW movie variations. 
    • Because DMW happens by chance, how quickly this unlocks is largely down to luck. 
  • Divine Slayer: Breaks all of the stat limits, acts as Libra, plus boosts a bunch of stats. The ultimate accessory.
    • Rewarded for beating the superboss found in mission 9-6-6, “The Reigning Deity”.

MP Limit Breaking Items

  • Gold Hairpin: Breaks the MP limit, raising it to 9,999. 
    • Available from a chest in Mission 9-2-5, “To the Lower Levels”.
  • Divine Slayer: Breaks all of the stat limits, acts as Libra, plus boosts a bunch of stats. The ultimate accessory.
    • Rewarded for beating the superboss found in mission 9-6-6, “The Reigning Deity”.

AP Limit Breaking Items

  • Black Cowl: Breaks the AP limit, raising it to 9,999.
    • A guaranteed mission reward for 7-3-1, “P’s Prerecognition Lv.1”. 
    • Can also be found inside chests in Mission 2-5-5 and 9-3-3. 
  • Divine Slayer: Breaks all of the stat limits, acts as Libra, plus boosts a bunch of stats. The ultimate accessory.
    • Rewarded for beating the superboss found in mission 9-6-6, “The Reigning Deity”.