Table of Contents
Introduction
In this article, I'll review Zack's newest weapon, the Iron Greadsword. This weapon is farmable during the Iron Giant Hunt Event. I will break down its abilities and support materia slots, explore some potential builds in which it might be used, discuss sub-weapon use, and consider its future-proofing.
Iron Greatsword
Base Stats
Iron Greatsword:
Zack [Event]
[PATK: 175] [MATK: 184] [HEAL: 152] (90 OB0)
[PATK: 420] [MATK: 441] [HEAL: 212] (90 OB10)
[PATK: 437] [MATK: 460] [HEAL: 228] (90 OB+20)
Spiral Swing (4 ATB)
27 Boost ATK / 24 Boost Crit. Pot.
- ATK Boost I
- ATK Boost I
- PATK Boost I
Zack's iron greatsword sits at the bottom of the list of weapons with regards to physical attack. It is in the middle in terms of magical attack and at the bottom again in terms of heal potency. It has more magic attack than physical attack. The base stats are better than his other free event weapon, the Beach Parasol.
C-Ability
Spiral Swing [Mag. Non-elem.]
260% Mag. Non-elem. Damage [Range: Single Enemy]
20s PDEF Down (+6s) (Low -> Mid) [Range: Single Enemy]
10% Crit Rate [Range: Single Enemy]
Spiral Swing [Mag. Non-elem.]
300% Mag. Non-elem. Damage [Range: Single Enemy]
22s PDEF Down (+7s) (Low -> Mid) [Range: Single Enemy]
10% Crit Rate [Range: Single Enemy]
Spiral Swing+ [Mag. Non-elem.]
350% Mag. Non-elem. Damage [Range: Single Enemy]
25s PDEF Down (+7s) (Low -> Mid) [Range: Single Enemy]
10% Crit Rate [Range: Single Enemy]
Spiral Swing++ [Mag. Non-elem.]
360% Mag. Non-elem. Damage [Range: Single Enemy]
28s PDEF Down (+9s) (Low -> Mid) [Range: Single Enemy]
10% Crit Rate [Range: Single Enemy]
It deals magical non-elemental damage with a critical rate of 10%. It also lowers physical defense with low potency on a single enemy and can be extended by 9 seconds, up to a mid potency.
R-Abilities
It grants an attack boost of 27 points and a critical potency boost of 24 points at max overboost. Like Red's Iron Collar, it's a great sub-weapon for building a crit-focused unit.
Sub-weapon use
It's a good sub-weapon for damage dealers who have already capped their physical attack and magical attack. This is especially beneficial for non-elemental damage dealers because they can take advantage of the critical potency boost.
Support Materia Slots
For support materia slots, it has 2 slots for PATK/MATK +10% and 1 slot for PATK +20%. It doesn't make much sense why it has a physical attack boosting materia slot when the weapon is clearly focused on magical damage. I guess it doesn't really matter because you wouldn't use this weapon as a primary choice for Zack unless you don't have anything better to equip.
Build
For a theoretical build, you could use it as one of Lucia's sub-weapons for her crit build. She'll get up to a 60% critical potency bonus with both the Iron Collar and Iron Greatsword equipped. Her Black Rifle's C ability has a 10% critical base stat, making her a crit machine.
Future-proofing
This is a good weapon to invest in up to level 80. I'm not sure if it's worth upgrading to level 90 by using Mythril Ores, but they could release more weapons with non-elemental damage that have significant modifiers. It might be worth considering a non-elemental crit build, and this weapon can certainly assist with that.
Conclusion
Here you have it, Zack's Iron Greatsword. It's not especially great as a primary or secondary weapon for him. However, it does provide PDEF break, so if you don't have that in your team, he could fill that niche. It is also useful against Iron Giant EX stages. This makes it a great sub-weapon for damage dealers. I hope you found this guide useful.
