Table of Contents
Introduction
In this article, we're going to take a look at the newest free weapon in the game, the Pumpkin Blaster. It arrives in the game along with the second part of the pumpkin event, which includes Lucia's free weapon. Is it any good? Is it worth investing in? Let's find out!
Base Stats
Looking at its base stats, it's eerily similar to the previous free event weapons, namely the Chocobo Staff, Thousand Waves, and Beach Parasol. The base stats hover just below the 400 mark. The Pumpkin Blaster has slightly more magic attack than physical attack. It has slightly less physical attack than the Chocobo Staff, albeit only by 7 points. However, it boasts 4 more points in magic attack than the Chocobo Staff, making them nearly identical in many aspects.
R Abilities
Its R abilities are 'Boost Heal' and 'Boost MDEF.' At max overboost, they provide 27 and 24 points, respectively. This is honestly quite good for a sub-weapon on a healer and could also be serviceable in a healer build for Lucia. She can wield it off-hand while her main weapon remains her Tranquilizer Gun.
Support Materia Slots
As for the support materia slots, it offers 2 'Attack Boost I's and 1 'MATK Boost I. There's nothing particularly special here, and it won't matter much since this weapon will primarily serve as a subweapon about 90% of the time. The MATK boost is at 20%, so you might make use of it if you want to squeeze more damage from a magic materia and this is your only viable primary weapon for Lucia. However, I doubt that situation will occur often.
C Ability
Its C ability is the same as the Chocobo Staff's. It increases a single ally's magic defense with mid potency for 38 seconds, extendable for an additional 12 seconds with high potency. It also heals a bit of HP at 13% of the user's healing potency. This is not a bad ability, especially against bosses that like to unleash magic nukes, like Zetant Ratel.
Is it worth investing in?
Well, that depends. If you don't have any good weapons to boost heal potency, then yes, it's a good option. If you do, I would suggest leveling it up for the missions. When combined with the Chocobo Staff and a weapon like the Fairy Tale, it still falls short of reaching 'Boost Heal' level 7. It's even worse on Lucia with her Tranquilizer Gun, Pumpkin Blaster, and Chocobo Staff. In that setup, you only reach 50 points, which is 5 points short of level 7. While it could be useful for the magic defense boost, there are better weapons for survivability, such as the Thousand Waves and Beach Parasol. So, it has its niche uses, but I'm hesitant about investing a lot of materials into this weapon. My advice is to invest in it should the situation arise. That's my answer.
Is it worth farming for 11 copies?
Absolutely! It's a free max overboost weapon. You never know when it'll come in handy. The only challenging part is defeating the Inferno Boss at EX1 difficulty. Don't worry; we have a guide for that here.
This concludes the Pumpkin Blaster review. I hope you found it useful!
