Gold Needle

Gold Needles, known as Soft in earlier games, is an item that appears in many Final Fantasy games, and they first appear in the first game, Final Fantasy. It can cure a character with the Petrify status if used on them.

Final Fantasy
In Final Fantasy, Gold Needles can be bought in a few Item Shops, but most of them are found inside treasure chests. In an Item Shop, Gold Needles can be bought for 500 gil each and sold at 250 gil each. In the original Nintendo Entertainment System version and Final Fantasy Origins's Hard Mode, Gold Needles cost 800 gil each and can be sold for 400 gil each. The Stona spell has the same effect as a Gold Needle.

In the original Nintendo Entertainment System version, Gold Needles are named SOFT, or Soft Potion in the original Nintendo Power strategy guide. As such, the item's Nintendo Power artwork depicts it as a green vase. Starting with Final Fantasy Origins, the English name has been updated to Gold Needle.

Final Fantasy II
In Final Fantasy II, Gold Needles have the same purpose as in Final Fantasy. They are a lot more common because they are for sale at every Item Shop. However, they are not as commonly found in treasure chests. In the original Famicom release and Final Fantasy Origins's Hard Mode, Gold Needles can be bought for 2,500 gil each and sold for 1,250 gil each, making them more expensive than in the first game. In later releases, Gold Needles are sold at a lower price of 500 gil, and can be sold for 250 gil, the same as in the first Final Fantasy's later releases.

Final Fantasy

 * Nintendo Power volume 17 (page 21): "If turned to stone, a Light Warrior can become human again if he is given a dose of the Soft Potion."