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Ninja Hat - Probably the few sources of equipment that gives Agility.. well there you go. The Sleep attribute is a bonus, yet unhelpful at this stage of the game.
Genji Armor Set - I probably need to examine the defensive difference more on Edge, it's actually pretty crappy overall for Cecil.
Ninja Robe - I don't know why they decided just now to just up his pathetic magic defense stat now, but it's great. Can't argue with the defensive properties with the armor.. though it's probably missing elemental resistances...
Murasame Katana - Casting Protect is a bonus.. and although most people may dislike this weapon.. there are some less obvious stuff that people are not considering.
1) You get more stats than you lose, the overall gain is +5.
2) The Agility loss is eventually compensated by the Ninja Robe and Masamune.
3) Wisdom is more useful to Edge, since it powers his spells, plus he's not really going to have many changes in Will Power/Spirit post level 70. However, this makes him the most suceptible to Paralysis and Sleep since those stats rely on this value to reduce the effect/duration of the status.
Flame Whip - The elemental property is the most negative point, since it is useless both Red+Blue Dragons... this is arguably the most disappointing weapon since its impact is minimal ultimately.
Heroine Robe - It's the best armor for both girls.. though more useful for Rosa, since she's always been underpowered (when you look at the stat growth potential for Rydia, it's disgusting a different)... Rydia tends to benefit less, unless you abuse the shield-Steal bug. It's arguable that the Heroine Robe is better than whatever else you can give for Rydia...
White/Holy Spear - This weapon seems alright on the surface, but disappointing. The Holy attribute is handy, but it being a Spirit killer is a totally useless attribute.
Ribbon - It's hard to argue over status protection in general, so this is no exception. Unfortunately, Charm status is not part of it (until FF4A, where they now make it overpowered, in addition to Berserk protection, which is lame IMO).
Masamune - Free Fast/Haste is awesome... can't argue against the usefulness of it.
Medusa Sword - Strangely enough, it's a nice neutral weapon that is a better han the IceBrand and Fire Swords. Too bad it's a rare drop, and may be worth someone's while if they are lucky. Unfortunately it inflicts gradual petrification, which has relatively little impact, like Poison.
Stardust Rod - I'm not a fan of the rods, and I guess if you are going rod, you want the Heroine Robe, since you want additional evasion. You lose the potential to max the magic defense, but given that you are already compensating one of the stat penalties via this method, I can't argue against this..
Lilith Rod - This weapon IMO could not possibly be that bad.. but it is. I think it helps Tellah the most, since his MP pool is rather weak, and you can't argue that. The only real negative is that the longevity of the weapon is pretty bad by design.
Artemis Arrows - Probably the only arrow that deserves the most attention.. though requires some patience to get en masse. Oh well, at least the best option doesn't suck.
Cursed Ring - You can get it as early as Mt. Hobs, but you actually start benefit once you've reached the Tower of Zot. The purpose of the armor revolves around taking lots of elemental damage relatively frequently... so it reduces your stats so you can absorb more.. which is how the stat loss makes a lot more sense.. (which is different from the Drain weaponry, that reduces your stats because you get full healing for every point of damage).. Too bad it seems more gimmicky than anything else, and the Adamant Armor doesn't benefit (Immune has a greater priority than Absorb.. this is different in FF4A).
* Lenophis summons Sylph
Ok, back to Tomra..
The Town With Lava is Water...
Drain Sword - I forgot about this, but this weapon is better than its counterpart, the Drain Spear. At least it doesn't share the same negative properties...
Ogre Axe - If you don't have an appreciation for the Drain weaponry, you get this. If we go by the FF4 stats, this weapon primarily is supposed to be an Ogre option, not the "Ice Weaponry Replacement" that it is in FF2 or FF4ET...
Chain Whip - It becomes a tough decision to try this weapon over the Dancing Knife, but the Dancing Knife's impact has diminished at this point...
Mute Arrows - Useless once you get the Elven Bow, but it is a good option if the Elven Bow didn't exist... Mage killing is worth it, given its distribution at this point of the game.
Diamond Armor Set - It's actually not that good, outside of the shield and the armor... the bulk of it is pretty unimpressive, especially when all of the armor pieces have lightning protection. The Diamond Ring is most beneficial on Edge, since the Tiara already covers such protection, plus it's not that much better overall defensively.. let alone the stat boosts (which they are non-existant)... I don't understand why there isn't any Mech protection.. which would've been useful later...
If You Like Areas That Abuse Statuses..
Elven Bow - These make every arrow insta-Mute Arrows. It is the best bow overall, particularly late game where you don't need Aim anymore... plus you get a free Shell...
Charm Rod - Underrated and underused... I don't know how to explain this weapon further.
Avenger Sword - Probably the best weapon if you don't need to do monster harvesting... it's a great Sealed Cave option, especially when you need to make every hit count.
Fullmoon Boomerang - This is a dramatic upgrade, up to the level of the Long Sword, with a slightly lower hit rate. Plus, "it's good to keep up with the Joneses" or whatever that quote was supposed to be.
The Three Headed Bitch and The Tidal King..
Samurai Bow/Arrow - Nothing worth speaking about, although the Bow is strong.. it's not that impressive IMO.
Defense Sword - It's hard to argue against one of the stronger weapons, plus the additional free Protect magic is always an awesome bonus.
Poison Axe - One of the more disappointing weapons that exist... the additional Poison weapon-spell doesn't excite anyone. Being 2-handed is a drag... but if you need the extra anti-Giant power, go for it.
Ninja Katana - This is a nice weapon since you have to get out of your way to obtain it.. just like the Defender.
Long Katana - It's not special, and you can't throw it.. and you eventually get a free pair of them in the end... completely useless IMO compared to the Fullmoon Boomerang.
Lunar Staff - It's unimpressive, since Dispel is unimpressive, and the Silence Staff is better.. but this weapon is overall unimpressive... just like FuSoYa too. Doesn't it feel wrong to put down shitty equipment?
Charm Arrows - It's nice, but I get the feeling it's unimpressive, yet underrated. Killing a few Giant monsters is nifty, but Charm status itself is the most unimpressive at this point in the game.. and the damage isn't too worthy of mention IMO.
Blitz Whip - Unimpactful, but I guess that's better than all other previous Whip options... the elemental property isn't useful either
Aegis Shield - This is probably the best shield in the game... if only because it provides a decent status to protect (don't want those Karys/Moon Goddesses to be that close) and provides the most magic defense of any shield (not magic evade, but it's not that bad either way). Plus, the extra Wisdom/Intelligence can't hurt magic defense.
Sorceror's Robe - Good for everyone that can use it, and strangely, it has better stats than some of the late armor you can get. Strange, but true.. Undead protection and Lightning resistance is hard to argue against... better than the Diamond Armor.
There was this one point in time where I thought having two FireClaws was better than one.
Anyways..
If you bothered with Eblan Castle..
Slumber Sword - It's certainly worth the gamble, since it is a gap weapon between the Fire Sword and Silver Sword. Since Sleep is primarily level based, it's success is tough to gage sometimes.. although FF4A made it pretty overpowered by design (making Sleep work 100% of the time).
Mute Arrows - You'll buy them later, but for only a small set, it's primarily non-impactful.. although it's best day is if you use it vs the Magus Sisters. It's amazing how a 4x attack power modifer shreds stuff quickly.
Drain/Blood Spear - There was a point that I used this exclusively, but stopped when I wanted reliability. I guess it's the answer for the Flans/Pudding you meet at the Tower of Bab-il (underground), but meh. Although, this is my favorite weapon vs the Mad Ogres... especially when it comes to monster harvesting. There's a lot to be said when it comes to "free healing"... though the Ogre Axe and its complement, the Blood Sword is actually more reliable.. which make shock some people.
A Lot of Trash Later and the Invisible Tower of Zot
Prisoner's Robe - I forgot about this, but the Sleep property may be worth it, but it's more or less like a Cloth that actually has some value. It's nice that you get a pair, (Is Rosa sexier in stripes? Cid probably says no.)
Charm Claw - It's got to be the most awesome, overpowered, and yet perhaps balanced weapon for Yang. The hit rate is the equivalent of fist, but Charm status is worth the bonus, even if your overall damage is lowered as a result.. you can trash Ogres and other Giants like candy. Plus, it boosts Agility, which cannot be said for any weapon up to this point in the game.
Strength Ring/Power Wrist - A common drop by Ogres is actually worth over the crappy Mythril/Silver Gloves. You're not giving up much... too bad it's still metallic.
Zeus/Giant's Gloves - Even better than the above option, and isn't metallic.. it's actually pretty damn good for gloves, until late game. The lack of magic defense is not a big deal, considering the alternatives, plus feeling overpowered is good. However, this is a rare drop and is "much easier" to obtain in the Tower of Bab-il via Cave Eblana...
Fire Armor - It is put in the most interesting spot, if only to allow you to rape yourself when you fight the FlameDog for the Fire Sword. Amusing nonetheless.
Fire Sword - Burrrrnn. Its best attribute arguably can be its worst attribute later on. Go figure.
Flame Shield - This is handy if you want to use this later for elemental protection... it's best in shield form IMO.
Poison Claw - The status effect is useless, which is the same as my opinion on Poison Arrows, which I forgot to mention earlier, but it's worth pointing out here... the major benefit is increasing the hit rate, if not allow balancing out with the Charm Claw, which has a weak hit rate. Strength boost is more of a "meh" bonus.
Poison Arrows - Dropped by the entire set of Hydra enemies (and a few Naga varients)... it's stronger for when you have it, but Poison is the most non-impactful status on a weapon that there ever was, unless used against you...
Earth Hammer - Making it Fire elemental is perfect for what you need it for.. plus a free Quake spell is insta-Flan killer (it's better than other alternatives, which includes Yang using is Build Up/Power command).
Wizard Robe - This is the only time that Tellah looks actually competant with his Cure3/Curaga (well, particularly if it is single targeted)... too bad he still sucks.
Rune Ring - If you fight a lot of those Marion guys, you may get a few of these. The longevity of this ring can extend to the Lunar Subterraine as the Diamond Ring is not really impressive. Silence protection plus some stat boost may even make Tellah look like a genius.. for two seconds. Plus, the Mage protection would be a bonus if you do a lot of monster harvesting to boot.
Silence Staff - This is one of the few weapons worth looking to acquire, given that relative to Rosa's other weapons for a time period, this is actually a good weapon (well, you will auto-abuse the back row bit right?) Plus, Silence is a handy spell (although it's cheap to cast) plus it will be better than any staff you could buy, up to a point. This is worthy of a look. At least you are given many chances of acquiring this....
Wind Spear - I wonder why it can't be thrown (I mean who's dumb idea is this?)... it's only close to the Slumber Sword, but not by much.
The Dwarves and Their Freaky Eyes
Flame Spear - Free Fire2 makes killing Dark Imps a breeze. It's not that handy overall, but I like free stuff...
Dwarf Axe - I often wonder why this doesn't have the Air elemental, especially given the weapon itself. Oh well, at least there's a nice axe throwing animation (via the Throw command) that normally gets seen in FF4ET... This weapon is underrated, but annoying at the same time. I don't like the Agility loss in addition to the Wisdom/Will/Intellgence/Spirit loss... but oh well. These are better weapons vs those FlameDogs, and particular the damned Chimera.
Darkness Arrows - As I said before, they are underrated primarily because Ice Arrows tend to be more effective at killing many of the underground's vile. This is one of the few status afficting weapons that are worth it if you want a monster's counter or spell to become far weaker... if they aren't resistant.
Wizard Hat - Undead resistance is a nice bonus.. anyone who doesn't recognize the massive undead usage is crazy. Plus, Cecil can equip this.. which is an improvement over all the previous options.
Medusa Arrows - Very powerful stuff, if you are overleveled...
Black Belt - It's an improvement over the Karate Robe (I didn't realize it until many years later) but can be used to improve Rosa's offense, though sacraficing Will Power/Spirit bonuses... though Kain+Cecil can definately benefit...
I forgot to mention...
Charm Harp - This harp is better for Edward obviously.. but for the Battle @ Fabul.. it is useless vs the General.. since he'll make his soldiers attack. The Dreamer Harp is still better for stopping the General...
Back to everything else...
CatClaw - You could probably get it early via lucky drops.. but it's a pretty damn good option for putting most monsters to Sleep.. since Yang tends to gain levels quickly, he will make short work of monsters anyways.
IceBrand - Better than the Fire Sword, but the Fire Sword may have a few uses before you really want to sell it.. elemental blades vs Chimera = poop.
Blizzard Spear - Ice2 is a nice Tofu killer.. especially in the few formations they appear in. Still sucky vs Chimera.
Ice Shield - The best attribute is protection against Reptiles.. but an even better idea is to use them in conjunction with the Fire Armor for great elemental protection (except if Cecil or Kain hit themselves, which actually can be very devastating).
Ice Armor - The shield is better.. but it's best to pair with the Fire Shield. You know, those Chimera and FlameDogs don't look so tough then (except everyone that is not named Kain or Cecil will be torched).
Bandanna - It's an improvement over the Headband, but I'd still keep the Headband for later...
After The Cannon Goes Kaboom!...
Black Robe - The weirdest armor ever when it isn't the original FF4... go figure. Ultimately I believe this was supposed to help Rydia survive Rubicante.. but eh.. it's not that helpful.
Boomerang - This weapon is perhaps worth a look. There's a number of enemies that can be exposed by it, despite it being weaker overall, but can easily expose the Back Row bug for Edge... probably one of the few underrated weapons.
Power Staff - If they kept the Berserk spell of this staff, it would've been more useful. There are very impactful consequences when Berserking enemies on hit, even though this allows Rosa to be a better fighter.. with a staff... it may not be worth that hassle. Berserk tends to be a benefical status, and people who don't realize that need to rethink the number of times they use the Fight/Attack command...
Middle Katana - If it's actual impact is to allow the Short Katana to be thrown away, that's about it.. I don't get why more of his Katana can't be thrown away. I can understand the elemental swords, but not this? Go figure.
Shadow+Iron armor set - Initial Equipment
Simply non-impactful, with the Shadow set being better IIRC than the Iron set (then again Kain has Jump, so it's a wash). One of the rare underrated weapons is the Spear, since it gives Kain 99% hit rate.. and unless he's in the back row (and not Jumping), he's technically doing a lot more reliable damage than Cecil will up to a certain point.
Rydia's initial equipment + Weapon+Armor shops @ Kaipo...
Rydia already has optimal equipment, but won't be able to take advantage of the armor's evasion until her Agility is at 8. The Rod has a decent initial weapon-spell, which has a decent initial spell power, but has a 1x spell multiplier. This can still be stronger than the other elemental Rods when it is vs magic defense, which tends to actually increase overtime with newer monsters, unlike defense. The Bow+Arrow setup is only there for Rosa, unless you like torturing yourself. The Staff is also completely useless, since Poison status isn't exploited until Milon-Z/Scamaglione (undead version). I'm surprised they never made this a White Magic spell. The other strange thing is why the hell are they selling the Cloth Robe... when it has no positive attributes over the Leather Robe...
Cave of the Octomammoth..
IceRod - Once in a blue moon, you may want to try your luck with Rydia hitting, but it's best when she has at least a 2x attack multiplier to increase the chances of a hit. At least you have an alternative to cast a kinda weak Ice-1, but it has a better spell multiplier.. even though the spell power of Ice 1 is weak. It depends whether you want concentrated fire with the Rod vs the potential split damage that the IceRod can provide.. which can be useful for eliminating Zombies which tend to survive a pathetic Tellah's Fire1 or Cure2.
Silver Ring - If you're fortunate, you may get this via a drop by the TinyMage. This has actual impact once you get it, since there are a number of Spirit enemies you face before being able to buy this @ Mysidia.
Leather Hat - One of the few peeves I have is that this armor is only findable early on, yet buyable @ Toroia of all places... it bothers me when the early party is put in a really bad position of "who gets the crappy Cap".
Darkness equipment set - I've got lots of meh, although the weapon is probably the most impactful of them all.
At the Spoony Bard's Domain..
RubyRing - This is a good time to just store them up.. though I can't say it's that useful.. until version 2 of the Dark Elf's battle.. which is most likely when you are not equipping this piece of equipment. I get the feeling this ring needs a stat boost, other than the rarely used Piggy status...
CrossBow - Just for Rosa please.
Bard's Robe - Initially, I thought it was a good idea to just sell this... after finding out it provides Silence resistance.. I was a tad reluctant to do so. There isn't really a technical merit for keeping it over the Leather Robe, but for the small chance that you want Edward to keep singing, Silence protection should be there. It probably needs a stat boost though...
Yang and "The Claw"
Sometimes it seems annoying, but having the FireClaw is great because his hit rate increases, but there are a few monsters that simply aren't receptive to that attack (damn you Spirits+Souls). Oh well, no big deal I guess.
Once you are able to buy the Black armor set and the oddly priced Claws.. especially when they don't have varying hit rates or anything to justify price differences... it's another meh.
Black Sword/Deathbringer - Great weapon, kills everything that's "underleveled". It's a great weapon to bond with Twins when you're exposing the area north of Mt. Ordeals.
The Town With the Awesome Theme
Paladin equipment set - It would've been nice if they hinted that you should buy this stuff before going up the mountain.. so idiots would not have a right to be stupid. There's only a few peeves that I have with this set, primarily because the next set (the Silver/Mythril set) is effectively the most useless armor set in the game, and I've explained why on the monster type distribution argument thread I wrote a while back. Spirit protection is great if.. you fight them more often than not.
Gaea Hat - This arguably is better than the Paladin Hat... you get evasion, an additional boost to Wisdom/Intelligence (for more magic evasion), and magic defense over the meh-for-defense.
Gaea Robe - I'm not sure who wrote the fucking manual, but it's protection is against gradual petrification... this would've been nice if that was available before Mt. Hobs where the Cockatrice is worth fearing.
Holy Arrows - These are possibly most underrated arrows that people don't bother using for the Twins. They are worth their usage (and it's all fucked up in FF4A anyways) all will mow everything down, minus the Liliths. These become temporarily useless at the Baron Waterway...
Cure Staff - It's better than seeing Tellah fight.. make him and maybe Porom useful.. and play more defensively/conservative if you like to keep guys alive.
Flame Rod - An increased spell multiplier (3x), but it will take some time to kill certain monsters, minus the monsters that absorb this.. either way, you have a choice between reliability vs insta-kill gambles with the Bow+Arrow setup.
Back @ Baron...
Tiara - Taking that extra trip to Mist is worth it. Obviously this is best used on Rydia, but the added extra defense (magic too) with Dragon resistance (which starts being useful at the Tower of Bab-il via Cave Eblana) and Lightning resistance (which is also a benefit vs the same monster) cannot be understated.
Change Rod - This is the best monster neutralizer. It's obviously not going to work for every monster, but since weapon-magic is nearly realiable, you can't really argue against it, plus it makes Tellah a better Black Magic user (to actual reasonable levels).
Whip - Meh since Rydia comes back with one.
Dancing Dagger - This has a decent life span until you reach Tomra. The simple fact this weapon-spell ignores Reflect and has a reasonable better spell power base than the elemental Rods but not the level 2 elementals is a nice boost.
Thunder Rod - Meh, a 4x spell multiplier doesn't give me any "shock" value. It doesn't have the same impact that the Dancing Dagger has.
Karate Robe - Although expensive, it is the best armor available for the Magnetic Cave. You can easily justify the value over the lacking Gaea Robes.. but it won't beat out the Paladin Armor IMO. Besides, it's cheaper that way. Once the twins leave, the extra pair of Robes will go to Cid and Cecil.. which is financially sane. The Strength Boost is a nice bonus.
Headband - This is one of the few pieces of equipment that one should considering buying a set for the entire party. Charm protection is worth the price. The nifty Strength bonus is even better, and this piece of equipment easily beats out the Leather Cap when you are considering equipment options for the Magnetic Cave. In fact, you combine the Karate Robe with the Headband, you get an insta-attack multiplier boost.
Ancient Sword - The only letdown is that this weapon should at least attempt to be stronger than the Legend Sword.. since the status afflication doesn't provide impact until the next attack.
Once You Get the Airship...
Elemental Arrows - They are not impactful for the Magnetic Cave, despite being stronger in attack power. Holy Arrows hold their own much better.
GreatBow - It's reasonable at this point of the game to use, and it's fairly reliable.
Silver Armor Set - Virtually useless set, as the defensive boosts are of minimal impact IMO.
Silver Weapon Set - Most of these are useless.. the Knife is a nice throwaway weapon, the Staff heals like the Unicorn Horn (which is nothing worth speaking of), the Sword is surpassed by the Slumber Sword easily, and the Hammer is a nice bump.. but if the Wooden Hammer kept its Lit-2 weapon-spell property, ths Silver Hammer would be useless to me. In fact, it would make the trek through the Tower of Zot much easier (especially with the Pudding/Flan monsters).
*Hand Axe - Although this was never included in the original, after testing this out in Paladin's hack, I believe this weapon sucks if it was inserted in this scenario (it would suck more than the Legend Sword too).. primarily because of its shit-for-hit-rate. This weapon is not better than the original Wooden Hammer, and it's metallic to boot.. so even if you have Cid with the best defense, he couldn't hit a lick.
i'd be interested in reading it.
