FFXII The Zodiac Age

Rare and Ultimate Weapons

by C.Tenore

Note: If you are looking for how to get the Zodiac Spear, please check the secrets section of the site.

Note: In The Zodiac Age, some weapon/item information was changed. We are currently in the process of updating this guide. If you would like to help, please use this form.

Choose a weapon: Deathbringer Excalibur Zodiac Estucheon Tournesol Masamune Wyrmhero Blade Rare Weapon Recipes Sagittarius Bow Whale Whisker Pole Durandal Sword Whale Whisker Pole Scorpion Tail Axe (Vrscika) Grand Bolts

:VERSION HISTORY: 1.0 - The original FAQ. Completed all sections. 2.0 - The completed FAQ for all substantial purposes. Added to some existing sections, wrote the Deathbringer Elsewhere section. 3.0 - Changed the guide slightly to include other rare weapons, and added the Excalibur and Zodiac Estucheon. Added to the FAQ section. 4.0 - Some reformatting done. 5.0 - Added the Tournesol section. Hoorah. 6.0 - Fixed some things, added some things, added the Masamune. 7.0 - Added the Wyrmhero Blade and Rare Weapon Recipes section.

.....INTRODUCTION.....[ Back to Top ] Hello. This guide was originally my Deathbringer FAQ, but with the addition of the Excalibur and Zodiac Estucheon (with likely more to come) I've changed the name to the Rare Weapons FAQ. Check the index above and search for whatever weapon youre looking for. Hopefully this guide will help you find it. Any additions you think should be here? E-mail me.

.....THE DEATHBRINGER.....[ Back to Top ] The Deathbringer is: Sword (1H) Element: None Attack power: 90 On Hit: KO (Note in the Zodiac Age you can buy the Deathbringer at Balfonheim Port for 13,700 gil) At the point in the game where you can get the Deathbringer relatively easily (around level 27), the sword is between 30-45 points higher in attack power then weapons you'll usually have equipped. It's significantly more powerful, and with a properly Augmented character can be dealing 1200+ damage per hit at level 27. Also, the On Hit: KO ability gives your attacks a chance to automatically kill the attacked unit. The Deathbringer License is Swords 6. Looking at your License Board, begin at Smallswords. The immediate License below it is Bows 1: this is the row where Swords 6 is. Following this row all the way to the right, you'll find Swords 6 as the second to last License box (the very last is, obviously, Swords 7). It costs 60 LP to learn. It sells for 8000 Gil, so even if you dont want to use them, you can get a bunch to sell. They will be substantial items for nearly the entirety of the game, if you get them as early as this guide suggests.

>IIa: Getting the Deathbringer< Firstly, note that you can't get the Barheim Key (and thusly can't proceed with this quest) without first passing the Raithwall's Tomb area towards the beginning of the game, where you get Belias. Once you pass this area, though, feel free to read on. Thanks to Shadow51665(@yahoo.com) for this info. >IIb: Recommendations< In order to get the Deathbringer, make sure youve been to Dalmasca Estersands, Barheim Passage, and have the proper items to obtain the Barheim Key (discussed below). Needless to say, youll NEED the Barheim Key to access the Barheim Passage area youre looking for. You should probably also have: -Level 28+ characters -Steal Technick learned by at least 3 characters -Protect Spell learned -Haste spell learned -Curaga or a strong Healer available -1 or more Thiefs Cuffs accessories Equip the Thiefs Cuffs to as many characters as you want. They cost 3000 Gil if you buy them from a shop, you can find them in a few places early-mid game. They arent needed, but do speed up the stealing process, since it could take a whole bunch of failed Steals before you get something. Setting up your Gambits should be pretty simple. You'll want two characters to take most of the hits from Ithuno, while Stealing from him as much as possible. THen, the third character should hang back, Healing your other 2 characters, but also being able to Steal when healing isn't needed. Gambits should look something like this: Tank/Stealer 1: Foe: nearest visible.....Attack (turn this ON when defeating the annoying Frog enemies, OFF when facing Ithuno) Foe: nearest visible.....Steal Tank/Stealer 2: Foe: nearest visible.....Attack (same as above explanation) Foe: nearest visible.....Steal Healer/Stealer: Ally: any .....Raise Ally: HP < 20% .....Curaga (or Cura) Ally: HP < 40% .....Cure Ally: any .....Haste Foe: nearest visible.....Steal This way, youll have 2 people mostly stealing, with one hanging back to Raise dead allies, Cure hurt ones, or re-Haste others. If none is needed, your healer will begin stealing too. Remember that casting Haste will speed up the time it takes for Steal to trigger, as well as Cure spells, so this is very good. Protect will lessen the damage taken from Ithuno, so your characters can stay up for longer. >IIc. The Barheim Key< The Barheim Key is something of a Side Quest you need to complete to get into the Barheim Passage. It's somewhat lengthy, so ill outline it here. For more information, check the other FAQs on GameFAQs, or search any FFXII forum. Im going to assume youre doing this a little ways into the game. Things you should ALREADY have are: -Cactoid Flower from the Flowering Cactoid Mob Hunt (Dalmasca's Desert Bloom) -Great Serpentskin from the Nidhogg Mob Hunt (Marauder in the Mines) *Note: this isn't necessary. Having this item will, however, get you extra accessories at the end of this quest* To begin this quest, speak to Dantro in Dalmasca Estersand/Outpost. He's the guy that issued the Flowering Cactoid mob hunt. He'll ask you to give the flower to his wife. Head North a few screens until you reach Dalmasca Estersand/South Bank Village (the place with the merchant and Gate Crystal). Go there and talk to Dantro's wife, who will be outside a house on the Eastern side of the village, near the river bank. She'll give you a Bundle of Needles. Now exit and re-enter this area. Go to the river bank and speak with the little boy Chigri. Eventually, choose to go to North Bank Village. Speak to him again, and after the next scene, have him take you back to South Bank Village. Now talk to Dantro's wife once more, she should speak of what she did with your flower. GO behind her house and examine the flower on the floor. It will turn into a Cactoid and follow you. Go talk to Chigri, and return to the North Bank Village. Talk to the big Cactoids to finish this part, gaining you Gil and the Wyrmfire Shot bullets. Go back to South Bank Village (the boy takes you back and forth now for free) and talk to Dantros wife. She requests Shells. Search the river bank right near the house and examine anything shiny you see. These are the Shells. Depending on how many you collect, the treasure at the end of thsi quest will increase. Give these to the Wife. She then requests another item (I forget the name exactly) but it is located near Dantro himself. So go back South to the Outpost and speak to Dantro. Search around the camp, near any boxes you see, or anywhere you see something shiny. You should get about 3 vials of the item. Give these back to Dantros Wife. The final item she wants are these Flowers located in the northern parts of the Estersands. This part could be hard if you havent reached level 25+. The enemies in The Yoma and Broken Sands sections are that level, so they can be hard. However, run north anyway to the Broken Sands. Search around the huge boulders you see to find some of these Flowers. Bring them back to Dantros Wife. Now, if you want the treasure at the end of this quest (the EXTRA treasure i mean, not the Barheim Key) then give her the Great Serpentskin. If you do, you get more stuff based on what you gave Dantros Wife. It goes: Great Serpentskin, 5 Shells, 2 vials of second item, 3 Flowers = Golden Amulet, Magick Gloves, Balance Mote Great Serpentskin, 2 Shells, 2 vials of second item = Magick Gloves, Balance Mote Great Serpentskin only = Balance Mote Now you must leave the South Village, and re-enter. Talk to Dantros wife. THen leave and re-enter once more. Talk to her again. SHe tells you the traveler is all healed. Look around the house to find her, and speak with her. The Traveler thanks you with the Barheim Key. >IId. Barheim Passage< Barheim Passage is of course where you must go to continue. Once you have the Key, head South of Dalmasca Estersand/South Bank Village into the Banks of the Nebra area. Go South East into the small area, called Murmuring Defile. Here you'll see a corridor and a door, which is opened with the Barheim Key. Enter. You end up in the Barheim Passage/The Zeviah Subterrane area. Head South West, the North, and enter the next area (Great Central Passage). Go North one more screen to the North-South Junction, where a Gate Crystal is. Save here. Now is the time when you'll want to set all your Gambits. Bring out the 3 characters you'll be using primarily (you really only need 3 for this entire thing, but I suppose if you wanted to set up more then you could). Now hold down the Flee button, so you arent bothered by anything. Its time to navigate to Ithuno. This part can be tricky to describe, so just look at your Select map and the NAME of the area you are. Starting at the Gate Crystal, go South one screen to the Great Central Passage. Keep the camera behind you, and turn to your character's right (technically West) and run until you come upon 2 railroad tunnels. They are visible on your map at the far West end of this area (one passage is going perfectly West, the other is going slightly North West, rightontop of it). You want to go down the passage going perfectly West. If you went correctly, youre now in Special Op Sector 5. Go forward (technically West) through this passage. Having Libra on, you should pass a trap. Then, there should be 2 level 36-40 Suriander enemies (the frog ones). These are pretty annoying, as there are about 7 in this passage. They cast Angelsong and can attack for 400+ damage (depending on your level). However, we're going to bypass most of them. Flee past these two. There will be another one soon after these guys. Run past. Just beyond this one is a huge Adamantitan enemy. He'll cast a bunch of -ara spells if you get too close, but he can be totally avoided if you just hug the wall and run past. Past him, you should nwo find yourself running from dirt onto railroad tracks again. There should be a frog enemy ont he tracks infront of you. Midway down these tracks, near this frog, will be a boulder on your characters' right (technically north). This boulder is where Ithuno is. He's a mimic, remember, so hell be disguised as a treasure (looks like a vase of some kind). He'll be on the FAR SIDE of this boulder. Now, turn on your attack Gambits and quickly kill this frog enemy, since he'll only annoy you in the upcoming battle. Once dead, you can start the fight. But wait... Ithuno may not even be there! Look behind the rock. You'll see one of four things: 1) A regular treasure 2) A silvery treasure (distinctly different. Its silver with some purple on the inside - this is Ithuno) 3) A regular AND a silvery treasure 4) Nothing You obviously want to see that silvery treasure there. If you dont, press Start, Square, and return to the title screen. Reload from your save point, and return to this area to check again. Keep doing this until you actually find the silvery treasure. Note that Ithuno is randomized after every reload your game has. So he could be there, he could not be. After you steal from him, you can save and reload and go back. He'll randomly be there again. This is how the trick works. Now you must confront Ithuno. >IIe. Fight Ithuno< Ok, so the frog's dead, and you have a silvery treasure infront of you. Turn OFF your attack Gambits, make sure the others are ready. Make sure each member has Protect and Haste on them, with (optional) Thiefs Cuffs equipped. And make sure the healer is ready to heal. Now examine the treasure, and it pops open to reveal the mimic Ithuno. He is pretty strong, level 50+. With your characters level 27-30, he'll be dealing around 700 damage per hit. He also uses Leech, which drains your health and adds it to his. Not that his health really matters,because we're only stealing from him. Your guys should immediately begin stealing. Remember that it's normal to have lots of Steal fails for a while. When a character gets low on HP, Curaga should be cast. And whensomeone dies, Raise should be cast. Keep Stealing until you get the Deathbringer. Then, Flee out of this area, and make your way back to the Gate Crystal. Save. Restart. Repeat. The Deathbringer is the ONLY treasure Ithuno is holding. And he only holds ONE each time you face him. So once you steal a Deathbringer, you can't steal another right then. You have to save and reload, and try again. However, you CAN save, reload, go back, and Steal Deathbringers an infinite amount of times. This entire fight can be done where Ithuno is found (location-wise). Infact, its much easier that way. However, if youre weak at this point, and dont have the stamina to take any of Ithuno's attacks, you should do this: Engage Ithuno, then Flee for your life. Flee past all the other enemies (if you didnt kill them) to the entrance to this area, making sure Ithuno is following you. Then, start Stealing from him and whatnot. IF you get too low on HP, exit the area, and heal up. Use Magicks and Items, though, because using the Save Crystal to heal will mess up Ithuno's position. Dont do that. Once healed, return and he should be right at the entrance still. Repeat this until you have the sword. >IIf: Repeating/Tips&Extras< *---------* |Repeating| *---------* It's pretty simple how to repeat this trick. As stated, once you have stolen a Deathbringer, just Flee back to the Gate Crystal. Save. Start -> Square -> Return to main menu. Reload your game. Now go back to where Ithuno is. If hes not there this time, dont worry: as mentioned before, his position is random. Press Start exactly where you are and reload your game. Go back and see again. It can be quite a hassle to have all this Fleeing to do. I suggest grabbing some good ol Scotch Tape. take off a piece and stick it over your R2 button on the controller, so its taped down. This way, Flee is engaged without you holding the button. This was a lot easier for me. Then just pull the tape off if youre doing battle, or anything else. *---------* |Treasures| *---------* Theres another thing to note. You can actually make over 5000 Gil during each Deathbringer run, just by opening treasures in Ithuno's area. There are 5 treasure chests in this area: 1) Directly when you enter, move foward a tad and look to your left (techinically south). Theres a chest on the ledge. 2) Near the middle of this area, there is something of an alcove. It is within here, surrounded by walls. 3) Just past the Adamantitan, go onto the railroad tracks where Ithuno is. Turn around, run directly East. There will be one infront of a pile of boulders. 4) The normal chest next to Ithuno. 5) Ithuno himself (if youll count him as a treasure chest...he IS a mimic) Note that these chests are also RANDOM, so sometimes they wont show up. However, chests 1 and 3 are noteworthy. Each contains 1500-2500+ Gil. I suggest only bothering with them if youve stolen a Deathbringer on your run (because if you HAVENT, youre guna reset anyway, so youll lose the gil. why bother?) If you HAVE stolen a Deathbringer, snag these two chests on your Flee back to the Gate Crystal. *-----------* |Adamantitan| *-----------* Also, the Adamantitan is a cool guy. He is around level 40, with around 14000 HP and a weakness to Air (ie. Aero). He can be tough to bring down, but gives you 10000+ EXP and 2 LP. You can Steal/Poach/Drop a Turtle Shell item, among others. The benefits of killing him are good. Plus, he can be Deathbringer KO'd, making the battle a real cinche if you get lucky with your new swords. Also, if you get a lucky Steal from him (use Thief Cuffs) you could get a piece of Adamantite. This can be sold with 2 Battlewyrm Carapaces to unlock the Bubble Belt Bazaar good (doubles your HP). Also, 2 Adamantites, 2 Death Powders, and a Gnoma Halycon unlocks the Ultima Blade Bazaar good. Getting Deathbringers isnt THAT laborious of a process. Once youre all set with the Barheim Key and Gambits and such, you have good chances of Ithuno appearing. Its probably about a 75% chance to get him to appear, and youll always be able to steal the Deathbringer even if it takes a bunch of Steals. I got 6 in an hour, so its not too bad. >IIg. Deathbringer Elsewhere< It's true, you can get the sword at other locations throughout the game. One in particular comes to mind. *-------* |Feywood| *-------* Once you're on the quest for the city of Giruvegan (about halfway or farther into the game, I estimate), you'll be allowed access to the Mist-protected areas of The Feywood. So, head there. Then go South forever, past the Save Crystal area,past the Redolent Glade (where the plant boss was), and keep going still. The Southmost area of the Feywood is the THe Edge of Reason. A little West of the centerof this area, you'll find a treasure. Inside here is a Deathbringer. Careful, though. The trap around the treasure deals 2500+ damage, so try not to trigger it. This chest also might hold an Ensanguined Shield, which is alright too. You can also buy the Deathbringer later in the game from Armories.

....THE EXCALIBUR....[ Back to Top ] The Excalibur is a truly invigorating sword that can only be obtained in the depths of the Great Crystal (Giruvegan). Its really good and stuff. The Excalibur is: Sword (2H) Element: Holy Attack power: 128 Evasion: 10 LP: 160 Its license is way at the end of the Swords/Katana license area, and the Excalibur of course has its own license. Its pretty great for later in the game when you want to level up characters to fight King Behemoth, Hellwyrm, Yiazmat, etc. Because it does 9999 to most enemies in Pharos, where youll likely be doing your leveling. So thats good, plus its the second strongest 2H Sword next to the Tournesol (which only has 12 more attack and 15 more Evasion). So, how to get it? >IIIa: Requirements< Before you go hunting for the Excalibur, you need to have (done) these things: - Have a Diamond Armlet And dazzit. This is by far the longest section in the FAQ. >IIIb: Getting the Excalibur< Arrive at Giruvegan. Now go all the way through until you reach The Great Crystal. This is where the going gets tough. Click here for a map of the great crystal. This is the map of the Crystal. Now I'll walk you through it. Note that there will undoubtedly be lots of enemies teleporting in everywhere, most of which are weak to Holy, so if you have a Holy Lance or something like that equip it. Now. You start at Waystone (WS) VIII. This is at the bottom left of the provided map. Go North-East first to open the scoprio gate. Then go back and proceed north now to WS IX, and touch it. This brings you to WS X. Go down the only path and you'll arrive at WS XX. Now head down either Southern path to the Sagitarrius Gate Stone. Touch that and go back to WS XX, then go East, opening up that Sagitarrius Gate, and to WS XII. This brings you to WS XIV. Now you have to travel around to the Excalibur chest. Looking at the map, head SW to the first platform. North to the next. NE to the next, and finally NE again to the last. There should be a treasure chest here, and probably an enemy or two. Equip the Diamond Armlet and open it. You'll probably get Gil, but if youre lucky you'll get the Excalibur and youll be done! However, if you didn't, you have to travel 3 screens back to reset the chest. That means just count back 3 platforms or whatever, then return to the Excalibur room. It might take you in excess of 10 tries. Either way, youll get it, and a good character can now deal 9999 damage to most of the Great Crystal monsters with it. Now you can go get the Zodiac Estucheon. Note that, while the chest will respawn, you can only get 1 Excalibur. Also, something to note, when I got mine, I actually found 2 chests overlapping, so I opened 2. I guess it was a glitch, but it was still cool.

....THE ZODIAC ESTUCHEON....[ Back to Top ] The Zodiac Estucheon is the best shield in terms of Evasion towards physical attacks. It has 50 Evasion and Lightning Immunity and its just really good. You should get it. It is a treasure within the Great Crystal of Giruvegan, so please read the above Excalibur guide since that's where this one starts. Also make sure youve got a Diamond Armlet. >IVa: Getting the Zodiac Estucheon< Great Crystal map is in the maps section. To get it, you have to go through the Great Crystal more. Assuming youre at the Excalibur platform and looking at the Great Crystal map noted above, return all the way to Waystone (WS) XIV. Head NE once to the Leo Gate Stone, touch it, and return to WS XIV. Now go SW to the first platform, North to the next, NE to the next. Now go NW (*not* to the Excalibur platform) to the next area. Go down the only path accessible and open the Leo Gate. Go North 2 screens to WS XV. Touching that, it takes you to WS XVI. This is the very confusing part, so refer to the map often. Head North to the Libra Gate Stone and touch it. Now move West to open Libra Gate II (L2 on the map). Go South a ways to the Capricorn Gate Stone and touch it. Now backtrack all the way to WS XVI, head East once and open Capricorn Gate I (C1). Proceed forward and touch the Virgo Gate Stone. Now backtrack back to the Libra Gate Stone, dont touch it, and go NE once. You should now be on the platform with 2 Gates. Open the Virgo Gate II (V2) which should be on your left. Proceed through and North a platform or two to reach WS XVII. Touch it. Youll be at WS XVIII. North once is a Save Crystal. Use that, then go NW to the Aquarius Gate Stone. Touch that and backtrack to WS XVIII, touch it, and return to WS XVII. Go back many platforms until you reach the platform just BEFORE the Capricorn Gate Stone. Instead of going there, go West and open the Aquarius Gate I (A1). Now backtrack to the Capricorn Gate Stone again, touch that, and go all the way past Libra Gate Stone to the platform with V2 and C2. Open Capricorn Gate II (C2). Now backtrack to where we just opened Aquarius Gate I (A1) and continue forward to the Taurus Gate Stone. Touch that and backtrack to the Libra Gate Stone, forward through where Capricorn Gate II used to be, and East one platform. Open Taurus Gate II, continue, and the dead-end platform you reach will be the Zodiac Estucheon one. There is only a 20% chance that the chest will spawn, so you have to zone back 3 screens and return for its chances to reset. Also, have the Diamond Armlet. With the Armlet the chest will give you the Estucheon 100%. Without the Armlet, there is a 50% chance for the Estucheon, and a 50% chance for a Brave Suit. Anyway, equip that when you get it. To get out of the Great Crystal, head North to Waystone XIX and touch that. That'll get you in a better position to leave.

....THE TOURNESOL....[ Back to Top ] ********************************************************************* |NOTE: I assume that, if youre trying this, youre towards the end | |of the game, or have beaten it; have started the Phon Coast Hunter's | |Club and have killed little or no rare game; have successed in | |Montblanc's Clan past Paragon of Justice; have the Canopic Jar | |and Hunter's Monograph Grimoires | ********************************************************************* Ah yes the Tournesol, a beacon of shining light among a sea of speculating demons. The most powerful weapon in the game (next to the likely-missed Zodiac Spear and the harder-to-get Wyrmhero Blade). Anyway, it is: Sword (2H) Element: none Attack power: 140 Evasion: 25 LP: 225 Of course, getting it is quite the task. You'll traverse the world in search of many pointless and annoying monsters and stealing their loot, just to sell it and buy other pointless things, to sell them and finally get the Tournesol. Anyway. This sword is unlocked only in the Bazaar, meaning you have to sell certain things to unlock it, then buy it itself. You must sell: - 3 Gemsteel - 3 Empyreal Souls - 3 Serpentarius - Then you sell those and buy the Tournesol for 600,000 Gil. However, these 3 are made up of different loots themselves that you must sell. It goes: 1 Gemsteel = 2 Damascus Steel + 2 Hell-Gate's Flame + 1 Scarletite 1 Empyreal Soul = 2 Wargod's Bands + 1 Soul Powder + 1 High Arcana 1 Serpentarius = 2 Serpent Eyes + 4 Snake Skins + 1 High Arcana So find the ingredients on the right, sell them in those quantities, buy the things on the left, sell those in 3's, and get the sword. Theres a trick to selling that you only need to use 1 High Arcana to create a Empyreal Soul AND a Serpentarius rather than using 2 High Arcana (of course you need all the other ingredients as well). >Va: High Arcana< OK, you should actually have the 3 required High Arcana for the Tournesol. I did. However, if you don't, heres how to get them: - Unlock in Bazaar Goods (Sell 10 Arcana, 1 Feystone, and 1 Soul of Thamasa) - Steal from any Esper - Get 4 Espers and talk to Montblanc - Reach 'Paragon of Justice' Clan Centurio rank and talk to Montblanc You should have the last 2 if youre trying this, and if youre not dumb, you should have 1 or more from stealing from Espers. If you dont, though, go find an Esper and steal from it! Or just unlock a High Arcana in the bazaar. Get the Arcana by buying the Canopic Jar Bazaar good. Once you have that, all enemies will drop Arcana at some point. For the Feystones, steal from any Entite (those electrical ball things you see in most areas that are uber powerful), or steal from Crystalbugs. For the Soul of Thamasa, you should have 1 as a reward from the Dead City Watch hunt. Get more as drops from Oversouls in the Necrohol of Nabudis (you might need the proper grimoire). OR, steal from the rare Ishteen located in Barheim Passage - East-West Bypass/Zeviah span. Hopefully you guys can manage that on your own. I suggest staying away from making it in the Bazaar, thatll just take too long. Get the reward ones. >Vb: Gemsteel< Of course, the Gemsteel requires 2 Damascus Steel, 2 Hell-Gate's Flames, and 1 Scarletite. However, you should have 1 already as a reward from: - Montblanc, for commanding 8 Espers So go run off and do that if you havent already. Now you can go hunting for loot! Prepare for frustration. Lots of it. - We're gunna get us some Damascus Steel. You need 2 per Gemsteel, so likely you'll need 4. Go to Cerobi Steppe/Crossfield. THis is getting stolen from the rare Bluesang, who will be between the 2 windmills on the West side. Go look for him, If he isnt there, go one map away (preferably directly West) and check again. Then Steal till you get this item. Now run South to the Save Crystal area (thats 1 map) then South again (that's 2) and head back to Bluesang to steal again. - Now for the Hell-Gate Flame. Make sure you have the Hunter's Monograph! Teleport to Mt Bur Omisace and grab a chocobo. Now run all the way to the Feywood, and dismount. Go South to the Walk of Stolen Truths. This is where we're going to chain Cerberus and only Cerberus until we get some HGFs (HellGate Flames). Set a gambit for Foe: water-weak....Attack. This will target only the Cerberus as you run around, so no other enemies are killed. Chain Cerberus till you hit 25, and you should have at least 1 HGF. Zone out 2 screens to reset the monsters (go South to the Save Crystal area - 1 map - and South again - 2 maps - then back to the Cerberus area). Now, BREAK THE CHAIN AT 25! Or a little bit more, if you want. But the key is to have LOW chains of ONLY Cerberus. This could take a while. You'll need 4 HGFs. - Lastly, the Scarletites. Remember how we did Bluesang? Aspidochelon is another rare game which you hopefully didnt kill (it's a turtle). Go to Cerobi Steppe/Feddik River. Near the 2 bridges he might spawn. If he's not there, go 1 map away and return. After youve stolen from him, go 2 maps away, and return to reset his items. You need 2 of these if you already have 1 Gemsteel. WAIT! Did you kill the Aspidochelon? Well then youre going fishing! Anyway, go kill Gilgamesh (its a rank VI Hunt) and then talk to Ruksel in Dalmasca Estersand/South Bank Village. Now that you did that, refer to the Fishing Guide. Or Google FFXII Fishing. Follow that guide all the way, past where you get the Matamune, and continue on until you unlock the Den of the River Lord area. Now catch the King of Nebra. Good. Now whenever you return here, catch all the fish perfectly. At the end, where you get to put in the combos and nothings moving (the prize stage), theres a very good chance youll get a Scarletite. The key here is to memorize the LAST 3 keys. There are only, I dont know, six fish total for this stage. Youll get to know the last 3 keys, so by the time you pour over the first 3, you can push out the last in a second and save yourself. For example, one is L1 X R1. Thats simple enough, being one sweeping motion from left to right. Remember the combos like that and youre good to go. >Vc: Empyreal Soul< This is an item and yes. Ok first things first, you can get a free one from the Clan again (dont you just love the clan by now? I did.) This is how: - Complete 28 Hunts and get 300,000 Clan Points, and talk to Montblanc Go do that and youve got 1. Now we need to get some more! First thigns first are the Wargod's Bands. - Wargod's Bands are received from Victanir, a rare monster in the Nam-Yensa Sandsea/Yellow Sands. Steal them from him. This is done in the same way that we did Bluesang and (maybe) Aspidochelon. In other words, if Victanir isnt there, go a screen away and return - after you steal from him, go 2 screens away (just go South 2 screens through Zertinan Caverns, its easier) and return. Victanir is a horse monster, and he'll be somewhat invisible as you approach him, so he wont be on the minimap. Hes not too hard to see, though. Steal at least 4 of these, 2 per Soul needed. - Now for the Soul Powders. Alot of people have trouble with this. Steal these from the Vorres rare monster in the Necrohol of Nabudis. Teleport to the Nabreus Deadlands and go to the Necrohol. Run all the way through to Hall of Ivory Covenant and look for a Dark Elemental near that door where Fury is, or towards the middle of the area. Sometimes it helps spawn these if you kill everything from when you enter the Ivory Covenant till you see it. THen, attack it once, and lead the Elemental North or South. Keep dragging it in one direction, through as many rooms as possible, until Vorres teleports in. If Vorres isnt coming, try leading the Elemental int he opposite direction, through the rooms on the other side. Steal a Soul Powder from Vorres, then run back to the Nabreus Deadlands (thatll be 2 areas). Return and to this entire thing again. Youll need 2 Soul Powders if youve got that Empyreal Soul. - Now you just need a High Arcana. See section Va for that. And um... yup. 1 High Arcana per Empyreal Soul recipe - we only need 3. >Vd: Serpentarius< Ok, the last item needed. But lots more frustration. You have to get all 3 of these - there are none up for rewards. So you need 4 Snake Skin, 2 Serpent Eyes, and 1 High Arcana per Serpentarius. - For the Snake Skins, go to Giza Plains during The Dry. If its the Rains, you have to wait at most an hour (game time) for it to change. If you have to wait, skip down and find some other loot. If its the Dry, run down to Toam Hills. Near the Southern exit, in the grass, a Wildsnake will pop out. Steal from him with Thiefs Cuffs on (not really a necessity, but....) and youll get a Snake Skin. Kill it to try to get another. Now you need to run 2 areas away, so go through the Nomad Village, and East one screen - thats 2. Return, Steal, kill, zone, etc. You need 12 of these things. You might already have some from your earlier trips through the game. - Now for Serpent Eyes. I assume you have the Hunter's Grimoire by now. You need it. Teleport to Giruvegan and go to the Feywood/The Edge of Reason. Kill every Basilisk in sight, chaining them (remember the Cerberus!). Then, move North a screen, to Feywood/Ice Field of Clearsight and chain more. North one more screen to Feyood/White Magick's Embrace will make 2 areas, so now the ones in the first area are respawned. Go back there and chain more. However, DONT CHAIN PAST 25! This should ring some bells. Break the chain after 25 on a Mantis or something. Then chain more. You should get 1 or 2 of these during each chain segment. Have fun. - Lastly, we need High Arcana, which of course you should have already. See Section Va. >Ve: Selling!< Ah, so youve collected everything, youve cursed at your PS2 many'a time and broken many'a controller, now its time to collect! Well to collect we must first sell. Pay attention, cuz this is where the High Arcana trick comes in. I'll do this in steps so its nice and easy. Oh yeah, this is gunna cost a buttload of gil, so um... sell all extra weapons, armor, and loot. Also, remember to sell things seperately. Like, don't sell all 12 Snake Skins at once. Sell 4, buy the Serpentarius, then sell another 4, etc. If you sell all 12 at once, the excess 8 are lost. Step 1: 1) SAVE YOUR GAME. 2) Sell these all at once: - 2 Serpent Eye - 4 Snake Skin - 1 Soul Powder - 2 Wargod's Band - 1 High Arcana 3) Go to the Bazaar and buy Jewel of Creation and Jewel of the Serpent. Notice how we only sold 1 High Arcana to get 2 needed items. 4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 once more. You'll have 1 High Arcana left. 5) Sell your last 2 Serpent Eyes, 4 Snake Skins, and last High Arcana. Buy Jewel of the Serpent. You now have 3 Empyreal Soul and 3 Serpentarius. 6) Sell these at once: - 2 Damascus Steel - 2 Hell-Gate's Flame - 1 Scarletite 7) Buy the Matchless Metal Bazaar good. Theres one Gemsteel. 8) Repeat steps 6 and 7 two more times. You'll have 3 Gemsteels. 9) Find 600,000 Gil. 10) Buy The Sunflower Bazaar good. There's your Tournesol! If you did anything wrong, good thing you saved! Restart and try again. Now, lets address... ******************** + LACK O' GIL ISSUES + ******************** Need more gil? Its pretty easy. Firstly, you should haev an excess of Francisca Axes from chaining those Cerberus. I had 9, and sold them for a ton of gil. Sell those. Then, sell all armor and weapons you dont want. Then, sell all loot you dont want. Sell all Gems and anything else you have more than, say, 3 of. Some of the Fleshes and Pelts will rake in the big bucks, and you should have plenty of cash in no time. Personally, I bought all Tournesol components and the thing itself with loot. However, if still you need more, take on the Rank VII Behemoth King hunt. Kill him. Then, go to Mt Bur Omisace, and keep going North till a tent pops up. Unequip Vaan's weapon and touch it for 500,000 Gil. That should help. Well, you got the Tournesol (hopefully). Yay. Give it to a guy with super high Strength - Basch or Vaan usually. 2H Sword damage is calculated by a factor solely of the character's Strength. So um.. yay again. >Ve: Tournesol Pictures!< Too lazy to get the Tournesol but really wanna see it? Well I took some pictures of mine so you could relish in its glory. And here they are: smg.photobucket.com/albums/v112/nirvana7123/?action=view¤t=1-1.jpg smg.photobucket.com/albums/v112/nirvana7123/?action=view¤t=2-1.jpg Yay Tournesol!

....THE MASAMUNE....[ Back to Top ] The Masamune is the best Samurai Katana you can get in the game. It is really good and in addition to crazy damage, it has a 40% combo rate! And 70% if you use its partner, the Genji Gloves! So, the Masamune is: Katana (2H) Element: none Attack: 93 Combo Rate: 40% Evasion: 5 Sweet. It's possible to get TWO Masamune in the game. One from Gilgamesh and another if you make it. If you havent gotten the Tournesol yet, you can overlap the Gemsteels to get it. It requires 2 Mallets, 3 Orichalcum, and 2 Gemsteel. >VIa: From Gilgamesh< Gilgamesh is of course a Rank VI(I) Hunt, received from Montblanc entitled Ancient Man of Mystery. Click here to go to the Mark Hunting on Gilgamesh. Then beat him and talk to Montblanc. Hooray, you get a Masamune! Of course dont forget to Steal from Gilgamesh during the first battle, last stage. This is where you get the Genji Gloves, which multiply the combo rate of any weapon by 1.8. For the Masamune, we're talking 70%. The actual *number* of hits you'll pull off is related to your HP, and if you have less than 6% HP, you'll be hitting an average of NINE times! Cool. >VIa: From Bazaar< Kay, we need 3 ingredients. Remember doing the Tournesol? Well here we go again. You gotta get 2 Mallets, 3 Orichalcum, and 2 Gemsteel. And 350,000 Gil. - For the Mallets, we can get these from a rare game. Named Bombshell. Firstly, go defeat the Antlion Hunt and youll get a nice Site 3 key. Now head over to Phon Coast and search northern Hunter's Camp. Next to the dude that fell from Bhujerba is the Site 11 key. Got that, now head to Lhusu Mines/Lasche Span, which is in the deep Western area of the Mines (read up on Gilgamesh). Now look, theres a 20% chance he'll be here. If not, go one area away and return. Steal from him till you get a Mallet, then run TWO areas away. Return. Steal. The Mallet also drops from Purobolos enemies in the Pharos. Also, you'll prolly have 1 already from Montblanc (the Clan moogle) for killing King Bomb. So just do this once. - Now for the Orichalcum. Go to Pharos/First Ascent. Look around for 10 Deidars and kill them. Now go to floor 48F and Vishno will be where the Aeronite was. Steal. You might get a Damascus Steel. Once you steal something, run 2 areas away to reset the Steal. Go back and repeat, etc. Ironically, these things also drop from Deidars themselves, so you can try chaining them if you want. Or Poach them. - Gemsteel time. You need 2, but you should have one from the clan (for having 8 Espers). Then you only need one. The Gemsteel itself is comprised of 2 Damascus Steel (you might have some from Stealing from Vishno), 1 Scarletite, and 2 Hell-Gate Flames. For this and more, look above at Section Vb. Now you just need to sell ALL this everything to get it. Ok, sell the Gemsteel ingredients for ONE GEMSTEEL per time. Assuming youre makng 2 (even though you should have one from the Clan for 8 Espers). Then simply sell the rest of the ingredients to unlock the Masamune, and buy it for 350k Gil. Now, if you want to do this and get the Tournesol too, sell in this order: - 3 Empyreal Soul - 3 Serpentarius - 2 Mallet - 3 Orichalcum - 3 Gemsteel Now both the Masamune and the Tournesol will be unlocked.

....THE WYRMHERO BLADE....[ Back to Top ] The 'best' sword in the game, but more of a slower, more powerful Excalibur. This is pretty much a trophy and won't be used much if you get it, since it has the slowest attack rate of anything in the game. Anyway, it is: Sword (2H) Element: Holy Attack: 130 Evasion: 50 To get it, sell 1 Omega Badge, 1 Godslayer's Badge, and 1 Lu Shang's Badge. >VIIa: Getting the Wyrmhero Blade< Basically you need those 3 things, sell them to the Bazaar, and buy the blade for 65000 Gil. Get them like this: - The Omega Badge is received after beating the optional boss, Omega Mk. XII. He is located in the depths of the Great Crystal. Check out the map in the maps section. That should guide you nicely. If you need help navigating, I'm gunna copy and paste my walkthru of getting the Zodiac Estucheon here, since its relatively the same path. First, look up at the Excalibur section, and proceed to the platform where the Excalibur is/was. Then... Assuming youre at the Excalibur platform and looking at the Great Crystal map noted above, return all the way to Waystone (WS) XIV. Head NE once to the Leo Gate Stone, touch it, and return to WS XIV. Now go SW to the first platform, North to the next, NE to the next. Now go NW (*not* to the Excalibur platform) to the next area. Go down the only path accessible and open the Leo Gate. Go North 2 screens to WS XV. Touching that, it takes you to WS XVI. This is the very confusing part, so refer to the map often. Head North to the Libra Gate Stone and touch it. Now move West to open Libra Gate II (L2 on the map). Go South a ways to the Capricorn Gate Stone and touch it. Now backtrack all the way to WS XVI, head East once and open Capricorn Gate I (C1). Proceed forward and touch the Virgo Gate Stone. Now backtrack back to the Libra Gate Stone, dont touch it, and go NE once. You should now be on the platform with 2 Gates. Open the Virgo Gate II (V2) which should be on your left. Proceed through and North a platform or two to reach WS XVII. Touch it. Youll be at WS XVIII. North once is a Save Crystal. Use that, then go NW to the Aquarius Gate Stone. Touch that and backtrack to WS XVIII, touch it, and return to WS XVII. Go back many platforms until you reach the platform just BEFORE the Capricorn Gate Stone. Instead of going there, go West and open the Aquarius Gate I (A1). Now backtrack to the Capricorn Gate Stone again, touch that, and go all the way past Libra Gate Stone to the platform with V2 and C2. Open Capricorn Gate II (C2). Now backtrack to where we just opened Aquarius Gate I (A1) and continue forward to the Taurus Gate Stone. Touch that and backtrack to the Libra Gate Stone, forward through where Capricorn Gate II used to be, and East one platform. Open Taurus Gate I (as opposed to Taurus II, in the Zodiac Estucheon case) and go to WS XXI. Now just keep touching Waystones and you'll arive at Omega. I might post a guide on him later, for now just google him if you need help. - The Godslayer's Badge is received after beating the Yiazmat mark. He is arguably the strogset monster in the game, with 50 million HP. Killing him in 2 hours time is considered extremely fast. To unlock Yiazmat, first kill Hellwyrm (to find Hellwyrm, you can look at my Mob Hunt FAQ on ign.com. Just ctrl+f and look for Hellwyrm). Then Montblanc will allow you to take on Yiazmat. Again, I might post a guide at some point, just Google him. - The Lu Shang's Badge is the last item and you get it from the fishing minigame. For this I like to quote Ishamaelxx's Fishing Guide. Basically just follow that guide all the way until you unlock the Den of the River Lord. Catch the Riverlord fish to get this item. The secret to this is memorizing the *last 3 keys* in any given combination. Once you familiarize yourself with the last 3 combos, you can do this much faster. Because you'll take some time with the first 3 keys, then once you get to the familiar last 3, you can push those out quickly to save yourself. For example, one combination of the last 3 is L1 - X - R1. This is a simple sweeping motion from left to right, obviously, and once you realize that it's this combo, you can pull it off quickly.

....RARE WEAPON RECIPES....[ Back to Top ] This section will list recipes for the best items in each given class, which can only be obtained through the Bazaar. They don't have their own section since it should be pretty straightforward. If you need locations, click on Loot Locations in the menu. [ Back to Top ] >The Sagittarius Bow< Bow (2H) Attack: 93 Sell in the bazaar: - 4 Sagittarius Gems - 3 Beastlord Horns - 3 Moon Rings Click here for the loot locations section. [ Back to Top ] >The Whale Whisker Pole< Pole (2H) Attack: 108 Evasion: 25 Sell in the bazaar: - 4 Aquarius Gems - 3 Corpse Fly - 3 Mythril Click here for the loot locations section. [ Back to Top ] >The Durandal Sword< Sword (1H) Attack: 99 Sell in the bazaar: - 1 Leshach Halycon - 2 Emperor Scales - 3 Lifewicks Click here for the loot locations section. [ Back to Top ] >The Scorpion Tail Axe< >Vrscika in Zodiac Age Thanks to annonymous comment for this update! Axe (1H) Attack: 119 (Zodiac - Attack: 133) Evasion: 2 Sell in the bazaar: - 4 Scorpio Gems - 3 Wyrm Bones - 3 Charged Gizzards Click here for the loot locations section. [ Back to Top ] >The Artemis Arrows< Arrows Attack: 5 Element: Earth Sell in the bazaar: - 3 Gemini Gems - 2 Vampyr Fangs - 2 Dorsal Fins Click here for the loot locations section. [ Back to Top ] >The Grand Bolts< Bolts Attack: 4 Sell in the bazaar: - 3 Capricorn Gems - 2 Wrath of the Gods - 2 Ring Wyrm Liver Click here for the loot locations section. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ....FAQ..... Q: Ithuno isn't there. Am I doing something wrong? A: Probably not. There is only a chance that he'll be there, so make sure youre looking in the right spot, and just keep trying. Q: I couldn't find the Feywood Deathbringer. A: Oh well, it's a random chest. I found it twice though.

.....CLOSING..... Well, that's probably everything you wanted to know about the Deathbringer. It can be bought later on in the game, but this way is more fun. PLus, can be done earlier. If there's anything I missed, or something I said wrong, please contact me and ill change it. Thanks for reading. If there are any weapons you want to see here, email them to me and ill post what you have.

.....CONTACT..... Feel free to email me at: outlawtorn7123 (AT) gmail (DOT) com I'll respond ASAP. Please put FF12 FAQ or something similar in the subject line.

:LEGAL: This document is copyrighted Chris Tenore. This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. This guide is intended for use only on www.ign.com and www.ff12sector.com.