Template:Sideicon Template:Equipment The Zodiac Spear is a spear in Final Fantasy XII. It is the strongest weapon in the original version, and also being absurdly difficult to get due to its simplest method of obtaining being failed by actions in the earliest parts of the game, which would require a guide or prior knowledge to avoid. In the Zodiac versions the sidequest was removed, and the weapon made easier to obtain. The Zodiac Spear is no longer the strongest weapon, instead being outdone by two other weapons obtained with great difficulty and almost impossible without a guide: the invisible secret weapons Great Trango and Seitengrat.
A set of 12 new weapons was added to the Zodiac versions that are upgrades of previous weapons. In all cases these are stronger than all weapons that existed in their weapon types in the original game, except for the upgraded Dragon Whisker, Vrsabha, which is weaker than the Zodiac Spear. While the Vrsabha does have various stat advantages, its attack power is significantly lower, and its considered less valuable by the shops.
In the Zodiac versions the Disable status was given to the several strongest spears at different rates. The Zodiac Spear inflicts it at 20%, and is only beaten by the Vrsahba, which deals it at 50%.
In the original versions, its license costs 150 LP. In the Zodiac versions, its license costs 240 LP and it can be used by the Uhlan.
Acquiring
Original
The Zodiac Spear can only be acquired if the player did not open certain chests earlier:
| Town | Chest Location |
|---|---|
| Rabanastre | Treasure chest in Lowtown, outside of Old Dalan's place. |
| Royal Palace of Rabanastre | When sneaking into the palace (before getting the Goddess's Magicite), there are several chests in the Cellar. The player must not open the chest in the southeast corner that contains an Elixir. |
| Nalbina Dungeons | One of the treasure chests in Nalbina Dungeons' Confiscatory, where Vaan, Balthier, and Fran regain their lost weapons and equipment, is forbidden. The forbidden one is the southernmost chest (middle of three) that always contains gil. |
| Phon Coast | At Phon Coast's Vaddu Strand there is a beach with 16 chests placed in a grid. The fourth chest that must not be opened is among these, so it is best to leave them all alone. |
The forbidden treasure chest on Phon Coast.
Should none of the chests be opened, the Zodiac Spear will appear in the Necrohol of Nabudis, reachable via Salikawood's Corridor of Ages, which means the King Bomb must be killed. The Zodiac Spear will reside in the Cloister of the Highborn, in a group of 16 chests. When none of the characters are equipped with Diamond Armlets, the Zodiac Spear will be in the second chest from the left in the front row.
The other chests contain a Knot of Rust, or a Dark Matter with a Diamond Armlet equipped. The 16 chests in Necrohol of Nabudis correspond to the 16 chests on the Phon Coast, except that Zodiac Spear can only be obtained in the Necrohol; if the player only claims the Zodiac Spear, they can later observe that one chest on the Phon Coast chest formation has disappeared.
Necrohol of Nabudis can be reached fairly early on, after the player has obtained the Dawn Shard. The enemies are at much higher level than the player party, however, and obtaining the Zodiac Spear so early can be counter-productive, as it will make rest of the game easy.
A second Zodiac Spear can be obtained in an alternative site, the Henne Mines' Phase 2 Dig. Even if the aforementioned forbidden chests are opened, the spear is still obtainable here. To unlock the site, at least 10 Espers must be acquired, and the Mindflayer Hunt completed. The player must speak to Geomancer Yugelu in Jahara to unlock this site, reachable via the Ore Separation.
The chest is hidden in a secluded area. The odds are heavily stacked against the player: chances for the chest to spawn is 10%, the chance the chest contains an item is 10%, and the item being the Zodiac Spear another 10%—meaning there is only a 1 in 1000 (0.1%) chance the spear will appear. In contrast to the original chest, the lead character must wear the Diamond Armlet to receive the spear.
There is a method exploiting the game console's predictable random number generator that guarantees a Zodiac Spear from the chest in the Henne Mines if certain conditions are met.
Zodiac versions
The player no longer needs to beware of opening forbidden chests, as the concept was removed. There is no longer a Zodiac Spear to be found at Necrohol of Nabudis, but it can still be acquired via different means. It can be found as a treasure in the Henne Mines (Special Charter Shaft). The chest spawns 1% of the time, but once it does, it will always contain the spear. The chest also respawns.
It is available from the Hunt Club sidequest. If the player gives ten trophies (obtained by defeating Rare Game) to each bangaa brother, they can buy Zodiac Spear alongside the Zodiac Escutcheon for 999,999 gil. The player can also get the spear for free as a reward for giving Atak 16 trophies.
It is also a rare steal from Biding Mantis in Trial Mode Stage 62.
Stats
Original
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Zodiac
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Other appearances
Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
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Etymology
In both astrology and historical astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude that are centered upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year.
The term zodiac derives from Latin zōdiacus, which comes from the Greek ζῳδιακὸς κύκλος (zōdiakos kyklos), meaning "circle of animals", as half of the signs of the classical Greek zodiac are represented as animals (besides two mythological hybrids).
The zodiac equipment's original names are 最強の矛, "Strongest Spear", for Zodiac Spear and 最強の盾, "Strongest Shield", for Zodiac Escutcheon, referring to the Chinese idiom 自相矛盾 and the story behind it from the philosopher Han Feizi in his eponymous book of a man selling weapons. To convince people to buy his shield and spear he claimed them to be the sturdiest shield nothing could pierce and the sharpest spear able to pierce through everything. Someone asked what would happen if they tried to pierce the seller's shield with the seller's spear and the man couldn't answer, picked up his wares and left.
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