Zodiac Spear The Zodiac Spear is a recurring spear in the " Final Fantasy " series being usually depicted as the strongest one in games in which it appears . Appearances . " Final Fantasy XII " . The Zodiac Spear is the most powerful weapon available in the original version . Its license is found in the bottom right of the License Board , just above Masamune . While being the strongest weapon available , it can be found fairly early — provided certain chests are not opened . It costs 235 License Points , and has an Attack power of 150 . Like all spears , Zodiac Spear grants the user + 8 to evasion and has 4 % chance of performing hit combos . Spears are among the faster weapons with 2 . 14s charge and 1 . 2s action time , second only to daggers and ninja swords . Requirements . The Zodiac Spear can only be acquired if the player did not open certain chests earlier in the game , which are the following : 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 . In the " International Zodiac Job System " version , 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 on a chest in the Special Charter Shaft in the Henne Mines . The chest spawns 1 % of the time , but once it does , it will always contain the spear . The chest also respawns . It can also be acquired through the Hunt Club sidequest by giving 10 trophies each to the bangaa brothers Atak , Blok , and Stok and buying it , together with the Zodiac Escutcheon , for 999 , 999 gil . Alternately , if the player gives more than 15 trophies to Atak , Atak will reward the player with the Zodiac Spear . Only the Uhlan can equip the Zodiac Spear . While it is still the most powerful spear , it is not the , being trumped by both the Trango Tower and Seitengrat : weapons exclusive to this version . The is the strongest spear . It has an attack of 22 and can be randomly found in the chest on the 90F inside Moonsand Ruins , Holy Tree Tower , Mysterious Lighthouse , and Trial Tower . " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . While in his EX Mode , Vaan wields the Zodiac Spear for his spear attack . Etymology . In " Final Fantasy XII " the zodiac equipment pieces ' original names are 最強の矛 , " Strongest Spear " , for Zodiac Spear and 最強の盾 , " Strongest Shield " , for Zodiac Escutcheon , referring 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 shield and his spear and left . Thus , the idiom 自相矛盾 means " to be self - contradictory " and the shortened term " 矛盾 " ( lit . Spear - Shield ) is used in Mandarin Chinese to mean " Contradiction " . The localized name , Zodiac Spear , refers to the zodiac , a recurring theme in " Final Fantasy XII " , it being the twelfth installment to the series and associated with with the twelve zodiac signs .