Crown of Laurels (Final Fantasy XII)

The Crown of Laurels is a high-ranked light armor headgear in Final Fantasy XII that boosts the wearer's magickal defense by 49 (Zodiac) or 42 (original), and HP by 680. Out of all the light armor headgear, it provides the second-best HP boost after the Dueling Mask's 800.
==Obtain==
===Original===
In the original PlayStation 2 versions, the Crown of Laurels is sold for 14,400 gil in Balfonheim Port once the Sky Fortress Bahamut appears. It is found in a treasure in Subterra's Abyssal - North (50% chance to appear, 60% chance for gil, 50% chance the item treasure is the Crown of Laurels without the Diamond Armlet equipped ).
The crown rarely drops from the Crusader, and is made in the bazaar set "Nature's Armory" by selling nine Prime Pelts (from certain feline and canine enemies, e.g. Tartarus), seven Forbidden Fleshes (from headless enemies, e.g. Dullahan), and eight Fire Crystals (from various enemies, e.g. the aforementioned Dullahan).
===Zodiac===
In the updated Zodiac versions, the Crown of Laurels is not sold in shops, but sells for 7,250 gil. It is found in a treasure in Cerobi Steppe's Old Elanise Road (20% chance to appear, 50% chance for gil, 5% chance the item treasure is the Crown of Laurels with the Diamond Armlet equipped), and in Great Crystal's Sirhru Phullam Udiipratii (always appears).
It still rarely drops from the Crusader, and is now also uncommonly stolen from the Reaper in Trial Mode Stage 54, and rarely poached from Apsara in Stage 31.
It is still made in the bazaar in the "Nature's Armory" set with the same items as before.
==Use==
The Crown of Laurels is a high-ranked light armor hat, giving 49 or 42 magick resist depending on version, and a large 680 HP. In the original version, the Renewing Morion is available to buy at the same time as the Crown of Laurels; though it yields less HP, it comes with Auto-Regen, making it potentially more useful unless the player is looking to intentionally keep a party member on low health so their augments will activate and they deal more combo hits, in which case the character is likely equipping heavy armor helms, anyway. In the original version everyone can wear any equipment piece, and thus the heavy armor helms and the mystic hats may be preferable to light armor hats, as the HP boost from light armor is not usually worth prioritizing over heavy armor that boosts Strength for physical attackers, or mystic armor that boosts Magick Power for spellcasters, especially as the Crown of Laurels does not boost any secondary stats unlike some other light armor headgear.
In the Zodiac versions, Machinist, Monk, Archer, and Shikari can equip the Crown of Laurels, and so it is only useful to look for if the player has chosen these License Boards for their party. In The Zodiac Age, after fighting Belias, the player can choose two License Boards per party member, and so more party members can choose from the potentially more useful heavy and mystic armor sets. However, at 680, the HP boost from the crown can be a good aid, especially when doubled under Bubble. In late game, the player can exceed the 9999 HP cap the user interface shows if they wear the best light armor gear and use Bubble.
==Etymology==
Category:Armor in Final Fantasy XII