Ritual Hat (Final Fantasy IX)

The Ritual Hat is a light armor headgear in Final Fantasy IX. It is a mid tier hat that everyone but Steiner and Freya can wear, but is geared more toward physical attackers. It teaches the passive abilities Bright Eyes, which inoculates against Darkness status; Counter, which allows the character respond to being attacked with an Attack of their own; and Undead Killer, which allows the character do more damage to undead enemies. Leveling up with the Ritual Hat equipped provides a minor bonus to the character's Strength.
==Obtain==
The Ritual Hat can be bought for 1000 gil in Conde Petie, Black Mage Village (before passing through Shimmering Island), Madain Sari, and Treno after the party returns from the Outer Continent.
==Mechanics==
The Ritual Hat provides measly 1 Defense, but 16 Magic Defense, mainly mitigating damage from magic attacks. The hat minorly boosts the wearer's Strength when they level up with it equipped. When enough "level up bonuses" from gear have been accrued, the character gains a permanent stat increase, though they would need to level up multiple times with +1 gear for noticeable stat gain.
==Use==
The Ritual Hat is a good headgear for Zidane and Amarant, but less useful for the mages who can wear it but do not learn any abilities from it or benefit much from its stat-boosting effect; they can wear the Mage's Hat instead, available around the same time. Though Darkness is not a common ailment the party needs to protect against, it helps physical attackers when the need arises. Though almost all of Amarant's weapons teach Counter, if he also equips the Ritual Hat, he will gain double AP toward that skill. Counter is also useful for Zidane, and the Ritual Hat is good to wear for Zidane's duel against Scarlet Hair for this reason. Undead Killer, meanwhile, is not particularly useful as undead enemies are so easily dealt with resurrection items and spells.
Level grinding or min-maxing is unnecessary in a normal playthrough and the player can prioritize gear based on their defensive offerings and abilities, and still be able to do any encounter in the game with the right strategy. The best stat-boosting gear is available in the endgame, and so for best stats one would need to limit their level ups until near the end of the game.
Though the Tantalus thieves who join the party as guests can also wear the hat, the player cannot see this in a normal playthrough.
==Etymology==
The hat's Japanese name is "Mikoshi-style hat". A mikoshi or "portable Shinto shrine" serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between the main shrine and a temporary shrine during a festival or when moving to a new shrine. The mikoshi generally resemble a miniature building. The hat's flavor text indicates that it is a style in Conde Petie, a town that itself resembles a mikoshi.
Category:Armor in Final Fantasy IX