Venetia Shield (Final Fantasy IX)

The Venetia Shield is a mid to late game gauntlet in Final Fantasy IX for Steiner and Freya. It has the best Magic Evasion of any gauntlet, and provides a bonus to the wearer's Strength and Magic stats when they level up with it equipped, making them suitable for endgame content. The Venetia Shield teaches Auto-Float and Counter and is used for synthesis.
==Obtain==
The Venetia Shield is first found in Desert Palace's Shadow Chamber by lighting the candles in the left side. It is also bought for 2800 gil in Esto Gaza (after Desert Palace), Daguerreo (before going through the Shimmering Island portal), and Ipsen's Castle. It is worth buying multiple copies for both Steiner and Freya to wear, and for synthesis in the end of the game.
==Mechanics==
The Venetia Shield provides 17 physical Evasion and 26 Magic Evasion, improving the wearer's chance to avoid damage. The gauntlet gives a +1 bonus to the wearer's Strength and Magic when they level up with it equipped. When enough "bonuses" upon level up from gear have been accrued, the character gains a permanent stat increase. Strength is used for damage calculations and for determining HP growth. Steiner and Freya only use Magic for MP growth.
==Use==
The Venetia Shield can be endgame equipment, though other good options are also available. The Defense Gloves provide balanced physical and magic evasion and also protect against elements, but have no level up bonus. The Genji Gloves have more physical Evasion and also come with a level up bonus, though to Magic which is not a priority for Steiner and Freya. The Gauntlets also halve elemental damage and also have a minor level up bonus, but mainly offer physical Evasion at the expense of Magic Evasion. Steiner and Freya can equip Distract to avoid enemies' physical damage and so do not necessarily need a high Evasion stat from equipment. High physical evasion is a meaningful consideration if the character equips Cover. As bosses forgo EXP, level up bonuses from gear are not a consideration for these battles.
Auto-Float is a pointless ability to equip, but Counter is useful to master for both Steiner and Freya and couples especially well with Cover and Distract and equipment with high physical Evasion. The player can couple Venetia Shield with another equipment piece that also has Cover to master the ability at double pace.
The level up bonuses to Strength and Magic from Venetia Shield are good; for level grinding the Venetia Shield and Mythril Gloves (boosts Spirit) are likely the best offerings. However, level grinding and min-maxing are unnecessary for a normal playthrough even when preparing for superboss encounters; the player can view any extra stats as simply a nice bonus.
The Venetia Shield is used for synthesis in Black Mage Village when its shops change wares at the end of the game. It can be used up to make the Bracer, the ultimate arm guard for light armor wearers.
Beatrix can also wear the Venetia Shield, but the player cannot see this in a normal playthrough.
==Etymology and origin==
The gauntlet in Final Fantasy IX gains its name from the Venetian Shield of Final Fantasy Tactics, as many equipment pieces are named after Tactics equivalents. Venetian is a noun describing a native or citizen of Venice.
Category:Armor in Final Fantasy IX