Masamune (Final Fantasy IX)

The Masamune is Zidane's seventh thief sword available for synthesis in Final Fantasy IX, available in the endgame. It has innate Doom status, usable via Zidane's Soul Blade skill, and teaches Sacrifice, where Zidane can KO himself to replenish the rest of the party. Masamune grants a permanent stat boost to his Magic when Zidane levels up with it equipped, making it a good level grinding weapon.
==Obtain==
The player can craft the Masamune in the synthesis shop in Black Mage Village in the endgame. The player needs 16,000 gil and the two best daggers: Zorlin Shape and Orichalcon. Zorlin Shape is no longer available in shops in the endgame, but the Orichalcon can be bought in Daguerreo by the time Masamune can be crafted in Black Mage Village.
Masamune can also be stolen from the Maliris boss in Memoria. (Not the Crystal World variant.)
If the player has no Zorlin Shapes in the inventory in the endgame, and they kill Maliris without stealing the weapon off her, Masamune is missed.
==Mechanics==
The base damage dealt with normal attack is determined as follows everywhere but within Ipsen's Castle:
:Base = 62 - Enemy's Defense
:Bonus = [(Strength + Spirit) / 2] + Rnd MOD ([(Level + Strength) / 8] +1)
:Damage = Base * Bonus
Where Rnd means a random number, while MOD means modulus operation. "Rnd MOD x" can be read as a random number between 0 and x-1. 
The damage is then modified by variables like Zidane's equipped killer abilities or MP Attack, his row position, and the enemy's Protect. If Zidane is under Mini, his Bonus will be 1.
When in Ipsen's Castle, the stronger weapons do less damage than weaker weapons, and the Base part of the damage formula with the Masamune is altered to the minimum possible value.
Masamune has innate Doom trait. When Zidane uses Soul Blade with the Masamune equipped, the enemy is inflicted unless they are immune. Thief swords' status abnormalities do not work with Add Status, and so it is pointless to equip the latter when Zidane wields a thief sword.
==Use==
The Masamune is the strongest thief sword available for crafting, as the superseding thief swords are not available via synthesis: The Tower and Ultima Weapon. However, the Masamune is weaker than Zidane's ultimate dagger, Orichalcon, one of which is needed to make the Masamune in the first place.
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However, Masamune's innate Doom effect defeats enemies susceptible to it outright after a countdown, and thus can be a great tool for the right battle as long as Zidane has mastered Soul Blade. Masamune + Soul Blade is far superior to the Doom spell or Countdown. Unlike enemies defeated via petrification, enemies defeated via Doom still yield EXP; both petrification and Doom fail on bosses.
Masamune's other boon is that it permanently gives a bonus of 2 to Zidane's Magic when he levels up with it equipped, making it a great level grinding weapon. When enough "level up bonuses" have been accrued, the character gains a stat boost. As Yans are susceptible to Doom, an excellent strategy is to use Soul Blade onto them with the Masamune equipped to defeat them in 10 seconds; the downside is that the Yan still has time to counter. Though Zidane's damage-dealing abilities do not use his Magic stat, his MP growth depends on his Magic. His other stat-boosting weapon is the Orichalcon, which gives Speed, which—admittedly—could be a more useful stat to boost for Zidane.
The skill that Masamune teaches is situational, and the player may have already mastered it before Masamune can be synthesized. However, with Sacrifice available, Zidane can use a new Dyne ability.
==Tetra Master==
The Masamune has a card in Tetra Master, found in a chocograph and winnable from the Weapon Master Hunt at the Treno card stadium and from Black mage no.192 in Black Mage Village in the endgame. The Strong Phantom in the Lost Memory area and the Rare Phantom in the Time Warp area of Memoria also play it.
==Gallery==
Masamune FFIX Art.jpg|Artwork
MasamuneFFIX.png|Strategy guide scan.
==Etymology and origin==
Masamune is a classic Final Fantasy weapon, though previous to Final Fantasy IX, it always appeared as a katana. Masamune in the series is associated with high critical hit rate and the character Sephiroth, who has an oversized version of the Masamune. Final Fantasy IX calls back to the weapon's roots as a katana by depicting it as if two katanas fused together in the hilt.
Category:Weapons in Final Fantasy IX