The Tower (Final Fantasy IX)

The Tower is Zidane's penultimate thief sword in Final Fantasy IX, found in the final dungeon. It has innate Mini status, usable via Zidane's Soul Blade skill. The Tower teaches two fixed damage abilities: Lucky Seven, where Zidane's HP must end in a seven for a chance to deal great damage, and Thievery, whose damage depends on the number of successful steals from throughout the game.
Obtaining The Tower yields the Close But No Cigar achievement/trophy in the versions that support an achievements system.
==Obtain==
The Tower is found in Memoria's Recollection Room, behind a pillar on the small ledge.
==Mechanics==
The base damage dealt with normal attack is determined as follows everywhere but within Ipsen's Castle:
:Base = 86 - 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 Tower is altered to the minimum possible value.
The Tower has innate Mini trait. When Zidane uses Soul Blade with The Tower 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 Tower is the second strongest thief sword, however, it is obtained so late that Zidane can already have his ultimate thief sword: Ultima Weapon. However, The Tower is the best weapon for Zidane that the player can obtain without interacting with the chocobo sidequest as the player will need an ocean-faring Choco to get the Ultima Weapon.
If the player went through the effort to get Ultima Weapon, there is little point in ever equipping The Tower. Its inherent status, Mini, is less useful than Sargatanas's Petrify or Masamune's Doom, though Mini does affect the enemies in the final dungeon where The Tower is found, such as the Iron Man.
==Gallery==
The Tower FFIX Art.jpg|Artwork
The Tower.png|Strategy guide scan.
==Etymology==
Category:Weapons in Final Fantasy IX