Shielded Armor (Final Fantasy XII)

The Shielded Armor is a mid-ranked heavy armor in Final Fantasy XII that boosts the wearer's Defense by 25 (Zodiac) or 24 (original) and Strength by 5. It gives the wearer permanent Protect status, boosting their resistance to physical attacks even further. It is metallic for the purposes of the Magnetize debuff present in the boss battles against Vinuskar and Ultima.
==Obtain==
===Original===
In the original PlayStation 2 version, the Shielded Armor is sold for 4000 gil in Jahara after visiting Eruyt Village, in Mt Bur-Omisace, and in Rabanastre after defeating Judge Bergan.
It is found as a treasure in Henne Mines' Phase 1 Dig (50% chance to appear, 35% chance for gil, 50% chance the item treasure is Shielded Armor without the Diamond Armlet equipped ), and Paramina Rift's Silverflow's End (70% chance to appear, 35% chance for gil, 50% chance the item treasure is the Shielded Armor without the Diamond Armlet equipped). It is also rarely stolen from Imdugud.
The Shielded Armor is made in the bazaar in the "Burnished Protectives" set by selling two Wyrm Carapaces (from Dragon Aevis among others) and Quality Hides (from Pythons, among others), as well as four Earth Magicites (from various enemies, e.g. Treant).
===Zodiac===
In the updated Zodiac versions, the Shielded Armor is sold for 3800 gil in Eruyt Village and Mt Bur-Omisace. It is found as a treasure in the Henne Mines' Phase 1 Dig (75% chance to appear, 40% chance for gil, 50% chance the item treasure is the Shielded Armor without the Diamond Armlet equipped), and Paramina Rift's Freezing Gorge (70% chance to appear, 35% chance for gil, 50% chance the item treasure is the Shielded Armor without the Diamond Armlet equipped), as well as in Trial Mode Stage 67 with the Diamond Armlet equipped. It is still rarely stolen from the Imdugud and made in the bazaar set "Burnished Protectives" with the same items as before. It is also the uncommon steal from the Melt in Trial Mode Stage 12.
==Use==
Shielded Armor is a mid level armor giving 25 or 24 Defense depending on version, 5 Strength, and a permanent to Protect status to the wearer. The strength bonuses make heavy armor ideal for frontline fighters, although a gun-wielder does not benefit from the strength-boost. The Auto-Protect is almost always beneficial, and so the Shielded Armor can remain useful even after other armor with better stats come along. An alternative would be to set up a Self:Protect or Name:Protect gambits, but the benefit of equipping the Shielded Armor is that the buff never lapses and does not need to be recast if the character is KO'd and revived, and thus a party member does not need to use up a turn or MP to cast the Protect spell. Protect reduces physical damage taken by 25%.
In the Zodiac versions, Uhlan, Knight, Time Battlemage, and Foebreaker can equip it, and so it is only useful to buy if the player has chosen these License Boards for the party. In The Zodiac Age versions, after fighting Belias the player can choose two License Boards per party member and so more characters can benefit from heavy armor, as it is usually a good idea to match jobs that use different types of armor to bolster light armor jobs' strength, and to give more durability to spellcasters.
==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
The Shielded Armor from Final Fantasy XII appears in Record Keeper.
Category:Armor in Final Fantasy XII