Diamond Armor (Final Fantasy IX)

The Diamond Armor is a mid game heavy body armor in Final Fantasy IX for Steiner and Freya. It teaches Ability Up, which allows the character to master abilities faster. It provides a bonus to the wearer's Strength and Magic stats when they level up with it equipped. It is a missable equipment piece.
==Obtain==
The Diamond Armor is bought for 8,800 gil in Daguerreo. The shop stops stocking it as the player enters the Shimmering Island portal, but skipping the Diamond Armor is fine as it is not needed for synthesis and holds no unique abilities.
==Mechanics==
The Diamond Armor has 33 Defense and 2 Magic Defense, mainly mitigating damage from physical attacks. It gives a +1 bonus to the wearer's Strength and Magic stats when they level up with the armor piece equipped. When enough "bonuses" upon level up from gear have been accrued, the character gains a permanent stat increase. Steiner and Freya only use Magic for MP growth; even Swd Mag and Dragon skills use their Strength stats for damage calculations.
==Use==
The Diamond Armor is a good heavy armor piece for world map exploration on the Hilda Garde III, Ipsen's Castle, and Terra until the Platina Armor can be purchased from Bran Bal. However, the superior Genji Armor is also available at the same time as the Diamond Armor if the player progresses in the Chocobo Hot and Cold quest enough.
Ability Up from the Diamond Armor is useful to equip when the character has an ability they want to master, but there are many other equipment pieces that also teach it.
The Diamond Armor's level up bonuses to Strength and Magic are good, though the latter is not so relevant to Steiner and Freya. It is not advised to level-grind unless the player is stuck in a boss or a dungeon; level grinding and min-maxing are unnecessary in a normal playthrough even when preparing for superbosses. The best stat boost gear will be available in the end of the game, so for best results one would need to limit their EXP intake. However, +1 is the best stat bonus to Strength available from a heavy body armor, and so the Diamond Armor is good level-grinding gear for Steiner especially.
Beatrix can also wear the Diamond Armor, but the player cannot see this in a normal playthrough.
Category:Armor in Final Fantasy IX