Healing Rod (Final Fantasy IX)

The Healing Rod is a weapon for Dagger in Final Fantasy IX, being her fourth rod, and mainly available for the time she is going through a period of emotional turmoil and her commands commonly fail. It teaches her the Healer support ability and Cura and Life spells, which allow her to more easily heal and revive the party.
Dagger's Healing Rod is based on the weapon of the same name from Final Fantasy VI.
==Obtain==
The Healing Rod is first found at the Iifa Tree . It is found in the second inner roots area, on the path before the chests for the other items, however, it only appears once the player presses a switch in the third inner roots area.
After the party returns to the Mist Continent, the Healing Rod can be bought from the following shops for 1770 gil: Alexandria, Treno, Lindblum, Oeilvert Mogshop, and Desert Palace Mogshop.
==Mechanics==
The Healing Rod's damage dealt with a normal Attack is determined as follows everywhere but within Ipsen's Castle:
:Base = 23 - Enemy's Defense
:Bonus = Strength + 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 Dagger's row position and the enemy's Protect. If Dagger were under Mini, her Bonus would be 1.
When in Ipsen's Castle, the stronger weapons do less damage than weaker weapons, and the Base part of the damage formula is altered to:
:Base = 37 - Enemy's Defense
As per its name and in-game description, the Healing Rod is intended to be used with the support ability it teaches, Healer, which converts damage numbers to healing instead on all but the undead/zombiefied.
==Use==
Healing Rod is Dagger's fourth rod, and is available for the portion of the game where she is going through such turmoil that her commands frequently fail. If the player nabs it at the earliest chance, they can use it for the Iifa Tree events, the world map exploration on the Blue Narciss, and the events at Oeilvert or Desert Palace depending on the player's chosen party, before the superior Asura's Rod can be bought from Esto Gaza. However, the Healing Rod has the same attack power as the Magic Racket that is available at the same time, and rackets are generally better weapons if the player ever uses Dagger's Attack command, as they deal full damage from the back row. However, as Dagger is not a physical attacker, unable to augment her Attack with any support abilities unlike characters like Zidane and Steiner, the Attack stats of her weapons do not matter as much as the abilities they can teach, and which stat boosts they give on level up.
The Healing Rod provides Dagger with two good white magic spells and Healer, which lets her heal allies with her Attack, thus saving up on MP. This can be a good use for her during the time Healing Rod is her strongest rod, saving up MP for summoning, or making her a physical healer for Oeilvert where magic use is disabled (though the player can also use Amarant for this). "Attacking" allies from the back row is not halved, unlike when used against enemies.
The Healing Rod's downside in comparison to other weapons Dagger has available at this time, is that it does not offer any stat growth, unlike he preceding Stardust Rod (Spirit +2) and the concurrent Magic Racket (Magic +2). The player could equip it for as long as it takes to master Cura, and then switch. However, min-maxing is unnecessary for a casual playthrough, and the bonus stats can be viewed as simply a nice extra.
==Merchandise==
Garnet's Bring Arts figure comes with a Healing Rod.
==Gallery==
HealingRod.png|Artwork.
Healing Rod FFIX.png|Strategy guide scan.
Category:Weapons in Final Fantasy IX