Seitengrat (Final Fantasy XII)

The Seitengrat is an invisible bow in the Zodiac versions of Final Fantasy XII. It is one of four secret equipment pieces added in these versions, including the ultimate one-handed melee weapon , the lethal status-inflicting weapon , and the high evasion all element-absorbing shield Gendarme. Like many of the added weapons, Seitengrat requires no license to equip.
The Seitengrat is by far the most powerful weapon in the game, and has double the range of all other long-range weapons, which makes it an easy choice for clearing out regular mobs.
A defensive alternative to the Seitengrat's 225 attack and 75 Evasion, is the Great Trango that has 153 attack but is one-handed and so can be equipped alongside the Gendarme shield with 90 evasion, 90 Magick evasion and which absorbs all elemental damage.
==Obtained==
The Seitengrat can be obtained when the player can board the Skyferry. Entering the deck of the Skyferry offers a 1% chance for an invisible chest to spawn on the deck that has a 20% chance of containing an item, and if the player has the Diamond Armlet equipped, the chest has a 5% chance of containing the Seitengrat. With this being 1 in 10,000 chance every time the deck is entered (assuming the player knows of the hidden chest), the Seitengrat was intended to only be gotten by fluke or serious persistence. However, with RNG manipulation, the player can guarantee that the chest spawns and relinquishes a Seitengrat.
When the player acquires the Seitengrat, they can go to the Cerobi Steppe's Old Elanise Road area, equip it, and near the entrance from the Tchita Uplands, by a tree, an arrow will float in the air at about head-level. The arrow will be the same type as the player's currently equipped arrow. (This is shown in the infobox image.)
===PlayStation 4===
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It is possible to guarantee that the Seitengrat will spawn on the Skyferry by exploiting the game's random number generator (RNG) in The Zodiac Age version, with various methods, such as this in this YouTube guide. The player should create a new save file in Nalbina Fortress at the beginning of the game as Reks, and then load their main save file. In their main save file, the player should set Vaan as the main party member and equip him with a Diamond Armlet, and then visit Rabanastre and take the Skyferry to Nalbina. From there, the player should enter the deck, and then close their application.
The player should load up their newly created save file at the beginning of the game in Nalbina Fortress as Reks, and cast Cure on themselves, until the amount cured is three specific numbers in the exact order: 88, 97, then 90. The player should quit to title screen, load the auto-save made in the Skyferry, and the invisible Seitengrat chest will have spawned. Go to the chest and watch the NPC on the stairs. He'll regularly climb up and down them. On his fourth time going up the stairs, open the chest as his feet hit the top step. This method also works on PlayStation 5. 
Depending on the player's PlayStation 4 model, they may want to use another number set due to differing RNG positions. One such differing set is 97, 94, and 95. This time, after loading the Skyferry file, the player should run up to the chest and watch a child NPC to the left looking over the railing. The child will run to the right end of the railing and then to the left end. Finally, he'll return to his original position. The player should open the chest as soon as he enters said original position. 
===Steam===
For the Steam version, the player may opt to use the third party tool Cheat Engine to force the chest to spawn with the desired item inside. There are also third-party tools that will display the RNG state and tell when the chest can be spawned or opened.
===Nintendo Switch===
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For the Nintendo Switch version, it is also possible to use the aforementioned RNG method to get not just the Seitengrat, but other ultimate equipment like Great Trango and Gendarme. The method involves precise calculations and prediction of the right moment to get a given treasure chest to both spawn and to bring the desired item.
Several gaming communities and YouTube channels, give comprehensive explanations about how to perform RNG manipulation to get Seitengrat. For the most of the successful reports of getting the Seitengrat, the following procedure appears to be fairly consistent:
# It is required to create a save file in some of the following sites that are known to not to modify the RNG sequence the game uses when running normally, all sites having the advantage of allowing the player to teleport to Bhujerba (not an exhaustive list): Ogir-Yensa Sandsea (after fighting the boss in Raithwall's Tomb), the Tomb of Raithwall, Barheim Passage, the Salikawood, Nabreus Deadlands, the Henne Mines, Golmore Jungle, the Lhusu Mines, Tchita Uplands, the Sochen Cave Palace, Giruvegan, and the Pharos at Ridorana.
# Before saving at any of the above sites, the party should be prepared for the RNG manipulation: The active party must consist of just one character (if this character has the Serenity skill learned, it must be stated in the RNG PC tool that will be used as detailed in the following steps). They must unequip any weapon, shield, or item with status-modifying effects, or anything wearable that modifies the character's Magick Power. Vaan must wear Diamond Armlet because the Seitengrat is only obtainable with it.
# The console must be powered off and it should pass more than 8 seconds (to get a total reset for the RNG engine the game uses) and then cold booted to get accurate RNG prediction using the tool named "RNG cure list" (available via the YouTube channel above cited).
# After powering up the console, the game and the save file must be loaded as fast as possible to avoid the game running the internal RNG algorithm for too long; by doing so the RNG pattern becomes highly unpredictable for the tool that it is used on a PC.
# As soon as the save file is loaded, and having just one character active, the player must cast Cure five times in a row and the five values must be the initial input for the PC tool, along with the actual character level and Magick Power stats.
# Following instructions given in the cited YouTube channel, it is possible for the PC tool to predict exact RNG behavior for the game to assign future Cure cast amount values, and that accuracy is a clear indication the PC tool can predict the exact moment to get the Seitengrat when the PC tool points out the time to teleport to Bhujerba and immediately get a ticket that enables access to the Skyferry Air Deck. The player must skip the CG animation the game loads and all upcoming dialogue, and try to get the invisible chest located in the farthest zone from the deck access stairs always walking at the center.
# Everything from teleporting from the site where the RNG calculation was done to Bhujerba and to the Skyferry Air Deck must be done as fast as possible, and the main complaint many players report is that the Seitengrat RNG method fails not in the PC tool prediction phase, but in the Teleport to Bhujerba-Getting to the Air Deck phase.
# The reason for the above is that if the player does not get to the Seitengrat chest site by the shortest possible path, the game loads more NPC characters than the expected amount, and expend more of the expected time for the PC tool to accurately match the RNG game engine probability assignment position progression, and so the chest will never spawn or at least not will give the wanted item.
==Stats==
==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade===
FFAB Seitengrat UR.png|Seitengrat (UR).
==Etymology==
 When the team first started making the International version, the game's director, Hiroyuki Ito, was interested in mountains and wanted to use interesting names for the game.Hiroyuki Ito interview from the Final Fantasy XII International Ultimania (Translation)
==Citations==
Category:Weapons in Final Fantasy XII
Category:Bows