Steepled Hat (Final Fantasy IX)

The Steepled Hat is a light armor headgear in Final Fantasy IX. It is a weak hat that Zidane, Vivi, Dagger, Quina, Eiko, Cinna, Marcus, and Blank can wear, though Blank and Cinna are not in the party when the Steepled Hat is available in a normal playthrough. It boosts the wearer's Strength on level up. The Steepled Hat teaches the White Magic spell Protect to Dagger and Eiko, which halves physical damage taken to one target. The Steepled Hat is used for synthesis and is notable for being an ingredient for the gil farming "Cotton Robe trick".
==Obtain==
The Steepled Hat can be bought for 260 gil in Lindblum (first storyline visit), Burmecia, Summit Station, and Black Mage Village (before going through the Shimmering Island portal). Prior to being available in shops, it can be stolen from Black Waltz 2 and Black Waltz 3 (both encounters). The player can also find one in a chest in a house in the Industrial District, which becomes inaccessible later on.
==Mechanics==
The Steepled Hat provides 9 Magic Defense, minorly mitigating damage from magic attacks. The hat minorly boosts the wearer's Strength when they level up with it equipped. When enough "level up bonuses" from gear have been accrued, the character gains a permanent stat increase. The Steepled Hat is the earliest Strength-boosting equipment piece the player can procure and gives the smallest stat boost, meaning the character would need to level up multiple times with +1 Strength gear for noticeable stat gain.
==Use==
The Steepled Hat is early game gear that may be useful to equip onto Zidane, Vivi, Dagger, or Quina during their adventures on the Mist Continent, though soon after the player can get the stronger Magus Hat. The Steepled Hat teaches Protect, a useful ability for Dagger and Eiko, though they may more conveniently master it from other equipment. 
Though the Steepled Hat has a minor stat-boosting effect, the Strength stat is only useful for Zidane of the characters who can wear it, and the player does not need to min-max in a normal playthrough; they can choose equipment based on the abilities they teach and their defensive offering. The best stat-boosting gear will be available late into the game, meaning the player would be optimized to limit their level ups until the endgame for the best stat gains. It is not particularly useful to level-grind with the Steepled Hat equipped unless the player gets stuck in a tough encounter or dungeon.
The Steepled Hat can be used in synthesis to make the Yellow Scarf add-on and the Cotton Robe light armor. Gil can be harvested by synthesizing the Cotton Robe for 1000 gil and then selling it for 2000 gil. Each time one synthesizes Cotton Robe x99, they make a profit of roughly 60,000 gil. As money is more useful early on, it can easily be done three separate times prior to getting the Blue Narciss.
The first time visiting Dali, the player can buy Wrists for 130 gil each. Visiting Lindblum for the first time, the player can buy Steepled Hats for 260 gil each and synthesize them there, stocking up on hats afterward. Later, on the way to Treno as Dagger, the player can detour to Dali and buy Wrists and synthesize them in Treno. Later still, the player can buy Steepled Hats in Black Mage Village, buy Wrists while getting the Burman Coffee during the Card Tournament (the player can leave Treno before doing the tournament and head for Dali) and synthesize the Cotton Robes in Treno. Towards the end of the game, Black Mage Village changes its wares, with Steepled Hats no longer for sale. The player can still buy them from Atla's Mogshop in Burmecia.
Category:Armor in Final Fantasy IX