Zodiac Spear (Final Fantasy XII)

The Zodiac Spear is a spear in Final Fantasy XII. It is the strongest weapon in the original version. It is exceedingly difficult to acquire due to its simplest method of obtaining being failed by actions in the earliest parts of the game, requiring a guide or prior knowledge to avoid. The sidequest was removed in the Zodiac versions, and the weapon was made easier to obtain. The Zodiac Spear is no longer the strongest weapon, instead being outdone by two other weapons obtained with great difficulty and almost impossible without a guide: the invisible secret weapons and .
A set of 12 new weapons was added to the Zodiac versions that are upgrades of previous weapons. In all cases these are stronger than all weapons that existed in their weapon types in the original game, except for the upgraded , , which is weaker than the Zodiac Spear. While the Vrsabha does have various stat advantages, its attack power is significantly lower, and it is considered less valuable by the shops.
In the Zodiac versions the Disable status was given to the several strongest spears at different rates. The Zodiac Spear inflicts it at 20%, and is only beaten by the Vrsabha, which deals it at 50%.
In the original version, the Zodiac Spear's license costs 150 LP. In the Zodiac versions, its license costs 240 LP and it can be used by the Uhlan.
==Acquiring==
===Original===
The Zodiac Spear can only be acquired if the player did not open certain chests earlier:
Town 	Chest Location
Rabanastre 	Treasure chest in Lowtown, outside of Old Dalan's place.
Royal Palace of Rabanastre	When sneaking into the palace (before getting the Goddess's Magicite), there are several chests in the Cellar. The player must not open the chest in the southeast corner that contains an Elixir.
Nalbina Dungeons 	One of the treasure chests in Nalbina Dungeons' Confiscatory, where Vaan, Balthier, and Fran regain their lost weapons and equipment, is forbidden. The forbidden one is the southernmost chest (middle of three) that always contains gil.
Phon Coast 	At Phon Coast's Vaddu Strand there is a beach with 16 chests placed in a grid. The fourth chest that must not be opened is among these, so it is best to leave them all alone.
Should none of the chests be opened, the Zodiac Spear will appear in the Necrohol of Nabudis, reachable via Salikawood's Corridor of Ages, which means the King Bomb must be killed. The Zodiac Spear will reside in the Cloister of the Highborn, in a group of 16 chests. When none of the characters are equipped with Diamond Armlets, the Zodiac Spear will be in the second chest from the left in the front row.
The other chests contain a Knot of Rust, or a Dark Matter with a Diamond Armlet equipped. The 16 chests in Necrohol of Nabudis correspond to the 16 chests on the Phon Coast, except that Zodiac Spear can only be obtained in the Necrohol; if the player only claims the Zodiac Spear, they can later observe that one chest on the Phon Coast chest formation has disappeared.
Necrohol of Nabudis can be reached fairly early on, after the player has obtained the Dawn Shard. The enemies are at much higher level than the player party, however, and obtaining the Zodiac Spear so early can be counter-productive, as it will make the rest of the game easy.
A second Zodiac Spear can be obtained in an alternative site, the Henne Mines' Phase 2 Dig. Even if the aforementioned forbidden chests are opened, the spear is still obtainable here. To unlock the site, at least 10 Espers must be acquired, and the Mindflayer Hunt completed. The player must speak to Geomancer Yugelu in Jahara to unlock this site, reachable via the Ore Separation.
The chest is hidden in a secluded area. The odds are heavily stacked against the player: chance for the chest to spawn is 10%, the chance the chest contains an item is 10%, and the item being the Zodiac Spear another 10%—meaning there is only a 1 in 1000 (0.1%) chance the spear will appear. In contrast to the original chest, the lead character must wear the Diamond Armlet to receive the spear.
There is a method exploiting the game console's predictable random number generator that guarantees a Zodiac Spear from the chest in the Henne Mines if certain conditions are met.
===Zodiac versions===
The player no longer needs to beware of opening forbidden chests, as the concept was removed. There is no longer a Zodiac Spear to be found at Necrohol of Nabudis. Instead, it is found as a treasure in the Henne Mines' Special Charter Shaft. The chest spawns 1% of the time, but once it does, it will always contain the spear. The chest also respawns.
The spear is also available from the Hunt Club sidequest. If the player gives ten trophies (obtained by defeating Rare Game) to each bangaa brother, they can buy the Zodiac Spear alongside the Zodiac Escutcheon for 999,999 gil from the Shifty-Eyed Merchant's store nearby. The player can also get the spear for free as a reward for giving Atak 16 trophies.
It is also a rare steal from Biding Mantis in Trial Mode Stage 62.
==Stats==
===Original===
===Zodiac===
==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade===
FFAB Zodiac Spear UR.png|Zodiac Spear (UR).
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
FFRK Zodiac Spear FFXII.png
===Final Fantasy Brave Exvius===
FFBE Zodiac Spear.png|Zodiac Spear.
==Etymology==
The zodiac equipment's original names are 最強の矛, "Strongest Spear", for Zodiac Spear and 最強の盾, "Strongest Shield", for Zodiac Escutcheon, referring to the Chinese idiom 自相矛盾 and the story behind it from the philosopher Han Feizi in his eponymous book of a man selling weapons. To convince people to buy his shield and spear he claimed them to be the sturdiest shield nothing could pierce and the sharpest spear able to pierce through everything. Someone asked what would happen if they tried to pierce the seller's shield with the seller's spear and the man couldn't answer, picked up his wares and left.
Category:Weapons in Final Fantasy XII
Category:Spears
de:Doxá-Lanze