Cotton Robe (Final Fantasy IX)

The Cotton Robe is a beginner robe in Final Fantasy IX for mages. It teaches Chemist, which doubles the potency of healing potions the character uses mid-battle, and Shell, a White Magic spell that mitigates magic damage to a target. Wearing the Cotton Robe weakens the character to Fire and gives a bonus to the wearer's Strength and Magic stats when they level up with it equipped.
The robe is part of a gil farming trick due to it selling for more than it costs to synthesize. It is also used in synthesis itself.
==Obtain==
The Cotton Robe is synthesized in Lindblum, Treno, Black Mage Village (before entering the Shimmering Island portal), Alexandria, and Daguerreo for 1,000 gil, a Steepled Hat, and a Wrist.
The robe is also found in the Between Mountains chocograph treasure. After leaving Lindblum on foot, the player can head to Chocobo's Forest, dig up the chocograph, and find the treasure between the mountains in the southwest of the area.
==Mechanics==
The Cotton Robe provides 10 Defense and 2 Magic Defense, minorly mitigating damage. It weakens the wearer to Fire, making them sustain 150% damage from Fire attacks. If the character also wears a Black Hood or Ribbon or Protect Ring, halving Fire damage, the character will take ~75% damage from Fire. The Fire weakness is not mentioned in the flavor text; the only way the player can see it written out is when using Scan on the wearer while in battle.
The robe gives a +1 bonus to the wearer's Strength and Magic stats when they level up with it equipped. When enough "bonuses" upon level up from gear have been accrued, the character gains a permanent stat increase. Strength determines the character's physical damage and their Magic stat determines their spell damage and MP growth.
==Use==
The Cotton Robe is a starter robe for Dagger, teaching her two useful skills, though she may have already learned Shell from a Moonstone. It is a good robe to wear for Dali Underground, the Cargo Ship, and Dagger's excursions with Steiner and Marcus after. However, the player could get the superior Silk Robe early from the frog catching minigame. She could also wear the Silk Shirt instead. The player can prioritize the equipment they want to master abilities from.
Vivi and Quina could also wear the robe, but they may prefer other equipment that will teach them abilities and do not weaken them to Fire.
The fire weakness can be a weakness against the Black Waltzes, Carve Spiders, Trick Sparrows, Ghosts, black mages, Ironites, Vices, Dragonflies, Bombs, Zuus, Thorn, and Lani.
The Cotton Robe's level up bonus to Magic and Strength are good but level grinding and min-maxing are unnecessary in a normal playthrough even for superboss encounters. The best stat boost equipment pieces are available in the end of the game, and so it would be worthwhile to limit EXP intake until they are available.
It is used in synthesis to make the Glutton's Robe.
===Gil farming===
Gil can be harvested by synthesizing the Cotton Robe for 1,000 gil and then selling it for 2,000 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, once per disc:
*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 the robes 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 into robes 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