Magic Racket (Final Fantasy IX)

Magic Racket is a weapon for Dagger and Eiko, being the third racket, available during the time the party has the Blue Narciss. It can be one Dagger and Eiko's best weapons for some of its unique properties.
Magic Racket teaches Berserk, which makes the afflicted attack every turn with increased physical prowess and is only learned by Dagger; Mini, which weakens a target by shrinking them; and Cure, the base curative spell. Rackets are ranged weapons that deal Wind damage when used with the Attack command. Magic Racket also enhances any Holy damage the wielder deals by +50%.
Magic Racket is only racket that gives a stat boost when the wielder levels up, Magic +2, making it an excellent level grinding weapon or just a weapon to use when not learning abilities from another one.
==Obtain==
Magic Racket is bought for 1350 gil from Lindblum after the party returns from the Outer Continent, as well as from Oeilvert Mogshop, Desert Palace Mogshop, and Esto Gaza (after Desert Palace).
==Mechanics==
Magic Racket's damage dealt with a normal Attack is determined as follows everywhere but within Ipsen's Castle:
:Base = 23 - Enemy's Defense
:Bonus = [(Strength + Speed) / 2] + 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 the enemy's Protect and resistance/weakness to Wind. If the wielder were under Mini, her Bonus would be 1, and if they equip Healer, damage is converted to healing.
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
Rackets are ranged weapons, meaning they will do the same damage from the back row, and are thus ideal for the party's white mages. They also deal Wind damage with Attack, meaning they will do 150% damage against enemies weak to Wind, and half damage to those who resist it, and no damage to those who nullify Wind, and heal those who absorb Wind. Most flying enemies are weak to wind.
Dagger and Eiko can augment their Attack with rackets via Elem-Atk gear; by wearing a Feather Hat, Bracer, Black Belt, or Fairy Earrings simultaneously with a racket, Dagger and Eiko deal 150% damage and the effect stacks with the +50% damage already done to enemies who are weak to Wind. Wearing multiples of these Wind-enhancing equipment pieces at the same time does not stack the effect.
Magic Racket itself is an Elem-Atk equipment piece, enhancing any of the wielder's Holy-elemental attacks. This allows it to boost Eiko's Holy spell and Madeen.
==Use==
Magic Racket is both Dagger and Eiko's second strongest weapon for world map exploration with the Blue Narciss, and in Oeilvert or Desert Palace, but it may be worth equipping over the stronger Mythril Racket and after even stronger weapons become available for its Magic +2 level up bonus. This is why it may also be useful to buy two of them so both Dagger and Eiko can equip it at the same time.
Magic Racket is Eiko's only stat-boosting weapon, whereas Dagger also has the Spirit-boosting Stardust Rod; it is up for the player's consideration to decide which stat they prefer to boost for level grinding sessions. Spirit improves things like how often Regen ticks, duration of expirable statuses, frequency and duration of Trance, how much HP Life and Phoenix and Revive restore, and critical hit rate, whereas Magic improves the amount of healing with curative spells, status-infliction rate with spells, and the damage done with eidolons. However, min-maxing and level grinding are unnecessary for a casual playthrough, and any stat bonuses can be viewed as simply a nice extra.
Magic Racket can be more useful for Eiko than for Dagger for its Holy-enhancing property, as Dagger lacks any Holy moves beyond the Asura's Rod that cannot be equipped at the same time as the Magic Racket, whereas equipping Magic Racket to Eiko strengthens her Holy and Madeen.
Though Magic Racket does Wind damage and thus could be augmented to deal 150% of normal Attack damage, this is not so useful for white mages who are not physical attackers and cannot strengthen their Attack commands in any other way unlike characters like Zidane and Steiner. However, rackets are ranged weapons, which tend to be the better offensive weapons over Dagger and Eiko's other weapon selections: rods and flutes.
The spells Magic Racket teaches are not supremely useful, as Dagger should have mastered Cure already and Eiko's default weapon comes with the superior Cura. Berserk can be used to give a boost to allies as well as to neuter enemies who use weak or missing physical attacks.
==Gallery==
MagicRacket.png|Artwork.
Magic Racket.png|Strategy guide scan.
Category:Weapons in Final Fantasy IX