Plate Mail (Final Fantasy IX)

The Plate Mail is a mid game heavy body armor in Final Fantasy IX for Steiner and Freya. It teaches Locomotion, which inoculates against Stop, and Undead Killer, which improves damage against undead type enemies. The mail gives a bonus to the wearer's Spirit stat when they level up with it equipped.
Like many equipment pieces in Final Fantasy IX, the Plate Armor is based on the armor piece of the same name from Final Fantasy Tactics.
==Obtain==
The Plate Mail can be taken off Beatrix during the brief portion she is playable in the Battle of Alexandria. It is also sold for 2,320 gil in Alexandria, Treno (after the party returns from the Outer Continent), Lindblum (after the party returns from the Outer Continent), Oeilvert, and Desert Palace.
==Mechanics==
The Plate Mail has 17 Defense and 1 Magic Defense, mainly mitigating damage from physical attacks. The mail gives a +1 bonus to the wearer's Spirit 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. Spirit is a generally useful stat to raise for everyone, governing aspects such as HP the character is revived on, the duration of expirable status effects, the frequency Regen and Poison tick, how often the character enters Trance and how many turns they will get while in Trance, among other things.
==Use==
The Plate Mail becomes available after the party returns from the Outer Continent. Unless the player got the Demon's Mail from Tantarian, the Plate Mail is the best heavy armor piece for the Treno card tournament, the Battle of Alexandria, and the world map exploration on the Blue Narciss until the superior Shield Armor can be dug up from a chocograph.
Locomotion from the Plate Mail is good to master as Stop is a hazardous status abnormality. Undead Killer is unimportant as undead enemies are better dealt with resurrection items and spells rather than Attack.
The Plate Mail's level up bonus to Spirit is good, though it is not advised to level-grind early on unless the player is stuck in a boss or a dungeon; level grinding and min-maxing are unnecessary in a normal playthrough even when preparing for superbosses. The best stat boost gear will be available in the end of the game, so for best results one would need to limit their EXP intake.
Beatrix can also wear the Plate Mail and has it equipped for the brief moment she is playable.
Category:Armor in Final Fantasy IX