Information behind Zodiac Spear

[ZeroFusion]

In various strategy guides and forums, I've read about the four chests you must not open to be able to collect Zodiac Spear in Necrohol of Nabudis. I wondered if there's a way to get this information in the game - like, for exmple, that it's mentioned in any of the bestiary entries.

Please note that I haven't finished the game yet (shame on me!), so please try not to include spoilers in your answer. Thank you!

[trancekuja]

I finished the game long time ago but I don't recall any hints about the four chests...That's why I had to go collect mine at Henne Mines , and believe me that wasn't fun at all:mad2:

[Elly]

nope no ingame info that i have come across... if GameFAQs weren't around to ruin the print industry it'd be a super secret that you could only find in a strategy guide...

[ZeroFusion]

Meh. I wonder what lead Square to do this :mad2:. I always liked Final Fantasies for their open world, where (after certain point in the game) you could roam the world as you liked, pick the subquests you liked and possibly find any weapon you liked.

I suppose the same goes for the Bazaar "recipes", doesn't it? Or can these recipes be found in the game? I know it they can be worked out by selling the loot carefully, but frankly, that's time-consuming a lot + I see no fun in that (and I'd like to stay out of the Strategy Guides for my first playthrough).

[Flying Mullet]

A lot of the information, like Bazaar recipes and the four chests for the Zodiac Spear are not found in-game. Unfortunately strategy guides have turned into such a profitable business that developers frequently design a game such that you would have to buy the strategy guide to figure everything out.

[Wolf Kanno]

You get Bazaar recipes from the Beastiery. If you kill enough of a creature you get extra info that usually details elements of the world. Other times it gives you info on items you need to make some of the items or even where to find the rare items. Except for the Ultimate weapons, you should stumble upon on all the weapons the Bazaar can make for you naturally if memeory serves me correct. At least, I know I didn't have to look up any except the Ultimate Weapons.

The Zodiac Spear is a throwback to old school titles from the 8-bit/16-bit era. Like War Mech from FFI or the Emperor Sword in BoF. It was only meant to be found by either people who play the game religiously or from the strategy guide. Its a bitch for completionist or people who like being overpowered, but overall; I feel its not terribly important.

[Quindiana Jones]

Don't open any chests in Lowtown, The Royal Palace, the place where you get your stuff back after escaping the Nalbina Dungeon, or the Phon Coast area with a large square of multiple chests. Do that and you're guaranteed not to ruin your chances of getting the thing.

Also, what Mullet said. I can't stand this "let's make a game for the purpose of having a guide" idea. It's bollocks. I buy guides for games that I find amazingly brilliant, not ones that wouldn't be 100% without them.

[trancekuja]

Hell yeah. It's just not right. The way I play FF is that when playing for the first time I don't use any guide. Of course ,I'll probably miss some items,materia or etc...But it was always my fault because there were always some hints no matter how hard to spot. But in FF XII there were just so many random things , such as Zodiac Spear , with no hint whatsoever. Not even a slightest hint which would indicate it's existence...Where's the point in that?

[Wolf Kanno]

To be honest, I can't think of an FF outside of possible FFX where its possible to get every item the first time through without a guide. Hell I still find items I never knew about in these titles.

Master Materia, some of the Limit Breaks (like Tifa's and Vincents) and most of the Ultimate weapons in VII don't have any hints.

VIII gives you the formula's for the Ultimate weapons but I don't recall the game ever telling you where to obtain these items. There were also a few GFs that were never hinted to getting in the game. Not to mention how to get Quistis' ultimate Blue Magic

IX... Excalibur 2 need I say more? This game alone is worst than the others cause its guide basically tells you to find out on Square's Playonline network :roll2.

X, is probably the only one I can think of that is plausible except for maybe getting the Mirror that grants you access to everything. That mostly requires a bit of dumb luck.

V had the Braveblade/ Chicken Knife and technically a good portion of the Blue magic and several of the strongest weapons in the game are impossible to get without a guide telling you where to obtain them.

VI had the Paladin Shield, a few espers, and blue mage magic that are nearly impossible to obtain without a guide. It also has a few weapons and items that are difficult to obtain by not knowing you need to not open certain chests until later.

IV has the four special summons and countless armor and weapons (Adamant Armor and Spoon Dagger) that are low drops from monsters you could never know about and I-III follow a similar pattern. So frankly, I don't see why people are whining about one damn spear only being obtainable from reading the guide. Its not like you can't just "look it up" at the local Barnes and Noble or on Gamefaqs anyway. :roll2

[ZeroFusion]

Wolf Kanno, I can see your point. What I find different about Zodiac Spear from the examples you mentioned is the fact that you can screw up your chances to get it very early in the game. I mean - I know there's still the chest in Henne Mines to boot, but that's really time-consuming way to get it.

Oddly, if there wasn't a way to get Zodiac Spear in Necrohol of Nabudis (and the only place to get it would be Henne Mines), I would be ok with that. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't like punishing players for doing what they're supposed to do (= opening the treasure chests).

[Necronopticous]

There is no justifying the asinine process required to get the Zodiac Spear in Nabudis.

[Wolf Kanno]

I guess it depends on your tolerance levels. I'm more annoyed with being forced to do co-op stuff in FFTA and FFT:WotL in order to get all the good equipment in the game over a silly treasure chest pyramid scheme. ;)

[theundeadhero]

In FFXII, I didn't find out that a chest's contents were somewhat randomized until I was almost finished with the game :(

[Quindiana Jones]

They're randomised? I figured you had a percentage chance of getting an item or money. The money would be any number between x and y. There would be a 50% chance of getting item A or B if you were to get an item.

[Elly]

according to the Strat Guide it is based on percentages and eash chest has a percentage to drop something from a list of items for each chest but it's not as simple as 50/50...

[Flying Mullet]

That's where the accessory, Diamond Armlet I think, comes into play. Each chest has a set chance of being a good item or a crappy item, for example 1% Zodiac Spear, 99% Hi-Potion. Wearing the Diamond Armlet gives you a 2% chance to find the Zodiac Spear when you open the chest. This is why it is so hard to get the Zodiac Spear through the chest in the Henne Mines, as you have one chest that has a near 0% chance of giving it to you. If you don't find it, you have to reset the chests and try again and again and again...

[BG-57]

1/1000 IIRC, if you combine that odds of the chest appearing with the odds of getting the spear if it's there. Can we just pass a law forbidding random drops lower than 1/100? :mad2:

[Elly]

then what would the super-select-secret-hardcore* have to brag about? lol...





*thanks to GameFAQs they're a dying breed

[Wolf Kanno]

Hopefully they will go outside and finally see the sun or heaven forbid, find a date. ;)

[Elly]

but the sun is evil and hurts... but yeah, people that spend that much time to find something as difficult as the Zodiac Spear without assistance probbably spend far too much time behind the controller, either that or they have no other games, and need to increase their collection of games and possibly friends and aquaintances... a date or two now and then could prolly help these poor souls as well...

[TheSpoonyBard]

That's where the accessory, Diamond Armlet I think, comes into play. Each chest has a set chance of being a good item or a crappy item, for example 1% Zodiac Spear, 99% Hi-Potion. Wearing the Diamond Armlet gives you a 2% chance to find the Zodiac Spear when you open the chest. This is why it is so hard to get the Zodiac Spear through the chest in the Henne Mines, as you have one chest that has a near 0% chance of giving it to you. If you don't find it, you have to reset the chests and try again and again and again...
Without the Diamond Armlet the item rates are split 50/50. With the Diamond Armlet they're split 90/10.

The Zodiac Spear coffer has a 10% chance of appearing, 10% chance of containing an item and, with the Diamond Armlet, 10% chance of the item being the Zodiac Spear. So ~0.1% overall.