Zodiac Spear: Henne Mines - The INSANE Method!

[ZodiarkTheTadpole]

Hi Everyone, I'm new here and I have a question that I hope some of you can answer.

I opened the four "do not open" chests on my current playthrough, so I couldn't get the Zodiac Spear in the Necrohol of Nabudis. So, being the insane person that I am, I've decided to go hunting for it in the Henne Mines Phase 2 Dig area. Yes, I know I only have a 0.1% chance of getting it, but remember: I'm insane. Here is my question:

Do I have to keep running back 3 screens (passed the save crystal screen) from the area where the chest supposedly spawns (I haven't seen it yet after 40 tries) to get it to respawn after a "fleeing run"? Or can I just reset/reload to get the chest to respawn?

And on a related note: has anyone here actually attained the Zodiac Spear by this insane method? How long did it take you... and what did you think about the whole time?!

[Dell]

It's my 23rd try now, and the chest only appear thrice, and it contained gil. XD
If I didn't find any treasure (or the Zodiac Spear), I reload the game.
I'll try again this night.

PM Necronopticous, she/he is the only member I know that have obtained Zodiac Spear in Henne Mines.

Welcome to Eyes on Final Fantasy, btw.

[Timerk]

It might be better to just start working toward the Wyrmhero Blade, which some people think is actually a better weapon than the Z Spear.

[ZodiarkTheTadpole]

DELL:

Thanks for the welcome and the quick response! I tried a mix of running back and forth and reloading, but the chest has NEVER appeared in my ~40 tries! When I get home tonight I think I'll use your method of simply reloading, it's the lesser of the two evils.

Timerk:

Audrey Hepburn is/was hot! I agree that it would be a better (as in I would have more fun) use of my time to work towards the Wyrmhero Blade. I just finished getting the Tournesol, and the OCD/irrational completionist in my wants to get the Zodiac Spear before fighting Yiazmat.

PM Necronopticous:

If what DELL says is true, I would definitely like to hear about your experience obtaining the Zodiac Spear using this most TEDIOUS of methods...

[Bahamut2000X]

PM Necronopticous:

If what DELL says is true, I would definitely like to hear about your experience obtaining the Zodiac Spear using this most TEDIOUS of methods...

XD. That just made me crack up there.

Anywho's Necronopticous is the person's screen name here. PM stands for Private Message, go to the memberlist, find thier name, then select to send them a PM, and you can ask them. It's easier then waiting for Necronopticous to possibly stumble in here. And welcome to the forums also.

[Dell]

It might be better to just start working toward the Wyrmhero Blade, which some people think is actually a better weapon than the Z Spear.

Completist.
No matter how hard it is......I'll still try to get it........

[Necronopticous]

Hey. Yeah, the Zodiac Spear was pretty much the last thing I did. A lot of the items in Final Fantasy XII are just too time consuming or irritating to even go for, I found that out after the Zodiac Spear, believe it or not. Maybe I was just lucky (it took me less than 2 hours to get the chest to spawn and produce the spear), but honestly I think some of the items you have to meet requirements for for them to appear in the bazaar are more time consuming and ridiculous than a 10% / 10% chest.

I've pretty much forfeited the idea of getting everything in Final Fantasy XII, as I just don't have the patience for it, and there are so many things they could have implemented to make it more bearable but failed to. (List of items you've sold so far? Hello?)

Considering I've done things like beat Sanctuary Keeper in Final Fantasy X without ever using the sphere grid or changing or customizing equipments, I think it really says something when I genuinely think something in a Final Fantasy game is unbearable.

Anyway, if you're curious, this is the blurb I followed when I went hunting for my Zodiac Spear:

From sephirosuy's Final Fantasy XII FAQ @
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/game/459841.html

Location 2 - Henne Mines, East hidden section.
           - Go North from the Gate Crystal, then East.
           - In the secret section, turn right from the second junction. Follow
             the way until you reach to next mine route. Now pay attention
             to right side. Around crates, there is a small area which didn't
             shown in the map. The treasure chest will appear there.
           - Only 10% chance you can find the treasure, and only 10% chance
             could get this weapon.

- Here is the point
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/sephiroth_y/Guide/hen_str_hal.jpg

* Requirement - Must have at least 10 espers and finish Mind Flare mob hunt
                mission (rank B).
              - Go Land Of The Garif find the geomancer to get some info, he's
                located at opposite of the Item Shop. Now back to Henne Mines,
                the gate to East has been unlocked.
              - Equip Diamond Armlet.

Even though I got pretty lucky and it didn't take me all that long to get the spear, I still felt unsatisfied, especially because I don't even use the damn thing. I prefer Masamune in conjunction with some high-end accessories that enhance it's effectiveness. Definitely did not feel the way I felt after spending 24 hours crafting a perfect 1H sword in Vagrant Story, if you know what I mean.

[ZodiarkTheTadpole]

Necronopticous:

I agree that gathering specific loot to satisfy the recipe requirements for Greatswords like the Tournesol is comparable in terms of time consumption to looking for the Zodiac Spear. But you can gather the required loot while questing toward hunt marks, or collecting the hidden espers, at least for the Tournesol. So even though it takes long, it isn't too bad because you can gather loot for specifically the tournesol (probably other weapons too) on sidequests.

Anyways, I think your point is that if your objective is to gather everything (best armor, bow, pole, etc) in FFXII, the task is too mind-numbingly repetitive to warrant the effort. And, I agree. You have to look up which monsters drop what loot, where these monsters are located, sometimes these monsters are rare and don't spawn unless you run back and forth 10+ times, etc. They definitely could have added more variation to the methods used to earn certain bazaar items. I preferred gathering all the best weapons in FFX. At least there, each one (or so I recall) was tied to some fairly amusing sidequest, e.g. chocobo racing, or blitzball (which I actually liked)...

That said, I'm still going to look for this damn spear, and have one quick question:

Did you use the reload method, or did you run back and forth between 3 screens?

[Necronopticous]

I tried both, reloading seemed to be a bit quicker for me, but they both actually took a decent amount of time to get back to the chest location. When I actually found the chest with the spear I was running back and fourth over a couple areas, taking the top passage back toward the save crystal. I was surprised that the chest appear rate is only 10% because it seemed to be more often for me, I'd say closer to 30% of the time. Perhaps I was just lucky, but I seemed to get a chest every 5-7* tries. Only once did I go a really long time where it wasn't spawning, a little over ten tries that time, I'd say.

[skillzboy4]

I tried both, reloading seemed to be a bit quicker for me, but they both actually took a decent amount of time to get back to the chest location. When I actually found the chest with the spear I was running back and fourth over a couple areas, taking the top passage back toward the save crystal. I was surprised that the chest appear rate is only 10% because it seemed to be more often for me, I'd say closer to 30% of the time. Perhaps I was just lucky, but I seemed to get a chest every 5-7* trys. Only once did I go a really long time where it wasn't spawning, a little over ten tries that time, I'd say.

I keep doing the reload thing and keep getting the gil... maybe it be best that u go 3 screens away rather then reloading?

[ZodiarkTheTadpole]

Well at least you're getting the chest to appear! I've just reloaded around 20 times and haven't seen the chest once!...

[skillzboy4]

ok i got the chest to appear twice and now ive got 32 reloads and still haven;t gotten a chest.. this takes so much patience!

[yojimbosoul]

where do you get a blood sword?

also......Z spear is not worth its time and effort

its licens is too far away for an all round character
it has no special abilities
and takes forever to get.


try if you want but...............Does KO on weapons really work?

[Dell]

where do you get a blood sword?

also......Z spear is not worth its time and effort

its licens is too far away for an all round character
it has no special abilities
and takes forever to get.


try if you want but...............Does KO on weapons really work?

Buy Blood Sword in Rabanastre after Tomb of Raithwall.

By the time you want to get the Zodiac Spear, you've already finished the license board (At least, near-finish). And 150 Attack is enough to show its powerfulness. But I agree, it's not worth it but......completist. I STILL WANT TO GET IT!!!!!

Your last question, Yes.

[ZodiarkTheTadpole]

DELL:

How goes your search? I gave up after 20 or so tries without the chest spawning. I'll try again later today... but sheesh...