Ring of the Lucii



The Ring of the Lucii is a key item in the Final Fantasy XV Universe that appears in Final Fantasy XV and the feature film Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. It connects the power of the kings of Lucis and lets the wearer channel the power of Eos's Crystal. It is handed down from generation to generation, containing the collective power and wisdom of each Lucian monarch, and grants its immense power only to those it deems worthy at the cost of a blood price.

According to legend, the Ring of the Lucii was bestowed upon the kings of Lucis by the gods. According to the Final Fantasy XV Ultimania, Astrals created the ring of light, and it exists as proof of the rightful successor to the throne.

Story
The Cosmogony books that chronicle the legends of Eos posit that before falling into eternal slumber, the Six gave mankind a ring. The ring is said to have passed from person to person, but none were fit to inherit its power. It eventually found its way into the hands of a person deemed worthy, whom people thus saw fit to rule, and he became the first king of Lucis. The ring has been passed down the royal generations and is worn by the reigning king. The kings' calling is to protect the Crystal until it crowns a Chosen King from their bloodline, who is prophesied to save the world from darkness. The ring also gives the reigning monarch the power to command the Old Wall, twelve monolithic statues erected in the Crown City that house the souls of past kings.

A hundred-and-fifty years ago, the king of that time erected a magical barrier across Lucis to keep it safe from the Niflheim Empire, which became known as the Wall, and in time knowledge of the "Old Wall" faded from public consciousness. The king upholds the magic barrier with the power of the Ring of the Lucii, but doing so drains the king's own life-force.

Mors Lucis Caelum strengthened the Wall by concentrating its power to cover only the Crown City of Insomnia, as Niflheim had become more powerful after making use of daemon-harvested miasma to power their magitek forces. The outlands were left vulnerable as the Great War intensified. Mors's son Regis inherited the kingdom, but upholding the Wall accelerates his aging, and after thirty years of holding the Wall with the ring's power, he looks beyond his fifty years and his health is failing.

Chancellor Ardyn Izunia of Niflheim manipulates Emperor Aldercapt into thirsting for the Crystal's power, who comes to believe he could rule the world with it. Aldercapt becomes obsessed with the idea of getting the Crystal and the ring, but is not the only one: Deputy High Commander Ravus Nox Fleuret, who holds a grudge against Lucis and King Regis for their supposed betrayal of Tenebrae, wants to be chosen by Crystal and accepted by the ring to save the world, despite not being of the prophesied bloodline.

Niflheim's higher ups orchestrate Insomnia's fall and steal the Crystal, while Imperial General Glauca severs the Ring of the Lucii from King Regis's hand. Ravus picks it up and attempts to obtain its power, but is deemed unworthy, and drops the ring as his left arm is severely burned. Taking the ring with him, Regis flees down a secret passageway with Nyx Ulric—a member of the Kingsglaive, his royal guard—and Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Ravus's sister who supports Regis and believes his son Prince Noctis is the Chosen King. Once clear of Niflheim's forces, Regis gives the Ring of the Lucii to Lunafreya and asks her to deliver it to his son.

Nyx and Lunafreya flee to the streets of Insomnia. In Section D Nyx is attacked by one of his fellow Glaives, Luche Lazarus, who has betrayed the crown and now seeks the Ring of the Lucii. Luche is tricked into putting it on by Lunafreya and is burned alive. Nyx's superior, Titus Drautos, reveals himself to be Glauca, and attempts to claim the ring. Nyx puts it on and finds himself in another dimension, where he speaks to the deceased Lucian kings and faces their judgment.

When the kings see Nyx fight for the future, along with the spirit of King Regis's urging for his favor, they grant him their power in exchange for a life. Unwilling to sacrifice anyone else, Nyx offers his own. He passes the ring to Lunafreya for safekeeping, then uses the Ring of the Lucii's power to engage Glauca and command the Old Wall, whose statues animate across Insomnia to defeat the imperial forces. The resulting battle sees Glauca fatally stabbed by Nyx, with the empire's Diamond Weapons destroyed by the summoned effigies of the past kings and queens of Lucis. Nyx dies at dawn as part of the blood price of using the ring's powers.

After Lunafreya escapes Insomnia, she reunites with her three Messengers outside the city gates. She is exhausted, but has the Ring of the Lucii. She eventually makes her way to Altissia where she speaks with her brother Ravus. She asks him to take the ring to Noctis as she is collapsing from the strain of her duties, but he turns away at the sight of it, and says delivering the ring to the Chosen King is her duty.

Noctis reunites with Lunafreya at Altissia during Leviathan's Revelation. Niflheim disrupts the summoning and attacks the city, Lunafreya is fatally stabbed by Ardyn, and Noctis passes out from the strain of taking on Leviathan's trial. He finds himself in a dreamlike dimension with his betrothed, Lunafreya. He grieves over his inability to save her, but she comforts him and gives him the Ring of the Lucii before fading.

General Brigadier Caligo Ulldor makes it his mission to capture the ring despite Ravus's warnings that only the king can wield it. Noctis's friend Ignis Scientia teams up with Ravus, and they find the unconscious Noctis and the perished Lunafreya at the Altar of the Tidemother.

Ardyn ambushes them, disables Ravus, and threatens Noctis with a dagger when the ring falls from Noctis's listless grasp. Ignis picks it up when Ardyn is distracted by a retaliating Ravus, and puts it on, ready to pay a blood price to gain its power to save his friend. His eyes are burned and Ignis defeats Ardyn with the power of the ring. Days later, Noctis awakens in the Altissia hotel with the ring in his hand, unaware how Ignis lost his vision. Though determined to continue on his journey, he refuses to wear the ring, feeling the burden of it overwhelming.

In Gralea, the capital of Niflheim, Noctis is forced to adorn the ring when his powers cease, and wields its powers to fight the daemons and magitek troops at Zegnautus Keep. When he finds the Crystal imprisoned within, he is pulled inside it when he touches it in an attempt to use its power. A decade later, Noctis returns and travels to Insomnia where he uses the ring to commune with his ancestors before giving his life to end the Starscourge as the True King.

As the kings of Lucis die, their soul enters the ring and next king can wield the collective powers of his forebears with it. Thus the power gradually concentrates until it accumulates enough for the final king to the become the True King to purge the Starscourge from Eos, a plague that blocks out the sun. After dying, Noctis finds himself standing before Ardyn Izunia in the "beyond", his ancestor who became corrupted by daemons and was made immortal, and now exists as the embodiment of the darkness that shrouds Eos. Noctis uses the ring to cleanse Ardyn's soul from the scourge before vanishing in a burst of light. The Lucian bloodline has ended, and the Ring of the Lucii disintegrates.

Alternate ending
If Ignis joins Ardyn during their confrontation in Altissia, he keeps the ring when Ardyn transports him to Zegnautus Keep where Ignis finds the Crystal. After Ardyn reveals his true goals to Ignis, the latter wields the ring to kill him, offering his life as the blood price. He succeeds, yet Ardyn, as an immortal, returns. Noctis finds a dying Ignis in the Crystal room, takes the ring from him, and uses the power of the Crystal to save Ignis. Ten years later Noctis, his retinue and Ravus return to Insomnia to defeat Ardyn, but Noctis doesn't die, implying his soul was never taken into the ring as it was never destroyed. He continues to reign in Lucis as its king, wearing the ring.

Abilities
As depicted in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, when worn, the Ring of the Lucii sends those who are not of royal blood to another dimension where they converse with the Lucian kings of old and face their judgment. The ring may either reject its wearer by burning them, at times fatally, or accept them, whereupon the wearer gains great magical power, as well as the ability to activate the Old Wall, enormous statues of the deceased Lucian kings strewn about Insomnia. However, the ring demands a blood price in exchange.

The Ring of the Lucii links the Lucian lineage and their powers to the mortal world even from the "realm beyond". It is unknown if each ring-bearer gains different powers from it, but King Regis and Noctis use different magic with it. When Noctis first puts the ring on, and when he uses its powers to defeat enemies, he hears whispering sounds–likely the spirits of the old kings.

Wielding the ring's powers has glowing cracks appear on the ring-bearer's body, and the more the wielder uses the ring the more apparent it becomes. King Regis's face is scarred, perhaps due to this. Crystalline cracks that glow red appear on Nyx Ulric's face and soon all along on his arm as he commands the Old Wall after gaining the old kings' blessing. A similar effect engulfs Noctis's character model in Final Fantasy XV if the player wields the ring as their weapon for extended periods, but the effect fades and does no lasting "damage" to him. After Noctis destroys Ardyn in the afterlife with the power from the ring, he glows similarly and disperses into light. Ignis's body is scarred when he uses the ring in Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis, and he permanently loses his eyesight as part of the blood price he was willing to pay.

Gameplay
In Final Fantasy XV, the Ring of the Lucii offers players access to Ring Magic, a different type of magic than the grenades that can be concocted through Elemancy. The Final Fantasy XV Ultimania calls this magic type "Arcana", and says it differs from traditional magic that uses elemental energy by consuming an enormous amount of magic power; although it can take a long time to cast, its power is unparalleled.

Ring Magic is unlocked in Chapter 13, and uses MP. The ring is equipped in a weapon slot, and the player can point-warp with it. The ring can only be equipped by Noctis.

When the player wields the Ring of the Lucii in battle, "soul crystals", like seen in the Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy series, float in the air. This signifies the bonding of the souls via the Crystal, concept from which the ring draws its power.

With the introduction of Chapter 13, Verse 2 as part of the free update released on March 27, 2017, Ring Magic was buffed, bolstering the ring's spells. The ring can also now be brought to New Game+.

Some players have reported bugs of instant death from Death not healing HP and Holy not recovering MP as they are supposed to do. The Black Hood accessory does not work with the Ring of the Lucii as weapon.

In Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis, the player can fight the final boss with Ignis who has gained superhuman powers from the Ring of the Lucii. The controls are the same as for the rest of his episode, but he is much stronger and faster and can warp. He can't use the three spells Noctis can when using the ring as his weapon.

Death
Death is used with the attack button when locking onto an enemy with the ring in the weapon slot. It deals damage, slows the enemy down, and applies an invisible debuff that instantly kills the enemy and recovers up to half of Noctis's HP when fully applied. When Noctis stops casting it, the effect of this invisible debuff gradually wanes. If the enemy dies not from the debuff but rather from the damage Death deals, Noctis does not get healed. Almost all enemies, including most bosses, are susceptible to the instant death (a red skull appears next to the enemy's name when using the spell if it can die from Death). Casting Death consumes MP by a fixed percentage (roughly 5% per second), thus making Noctis's maximum MP irrelevant.

The damage and instant death rate are affected by Noctis's Magic stat and the enemy's hidden "death resistance" stat. Death works at its maximum capacity when Noctis has roughly 500 Magic. Increasing his Magic beyond will have no further effects. Death ignores buffs obtained from eating food.

Patch 1.06 dramatically improved the instant death rate, removed many enemies' immunity to the spell, and made it deal damage.

Holy
Noctis smites foes with sacred energy and deals holy damage to nearby enemies when dodging their attacks with the ring equipped in the weapon slot. Damage scales with Noctis's Magic and level. Holy is activated by tapping or holding down the Phase/Defense button, and is a counterattack. Should the Phase/Defense button be held without Noctis being attacked, he will walk cautiously like in Phase Mode, but will be in a focused state to ready the spell when pressed to do so. Doing this gradually drains his MP at a rate of 10% per second. If Noctis successfully counters an enemy with Holy, he will recover 15% of his maximum MP (10% before Patch 1.06). Unlike phasing, this does not work against bullets.

Blinking (pressing the Phase/Defense button right before an enemy attack) makes Noctis cast an especially strong Holy that deals 15 times more damage and recovers 40% of his max MP. If far away, Noctis will teleport close to the enemy. This frequently puts enemies to the Vulnerable state.

Patch 1.06 halved Holy's normal damage but its MP recovery was increased by 50% and the recovery time between casts was removed. The patch also added the stronger Holy activated via blinking.

In the Windows and Royal Editions, blinking while in Armiger Unleashed also makes Noctis cast Holy that can break the damage limit.

Alterna
Alterna is the final spell Noctis learns on the ring. It can be used on wide areas that have enough room for the spell to go off, and is used by locking onto the enemy and using the warp button. Tapping the warp button has Noctis do a short-range teleport that costs MP.

Alterna has Noctis temporarily break open the fabric of reality, creating a crystalline gate into another dimension that ejects enemies from the battle entirely. Casting it costs a full MP bar. As of patch 1.23, no enemies are immune to Alterna except Omega, although those that used to be immune tend to resist it and may take numerous tries for it to work. The chance of it working is random and Noctis's Magic stat does not appear to affect it.

Patch 1.06 removed all enemies' immunity to the spell so that it can even be cast on superbosses such as the Adamantoise and the MA-X Angelus-0. The patch also improved the overall chance of it working.

Musical themes
"The Ring of the Lucii" is a track on the Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV: Original Soundtrack.

Creation and development
In early promotional material for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Noctis is seen wearing a ring on his right hand. Repurposed for Final Fantasy XV, the ring was made important to the game's story.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius


The Ring of the Lucii is an accessory and Noctis's Trust Master Reward. When equipped it grants MAG+3, SPR+3 as well as the abilities Alterna, Holy and Death. Similarly to Final Fantasy XV, Holy increases the unit's evasion by 25%, and when activated deals Light-element magic damage to the attacker and restores 40 MP to the user.

Puzzle & Dragons
Noctis's Ring of the Lucii appeared as part of the Final Fantasy collaboration.

Merchandise
Square Enix has released the Ring of the Lucii as official merchandise. Unlike in the game, the ring is on a chain, and is of uniform black color rather than having gold elements.


 * Product Size（Body part）：　approx. 22.85×26.87(mm) Weight：8.7g
 * Chain Length(Incl. Fastener)：　approx. 470(mm) Weight：10g
 * Ring Size：　Size 18 (Japanese size)
 * Material: 925 Silver

Etymology
Luci is the plural form of luce, an Italian word for "light". It is derived from lūcem, a Latin word and the accusative form of lūx, which means "light." The Lucii in the English name of the ring refers to the spirits of the old kings, but its Japanese name is simply "Ring of Light".

Trivia

 * In the 1.00 version, the ring barely did damage, and blocking with it had the enemy "hit a brick wall" and turn to stone.
 * The Ring of the Lucii resembles the Solomon Ring from Final Fantasy VIII, which, according to its description in the Occult Fan, used to belong to a royal family.
 * The ring has a clear crystal in the middle in the grasp of the figure, that appears to be a Lucian king stylized in the same manner as Bahamut appears on the Kingsglaive's emblem. The crystal on the ring doesn't shine unless it is absorbing a soul. Similarly, the Crystal of Eos is also black on the outside and only shines on the inside, which is connected to an otherworldly realm. In the official merchandise the crystal on the ring is shiny and appears to be made out of lead glass (the same material Swarovski crystals are made of).
 * Lunafreya's wedding ring is also black with small diamonds or crystals around the front.
 * s have appeared in stories since . Some of the more famous ones include in 's book, the  of which the Final Fantasy VIII Solomon Ring is based on, and the  from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth universe. Magic rings occur in a myriad of modern fantasy stories as incidental objects, as well as central parts of the plot. The main magical objects in the Final Fantasy series are usually the crystals, but previous magic rings have been the magical mythril ring in Final Fantasy III used to seal the Djinn and remove the curse on the people of Sasune and Kazus, the Carnelian Signet in Final Fantasy IV that turned out to be an incendiary bomb, and the Solomon Ring in Final Fantasy VIII that hosts the GF Doomtrain.