Armor protected by extraordinary powers.
Description
The Carabini Mail is a late game heavy body armor in Final Fantasy IX for Steiner and Freya. It teaches Auto-Regen, which allows the character to regenerate health over time mid battle. It gives bonuses to the wearer's Speed and Spirit when they level up with the mail equipped.
Like many equipment pieces in Final Fantasy IX, the Carabini Mail is based on an equipment piece from Final Fantasy Tactics.
Obtain[]
The Carabini Mail is found in Pandemonium, in the room where the player uses blue and orange teleporters to move around a maze 
. There is also a moogle in this area. The chest with the Carabini Mail is in the lower left corner of the area, accessed by taking the top teleporter from a previous area 
. It is also stolen from the last boss fought atop Pandemonium and bought for 12,300 gil from Daguerreo after the events in Pandemonium.
Mechanics[]
The Carabini Mail provides 39 Defense and 1 Magic Defense, mainly mitigating damage from physical attacks. It gives a +1 bonus to the wearer's Speed and Spirit stats when they level up with the armor piece equipped. When enough "bonuses" upon level up from gear have been accrued, the character gains a permanent stat increase. Speed is an irrelevant stat to raise as it barely has an effect on ATB speed and even less on turn order, but Spirit is a generally useful stat, determining the HP a character is revived at, duration of expirable statuses, how often Regen and Poison tick, how frequently the character enters Trance and how many turns they get while in Trance, among other things.
Use[]
The Carabini Mail is a good heavy armor piece for Pandemonium. After the party returns to the world map, all the endgame equipment will be available. By the time the player can find the Carabini Mail, they could already have the superior Genji Armor from Chocobo Hot and Cold.
Auto-Regen from the Carabini Mail is an excellent ability to master and keep equipped at all times, making it good for Steiner.
The Carabini Mail's level up bonus to Spirit is good, but falls short of Maximillian, which can be obtained for Steiner after the player returns to the world map as long as the player has an ocean-faring Choco. If the player is not doing the chocobo sidequest, the Carabini Mail is the best Spirit-boosting heavy body armor.
Beatrix can also wear the Carabini Mail, but the player cannot see this in a normal playthrough.
Etymology[]
A carabineer is a soldier armed with a carbine.