Armlet adorned with Chimera wings.
Description
The Chimera Armlet is a mid to endgame arm guard in Final Fantasy IX that everyone but Steiner and Freya can wear. It teaches Add Status, which allows a character make use of their weapon's innate status effect (does not work with thief swords), and Mug, which lets Zidane inflict minor damage to enemies he successfully steals from. The Chimera Armlet is used in synthesis and nullifies Holy damage to the wearer.
Obtain[]
The Chimera Armlet is found in Treno through an ATE during the time the party visits the city for the Tetra Master tournament. In "Memories by the Water", the four-armed man meets Amarant and flees due to Amarant's reputation as a bandit. After seeing him talk to Eiko, the four-armed man believes he could hold her hostage to get money from Amarant; however, in "City People", Eiko and Quina reunite, and—believing Quina to be Eiko's bodyguard hired by Amarant—the four-armed man flees yet again, dropping a Chimera Armlet.
The Chimera Armlet is also found in Lindblum Castle's Serpent's Gate when the party is headed there as part of the story. It is bought for 1,200 gil from Lindblum (after the Battle of Alexandria), Oeilvert, Desert Palace, and Daguerreo (before going through the Shimmering Island portal).
Mechanics[]
The Chimera Armlet provides 22 physical Evasion and 14 Magic Evasion, improving the wearer's chance to avoid damage. The armlet nullifies Holy damage to the wearer.
Use[]
The Chimera Armlet is a good arm guard for world map exploration on the Blue Narciss, though the party can also have Egoist's Armlet and the Thief Gloves, also good options, while the Magic Armlet remains a good option for magic-users. The player can prioritize gear based on what abilities they need to master from them. The ability Add Status is good to master to everyone but perhaps Zidane who mainly uses thief swords, but Mug is not useful even for Zidane who is the only one who can learn it, as it does paltry damage and only works when the steal succeeds.
The Holy-nullifying effect can be good in the battle against Ozma, who will not target a character with Holy if they absorb the element, but will use it if they are merely immune to it; this is a useful way to make Ozma waste a turn. Other enemies that use Holy attacks are the final bosses.
The Chimera Armlet is used in synthesis to make the Promist Ring later on.
Etymology[]
chimera is a fire-breathing monster, one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. It is commonly represented with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail in Greek mythology. In modern usage, the term chimera is often taken to mean any sort of hybrid between two or more species. In the context of Final Fantasy IX, the name may refer to the enemy named Chimera.
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