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The Demon Shield is a high-ranked shield in Final Fantasy XII that boosts the wearer's physical evade by 40 and absorbs Dark damage. It is metallic for the purposes of the magnetize debuff present in the Vinuskar (though it is available only after this boss) and Ultima boss battles.

Wearing multiple pieces of armor that give certain different types of elemental protection stack:

Weakness + Absorb = Absorbs double
Halve + Absorb = Absorbs half

Thus, wearing the Demon Shield with the Bone Helm or Mail or Argyle Armlet (Zodiac), has the wearer absorb half damage from Dark attacks. There are no equipment pieces that make the wearer weak to Dark.

Obtain[]

Original[]

In the original PlayStation 2 version, the Demon Shield is bought for 11,200 gil from the "secret merchant" in Necrohol of Nabudis. It is also found in a treasure in the Great Crystal's Sirhru Phullam Praa'vaa (always appears, 85% chance for gil, 10% chance the item treasure is the Demon Shield with the Diamond Armlet equipped Map 46 The Great Crystal). It very rarely drops from Abysteels in the Henne Mines' secret area, and is rarely stolen from the Abysteels deep in Lhusu Mines and in Sochen Cave Palace.

The Demon Shield is made in the bazaar in the "Forbidding Shield" set by selling two Aged Turtle Shells (from tortoise enemies, e.g. Emeralditan), eight Destrier Bardings (from Leynir), and one Leamonde Halcyon (from Leamonde Entite).

The Demon Shield is the reward for the hunt for Diabolos.

Zodiac[]

In the updated Zodiac versions, the Demon Shield can't be bought from shops but sells for 5,050 gil. It is found in a treasure in Cerobi Steppe's Crossfield (20% chance to appear, 50% chance for gil, 5% chance the item treasure is the Demon Shield with the Diamond Armlet equipped) and Pharos - First Ascent's Wellspring Ravel - 1st Flight (always appears).

It still very rarely drops from the Abysteels in Henne Mines and is rarely stolen from the Abysteels in Lhusu Mines and Sochen Cave Palace. It is now also an uncommon steal from Vyraal in Trial Mode Stage 65, and the common steal from Disma and Evil Spirit in Trial Mode Stage 88.

The Demon Shield is still made in the bazaar in the "Forbidding Shield" set with the same items as before, and is the reward for the hunt for Diabolos.

Use[]

The Demon Shield is a high-ranked shield that helps the wielder evade physical attacks and absorb Dark damage. In the Zodiac versions, the Demon Shield can be used by the jobs Red Battlemage, Knight, Foebreaker, and Shikari.

An alternative would be to wear the Black Mask that also absorbs Dark. Demon Shield has one of the highest physical Evade stats in the game, only surpassed by the Zodiac Escutcheon and Ensanguined Shield, and the invisible secret shield Gendarme in the Zodiac versions.

Demon Shield is useful for both physical evasion, and Dark absorption. It can be good in the battle against Zodiark, but Zodiark will not use Banish Ray if everyone absorbs Dark-elemental attacks, so this is not recommended, as Darkja will be used twice as often. However, Demon Shield/Black Mask can still be given to two party members without a drawback.

The Demon Shield can be equipped by characters with one-handed weapons or no weapon in their available hand. It adds to the wearer's physical evasion. Shield Block augments also add +5% to physical evasion per augment purchased. Equipping a shield negates the Brawler augment, even if the character is still attacking bare-handed. Some enemies, especially all the toughest bosses and marks, have Ignore Evasion as a passive ability, which causes their attacks to bypass all blocking and parrying.

The chance to block granted by gloves and shields and Shield Block licenses is checked separately to, and before, the evade from one-handed weapons. If the shield block fails, the game checks for the weapon block, and if that fails, the game checks for parry.[1]

Etymology[]

A demon is "an evil spirit or devil, especially one thought to possess a person or act as a tormentor in hell".

References[]

  1. Maltzsan (n.d.) . Final Fantasy XII Game Mechanics FAQ. Neoseeker. Archived from the original on 1st September 2020.
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