Light sword used by holy knights.
Description
The Excalibur is a knight sword for Steiner in Final Fantasy IX, obtained in the endgame through a sidequest that involves the Treno Auction House. The Excalibur deals Holy damage with Attack, Stock Break, and Shock, and teaches the Climhazzard Swd Art, which magically damages all enemies in a group for 200% of Steiner's normal damage.
Though the Ragnarok is stronger (and available earlier), the Excalibur can be considered Steiner's ultimate weapon, as its power can be boosted with Elem-Atk gear. It also appears with Steiner's Bring Arts, seemingly recognizing it as his iconic sword.
The Excalibur is one of the recurring classic endgame swords in the Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy IX also has the Excalibur II, a sword rewarded for a successful speedrun.
Obtain[]
The player must buy the following four key items from the Treno Auction House:
And sell them to the following people in Treno:
- Doga's Artifact to the Scholar in the Synthesis Shop (take the first offer).
- Une's Mirror to the Nobleman outside the Cafe Carta (take the second offer).
- Griffin's Heart to the Adventurer outside the Cafe Carta (take the second offer).
- Rat Tail to the Adventurer outside the Cafe Carta (take the second offer).
Taking the second offer for the characters who offer it nets more money, but is not necessary for the quest.
After the items are sold in Treno, the Magical Fingertip will appear in the auction house during the endgame, and only if the player has already talked to the Old Man in Daguerreo's second floor who requests it. The player must buy the Magical Fingertip (~49,200 gil) and give it to the Old Man outside the inn in Daguerreo, and he will give the party the Excalibur in exchange.
Mechanics[]
The base damage dealt with normal attack is determined as follows everywhere but within Ipsen's Castle:
- Base = 77 - Enemy's Defense
- Bonus = [(Strength + Spirit) / 2] + Rnd MOD ([(Level + Strength) / 8] + 1)
- Damage = Base * Bonus
Where Rnd means a random number, while MOD means modulus operation. "Rnd MOD x" can be read as a random number between 0 and x-1.
The damage is then modified by variables like Steiner's equipped killer abilities or MP Attack, his row position, and the enemy's Protect. If Steiner is under Mini, his Bonus will be 1.
When in Ipsen's Castle, the stronger weapons do less damage than weaker weapons, and the Base part of the damage formula with the Excalibur is altered to the minimum possible damage.
The Excalibur deals Holy damage with Attack (also via Charge! or Counter), Stock Break, and Shock, meaning these attacks will do 150% damage to enemies weak to Holy, half damage to those resistant to Holy, no damage to those who nullify Holy, and heal those who absorb Holy. Wearing the Mythril Helm or Rebirth Ring together with the Excalibur has Steiner do +50% more damage with Attack (and Charge!/Counter), but not with the aforementioned Swd Arts. Wearing both at the same time does not stack the effect. This can make Excalibur his best damage-dealing weapon outside of a speedrun where the player can earn the Excalibur II.
Use[]
The Excalibur can be considered Steiner's best knight sword in a playthrough the player is not going for the Excalibur II upgrade, as he can enhance its power by wearing a Mythril Helm or Rebirth Ring. Against enemies resistant to Holy, he can still override the effect with Swd Arts other than Shock or Stock Break, or Swd Mag. The Excalibur is the best weapon Steiner can get without a speedrun and without doing the Chocobo Hot and Cold quest. Even if he already has the stronger Ragnarok from the chocobo quest, the Excalibur can be better due to its innate Holy element.
Steiner uses Climhazzard with the Excalibur.
The Excalibur is the only source of Climhazzard outside of the Excalibur II. The downside is that by the time Steiner can get the Excalibur and master Climhazzard, the party is no longer fighting groups of enemies, as the new enemies added to the world map do not contain any groups besides the Mistodons, and the final dungeon only has singular enemy formations. Climhazzard does magic damage, and so will not awake sleeping enemies, and can be good in strategies against Yans.
All of Steiner's knight swords include his Spirit stat in damage calculation; the player can grind his Spirit stat by leveling him up with the Defender equipped.
Merchandise[]
Steiner has the Excalibur as an accessory to his Bring Arts figure.
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
The Excalibur is King Arthur's sword, the one he obtained from the Lady in the Lake, after the one he pulled from the stone broke. Excalibur itself is thought to be derived from Caladbolg, which in itself may be drawn from the Welsh Caledfwlch, which can be latinised as Caliburnus. The legends state the sword was virtually peerless and only passed to the chosen. However, King Arthur was mortally wounded while wielding the sword by his son, Mordred in the battle of Camlann. Upon his death, it was either Sir Lancelot or Sir Griflet who, after much hesitation about discarding such a powerful sword, returned the Excalibur to the Lady in the Lake.