Combat fork used by the Qu clan.
Description
The Fork is Quina's initial weapon in Final Fantasy IX. Like all their forks, it deals random damage with Attack as instead of using Quina's Strength stat as-is in damage calculation, it uses a random value up to Quina's Strength instead. Like all forks, it teaches the support ability High Tide, which lets Quina build their Trance gauge faster. As all of their weapons have High Tide, and it is impossible to de-equip a character of a weapon altogether, the high AP cost of mastering it is inconsequential. The Fork can be used in synthesis.
Obtain[]
Quina joins the party with the Fork already equipped to them. It is also bought for 1100 gil from the weapon shops in Lindblum (before entering Gizamaluke's Grotto), Treno (Garnet and Steiner's visit), and Daguerreo (endgame). The Fork is is found in Ipsen's Castle, on top of the "chandelier" in the area with the Mogshop 
Mechanics[]
The Fork's damage dealt with a normal Attack is determined as follows everywhere but within Ipsen's Castle:
- Base = 21 - Enemy's Defense
- Bonus = (A random value 1 ... Strength) + (A random value 0 ... [(Level + Strength) / 8])
- Damage = Base * Bonus
The damage is then modified by variables like Quina's row position and the enemy's Protect. Under Mini, Quina's Bonus would be 1. If Quina equips Healer, damage is converted to healing.
When in Ipsen's Castle, the stronger weapons do less damage than weaker weapons, and the Base part of the damage formula is altered to:
- Base = 39 - Enemy's Defense
Because damage with Quina's Attack is so volatile, using a randomized Strength to calculate damage, forks tend to have moderately high Attack values. Quina will still do more damage from front row than from the back row, but is not classed as physical attacker and so lacks means of enhancing their attack power via support abilities, though they do learn Counter. Quina will still do more damage overall when they have a higher Strength stat as the random value can roll higher results, and so leveling them up is not pointless. Instead of attacking, Quina can also defeat low health enemies with Eat, which is often the better ability to use whenever the enemy is within the HP threshold.
Use[]
Quina joins the party with the Fork already equipped. Even if recruited at the earliest point (after leaving Lindblum though Dragon's Gate the first time), the player may still already have the superior Needle Fork from the Zaghnol in the festival. In this case, the player can swap out the Fork right away and never use it in battle, as it only teaches one ability, High Tide, which all of Quina's forks have. Quina does not learn command abilities from weapons as they learn their Blue Magic by eating enemies instead, made easier by Trance and thus High Tide.
If the player did not get the Needle Fork from Zaghnol, then the Fork is Quina's only weapon for world map exploration around the time they can first be recruited, the Qu's Marsh enemies and Gizamaluke's Grotto, up until the player can buy the Needle Fork from the mogshop in Burmecia.
The player should keep the Fork even if they swapped it out right away, as it can be used in synthesis to make the Germinas Boots; this can be done the earliest when Garnet and Steiner visit Treno. It can also be used as Quina's strongest physical weapon in Ipsen's Castle, though it is still not overly powerful and Quina may be better off using Frog Drop for damage if the player has been doing the frog catching quest.
Though unseen in the event, Quina presumably used the Fork as their weapon in the Festival of the Hunt when they appeared as the "Strange Gourmand".
Merchandise[]
As the Fork is Quina's starting weapon, it appears with them on some merchandise.
