Steel hand and forearm guard used by knights. Allows one weapon to be held with both hands.
Description
Gauntlet is a relic in Final Fantasy VI. It allows the user to wield a weapon doublehanded, boosting its damage with the Attack command by about 50%. With the relic in use, when one weapon is equipped, the other hand will be grayed out. The relic also provides a small +5 Defense.
Betting a Gauntlet at the Dragon's Neck Coliseum pits the player against a Vector Chimera for a reward for a Thunder Shield.
Obtained[]
Gauntlets can be found in Yeti's Cave and Kefka's Tower, and another can be obtained in the Returner Hideout by immediately answering "Yes" to Banon. Because answering "No" three times obtains the Genji Glove, it is often better to aim for the Genji Glove instead.
Use[]
Gauntlet is a mixed relic that has both a positive and negative effect. The damage increase can be helpful, especially earlier in the game for party members geared toward on physical damage and reliant on attacking often, such as Locke. However, the weapon taking two hands means the party member cannot equip a shield in the other, greatly reducing their ability to block attacks and their options for elemental defense, and thus lowering their survivability. Though Gauntlet provides a small +5 Defense, this does not make up for the reduced ability to block attacks. As such, it may be better for party member with higher natural HP and Stamina as well as Strength.
Gauntlet can be a decent pair with Black Belt to make for stronger counterattacks, or either Gigas Glove or Hyper Wrist for stronger physical attacks. Gigas Glove can also substitute Gauntlet; it has a smaller damage improvement, but does not forfeit the ability to equip a shield.
Later in the game, the Genji Glove, which allows the wearer to equip two weapons with a 25% damage penalty, can be superior to equipping a Gauntlet. Although doing this with Genji Glove will also not allow the user to equip a shield, a second weapon can allow two weapon's added abilities to be applied at once. Genji Glove can also be used in more powerful relic combos, such as with Master's Scroll.
Umaro cannot equip a shield or Genji Glove, meaning that Gauntlet remains most useful as a relic for boosting his attack power.