Lance that may cast Holy upon striking an enemy.
Description
The Holy Lance, also known as the Pearl Lance,[1][2] is one of the stronger spears in Final Fantasy VI. The spear has Holy as its added ability, deals Holy-elemental damage, and has strong stats. The weapon can be wielded by Edgar and Mog.
Obtained[]
Holy Lance can drop from Holy Dragon or be won by betting the Murakumo in the Dragon's Neck Coliseum.
There are numerous katanas that can be farmed from enemies and wagered to trade up to the Murakumo and then the Holy Lance, making the Holy Lance farmable.
Mechanics[]
The Holy Lance uses the standard physical damage formula to determine its damage, providing a +194 Attack, and adding to the wielder's Strength. As with other weapons, it can be improved by the Gauntlet relic that boosts its damage by +50%. The Master's Scroll halves the damage dealt by each attack, but causes the weapon to attack four times. Genji Glove reduces the damage dealt by the weapon by 25%, but allows two weapons to be equipped at the same time, and thus, hits twice per Fight command. Master's Scroll and Genji Glove can be combined to allow the player to use two weapons (including two Holy Lances, if obtained) to hit eight times, ultimately doubling damage and spreading it to all enemies.
The Holy Lance has a 25% chance of casting Holy on the target when attacking, and passively deals holy-elemental damage. This means the elemental affinity of the enemy affects the weapon's damage output. If holy is nullified, or the target is immune to holy, the spell will deal 0 damage. If the target absorbs the element, it will heal HP instead of dealing damage. If the target resists the element, it will deal half damage; conversely, if the target is weak to the element, its damage will be doubled.
As a spear, Holy Lance doubles damage dealt by Jump. Holy Lance enables Runic (although Celes cannot normally equip it), and two-handed compatibility.
Use[]
The main benefit of Holy Lance is that it can be easily farmed, since the various katana-type weapons that bet up to the Holy Lance can be farmed from many enemies. This means that, of the stronger spears in the game, Holy Lance is the easiest to obtain for both Edgar and Mog. Since both party members can use a Dragoon Boots and Dragon Horn combination as their best form of damage output, the Holy Lance is a very strong candidate for the role. Any excess Holy Lances can also be thrown.
Holy Lance is outclassed by some stronger spears, notably the Radiant Lance and Gungnir (the Longinus and Impartisan both boast strong stats also, but do not grant a bonus to Jump). Both of the spears are more difficult to obtain than Holy Lance, and are similar enough in stats that the Holy Lance should suffice. If one obtains the Radiant Lance for Edgar, and Gungnir for Mog, however, they can comfortably replace the Holy Lance.
Another thing that makes the Holy Lance remain compelling is its holy element and the Holy added ability. The added ability can still be used with Jump when enhanced with Dragoon Boots, and the weapon can deal double damage to enemies with a holy-elemental weakness. This means the weapon if used in this way can be devastating to enemies weak to it.