Spear made of ice.
Description
The Ice Lance is Freya's fourth spear in Final Fantasy IX. It teaches her White Draw, a Dragon ability which lets her replenish the party's MP. The Ice Lance deals Ice damage with Attack and has a 1 in 10 chance of freezing her target with Add Status active, disabling them and leaving them vulnerable to be killed off by the next attack.
Obtain[]
The Ice Lance is bought from the weapon shops in the Mist Continent cities for 2430 gil after Zidane Tribal returns from the Outer Continent.
Mechanics[]
The Ice Lance's damage dealt with a normal Attack is determined as follows everywhere but within Ipsen's Castle:
- Base = 32 - Enemy's Defense
- Bonus = Strength + A random value 0 ... [(Level + Strength) / 8]
- Damage = Base * Bonus
The damage is then modified by variables like Freya's row position and equipped Killer abilities and MP Attack, as well as the enemy's Protect. Under Mini, her Bonus would be 1.
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 = 28 - Enemy's Defense
The Ice Lance does Ice damage with Attack (and with Charge! or Counter, but not with Jump), meaning it will do 150% damage against enemies weak to Ice, half damage to those who resist Ice, no damage to those who nullify Ice, and heals those who absorb Ice. Equipping the Barette alongside the Ice Lance boosts Freya's damage with the Ice Lance by 50%, stacking with enemy's weakness to Ice.
When Freya equips Add Status, using Attack (or Charge! or Counter) with the Ice Lance has a 1 in 10 flat chance of freezing a susceptible target.
Use[]
The Ice Lance is Freya's strongest offering for world map exploration with the Blue Narciss, until her ultimate weapon can be uncovered from a Choco treasure near Oeilvert, if the player progressed the Chocobo Hot and Cold quest to the point Dead Peppers are available.
The Barette Add-on is available at the same time as the Ice Lance, and so it is worth equipping it to Freya while she uses it, and keep her in the front row and use her Attack rather than Jump to capitalize on the extra damage. Doing this, the Ice Lance may remain stronger than the Trident bought from Oeilvert of Desert Palace, though Freya can by then already have her ultimate weapon, the Dragon's Hair.
It is also worth using Add Status when using the Ice Lance as it rarely freezes the enemy, making them susceptible to instant defeat on the next turn. If bringing the Ice Lance to the Ark battle, the player should either use Clear Headed or unequip Add Status (or preferably both since Ark is not susceptible to Freeze anyway) to prevent Freya from getting confused and freezing her own team mates or herself.
The ability the Ice Lance teaches is moderately useful, letting the player replenish the party's MP for a small cost from Freya that she may make back from using the ability. Freya's White Draw and Zidane's Sacrifice are the only means of restoring MP to multiple allies with one move.
Gallery[]
