Wristlet that raises Spirit when equipped.
Description
The Leather Wrist is an armlet in Final Fantasy IX that everyone but Steiner and Freya can wear. It teaches Beast Killer, which boosts damage against beast type enemies, and the Black Magic spell Blizzard for Vivi to do magical Ice damage. The Leather Wrist is used in synthesis and provides a bonus to the wearer's Spirit stat when they level up with it equipped.
Obtain[]
The Leather Wrist can be stolen from the Prison Cage boss in the Evil Forest. It is also found in the Ice Cavern . On the left there is a wall that Vivi can destroy to reveal a path that loops around to a chest containing a Leather Wrist. Another Leather Wrist can be found in the Dali Underground storage area . Another Leather Wrist can be found in Lindblum's Industrial District before the party's visit to Cleyra; upon leaving the Air Cab station, it is located in a small alcove near a cat.
Leather Wrists can also be bought for 200 gil in Dali, Lindblum (first and second storyline visits), Treno (when Dagger is party leader), and Black Mage Village (before going through the Shimmering Island portal).
Mechanics[]
The Leather Wrist provides 7 physical Evasion and 5 Magic Evasion, slightly improving the wearer's chance to avoid damage. The wrist gives a +1 bonus to the wearer's Spirit when they level up with it. When enough "bonuses" upon level up from gear have been accrued, the character gains a permanent stat increase. Spirit is a generally good stat to raise that determines the HP a character is revived at, the duration of expirable status effects, how often Regen and Poison tick, how often the character enters Trance and how many turns they get while in Trance, among other things.
Use[]
The player can equip the Leather Wrist onto Zidane, Vivi, or Garnet/Dagger until they can get the superior Glass Armlet from Lindblum. It may be a good idea to prioritize it to Vivi so he can learn Blizzard, as Beast Killer is not among the most useful killer abilities due to few enemies belonging in this category.
Leather Wrist gives a bonus to the wearer's Spirit when they level up with it, but level grinding early on is unadvised unless the player is stuck in a boss or a dungeon. The best stat-boosting gear will be available late into the game, and so for the best stats one would need to limit their level ups until the endgame. However, level grinding and min-maxing are unnecessary in a normal playthrough even when preparing for superbosses, and so the player can treat the extra Spirit as simply a nice bonus.
The Leather Wrist can be used in synthesis to make the Glass Buckle.
The guest characters from Tantalus can also wear the Leather Wrist, though the player is no obligation to outfit them. Cinna and Blank are in the party too early for the player to be able to equip them with the Leather Wrist in a normal playthrough, but they could equip it onto Marcus during the time he is traveling with Dagger and Steiner.