Armlet made of mythril.
Description
The Mythril Armlet is an arm guard in Final Fantasy IX that everyone but Steiner and Freya can wear. It teaches Bug Killer, which improves damage against insect enemies. The Mythril Armlet is used in synthesis and provides a bonus to the wearer's Spirit when they level up with it equipped.
Obtain[]
The Mythril Armlet can be bought for 500 gil in Cleyra, Lindblum (second storyline visit), Dragon's Gate, Fossil Roo, Conde Petie, Black Mage Village (before going through the Shimmering Island portal), Alexandria, Esto Gaza (before Desert Palace), and Daguerreo (before Shimmering Island). It is also stolen from Thorn and found in the Pinnacle Rocks during the time Ramuh makes his appearance.
Mechanics[]
The Mythril Armlet provides 17 physical Evasion and 11 Magic Evasion, improving the wearer's chance to avoid damage. The armlet gives a +1 bonus to the wearer's Spirit when they level up with it equipped. 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 Mythril Armlet is the best arm guard for the events in Cleyra, Alexandria Castle, Gargan Roo, world map exploration and Qu's Marsh, Fossil Roo, and Outer Continent, until the party's mages can buy the superior Magic Armlet from Black Mage Village. For Zidane and Amarant, the Mythril Armlet continues being the best arm guard until after the party returns to the Mist Continent.
The ability Bug Killer from the armlet is not an ability to prioritize as there there are only few bug type enemies. It would work against the Ladybugs in the Outer Continent forests.
The Spirit boost from the wrist is generally useful but level grinding 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. 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 Mythril Armlet is used in synthesis to make the Thief Gloves in Daguerreo, reached when the player has a flying transport.
The guest characters from Tantalus can also wear the Mythril Armlet, 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 Mythril Armlet in a normal playthrough, but they could equip it onto Marcus during the time he is traveling with Dagger and Steiner.
Etymology[]
mithril" is a metal found in many fantasy worlds. It was originally introduced by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, being present in his Middle-earth. It resembles silver but is stronger than steel, and much lighter in weight than either. The author first wrote of it in The Lord of the Rings, and it is retrospectively mentioned in the third, revised edition of The Hobbit in 1966. In the first 1937 edition, the mail shirt given to Bilbo is described as being made of "silvered steel". The name mithril comes from two words in Sindarin—mith, meaning "grey" or "mist", and ril meaning "glitter".
The word "mythril" or "