Poison is a status in Final Fantasy IX. Poisoned characters receive gradual non-elemental damage equal to 1/16th of their Max HP at certain intervals. The afflicted has purple-green vapors above their head. Poison is essentially the opposite effect of Regen. Poison is similar to Venom, though the latter is more hazardous.
Mechanics[]
The higher the afflicted's Spirit stat, the faster Poison will wear off on its own and the less frequently will they receive damage. The effect duration is also affected by Haste (wears off twice as fast but also damages twice as fast) and Slow (lasts double the time, but the damage intervals are also spaced out more). First, a time limit is established by multiplying the target's Spirit by the base limit of the status.
- Duration: (60 - Spirit) * 240
Rates of deduction are then dictated by Haste/Slow and the Battle Speed setting chosen in the Config menu.
As Poison is a "ticking" status, a secondary "hit" timer is established that acts as spacer between the addition or subtraction of Hit Points. The hit timer follows the same rate of deduction as the status's time limit.
- Interval: Spirit * 40
The damage dealt by Poison is a fixed amount of the afflicted's maximum HP, and cannot be mitigated in any way.
To derive a hits-to-Spirit formula from this information, each hit timer reset has the effect of an extra deduction from the duration timer. When less remains of the hit timer than can be wholly deducted from, that, too, must be accounted for. It is possible that neither will make a difference to how many hits the target will receive in most cases, but for the sake of technical accuracy, it means that two formulas are required.
If the hit timer is evenly divisible by the rate of deduction, this formula can be used to calculate how many hits will be given:
- [Time limit / (Hit timer + Rate of deduction)]
If the hit timer is not evenly divisible by the rate of deduction, the formula requires some extra steps:
- [Time limit / (Hit timer + (R.o.d. * 2) - (Hit timer MOD R.o.d.))]
If Zidane is poisoned and uses Flee the moment he is going to die from it, he will still use the ability even though he is KO, sending the other members to safety.
Abilities[]
| Spell | Bad Breath ~40% (Blu Mag), Bio 20% (Blk Mag), Poison ~60% (Blk Mag) |
|---|---|
| Weapon | Poison Knuckles 40% (Add Status), Rune Tooth 99% (Soul Blade) |
| Item | Tent (in battle, random chance) |
Steiner's Bio Sword will not inflict Poison.
Enemy abilities[]
| Ability | Description | Enemy |
|---|---|---|
| Bad Breath | Inflicts Confuse, Poison, Slow, Darkness, and/or Mini to one target. Can be learned as a Blu Mag. | Malboro |
| Bio | Inflicts non-elemental magic damage and Poison to one target. | Agares, Amdusias, Drakan, Meltigemini, Ring Leader, Torama |
| Curse | Inflicts non-elemental damage and Confuse, Poison, Slow, Mini, and Darkness to the party. | Hades, Ozma |
| Devil's Kiss | Inflicts non-elemental physical damage and Poison to one target. | Ralvurahva |
| Grand Cross | Inflicts Berserk, Doom, Petrify, Stop, Freeze, Heat, Confuse, Poison, Trouble, Silence, Zombie, Darkness, Instant Death, Mini, Sleep, and HP is reduce to 1-10. Each one of them has a 1/8 chance of being inflicted. | Necron |
| Poison | Inflicts Poison to one target. | Mimic, Quale, Tantarian, Torama |
| Poison Claw | Inflicts non-elemental physical damage and Poison to one target. | Grand Dragon |
| Poison Counter | Counters with non-elemental physical damage and Poison to one target. | Sand Scorpion, Serpion |
Protection[]
| Support ability | Antibody |
|---|
Healing[]
Poison can be healed with Panacea, Esuna, Antidote, and Remedy & Angel's Snack. Entering Trance also purges all current ailments besides Virus, though does not make one immune.
Enemies[]
The following enemies are immune to Poison:
- All friendly monsters
- All bosses (except Red Dragon)
- Core & Sand Golem
- Epitaph
- Gargoyle
- Mover
- Ragtime Mouse & True & False
- Tonberry
- Zaghnol (Festival)
- Taharka
Use[]
Poison works on most normal enemies, but these are also the enemies the player likely has no trouble defeating in a few rounds, not giving Poison much time to tick. The player is likely best inflicting it with Bio even if it has a low chance to stick, and treat it as an additional bonus to the damage Bio already deals. Amarant's Poison Knuckles can be another good source, however.
If the player is using Auto-Haste, a contracted Poison status can tick quite fast, but will also wear off faster. It may not be hindrance enough to warrant using up a turn for removing it.