Combat rod.
Description
The Rod is Garnet/Dagger's initial weapon in Final Fantasy IX that she starts with, being her weakest weapon overall. It teaches her the Cure, Panacea, and Protect spells that allow her to support and heal the party.
Obtain[]
Garnet joins the party with the Rod already equipped to her. It can also be bought from Dali and Lindblum (first visit) for 260 gil. It can also be found in Ipsen's Castle 
.
Mechanics[]
The Rod's damage dealt with a normal Attack is determined as follows everywhere but within Ipsen's Castle:
- Base = 11 - Enemy's Defense
- Bonus = Strength + Rnd MOD ([(Level + Strength) / 8] + 1)
- Damage = Base * Bonus
Where Rnd means a random number, while MOD means modulus operation. "Rnd MOD x" can be read as a random number between 0 and x-1.
The damage is then modified by variables like Garnet's row position and the enemy's Protect. If Garnet were under Mini, her Bonus would be 1. If Dagger equips Healer, damage is converted to healing.
When in Ipsen's Castle, the stronger weapons do less damage than weaker weapons, and Rod becomes one of the best weapons to use while there, though the damage is still not too impressive. Within Ipsen's Castle, the Base part of the damage formula is altered to:
- Base = 49 - Enemy's Defense
Though Garnet's Rod is only minorly weaker than Zidane's starting weapon, Dagger, she will do much less damage than him with Attack due to her default position in the back row, and her lower Strength stat.
Use[]
Rod is Garnet's initial weapon, which she uses all throughout "disc 1" of Final Fantasy IX, the events aboard Prima Vista, Evil Forest, Ice Cavern, and Dali. After Dali, she will not be playable until she takes over as the party leader, and the player can get her a stronger weapon from the South Gate and the Summit Station. However, as Garnet (or "Dagger" as she changes her name to after the events in the Ice Cavern) is not a physical attacker, unable to augment her Attack with any support abilities unlike characters like Zidane and Steiner, the Attack stats of her weapons do not matter as much as the abilities they can teach. The Rod provides her with three basic white magic spells that help her support herself and her allies: Cure for replenishing health, Panacea for curing Poison, and Protect for halving physical damage.
It is worth keeping the Rod as it can later on be used in synthesis to make a Coral Ring. Still later, the player can find it again in Ipsen's Castle, and equip it and move Dagger to the front row and use her as a physical attacker while there. However, she may be better off with a racket and stay in the back row, or just use eidolons for damage.
Merchandise[]
Being her initial weapon, the Rod is included on some of Garnet's merchandise.
