Steiner is a playable character in Final Fantasy IX who also appears as an early game boss. His job class echoes the classic Knight, and his secondary ability is reminiscent of the Mystic Knight class. Steiner has the best HP and Defense out of the player party, and he is an ideal front-line fighter. He wields swords and knight swords in battle. His Trance allows him to inflict three times as much damage as usual. Steiner is also fought as a boss. He is strong and often a good character to bring to boss encounters for his high survivability.
His victory pose is to place his right foot forward and make a scooping motion with his sword, holding it in front of himself. When in Alexandria Castle while Zorn and Thorn hold Garnet, Steiner will not pose until he entrusts Zidane and Vivi with her.
Party member[]
Abilities[]
Support abilities[]
Steiner learns abilities that enhance his abilities as a physical fighter, such as Accuracy+, Long Reach, MP Attack, and Killer abilities. He also learns Counter and Cover. He doesn't learn any unique abilities.
Swd Art[]
Magic Break, a Sword Art.
Steiner's Sword Arts include stat breaks that weaken enemies and several powerful attacks, such as Climhazzard and Shock. Due to the Thunder Slash glitch, Steiner's Sword Art skill Thunder Slash has an accuracy of 0%, rendering it rather useless, although with certain equipment the percentage can be raised, and the attack can be used against enemies weak against thunder, such as the Iron Man.
Swd Mag[]
Flare Sword, Magic Sword.
While Vivi is in the party, Steiner can use a version of Sword Magic to enhance his attacks with magical powers, but the kind of magic applied to his sword is directly related to what Black Magic Vivi has learned, i.e. Fire Sword is only available if Vivi knows the Fire spell. Magic Sword only uses Steiner's MP. His Sword Magic is the only way to use Doomsday without it hitting the party as well. If Vivi misses purchasing the Octagon Rod during the time it is available, he cannot learn the -ga level black magics, meaning Steiner also misses their Swd Mag forms.
Trance[]
Steiner's Trance triples his damage output. Unlike the other party members, he doesn't gain any special abilities to use while in Trance.
Stats[]
Steiner has strong Strength stat and good HP, but his Magic and MP are the lowest in the game; this makes it slightly harder to use his special abilities consistently.
Equipment[]
Excalibur artwork.
Steiner uses swords and heavy armor in battle. His ultimate sword, the Excalibur II, is notoriously difficult to obtain due to the strict time limit and is usually always missed unless the player is deliberately doing a challenge run.
Steiner's Rune Blade is bought at Daguerreo before entering the Shimmering Island portal. If not bought by then, Steiner cannot learn Iai Strike.
- Headgear
- Gauntlets
- Heavy armor
- Add-ons
- Battle Boots
- Black Belt
- Coral Ring
- Dark Matter
- Desert Boots
- Fairy Earrings
- Feather Boots
- Germinas Boots
- Glass Buckle
- Gold Choker
- Madain's Ring
- Magician Shoes
- Power Belt
- Promist Ring
- Protect Ring
- Pumice
- Pumice Piece
- Rebirth Ring
- Reflect Ring
- Ribbon
- Rosetta Ring
- Running Shoes
- Sandals
- Yellow Scarf
- Jewels
Boss and enemy[]
Steiner is fought as a boss three separate times toward the beginning of the game. A mirror version of him is also fought in Oeilvert if the player brings Steiner there as part of their party.
Quests[]
Steiner joins the party in the Evil Forest. When the party splits after Lindblum, he will accompany Dagger. They split from each other for a bit while in Treno, where the player can fight a monster in the weapon shop as Steiner for a reward. After returning to Alexandria, Steiner teams up with Marcus for a spell. Steiner stays behind while the others carry on, and is not used again until after the party returns from the Outer Continent. Steiner is controlled for a portion of the Battle of Alexandria where he and a guest party member fight Mistodons. Afterward, the party joins up again and Steiner remains as permanent fixture.
When the party splits to go to Oeilvert, the player has the option of bringing him there with Zidane, but if he stays behind in the Desert Palace, he has the chance of being a party leader. The priority is: Eiko > Steiner > Vivi > Freya. If Steiner leads and Dagger is in his party, he will ask if she is all right after they escape from their cells. She cannot answer since she is without her voice at this time, but he is the only party leader who shows her specific concern.
During the time the party splits to tackle all elemental shrines simultaneously, Steiner and Vivi head to the Wind Shrine and face the Wind Guardian. However, the scenario is not playable. During the "You're Not Alone" segment, Zidane joins Steiner and Quina to fight off Abadon in a set battle.
Rallying the Knights of Pluto[]
During the performance of I Want to Be Your Canary at the beginning of the game, the player has the option to find the Knights of Pluto as Steiner. Locating them all and reporting to Breireicht in the left tower will earn an Elixir.