Rod made of mythril.
Description
The Mythril Rod is a weapon for Dagger in Final Fantasy IX, being her second rod. It teaches her the Life, Silence, and Shell spells that allow her to protect and revive the party, as well as disable an enemy's magic-use.
Obtain[]
The Mythril Rod is bought for 560 gil from Summit Station, Treno (first storyline visit), Cleyra, Esto Gaza (before Desert Palace), and Ipsen's Castle. Dagger can buy it for herself during the interlude she is the party leader.
Mechanics[]
The Mythril Rod's damage dealt with a normal Attack is determined as follows everywhere but within Ipsen's Castle:
- Base = 14 - 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 Dagger's row position and the enemy's Protect. If Dagger 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 the Base part of the damage formula is altered to:
- Base = 46 - Enemy's Defense
Use[]
Mythril Rod is Dagger's second rod, but by the time it is first available to buy, she can also use some rackets: Air Racket is also bought from Summit Station and Treno, and the Multina Racket was found inside the Bohden Gate when Steiner was carrying Dagger in a sack to hide her. The rackets are generally better weapons for Dagger than rods in an offensive sense, as she can still deal normal damage with them from the back row.
However, as Dagger 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 Mythril Rod provides her with three good white magic spells, of which especially Life is worth learning right away, allowing Dagger to revive fallen comrades; afterward, the player can switch to one of the rackets. Dagger can learn Shell from other equipment, and Silence is not so useful though it can let her contribute in battle without attacking, as her physical damage is low. However, Silence takes as many Ability Points to learn as Life, and so is mastered alongside it.
The Mythril Rod remains Dagger's best rod for her and Steiner and Marcus's excursion through the Aerbs Mountains, optional visits to Dali and Quan's Dwelling, Treno, and the Gargan Roo. When Dagger is next playable, the player can have stolen a better rod for her: the Stardust Rod.
It is worth keeping the Mythril Rod as it can be used in synthesis to make a Brave Suit in the endgame. If the player did not keep the rod, they can still backtrack to Ipsen's Castle to buy it at this time.
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
The word "mythril" or "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".