Final Fantasy II/Weapons

Sortable table of contents:

Swords
Starting equipment of Firion, Leila, Leon and Scott.

Bows
Starting equipment of Maria. Bows are two-handed weapons, therefore they cannot be equipped with a shield.

Note that the animation of the bow is actually like a slingshot in both the Origins and Dawn of Soul versions (it is correct in the NES one).

Axes
Starting equipment of Guy and Leon.

Staves
Starting equipment of Minwu.

Karate (bare hands)
Karate (Japanese for "bare hands") is the starting weapon of Josef.

It's considered a two-hand weapon, therefore a character cannot use karate and a shield at the same time.

Spears
Starting equipment of Gordon and Ricard.

Knives
Starting equipment of Leila.

Shields
Every character should equip one weapon and one shield (exceptions: Maria and Josef, who use two-handed weapons), so that their speed and evasion will rise quickly.

No typo: elemental shields protect from the opposite element.

Weapon list by dungeon
Dungeons in the following table are grouped by mission, as per the walkthrough. Weapons with special non-elemental effects are highlighted in bold.

Status-inflicting weapons
These weapons are effective against bosses, too. They not only inflict normal damage, but also they have a high chance of debuffing. They're probably the most useful weapons in Final Fantasy 2.

Spellcasting weapons
Another set of very useful weapons, these cast spells without MP consumption. The effectiveness of the spell depends only on the wielder's Wisdom or Intelligence attributes. They don't even have to be equipped; any character can cast the spell by selecting the weapon from the Items menu. Remember that a weapon can be used only once per turn.

Added effect weapons
Another group of weapons with different special abilities, some more useful, some less.

The Blood Sword always inflicts a fixed amount of damage, thanks to its extremely high accuracy. The Healing Staff can be effectively used by a character who would rely on magic to attack.

Elemental weapons and shields
Each one of these weapons may deal double damage to some enemies, but other enemies may instead be resistant and receive half damage or less. Use them with caution, and make sure that the wielder can use some attack spells as an alternative.

On the other hand, elemental shields have no drawbacks.

The Sleep Blade
The Sleep Blade is the weapon that can be most easily missed.

This sword can be found in the Palamecian Dreadnought, and since your mission is to destroy it, that stage/dungeon cannot be revisited. The chest is on the same floor where Princess Hilda is held captive, and your attention may be diverted by this fact. Moreover, the chest is beyond a cell grate that cannot be opened, and you might simply be tempted to give up trying.

In order to get to the Sleep Blade chest, there's a secret passage through the wall in the upper-left part of the cell. Just walk through it.

All these "protections" suggest that it can be a very valuable item. If you equip the Sleep Blade to a character with high weapon skill with swords, this weapon will put any enemy to sleep, including several bosses. A sleeping enemy will not attack nor cast spells, thus making your fight much easier.

Other weapons
The Dark Bow inflict blindness to the target, reducing its hit rate. It is the best Bow at this point of the game, but you'll soon find the more-powerful Flame Bow.
 * In the Dreadnought: the Dark Bow

The Gaia Sword has rather high attack power, but no special abilities. It can be found on "floor two", that is, the mouth, of the Leviathan. Sell it and keep using the Sleep Blade.
 * In the Leviathan: the Gaia Sword


 * In the Cyclone: the Ripper Dagger and the Defender Sword

The Ripper deals extra damage whenever it hits an enemy, while the Defender sword considerably increases the Evasion of the wielder.