Final Fantasy III/Weapons

Jobs vs. equipment
All the jobs can be divided into two groups: front-row jobs and back-row jobs. Front-row jobs can use a wide array of weapons and armor parts, including shields; back-row jobs, instead, have limited choice of weapons and armor, but make up for it with several special abilities.

The table is based on the Famicom version of Final Fantasy 3.

Monk's knuckles
Typically used by the Monk job. They replace the Nunchakus from the Famicom version.

Thief's knives
Typically used by the Thief job.

Boomerangs
Used by different jobs.

Swords
Typically used by the Warrior, Red Mage and Knight jobs.

Ranger's Bows & arrows
Typically used by the Ranger job.

Scholar's Books
Typically used by the Scholar job, but also by the Sage.

Geomancer's Bells
Typically used by the Geomancer job.

Spears
Typically used by the Dragoon job.

Hammers & axes
Typically used by the Viking job.

Dark Blades
Typically used by the Mystic/Dark Knight job.

Bard's Harps
Typically used by the Bard job.

Claws
Typically used by the Black Belt job.

Devout's Staves
Typically used by the White Mage and Devout jobs, but also by Red Mage and Sage.

Magus' Rods
Typically used by the Black Mage, Evoker, Summoner and Magus jobs, but also by Red Mage and Sage.

Ninja's Shuriken
Typically used by the Ninja job.

NES weapons
The NES version included less weapons than the DS remake. Their location is often different, and sometimes even the jobs can use them are not the same.

Default sorting is by price, that is closely related to usefulness. Selling price is half of purchase price. For weapons that can only be found but not bought, the price column reports twice the selling price.

The Other jobs column does not report the Ninja because this class can equip any weapon, except for the Onion Sword.

Onion Kid's weapons
These are the basic weapons, with low attack values and little special effects. The weapons in this section are not rewritten in other tables. Default sorting here is by weapon type, then price.

Weapons for Wind jobs

 * Warrior's swords
 * For a complete list, see . In the DS remake, Warriors can also equip some .


 * White mage's staves
 * For a complete list, see .


 * Black mage's rods
 * For a complete list, see .

Monk's nunchakus
See also .

Nunchakus were replaced by knuckles in the DS remake.

Red mage's weapons


See also and .

Ranger's bows & arrows
The Ranger must equip one bow and one arrow set in order to use them. Bows and arrows are long-ranged.

Holy arrows: although these arrows are very rare, there are just three dungeons with undead enemies, i.e. enemies weak against this element. Such dungeons are the Cave of the Seal (chapter 2), Hein castle (chapter 7) and the Ancient Ruins (chapter 12). There's also a trapped chest in the Sunken Cave (chapter 11) guarded by a zombie dragon.

Medusa arrows: another very rare type of arrows. They can instantly petrify most enemies, therefore they are really deadly arrows. They can come in handy in chapter 12, both against the splitting enemies and also in the two optional dungeons. Unfortunately, they are not effective if the Ranger is miniaturized.

Weapons for Water jobs

 * Evoker's rods
 * For a complete list, see .

Bard's harps


The Dream harp can only be obtained through the item upgrade glitch. The Lamia harp should be carried in the item menu and equipped during battles; it is useful to remove status ailmemts from allies without hurting them.

Mystic knight's dark blades
See also .

Weapons for Earth jobs

 * Summoner's rods
 * For a complete list, see .


 * Sage's weapons
 * For a complete list, see, and .

Magus' rods


The Magus should rely on his Black Magic spells to attack enemies, not to mention the fact that he should stay in the back row; therefore the most prominent attribute of the rods is their elemental defense bonus.

Unfortunately, in the NES version the elemental defense of the rods is glitched, i.e. it does not work.

Devout's staves


In order to attack enemies, a Devout should rather use his staff to cast spells from the Item menu, instead of using the Attack command.

Ninja's weapons
The Ninja can equip every weapon (except the Onion Sword), plus the Shurikens. Anyway, he can only equip up to two weapons at the same time. In the "Item" inventory, keep some useful weapons for the Ninja; for example, check the list below.

Notable weapons for the Ninja:
 * Weapons with top attack value:
 * Shurikens (consumable)
 * Moonring boomerang (long-ranged)
 * Masamune dark blade (prevents enemies from splitting)
 * Hellish claw (inflicts poison)
 * Ragnarok and Excalibur sword (no special abilities)
 * Instant-defeat weapons:
 * Medusa arrows (petrify)
 * Break sword (partial petrify)
 * Ultimate rod (partial petrify)
 * Golem staff (partial petrify)
 * Weapons that drain enemy HP:
 * Blood sword
 * Blood spear
 * Oricalchon knife
 * Weapons that inflict status ailment to the enemy:
 * Earth bell (paralysis)
 * Ancient sword (paralysis)
 * Dream harp (sleep)
 * Lamia harp (confuse?)
 * Weapons that cast non-elemental spells from the Item menu:
 * Elven claw (casts Confuse)
 * Defender sword (casts Protect)
 * Golem staff (casts Break1)
 * Elder staff (casts Cure1)