Final Fantasy III/Weapons

Two separate lists are necessary for the Famicom and the DS version of the game, because in the DS remake all the tabulated characteristics of the weapons were modified.

Weapons list
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 Onion Knight because this class can equip any weapon.

In the following sections, the name of weapons introduced in the DS version are highlighted in green.

Freelancer's weapons
This is a list of the weapons found before restoring the Wind Crystal. They can be used by the Freelancers. These weapons are not repeated in the sections below.
 * Bronze knuckles
 * Knife
 * Dagger
 * Longsword
 * Wightslayer sword
 * Bow
 * Wooden arrow
 * Holy arrow

Weapons for Wind jobs

 * Warrior's swords & axes
 * See: &
 * Legendary weapon: Gigantic axe (Str+20)
 * In the original Famicom release, the Warrior could equip swords only.
 * Red Mage's weapons
 * See:, ,
 * White Mage's staves
 * See:
 * Black Mage's rods
 * See:
 * Legendary weapon: Lilith rod (casts "Death")

Monk's knuckles
The knuckles replace the nunchakus from the original Famicom release.
 * See also: 

Weapons for Water jobs

 * Evoker's rods:
 * See:

Weapons for Earth jobs

 * Sage's weapons:
 * See: &
 * Legendary weapon: Sage staff (all attributes +10)
 * Summoner's rods
 * See:

Ninja's weapons

 * See also:, ,
 * Legendary weapon: Muramasa katana (Str+5, Vit+5, Int+5, Mnd+5, Agl+10)

Onion Knight's swords
The Onion Knight can actually equip every weapon in the game, plus the two exclusive swords listed here.

Legendary Smith's weapons
Wind Crystal jobs: Fire Crystal jobs: Water Crystal jobs: Earth Crystal jobs:
 * Warrior's axe: Gigantic axe
 * Thief's knife: Gladius
 * Black Mage's rod: Lilith rod
 * Knight's sword: Save the Queen
 * Scholar's book: Omnitome
 * Ranger's bow: Artemis bow
 * Geomancer's bell: Blessed bell
 * Dragoon's spear: Magic Lance
 * Viking's hammer: Mighty hammer
 * Dark Knight's katana: Murakumo
 * Magus' rod: Millenium rod
 * Devout's staff: Holy wand
 * Sage's staff: Sage staff
 * Ninja's katana: Muramasa
 * Onion Knight's sword: Onion blade

Famicom weapons list
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 (FC)

 * 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 sabers (FC)


See also and .

Ranger's bows & arrows (FC)
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 (FC)

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

Bard's harps (FC)


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 katanas
See also .

Weapons for Earth & Eureka jobs (FC)

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


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

Devout's staves (FC)


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.

Magus' rods (FC)


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.

Ninja's weapons (FC)
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)