I read this on another forum. Is it true?


even if you open up all of the chests you can still get it.

there is a chest in the henne mines that if you open it with the diamond armlet(amulet?)there is a 10%(1/10) chance of getting it.

That's correct. Once you've unlocked the path to Zodiark in the Henne Mines you can access a chest that contains the Zodiac Spear, and opening those 4 chests earlier in the game have no bearing on whether or not it's there.

I really don't know about any of this. I got the Zodiac Spear in my very first playthrough. I got it in the Necrohol of Nabudis and I got without even knowing what treasure chests were and weren't supposed to be opened. I could be wrong, but I find it very difficult to believe that I didn't even get the treasure that's directly across from Old Dalan's house --- I mean it's sitting right there and it's made completely obvious by a cut-scene. Very easy target.

YES!!!:-D I read in a walkthrough that not opening the chest was the only way so I was mad as fuck.

So does it respawn? That would be awsome to have more than one...

I don't know about respawning, but I do know that the chest with the spear was not available to me in the Necrohol - I stop by from time to time just to check, and there's always one chest/coffer/whatever missing in the same spot, the spear is never there, and I open all chests that I come across as I hadn't heard about these 4 chests until I was well into the game.

So does it respawn? That would be awsome to have more than one...

i'm wondering the same thing. heard you could get the spear in henne mines, what if i already got it in the necrohol? could i have 2?

In the strat guide, you can get the spear in Henne Mines, but it says it is a one time chest, no respawn.

right, but i got the zodiac in necrohol. i bet that once you get the thing ALL the zodiac chests disappear.

It may, someone should check this out and get back to us.

Is this whole thing really true? I opened one of the chests by accident and I'm mad because of it. ><;;

As I have said more than once, I cannot verify that it's true. I am about 80% sure I opened at least one of those chests and still got the spear in the Necrohol of Nabudis. I could be wrong though. But even if I am, as has been indicated, there is another chance in the Henne Mines, though I haven't personally had any experience with it.

Yes there is a spear in the Henne Mines but it is like the Excalibur, it is not always there. Sometime you just recieve a shit amount of gil. And because of that it does not respawn. I mean come on SE is smater than that.

Yes there is a spear in the Henne Mines but it is like the Excalibur, it is not always there. Sometime you just recieve a shit amount of gil. And because of that it does not respawn. I mean come on SE is smater than that.

But even if its not there im sure theres a Save Crystal neer by that you can reload to if it isnt there, simular to the Deathbringer situation. Right?

I believe that there's just the one save crystal in the Henne Mines, where Fran's sister shows up the first time you're there. It's not too far past that where the spear supposedly resides.

Yes, but I believe you have to run through and switch certain gates on and off. So you basically have to run around the whole area.

So in other words, you can keep yourself from getting screwed, but it's going to take a little bit of work.


Oh, and I never did get the Deathbringer by the method I once read about here, but on my previous playthrough, I did eventually end up getting it via Bazaar item.

it's actually a .1% chance of getting the spear because of the fact that even when the chest that could have it appears, it does not always contain the spear, sometimes only gil.

**head asplode**

well if the spear can be found in such a cheap and simple manner as waiting for a chest to respond is it possible hoever unlickly that it could be a rare drop off of a boss?

Don't know. And I personally find this .01% difficult to believe.

i'm positive about this one i know you guys may not like me or whatever but it is definitely not a drop from a boss or other monsters, and the only way to get it if you opened those other chests prior to getting to the necrohol of nabudis is in the henne mines east section. the chest only appears 10% of the time, and then once you get it to appear its usually gil and theres another 10% chance that it could be the zodiac spear. so i'm not positive it's either .1% or 1% chance of the zodiac spear being there. i'm not great at math but you get the idea i guess.

Yeah, 10% coupled with 10% equates to 1%. But I was really thinking more of the Necrohol of Nabudis chest. I'm still not convinced that it's not going to be there simply because you blew one of those earlier chests.

yea sorry it is 1%. and i don't know about the necrohol cause i honestly just never bothered checking cause i assumed i could not get it. so i'm just working on getting it from the henne mines east section but i guess i might as well check necrohol.

I've spent so much time in the Necrohol and I there is no Zodiac for so the Henne Mines is my only hope.
I will try to go see if I can get it later when I feel like playing.

Joey is right, if you got one of the 4 forbidden chests then you cannot get the spear in the Necrohol, you will have to get it in Henne Mines, and when I am at that point in the game, I will test this 1% theory myself.

Damn Zodiac Spear playing hard-to-get... *kicks it*

Has anybody made it to the henne mines east section yet? And if you have, have you tested this theory about the zodiac spear. I'm getting close to unlocking it so any help on where it is would be greatly appreciated.

I just got the Zodiac Spear in the Necrohol of Nabudis on my second main-playthrough. I specifically avoided opening the treasure chest across from old Dalan's place and I avoided the ones on the Phon Coast too. However, I thought there was a chance I had accidentally opened one of the ones in the Confiscatory. Apparently not. Anyway, no 1/100 shot for me. Got the Spear! :)

Very nice Agent. I was thinking of playing through a second time myself, but I'd like to finish this one first because I'm down to one mark now, Yiazmat. I'm pretty sure Zodiac Spear would be nice for that fight though, haha.

My sencond play through and I am at the Lhusu Mines haha. I need to play more.

I was just in the Henne Mine East section and it wasn't there. But at 10% appearance I didn't expect it to. Even the treasure down there are rare. It's not a place for the faint of heart.

If you miss it because of the treasure do not open chests it is easier to just cheat it in then the Henne mine. Now the question I have is how did people find out about the Zodiac spear in the first place? I mean there are no in game hints that I could find did someone just go through and not open any chest until Necrol or what?

As I have indicated, I lucked it. I was vaguely aware of there being such a thing, but had no idea what treasure chests weren't supposed to be opened and stuff. The first time I played through the game, I made no specific attempts to avoid any chests and still got the Spear in the Necrohol.

The Henne Mines theory is sound but the chest just won't spawn. I've gone to the Mines about 50 times so far and the room where the treasure's supposed to spawn is always empty. I did however got another Ensenguined Shield.

I know that somewhere in the guide it is supposed to tell you which chests are not to be opened. My guess is this is where it was first discovered that you were not supposed to open certain chests. As for the Henne Mines part, I did just receive the spear there and it took me an ass load of tries going in and coming back. I did not have the diamond armlet on, and it took me somewhere around 63 tries if I remember correctly. Tough to get there.

No Diamond Armlet you say? Hmmmm, I found the chest but all I got was gil...stupid waste of time. I'm going to have to try no armlet the next time.

That might have been my probelm going through that section I got nothing but gil an randomly a remendy. So no armlet huh? Might be worth another go though I am thinking of starting a new game but maybe I will try.

I decided to try no armlet because I saw for the other Zodiac chest in the necrohol needs to not have the armlet. So I don't know if you cant get it with the armlet or what, but I managed to get it without the armlet. That's all i know.

Hi all,

Sorry if i didn't get you right or didn't understand something, but my question would be: which chests exactly can't be opened to get the zodiak spear? i'm somewhere after tomb of raiwthall (if i spelled it correctly, sorry) and i have killed Vossler. And practically i have opened all of the chests till i found your forum and read about it. So have i got any chances of getting the spear?

OT: Or maybe you could direct me to some valuable secrets ir tips to the game?

Thank you in advance.

It's the Zodiac Spear. And I'm pretty sure I posted the info in the Q+A thread. You might want to have a look at the Forum Charter --- it's that thread right at the top of this section. Just to reiterate the chests, though, here's what I remember that you're not supposed to be opening --- the chest directly across from Old Dalan's place, any of the chests in the Confiscatory in Nalbina when you're captured and any of the chests in a huge set of sixteen by one of the beaches on the Phon Coast.

Also the chests in the palace basement except the Map urn.

I didn't remember the chests in the palace basement being part of that. I thought it was just the 4 chests that Agent mentioned, there are two in Nalbina Confiscatory, and only 1 of those boxes on Phon Coast does it but nobody seems to know which one so I'd just as soon open none of them. So basically if you have opened almost every chest there's a very good chance that no, you can not get the Zodiac Spear from the Necrohol of Nabudis. Although there is a chest in the East Section of the Henne Mines that contains it, and I know for a fact it's there. It takes one hell of a long time to get though.

Forever cloud that is only 3 chests you talk about. 2 in Nablina 1 in Phon= 3 total. Trust me the one in the Palace Bacement is one to avoid as well I keep reading that it is on like 6 different sites so I can say with a resonable idea that it is one.
Also forever cloud its not 4 chests its four areas don't open treasure which are the treasure in Lowtown outside Dalan's, the palace basement were you have to sneak up the stairs avoid the southeast treasure in the cellars area, The place where you get back your stuff don't open the treasures in the confiscatory, and finally Phon coast where all those treasures are lined up don't touch any of them Vaddu strand. Those are the 4 areas I always read about no less no more. I know for a fact if you avoid these chests you will get the zodiac spear in Nabidus.

Sorry I forgot to say the one in fron of Dalan's as well. My fault. I have not seen the one about the Palace basement before, not saying you're wrong I'm just saying this is the first I've heard of it. I do know if you avoid these you get the Zodiac Spear in the Necrohol, although I did mess up on my first run through. But I'll take a look at the Palace Basement thing because that is news to me. I always thought it was just 4 chests.

Its four areas. Trust me I keep on reading it not only on Gamefaq but also my codebreaker forum. They gave me the directions and Gamefaqs backs it up

Well, this member may or may not be screwed. As I have mentioned more than once, I never specifically tried to avoid any chest in my first playthrough and still got in the Necrohol. And yeah, if screwed on that, there is still the Henne Mines.

Good luck and I hope you have good Karma you are going to need it in spades for the Mine option.

wooh, thank you for such a reply.

so what is so special about that spear? it's like a best weapon in whole FFXII or smth.?

It is by far the most powerful weapon, and the easiest of the great weapons to get if you have avoided the chests. It's attack power is 150, and the next powerful is the Tournesol which has an attack of 140. Only thing is the Tournesol is hard as hell to get and costs 600,000 gil even after you have gotten all the proper items/drops for it.

Guess a new game is in order...

It really isn't as hard to get tournesol as Forevercloud makes it sound it requires 3 serpantiraus, 3 gemsteels, and 3 Empyreal soul to be sold to the Bazaar. Empyreal soul is very easy once you have all the monographs and the jar which causes more rare items to be droped and Arcane to be droped. Empyreal soul I made just by going through the game normally. Gemsteel and Serpantiraus are the hard parts. Sep is the easy part you get one as a reward for having all the espers and you can steal one from Zodiark then all you got to do is make one High Arcane Bazzar item, 4 snake skins Snake in giza plains dry, and 2 seprent eyes dropped from Baslisk in Feywoods. Gemsteel is the pain you get one from Montblanc or a petioner I don't rememeber the last 2 you have to make from a Scarletile dropped from Emerlalditan in the deadlands hard to do, 2 Damascus steel from Bune in Pharos semi easy, 2 Hell-gate-flames dropped from Cerberus in feywood rare.
And to help to make Empyreal soul needs High Arcane-10 Arcana soul of thamasa and a feystone soul get from Oversoul in Necrohol and Feystone any Entite or elemental-,Soul powder droped from Etem in Hene mines locked section where you find Zodiark, 2 Wargod's bands droped by Leymir in the Deadlands very easy. And that is it a long list sure but if you missed the Zodiac spear it is easier then getting the spear from the Hene mine locked section since by the time you get to it you will have most of this stuff already.

Well, it's pretty difficult. Also wargod's bands must be poached from the Leymir. Sould of Thamasa isn't the easiest drop to get. It's not necesarily the hardest weapon to get, it just takes a long time to go through and grab all of the items.

Easy...bleh!!! Bleh I say. I've been trying for 12 game hours to get all the require items. Took me darn near forever to get the Wargod's Armband, Damascas Steel, and Soul Powder. Soul of Thamasa is so rare because the Oversouls are very rare. I only fought four of them in 45 minutes of game time down in that dungeon. And don't even let me get started on the Hell's-Gate flame. I only got two to show for my troubles. And that's only half way done with everything I need. So Bleh to you and your easiness.

i'm wondering the same thing. heard you could get the spear in henne mines, what if i already got it in the necrohol? could i have 2?

i heard you could get up to 99 zodiac spears in the henne mines

Easy...bleh!!! Bleh I say. I've been trying for 12 game hours to get all the require items. Took me darn near forever to get the Wargod's Armband, Damascas Steel, and Soul Powder. Soul of Thamasa is so rare because the Oversouls are very rare. I only fought four of them in 45 minutes of game time down in that dungeon. And don't even let me get started on the Hell's-Gate flame. I only got two to show for my troubles. And that's only half way done with everything I need. So Bleh to you and your easiness.

dude, youre looking for oversouls, those things are everywhere in the Nechrol of Nabuedes

tiberius - I would be fascinated to hear exactly where you read that you could get up to 99 Zodiac Spears and what the method for that is. If that were really true, that would be information that would be of interest to a lot of people here.

Yea, I would really like to know if that has been verified or not because it's a bitch just trying to get one. I don't want to waste my time trying to get more if you can't.

Well the chest is a respawn chest down in the Henne Mines, so obviously you can take as many as you want.
However, with a 1/1000 chance of getting one....I highly doubt someone would get 99 of them (and to what point?)

tiberius - I would be fascinated to hear exactly where you read that you could get up to 99 Zodiac Spears and what the method for that is. If that were really true, that would be information that would be of interest to a lot of people here.

i read that in some other forum before i had a acount here, i just got my acount like 12 hr. ago, anyway its true, but it could take up to maybe even weeks

It's been said before here that the chance is not 1 in 1000. I think it was said that it's more like 1 in 100.

Easy...bleh!!! Bleh I say. I've been trying for 12 game hours to get all the require items. Took me darn near forever to get the Wargod's Armband, Damascas Steel, and Soul Powder. Soul of Thamasa is so rare because the Oversouls are very rare. I only fought four of them in 45 minutes of game time down in that dungeon. And don't even let me get started on the Hell's-Gate flame. I only got two to show for my troubles. And that's only half way done with everything I need. So Bleh to you and your easiness.

The hardest part for me was the Hell Gates flame, i chained 223 Cerberus and Tartarus to get just 4 sweaty hell gates flames, took me an hour-ish. Even though the Cerberus and Tartarus both count in the same chain, i dont think it has the same effect as just chaining Cerberus or Tartarus on its own.

Wargods band took about an hour as well, but the rest of the items were easy for me. I just need to buy the tornosol from the bazaar now.

It's been said before here that the chance is not 1 in 1000. I think it was said that it's more like 1 in 100.

theres a 10% chance of the chest being there, a 10% chance of the chest having a item instead of gil, and a 10% chance of it being the Zodiac Spear instead of an elixir.so it all rounds up to a .1%, or 1 out of 1000 chance, you can do the math

See, that's the first I've heard of that. Somebody had said 10% of it being there, and 10% of it being the Zodiac Spear. Which would have made it 1 in 100. Anyway, if that's the real deal, then obviously it's really hard. In any case, yeah, I don't see why anyone want 99. Six sounds like a good number to me.


Oh, and one thing I can't seem to recall anybody mentioning is which chest exactly this this supposed to be. What's the name of the location and where is it?


Edit: This thread has been added to the Forum Charter.

its in a place that doesnt show on the map and its in phase 2 dig, which chest? like heck if i know( theres alot of places off the map in that part of the Henna mines)

Very well. I've never been much for self-torture and I already have a Zodiac Spear from the Necrohol, so I doubt I'll be messing around with this anytime soon.

that's good to know about that.

Since you can only use 3 Zodiac Spears at a time anyway, I don't see much point in wasting your time getting 99. There's just no use for all of them.


theres a 10% chance of the chest being there, a 10% chance of the chest having a item instead of gil, and a 10% chance of it being the Zodiac Spear instead of an elixir.so it all rounds up to a .1%, or 1 out of 1000 chance, you can do the math

Also I'd like to see where you found the exact percentages of this. I'm not doubting you, just interested to see who found this out.

These percentages are taken from the GameFAQs sticky thread that addresses most FFXII questions. (That's where I found it, at least...>> It might be in other FAQs as well)

The chest respawns, but 90% of the time, it will not be there.
If by the 10% chance it is there, then 90% of the time, you will receive gil. The other 10% of the time you will receive an item.
Of the item you receive, 90% of the time you'll receive an Elixir.
The other 10% of the time, you will receive the Zodiac Spear.

So:
The chance of getting nothing: 90%
The chance of getting gil: 9%
The chance of getting Elixir: 0.9%
The chance of getting Zodiac Spear: 0.1%

<< I'm planning on doing this, too, since I don't want to restart my game now...><

So 1 in 1000 is definitely it. Thanks.

told you that was the percentages

Huh? Maybe its because of the graphs but they dropped them I have very rarely poached monster so I know it was a drop.
As for Hell-Gate-Flame HGF you are right while the bigger chain does help you get the rare item it is a % and random so if you kill more Tartures then Cerberus then you have a lower chance of getting HGF so if you want to up your chances mind you it can be risky since there are so many Tartures around kill only Cerberus and Cerberus alone the Kill chain will be slower to bulid but you have a Better chance of getting Rare drops like HGF. Since the rare drop is always a random % that climbs higher the bigger the chain most don't realize that even if you are killing the same type it could hurt your chances of getting a rare drop. An example is lets say it has a 25% drop on rare and your kill split is about 70% Tartures and 30% Cerberus. That means roughly a 7% chance of getting a rare drop from Cerberus because of the kill ratio. So if you are looking for a rare drop try to kill the Monster you need and it alone to raise your chances.

I didn't doubt you. I was just wondering where you found that out because I had not seen any percentage tables for any of the chests in the Henne Mines east section because I know the guide doesn't cover that or the upper section of the Great Crystal.

I said back there that i found that out at another website before i got my account here

Tartarus and Cerebus counts towards the same chain. Killing two Tartarus and two Cerebus would make the chain 4. Anywho...about the Oversouls...how are they everywhere when I only get three or four to show up in over an hour of being down there?

Ok, I personally got this info off of a Spanish site, and used a translator, but I know a bit of Spanish and I'll translate the rest, and you basically get the idea anyways.

Exact Location: Where the orange crystal is, look to the north (toward the sector to circulate) and then by the entrance to this. In this new sector, advance to the fund and tour to the right in the second intersection. Continue down the road until you arrive at the next route of the mine (after climbing the steps). I lend attention toward the right, you will see some boxes are piled up and behind them, you will see a small entrance that is not shown in the map. The chest appears by chance in this part.

Also do note, this guy got it originally from Neoseeker.

Yes, you get the general idea, and wow that was a poor translation.

They count towards the same Kill Chain Time Assasin but the chance of getting a rare drop is split 50-50 between them. Basically while the Kill chain helps your chances of the Drop if the Kill chain is made of 2 or more different enemies but same type it hurts your chance of the drop happening on the one you want. Lets say you have 4 enemies that are different but same type like the undead in Stilshrine. Lets say you just hit a drop now think on a spinner split into four parts. Now which ever the spinner hits is the drop so you a 1 in 4 chance of hitting the one you want in an ideal situation. But as the Example of Cerberus and Tarterus showed the Numbers of Tarterus greatly outnumbered the Cerberus. Lets go back to the Spinner now its split in Half 50-50 but now as you kill more Tarterus one side becomes bigger while the other becomes smaller to match the Kill ratio meaning the larger side has a better chance of getting the drop. Lets say you kill 7 tarterus and 3 Cerberus which means you have a 3 in 10 chance of getting the Drop on Cerberus let alone a rare one. It only get worse the bigger the number climbs 8 Cerberus and 15 Tarterus 8 in 23 chance. Do you see now while the Kill chain helps its the Kill RATIO that truly tells you your chances of winning. To skew it kill only one enemy example Cerberus no matter what number of kills be it 10 or 100 you have a 100% chance of getting the drop on your selected enemy always then its just a matter of Kill chain and time before the Rare drops start happening.

As for the Oversoul I have no clue I have had them attack me while I just stand there while I check on something, thank you gambits, to running and having them come after me. I first thought it was a certain areas on the maps but I have never pinned down exactly where they are. So good luck and Happy Dungeon crawling.

I understand what your saying Ravaninja, but i did'nt think of it like that when i was chaining the tartarus and cerberus, weather or not its true i cant say but it does make sense.

The thing i noticed when chaining the two was that when you get a chain of the same monster say around 30, the monster will drop 2 of the same item most of the time. But i noticed when chaining, and i did get a big chain (223) that both the tartarus and cerberus was only dropping 1 item at a time, i cant even remember receiving 2 of the same item in 1 drop once, but i know i have received 2 of the same item from 1 drop when chaining other monsters in a smaller chain (around 30).

I did start to chain just Cerberus around 200 and noticed it dropped 2 prime pelts, but it was'nt long after that i got the last hell gates flame and stopped altogether.

I might have been unlucky with those monsters, i remember the first time i was trying to get moondust from the Mu's for the atermis bow, it took like 2 hours just for 2. But the second time i stole 1 from fury, and just after getting the hellgates flames, i killed a Mu and it dropped a moondust first time.

Those rare drops are somewhat of a roulet wheel...great if you get the right number and bummer if you don't. I'm about to give up gettin' the tournesol and Zodiac. I've done fine with conventional weapons.

Can anyone confirm or lend weight to Revaninja's post regarding kill count vs. rare drops?

As DeathShining said, it makes perfect sense (that's the conclusion that I came to myself - it's just logical), but without some actual metrics to back it up I can't help but assume that it's just a theory - no offense Revaninja, theories are all we have to go on in most cases with this game, it's just that math is my fort� and I prefer to work with statistics as opposed to assumptions.

It worked for me but as you say it is mostly a theroy so please go ahead with prove or disqualified.

Statistics are hard to prove without a lot of data to back them up. Anyone here ever see Numb3rs. Basically the mind plays tricks on you, makes you thinking you're seeing patterns where you aren't. There may be some basis to this, but it's really hard to say without a lot of checking.

I've watched Numb3rs, good show.
The more you chain, the higher probability there is of you getting items, but remember, it's PROBABILITY. If you have a 25% chance, that doesn't mean every 4 times you'll get it. That means each time you have that chance. You could got 400 times without getting it.

Way to revive an old thread but I'm trying the Henne Mines Zodiac Spear thing. Ill let you know when I get it.

regarding the zodiac spear, i read both. thats its a 1/100 chance and a 1/1000 chance from 2 different ppls faqs and other posts on the internet. one faq was by sephirosuy and the other was by giruvegan. both are obviously conflicting and i still have not found any information to back up either. my question is which one is correct? im at the henne mines now and have managed to open that chest 4 times but as it only spawns 1/10 its obviously taking alot of time. if the chances are 1/100 then thats not so bad but if its 1/1000 than i dont think il bother.

can anyone clarify and back up where they got their info? like from an official guide other than an faq? any help would be appreciated.

also, i read that chaining for hells gate flame is pointless as its a monograph drop and chain level dont affect those drops and soul of thamasa can be stolen from one of those rare game in the barheim passage. its quite easy to get from him actually :p

its 1/1000. I know for a fact that its 1/10 for it to appear, and then it certainly seems that its 1/10 for it to contain an item, and then a 1/10 chance for that item to be the spear. That makes 1/1000, and the strategy guide says the same.

However, ive heard a rumour that the chest is always there the first time you go through the passage. this cuts it down to 1/100, but you probably like me didnt realise this until it was too late.

soul of thamasa is easy by the zoning trick that works with all teleporting mobs. Its easy to steal from ishteen but once you kill him he wont reappear because he'll drop a trophy. So thats one.

for hell gate flame, i know its a monograph drop and chaining shouldnt affect it but a few of us have noticed that they seem to come more often at high chain levels. It did for me when getting scarletite's and damascus steels. I think I know why.

Every time you kill a mob, the game goes through a process like this. It checks if it drops common loot, then moves onto uncommon loot, then rare loot. It checks the percentages, then gives you the loot. This means its possible to get common, uncommon and rare loot from one loot bag/coin. Obviously, the percentages increase for uncommon and rare loot as the chain level increases.

Now, lets say that monograph loot takes the place of either common, uncommon or rare loot when you pick up a loot bag/coin. As the chain level increases, the chances of getting common & uncommon & rare loot increase. This increases the chance of a monograph drop.

Eg a mob has common loot of dark crystal, uncommon loot of sorcerers habit and rare loot of zodiac spear (yea i wish, but its just an example) NB. These figures are made up to get the point across.

ChainLvl1 - Common (70%) - Uncommon (25%) - Rare (5%)
ChainLvl2 - Common (70%) - Uncommon (45%) - Rare (10%)
Lvl3 - 70% - 50% 15%

Remember, each percentage is the chance of recieving loot or not, hence the percentages dont each add to 100. The mongraph drop can take the place of any of the categories of loot.

In lvl1, you have a 7/10 chance of getting mono, then a 2.5/10, then a 0.5/10, all just from 1 pickup.
In lvl3, you have a 7/10, then a 5/10, then a 1.5/10, again all just from 1 pickup

You see, the chances of recieving each category of loot increase, hence the chance of a mono drop increase.

I know this might sound completely wrong, I cant explain it well, I can see it in my head. Anybody understand me?

thank you doggoneus il take it that the guide u got that from was the official one? and yeh i heard that too about the first time u enter the mine so i pretty much blew my chance there too :p

re chaining for hells gate, i got all my hgf from low chains below 10. i wasnt trying to chain either. im still pretty sure that chaining dont affect mono drops. you didnt have to chain to get scarletite's and damascus steels, you can just steal them from the rare game in ceropi steppe, much easier id imagine ;)

Well, scarletite's are easy from fishing. Didn't realise that until too late... I'm going onto hgf's now. Got nothing else to do in the game except get the tournesal really, oh and the second masamune. And the rare game trophies.

was that strat guide the official one?

make sure to sell those ingredients at the same time so you get both with only 3 gemsteel ;)

Yea, the official UK one, with the extra stuff in that the US one doesn't have.

And yea, I was going to do that with the gemsteels. I've got enough stuff to make about 5 gemsteels (apart from hgf's) and I've got 2 serpentarius' without even trying. Stole one from zodiark and got one from montblanc for getting all espers. I've got an empyreal soul too so its not gonna take me too long to get everything I need.

remember: you can getthe damascus steel really easyky with anchag in paramina rift. Just go to Karydine Glacier, kill all the enemies, and it will just appear, if it doesn't, go away ONE screen and quickly reenter, dont go far, it will be there, steal from him with thief's cuffs, and if you want kill him, then go away 2 screens to the feywood, go back to the glacier, and do the same (if you didn't kill him, you can go 2 screens away even into paramina rift, but it's funnyer just killing him for the xp, lp, cp, and drops), and there are ony 6 oversouls in the necrohol, they appear more often in the dead-ends, and after you kill them 6, instead of one oversoul you will get one hevilnek, that means you have to go to the deadlands or salikawood and go back in there, or you could use the method of killing one and outzone before the xp and lp appears (you could kill him with a phoenix down, i'm not sure, by the way, nihopalaoa+phoenix down+outzone= best way to kill 9 darkmares in the stilshrine, remember that) and then, after he's dead and you're out, go back and he will reappear, just like you never killed him, the only problem is that it's sometimes difficult to get the loot before the xp and lp pop up, but, with a little practice, you should have no problem

Please don't revive a thread that's nearly half a year old to post about something not related to the main topic of the thread.

And for goodness sake, use some capitalization and proper punctuation, not a comma every four to five words.