The Best Swords in FFXII: The Zodiac Age (And How To Get Them)
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Final Fantasy games are known for their exotic weapons with interesting effects.
FF12 is no exception.
The license system gives you a lot of flexibility for what weapons you want to roll with. And in this case, you might be looking into swords.
So in this piece we’ll be ranking all the best one-handed swords you can get.
Also keep in mind that you can equip a shield alongside any of these top-tier weapons.
10. Icebrand
Let’s start off with one of the less-impressive swords.
Icebrand has a decent attack of 55 and low evade.
What makes Icebrand special is the Ice elemental effect it carries. Sometimes this helps, sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s great to have.
Plus you can get this item quite early on in the game.
License requirement: Swords 5. How to get: 1% – 5% drop rate from Zombie Warrior, depending on Chain level. Also found in a chest in The Zeviah Span area in Barheim Passage.
9. Diamond Sword
The Diamond Sword is a mid-game weapon with an attack of 73 and a small evade.
There’s no special effect or elemental damage with this sword, though.
But the increase in attack power certainly makes this one a decent upgrade over the Icebrand.
License requirement: Swords 7 How to get: Found in the Caima Hills area of Phon Coast. Found in the Garden of Life’s Circle area in Tchita Uplands as well. You can also buy it in Archades for a mere 10,600 gil.
8. Runeblade
Now the Runeblade has an attack power of 78, with a small evade chance.
Definitely a standard upgrade.
If you have multiple sword-wielders in the party, the Runeblade can be a good way to fill that gear slot.
License requirement: Swords 7 How to get: For sale in Archades and Balfonheim Port for 12,100 gil. Also found in the Uazcuff Hills area of Tchita Uplands.
7. Stoneblade
Stoneblade is the next level in attack upgrades for our one-handed swords.
And this one boasts a powerful 95 attack, with a small evade too.
This is one of the last relatively easy-to-get weapons in this list. It’s also a strong weapon to track down, and a great upgrade over the Runeblade.
Bottom line: it’s worth getting.
License requirement: Swords 8 How to get: Found in the Terraced Bank area of Cerobi Steppe. Also acquired through the Bazaar or the Hunt Club.
6. Deathbringer
Now this sword is a little bit weaker than the Stoneblade with an attack of 83, but it packs a great special effect.
The exciting reason Deathbringer is ranked higher than other stronger attack weapons is the KO status effect chance on hit.
The chance is only 12%.
But it can still be incredibly useful to take down large groups of enemies.
This is the first of the more unique weapons in the game, even though it’s fairly easy to obtain.
License requirement: Swords 8 How to get: Found in the Edge of Reason area in Feywood. Also can be purchased in Balfonheim Port for 13,700 gil. Acquired through the Bazaar as well.
5. Karkata
This beautiful red weapon is the upgraded version of the Blood Sword.
It has a great attack at 92, and a higher evade than previous swords at 16.
The obvious reason for searching out this blade is the effect it inflicts on hit.
Karkata has a 100% chance to cause Confuse on enemies.
This is a great effect for any weapon, and certainly makes for interesting battles.
Normally in FF12, physical attacks will remove Confuse from enemies. But Karkata can just apply the debuff over and over.
License requirement: Karkata (yes it has its own license) How to get: Unlocked through the Bazaar item Crimson Blade.
4. Durandal
Don’t let the size fool you.
Durandal is still a one-handed sword… somehow.
With a strong attack of 99 and a small evade, this weapon is quite powerful.
The upgraded version of this weapon is the Simha, which has the same model (and which we’ll see next in our list).
Durandal isn’t the easiest weapon to get. But is definitely one of the strongest weapons in the game.
License requirement: Swords 9 How to get: Found in the Terraced Bank area of Cerobi Steppe. Also drops from Velelu with a 1% chance.
3. Simha
As the more powerful sibling of the Durandal, Simha has an attack of 103 with a much higher evade at 15.
The combo rate for this weapon is also higher than most at 10%.
Simha is certainly a very powerful weapon, and a bit easier to get than its predecessor.
I mean, you don’t have to rely on pure luck to get this precious sword to drop.
License requirement: Swords 9 How to get: The only way to acquire Simha is through the Bazaar system. This can be a bit tricky because the requirements for the item, Well-forged Blade, are steep but worth it.
2. Kumbha
Wait, how did a Katana get onto this list of one-handed swords?
Well the Kumbha is actually a one-handed sword after all!
This elite weapon is the upgraded version of the mythical Masamune.
It has an incredible attack power of 117, and a huge combo rate of 35%.
Kumbha is easily one of the most powerful one-handed swords in the entire game. Definitely worth the effort to track this down through the Bazaar.
License requirement: Kumbha How to get: This is another quite difficult Bazaar item to get. Master-crafted Blade is the item that you’ll need to unlock.
1. Great Trango
The Great Trango is one of the coolest and rarest weapons in the entire game.
It’s also the strongest one-handed sword, with the second highest combo rate.
This rare weapon has an insane attack power of 153 and a combo rate of 30%.
It blows past most other weapons with ease.
Plus it’s rumored that the design of this weapon was so amazing and intricate that it couldn’t possibly be released to the public to see. For this reason, there’s no model in the game.
It just appears as if the character is attacking with an invisible sword.
License requirement: None (yes, really) How to get: First of all, good luck. You can steal this weapon from Zodiark with a 3% chance or 6% chance with the Thief’s Cuffs equipped.
The other way to find the Great Trango is in the Abyssal South area of Subterra. The chest you want has a 2% chance to spawn at all, with 20% chance to contain an item at all. If you made it this far then you have a 5% chance of the Great Trango dropping (if you have the Diamond Armlet equipped of course).
