Hiotoko Mask

Hiotoko Mask
Trade Info
Item class	Mask
Buy value	6600
Sell value	4950
Artifact?	Yes
Sell value when broken	3300
Repair cost	1650
Equip/Use Effect
Defense Boost	33
Special Equip Effect	Can only be worn by males
Use Effect	An offensive Mars attack that damages multiple enemies.
When Usable	Battle

A Hiotoko Mask is a rare Mask-class item available in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. It holds the unique trait of being the only legitimately available item that is explicitly limited to male Adepts.

Basic Description by Game

The Hiotoko Mask increases the wearer's base Defense by 33 points. It can also be Used by the holder to emulate the Fire Breath Psynergy that is normally unique to the Pierrot class series, though it does not need to be equipped to be Used. When used, Fire Breath inflicts Mars-based damage with a power rating of 85 and a range of 3, delivered with a sharply diminishing damage ratio for the enemies off to the side of the target. It can be bought for 6600 coins and sold for 4950 coins.

In The Lost Age, the Hiotoko Mask is a rare drop from Little Deaths in Magma Rock. Felling the Little Death with an offensive Jupiter Djinni will multiply the drop rate by a factor of 4. As previously stated, it is limited to male Adepts. Thus it can be equipped by Felix, Piers, Isaac, Garet, and Ivan.

Analysis

The Hiotoko Mask is very similar to the Otafuku Mask in statistics and umimpressive attack. However, it is much worse in regards to its practicality. Magma Rock can only be reached late in the game, after acquiring the Grindstone from Lemuria and entering the Great Western Sea. Due to this late availability, it is entire outclassed defensively by other equipment that the player can acquire, such as at Lemuria Spring; the Otafuku Mask, on the other hand, can be acquired early enough to be useful as a defensive item.

One other fact to note is that while the Otafuku Mask grants a unique ability (Water Breath is a monster skill that is otherwise only available to certain enemies), the Fire Breath ability can be accessed by the Pierrot class.

Cultural Influences

• In Japanese, the word "hi" means "fire". "Otoko" is a term used for many male masks in Noh theatre. In other words, this is a mask to indicate a "man of fire".