Umbra Gear

The Umbra Gear is a plot-important set of equipment introduced in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. It can only be worn by beastmen, making Sveta the only party member that can wield them. Stat-wise, the Umbra Gear is among the best equipment available, and each piece offers significant elemental resistance boosts. When all pieces are worn, a total of 40 points is added to each element's resistance. Sveta must equip the entire set for the player to be able to navigate Apollo Sanctum.

The set consists of the following items:

Umbra Knuckles Umbra Cloak Umbra Gauntlet Umbra Cowl Umbra Goggles

Mechanics
When exploring Apollo Sanctum, all pieces of the Umbra Gear must be equipped to Sveta. The player will control Sveta, with Matthew following behind, whenever the party is in the outer areas of Apollo Sanctum. The Umbra Gear's protection is represented as a dark-colored spherical shield.

The Umbra Gear is limited in how much light it can absorb at one time. This is represented in-game by a special gauge located on the side of the screen. The gauge increases the longer Sveta is directly in the light of the Sanctum. However, the gauge can be "recharged" by standing in a shadowed area. Should the gauge be completely filled, the game treats this as if the entire party has been downed in battle. The party will be transported to a statue of the Wise One, which is located near the entrance. The party's HP and PP will be restored, but the player will lose half of their money.

Story
In ancient times, the Jenei, ancestors of the Adepts, and the Exathi, a group of craftsmen, were collaborating to build a weapon known as the Apollo Lens. However, Apollo Sanctum, the area of construction, was perpetually washed over by harsh light. Thus, the Umbra Gear was created to protect the workers by absorbing the light of Apollo Sanctum. At some point, the various pieces of the Umbra Gear were hidden away in dungeons, in case the gear should be needed by future generations. A map, which came to be known as the Umbra Map, was created to mark the locations of each piece.

When the Grave Eclipse overtakes Angara, Matthew's party began a search for the means to stop the Eclipse. Himi, a princess of Yamata and an Adept who had prophetic visions, informed the group of the existence of the Apollo Lens and the Umbra Gear. They learn that the Umbra Gear would be required to complete the ascent to the Lens's firing apparatus. However, the Umbra Map, once a treasure of the newly formed county of Morgal, had been taken by the country of Sana as a spoil of war. However, the group learns that Ryu Kou, a Sanan prince the group had previously encountered, had the map in his possession. To this end, they get the Umbra Map from Ryu Kou and use it to locate the gear, allowing them to complete their mission.

When approaching Apollo Sanctum, the scholar Kraden, who had been traveling with Matthew's party, reveals that the gear is specifcally designed to be used by beastmen, suggesting that the Exathi who assisted the Jenei were in fact ancient beastmen. Luckily, Matthew's party includes a beastman, Sveta. Sveta uses the Umbra Gear to protect the group, while they prepare to fire the Apollo Lens. However, when Matthew attempts to fire the Apollo Lens, he is continually thrown back by the harsh light. Only Sveta, who is protected by the Umbra Gear, would be able to even reach the firing mechanism. By this point, however, Sveta's Umbra Gear has absorbed so much light, that she was weakened. It is noted by Kraden that if she absorbed much more light, Sveta would surely die. In desperation, she borrows Matthew's power to strengthen herself long enough to fire the Lens, despite knowing that doing this would likely kill them both. In the end, both are saved as Sveta's brother Volechek fires the lens himself, ending the Eclipse. It is unknown what became of the Umbra Gear following the Eclipse's end.

Name Origin
Umbra (the Latin word for "shadow") refers to a shadow's darkest part, where light has been completely blocked out by another object, resulting in total eclipse. The term is usually applied to astronomy to describe shadows cast by celestial bodies.

Trivia

 * It is possible to remove the Umbra Gear while the "light gauge" is visible. If a player leaves the field menu without re-equipping all of the Umbra Gear, however, the entire party will faint in the same manner as when the light gauge is filled, even if they are taking shelter in a shadow. Fortunately, the party will be taken to a statue of the Wise One near the entrance of Apollo Sanctum, which will then restore the party's HP and PP to their maximum values, but half the party's money will be lost.