Kikuichimonji

A Kikuichimonji, informally referred to in player community circles as the "K-sword," is a Light Blade-class Artifact weapon found in separate games in the Golden Sun series. In the original Golden Sun, it is notable for having the highest Attack stat among all the Light Blades available, and only the Gaia Blade Long Sword surpasses it in this regard.

General description
Regardless of the game, the Kikuichimonji increases the equipped Adept's Attack statistic by 128 points. It can be sold for 10050 coins and can be purchased back for 13400 coins.

In Golden Sun, it is a very rare drop from Fenrir monsters randomly encountered in Venus Lighthouse, the final mainline dungeon in the game. The base drop rate of 1/256 can only be improved to 1/64 by felling the Fenrir with the attacking effect of an offensive Mars Djinni like Fever, Scorch, or Torch.

As it is a Light Blade, it can be equipped by not only Isaac and Garet but also Ivan. If the password data transferring function is used to include this in the first party's inventory when they join forces with the main party in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, the selection of Adepts who can equip it expand to Felix, Jenna, and Piers.

In the GBA duology, the Kikuichimonji's Unleash effect is Asura, which deals a physical attack equivalent to executing a normal Attack command but with the damage aligned with the Jupiter element, and 64 damage points are applied to the end result as a bonus. In addition, Asura carries a 50% base chance (lowered by the target's Luck rating) to ignore 50% of the target's Defense statistic. Since damage formulas largely boil down to the target subtracting an amount from a physical attack's base damage equal to half of its Defense stat, Asura is capable of effectively dealing 40 extra base damage to an enemy with 160 Defense from time to time. The visual effect of Asura displays a transparent image of a long-haired samurai wearing a tengu mask suddenly appearing and performing a horizontal sword slash through the target in tandem with the wielding Adept's own melee strike.

In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, on the other hand, the Kikuichimonji is a one-of-a-kind weapon that can be found as soon as the party gains access to the Sailing ship and can explore the Eastern Sea during the third act of the game. If the player presses A at different parts of a pale spot in the ocean that lies southwest of Tonfon and northeast of Burning Island Cave, they should find it in the form of a rusty sword. Bringing it to the blacksmith in Champa, Obaba, will result in it being transformed into the Kikuichimonji for free.

In this title, the Kikuichimonji can be equipped by the warriors Matthew, Tyrell, and Eoleo and the caster-focused Karis, Amiti, and Himi. As a result of the different Unleash system used by the game, it starts off only capable of producing the Combat Dance unleash, a non-elemental physical attack that has 50% increased damage output. If the Adept who wields it builds enough weapon experience with it by striking enemies with it, a second new unleash called Zenith Strike is added to the list of possible Unleash effects that the game will randomly choose between; it deals Jupiter-aligned physical damage with 60 bonus damage points and, presuming it fails to fell the enemy, a 35% base chance to lower the target's HP to 1. Further Light Blade-aligned weapon mastery will finally add the familiar Asura to the list of possible Unleash effects, and Asura's effect is improved in Dark Dawn by additionally striking each enemy one space away from the central target.

Analysis
In Golden Sun, the Kikuichimonji is doubtlessly a powerful weapon justifying its rarity per the standards of the first game's equipment, with only the Gaia Blade Long Sword providing a higher attack power increase. Since the Gaia Blade should always be equipped by an endgame Isaac, the "K-sword" should be considered for either Garet or Ivan.

However, the Swift Sword that can easily be bought at Lalivero a little earlier in the game surpasses it in some regards. The Kikuichimonji's significantly higher 24 Attack points provided while equipped, the 64 bonus damage points of Asura, and the Unleash effect's chance to ignore half of the target's defense all result in more consistent damage that can compensate for the naturally lower Attack statistics of caster-style Adepts like Ivan. On the other hand, the weaker Swift Sword's similarly Jupiter-aligned Sonic Smash unleash, though not adding any bonus damage points of its own, has a chance to carry out with triple the resulting damage, which can devastate enemies if the Adept wielding it has sufficiently high base Attack rating. Furthermore, the Swift Sword is unusual in that it provides another passive boost while equipped, which is a 10-point bonus to the wielder's Jupiter power rating — which means Ivan merely holding that weapon will slightly improve the damage of his Jupiter-aligned Psynergy like Shine Plasma. The Kikuichimonji might see better use on Garet in that case, though it would also have to compete with the viable prospect of Garet wielding the Wicked Mace and Cleric's Ring from the Crossbone Isle bonus dungeon.

In The Lost Age, the Kikuichimonji can only become available to the party by having applied a password so that Isaac's party joins up with it in their inventory late in the game. By this point in the second game, weapons with much higher base attack ratings will have been available for some time, generally obsoleting this weapon even when one considers that the Asura unleash gives a rather high bonus damage value and a potentially useful side-effect. It should be noted, however, that the only other weapons with Defense-ignoring Unleash effects are the hard-to-forge Tungsten Mace and Levatine, and the Cloud Brand only ignores the Defense of dragon-like enemies; since the Kikuichimonji is a Light Blade, it potentially gives Ivan and Jenna their only possible Unleash with Defense-ignoring capability.

In Dark Dawn, the fact the Kikuichimonji can be obtained once the player has gained the ship and gained access to Obaba's services as a blacksmith in Champa holds it back from being a significant potential upgrade. For example, the Sylph Rapier, a Jupiter-aligned Light Blade with roughly equivalent potential for power, can be found earlier in Talon Peak. Either weapon's Jupiter alignment makes for a good fit for the Jupiter Adept Karis until better weapons are found, such as the enormously powerful Phaeton's Blade that can be picked up in Snowdrift Shrine potentially early in the Eastern Sea segment of the game. Another Jupiter-aligned Light Blade that will most likely render the Kikuichimonji irrelevant is the Verdant Sword, which can be forged by bringing a Quality Zol to Obaba at potentially the same time as the rusty sword itself.

Perhaps the most reliable method of making this weapon useful despite its somewhat mediocre Attack stat for when it can be found is treating it as a placeholder weapon for Eoleo and Himi, two Adepts who join the party late in the game initially holding much weaker weapons such as a Broad Axe and a Psynergy Rod.

RNG manipulation in Golden Sun

 * Main article: Random Number Generator

Given that the Kikuichimonji can only be dropped by Fenrir enemies in Venus Lighthouse at the end of Golden Sun at the extremely rare rate of 1/256, it is quite difficult to drop even if you use offensive Mars Djinn to slay them so that the sword can drop at a rate of 1/64. However, it is possible to manipulate the game's rudimentary Random Number Generator to ensure that it will drop. The following RNG method is useful because it also guarantees a drop of a rare Potion each time it is done.

To prepare for this, make sure Isaac is faster than Mia and that Mia is faster than Garet, but also make sure that Garet has at least 150 Agility. Agility-affecting items like Running Shirts, Quick Boots, Ninja Hoods, the Ninja Garb, the Elven Shirt, a Kimono, and the rare and powerful Feathered Robe are all on hand to adjust the "turn order" of these party members via driving up their Agility ratings. No one should be afflicted with an equipment curse because that will throw off the RNG sequence (and not even holding the Cleric's Ring will neutralize this issue).

Go to the main "lobby" room in Venus Lighthouse that has the respawning Psynergy Stone in its center and save, then turn the game off. Turn it back on and reload the save file, and run around until your first battle, which should be a preemptive strike against one Fenrir and one Ice Gargoyle.


 * Round 1: While targeting the Fenrir with all attacks: Isaac casts Clay Spire, Garet casts Flare Wall, Ivan casts Tornado, and Mia casts Ice Horn.
 * Round 2: Isaac Defends, Garet unleashes either Fever, Scorch, or Torch to fell the Fenrir, Ivan defends, and Mia casts Wish.
 * Round 3: Isaac unleashes either Flint, Sap, or Bane to fell the Ice Gargoyle, while everyone else Defends.

This should drop both a Kikuichimonji and a Potion. If you want to perform this method again right away, you must save and turn the game off and back on to refresh the internal RNG.

Cultural references
"Kiku-ichimonji", as a name, refers to a series of katanas crafted by thirteen swordsmiths who were in attendance to the Japanese Emperor Go-Toba year-round throughout 1208 AD. The term "Asura", meanwhile, refers to a demonic entity in Hinduism and Buddhism that seeks power.

Gallery of Dark Dawn unleashes