Flint

Flint (ソロ Solo) is a Venus Djinni found throughout the Golden Sun series. Numerically, it is the first of the Venus Djinn introduced in Golden Sun, and also the first numbered Venus Djinni in Dark Dawn. It is noteworthy as the first Djinni that the party automatically acquires in cutscenes in the two games. It is also noteworthy as one of only three Djinn to have its own dialogue and personality, the others being Echo and Pewter.

=In Golden Sun and The Lost Age= "Strike a blow that can cleave stone."

Once Flint is released into the world from its slumbering place in Mt. Aleph when it erupts like all the rest of the Djinn, it sticks around just outside the front gate of the town Vale. When Isaac and Garet leave Vale on their quest across the world, Flint immediately approaches them, introduces itself and its kind, explains how collecting and using Djinn would enhance their battle abilities, and offers to join Isaac as his first Djinni. Flint will not take no for an answer and will join Isaac no matter how many times he refuses.

Location
Flint is automatically acquired once you leave Vale and enter the overworld for the first time, where a cutscene has Flint talk to you and give a tutorial on how to use Djinn. It is nearly identical to Venus Djinni Echo in its speaking role as the "tutorial Djinni" of its respective game. It will join you no matter how many times you attempt to refuse it joining you, but its various responses may be amusing.

Because this is a Djinni that is guaranteed to appear in the Djinn collection of the first game's party, Flint is guaranteed to be brought over with the original game's party once they join Felix's party late in The Lost Age. It does not matter what kind of password data transfer is used or even if it is used at all, because Flint is one of the five Venus Djinn that Isaac's party has when they join in a game file that has not been modified by a password.

Description
When Set, it increases the Adept's base HP by 8, base PP by 4, and base Attack by 3.

When Flint's battle effect is used, the user strongly attacks a target with a Venus-based attack equal in power to the user's normal physical attack increased by 60%. This effect is identical to the battle ability of Echo in The Lost Age.

Ability analysis
In Golden Sun, Flint is the one Venus Djinni that deals an attack enhanced by a damage multiplier rather than a flat addition to resultant damage. This makes it consistently strong throughout the game, as it scales up with your attack power. The other two attack Djinn of the Venus element, Sap and Bane, give straight damage, and while they may end up being more valuable to an endgame party that is not of a particularly high level (because they have secondary effects alongside the damage), a highly-leveled up party will inevitably find this to deal sharply more damage. Aside from Gust's chance to deal double damage whenever it is used, Flint has the highest damage multiplier of the attack Djinn in Golden Sun, and is especially ideal when used by a high-level Isaac equipped with all seven Venus Djinn and the Gaia Blade and Warrior's Helm.

In The Lost Age, as soon as Isaac's party joins Felix's party along with their returning Djinn, you have easy access to the Venus Djinni Geode at Atteka Inlet, which obsoletes both Flint and its identical counterpart Echo with a Venus-based attack equal in power to the user's normal physical attack increased by 90%. While none of the various other Djinn with damage multipliers are even as high as Flint and Echo's 60%, Geode's 90% makes usage of that Djinni very common and usage of even these lesser Djinn quite rare.

=In Dark Dawn= "Attack with a blow that can cleave stone."

The Djinn Guide entry for Flint reads as follows: "This spirit was Isaac's very first Djinni. Flint talks a great deal, but is both knowledgeable and nice, so no one complains."

Flint is one of the Djinn that remains in Isaac's possession throughout the thirty years between the end of The Lost Age and the start of Dark Dawn, even though most of the other Djinn leave and head back out into the world within that time. At the start of Dark Dawn, while Isaac and Garet head into the dangerous Tanglewood and bring along Isaac's son Matthew and Karis along, Isaac decides to have Flint explain the many benefits of Djinn to Matthew just as Flint did at the start of Isaac's very first quest. Flint appears and courteously greets Matthew and Karis, and he is urged on by Isaac's impatience to go through with his explanation. After Flint is done, he returns to Isaac, and Isaac and Garet proceed to loan Matthew and Karis six other Djinn for the rest of the journey to the Abandoned Mine.

Later, once Matthew, Karis, and Tyrell leave Isaac's cabin and Goma Plateau on their quest across Angara, Flint suddenly appears before them, and the three briefly mistake him as a wild Djinni and try to catch it. Flint explains that Isaac sent him to look after Matthew, and says that none of them have been on a real adventure before, unlike Flint himself. He also delivers a message from Isaac: While they are at Patcher's Place nearby, they are to visit the Psynergy Training Grounds, and then make their way to meet Kraden at Carver's Camp. Isaac had already gotten word that Kraden is at Carver's Camp waiting by the bridge for Matthew. Flint Sets himself onto Matthew once he is done talking.

Location
Flint is automatically acquired once you leave Goma Plateau and enter the overworld for the first time, where a cutscene has Flint talk to you and automatically join your party. Unlike Flint's appearance in the first game and Echo's appearance in the second, Flint's Djinn tutorial takes place at an earlier point in the game during a sequence of cutscenes rather than when the Djinni is actually acquired, and this time there is no part when the game gives you a "choice" on whether to take the Djinni but you are forced to take it no matter how many times you say no.

Description
Like in the previous game, when Flint is Set, it increases the Adept's base HP by 8, base PP by 4, and base Attack by 3.

When Flint's battle effect is used, the user slowly leaps through the air at the target while the 3D model of Flint hovers right behind them, and when the user performs the strike, their weapon glows bright orange. The target is hit with a Venus-aligned attack equal in power to the user's normal physical attack increased by 60%.

Ability analysis
Flint deals its damage at a modifier that is at a strong +60%, which makes it more powerful as the user itself becomes stronger and has a higher Attack rating to work with. No other attack Djinni in Dark Dawn has a higher damage multiplier value until late in the game when Geode can be used to deal an attack with a +90% damage modifier. Until those Djinn are gotten, Flint is pretty strong and, more importantly, reliable and not subject to random chance, unlike a weapon that has several Unleash effects that it randomly chooses from on the chance that it does Unleash. It will mostly be obsoleted once the Venus Djinn Chain and Geode are acquired.

Name Origin
Flint is a type of stone normally used to make arrowheads and other weapons. Flint is also a way to make fire by striking it against Steel.

Solo probably refers to the fact that he strikes once; this is opposed to the first Djinni in the second game.