Aegis Shield

An Aegis Shield is a Shield class Artifact introduced in Golden Sun: The Lost Age.

Basic Description
An Aegis Shield increases the wearer's Defense by 41 and increases the wearer's Critical Hit and Unleash rate by 10%. It can be sold for 5025 coins and subsequently rebought for 6700 coins.

In The Lost Age, it is one of the prizes that can be won in the Lucky Medal Fountain in Lemuria. Being a Shield, it can be equipped by Isaac, Felix, Garet, and Piers. In Dark Dawn there is only one Aegis Shield, found in a chest at Warrior's Hill, and it can be equipped by Matthew, Tyrell and Eoleo.

Analysis
In The Lost Age, an Aegis Shield is the strongest Shield in the game that can be obtained without the aid of Sunshine. Thus the Aegis Shield will prove to be a useful piece of equipment for a large portion of the game, since the materials for these stronger shields do not appear until later on in the game. Later on, the player can acquire a pair of Gloves, the Riot Gloves, which are essentially stronger versions of the Aegis Shield that have a wider range of potential wielders.

In Dark Dawn, only one Aegis Shield is available to the player. Since the Riot Gloves are not in the game, this makes the Aegis Shield the only hand armor available to warrior-style Adepts can raise the Critical Hit Ratio. It is recommended that the player equip the Aegis Shield to Matthew because of this. The Aegis Shield, combined with other Critical Hit-raising equipment such as the Warrior's Helm, Valkyrie Mail, Ninja Sandals, and Lord Sun's Ring, can grant Matthew a nearly 100% chance of triggering an Unleash. This is especially useful when Matthew has acquired the Sol Blade.