Valkyrie Mail

The Valkyrie Mail is an Armor-class piece of armor that appears in Golden Sun: The Lost Age and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. The European version of Dark Dawn renames it Berserker Mail.

In
In The Lost Age, it is found early in Mars Lighthouse and can be equipped by Isaac, Garet, Felix, and Piers. Many players would instinctively identify this as the best piece of body armor in the Golden Sun series. Its 53 Defense is the highest Defense rating afforded by any piece of equipment in The Lost Age, and it provides a 20% boost to the equippee's Critical Hit and Unleash rates, a powerful effect that can be immensely useful depending on the character's equipment setup.

The Valkyrie Mail outperforms the Mythril Clothes, which has 49 Defense and a 15% boost to Unleash rate (although it has the advantage of being available to the entire party), and the Xylion Armor, which has 50 Defense and increases Attack by 12. The Valkyrie Mail's only drawback is that only one can be found, but it is easy to acquire, so all players should make it to the end of The Lost Age with this armor in their possession.

Combined with other specific equipment, a single party member can become a complete powerhouse warrior. Most weapons have an Unleash rate of 35%, including the obscenely powerful Sol Blade. In The Lost Age, a Venus Adept using the Sol Blade and wearing the Valkyrie Mail increases the Unleash rate to 55%. Adding the Riot Gloves to add 20% more, then a Mythril Helm to add 12% more, and then a pair of Hyper Boots to add 12% more, will allow that warrior to have a 99% chance to unleash the Sol Blade's effect whenever he attacks physically. This is strong enough to One-Hit KO most normal enemies, and is excellent against the Doom Dragon and other late-game bosses. Also, this setup can be further enhanced by changing the character in question to a class with a high Attack modifier, such as the Ronin or Chaos Lord.

In
In Dark Dawn, it is found at Apollo Ascent and can be equipped by Matthew, Tyrell, and Eoleo. As in The Lost Age, the Valkyrie Mail is one of the best body armors in Dark Dawn. It still has the highest Defense rating of any Armor, and the removal of the Riot Gloves gives it the highest boost to the equippee's Unleash rate. As before, only one Valkyrie Mail can be found, but it is easily available, so all players can get it.

The Valkyrie Mail can be combined with other specific equipment to provide a single party member with a nearly 100% Unleash Rate. However, a different setup must be used than the one in The Lost Age. In this game, the other pieces of equipment include the Aegis Shield, Ninja Sandals, Warrior's Helm, and Lord Sun's Ring. In most cases, this setup is given to Matthew, the only character capable of wielding the Sol Blade. However, due to changes to the Unleash system, players are not guaranteed to Unleash Megiddo every turn. In Dark Dawn, when an Unleash is triggered, the weapon randomly chooses one of several Unleashes. In the case of the Sol Blade, Megiddo is only one of four possible Unleashes. However, increasing the overall Unleash rate does increase the number of times Megiddo can be Unleashed.

Trivia

 * The Valkyrie Mail's name has caused some confusion among Golden Sun fans because, despite the valkyries being female warriors, it can only be equipped by males. This is probably what prompted the European localisation team to change its name in Dark Dawn.