Antidote

An Antidote (どくけしそう Antidote Herb) is a consumable item in the Golden Sun series. Like most consumable items, each party member can hold up to 30 antidotes in a single inventory slot. When used, an antidote removes poison or venom from a single party member. Antidotes can be bought for 20 coins and sold for 15 coins.

Golden Sun Antidotes
In the original Golden Sun game, antidotes can be bought from all item vendors in the game. This includes: Vale, Vault, Bilibin, Kolima, Imil, Xian, Altin, Kalay, Tolbi, Lunpa, Suhalla, and Lalivero.

Antidotes are dropped by Spiders, Tarantulas, Mole Mages, Grubs, Undead, Man o' Wars, Dirty Apes, Ghouls, Fiendish Ghouls, and Cannibal Ghouls.

The Lost Age Antidotes
In Golden Sun: The Lost Age, antidotes can be bought from all item vendors in the game. This includes: Daila, Madra, Alhafra, Garoh, Mikasalla, Naribwe, Kibombo, Yallam, Apojii Islands, Izumo, Champa, Shaman Village, Contigo, Loho, and Prox.

Antidotes are dropped by Spiders, Mole Mages, Undead, Man o' Wars, Urchin Beasts, Needle Eggs, Ghouls, Cannibal Ghouls, Hydras, Devil Scorpions, and Assassins.

Antidotes can also be located in the following areas:
 * In Madra, outside, in the box just north of the old woman
 * In the second area (or "room") of Yampi Desert in a chest (after pounding a couple of stakes down)

Dark Dawn Antidotes
In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, antidotes can be bought from all item vendors in the game. This includes: Patcher's Place, Carver's Camp, Harapa, Passaj, Kaocho, Ayuthay, Te Rya Village, Belinsk, Border Town, Port Rago, Saha Town, Harun Village, Yamata City, Tonfon, and Champa Camp.

Antidotes are dropped by Tarantulas, Recluses, Cuttles, Calamars, Vampire Bats, Undead, Lizard Brutes, and Dark Skulls.

Rief joins the party with a single antidote in his inventory.

Antidotes can also be found in the following locations:


 * Two jars can be found in the house in the northeast corner of Patcher's Place. The jar on the left contains an antidote.
 * When passing through the Konpa Gate, players should take a short break in the gatekeeper's house. Apparently the aging man keeps an antidote in the rightmost jar.
 * Another antidote can be found in the house to the left of Passaj's inn. Examine the jar in the bottom-right corner to obtain it.
 * Most of Ayuthay is off-limits until after exploring both Passaj and Kaocho. However, players visiting Ayuthay early can find an antidote in a jar at the end of the right-hand path.

Analysis
Unlike most status conditions, poison does not fade after battle. Fortunately, antidotes can also be used outside of battle. When fighting weak enemies, it may be better to leave poison untreated and heal after the battle ends. However, against stronger opponents or when dealing with venom (a variation of poison that inflicts more damage), the damage dealt by poison will gradually build up. In these situations, poison should be treated as soon as possible. This is one of the cases where it is advantageous to have antidotes on hand, as it allows any party member to remove the poison while an Adept with healing Psynergy tends to the party's wounds.

Antidotes are both common and cheap, so players will have no problem maintaining a large supply of antidotes later in a game. In earlier stages, however, money is at a premium and poison is not the most common of status conditions, so it isn't advised to carry more than a couple of antidotes per party member. As the player progresses, monetary rewards will increase, allowing players to invest in larger quantities of antidotes. Even then, only a small handful be needed in most situations.

Alternatives
Although poison is dangerous if left untreated, the actual practicality of antidotes depends largely on a player's preferred style of combat. The Cure Poison Psynergy is obtained early on and has a very low PP cost, and some Djinn (such as Salt and Tonic) can purge all status conditions from the entire party. Because of this, many players may find antidotes to be a waste of inventory space that could be put to better use. On the other hand, antidotes have the added advantage of being usable by any party member, and can still be used if the character's Psynergy is sealed or completely depleted.