Atropos' Rod

An Atropos' Rod is a Staff-class Artifact weapon found in Golden Sun: The Lost Age and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. In all its appearances, when looking at Attack increases, Atropos' Rod is the second strongest Staff available, with only Lachesis' Rule being stronger.

Basic Description by Game
In all its appearances, Atropos' Rod increases the wielder's attack by 169 points. It can be sold for 14175 coins and subsequently re-bought for 18900 coins.

In The Lost Age, it is dropped by Fire Dragons in Yampi Desert Cave, although the odds of receiving it are very slim under normal circumstances. Felling the Flame Dragon with an offensive Mercury Djinni can improve the chances of a drop. Also, there are certain methods for manipulating the Random Number Generator to ensure a drop. Atropos' Rod can be equipped by Jenna, Ivan, Sheba, and Mia. Atropos' Rod's Unleash effect is Life Shear, which activates at a rate of 40% (notable, since most Unleashes activate at a rate of 35%). It converts all damage to Mars damage and attacks with an additional 114 attack points, which is higher than almost all Unleashes in the game (it is still outdone by Lachesis' Rule). In addition, it occasionally kills the target instantly, an undeniably powerful effect.

In Dark Dawn, Atropos' Rod is rarely dropped by Fenrirs at the Endless Wall as well as Apollo Ascent. Though there is no known RNG method for guaranteeing a drop, felling a Fenrir with a Mars Djinni can improve the chances. As a staff-class weapon, Atropos' Rod can be equipped by Karis, Himi, Rief, and Amiti. Atropos' Rod retains Life Shear as its signature Unleash, but also gains two new Unleashes: Critical Strike and Fearless Attack. Critical Strike is a non-elemental physical attack that multiplies damage by 1.5, while Fearless Attack is a non-elemental physical attack that multiplies damage by 1.7. Life Shear is given a slight revision as well; it now has a range of up to three targets.

The Lost Age
Atropos' Rod is a powerful weapon, although it cannot be obtained until late into the game. This limits its usefulness, as many enemies would most likely be defeated within a few turns anyways. Also, many players may use this as a placeholder until they can obtain a Lachesis' Rule or  Tisiphone Edge. However, for those who do not gain access to Anemos Sanctum, Atropos' Rod is the most powerful weapon available  to Sheba and Mia.

Atropos' Rod vs Lachesis Rule
At first glance, it seems that Lachesis' Rule is the game's most  powerful Staff, with Atropos' Rod coming in at a close second. However, upon closer inspection, it's possible to say that Atropos' Rod is the  stronger of the two. The most obvious reason for this reversal of power is in their Unleashes: Atropos' Rod's Unleash, Life Shear, has a small  chance of instantly killing the target, which is a huge advantage over  the time-consuming Curse caused by  Lachesis' Rule's Unleash, Apocalypse.

Also to be taken into consideration is when these two items can be obtained. Lachesis' Rule can only be found in Anemos Sanctum, which can't be entered without all 72  Djinn. This requires the player to collect all 28 Djinn in Golden Sun, transfer their data to Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and then locate  the remaining 44 Djinn. Because of this, some players may not even reach Anemos Sanctum, let alone get a Lachesis' Rule. In comparison, Atropos' Rod is fairly easy to obtain, requiring little more than access to the  interior of the Yampi Desert Cave.

This isn't to say that Lachesis' Rule doesn't have its advantages over Atropos' Rod. The most notable advantage is that Lachesis' Rule has a higher attack  rating, which can make a huge difference since the characters that can  equip these weapons usually have low attack ratings. Also to be taken into consideration is the elements of their Unleashes. Life Shear is of the Mars element, while Apocalypse does Jupiter damage. This makes Atropos' Rod an excellent choice for Jenna, whose high Mars power would  make Life Shear even stronger, while the same idea makes Lachesis' Rule  ideal for Ivan and Sheba. However, Jenna and Ivan may find the attack multiplier of the Tisiphone Edge to be stronger than either of the  Staffs (although it is worth mentioning that their Venus power does  have an impact on the damage dealt), leaving only Sheba to take full  advantage of the Unleashes.

In the end, which Staff is stronger is largely a matter of personal preference.

Dark Dawn
In Dark Dawn, many so-called "ultimate weapons", such as the Sol Blade and Excalibur, found their usefulness hindered, since most of them have multiple unleashes. However, Atropos' Rod does not seem to fall as far as other weapons. While not the strongest Unleashes, Critical Strike and Fearless Attack will reliably multiply damage. Also, unlike other weapons, Life Shear is one of three Unleashes rather than one of four, meaning it will be called up more often. Additionally, Life Shear is now one of several ranged Unleashes, meaning that it now effects the targeted foe and each directly adjacent foe, granting it a usefulness of a different sort. Accordingly, Life Shear's chance to instantly kill enemies applies to all targets, giving it a better chance to activate than it would normally. Finally, it is available before the final boss battle of the main portion of the game, unlike the Tisiphone Edge and Lachesis' Rule, which can only be accessed either through a glitch or after the final battle. The main drawback is that it is such a rare drop; given that there are no confirmed RNG methods, it may be some time before an enemy will drop the Rod.

As a weapon, Atropos' Rod can be useful for any mage-style Adept capable of equipping it, particularly since it is available before several other "ultimate weapons". While there is no mage-style Mars Adept to take full advantage of Life Shear, Mars Djinn can be used to increase the respective Adept's Mars Power.

RNG Methods (The Lost Age)
While Atropos' Rod is normally an extremely rare drop in The Lost Age, it is possible to manipulate the Random Number Generator to ensure that the Rod is dropped at the end of a battle.

Normal Mode version

Save your game at Yampi Desert Cave, then reset and enter a random battle; if the first random battle you encounter is not a two-enemy battle in which at least one of the monsters is a Fire Dragon, reset and try again. Make sure Piers is the slowest member of the frontal party but has more Agility than the target Fire Dragon's 166 Agility rating; the other three can make their moves in any order.

1st Round (big arrow on the Fire Dragon):
 * Felix casts Clay Spire
 * Jenna casts Debilitate
 * Sheba casts Storm Ray
 * Piers casts Glacier

2nd Round (big arrow on the Fire Dragon):
 * Felix casts Clay Spire
 * Jenna casts Debilitate
 * Sheba casts Storm Ray
 * Piers unleashes Serac/Chill

Hard Mode version

In the Hard Mode, it is recommended that the party be at level 50 for the following method - which requires that the Fire Dragon appear in battle without any allies - to successfully fell the Fire Dragon at the right moment for the RNG manipulation to kick in:

1st round:
 * Sheba casts Storm Ray
 * Felix casts Clay Spire
 * Jenna casts Aura
 * Piers casts Diamond Berg

2nd round:
 * Sheba casts Storm Ray
 * Felix casts Clay Spire
 * Jenna casts Aura
 * Piers unleashes Serac/Chill

Cultural references
In Greek mythology, Atropos was the oldest of the the three Fates, sisters who maintain and shape the flow of each person's future in the form of a great tapestry. Atropos's role is to determine where, when, and how a life should end, cutting the thread to fit that chosen destiny.

Each of the Fates has a weapon named after it in The Lost Age: Clotho's Distaff, Lachesis' Rule, and Atropos' Rod.

Gallery of Dark Dawn unleashes