1. The almost 100 damage one-handed Karkata sword is available very early on in the game and is the best starter weapon for a Knight/Machinist. Karkata can be used until the Knight/Machinist upgrades to Mithuna, the best gun in the game, after becoming a second job Machinist. Machinist is the best single target damage dealer in weak mode due to guns not having a strength calculation which is dependent on your level. Karkata can be stolen from Trial Mode - Stage 3 and has an on-hit Confuse effect which is surprisingly effective on both regular enemies and early bosses.

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2. The Gladius is available at the beginning of the game and is a great weapon for a Shikari. The Gladius is a rare steal from the Lindbur Wolf in Dalmasca Westersands (Shimmering Horizons). To spawn Lindbur Wolf you will need to kill 20 wolves in the Dalmasca Westersand and then make your way over to the separate northeast area of Dalmasca Westersands (Shimmering Horizons) where Lindbur Wolf will spawn. Lindbur Wolf is susceptible to blind and can be brought to the zone-line to heal your characters if the Lindbur Wolf fight seems too difficult at your current stage of the game.​

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3. Vrscika is the best hammer in the game for a Foebreaker and is farmable extremely early in the game (after your first visit to Henne Mines). To make Vrscika appear in the bazaar you will need to sell 3 Charred Gizzards (a Knight's Monograph drop and/or Poach from Thunder Bugs in Henne Mines within the Phase 1 Dig Site/Crossover B areas), 4 Scorpio Gems (a rare drop or steal from Grenades in Zertinan Caverns within the Hourglass Basin area), and 3 Wyrm Bones (a Warmage's Monograph drop or it can be stolen from Skulwyrms in the Zertinan Caverns within the Drybeam Caverns area). After the 3 Charred Gizzards, 4 Scorpio Gems, and 3 Wyrm Bones have been farmed and sold you can buy the Vrscika for 70k from the bazaar.

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4. The Golden Armor, Golden Helm, and Golden Shield make an excellent defensive set early on for heavy armor users like Knight/Machinists or Foebreaker/Machinists. This set appears in the bazaar after selling 3 Iron Carapaces (rare Poach from Sleipnir in the Dalmasca Westersand), 2 Tanned Hides (drop from Slaven in Giza Plains during the dry season), and 3 Dark Magacites (steal from Malboro Overkings in Garamscythe Waterway). The Golden Garb set can be farmed and purchased from the bazaar once Poach becomes available in the Technick shop.

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5. The Diamond Helm, Dragon Shield, Viking Coat, Black Cowl can all be found early on in the game and are several tiers above the previously available gear. The Diamond Helm, Dragon Shield, Viking Coat, and Black Cowl are farmable from chests in the Dalmasca Estersand (Broken Sands) after completing the Desert Patient Side-Quest (which becomes available after completing Tomb of Raithwall and the Nidhogg Hunt). These items can be farmed for multiple characters and all of the chests are repeatable. 

 

6. The Diamond Armor and Black Garb can be found if you travel further past the Dalmasca Estersand (Broken Sands) which is the location of the previous tip to the Mosphoran Highwaste (Trail of Sky-flung Stone). You should be able to easily sprint past the mobs in these zones and even if you die running through the area you can always use your auto-save from zoning and reload at the zone line. These chests are repeatable and can also be farmed for multiple characters.

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7. It is important to note that you can purchase regular Ethers from the merchant in the Muthru Bazaar area of Rabanastre after achieving a high enough rank with Clan Centurio. Hi-ethers can be purchased later from the hidden Baknamy Merchant in the Cloister of the Highborn area of the Necrohol of Nabudis after completing Pharos in the main storyline. The Baknamy merchant appears as a question mark in the northern most room of the Cloister of the Highborn in the southwest corner of the room.

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8. Black Robes becomes available mid game as a rare steal from Ahriman in Trial Mode - Stage 29. Black Robes have 5 less defense and 44 less mp than Lordly Robes (the best mystic armor in the game), but Dark Robes has 5 more magick resist which makes Dark Robes about Lordly Robes' equal defensively.

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9. Sage's Ring is great for your White Mages and Black Mages in weak mode. Sage's Ring cuts the cost of magic in half for your mages (you will have a much lower maximum mp in weak mode) and as an added bonus it absorbs holy damage. Sage's Ring can be found in the Stilshrine of Miriam (Ward of Steel), as a 25% chest in the Henne Mines (Phase 2 Shaft in the area only accessible through The Feywood), and also in Pharos Subterra (Umbra South).

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10. The Golden Amulet doubles the amount of LP gained by a character and can be used on characters that are not currently being used in your active party. The Golden Amulet can be purchased from the bazaar after selling a Tattered Garment which is a Knight's Monograph drop from Scythe Mantises in Zertinan Caverns (The Hourglass Basin). The Golden Amulet is obtained as a reward for the Enkelados Hunt and also as a reward for the Desert Patient Sidequest. More copies of the Golden Amulet can be found in Ogir-Yensa Sandsea (Platform 1-Refinery), The Feywood (White Magic's Embrace), and the Pharos Subterra (Penumbra - South).

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11. Mithuna, the best Machinist weapon in the game, is available as soon as Nabreus Deadlands is accessible. To make Mithuna appear in the bazaar you will need to sell 3 Silver Liquids (common drop from Foobars that are present in multiple area of the Nabreus Deadlands), 8 Earth Crystals (common drop from Killer Mantises in Lhusu Mines in the Site 9 and 11 areas or Elvorets in the Necrohol of Nabudis), and 2 Emperor Scales (Dragoon's Monograph drop from Archaeoaevis in Zertinan Caverns within the Balamka South area or Emperor Scales can be stolen from Elder Wyrm and Deathgaze).

Note: If you would like Mithuna early on in the game, you will need to farm an Emperor Scale from an Archaeoaevis. You will need the Cleanse spell and/or Remedy Lore 3 to get rid of Disease before fighting them. Archaeoaevis has a fair bit of health so before killing them you can zone to create a save spot and if the Archaeoaevis doesn't drop the Emperor Scales, you can reload the save file with the Archaeoaevis still at low health. Bring a full supply of Ethers, Remedies, and Phoenix Downs for the fight. If the fight is too hard at your current stage in the game, I would highly recommend bringing them to the zone line and zoning out to heal and then going back in as many times as you need to finish them off. 

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12. You can purchase a chocobo from Phon Coast once the storyline takes you there and ride the chocobo to the Cerobi Steppe before you would normally be able to go there. To get into Cerobi Steppe you will need to have your chocobo ride over the rocks to the right of the blocked off path at the entrance to Cerobi Steppe. Cerobi Steppe has some of the best items in the game when a Diamond Armlet is equipped. You will only need to move one zone over and then zone back in to check the chests in Cerobi Steppe. Many of the chests are close to the zone-lines and some of the best chests are close to each other. However, expect it to take an hour or more to get an item near the zone line because the chance of a chest spawning and having the item in it is less than 1 in 100. Outside of getting the best items in the game from Cerobi Steppe early in weak mode, you will also save all the time that you would have spent farming gil to purchase equipment at every stage of the game. Below are the best items and easiest farms available on weak mode from Cerobi Steppe farming:

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13. The Dueling Mask is the best light armor helmet and is in a chest in Cerobi Steppe (Crossfield). It's in the chest closest to the zone line between Journey's Rest and the Crossfield and is to the right side of a nearby large rock.

 

14. The Circlet is the best mystic armor helmet and can be found in a chest in the Cerobi Steppe (Crossfield). It's in the chest closest to the zone line between Northsward and Crossfield.

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15. The Brave Suit which is the best light armor in the game with Auto-Bravery, The Mirage Vest is the light armor with the largest hp boost, and the Fomalhaut is the best gun for Shikaris. They are all close to each other in the first three chests closest to the left wall in Cerobi Steppe (Feddik River) when entered from Northsward.

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16. The Lordly Robe is the best mystic armor in the game and the Grand Armor is the best heavy armor in the game and they're both in the northern most part of Cerobi Steppe (Northsward) away from the zone line. Neither are really necessary for weak mode because your heavy armor users will be better off using light armor as second job Machinists and your casters will have easier access to Black Robes which is about Lordly Robes equivalent defensively. These two items are also not near the zone line so it may take a while longer to farm them. If you still would like to farm Lordly Robes and Grand Armor, the Lordly Robe is in front of a small cliff to the far north behind a small rock. The Grand Armor is nearby located behind a large rock in the most central part of the map to the far north. 

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17. Knots of Rust are found in chests that do not contain items with The Diamond Armlet equipped. Knots of Rust can be thrown at mobs to increase the damage of Dark Matter up to 50,000 damage and are a benefit of farming Cerobi Steppe. It will take about sixty throws of Knots of Rust to fully charge a Dark Matter depending on your maximum hp. The damage increase of Dark Matter, from using Knots of Rust, is tied to your maximum hp so make sure to cast Bubble. The Dark Matter can be considered an ace up your sleeve for some of the toughest fights in weak mode like the Zodiark fight.

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And the strongly recommended party setup for weak mode is...

White Mage/Shikari (Fran), Knight/Machinist (Balthier), Black Mage/Monk (Ashe), Red Mage/Shikari (Vaan), Machinist/Foebreaker (Basch), Black Mage/Time Battlemage (Penelo)

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White Mage/Shikari (Fran) is a high hp healer that is capable of using the 50 evasion weapon (Main Gauche) and a shield such as the 50 magick evasion shield (Aegis Shield). She also has the capability of using absorb shields like the Demon Shield for the Zodiark fight. White Mage/Shikari is a healer that takes hits better than most of the damage dealers.

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Knight/Machinist (Balthier) is the main damage dealer throughout most of the game. Very early in the game Balthier as a first job Knight will use Karkata which is almost a 100 damage one-hand sword with Confuse on hit. Mind you Confuse works on regular mobs and a large number of storyline bosses early in the game (Karkata can be stolen in Trial Mode stage 3). His second job Machinist is the highest damage dealer job available in weak mode. This is due to guns not having a strength calculation which is based primarily on your characters level. After Karkata, he will use Mithuna (the best gun in Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age) which is purchasable through the bazaar near the middle of the game.

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Black Mage/Monk (Ashe) is a high damage caster with a lot of hp, Curaja, and Arise. There are a number of fights where magical damage is needed which is why it's important to have a Black Mage even on weak mode. Monk as Ashe's second job has the benefit of giving her a much larger amount of hp. 

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Red Mage/Shikari (Vaan) is an all purpose buffer of Bubble and Protect with so-so heals and the ability to equip guns (unlocked with the esper Shemhazai) which are the highest damage weapons in weak mode. Red Mage can also use guns with Dark Shot and Dark Robes (with access to mystic armor from Red Mage) for the dark elemental boost if you would like to attempt Yiazmat (the hardest fight in the game outside of trial mode). They can optionally use Oil while using Wyrmfire Shot on tougher regular mobs and the few late game bosses that are not immune to Oil. He will also have access to Ardor, Blizzaga, Thundaga, and Darkga and will be able to use most White Magic, Black Magic, Green Magic, and Arcane Magic.

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Machinist/Foebreaker (Basch) is a high hp job combination like Knight/Machinist. It helps to have a different second job for your Machinist so that some of the licenses aren't shared in weak mode. Breaks have an extremely low chance of landing in weak mode but, have a large effect on never ending hp mobs like Hell Wyrm and Yiazmat. Even if you aren't going to attempt Hell Wyrm and Yiazmat, Foebreaker is an excellent second job combination for a Machinist damage dealer when playing on weak mode.

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Black Mage/Time Battlemage (Penelo) is used because having two Black Mages helps out significantly in weak mode. Black Mage/Monk is a good alternative option for Penelo because she will have a much higher hp than Black Mage/Time Battlemage. Time Battlemage as a second job is used for the added utility and because it is important to have different job combinations on weak mode to avoid shared licenses which can't be used by two characters. Time Battlemages have to be paired with a mystic armor class on weak mode or they will not have enough mp which is why Black Mage is the perfect pair for a Time Battlemage. As a Time Battlemage, Penelo will have the advantages of being able to use the Berserk spell on tougher caster mobs like White Mousse and Mindflayers and she will have Hastega near the end of the game without putting Famfrit on a Machinist. Famfrit can then be given to the Black Mage/Monk for Arise.