The Ragnarok Conundrum

Sequel to The Bourne Identity trilogy… I pose unto you a conundrum. A riddle, if you will. Sword versus Esper debating time.

The Ragnarok sword should be turned into the Illumina right away; there is no reason not to. The Illumina is the bestest most awesome sword in the game:

• 255 Attack Power (the maximum)
• Never misses unless the target has the Invisible status, not even Image or facing a Cactrot will prevent landing a blow
• Uses 12 to 19 MP for automatic critical hits
• Randomly casts Pearl, but since the automatic critical also affects the spell it's actually Pearl x 2
• +7 to every stat: Strength, Stamina, Speed, and Magic Power
• + 50% Evasion and Magic Evasion
• Deals the same amount of damage from the Back Row

But, you can Steal the Ragnarok sword in the final battle so you can have both if you go with the Esper. This way, you could after the final battle end up with both the sword and the Esper - you know, for completion's sake.

The Ragnarok Esper teaches Ultima, which is far and away the best offensive spell in the game. It's non-elemental, barrier-piercing, multi-target and stronger than anything that's not tweaked so hard it's embarrassing. The Esper summon attack is pretty bad but does grant access to elusive items for the completionists out there.

But, the Paladin Shield also teaches Ultima, and technically the Magicite item also may summon Ragnarok to do the same job.

In the end? Sorry man, it depends. Want the best most awesome game in the world? Go with the Esper, since that'll only mean you'll have to fight through the final dungeon one more time to get a Ragnarok sword in addition to your Esper. If you, on the other hand, want little fuss but do want the best weapon in the game, take the sword.

Further Regarding the Esper...

Metamorph is the attack performed by the Ragnarok Esper when summoned. For the 6 MP it costs, you really can't expect much from it; slim as the chances may be though, the Metamorph's unique ability to turn opponents into items may prove useful.

Metamorph doesn't take Death Protection into consideration, nor is the Hit Rate affected by Magic Evasion. Every monster has his own 'Metamorph success change' bit. This is why combos like Stop/Metamorph or even Vanish/Metamorph don't guarantee a hit, though you might expect them to do just that.

There are two uses the Metamorph can have for you. The first one is obtaining rare items in quantities hitherto not thought of. The other one is the fact it kills monsters in one hit without checking for Death Protection; it may very well be a successful monster slayer if you know what monsters to target.

First off, a list of rare items you can only get more of if you opt for the Esper (ignoring the small chance of using Setzer or Magicite to get Ragnarok at random):

• Safety Bit
• Striker
• Cursed Ring
• Relic Ring

Other rare items that are hard to obtain and can be produced with Metamorph:

• Genji Glove
• Pod Bracelet
• Ribbon
• Megalixir
• Thornlet
• Exp. Egg
• Marvel Shoes

These items can be morphed from the enemies listed below. Most enemies have a set of four items that can be won from Metamorph, with equal distribution. That means if Metamorph hits, you have a 25% chance of getting the item you want. However, due to the success bit mentioned above, there is a second factor, and that is the hit percentage of Metamorph itself. For most monsters, that percentage is 12.5%; therefore, you can assume that unless mentioned specifically below, the chance of getting the item you want with any given summoning of Ragnarok is a lowly 3.125%.

• Safety Bit: White Drgn, Boxed Set, Critic, Trixter, Woolly
• Striker: Ninja, Covert, Outsider
• Cursed Ring: , Didalos, Veteran
• Relic Ring: , Didalos, Veteran
• Genji Glove: Samurai, Retainer
• Pod Bracelet: White Drgn, Critic
• Ribbon: Dahling, Madam, Pan Dora, Barb-e
• Megalixir: Magic Urn (this one has an effective percentage of only 1.5625%), Intangir
• Thornlet: SrBehemoth 1, Didalos, Veteran
• Exp. Egg: Harpy, Harpiai, Aquila
• Marvel Shoes: SlamDancer, SoulDancer, Tap Dancer

Now, there's also the issue of Metamorph being an attack that sets Death and doesn't respect instant death immunity whatsoever. So here's a list of monsters that are immune to instant death but have a Morph Hit Rate equal or superior to 50%:

• Hazer: 99%
• Baskervor: 50%
• Brachosaur: 50%
• Tyranosaur: 50%
• ChickenLip: 99%
• Warlock: 50%
• Slatter: 50%
• Rhinox: 50%
• Chitonid: 50%
• Brontaur: 99%
• Drop: 50%
• Crusher: 50%
• Cephaler: 99%
• Gigan Toad: 50%
• Latimeria: 50%
• Hemophyte: 50%
• Sp Forces: 50%
• Wizard: 99%
• Scrapper: 50%
• Ceritops: 50%
• Lunaris: 99%
• Nastidon: 50%
• Adamanchyt: 50%
• Psychot: 99%
• Muus: 99%
• Karkass: 50%
• Mandrake: 99%
• Red Wolf: 50%

Out of those, the only really spectacular one is Brachosaur; the strongest random encounter in the game has an immediate 50% chance of falling without a fight if you summon Ragnarok. 99% isn't entirely accurate in this list; it's actually 99.609375% (in other words, there's a 1/256 chance it'll miss).

The eight elemental dragons (as well as Proto Armor) all carry a 12.5% chance of a successful Metamorph attack for a piece of Crystal equipment (Crystal, Crystal Shield, Crystal Helm, Crystal Mail).

There you go, if you don't think those odds are too bad, go nuts, kiddos.