Arctic Blade

Arctic Blade
Visual effect of Blizzard
Trade values
Item class	Long Sword
Buy value	2600
Sell value	1950
Statistics boosts
Attack Boost	55
Unleash effect
Effect name	Blizzard
Unleash rate	35%
Extra damage	18
Side effect	May decrease the target's Attack rating by 25%

The Arctic Blade is a Long Sword-class weapon Artifact available in Golden Sun. It is found in a treasure chest in Fuchin Falls Cave and is not all that hard to reach. Being a Long Sword-class weapon, the Arctic Blade can be equipped on warrior-style Adepts, namely Isaac and Garet, and Felix, and Piers if transferred into The Lost Age. Its buy value is 2600 coins and its sell value is 1950 coins.

The Arctic Blade increases the wielder's base Attack rating by 55 points. Its Unleash effect is Blizzard, with the standard base activation rate of 35%, which is a physical attack with an additional 18 points of damage added, and then the resulting damage is either increased or decreased based on how the user's Mercury power measures against the target's Mercury resistance. The Unleash may also decrease the target's total Attack rating by 25% (the maximum amount any character or enemy in the game can have its Attack rating increased or decreased is up to 50%, so this side effect can successfully occur twice profitably). Visually, Blizzard resembles a stream of ice shards flying from the sword and cutting through the enemy.

Analysis

In Golden Sun, the Arctic Blade is the strongest weapon for when it can be first found. However, its Unleash effect being Mercury means that it will not be as damaging as it can potentially be in the hands of the only two warrior-style Adepts that can wield it at that point in the series, the Venus Adept Isaac and the Mars Adept Garet. The Unleash's damage can be increased somewhat if a warrior Adept has Mercury Djinn set onto him to increase his Mercury levels, but then an interesting scenario occurs; the Swordsman/Defender class that results on that Adept has the Cutting Edge Psynergy which is an elemental physical attack just like Blizzard. The two effects differ in that Cutting Edge is more powerful and can occur for you whenever you want it, but it casts 5 PP each time, while the weaker Blizzard that only occurs by chance does not consume PP and may lower the target's Attack rating as a beneficial side effect. Whether the straightforward and strong Cutting Edge or the Blizzard is tried as an attack for a given turn is a matter of strategy.

The weapon's usefulness beyond this point is limited, however, since it can be overpowered by even a Claymore, which can be purchased as early as Altin. However, those who have this weapon will find it useful against the Killer Ape in Mogall Forest for its Attack-decreasing effect, and if this weapon is still equipped by the time the party passes Altin into Lamakan Desert, the Blizzard unleash can be effective against the Manticore boss, who is weak to Mercury attacks and is capable of using Impair. Being an early-game weapon in Golden Sun, it is definitely not a weapon you would want to have in Isaac's inventory at the end of the game to transfer late into Golden Sun: The Lost Age for practical purposes, unless you're pursuing the minor interest of collecting every weapon artifact in the overall series.