Shamshir

Shamshir (GBA)
Visual effect of Acid Bath
Trade values
Item class	Long Sword
Buy value	10000
Sell value	7500
Statistics boosts
Attack Boost	99
Unleash effect
Effect name	Acid Bath
Unleash rate	35%
Extra damage	34
Side effect	May decrease the target's Attack rating by 25%

A Shamshir is a Longsword-class Artifact weapon found throughout the Golden Sun series.

Basic Description

In all 3 games, the Shamshir increases the wielder's base Attack rating by 99 points. It can be bought for 10000 coins and sold for 7500 coins.

Its Unleash effect is Acid Bath, with the standard base activation rate of 35%, which is a physical attack with an additional 34 points of damage added, and then the resulting damage is either increased or decreased based on how the user's Mars power measures against the target's Mars 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 by is up to 50%, so this side effect can successfully occur twice profitably). Visually, Acid Bath resembles a physical attack with a purplish vapor-like cloud released on impact.

In Golden Sun, it is sold as an artifact at the weapon vendor in Lunpa that opens after completing the Lunpa Fortress optional event, and can be equipped by Isaac and Garet.

In Golden Sun: The Lost Age, it is sold as an artifact in the general vendor in Izumo, which is accessible as soon as you gain the Lemurian Ship and start exploring the Great Eastern Sea. The Shamshir can be equipped by Felix and Piers.

In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, the Shamshir is sold as an artifact in the town of Tonfon, and can be equipped by Matthew and Tyrell. It retains Acid Bath as its signature unleash, and gains two secondary Unleashes: Power Charge and Fearless Attack. Power Charge is a Mars-based unleash with 40% more damage. In addition, Power Charge has a chance of decreasing the target's Defense by 25% when attacking. Fearless Attack is a non-elemental Unleash with 70% more damage.

Shamshir (DD)
Trade values
Item class	Long Sword
Buy value	10,000
Sell value	7,500
Statistics boosts
Attack Boost	99
First unleash effect
Effect name	Power Charge
Extra damage	x1.4
Side effect	May reduce target's defense rating by 25%
Second unleash effect
Effect name	Fearless Attack
Extra damage	1.7
Third unleash effect
Effect name	Acid Bath
Extra damage	34
Side effect	May reduce target's attack rating by 25%

Analysis

In Golden Sun, the Shamshir is essentially a buyable "reward" artifact for completing the optional Lunpa Fortress dungeon and its boss Toadonpa, and it is sold alongside a similar weapon artifact named the Dragon Axe. Both are strong weapons and should be bought for your two warrior Adepts. Note that both weapons' Unleash effects are Mars-based so they will do more damage for Garet than Isaac, but exchanging Venus and Mars Djinn between them so that they're both in the Brute class series is very sound for increasing damage and power in general. The Shamshir generally remains in the party until arriving at Lalivero.

In Golden Sun: The Lost Age, the Shamshir is effectively one of the many weapon artifacts that become instantly available once the party opens up the Great Eastern Sea for exploring with their newly acquired Lemurian Ship, and while it's probably not a bad weapon to buy, the fact your Mars Adept Jenna can not equip it as a Long Sword hurts its overall usefulness to your party because its Unleash effect is Mars-based. It is conceivably useful if you specifically keep Felix in the Mars Djinn-based Savage class to increase both his natural battling ability and his Mars power level, however.

In Dark Dawn, the Shamshir is not available until the player gains access to the sailing ship. By this time, Matthew and Tyrell will both have weapons that far outclass the Shamshir. In addition, the player will have access to many forged weapons that are significantly stronger than the Shamshir. Thus, the player avoid the Shamshir in favor of these stronger weapons.