The Top 10 Excaliburs

[freshfeeling]

[It was decided in roughly November of 2023 that GameFAQs once-loved Top 10 Lists feature was being phased out. I had written a few lists between 2009 and 2012 and generally engaged with that community a fair bit, so I figured I would cross-post my lists on this site over ten years later, backdated. You may still be able to view the original version here.]

There are a lot of misconceptions about the legendary Excalibur, and a lot of confusion. Are King Arthur's Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone the same weapon? Is it also the same as the Caladbolg wielded by Fergus mac Róich? Where is the Excalibur now? Should Edge throw it at the Wyvern or should I save it for Zeromus?

 

The truth is that, in modern times, there are many Excaliburs with many different stories. A number of games have adapted this famous name to make a good weapon stand out from the others, and although it's hard to compete with the Arthurian legend, a number of these modern, fictional Excaliburs are fun and memorable. Some Excaliburs are unique, some Xcalbers are pronounced differently (I guess?), and some Excaliburs are better than other Excaliburs. This list aims to educate you about some of the finer ones.

---

#10: Battle Arena Toshinden (PS)

Battle Arena Toshinden was very popular in its day, as a 3D weapons-based fighter predating Soul Edge. The main character was a Japanese guy dressed in white with several well-known and easy to execute special moves. He has a friendly rival who is a westerner with bushy hair. These two have very similar moves with subtle differences because they trained under the same master. Maybe that sounds a bit familiar?

 

I guess the original part is that Eiji's friendly rival Kayin Amoh (from Scotland in some games and England in others) is wielding the Cariburn Saber, rumored to be King Arthur's Excalibur... and later in the series, referred to as Excalibur quite plainly. Excalibur is one of very few "named weapons" in this series; most of Toshinden's weapons are pretty generic. Indeed, even Kayin's Excalibur has no real special properties, although he can do some pretty impressive things with it.

 

Because of its blandness, this one gets #10. Fair game, fair Excalibur.

#9: Knights of the Round (Arcade)

There was a time when Capcom was releasing many sidescrolling beat-em-ups to arcades, probably after they learned that Final Fight worked but before they learned definitively that Street Fighter worked better (in terms of profit, anyway - the relative fun is debatable). One such beat-em-up was Knights Of The Round. In the game's intro, we learn that Arthur pulled the sacred sword Excalibur from the stone, and because of this he should be able to find the holy grail.

 

This game wasn't exactly revolutionary, but it introduced to the genre a "defend" button and an experience point system. As Arthur, Lancelot and Percival gain experience they earn some very cool-looking upgrades to their weapons and armor. As such, Arthur's Excalibur changes pretty radically in appearance over the course of this game, from a slim two-handed sword to something you might expect to see Cloud Strife holding.

 

For being Arthur's Excalibur and being upgraded by picking up treasure, this one gets #9. Good game, fair Excalibur.

#8: Tales of Symphonia (GC)

In most of the Tales games you have the option to fight in a coliseum for prizes. In this (justifiedly) very popular installment, the coliseum can be found in Meltokio, and if Zelos or Kratos can win in the fairly difficult "Advanced Single" mode you will earn the Excalibur (along with a useful "title" that can be used to improve stat growth).

 

It feels like in Tales of Symphonia, the weapons aren't what give you the huge advantages in combat so much as your techniques and magic and even your ability, as a player, to control them. Regardless, this Excalibur is the second strongest weapon available for the two characters who can wield it, so until the Last Fencer is obtained it can be very useful. Many weapons in this game also deal special damage against a certain enemy type and swords, such as Excalibur, are generally more effective against humans. That said, there are many occasions where the special properties of the slightly weaker Crystal Dagger may carry more benefit.

 

It's good, but it isn't above the crowd, so this one comes in at #8. Great game, fair Excalibur.

#7: Final Fantasy (NES)

There have been a lot of Excaliburs in the Final Fantasy series, and this is (obviously) the first. It's actually very early in the game that a dwarven blacksmith offers to make a great weapon for the Light Warriors, but he has run out of Adamant. In the second last dungeon, the Floating Castle, you can find Adamant in a chest, and if you return it to the Dwarf Cave you receive the Xcalber.

 

The Xcalber can only be equipped by a Knight, and is the second-strongest weapon in the game. It was programmed to receive special attack bonuses against enemies with any special types or elemental properties, but due to one of this game's many programming errors this feature doesn't do anything (interestingly, Secret of Mana was programmed by the same guy and its Excalibur suffers a similar problem). Regardless, Xcalber is an excellent weapon, and if you've got a Knight in your party it will probably want this sword at the end of the game.

 

It's good and it paved the way for many of the others on this list, but it's a little bit plain compared to some of these other Excaliburs. I rank it #7. Good game, good Xcalber.

#6: Wizardry: Knight of Diamonds - The Second Scenario (NES)

This is a console port of the second game in the Wizardry series, a set of early D&D-like dungeon crawlers that inspired many others (such as the Might & Magic series). There are a few standout weapons in this game, but Excalibur is certainly among the best.

 

The Excalibur can be wielded by any fighter, lord, ninja or samurai. It has high damage potential, two additional attacks, and the game's highest to-hit bonus. It also adds some ability to resist magic. Most players prefer the Blade Cusinart, which has more extra strikes but slightly lower average damage per hit and an unusual name. If you don't like weapon names that are inspired by kitchen appliances then Excalibur might be the weapon for you!

 

As the oldest Excalibur on this list, and quite a good one, I give this the #6 spot. Good game, good Excalibur.

#5: Final Fantasy IX (PS)

In Final Fantasy IX, the Excalibur is acquired late in the game and can be wielded only by Steiner. It is slightly stronger than the Ultima Sword and not quite as good as the Ragnarok, but it does help Steiner to learn the powerful Climhazzard attack. It also has holy properties, but I wouldn't say it's Steiner's best weapon; it's not even close, actually.

 

Final Fantasy IX also introduced the very difficult-to-acquire Excalibur II. Excalibur II is the strongest weapon in the game, but in order to obtain it the player must reach the last area of this epic game within 12 hours and then search an indistinct section of wall - it's pretty crazy to think that anyone could have figured this out without some kind of guide or insider info. At first, players figured this meant one would have to skip out on a lot of the game's content to get to the end quickly enough to earn this weapon. Now players challenge themselves to experience the entire game and still earn this awesome weapon (and, naturally, there are entire high-quality FAQs on this site devoted to the cause).

 

For being a pretty good Excalibur and introducing a novel, um, Excalibur cousin, I give this one #5. Great game, good Excalibur.

#4: Golden Sun: The Lost Age (GBA)

There is no shortage of powerful weapons with unique effects in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and Excalibur is among the best. Unfortunately, most players are unlikely to ever get an Excalibur, as you only have a 5% chance to receive an Excalibur when forging weapons with the already-quite-rare Orihalcon material. On the other hand, with a lot of saving and reloading it's perfectly possible that you could have more than one.

 

The Excalibur of the Golden Sun series is very powerful, with one of the highest attack ratings and a 35% chance of using its "unleash" effect, Legend, which itself has a special feature that can randomly triple the damage. The animation for Legend is very flashy, and it changes when its triple damage effect comes into play. This Excalibur is also in the recent Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for DS, although better weapons are available so it's a bit less significant.

 

We're getting into some very good Excaliburs now. This one deserves spot #4. Great game, great Excalibur.

#3: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

Aria of Sorrow is a wonderful game, and if you're the sort who likes collecting things or having the "perfect game" then it will keep you busier much longer than the average 2D platformer. The Excalibur is probably one of the last items such a player would obtain, since it can only be earned in the post-game boss rush mode.

 

Despite this Excalibur having the highest numerical power of all of this game's many, many weapons, there are actually some good reasons not to use this weapon: it doesn't have the range of the Positron Rifle, it doesn't have the holy power of the Claimh Solais, and it's very slow to attack with. Why is it so slow? Unlike the Excalibur from Knights Of The Round, Soma Cruz couldn't pull the sword from the stone; the (very large) stone is still attached! Although there might be better options, this Excalibur is fun to use as a novelty because it looks so ridiculous.

 

For having great power and a sense of humor, I give this one spot #3. Great game, great Excalibur.

#2: Final Fantasy Legend II (GB)

In this game, SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu in Japan, weapons have a way of coming and going. Just about every weapon wears out (or runs out of ammo) after several uses, including such legendary weapons as Odin's Gungnir spear. You can find the Xcalibr if you thoroughly investigate the not-very-appropriately-named Final Dungeon, shortly before facing WarMach.

 

The Xcalibr has the same very high power and group-hitting effect as Odin's Gungnir spear, making it one of the game's strongest weapons... but unlike nearly all weapons in this game, it never breaks! You are able to use this amazing weapon as many times as you like through the rest of the Final Dungeon and the game's actual final dungeon as well... and you should, because it never misses and nothing resists it! Mutants and robots are able to replenish many of their attacks by resting or using items, so the Xcalibr is definitely the weapon of choice for humans. Well, I guess there might be at least one better option...

 

For just being great, if somewhat mangled by character display limitations, I think this Xcalibr is #2. Good game, super great Xcalibr.

#1: Final Fantasy Tactics (PS)

At one point, most of the way through this epic strategy RPG, an overpowered character joins the team. I think even a lot of gamers who haven't played FFT know the name Orlandu. Orlandu also comes with some very good equipment, including an Excalibur. In my opinion, it's hard to say what's more overpowered: is it Orlandu or his weapon?

 

There are a lot of weapons with stronger numerical power ratings, but Excalibur has a lot of special features; it absorbs holy attacks, powers up the user's holy attacks, and keeps the user under the constant effect of Haste, increasing their speed dramatically. This is especially broken with Orlandu, of course, who can use Two Swords to use a strong weapon (like the Chaos Blade) with his All Swordskill abilities while still holding the Excalibur in his other hand to utilize its positive effects, including constant haste.

 

That may not even be the most broken way to use it though! This game features the "Calculator" job, who can use mathematical constraints to target different combatants on the battle field. Suppose someone is wielding Excalibur who has learned the Calculator's Math Skill abilities and the magic spell Holy. Under certain circumstances it is possible to, while hasted, target everyone with a powered-up Holy attack, including yourself, who it restores fully. And there's no wait time or cost to do this.

 

It's probably the case that Orlandu is more overpowered than the Excalibur. Math Skill is pretty broken, too. But I promise, this Excalibur is really good no matter how you use it. I guess I would even go so far as to say it's the best! Great game, best Excalibur.

---

That's the list. I noticed a few things while writing it: first of all, there are fewer recent games using historical names like Excalibur for their weapons. Secondly, the Final Fantasy series has really adopted the Excalibur as its own. If you try to think of the most notorious Excaliburs in gaming it's hard not to come back to a Final Fantasy game or six. There might be more Final Fantasy games with Excaliburs than King Arthur-related games with Excaliburs, even.

 

For the record, some other Excaliburs I considered include those from King Arthur & The Knights of Justice (SNES), Final Fantasy IV (SNES), Final Fantasy V (SNES), Final Fantasy Adventure (GB) and Secret Of Mana (SNES), but I don't feel that any of them were as noteworthy... plus I wanted to limit the amount of Final Fantasy on this list.

 

By the way, I recommend saving the Excalibur for Zeromus.