One of the most important things in any role-playing game is the equipment you have for your characters, as it often provides useful offensive or defensive capabilities (or even additional boons) that can drastically increase your party’s survivability. That’s as true as ever in Super Mario RPG, with each of the main characters having unique weapons and armor that you can equip to boost their power and protection throughout your journey.
In this guide, we’ll break down each character’s best equipment and where to obtain it so that you can become an unstoppable force. And while it’s great to have the best weapons and armor for every character, you’ll also come across plenty of accessories on your travels. So, as a bonus, we’ll also include a few accessories that we consider to be well worth snatching as soon as possible to improve your party’s overall viability.
There are five playable characters in Super Mario RPG, each with their own best equipment options. Unsurprisingly, you’ll need to progress to nearly the finale of the game before you can obtain most of these items, but they’re well worth the time and coin investment required to get them. Here’s every character’s best armor and weapon and where to find them.
Mario
Mario is the game’s main character and provides your party with a powerful suite of abilities you’ll want to use frequently.
Best Weapon: Ultra Hammer
You can find the Ultra Hammer inside of a chest inside of the Factory in the lead-up to the Countdown boss.
Best Armor: Hero Shirt
You can buy the Hero Shirt for 100 coins from Croco in Bowser’s Keep after defeating Magikoopa.
Peach
Princess Peach is Super Mario RPG‘s primary healer and buffer, who makes up for her lack of attack power with her various helpful spells.
Best Weapon: Frying Pan
The Frying Pan can be purchased for 300 coins from a Toad located in the Moleville item shop any time after defeating the Axem Rangers. He’ll call it a Metal Plate, but it’s actually the Frying Pan.
Best Armor: Royal Dress
You can buy the Royal Dress for 100 coins from Croco in Bowser’s Keep after defeating Magikoopa.
Bowser
Bowser makes for a deadly party member due to his impressive physical attack power.
Best Weapon: Drill Claw
The Drill Claw can be obtained by completing a battle course behind one of the six numbered doors in Bowser’s Keep.
Best Armor: Heal Shell
You can buy the Heal Shell for 100 coins from Croco in Bowser’s Keep after defeating Magikoopa.
Mallow
Mallow is a great character to bring along in your party for his area-of-effect potential and his Thought Peek ability that shows an enemy’s remaining HP.
Best Weapon: Sonic Cymbal
The Sonic Cymbal can be obtained by completing an action course behind one of the six numbered doors in Bowser’s Keep.
Best Armor: Prince Pants
You can buy the Prince Pants for 100 coins from Croco in Bowser’s Keep after defeating Magikoopa.
Geno
Geno is a fan-favorite character and arguably Super Mario RPG‘s strongest combatant, bringing unmatched damage capability to your party.
Best Weapon: Star Gun
The Star Gun can be obtained by completing a battle course behind one of the six numbered doors in Bowser’s Keep.
Best Armor: Star Cape
You can buy the Star Cape for 100 coins from Croco in Bowser’s Keep after defeating Magikoopa.
Best Accessories
While having the best equipment for each character will make your life considerably easier, these five awesome accessories can also be a huge help at various points in the game.
Attack Scarf
The Attack Scarf raises all stats by 30 for whoever has it equipped, powering up any character of your choosing by a noticeable amount. To get this accessory, you need to perform 30 consecutive Super Jumps. Afterward, the Chow in Monstro Town will give it to you the next time you interact with them.
Safety Badge
The Safety Badge protects its wearer from all status ailments, effectively ensuring that’s one less thing you need to worry about in a battle. You can obtain this useful item by defeating the Hidon on the Sunken Ship and then interacting with the treasure chest.
Quartz Charm
The Quartz Charm grants you 50% extra damage while also reducing incoming damage by 50%, making it one of the absolute best accessories in the game for any party member. You’ll obtain it automatically upon beating the game’s secret optional boss, Culex.
Exp. Booster
The Exp. Booster doubles the amount of experience earned by whichever character is wearing it, which is super helpful for leveling up anyone who has fallen behind, or for simply making a specific party member super strong compared to everyone else. You can purchase this accessory with Frog Coins from the Tadpole inside the Elder’s House in Seaside Town.
Flower Ring
The Flower Ring halves FP cost of whichever character is wearing it, making it an excellent choice for any party member. Like the Exp. Booster accessory, it can be purchased with Frog Coins from the Tadpole inside the Elder’s House in Seaside Town.
