Wooden Stick

Wooden Stick (GBA)
Trade values
Item class	Staff
Buy value	40
Sell value	30
Statistics boosts
Attack Boost	4

A Wooden Stick (Wood Stick in Japan) is a common Staff-class weapon featured in the Golden Sun series. It's one of the first weapons available to the player.

Basic description by game

The Wooden Stick raises the wielder's attack by 4, and as a common item, it can be bought repeatedly from Vendors for 40 coins each, and sold for 30 coins each. It's available in the earliest towns the player's newly formed party can enter and explore; namely, Vale in Golden Sun, Daila in The Lost Age, and Patcher's Place in Dark Dawn. Being a Staff-class weapon, a Wooden Stick can be used by Ivan and Mia in the first game, Jenna and Sheba in the second, and Karis, Rief, Himi, and Amiti in the third.

In Dark Dawn, common weapons receive their own Unleashes, the Wooden Stick's being Critical Strike, a non-elemental physical attack that multiplies damage by 1.5.

Wooden Stick (DD)
Trade values
Item class	Staff
Buy value	40
Sell value	30
Statistics boosts
Attack Boost	4
First unleash effect
Effect name	Critical Strike
Extra damage	x1.5

Analysis

The Wooden Stick is the weakest weapon in Golden Sun. Jenna and Ivan both carry them when they join Isaac's party, and it is best to sell them to pay for better equipment.

The Wooden Stick retains its lowest-of-the-low role in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, being available in Daila's shop even though both Jenna and Sheba start out with this weapon initially. By the time the prologue ends, Felix will have the Shaman's Rod, a Staff-class weapon that adds 10 base Attack points, and one of the two girls should immediately equip it should you decide not to buy better weapons. This will spare a Wooden Stick for an extra 30 coins, a valuable sum at this part of the game.

In Dark Dawn, the Wooden Stick retains its role as worst weapon, but it will likely see a bit more action than in the GBA games. Karis has a Wooden Stick when she joins the party, but she won't be able to upgrade weaponry until the party arrives at Patcher's Place, the location of the first Weapons Shop, so it must suffice as Karis's main weapon while the party travels through the tutorial dungeons, Goma Plateau, Tanglewood, and Abandoned Mine. But once the party reaches Patcher's Place, ditch the Wooden Stick and buy a Short Bow, which will increase her attack by 11. It has a stronger, Jupiter-based Unleash, Double Shot, which takes advantage of Karis's naturally high Jupiter Power.

When he joins the party, Rief bears a Wooden Stick as his first weapon. One should consider replacing it with the Magic Rod, assuming it has not been sold already. The Magic Rod can serve as a placeholder until stouter weapons come available at Harapa.