The enemy you’re looking for is the Major Psychic Psycho. These only spawn in the Fire Spring, and can be an absolute pain to defeat. That said, it’s worth the grind. Because the Star Pendant is one of the rarest accessories in Earthbound. When equipped it gives a boost in defense, as well as status immunities and PSI protection. It is widely considered to be the best accessory in the game.
Major Psychic Psycho: Spawn Location & Strategy
You will be able to access the Fire Spring via the Lost Underworld. The Fire Spring acts as the 8th and final “Your Sanctuary” for Ness. When you first arrive in the Lost Underworld, you’ll want to seek out the fenced-off Tenda Village. This will be located to the northwest of when you first arrive. Speak to the big rock here. It will point out the locations of all 8 Sanctuaries, including the Fire Spring to the southwest. Prepare your team for an almighty grind, and head to the southwest corner of the Lost Underworld, to find the Fire Spring entrance. Major Psychic Psychos (MPP) can spawn rarely throughout this dungeon. To make matters worse they rarely spawn alone, often accompanying a regular Psychic Psycho (PP) as a pair. The most reliable way to encounter a MPP, is to enter the first cave you come to at the start of the dungeon. In here you’ll see a treasure box and two enemy spawns. The top spawn will have a high chance of being the MPP and PP combo. That said, MPPs are formidable foes. They can set up PSI Shield, hit you with Paralysis α, and generally be a pain to defeat. Ensure to protect against Fire PSI attacks, and take them out swiftly with PK Freeze and PSI Starstorm. If the first cave room is empty, try the next room to the right. Unfortunately there’s a massive caveat to fighting them as a pair, and this is all down to Earthbound’s RNG.
Star Pendant Drop Rate
First and foremost, the Star Pendant has a drop chance of 1/128 or 0.78%. To make matters worse, Earthbound has a clunky way of dealing with item drops when two different enemies spawn together. Earthbound will only let you get one item drop per battle. If you encounter the MPP and PP together, the game will flip a coin to determine which enemy will drop. It will then run a separate RNG for the success rate of that enemy’s item drop. For this reason, the chance of getting a Star Pendant becomes 1/256, if you encounter both enemies as a pair. The only thing you can hope for is to encounter the MPP alone. 1/128 is still a horrible drop rate though, so you will be here a while.
Is This Even Worth Getting?
Absolutely! The Star Pendant packs a lot of functionality into one accessory. The +30 boost to defense is unrivalled by most other pieces of armor. It also provides defense against PSI Freeze and Fire. Additionally, it also gives you complete immunity against Paralysis and Flash. Whether you decide to grind for a set of 3 (Poo can’t equip them), is entirely up to you and your sanity. Good luck!
