Drawing-- Evil Incarnate?

[Rampala]

Since I've started replaying FF8 I've been taking a different approach to the whole Magic/Junction system. Instead of having 3 sets of magic that get switched in between party members, I have everyone have their own personal stock of magic-- which is at times annoying since I can't do Junction Switches and in places like D-District prison I have to constantly un- and re-junction.

The system works pretty well, thus far, for the strength of my characters at least. However, it means spending much more time on drawing. FF8 was my first FF, so drawing didn't seem abnormal until I played the other FFs. FF8 was Square's little experiment, and although they chose not to continue with the Draw magic system, I can't decide if it was better or worse.

Granted, at times it must be the most mind numbing activity in the world, especially when some of your characters refuse to draw more than 1-3 at a time. Even if a character draws 9 each time, they must draw a total of 12 times to reach 100 stock. That's A LOT. Especially since no one draws 9 everytime.

So what do you think of the draw system? No MP to worry about, so you don't have to chug ethers all the time, but in the beginning it takes hour and hours to draw full stocks of all magicks from your enemies and can be quite boring.

What are your personal Pros and Cons to the Draw magic system and how do you like it compared to the MP system?

[ShivaBlizzard8]

I liked the drawing system better than MP - it was always frustrating to have a powerful spell on hand that could only be used once (or not at all) becasue it spent too much MP. Drawing was nice because it guarenteed that characters couldn't run out of magic during battles - they could simply steal it from their enemies. Also, I didn't find it annoying to stock up on magic; I just combined it with other goals. For instance, if I was looking for something in a particular area and was running into the same monsters again and again, I would take time to draw a few extra times each round. Generally, by the time I found what I was looking for, my characters had stocked the 100 spells.

Finally, I've never used the junction exchange system. I always had set GF junctions for each character and stocked their magic individually (mostly from refining items into spells). I think that this just makes things easier to keep track of - if my characters kept switiching it would just make the entire system very confusing.

[Rampala]

Hmm, maybe I should try that. I've been rejunctioning all my GF's everytime my party changed, because I want my GF's to level up, but if they're linked to a particular character they'll just level up with them... ja? Hmm.. must try this out.

And Shiva I've missed you!! *huggles* :')

[Mo-Nercy]

I thought the Draw system was great too. I never found Stocking magic annoying. There's a certain feeling of accomplishment once you have 100 of every magic in the game.

Unlike you peepz though. I spread my GFs between my three main characters and use Junction Switch to change everything when I change characters. I know this means the GFs receive less EXP but I don't really use them anyway, just their abilities.

[Iceglow]

higher the mag stat the better the draws also theres enough GFs for each character to have 2 and therefore good junctions then there's no need for switch apart from swapping members also I can use angel wings pretty well you just have to be very speciffic about what magic you give Rinoa thats all some spells she cannot cast in that use them and the few very good ones she can

[ShivaBlizzard8]

I've been rejunctioning all my GF's everytime my party changed, because I want my GF's to level up, but if they're linked to a particular character they'll just level up with them... ja?
Yuppers. For instance, I always give Quezacotl to Squall, and that GF then hits level 100 about halfway thorugh the game. Plus, it becomes very easy to get the 1000 compatability rate between the GFs and your character, so they are summoned almost immediately.

And Shiva I've missed you!! *huggles* :')

Me too! :huggles back: :p

[Peegee]

It's mind numbingly enjoyable as you said. Drawing has its purposes -- it increases your players' stats, which is helpful by the end of disc 3 when you fly around the planet to get GFs, abilities, and that super cool stat+ ability of Cactaur so you can get perfect stats. Yes disc 1 means spending twenty minutes per battle drawing magics over and over, but it gets easier and easier as time goes on, so it's not as if you'll be drawing magic forever.

One of the most enjoyable things to do is to draw auras from Seifer :)

[BG-57]

The only time drawing is a real pain is stocking up on rare magics that you only have a few chances to get. Pain comes to mind (appropriately enough) ;) That's when having characters with low drawing abilities becomes a liabilty (like Zell).

I usually cast spells I can easily restock. I find it better to juction the rare spells to attack or defense or other stats. Especially nice is pain to stat-atk and ultima to elem-def. :)

[crono_logical]

Originally posted by ShivaBlizzard8
Also, I didn't find it annoying to stock up on magic; I just combined it with other goals. For instance, if I was looking for something in a particular area and was running into the same monsters again and again, I would take time to draw a few extra times each round. Generally, by the time I found what I was looking for, my characters had stocked the 100 spells.Yeah, I found combining it with other goals made it less tiresome to do as well, such as for refining purposes to get better spells for an even greater stat boost.

100 Death on St-Atk is great, almost guaranteed one hit kill against any enemy not immune to it :p

[selphie666]

Originally posted by Guu

100 Death on St-Atk is great, almost guaranteed one hit kill against any enemy not immune to it :p

Ooh, thanx for the advice, I'll be sure to do that now :P