My Progress

[Jolts]

As you may or may not know, I've just recently beat FFVII (again) and have restarted with FFVIII, and I just can't help myself, I just gotta' chat about it :D. So, here I am :).

Now all the previous times I've played through FFVIII, I've used a GameShark (except once, but I didn't get far...), and this time, I'm going without cheating. That being said, I'm a little afraid to continue. I'm at the part where you have run away from X-ATM092 (the spider machine), and I have a bad feeling it's either gonna' wipe the floor with me, or I won't make it to shore on time. Fighting Elvoret was a bear. He never KOed any of my group, but I sure had to cure a lot :lol:. Every four or five turns, he used that Storm Breath attack (I think that's the name of it...), and since I took the time to draw 100 Doubles with Squall (the others' Magic was too low, I could only get 1 at a time with them, or it would fail), I had to cure quite a bit. Luckily, Quezicotl already had HP-J, and Squall had him equipped, so I didn't have to worry as much about Squall, but Selphie had only 520HP, and Zell only had 627HP, so they were getting pummeled left and right (Squall had 920HP). Once I finally got 100 Doubles and Siren, I was able to take Elvoret out pretty easily, but it took some time (Zell was my strongest attacker, and he was only doing about 110HP damage per attack).

Now to survive the first battle with X-ATM092 and avoid battling him after that...

[Polaris]

F*** man u're good but how can Zell take away 110HP to the enemy? You are at the begining right?

[Jolts]

Assuming you meant that 110 was a lot:
He's got the highest STR stat, and I gave him Ifrit, who happens to have the STR-J ability ;). Elvoret had over 3,000HP when I fought him, too (I used Scan), so 110 wasn't really all that much. My characters were all around level 10.
Also, during that battle, I used two or three Double-Cures, one potion, and a boat load of Cast-Cure :lol:, and I never used a single limit break :D.
Oh, and yeah, I'm near the beginning, where you go to Dollet, the SeeD exam.

[Polaris]

110 for the beginig it is a lot, my Squall only takes 80 HP, but I didn't need to cure coz Elvoret doesn't put Storm Breath to em alot! Last time he only put once!

[Jolts]

Squall was only doing about 80 (triggered) for me too. That's why I use Zell for most of my attacking ;). Other than Cast-Curing a lot, Selphie was pretty much useless in that battle, for me :lol:.

[Polaris]

If my Squall attacks with 80 my Zell with 50 and my Selphie with 49! It's horrible, I'm glad tahat I ahve G.Fs... Selphie at the begining it is a little useless but in the middle is pretty good! Just one thing did you run of teh spider machine?

[Jolts]

I haven't done the X-ATM092 part yet. I saved right after going down the elevator (saved it as a second file, just in case).
I've done that part now :D. It was surprisingly easy. I'm now about to go to Timber for the first time.
Battling Granaldo and the three Raldos was extremely easy as well. I even took the time to draw 100 Blinds, Shells, and Protects, and the battle was still painstakingly easy :lol:. Of course, once I got Siren, I learned the L Mag-RF and refined a bunch of Curagas from Tents. Junctioning 100 Curagas to your HP at level 15 really helps ;). After getting Diablos, I had three GFs that could learn HP-J (Quezacotl and Ifrit are the other two), so I've been beatin' the crap out of T-Rexaurs until I get enough Dino Bones to refine 100 Quakes for everyone (1 Dino Bone = 20 Quakes). Gerogero is gonna' get his ass kicked around that whole train :laugh: (he's weak to Earth, and Quake is the only magic I have that will allow me to attack with its element 100% right now).

P.S. With some clever junctioning, Zell now has an STR of 102 (100 Quakes to STR along with STR+20% and STR+40%), and I junctioned 100 Blizzards to his elemental attack. So, now he does about 1300 damage to T-Rexaur and has around 3,000HP at level 15 :D. I've also been carding a bunch of T-Rexaurs to avoid levelling up and so I can refine them into Dino Bones for the other two to get Quakes.

[Mo-Nercy]

Jolty, you're doing very well for someone who is playing FF8 for the first time (Let's face it, it kinda sorta is your first time.) You seem to be junctioning really well or if not, levelling a lot. Hopefully it's the former you're doing because levelling too much, too early will make the game harder than it could be (even though the game is still very easy all the way through)

It's also nice to see that you've taken to trying to make your characters fairly even across the board. Normally, people will just tank up Squall with uber-junctions while the rest of the party will keep doing 50 damage until about disc 2. Gerogero is undead by the way, you don't have to do it the Quaky way.

You've probably taken to doing these following things anyway, but I might as well bring it up. Take up the card game, become good at it. Learn all the rules, get used to seeing ahead and compensating for Plus and Same, it becomes very easy even when under the hardest rules once you get the hang of it. The card game offers a tonne of benefits including great refinements. Next, get that SeeD rank up, don't think Gil is useless in this game because items are very useful until you get Recover and Revive abilities, usually you won't want to use your magic (I always junction Curaga until I find better magic, casting it will lower my stats.) Be warned that the SeeD rank is susceptable to many factors which will lower it. Do NOT attack your own party members. Sounds straight forward enough, but I have met people who have thought that attacking Squall until he's on critical and then Renzokuken-ing is a great idea only to have their rank drop about 3 clicks afterwards. I'm not sure about this, but I think using too many GFs will lower the rank as well. You don't need to summon GFs anyway. Smart junctioning will take you much much further.

Good luck Joltz.

[Zante]

Your rank also gets down if you run from battles too often.

[Jolts]

Gerogero is undead by the way, you don't have to do it the Quaky way
I know, but using healing items seems too cheap (to me), and I try not to use too much magic, because I might need to use it for junctioning later (I don't think you can get Holy this early).
You seem to be junctioning really well or if not, levelling a lot.
Juctioning--I'm avoiding leveling up the best I can, that's why I've been carding T-Rexars instead of killing them (Carding them will make it so you don't gain EXP, but you still get items and AP). I do need to level up a little, so Siren can learn Treatment, though (she needs to be at level 12).
Take up the card game, become good at it. Learn all the rules, get used to seeing ahead and compensating for Plus and Same, it becomes very easy even when under the hardest rules once you get the hang of it.
Already have been card playin', but I'm doing my best to keep the rules simple. If I can, I'm going to keep the rules at just Open, and get the trade rule to All (I did get it to Difference though, which is the next best thing :D). I got lucky enough to get Seifer, Quistis, and Zell on my first trys (well, it took a few games for Trepe Groupie#1 to use Quistis, but I never lost to him...in fact, I've never lost at the card game yet...*knocks on wood*). My team of Seifer, Zell, Quistis, Diablos, Ifrit cards hasn't let me down so far. Then again, I've only been challenging the easy people. I had to challenge the Card Queen to get Difference, but she was using really weak cards.
Next, get that SeeD rank up
Took all the tests I could, I'm currently at rank 23, and it hasn't gone down yet. I have had Squall attack Selphie a few times, so I could use Full-Cure, but that hasn't mattered much yet *knocking on wood like crazy*. I think it's when you finish battles at low HP that causes your points to go down. As for the GF usage, yes using them too much is frowned upon, I read that somewhere in the "Tutorial -> Information" thing.
Your rank also gets down if you run from battles too often.
So far, the only battle I've run from is the one that's mandatory (the first battle against X-ATM092). I didn't defeat X-ATM092 though, 'cause I wanted to watch Quistis take it out :D (if you didn't already know, you can defeat it on the bridge, if you can actually get its HP to 0 before it repairs itself).

Phew, that's a lot of crap to read, did you really read it all? :lol:

P.S. I looked up the word cumulate (didn't know what it meant), because the Bradygames guide says that the stat boosting abilities (like STR+20%) are cumulative. According to that, using STR+20% ang STR+40% at the same time is equivalent to a STR+60%. Then I did some calculations to prove it:

Base STR: 24 + 40 (100 Quakes) = 64
Calc1
64 * 0.2 = 12.8 (20%)
64 * 0.4 = 25.6 (40%)
64 + 12.8 + 25.6 = 102.4 (+20%, +40%)
Calc2
64 + 12.8 = 76.8 * 0.4 = 30.72 (20%, then 40% of the sum)
76.8 + 30.72 = 107.52 (+20%, +40% of sum)
Calc3
64 + 25.6 = 89.6 * 0.2 = 17.92 (40%, then 20% of the sum)
89.6 + 17.92 = 107.52 (+40%, +20% of sum)
Calc4
64 * 0.6 = 38.4 (60%)
64 + 38.4 = 102.4 (+60%)
Results:
Calc1 and Calc4 result with the same answer of 102.4.
Calc2 and Calc3 result with the same answer of 107.52.
Conclusion:
I wish they would've used Calc2 or Calc3 :lol:.

P.P.S. I did the calculation of Calc1/Calc4 with 24 (before adding the 40 for having 100 Quakes junctioned), and it only came up with 38.4 + 40 = 78.4. So, now we know the game adds magic junctioning before ability junctioning, because my Zell with 100 Quakes, STR+20%, and STR+40% with the base stat of 24 has a total stat of 102 ;).

[Zante]

if you didn't already know, you can defeat it on the bridge, if you can actually get its HP to 0 before it repairs itself

What happens when you defeat it?

[SeeDRankLou]

if you didn't already know, you can defeat it on the bridge, if you can actually get its HP to 0 before it repairs itself

You can defeat it anywhere you run into it, I don't know how this got around that the only place you can defeat it is on the bridge. In fact, you can defeat it the first time you encounter it, I have done it before. When you defeat it, It blows up. You don't get that cool FMV with Quistis and the big gun, but you do get an addition grade on your SeeD Exam Report, and depending on how you did with everything else may get a better SeeD rank.

I lost Quistis to Zell's mom trying to get Zell's Card once. But I won it back. Also, when I was attempting to get the Doomtrain card in Timber (I think), they guy would always play it in the corner, and they were using the Direct rule so there was no way to get it. I figured it out though.

[Jolts]

You can defeat it anywhere you run into it, I don't know how this got around that the only place you can defeat it is on the bridge. In fact, you can defeat it the first time you encounter it, I have done it before. When you defeat it, It blows up. You don't get that cool FMV with Quistis and the big gun, but you do get an addition grade on your SeeD Exam Report, and depending on how you did with everything else may get a better SeeD rank.
Remember, the first few times I played this game, I used a GameShark, so I was pretty beefed up when I fought X-ATM092, and I remember him not being defeated unless it was on the bridge. If you drop his HP down to 0 while not on the bridge, he will still fork over 50AP, but he won't blow up unless you're on the bridge (or in the FMV).

[Polyonymous]

If you drop his HP down to 0 while not on the bridge, he will still fork over 50AP, but he won't blow up unless you're on the bridge (or in the FMV).

hmmmm, i beat X-ATM092 on the bridge but he never exploded.

[Jolts]

Are you sure you beat it? Did it give you 50AP?
If it did, then maybe there's a bug or something, 'cause the official guide book says that it can be defeated on the bridge and only on the bridge.

...hmm...

[Polyonymous]

ya i got 50AP for it, i also beat him in 4 other fights just for the AP and it didnt explode. but he isnt supposed to explode in the other places right?

[Jolts]

If you beat him on the bridge (wear he jumps over you to cut you off), he should blow up and be defeated. If not, then I don't know what to tell you, other than there might be a bug in the programming or something.
I usually don't try defeating him on the bridge, though, because I like the FMV of Quistis showing that machine who's boss :D.

Anyway, an update:
I finally continued on with the story (I've been collecting cards and items). Now I'm just about to go to Galbadia Garden.
In the 'dreamworld,' in Julia's room, I saw Laguna passed out on the bed (there's another variation where he doesn't pass out). I completed the Presidential abduction flawlessly, so that boosted my SeeD rank by 1 :). I was lucky enough to be able to draw 100 Berserks and Zombies with Squall (he already had 100 of the other two things...Double and Esuna) and 100 of all four of them with Zell and Selphie. I almost wasn't able to, though, because he put my montro powerful Zell in Berserk and I almost didn't get to use an Esuna in time (Gerogero only had about 280HP left after that). I got the Angelo card on the first try (that it showed up). I didn't forget to get the Girl Next Door magazine, but now I have to wait 'til disc3 to get the Shiva card... I went to Dollet after the broadcast incident and I was lucky enough to beat that bar owner to be able to go to his secret room so I could challenge him again for Siren. Then I didn't win Siren the first time it showed up, but I didn't lose either (it was a draw). The second time, however, I got what I was after (Siren), then I picked up the Occult Fan II magazine and left (had to leave and come back three or four times :lol: ). By the way, I hate the 'Random' rule :mad:, but it wasn't too bad; I refined all my useless cards into items :D (all the ones that I could refine and weren't rare). Oh, and I apparently played enough card games to upgrade Squall's weapon to the Cutting Trigger and Rinoa's weapon to the Cardinal (by refining cards), so I did that.

P.S. What the hell was making Zone's stomach hurt so much and so badly?

[SeeDRankLou]

What the hell was making Zone's stomach hurt so much and so badly?
Probably anxiety of going into battle. Or maybe he's faking it so he doesn't have to go into battle.

I have beaten X-ATM092 once. I lowered it's HP to zero like four or five times before it finally blew up, but I know I lowered it to zero, and the battle didn't end until it blew up. And this was the first encounter.


'cause the official guide book says that it can be defeated on the bridge and only on the bridge
The official guide says several things that aren't entirely accurate.

[Jolts]

The official guide says several things that aren't entirely accurate.
Yeah, but they did do better than with the FFVII guide. Also, you're supposed to run away from the first encounter with X-ATM092, that's why Zell says something like "Let's get out of here!" Then, it tells you at the top of the screen how to run. Doesn't matter, I've never stuck with the battle as long as you say you have (four or five times), so I wouldn't know that much.

[SeeDRankLou]

but they did do better than with the FFVII guide
Oh yeah, way better than the FFVII one. The flaws in this one are rather minor and almost meaningless to the grand scheme of things. Like it says you have to wait until disc 3 to play the CC Card Quest, but you in fact don't. Very small things like that.

[Polyonymous]

In the 'dreamworld,' in Julia's room, I saw Laguna passed out on the bed (there's another variation where he doesn't pass out).

really? ive never seen anything like that (this is the second time you go to the dream world right? on your way to galbadia garden with rinoa in your party?) what do you have to do to see each scene?

[Mo-Nercy]

In the 'dreamworld,' in Julia's room, I saw Laguna passed out on the bed (there's another variation where he doesn't pass out).
The pass out scene has only happened once to me. It's actually the first time Squall goes to the dream world and Laguna takes his guys back to Deling City. I'm not sure what I did to make him do it because I remember the whole scene being completely linear with almost no choices.

Then again you can make Laguna be like, "What?", "Where am I?" when the waitress asks him things instead of getting on with it and sitting down. There's also the receptionist where you can make Laguna stutter or bail.

--


What the hell was making Zone's stomach hurt so much and so badly?
Zone's sickness? At some point in the game when Watts was in some near death situation which I don't particularly remember, he says something like, "I wish I hadn't given Zone that 3 year old cheeseburger."

--

Jolts. You're on your way to that perfect game. And it's not gonna get any harder from here. Almost everything about FF8 is simple and straight forward.

Have you beaten Diablos yet? It teaches Enc-None so it's important to get him as soon as possible.

[Zante]

I never got the scene where he doesn't pass out. What happens in it?

[Jolts]

Yeah, I got Diablos before I even left for Timber :D. I haven't even taught him Enc-Half yet. I was more focused on stuff like refining abilities and Mug.

GLR, in the scene where he doesn't pass out, he just yammers away some more and eventually asks Julia about her life and it continues on like the normal.

[Polaris]

Yeah, I got Diablos before I even left for Timber :D.

You are crazy!!

[Jolts]

Not really. He's pretty easy if you know his flaws.

One, he can be blinded, so make sure you blind him (there's a Blind draw point in the elevator room during the Dollet mission).
Two, If you draw Demi from him, then cast it on him, he will counter it by casting Curaga one whoever used Demi. However, don't do a direct cast from him, that won't work. It'll only work if you draw it from him, then cast it from your own supply.

It also helps to bring Selphie along, so she can use her Full-Cure when Diablos uses Gravija. That wasn't a problem for me, though, since you have no choice but to have her in your group at that point.

[Polaris]

But mine Diablos use Gravija lots of times!

[Jolts]

Okay, so use Full-Cure every time. Also, you don't have to worry about Gravija as much if he's blinded, 'cause that reduces his chances of hitting you with his physical attack, which is his only attack that can KO you. His other attacks are just % attacks, which are just Demi and Gravija, and they never KO the target. However, I've never fought him at higher levels, so I don't know if he might use Holy when he's at a level between 30-100, since you can draw Holy from him at those levels (or so says the Bradygames guide book).

[Polaris]

I defear him after the timber mission or during the Timber mission... but it's worst for me during than after

[Jolts]

On my first play through, I didn't know what the Magic Lamp did, so I ended up having to fight Diablos as Laguna, Ward, and Kiros :lol:. I won, but like I said before, I was using a GameShark (still had troubles though, 'cause I wasn't using any infinite health codes, only the "have all items" and "have all cards" codes).

[Zante]

On my first play through, I didn't know what the Magic Lamp did, so I ended up having to fight Diablos as Laguna, Ward, and Kiros :lol:

Me too. But I found him easier to beat with them actualy. :)

[Jolts]

Minor update:
I played through the second dreamworld scene. I had to stock Kiros up with some magic, 'cause Quistis didn't have any (he takes after her in the second "flashback"). I also drew a few Confuses from whatever draw point has them, and I drew 100 Dispels each from an Elastoid. I did all the meddling I could (the two keys, the latch, and the three boulders). After returning to Squall and co., I went back into the forest to battle, and I ended up fighting a Wendigo. I already had a full stock of Berserks, so I mugged it for Steel Pipes and quickly got rid of it. Then I ended up fighting an Ochu. I tried to draw some stuff out of it, but it was causing a bunch of status effects to all my characters, so I pummeled it until it was defeated. After that, I went through Galbadia Garden like normal, didn't side track too much. I did draw some Lifes and play that one chick who uses Level6 cards few times (won every time). Once I finally got Irvine and left the Garden, I got into a battle with a Belhelmel and a Zombie (I'm pretty sure that's what they're called...they're the floating zombie head things). I drew 100 Floats each from the Zombie to help a little with the battles against Minotaur and Sacred. That's about it, 'cause as soon as I got to Deling, I rested at the hotel, saved, and turned the game off.

[Mo-Nercy]

I'd like to know what weapons you've got for everyone right now. Should have at least Shear Trigger for Squall and equivalent for your main party. But it doesn't really matter as the increase in strength isn't that dramatic. I stress the need for Enc-None. Above level 20 before disc 2 is a no-no in my books, I'm always about quarterway/halfway through learning Enc-None by the end of disc 1. I refrained from learning Mug until much later in the game when I could fight Cactuars, opting for card refining as my source of items. The earlier you get Diablos, the more AP he'll receive. There IS enough AP for Enc-None to be learnt before the end of disc 1 but I advise against it since you'd be leveling too much.

Other than that, a perfect game. Just like something I would do xD

[Jolts]

Squall: Cutting Trigger
Rinoa: Cardinal
Quistis: Slaying Tail
Zell: Maverick
Selphie: Morning Star
Irvine: Valiant
Laguna: Machine Gun
Kiros: Katal
Ward: Harpoon
Seifer: Revolver
Edea: Sorcery

You did say "everyone" :p :lol:.

[Mo-Nercy]

Seifer: Revolver
Wow. How'd you do THAT? Seifer starts with custom designed Hyperion not Garden-issue Revolver. ;)

Peace out Jolty.

[Jolts]

I guessed...and wrong, apparently :).

----------

Update:
I haven't played the game in a while. I got bored of it and its low definition (the PS2 specs. are gettin' to me :lol: ), so I restarted playing Kingdom Hearts. That was a about a week ago, and I've already gotten to the Final Rest and synthesised the Ultima Weapon. I still have to take on the Pegasus and Hercules cup with just Sora and time trial, then take on the Hades cup in all three modes. While fighting to level up and get some Bright/Shiny Crystals, I was able to get two Wizard Relics, but zero Defenders :grumble:, but that's okay, I went out of my way to get the Dream Sheild before I even visited Neverland :lol:.

[Polaris]

*see all the progress* You're NUT!!! My God!

[Iceglow]

I had a little secret that I used for the robo spider in dollet instead of letting quezacotl learn what it wants force it to learn HPJ first and give it to squall you can then keep on for two or three fights with it without stopping to heal even if squall is the last man standing

[Jolts]

You know, Shiva can learn HP-J too (or was it Ifrit? either way, you can have two people with HP-J when you fight X-ATM092). The next GF you can get that can learn HP-J is Diablos, but if, for some reason, you decide to get Brothers before Diablos, they can also learn HP-J (they might even start out with it, I can't remember). Just FYI, in case you feel like restarting FFVIII too.

[SeeDRankLou]

I did all the meddling I could (the two keys, the latch, and the three boulders).
I know I'm a little late posting this, but I just thought you might like to know about the latches (yes, latches). After you do the initial latch, you can walk all the way around to the beginning of the stage. Then, you can tamper with the latch on the left. Kiros will say something witty that makes Laguana look dumb, and he leaves it alone. But it still squeaks. Then, you can go back that way you came and tamper with the latch on the right. Ward will say something that makes Laguana look dumb, and he leaves it alone. Again, it will squeak. Then, when you detonate the two bombs (first the red then the blue), those two platforms will also fall as the middle one did. What's the point of all this? This is an extraordinarily easy way to obtain a Power Generator. When Squall and co. go to the Lunatic Pandora in disc 3, these two doors will also be open, and one of them contains a Power Generator. No more mugging Blitzs for you. :D

[Jolts]

Too late now, SeedRankLou, I've already past that, and I hardly ever keep more than two save files (obviously, my second is already past that too, or I deleted it).

Update:
Yep, I haven't been updating much, 'cause I don't think anyone really cares, but here you go. I'm now on disc3 and just arrived at Esthar. Here's a little story that kinda' angerred me. After crossing the train tracks with Rinoa the first time, I went to that corner in the mountains to see if there was a hidden draw point there. On my way there, I got struck first by a Malboro who obviously had to use Bad Breath, which ended up KOing my entire party :mad2:, and that last time I save was right before seeing Rinoa before going to find the White SeeD ship. After going through all that crap again, and going to the "dreamworld," I was mashing the 'X' button to skip all the reading (since I already read it once) and I accidentally challenged the Ruby Dragon without junctioning anything to Ward or Kiros. I thought, "oh great, I'm as good as gone...AGAIN!" Just as the battle starts, my characters disappear and it starts raining on the battlefield. I was like, "sweet." So, I lucked out there, and as soon as I got out of that, I saved and went to see if there was a draw point. Ended up fighting minor creature like Caterchipillars. The draw point was useless for me (can't remember what it was, but I didn't need it). On the way to fight Abadon, I got into it with a Vysage, Lefty, and Righty who almost wipes me out with Curse and Death, but I ended up surviving. Then, after going to the "dreamworld" again, I almost got wiped out by the Esthar soldier's Death move, but again, lucked out. Now, I'm still in the "dreamwolrd," right outside of the place you start out there (whatever it's called).

By the way, Abadon was simple to beat ('course, having Recover kinda' helped ;)).