tips please

[sephiroth JR]

hi everyone, i got my first copy of ff8 today :D :D :D :D and was wondering if you had any tips for me before i start playing because i dont have a guide for it. i appreciate any info you have because i'm not starting the game until tomorrow because i'm at a mates :cry: :cry: :mad2:

THANKZ!!!!!!!!!! :p :p

[TheSpoonyBard]

Stay at a low level until much later. For the time being, the lower the better. Draw, draw, draw and draw some more. Magic is your friend, and the more the merrier. Learn Boost and Junction abilities with your GFs first, and don't forget to give your characters a GF when you get them. Don't be afraid to experiment with magic and junction combinations. Only through trial and error (and posting questions in this forum) can you discover what works the best.

[sephiroth JR]

at this stage (before i've played the game) i dont know what junction abilities are but thanks tons for helping im sure ill figure it out soon enough

[TheSpoonyBard]

Read the game manual before you start, and don't skip the in-game tutorials. They may seem boring but the information is vital to understanding the gameplay.

[sephiroth JR]

i was never one to read and listen to the tutorials but if you say so
cheers.....anything else you can tell me i just wanna learn because i normally just continuously start and start games again(perfectionist..thats me) and it ends up taking weeks more than it should for me to complete a game. :rolleyes2 :rolleyes2 :D

[rubah]

You can't really skip the tutorials:) But pay attention. It's not difficult and you can always go back to them later (But you still can't skip through them)

Yeah, learn boost, and then ALWAYS use it to kill your monsters. That way you can stay at a slightly lower level (because whoever kills a monster gets more experience and levels faster. You want to do most of your levelling in the third or fourth disc, because then you can make them level a LOT higher concerning stats:)) and that way you'll be summoning your GFs more often and raising compatibility. Compatibility just means the next time you summon them, they'll come a lot faster. It takes a couple of seconds to summon a GF at 1000 compatibility compared to a couple of turns for a GF with 0 compatibility. This is easier if you'll keep one person with a certain set of GFs. You dont' need to switch them to build up all their compatibilities, mostly because you can't do it:) When one goes up, the others go down.

Hmm, after you learn boost, definitely get the junction abilities. These are like Spr+20% (boosts your magic defense 20% when you learn it and equip it) After you do that, some GFs will have extra abilities that will raise your stats. Since you won't be levelling, we won't need them until later, so you don't have to learn them yet. Instead, learn the refining abilities. I refine-- you can turn items like wizard stones, north winds etc into ice spells. Blizzard, blizzara, or blizzaga depending on how rare the item is. This is a lot faster than drawing spells, and you'll be sick of all those items and you'll just have to sell them anyways or waste them.

There's a couple of ways to build your GFs up without gaining levels right at the beginning. The two best ways are to get Quezacotl to learn Card (40 ap, you'll have to fight a few battles, but you if you split it between quistis and squall they shouldn't level up) Then, when you weaken enemies, they'll turn into cards. You'll get ability points (AP) but no experience points (exp)

The second way is a bit further on, but it's probably even better. You'll get a certain rowdy and obnoxious person in your party to fight with. KO the other two for a while and have the blond battle, with all the GFs attached to him. He doesn't need to summon them and shouldn't, to keep their compatibilities unaffected. He should be able to take care of the enemies in the area pretty easily:)

oh, and just because you can refine spells instead of drawing them, does NOT mean you shouldn't draw new spells that are labelled as "????"

ALWAYS draw these, and do NOT go a battle without looking to see if there's some new "????" so you should always keep someone equipped with the Draw command. (this is especially true for boss battles. Especially one that's coming up soon)

Oh, and learn how to play cards. It can be addicting and gets you some moderately nice items and hours of entertainment :)

[sephiroth JR]

PHEW!!
thanks for that so do you meet characters throughout the game or do you just start with all of them and if not who would you reccomend to have in my party
cheers

[TheSpoonyBard]

You start off with two characters, then quickly get a third and a fourth. The others continue to appear at regular intervals, and you should have all of them 5-6 hours into the game. The best team is whoever you want. I always use Squall and Rinoa, and I rotate the other member between the remaining characters depending on the amount of development they require. You'll find out at the end of the game that raising a couple of characters isn't going to work - they all need to be fully developed or you will become incredibly unstuck.

[rubah]

I like using Squall, Rinoa, and either Irvine or Selphie as the third character. Quistis and Zell bore me. So I use those two to level everyone else up. Sacrifice for the greater good and such.

Occaisionally you'll have outside characters join. I suggest using these, to aid your low-levelness.

oh, and do keep your junctions clear. they get so muddled during some parts (disc three anyone?) and when you find yourself missing 1/3 of your good spells, it can get hairy. (in the last special sequence, I found my third character junctioned with a fourth set of spells, which were mostly extra status spells-_- it sucked.)

[sephiroth JR]

thankz all of you for the help i'm gonna start it today

[TheSpoonyBard]

Let us know what you think / how you get on.

[ffrinoa8]

draw magic from every boss and monster and for high level magic go to islands of heaven and hell and keep pressing the X button

[sephiroth JR]

i started playing it an hour ago and i love it right now im fighting that boss at the communication tower and i read the tutorials they helped thanks, im pretty confident using the GF/magic system now.

[rubah]

You did get the GF the boss at teh tower has, right? It's a fairly useful one and it only takes one turn to draw it.

[sephiroth JR]

not yet

[Chris]

Yeah be sure to draw Siren.

[sephiroth JR]

cheers guys :D i just got siren after spending bloody ages fighting that boss :mad:

[TheSpoonyBard]

Get Siren learning her Life-RF and Tool-RF ablitities as soon as possible. When you come up against the X-ATM092 you have one of two choices. Run away and get to the beach as quickly as possible, or, if you are strong enough, defeat the machine and get a lot of AP.

[sephiroth JR]

damn i didnt know you could defeat it i just ran does it matter that much

[TheSpoonyBard]

I never have defeated it as I've never been strong enough at that point. Some people choose to defeat it so they can say they have 'completed' the game, but I've managed fine without having accomplished it.

[sephiroth JR]

to be honest im not bothered about completing games 100% i just want to have fun playing them

[Destination0]

only one tip....cards...cards...cards...cards...cards
that would save lot of time rather then doring 'draw'

[Angel Of Apocolypse]

Um...don't listen to the health warnings on the first page of the instruction book.
"Take fifteen minutes rest after one hour of play" are they serious???

Anwyay, other than that, explore...explore...explore. You find mega-cool stuff that you can sell for lots of money!!!!! And...yeah. I dunno, I didn't suceed on the first go so...

[sephiroth JR]

hi i just finished the part where seifer goes into that portal thingie in timber and i am now in a shop trying to decide if i should sell the girl next door mag, is it useful in the game or should i sell it

[Skyblade]

Keep it. It lets you get Shiva's card later on.

Oh, and while Rubah was right, you should always check for ???? magic to draw from enemies, always check bosses for GFs too.

[sephiroth JR]

thanks

[Skyblade]

No problem. Since you don't have a guide, here are the GFs to look for to draw from bosses:

Siren-Boss at the Tower
Carbuncle-The lizards in Deling City
Leviathan-NORG
Pandemona-Fujin in Balamb
Alexander-Edea in Galbadia Garden
Eden-Ultima Weapon

Oh, and did you get the Magic Lamp from Cid before you went to Timber? You need it to summon Diablos.

[sephiroth JR]

yes but havent defeated him yet i tried once but died and worst of all forgot to save so i ended up back where you have to fight T-rexaur

[TheSpoonyBard]

Draw and Stock Demi from Diablos, then use Stocked Demi on him it will damage him and for some reason he will counter with Curaga on your party! The other method is to use Selphie's Slot and wait for Ultima x3 (like I did) or continuously pummel him with Duel and Renzokuken, using Selphie to heal when necessary.

[sephiroth JR]

every time i try to upgrade my weapons i get the items needed then take it to a weapon shop and when i try to buy an upgrade it always sez that ive already got it... or is it just me.

[rubah]

Are you sure you're hunting down the new items for the next one? and not the one you have currently?
Although you can switch to lower weapons too, so be careful about that.

[sephiroth JR]

can someone tell me where i have to go, im currently stuck in deling city i know you have to go get the id number to enter the mansion but where is the TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN KING i tried going northeast of the city but still coudnt find it :confused: :confused: :mad2:

[Skyblade]

It's quite a ways away. At the end of a peninsula. Just keep going and you should find it. Don't forget to get the Brothers.

[sephiroth JR]

what are the brothers

[Skyblade]

You have to complete the puzzles in the Tomb. You only have to go in to the first intersection to get the number for Calloway.

[FiragaBreak]

I would advise to keep the orginal weapon Squall carries. Later when you get the 1st mag of weapons, you can max it out giving him all of his specials. Also TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY! 3-22-1995!

[sephiroth JR]

thanks for the tip and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Skyblade]

Actually, you don't even need the Weapons Monthly 1st edition to get the Lionheart. If you really want to, you can get it as soon as you get Minotaur's card (he's one of the Brothers, you'll get his card by the time you get the Brothers).

[FFVIII Fan]

back 2 the point, good god whatever you do, refine your cards man!!! you can do this by getting quezacotl to learn [card] straight away, then [card mod]. then learn [Win/Thn Mag] refine so you can refine stuff from it. Same with Shiva and Ifrit, get them to learn their refine abilities. u can get the punishment weapon if u refine the right things before you go on even your first mission. Get the Quistis and Zell card at the start also. refine 5 abyss worms to get 100 tornados from Quezacotl Thunder/wind magic refine ability, which can get u up to around 80 str at a lvl before 10! after they learn the refine abilities start with their junction abilities, and always draw up to 100 of something so u can junction it, no matter how annoying it may get as time goes on. ok, all the best f luck, and this is the best game ur gona play in ur life!! hehe ;)

[sephiroth JR]

DAMN i still cant find it i feel stupid not being able to though can you tell me where its near e.g missile base, timber etc

[Skyblade]

Ok, it's not that far. There's a kind of lake east of Deling City, that joins up with the ocean. Do you see it? The western peninsula that seperates the lake from the ocean is where the Tomb is.

[sephiroth JR]

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! THANKYOU FOUND IT

[BorIzEE27]

You should learn Quezacotl's card ability so when you fight regular enemies you can card then and thus only gain AP not EXP so you can keep your level low but still be learing abilities.

[sephiroth JR]

hi guys i just defeated those 2 lizards and got carbuncle

[Skyblade]

Congratulations. You're almost to the end of Disc 1.

[lionhearted]

A brilliant tip ( I feel ) is if you use Triple on your party members ( use Cerberus when you get him ) then use one of your party members to cast Aura on all the members, then immediately after this has happened, use a Holy War ( or 3 Heros ) this means that you will be able to use your limit breaks and not receive damage - also, being in Invincible state means that your Aura lasts much longer.

This is very useful when fighting Omega Weapon ( the hardest boss in the game - with 1,161,000HP!!! )

[Angel Of Apocolypse]

Is it the same weapon?
You need Weapons Monthly magazines to be able to get the upgradable weapons.
So far, you should've got Wepons Mon Mar from the Elvoret.
But that only talks about the weapons that you already have.
Check in the status screen and see if the weapon you wanna upgrade IS the same one.

[Skyblade]

Is it the same weapon?
You need Weapons Monthly magazines to be able to get the upgradable weapons.
So far, you should've got Wepons Mon Mar from the Elvoret.
But that only talks about the weapons that you already have.
Check in the status screen and see if the weapon you wanna upgrade IS the same one.

You do not need the magazines. The magazines just tell you what items you need to upgrade the weapons. If you have the items, you can get the new weapons even if you don't have the magazines.

[RIP Dime]

Erm....Cards. This is a very useful thing in the game, Using Card Mod you can make your party unbeliveable, especially on the 4th disc, dont be afraid to Card mod any cards, the only person to play with is the guy on the Ragnarok, and he isnt worth it, use Gilgimesh, Bahamut, and all Charactors cards, and Card alot of enemies, rare cards can be found in them.....also get all Junction abilities first and get Sum Mag+30% on Quezacotl to use on ATM-X092 Helps much!

[disapointedchild]

Learn your st. attack commands, they can become extremely useful, if you junction the right magic to them.

Stock up on 100 of each magic you can find.

When i played the game, i rellied more on my abilities/junctioning magic, more than my gf's, just get them all so you are able to use all your abilities. I only used my gf's till I got passed ifrit, then i junctioned magic the whole way.

This is also good for staying at low levels, cause you get the power, without the levels.

[Shrub]

no matter what junction especially cure,cura,curaga,death,ultima to health works great for me.
hey i need help with edea on disc two ive beat her before but i cant this time any tips?

[TheSpoonyBard]

Use Carbuncle. If the whole party has Reflect on she will use three turns casting Dispel on each person, by that time you can summon Carbuncle again. Use Leviathan's Recover to heal when you have Reflect active as Recover penetrates it. Don't forget to Draw Alexander from Edea. Beware of her Maelstrom attack as it pierces Reflect and hurts a lot, as well as inflicting Curse (prevents you from using limit breaks).

[Shrub]

i tried carbuncle but that makes it so i cant heal although i came up with a stratagy ill just draw demi and use cerberus and use 3 times to deplete her heatlh