Ugh. Lastboss.

Maybe I shouldn't be making a thread on this, but it's kind of frustrating and I don't know where else to go. I got FF8 a while back, mostly because I liked FF7 so much. I spent several weeks playing up to disc 4, and got stuck at the time compression. The bosses were getting way too difficult. It's because I missed all the GFs except Brothers, Cerberus, and Alexander, and didn't have enought abilities to keep going.

So, a few weeks ago, I thought "FF8 was interesting, but it sucked I couldn't finish it. Maybe if I get all the GFs this time I can do it." I played it a second time. All the bosses, all the cutscenes, had to watch it all again. I got up to Ultimecia a few days ago. I have tried this fight lots of times, but I can't even get past the second part.

Now here's the problem. Squall is lv 48, everyone else 25-30. I think I'm so strong, the last boss is too hard to beat. I can't return to any junk shops, and I only have 2nd-level weapons (I read you're supposed to use limit breaks, but those are useless with bad weapons). On top of that, I think I learned the GF abilities in the wrong order, I can only squeeze 8,000 max HP out of two characters, with everyone else unjunctioned. And this is not enough when Griever destroys all my magic.

The question is, should I start the game over? Would it be a waste of time to try and overpower the last boos, or would it be more of a waste to do it all over again a THIRD time. If I do it a third time, I'll probably just not level at all, and kill Cactuars for AP.

You need to get the refine abilities for your GFs especially the Forbidden Magic refine. You just need access to your high end magic so you can junction it properly. As for weapons, Squall's is the only one I feel really matters as his weapon is tied to his Limit Breaks.

For the last battle, once you have the party you want to use (its usually better to pile all your magic and junctions on a core team than spreading it out among your party) use Cerberus so your whole party has Double and Triple cast on them. Have the characters cast Haste, Shell, Protect, and Aura on everyone. Use Esuna to remove the curse status if applicable. You should do this against Ultemacia's first form as her later forms have this tendency to auto-kill GFs. This battle is the safest to use this strategy. Make sure to use Meltdown on all the forms. Spam Limit Breaks and triple spells. In her final form she has a spell called Apocalypse which you can Draw from her. It is the strongest spell in the game and does decent damage even if your character has low magic ability.

Basically, refine, buff, spam...

Although you may think all is lost, there is still ways to access everything. You can get to Odin's place, and from there, get Tonberry. Tonberry can learn to call shops, which means you can get new stuff. You can also find the Ragnarok around there, and use that to go to the Island Closest to Heaven, and the Island Closest to Hell, and draw high-level magic.

For the last battle, I killed off the characters I didn't want in the first battle, and then just put Aura on Squall. Abused that and Ultimecia was dead.

How did Squall attain such a high level compared to the other party members? This might cause a lack of balance as the enemies are decided based on Squall's level, right?

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Originally Posted by Roogle

How did Squall attain such a high level compared to the other party members? This might cause a lack of balance as the enemies are decided based on Squall's level, right?

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1. Over-abuse of the R1 trigger.
2. Actually, it's the party average plus or minus about 15, or so I've heard.

Alright, I'm going to try and kill Tonberry by abusing the Eden GF. Thanks for the ideas, I'll give it another go soon.

If you have the Bahamaut card I suggest you refine it just before the final battle but AFTER saving. You'll get 100 mega elixers which you can pretty much use freely because you wont exactly need them once the game is over. This gives the party a pretty good boost especially if you have some auras so you can use limits at high hp.

But some people might call that 'cheap'

This is what I do, and it was a breeze. You might even say it's cheap:

As was said before, learn all of the refining abilities you can! Especially Card Refine (learn Card first). If you miss any GFs, they can be drawn from the bosses in Ulty's castle. Refine craploads of magic to Junction, and draw from the invisible draw points at the Islands Closest to Heaven/Hell (this is the only occasion I would spend oodles of time drawing, I don't know why people complain about time spent using Draw so much xD). Once you get a bazillion Ultima's, junction them to your elemental defense. Ultima + Full Life = invincible to all elements ever. This will make a lot of bosses much easier, especially Tiamat and that lightning thing in the basement. Pain, Berserk, Confuse, and Sleep/Death/Stop (whatever the boss you're facing likes to use) is my usual status defense.

Zell's limit break is probably the most powerful thing in the game ever ever ever, if you didn't know. Booya + Punch Rush only! It can take as little as .3 seconds to input their commands, so you can get in like eleventy billion hits. Irvine's is also pretty handy if you have the right ammo. I think Chef's Knife refines into good ammo, I can't remember. I do remember having a ton of good ammo from Ammo Refine, though.


There's no need to restart the game, you want to focus on getting lots of magic to buff up your stats, and this is the best time to do just that!


OHOHOH


Cactuar Island. 20AP per cactuar plus a GF. Look for an island near Cetra with green thing popping up randomly in the sand.

Ok, well thanks for the great advice everyone. I'm going for it tonight, and seeing if I can wipe the floor with Ultimecia/Griever.

Oyeah. Just so you know, Ulty can't really hurt you much in her first form if you're invincible to all elements! If you buff up your characters' strength stat a little, and go crazy on Aura and limits, then Griever will go down quickly.

Done! I stayed up far too late for a video game, but the ending was pretty good. I got a ton of Ultimas, Flares, Holys, Meteors, Full-Lifes, Auras, and Triples at the two super-islands, beat the first form with Diablos, the second one with Holy spells and a super-powered Eden, and the last two with lots of Ultimas, Flares, and limit breaks.

Thanks for all the help, glad I could finally see the end. This actually might be my favorite in the series (next to 5 and 4).

Congratulations for finishing the game! :beer:

Renzokuken is enough to finish off all the forms if your use meltdown on them first, then junction squalls str to about 200. Makke sure u also get high vit and spr so things like shoockwave pulsar dont demolish you. u should probably go trhough those three doors, go to the desert, find ragnarok and then get to level 80+, probably 100 cause its easy on ff8 and when ur leveliing up dont forget to equip the STR BONUS, VIT BONUS SPR BONUS on squall and other characters as it makes a BIG BIG difference once their level 100. (255 str etc) Then go kick ulty's ass. and also, equip Death and Pain to Status defence once u get them.

You can win. Refine better magic and you will win. Also, you can return to the junk shops and all other shops by learning the abilities call shop and junk shop.

Did you get all the GFs this time? If thats the case why are some of your character unjunctioned?

Edit: I only read the first post. Congrats.