i junction 100 THread to STR!

[rubah]

hey,i'm posting stuff for beginners,name me one ultima,holy ETC. draw point you can get at the beginning
also,Roogle,if you dont like my stragetie,then stuff it in the garbage can,it worked for me,so i shared it,thats all

http://www.ffskies.com/images/ff8/drawpoints.jpg

[Jiro]

He was talking about Ultima/Holy/etc draw points towards the earlier parts of the game. However that map will be invaluable from beginning to end, so good find.

[BG-57]

I don't think there are any draw points for Holy or Ultima that you can access at the beginning of the game. The best you can hope for early on is to draw some Holy from Diablos when you choose to fight him (if he's at level 30+).

Refining them will eventually become an option, but you will need both the materials and the GF's with the right abilities learned.

The Draw points themselves dispense few and refill slowly, so no matter how you slice it, getting these spells are a major pain.

Speaking of Pain, try to draw it from Granaldo if he's level 30+. You won't regret it.

[Kyros]

Theres an ultima drawpoint in the mayors house at FH, but I think you can only ever use it once =/

[BG-57]

From a purely hypothetical standpoint it would be interesting to hack the game to see if those obscure draw points are there from the start and you can't simply reach them, or if they don't exist until later.

[wild-one]

The best you can hope for early on is to draw some Holy from Diablos when you choose to fight him (if he's at level 30+).

so its actually a good idea to battle him high level

[BG-57]

Like random encounters in FFT, the enemies level up along with the party. What makes or breaks a battle then is your junctions. There are ways to gain abilities without Exp, so if you go that route, low levels are better.

But in terms of drawing magic and dropping items, the best stuff is from higher level monsters. You can eventually level enemies up or down at will with the right GF ability, so again, raising party levels is not necessary.

The low level challenge is time consuming, so bear that in mind. Personally I never bothered with it.

[Karifean]

The low level challenge is time consuming, so bear that in mind.

I don't think it is time consuming. Practically all my games were low-level challenges, I hardly ever exceeded Level 20, only once I played a high-level challenge, cause I wanted to get the Ultimate Weapons on Disc 1.

I think it actually shortens your game time, as you can simply run from random encouters - better yet just equip 0% Enemy Encounter throughout the game. The only thing you can do is kill Tonberries (0 EXP) and Cactuars (very little EXP). And yes, the Lv Plus ability comes in handy here.

I think the "No Level Up"-Challenge is much more time consuming. I just started it, there's actually a way to avoid getting any EXP at all until you get to the Rocket Launching Station. The 3 soldiers (bossfight) there are immune to Stone and will give EXP.

[Iceglow]

After that, I try and refine as many spells as possible to eliminate my need to draw. Because everybody knows how boring it is, even if they don't attempt max-draws.

I actually draw a lot of my magic in FFVIII I don't mind, I drew 100 demi from Diablos with my entire party (yes 300 did take a long time, especially with Zell's pitiful mag stat and the fact that only 2 can junction magic to their magic stat at the first point you receive the magical lamp) the easiest way to survive this and not get beaten is simply to every now and then when you are low on hp is fire a stocked demi spell at Diablos, he will counter your character by casting Curaga on them, free healing is awesome. I also drew 100 double and protect/shell spells from Biggs and Wedge atop the communication tower in Dollet. That too took a long time, the main boss will not attack until you then focus on either of the two and defeat their hp level. Though a standard practise of mine is to card enough Fasticalon-F to card mod them in to 300 water spells.

You are right that magic and spirit do affect draw but eventually with even low level magic you can guarantee a draw of around 6 - 9 spells a time. IMHO Refining is best left for the highest level hardest spells to obtain or for refining items in to other items needed to gain the best magic.


Oh and as to the original posters post:

All elemental core elemental spells, that is fire, thunder, blizzard and their subsequent higher levels will give the same bonus to most stats afaik though I haven't checked this in a while. Only elemental spells like water and such have a major difference in the terms of stat gain.

I suggest junctioning the cure spell to hp (though you will use it regulary for healing, therefore you could continue using sleep until you get a better spell) and as soon as possible card modding some Fasticalon-F cards (obtain through playing and also through Carding them) for 100 water spells per character this will give you a nice bonus on any junction stat (magic is useful for drawing more spells) also any Thrustaevis cards you mod will allow you to get Aero or Tornado spells which will give you another elementally powerful spell. Once you reach Dollet continue to draw from Biggs and Wedge for 100 Double spells and also Esuna I believe is available at this point. Basically draw every spell you come across to 100 unless you have a strict time limit (black widow boss, draw with the character who has not got elemental attack j with thunder on attack or the character who is junctioned with Quezacotl and just make sure they have mag j so shiva would be ideal then flee when needed) Other enemies to watch for in regards to early on drawing of magic is once you leave Timber you're free to roam around the Gabaldian contient so long as you stick to the Dollet/Timber areas and don't try to enter Gabaldia go find Vysage and maybe Ochu as well for drawing points. At certain levels Anaconda will have bio available as well Remember if you don't want to level up card is your great ally!

[BG-57]

The low level challenge is time consuming, so bear that in mind.

I don't think it is time consuming. Practically all my games were low-level challenges, I hardly ever exceeded Level 20, only once I played a high-level challenge, cause I wanted to get the Ultimate Weapons on Disc 1.

I think it actually shortens your game time, as you can simply run from random encouters - better yet just equip 0% Enemy Encounter throughout the game. The only thing you can do is kill Tonberries (0 EXP) and Cactuars (very little EXP). And yes, the Lv Plus ability comes in handy here.

I think the "No Level Up"-Challenge is much more time consuming. I just started it, there's actually a way to avoid getting any EXP at all until you get to the Rocket Launching Station. The 3 soldiers (bossfight) there are immune to Stone and will give EXP.

What I call low level challenge is what you are calling no level challenge.

After that, I try and refine as many spells as possible to eliminate my need to draw. Because everybody knows how boring it is, even if they don't attempt max-draws.

I actually draw a lot of my magic in FFVIII I don't mind, I drew 100 demi from Diablos with my entire party (yes 300 did take a long time, especially with Zell's pitiful mag stat and the fact that only 2 can junction magic to their magic stat at the first point you receive the magical lamp) the easiest way to survive this and not get beaten is simply to every now and then when you are low on hp is fire a stocked demi spell at Diablos, he will counter your character by casting Curaga on them, free healing is awesome. I also drew 100 double and protect/shell spells from Biggs and Wedge atop the communication tower in Dollet. That too took a long time, the main boss will not attack until you then focus on either of the two and defeat their hp level. Though a standard practise of mine is to card enough Fasticalon-F to card mod them in to 300 water spells.

You are right that magic and spirit do affect draw but eventually with even low level magic you can guarantee a draw of around 6 - 9 spells a time. IMHO Refining is best left for the highest level hardest spells to obtain or for refining items in to other items needed to gain the best magic.

I ran into the same problem with Zell when I was drawing Pain from Granaldo. Took a long time.

[wild-one]

i say that esther soldiers are great
normal Esther Soldier: more magic,less EXP
Terminater Esther Soldier: less magic,more EXP