I started writing this quite some time ago, and then sort of forgot about it when it was over halfway done until a few days ago when I found it again. It was written without much more than just my experience with the game and a few looks into my Brady guide, so if you find any errors - discrepencies, typos, missing information, blatant misinformation etc. - please let me know. I hope a few people find it useful.
Guardian Forces, Where to Find Them, and How to Get Them<a name="gftop"></a>
I will try to detail completely how to locate and acquire every GF in the game. That includes boss strategies if fighting is involved, or any other information that is related at all to you gettin' that new cool summon. This FAQ doesn't have any raw data (i.e. Attack Power, Abilities lists, etc.), because there's plenty of other resources for that kind of stuff.
Quick Links
Quezacotl |
Shiva |
Ifrit |
Siren |
Brothers |
Diablos |
Carbuncle |
Leviathan |
Pandemona |
Cerberus
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Alexander |
Doomtrain |
Bahamut |
Cactuar |
Tonberry |
Eden |
Odin |
Gilgamesh |
Phoenix |
Chicobo
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Moomba |
MiniMog
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Quezacotl<a name="quez"></a>
Location: Island of Balamb, Balamb Garden, second floor classroom
Method of Acquisition: Press a few buttons
Ease of Doing So: Effortless
When You Can First Get It: Disk 1, very beginning of the game.
Complete Directions/Instructions: Both Quezacotl and Shiva, the first two GFs you come across, take no work at all in acquiring. You'll follow Quistis Trepe to the second floor classroom when you take control of Squall for the first time. After Quistis is done lecturing, access your control panel sitting right in front of you on the desk where you're seated. Select the first option to turn the power on, then select the very top menu item, labeled TUTORIAL, then from there, all you have to do is name your new GFs.
If You Missed It: As far as I know, you can acquire both Shiva and Quezacotl at any point in the game, except Disk 4, because you don't have access to Garden.
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Shiva<a name="shiva"></a>
Location: Island of Balamb, Balamb Garden, second floor classroom
Method of Acquisition: Press a few buttons
Ease of Doing So: Effortless
When You Can First Get It: Disk 1, very beginning of the game.
Complete Directions/Instructions; You get Shiva at the exact same time as Quezacotl, using the exact same method (via accessing the control panel in the second floor classroom). See the complete instructions for Quezacotl for further help.
If You Missed It: As far as I know, you can acquire both Shiva and Quezacotl at any point in the game, except Disk 4, because you don't have access to Garden.
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Ifrit<a name="ifrit"></a>
Location: Island of Balamb, Fire Cavern
Method of Acquisition: Timed boss fight
Ease of Doing So: Easy
When You Can First Get It: Disk 1, as soon as you take control of Squall.
Complete Directions/Instructions: To get Ifrit, you have to first leave Balamb Garden and walk east until you get to the Fire Cavern, where you take your preliminary field test before the big SeeD exam. When you enter, talk to the Garden faculty and you'll be asked to choose a time limit for completing the test. You have four options ranging from 10 to 40 minutes, and even 10 minutes is plenty of time. Pick a comfortable time, but don't choose 40 minutes unless you're really lacking in confidence. I'll tell you why in a moment. The Fire Cavern is a linear path that consists of only a few short screens. At the end Quistis and Squall must defeat Ifrit before he will agree to join you.
If You Missed It: You can't
not get Ifrit. Literally. His recruiting is essential for the progression of the story.
Boss Strategy : (Ifrit) The battle with Ifrit is not difficult. He's a fire elemental, so he naturally has a weakness to Ice, which means Blizzard spells, and more importantly, boosted Shiva are yourfriends. Have the person without Shiva either heal or contribute to the damage by boosting Quezacotl. Unless you have Blizzara and/or some magic junctioned to your Spr stat, Quezacotl will probably be more helpful even though it's Thunder elemental. Regardless, Ifrit has a hair under 1,100 HP, and it doesn't take much to take him down. He doesn't have any particularly powerful attacks, either. If you can, try to beat him with 10 seconds or less left on the clock by withering down his HP until he has but a few left, then finishing him off with one last hit at around20 seconds.
Keep In Mind: How much time is left on the clock when the Ifrit fight is over directly affects your SeeD rank. The lower the time, the better your rank, which is why it's a good idea to select 10 minutes. For the best affect on your rank, try to leave no more than 10 seconds on the clock when you finish Ifrit off. Strike the last hit at around 20 seconds or so.
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Siren<a name="siren"></a>
Location: Galbadia, Dollet, Communications Tower
Method of Acquisition: Drawn from a boss
Ease of Doing So: Moderate
When You Can First Get It: Disk 1, during the SeeD Exam
Complete Directions/Instructions: Your SeeD exam takes place in Dollet, which is under seige by the Galbadian army. When your vessel lands on the beaches at Dollet, you must follow Seifer to the town Square, eliminating any enemies along the way with a team of Seifer, Squall, and Zell. These are your orders, but Seifer quickly grows bored and decides to take a trip the Communications Tower, while you're stuck with following him.,You'll run into Selphie when you reach the 'Tower and she'll take Seifer's place in your party. Follow Selphie to the tower, and when inside, ride the lift to the top (
Note: When she jumps off the cliff, choose
not to jump, but to walk around). At the top, a confrontation occurs between your party and a certain Biggs and a certain Wedge. You'll fight them for a short bit, but they are quickly swept aside by the monster Elvoret. At any point during the fight with Elvoret, select the Draw command, select Elvoret, and you'll find Siren's name among the list of drawable "spells". Select Stock after selecting her name, and she's all yours.
If You Missed It: You have one other chance to get Siren, but you'll be waiting until Disk 4. In Ultimecia's castle, you can draw Siren from Tri-Point.
Boss Strategy: (Elvoret) Elvoret's got quite a few HPs and high magic defense, so it might take a while to finish him off unless you spent a good amount of time developing your party before the exam. The first thing to do is cast Blind on him to reduce the chances of getting hit by his physical attack. Other than that, there's not any real strategy involved. He has no weakness other than Wind, and it's doubtful you have any Aero spells floating around, so the only thing you can do is boost the GFs you have inbetween healing. He has a breath attack that hits the whole party for a fair amount of damage, so play defensively and just wait it out. He's not too hard; it just might take a while.
Boss Strategy: (X-ATM092) After you finish off Elvoret, you have 30 minutes to make it back to the beach, all the while fending off continuous attacks from a giant, robotic spider. He has over 5,000 HP, but you don't have to kill him, so don't fret. Being a machine, he's weak against Thunder, so throw one or two boosted Quezacotl's his way and he should drop to his knees, which gives you an opportunity to run away (take it). He's not really that threatening, so just stay healed up and continue to run, fight, and run until you get to the beach. I wouldn't worry too much about running out of time.
Keep in Mind: During this scenario, there are a lot of factors that determine your initial SeeD rank. Going in depth is beyond the scope of this FAQ, but here's some advice: Don't talk to anyone (Biggs included) during the exam. The fewer the times you frun from X-ATM092, the higher your score. It's possible to have to only run once. Use the D-pad to avoid being hung up on edges, and when you come to the downward slope, hold Triangle to walk down it instead of running. Don't attempt to leave the town square before Seifer instructs you to. Don't jump off the cliff where Selphie does. SAVE THE DOG in the town square during your escape. Don't run into the cafe to escape from X-ATM092. Don't run too far right, too fast, when X-ATM092 gets you in a pickle on the bridge. That should help with your initial rank.
Also keep in mind: If you're up for it, there is one spot where you can defeat X-ATM092 for good: on the bridge. It takes a fair bit of training and precise timing to accomplish this feat, but it can be done.
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Brothers<a name="bros"></a>
Location: Galbadia, Tomb of the Unknown King
Method of Acquisition: Multiple boss fights
Ease of Doing So: Moderate
When You Can First Get It: Disk 1, during your first trip to Deling City (as Squall)
Complete Direction/Instructions:You have to go to the Tomb of the Unknown King anyway in order to gain General Caraway's trust, so you might as well pick yourself up a new GF while you're there. The Tomb is a series of hallways, and it's difficult to describe the way your party moves while inside, so I'll just provide the directions that you need to obtain the new GF, until I find the right words to best explain movement inside the Tomb. See the map for reference below, if you must. When you first enter, walk straight ahead one screen and you'll come to your first intersection. Look at the ground closely for a sword with the Student ID you came to find. From there, go forward, then right, then forward, then follow the single curving path, then right, then straight ahead. It's in this room where you face off against Sacred. After the fight, leave the room. When you've exited, go right, then follow the single curving path, go right, follow another single curving path, then go right, then straight ahead. Inside, you should find a switch. Flip it, then leave the room. Outside, turn right, then follow the single curving path, then turn right, then follow another single curving path, then turn right, then go straight ahead. Yes, those are the exact same directions as before. In this room, you'll find another switch, which lowers the drawbridge that let's you get to Sacred and Minotaur. Leave the room, then go right, follow the single curving path, then go straight, then go left, then go straight ahead to confront the Brothers GF. When you defeat them, they will join you.
If You Missed It: You can go back and obtain the Brothers GF at any point in the game. Just go back to the Tomb of the Unknown King.
Map: The following is my less than stellar recreation of the Tomb map.
Boss Strategy: (Sacred) This fight is easy. If you have a magic user with Aero or Tornado spells, use them (the Brothers are Earth elemental). If you want the extra support, draw from Sacred and cast Protect on your party members. His auto-heal isn't a huge obstacle, but you can coast Float on him to negate its effects, though the status doesn't last long. Just beat away at him with your best attacks, and he'll fall soon.
Boss Strategy: (Sacred & Minotaur) If you still have Float spells and are itching to use them, instead cast them on your party members, which makes you immune to their earth-based Mad Cow Special double attack. You may want to use GFs in this battle if your physical attack isn't strong, so as to hit both brothers at the same time. If you're focusing on them each individually, hit Minotaur first, because a)his attacks are stronger and b)he has fewer HP. Otherwise, follow the same strategy you used against Sacred, and you shouldn't have too much trouble.
Keep In Mind: If at any point you get lost beyond correction, bust out your map (if you bought one), and hit the Triangle button to be taken back to the Entrance (or outside the tomb; I don't remember). Take note, though, that your SeeD rank will drop by one each time you do this.
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Diablos<a name="diablos"></a>
Location: An alternate dimension (seriously)
Method of Acquisition: Boss fight
Ease of Doing So: Moderate
When You Can First Get It: Disk 1, after you've acquired the Magic Lamp from Cid, before leaving for your first SeeD mission
Complete Directions/Intructions: You get the 'Magic Lamp' when you talk to Cid after he debriefs you on your first SeeD mission (to Timber) near the Front Gate of Balamb Garden. To initiate the fight with Diablos, all you have to do is use the Magic Lamp from the Items menu, so find a Save Point and prepare yourself for the fight. When you're ready, use the 'Lamp, which you can do anywhere in the world, as far as I know. You'll be transported to an alternate dimension where you'll find Diablos, who's mighty cranky because you woke him from his nap. When you knock some sense into him, though, he'll agree to lend you his services.
If You Missed It: You can't really miss him. As long as you still have the Magic Lamp, use it from the Items menu to fight and recruit Diablos.
Boss Strategy: (Diablos)Diablos uses nothing but Gravity/Time magic and strong physical attacks once he's torn enough of your HP away. Gravija is a lot like Supernova in the way that it'll leave your whole party with considerably little HP, but it won't kill you (it just leaves you vulnerable to his physical attacks). At higher levels, you may want to draw Demi from Diablos and cast it on him until the spell ceases to be effective (it's Gravity magic, so it does less damage as you lower Diablos' HP). Your best bet, though, is to let Gravija hit you, then pummel away at him with your strongest Limit Breaks in an attempt to finish him off before he does the same to you. There's no clear cut strategy to use against him, but hopefully he doesn't give you too much trouble.
Keep In Mind: Demi isn't a bad spell for Junctioning, so if he's not putting up much of a fight, take the opportunity to stock up on spells.
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Carbuncle<a name="carb"></a>
Location: Galbadia, Deling City
Method of Acquisition: Drawn from a boss
Ease of Doing So: Easy
When You Can First Get It: Disk 1, during the Sorceress assassination mission in Deling City.
Complete Directions/Instructions: During the Sorceress assassination mission in Deling City, Edea gives life to the lizard-like statues adorning a certain structure, and they attack poor Rinoa. When Squall and Irvine finally come to the rescue, you have to fight these Iguions, from either of which you can draw the Carbuncle GF. During the fight, select the Draw command, highlight and select either Iguion, and select 'Carbuncle' from the list of "spells". From there, choose to stock, and he's all yours.
If You Missed It: You have one more chance to acquire Carbuncle, but you'll be waiting until Ultimecia's castle on Disk 4. When you fight Krysta within, you can draw Carbuncle from him/her
Boss Strategy: (Iguions) These guys are a piece of cake. The only way at all they can pose a threat is if their Magma Breath attack just so happens to Stone both characters, which will result in a Game Over. It doesn't hit that often, but if you're worried, set up your St-Def J to resist or immunize from Stone status. They don't have much HP, so just use a GF or two (so long as it's not Ifrit; they absorb Fire), or take them out with a few strong physical strikes. Take your pick.
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Leviathan<a name="lev"></a>
Location: Island of Balamb, Balamb Garden, basement level
Method of Acquisition: Drawn from boss
Ease of Doing So:Easy
When You Can First Get It: Disk 2, during the NORG vs. Headmaster Cid
Garden conflict.
Complete Directions/Instructions: During the missile crisis scenario at the start of disk 2, you split up into two teams, one of which goes back to Balamb Garden, where they find there's a turf war going on between the Headmaster, Cid, and Garden's primary benefactor, a Shumi whom you haven't yet heard of named NORG. It's your job to go visit each area of Garden and exterminate the monsters before you meet up with Xu back by the elevator. When you ride to the top, you'll find that Headmaster Cid is there, and he gives you a key to the lower basement levels in an attempt to activate an old mobility + shield device, after you've told him of the impending danger. Take the elevator down, and when it stops, go through the panel in the floor to reach the lower levels. Down here you have do a series of things in order to get Garden's defense ready for the missile attack, and consult a general walkthrough if you're having trouble. Once you've done all this, and the Garden is saved, and the fighting has died down to nothing, a series of events will lead you to a basement level where you meet NORG. Following a brief but interesting conversation with NORG, you're thrust into a fight with him. You first have to defeat his protective Pod before his organic form comes out. During this second stage, you can draw the GF Leviathan from NORG. Select the Draw command, highlight and select NORG, and select 'Leviathan' from the list of "spells". Select Stock, and you're done.
If You Missed It: Ultimecia's castle on Disk 4 offers you a second opportunity to acquire Leviathan. Inside, you can draw Lev from Trauma.
Boss Strategy: (NORG Pod) In the first stage of the fight, you have to cause damage to the NORG Pod to get him to show his face. The orbs on either side of NORG will change colors from blue to yellow to red after each turn, and they'll cast magic while they're red. If you attack the pods, they'll go back a color or two, and as long as you keep them from staying red, they'll never cast magic. So, have your strongest attacker focus damage on the Pod itself, while you have the rest of your party alternating between attacking the Pod and the orbs when they get close to being attack-ready. Eventually, you'll cause enough damage to the Pod to break it open, thus ridding NORG of his protection. This part of the fight should be a cinch.
Boss Strategy: (NORG) Employ the same strategy used in the first stage of the fight, but modify it if you have to, to compensate for the extra damage you'll be taking as a result of NORG's attacks. Keep healed if you must, but otherwise, keep hitting NORG for big damage while keeping the orbs on either side of him from casting too much magic. It's really not that difficult.
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Pandemona<a name="pand"></a>
Location: Island of Balamb, Balamb (town), Hotel
Method of Acquisition: Drawn from boss
Ease of Doing So: Moderate
When You Can First Get It: Disk 2, during the invasion of Balamb conflict.
Complete Directions/Instructions: After you take care of the rebellion at Garden, and Garden has become mobile and you've gotten the good people at Fisherman's Horizon to fix it, your next destination is the town of Balamb. When you walk in, you'll find trouble has find also found it's way here, in the form of a G-army takeover. Once Zell has talked your way inside, a trip to the Hotel will teach you that the Captain is out on patrol. If you want to figure out what's going on, you'll have to find him. Your first stop is a visit to the Docks, where you'll find out that the Captain had just been fishing. Go to Zell's house and mom will tell you that a Galbadian officer had just used her kitchen to cook fish, and he'd gone off to share the catch with his men. Go to the Train Station where you'll witness a group of very sick G-army soldiers. It seems the Captain caught a poisonous fish. Leave and go back to the Docks and talk to the guard watching the dog. The dog runs off, so follow it back to the Train Station, and you'll see Raijin, who turns out to be the Captain, jump out of nowhere and take off. Get ready for a fight and head back to the Hotel. You'll face off against Raijin before going into the Hotel to confront the Commander, who turns out to be Fujin. During the confrontation, Raijin comes running in, so you'll have to face both of them. During the fight, Pandemona can be drawn from Fujin (not from Raijin). Select the Draw command, highlight and select Fujin, select 'Pandemona' from the list of drawable "spells", and select stock. You have yourself a new GF.
If You Missed It: During Disk 4, in Ultimecia's castle, you can draw Pandemona from the boss, Red Giant
Boss Strategy: (Raijin) Prior to this first fight, get rid of any Elem-Atk Junctions unless they're Poison. Fujin and Raijin absorb Wind and Thunder respectively, so double check. Two G-Army soldiers fight alongside Raijin in this battle, so take them out first (they're the regular soldiers you've faced many times). If you find Raijin's strong physical hits overbearing, draw Protect from him and cast it on your party members. If you want to, you can also cast Blind to reduce the effectiveness of his physical onslaught, and Sleep if you want to take a chance to heal up or something. Alternatively, if you're low on Cure spells, it might be a good idea to leave one of the soldiers alive for drawing Cure. Your call.
Boss Strategy: (Fujin & Raijin) Use the same strategy as the first fight while taking the extra opponent into consideration. Unless you really need the Cure spells that she has, get rid of Fujin first (after you draw Pandemona, of course). After she's gone, concentrate on Fujin, using the same method as before to beat him.
Keep In Mind: If you haven't done so, you can challenge Ma Dincht to a card game and win the rare Zell card. Zell has to be in your party.
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Cerberus<a name="cerb"></a>
Location: Centra continent, mobile Galbadia Garden, main hall
Method of Acquisition: Boss fight
Ease of Doing So: Moderate
When You Can First Get It: Disk 2, during the battle between the mobile Gardens
Complete Directions/Instructions: If you're having trouble with the battle against Galbadia garden, or are looking for more elaborate directions than the ones that follow, please consult a general walkthrough. Cerberus is waiting for you in the center of Galbadia Garden's main hall, and I'll supply brief directions on how to get through the Garden, and how to get to him. Go up to the second floor and check the classrooms for a student who gives you
Card Key 1. Go back to the first floor and look for a door that can be unlocked with your new Card Key on the otherside of which you'll find a hockey rink (yeah, seriously). Cross the rink, and go straight ahead to another room in which you'll find a student holding the
Card Key 2. Take this with you up to the third floor and use it to unlock the door that was previously keeping you from progressing. You might recognize the area beyond from your first visit to Galbadia Garden during Disk 1. You can access the main hall now, where you'll find Cerberus standing in the glowing light (
Note: you'll find the last Card Key if you head left from the main hall and search the classrooms). To initiate the fight, just walk into him. If you prove yourself by defeating him, he'll join up.
If You Missed It: You can draw Cerberus from the boss, Gargantua, inside Ultimecia's castle (Disk 4).
Boss Strategy: (Cerberus) Cerberus absorbs Thunder, so check your Elem-Atk J before fighting him. He's also immune to Wind, so don't bother with Aero or Tornado magic. It's also recommended that you stock up on Dispel magic before you challenge him. Cerberus is really only a threat if he manages to cast Triple on himself and follows up with a series of three consecutive, strong magic spells. So, anytime you see him cast Triple, immediately use Dispel and you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Cerberus' physical strikes from his tail cause some alright damage, but as long as you don't let your HP get too low, he shouldn't present too much trouble.
Keep In Mind: Cerberus holds the Triple spell, which is all kinds of awesome. If you're strong enough to resist his attacks, use this chance to stock up on as much Triple as you can. Also, you can mug from him a Spd-J Scroll, which are pretty hard to come by.
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Alexander<a name="alex"></a>
Location: Centra continent, mobile Galbadia Garden
Method of Acquisition: Drawn from boss
Ease of Doing So: Moderate
When You Can First Get It: Disk 2, during the battle between the mobile Gardens
Complete Directions/Instructions: After you've defeated Cerberus and gotten your hands on the
Card Key 3, go looking for the Reception Room you might remember from your first visit. Near here, you'll find an elevator which you can unlock with the last Card Key. The path from this point on is straight-forward and the events that follow including multiple boss fights. You'll first manipulate a battle between the old rivals, Squall (accompanied by friends, that cheater) and Seifer, followed by your party's attack against the combination of Sorceress Edea and Seifer. It's during this second fight that you can draw the GF Alexander from Edea (not Seifer). Select Draw, highlight and select Edea, select 'Alexander' from the list of drawable "spells", and Stock your shiny new GF.
If You Missed It: Your only other chance to get your hands on Alexander is to draw him from the boss, Catoblepas, inside Ultimecia's castle during Disk 4.
Boss Strategy: (Seifer) Seifer's got a strong physical attack called Demon Slice in his arsenal but he doesn't use it often enough to be any serious threat. The best strategy for beating him is to just unload all your strongest attacks before the fight drags on for too long. When his HP gets low, he'll use Hi-Potions on himself, so don't bother fighting defensively, because he'll do the same. Just annihilate him with a few big damage attacks.
Boss Strategy: (Seifer & Edea) Seifer joins the battle in a last ditch effort to protect his beloved Sorceress, but he has even fewer HP than before in exchange for higher attack power, so dispatch him quickly. Edea is the real opponent here. She has an attack called Maelstrom that, like Gravija, is Gravity/Time based, and it hits your whole party. It can tear down your characters' HPs simultaneously, and real fast. In addition, she likes to cast Death when you've lowered her HP to a certain point. If you can, you might want to set up your St-Def J to compensate. The rest of her repertoire is filled with high level elemental magic spells. If you're Mag Def is high enough, you might want to adapt the Diablos strategy and leave your HP low after she uses Maelstrom. That way, you can assault her with a barrage of limit breaks. Otherwise, keep healed up and hit her with your strongest GFs and attacks. Remember to draw Alexander before her HP is reduced to 0.
Keep In Mind: Both Edea and Seifer carry useful items for the Mugging during the second fight. Seifer holds a Hero item, but considering how easy you can get 100 through card refinement, it's better to just finish him off rather than expose yourself to the damage he inflicts. Edea has a Royal Crown which you can afford the time to try to obtain.
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Doomtrain<a name="doom"></a>
Location: N/A (you'll be travelling all over the place)
Method of Acquisition: Collecting items
Ease of Doing So: Hard
When You Can First Get It: Disk 3, when you first discover the Esthar continent
Complete Directions/Instructions: Acquiring the GF Doomtrain is a process unlike that of obtaining any of the other GFs. It's essentially a fetch quest. You can obtain him when you've made it to Esthar and are able to access Tear's Point, but you'll probably have to wait until you get the Ragnarok unless you just happen to have all the items required. To summon Doomtrain, you have to have the Solomon Ring, and six of each of the following: Malboro Tentacles, Remedy+, and Steel Pipes. The Steel Pipes are far and away the easiest to acquire, so let's take a trip to Galbadia, shall we? There's a small plot of land near Deling City that looks squared off by the bordering roads and railways, etc. It's in this spot where there's a particularly high encounter rate of Wendigo's. You can either Mug or win Steel Pipes from these creatures, so do that until you have at least six of them. From there, go to the Island Closest to Heaven (or Hell, but you seem to run into them more at Heaven) in hopes of encountering Malboros and Mugging six Malboro Tentacles. If you don't know where it is, fly the Ragnarok to the eastern most island on the map. Go into your menu to see if you are indeed there. Malboros are nasty creatures, and you're much better off trying to Mug from them and run than to try and defeat them and hope they drop the items you need. Set up your St-Def to defend against Confuse and Berserk and Sleep (in order of priority) as best you can. If you have the ability, equip Initiative on your Mugger. That way you can enter the battle and attempt to Mug then run away before the Malboro casts Bad Breath. The Malboro Tentacles are definitely the hardest to get, so just be patient. If you're lucky, Odin will come along (if you have him) and kill a few. After you've gotten the six Malboro Tentacles you need, make sure you have a lot of money, because you're going to be purchasing a lot of Remedy+. You're also going to need Alexander's Med LV Up GF ability, so if you don't have it, take a trip to Cactuar Island and learn it. If you're not making much cash, you may also want to take the time to do some SeeD tests to up your SeeD Rank. To get your Remedy+'s, you're going to have to buy quite a few Remedies - 60, to be specific. You take these and use Med LV Up to turn them into your 6 Remedy+'s. Finally, if you haven't done so already, go to Tear's Point on the Esthar Continent (it's the southern most location) and grab the Solomon Ring. Use the ring from the Items menu, and if you're successful, you'll see a brief message from Doomtrain followed by a prompt to enter a name for your new GF. If it doesn't work, you don't have all the items. Double check, and try again.
If You Missed It: You can only miss Doomtrain if you don't pick up the Solomon Ring before the end of Disk 3. All of the other items can be obtained during Disk 4.
Keep In Mind: Steel Pipes are great for refining into Aura spells, which is one of the most useful magics in the game. You might want to stock up on them, whether it's now or later.
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Bahamut<a name="baha"></a>
Location: Open ocean, Deep Sea Research Center, first room
Method of Acquisition: Boss fight
Ease of Doing So: Hard
When You Can First Get It: Disk 3, when you get the Ragnarok
Complete Directions/Instructions: The Deep Sea Research Center, like FF7's Round Island, is located in the corner of the world and is too small to be seen on the map. Hop in the Ragnarok and search around the southwestern (lower left) corner of the map until you see something floating in the middle of the ocean. This is your destination. Land on it like you would normally land the Ragnarok, and walk inside. You'll be in a room with what looks like a large test tube in the middle, and it pulsates a blue glowing light. It slowly fades in and out. DO NOT WALK when the light is glowing. Only walk when it's faded down to nothing, otherwise you'll be pestered with countless random encounters. After you've finished your slow journey to this "test tube" press the action button when you're standing right next to it. Bahamut will then ask you, "So you wish to challenge me…" You must reply with "It's not our will to fight." After you've answered, you'll have to fight a Ruby Dragon. If you survive the encounter, Bahamut will ask you another question: "Begging me for mercy?" to which you must reply, "Never." Another Ruby Dragon fight ensues. Don't worry, this is the last one. Bahamut asks you one more question after the fight with the second Ruby Dragon: "Damned imbecile. Why do you wish to fight?" Now be careful here. There are two visible options, but if you press down twice you'll discover an invisible third option. Select this and you'll enter into a fight against Bahamut himself. Defeat him, and he'll join you.
If You Missed It: Since the Deep Sea Research Center is accessible during Disk 4, you can go back and get Bahamut at any point in the game after you get the Ragnarok.
Boss Strategy: (Ruby Dragons) Ruby Dragons are not bosses, granted, but they're some of the toughest regular enemies in the game, and one of the primary reasons for that is their Breath attack. Despite the name and appearance of said attack, it's actually physical, so try to improve your Vit stat as much as you can through Junctioning before taking on this quest. If you have Aura, cast it on your strongest attackers. If you have Meltdown, throw one at the Ruby Dragon to lower its physical defense. Stay healed up and ready for the fight with Bahamut. If the Ruby Dragons give you too much trouble, you might need to spend some time to better Junction your party members.
Boss Strategy: (Bahamut) Think of Bahamut as a stronger Ruby Dragon. If the Ruby Dragon is an inline six, then Bahamut is a V8. Start off by casting Blind to protect against his strong physical attacks, and immediately cast Meltdown on him if you have it. Mega Flare is what you have to be ready for. Keep your HP up, and if you want to take the time to cast Protect, then do so. If he does use Mega Flare, have each of your characters take a turn to draw Curaga from Bahamut and cast it on themselves. If you have Aura, use this to shorten the time of the fight by initiating Limit Break status on your strongest fighters.
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Cactuar<a name="cact"></a>
Location: Centra continent, Cactuar Island
Method of Acquisition: Boss fight
Ease of Doing So: Moderate
When You Can First Get It: Disk 3, when you get the Ragnarok
Complete Directions/Instructions: In the northeastern area of the south island in the Centra region (the area you're looking for is just south of the Esthar continent), you'll find a desert. There's a small desert island off the east shore here. This island is Cactuar Island, where you'll encounter only cactuars, and where you can initiate a boss fight against, and recruit as a GF the Jumbo Cactuar. You should physically see Cactuar disappearing and reappearing at random locations around the island. If not, you're at the wrong island (or you've already beaten him). To start the fight against Jumbo Cactuar, all you have to do is run into him - physically touch him. A boss fight will take place, and if you're triumphant, the GF Cactuar will join your side.
If You Missed It: Cactuar Island doesn't become inaccessible during Disk 4, so you can obtain Cactuar at any point after you've recovered the Ragnarok.
Boss Strategy: (Jumbo Cactuar) You need to have a handle on timing your attacks for this fight. If you don't have Aura and Meltdown spells, I'd especially suggest them in this situation. For Cactuar's attacks, he has one fairly strong stomp attack that hits one person, one fairly strong attack where he falls on your whole party, and a random counterattack called 10,000 Needles that is an instant kill. If he connects with the latter attack, simply use a Life/Full-Life spell or the Recover ability. Don't bother with Protect - 10,000 Needles
will kill you regardless. Jumbo Cactuar has a lot of HP (up to 60,000) and is weak to Water elemental spells. Start the fight by casting Meltdown on him and causing Vit 0 status so your own attacks cause more damage. Follow up by casting Aura on your strongest attacker or attackers. Don't bother with an accumulation of weak attacks for this fight. Simply beat away at him with Limit Breaks, but don't be hasty. Pay close attention to the message at the top of the screen. When you've lowered his HP to a certain point, you'll see a message saying "Jumbo Cactuar is hesitating." At this point, your next attack
MUST kill him, or he'll run away and you'll have to do the whole thing over again. Your best chance is in the form of a strong limit break, like Renzokuken, or Shot if your Irvine has high Str and a healthy supply of AP Ammo.
Keep In Mind: Cactuar Island is the best location in the game for learning GF abilities. The Cactuars you fight here will net you 20 AP a piece (!) and pose no threat. To maximize the success rate of killing Cactuars, set up your Junctions as follows: Junction Haste to your Spd stat; Junction Triple (or Double if you don't have it) to your Hit stat; Junction Water to your Elem-Atk J; Finally, Junction the Initiative ability to as many members as you can. It's also good to have a high Str stat.
Also keep in mind: Don't Mug from Jumbo Cactuar. The Geas Ring that he inevitably drops - which teaches a GF the HP+80% ability - is far better than the lousy Cactus Thorn you'll get if you successfully Mug from him.
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Tonberry<a name="king"></a>
Location: Centra continent, Centra Ruins
Method of Acquisition: Boss fight (after a whole lot of random encounters)
Ease of Doing So: Hard
When You Can First Get It: Disk 2, after Balamb Garden becomes mobile
Complete Directions/Instructions: The Centra Ruins are located just north of the beach on the southern border of the large, northern island of the Centra region (if reading that slowly doesn't help, I've supplied a map below for reference). Inside the Centra ruins you'll fight cute little green creatures called Tonberries. The characteristics of a Tonberry include incredibly high HP and an instant kill Chef's Knife attack they like to use after they've slowly walked up to you. Once you've located the Centra ruins and have entered, don't venture past the first couple of screens, for this is where you'll find the Tonberries. Your goal here is to kill around 18 to 22 of these little suckers, which will anger the Tonberry King into showing his face. You must then defeat him before he becomes a member of the team as the GF Tonberry.
The easiest way I've found to beat Tonberries is to keep Squall's HP in the yellow zone, allowing him to continuously use Renzokuken. The only attack the Tonberry uses besides Chef's Knife is Everyone's Grudge. This attack causes damage based on the number of enemies the target has killed, and since Squall has almost definitely killed far more enemies than your other teammates, it's likely that Everyone's Grudge would KO him, or come close, even if his HP was full. If Squall does get KO'ed, just use a Phoenix Down or cast a Life spell, which will revive him back into a state where he can go right back to using Limit Breaks. To avoid the risk of getting a Game Over and having to attempt the whole excruciating process over again, go outside and save your game after you've killed the 17th Tonberry. Then, if you want, you can save after each fight from then on until the Tonberry King confronts you.
If You Missed It: The Centra Ruins are accessible during all disks, so Tonberry can be acquired at any point from the time Garden becomes mobile until the end of the game.
Map: Below is a map of the Centra continent that shows the location of the Centra Ruins
Boss Strategy: (Tonberry King) The King has a ton of HP, and unlike his subordinates, he attacks quickly. If you're the type to use support magic, Haste and Protect would be your best choices during this fight. If you have it, cast Meltdown on him to help you bring down his massive amount of HP faster. From there, it's just a matter of using your strongest attacks to take him out. He has some strong attacks, but you can also draw Full-Life and Curaga from him, which kind of negates the threat these attacks would otherwise pose.
Keep in Mind: Full-Life is a great spell, and it would be wise to stock up on it while you have this opportunity to easily do so.
Also: It'd be a good idea to wait until after you've
Odin to try this. That way, there's no time limit you have to worry about.
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Eden<a name="eden"></a>
Location: Open ocean, Deep Sea Research Center, bottom level
Method of Acquisition: Drawn from boss
Ease of Doing So: Hard
When You Can First Get It: Disk 3, after you get the Ragnarok, and after you've defeated Bahamut
Complete Directions/Instructions: Eden can be drawn from Ultima Weapon, who resides at the very bottom of the same Deep Sea Research Center where you fight Bahamut. After Bahamut has been defeated, you'll notice that when you leave and re-enter, a new path has opened up. Climb down the giant vine thing to start a series of small puzzles involving operating machines to progress. There are two ways of doing this depending on whether or not Zell is in your party. The following are instructions for both scenarios:
(Floor 1) Spend 4 units to open up the door to the next level;
(Floor 2) If Zell is in your party, spend 1 unit to open up the door to the third floor. If not, spend 2 units;
(Floor 3) Spend 1 unit to open the door to the next floor if Zell is present. If not, use the monitor to the left of the stairs and spend 4 units to open up the Steam Room. Inside, use the station to recharge 7 units (and draw Esuna from the draw point if you wish), then go back to the main room and spend 1 unit at the other monitor to open up the door to the next floor;
(Floor 4) Spend 1 unit to open up the door to the next level;
(Floor 5) Use 1 unit to open the door to the next level;
(Floor 6) If Zell isn't present, simply spend 4 units to open the door to the next area. If he is, inspect the machinery to the right of the levers, and trust Zell to be able to handle it. If at this point you don't have at least 10 RSP left, go back and try again, because you won't have enough left to operate the machinery at the bottom. The next area is a linear downward path that takes you to the whereabouts of Ultima Weapon. I strongly recommend you equip Diablos' Enc-None before proceeding, so that the regular enemy encounters don't wear you down (if they don't kill you) before the fight with Ultima. At the bottom of the excavation site, equip Move-Find to locate the Hidden Save point, then save your game. When you're ready, operate the machine and the fight will ensue. During the fight, you must draw Eden from Ultima Weapon. Select Draw, highlight and select Ultima Weapon, and select 'Eden' from the list of drawable "spells." Now Stock the most powerful GF in the game, one capable of dishing out 5-digit damage.
If You Missed It: You can't miss Eden for the same reasons you can't miss Bahamut, but if Ultima Weapon presents too much of a challenge for you, you can also draw Eden from Tiamat inside Ultimecia's castle, during Disk 4.
Boss Strategy: (Ultima Weapon) Well, then. Strap yourself in, because there's (arguably) only one other enemy in the entire game tougher than the one you face at the bottom level of the Deep Sea Research Center. Ultima's repository of attacks ranges from powerful magic of the highest level that hits your whole party, to strong physical sword swipes not too many of which any character can take, and an instant kill attack called Light Pillar. Cerberus is your best pal at the beginning of this battle, so try summoning him immediately. If that doesn't work (say, you don't have him, or he gets KO'ed during the summoning), cast Triple on a character or two, because it helps a lot during this fight. Cast Meltdown (Triple cast it to avoid having to waste another turn in the event that it doesn't inflict Vit 0), then set up your defenses with your favorite support magic. I'd recommend Triple casting Haste on your party to cut down on Ultima's speed advantage. After that, Triple cast Aura on your party and commence in unleashing Limit Break after Limit Break. Ultima is fast and likes to disrupt the flow of battle, and he often does so by frequently using Light Pillar, which is why I recommending casting Triple on more than one character. Be prepared to revive and cure party members, while using Limit Breaks at every opportunity to chisel away at Ultima's HP. Depending on the characters you're using, and how well they're Junctioned, thismay not be as hard, or take as long as you might think.
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ATTENTION
The following are 'non-standard' GFs. Unlike normal GFs, you can't junction them or teach them abilities. For some, summoning them requires the use of an item in battle, while for others, they can't be summoned at will and instead show up randomly.
Odin<a name="odin"></a>
Location: Centra continent, Centra Ruins, Odin's throne room
Method of Acquisition: Timed boss fight
Ease of Doing So: Moderate
When You Can First Get It: Disk 2, after Balamb Garden becomes mobile
Complete Directions/Instructions: For a description of the location of the Centra ruins, see the
Tonberry section, and consult the map. In order to get Odin to lend you his sword, you have to venture in and navigate the ruins, find a way into his throne room, and proceed to fight and defeat him. And you must do all this in under twenty minutes, but don't fret - the ruins aren't overly huge, the puzzle isn't terribly difficult, and Odin himself presents literally no challenge.
The only real preparation I can recommend for this undertaking is to have the character with Diablos Junctioned equip the Enc-None ability. Seeing as how there's a time limit, you don't want to have to deal with random encounters, now do you?. Right, then. Upon entering the Ruins, wade through the linear path of the first few screens until you come to the first intersection. You should see an alter-like device that doesn't (yet) respond to your input, and a ladder on either side of it. The right ladder leads to an Aero drawpoint, and can be ignored. Climb up the left ladder and step onto the platform on the top. Walk into the small room here and activate the device inside. After that, climb back down the ladder to the alter that before did nothing. You can now activate it, and a winding staircase will magically appear to take you further into the Ruins. In the next screen, you'll see a Gargoyle statue with one shining eye, sitting on a platform over a locked door. Climb the short ladder here and examine the sbefore he'll lend you his sword.t beat him btatue. Choose to take the eye. Climb down and proceed to the next screen, where you'll find yet another Gargoyle statue. This time, take the eye from the other statue, and insert it into the empty socket of this statue, making a complete set. You will get a number. Remember this number. Say it four hundred times in your head, or alternatively, write it down. Your call. Now, take BOTH eyes out, and head back to the other Gargoyle statue from the previous screen. Put both eyes in this statue, and you'll be prompted to enter a number. Remember the number I told you to remember? You better. Here's where you use it. If the number is correct, the previously locked door will now be open and you'll have access to Odin's throne room. Enter, and engage in a brief conversation with the Norse god. Following this, he'll challenge you to a fight, where you must defeat him before he's yours to command (besides the command part).
Boss Strategy: Odin will give you no opposition. He won't attack you at all. Your goal here is to drain his HP down to zero before the timer runs out. If you accomplish this task, he'll offer his services. If you don't, he'll kill you instead. But not to worry, you should have plenty if time. So much time, in fact, that you should probably spend more of it trying to Mug him than dishing out damage. Do all the normal boss stuff, if you want: Cast Meltdown and Aura if you need it, but you probably won't have to.
Keep in Mind: Odin holds a Luck-J scroll that you can Mug from him. This is a very uncommon and useful item, and because of the nature of the fight, you can safely spend quite a bit of time trying to take it. And you should.
NOTE: Odin is not a normal, junctional GF. He won't show up in the GF screen, you can't summon him at will, and you can't teach him abilities. He randomly appears at the beginning of normal encounters and instantly kills all of your enemies. This works for almost all normal enemies in the game, with Cactuars and Tonberries being a couple notable exceptions. In addition, Odin will never - with one possible exception - show up during a boss fight.
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Gilgamesh<a name="gilg"></a>
Location: Esthar continent, Lunatic Pandora at Tear's Point
Method of Acquisition: Boss fight
Ease of Doing So: Easy
When You Can First Get It: Disk 3, during the boss fight with Seifer inside Lunatic Pandora
Complete Directions/Instructions: To obtain Gilgamesh, make sure you've already acquired Odin before you enter Lunatic Pandora at the end of Disk 3. Yes, that's it. That's all you need to know. If you're not satisfied with that explanation, and are willing to deal with spoilers, read on. Otherwise, just trust me - that is all you need to do.
The following is a
spoiler: When you fight Seifer inside Lunatic Pandora at the end of Disk 3, Odin will appear at the beginning of the fight if you've already gotten him to join you. He will attack Seifer and be killed in the process. His sword, Zantetsuken will go flying up in the air and into the hands of the four-armed Gilgamesh, who now has a complete collection of swords. Gilgamesh will Odin's place as your 'Randomly-show-up-at-the-beginning-of-battles-and-kill-stuff-guy."
Keep in Mind: If you don't already have Odin when you enter Lunatic Pandora, the above event will not occur, and you can obtain Odin afterwards where he'll stay for the rest of the game.
NOTE: Like Odin, Gilgamesh is not Junctionable, summonable, or teachable. He randomly appears and attacks your enemies, though there are a couple notable differences between him and his predecessor. First of all, while Odin only has one attack with his Zantetsuken, Gilgamesh has four different swords, and thus four different attacks. They include: Zantetsuken, which instantly kills all enemies; Masamue, which deals heavy damage to all enemies; Excalibur, which is a fairly strong attack against all enemies; and finally, Excalipoor, which causes 1 point of damage to all enemies. Gilgamesh can also show up during boss fights, thanks to his non-instant-kill alternative attacks, though Zantetsuken will not work against bosses.
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Phoenix<a name="phnx"></a>
Location: N/A
Method of Acquisition: N/A
Ease of Doing So: N/A
When You Can First Get It: N/A
Complete Directions/Instructions: Phoenix is another oddity. You can summon her by command by using a Phoenix Opinion during battle, but Phoenix Pinions aren't overly easy to come by. In addition, after you summon Phoenix for the first time, there's a small chance that when your party is KO'ed during battle, Phoenix will revive you. Since Phoenix isn't really a GF to be acquired, and is called by the use of a Phoenix Pinion, here a few locations and methods of obtaining these items:
- Shumi Village Rockfinding sidequest
- Chocobo crossing at Winhill
- Ghost subquest at Winhill
- Refined from Phoenix GF card using the Card Mod ability
Consult a general walkthrough, Secrets FAQ, or Sidequests FAQ for more information on finding Phoenix Pinions.
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Chicobo<a name="boko"></a>
Location: Any Chocobo Forest
Method of Acquisition: Mini-game, Item use during battle
Ease of Doing So: N/A
When You Can First Get It: Disk 2, after Balamb Garden becomes mobile
Complete Directions/Instructions: Chicobo is similar to Phoenix in the way that you call him into battle with an item. As a prerequisite to summoning Chicobo, you have to pay a visit to any one of the six regular Chocobo Forests and solve the puzzle within. After your first time in succeeding to solve a Chocobo Forest puzzle, the Chocoboy there will give you your own Chicobo and Chocobo that you can stop by and take for a ride at any point afterwards. He'll also sell Gysahl Greens for 600 Gil a piece, which are the items you need to summon Chicobo into battle. The location of the six regular Chocobo Forests are as follows:
- North of Trabia Garden
- Sorbald Snowfield, south of Shumi Village
- Winter Island, next to Shumi Island
- Lenown Plains, East of Edea's House
- Nectar Peninsula, Eastern Centra, South of Fisherman's Horizon
- Southern Esthar, South of Talle Mountains
Chicobo will be summoned every time you use a Gysahl Green with the Item command during battle.
Keep in Mind: You may find another Chocobo Forest not listed above. This is the Chocobo Sanctuary, and if you go there after you've solved the puzzles and found the hidden items from the six main Forests, you might get something good. Look at a Secrets/Sidequest FAQ/Walkthrough for more information.
NOTE: Chicobo can be made stronger only by playing Chocobo World with a Pocket Station, which never saw a release outside Japan. Chicobo, therefore, isn't exactly a super powerful GF, and is really only a novelty for the most part.
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ATTENTION
The following two GF can only be summoned by using items found in the Chocobo World Pocket Station mini-game. The Pocket Station was never released in the U.S. or PAL regions, so unless you're using the PC version of FF8, you're out luck. Really, that's it. Sorry. Because of this, the following two GFs how-tos will naturally be devoid of much information. If you're one of those PC gamers, I recommend
this guide to Chocobo World, the Pocket Station mini-game in which you develop your Chicobo.
Moomba<a name="moom"></a>
Location: N/A
Method of Acquisition: Mini-game, Item use during battle
Ease of Doing So: N/A
When You Can First Get It: Disk 2, after Balamb Garden becomes mobile
Complete Directions/Instructions: Moomba can be called during battle by using a Friendship Amulet. This item can only be obtained in the Pocket Station minigame, Chocobo World. And because of the literal non-existence of the Pocket Station in North America, Moomba is unobtainable in the PS1 version of the game. I've no idea how to obtain this item, and besides, unless you either a) are using the PC version of the game, or b) are Japanese, you can't get Moomba.
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MiniMog<a name="mmog"></a>
Location: N/A
Method of Acquisition: Mini-game
Ease of Doing So: N/A
When You Can First Get It: Disk 2, after Balamb Garden becomes mobile
Complete Directions/Instructions: MiniMog is another GF that you can get only if you have a Pocket Station or the PC version of the game. Mog isn't really a GF so much as he's an Ability. To teach a GF the Call Mini-Mog Ability, you have to use a MiniMog Amulet, which can only be found by playing the Pocket Station mini-game, Chocobo World. I'm neither Japanese, nor do I play PC games, so I don't know how a fellow will go about finding him a MiniMog Amulet. My apologies.
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The Final Fantasy VIII FAQ Thread + Guardian Forces
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Guardian Force FAQ
Originally Posted by Del Mordor
