Is there any way to shorten or remove the Guardian Forces sequences?

[Rampala]

...why the crap would you want to shorten them? Eden was the only one I managed to max boost with before the animation finished... Eliminating the animations would make your GF's so much weaker...

Really good point. I mean, if you don't want you use the boost ability that's one thing. But, if you do you need the introductions.

This is actually one of the Official FAQs on Square's site, and their reply was ecenssially: "No. Deal with it or don't summon them." I guess they got a lot of complaints about that one.

[ShivaBlizzard8]

LOL - that makes sense, given how FF9's intros are a LOT shorter and have abbreviated versions.

[BG-57]

And in FFIX you can equip abilities to get the longer summons, but I don't bother with them.

BTW, Jumbo Cactaur is perfect for those who hate boosting and long summon times. It's fast, doesn't need boosting, and does the second-best damage for any GF.

[Skyblade]

and now I must return to my dead imp. (those things are annoying-- they kept casting berserk on rinoa -_- and before that it was two stupid couerl things. I forget what they're called in ff8. kept casting lvl 5 death -_-)

Are you referring to Toramas? (Just check the Torama card if you're not sure)

I like the animations, personally (All save Pandemona, which I don't like that much [I didn't like Typhoon in FFVII either. I guess wind summons just aren't that good ]). Tonberry's is hilarious, and most of the others are beautiful.

One thing about the Boosting technique mentioned by Rubah:

Yeah, but what if you want to use a GF that has a certain elemental attack so you don't completely kill an enemy?

If you're stronger than they are, and don't have item or magic junctioned, it can be sorta hard to take off hp without killing them. Solution? use quezacotl and shiva and the early ones and don't boost them.

Usually you can be even more effecient than this. Start boosting them, and press the Square button while the X is over the hand. It will drop the GF's power to 75, giving you a larger safety margin when you want to weaken but not kill enemies.

[kawakami Gensai]

Hey while your on the GF topic how do you get the catuar GF? I didnt even know it existed.

[BG-57]

South of Esthar you'll find a large desert island and small desert island togther. Land on the small one and equip Enc-None. Run around the island. See the little green guy that appears on the world map from time to time? That's Jumbo Cactuar. If you collide with him, you get into a boss fight with him.

If you beat him, you get the Cactuar summon. A mastered Cactuar does the greatest amount of GF damage second only to Eden, but he's much faster to summon. Definately worthwhile!

[rubah]

don't they start at 75 anyways?

But I was referring to how if you were witful, you could get the number of times to boost down pat to do fairly consistant damage. I think, that was about a month ago^_^

And I was referring to toramas, yes. Coeurl is from playing ffx before these, and for some reason it's easier to remember faster^_^

(although now I wonder why heart had an l added to it, now that I've been in french for a whileX.x yay square and their play on foreign words)

[Skyblade]

don't they start at 75 anyways?

But I was referring to how if you were witful, you could get the number of times to boost down pat to do fairly consistant damage. I think, that was about a month ago^_^

And I was referring to toramas, yes. Coeurl is from playing ffx before these, and for some reason it's easier to remember faster^_^

(although now I wonder why heart had an l added to it, now that I've been in french for a whileX.x yay square and their play on foreign words)

If you do no boosting at all, they will be at 100. The number is a percentage of the total damage done without boosting. When you start boosting, the damage percentage starts at 75 (And I'm not sure if the first button press raises it or not, if it does it will effectively start at 76. I'll check this tomarrow), but if you don't boost at all, it will be 100%.

Yes, you can. That is especially true if you are dealing with level 100 GFs that have all of their GF Mag +% abilities learned. If you are using a GF for steady damage, and it levels up or learns GF Mag +30%, you will wind up having to recalculate everything.

Yes, that was why I recognized Coerul as Torama. I've played the other games, this one is just my favorite. Why they changed it for this one I don't know, especially since they changed it back for FFX, FFX-2, and FFTA.

Not sure what you mean by the last statement (the one in parens). Could you elaborate please?

Kawakami Gensei, don't bother equipping Enc-None. All you'll find on that island are cactuars, who usually run away, never do more than 1000 points of damage at a time, and who yield a whopping 20 AP each if you kill them (give Squall the Initiative ability, and Selphie if you have the Strange Vision. They evade like crazy, so only really accurate characters can hit them. Squall should be able to one hit kill them though). When you face Jumbo, draw Meltdown and cast it on him, then use Renzokuken. Each Renzokuken will hit 7 times (Jumbo Cactuar is one of the bosses where the Renzokuken strike count and timing is set), and he shouldn't last more than 3 if Squall has a decent Strength rating.

[BG-57]

Without Enc-None you'll have to plow through random encounters before fighting Jumbo Cactuar. It'll take longer. I prefer to keep my boss fighting and leveling up of the party separate, but whatever works best for you.

BTW, Cactuars and Jumbo Cactuar are both weak against water, so junctioning Water to Elem-Atk increases the damage. Leviathan, being water based, also does a lot of damage.

[rubah]

it'll take like, one encounter unless you're really bad at catching him.

you won't level up if you run into a cactuar. Not unless you're at 987 exp. they give like 3 a piece.

By the last one, I meant that the word coeur in french is heart, isn't it? coeurl? heartl?

But I dunno.

And every time you push to start boosting but don't, it always looks like it's at 75 to me. I don't think it's a percent? I think it's added onto their stats? But I really dont' know? Because I never notice failing to boost when you push it once or twice doing less damage? *shrugs* but i really don't know.

[Skyblade]

It is a percentage (and you're right, it starts at 75). At 250 the GF will do 250% of its normal damage. This is why boosting is not a guaranteed bonus. If you press the square button while the X is on the screen, it will drop the GF's power to 75% of it's normal strength. This is why the GF's can all be boosted to at least 150. If it was just a number added on, then the first ones could've had a shorter sequence and only be boosted from 75 to 100 or so. They made them all able to boost to 150 so that it is worth the risk of boosting them, because you might lower their strength. Test it out, and pay attention to the numbers if you don't believe me.

[ravob]

As most have stated there is no way to get rid of GF cutscene.
But it is faster and easier to beat almost any monster/boss just by junction of good magic, and keep Squall low health so he can limit break them to death.

For people who have not played and beat the game (minority), some of the cutscenes are worth watching EX: Tonberry's is funny, Edens is very long but is amazing, and Diablos is very cool.

[Skyblade]

As most have stated there is no way to get rid of GF cutscene.
But it is faster and easier to beat almost any monster/boss just by junction of good magic, and keep Squall low health so he can limit break them to death.

For people who have not played and beat the game (minority), some of the cutscenes are worth watching EX: Tonberry's is funny, Edens is very long but is amazing, and Diablos is very cool.

"Doink!"

Actually, having any of the characters at low health can get you through the game easy. Quistis has Degenerator and Shockwave Pulsar, Selphie has everything from Full-Cure to The End, Irvine has his awesome ammo shots, Zell has the limitless damage combo, Rinoa has Invincible Moon, Wishing Star, and the awesome Meteor-Angel Wing combo. Anyone's limit breaks can do more than the GFs can.

[kawakami Gensai]

I dont know about that, Skyblade, a high level GF can really kick some butt, and you can use it many times over, as opposed to the Limit Break which can be exuasted fairly quick. Also leaving characters at low health is not recommendable. What if something casts like berserk on your whole party? Then you may be fairly screwed.

[Skyblade]

Well, that's what I use Stat-Def Junction for...

Your point is well taken. I was just pointing out that Squall is not the only one who can unleash massive devestation with his limit break. All of the characters have the capability to inflict major damage. And unlike the GFs, there is no summon time (in fact, they happen ASAP after they are selected).