======================================================== FINAL FANTASY VIII FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: SEMI-WALKTHROUGH v. 2.0 by Skysenshi http://www.coolay.com ======================================================== ======================== INTRODUCTION ======================== [v. 1.0 August 28, 1999] [v. 1.1 September 3, 1999] [v. 2.0 September 16, 1999] This FAQ is yet unfinished as I am still in Disc 4 of Final Fantasy VIII. I will be adding more as I go along my game of trials and errors. Also, I would have to collect more questions from people so that I could have something to put here. This is just a guide to some areas that people get stuck in most often. This is not a walkthrough (what's the point of playing a game if you have to rely mostly on walkthroughs anways??). ======================== TABLE OF CONTENTS ======================== In chronological order: DISC 1 - Boss Battles, Fallacies and General Tactics - Diablo, Defeating - Tomb of the Unknown King - Deling City Festival DISC 2 - Missile Base (After Prison Tower) - Balamb Garden After Missile Base Explosion - Getting Odin Summon DISC 3 - Getting Bahamut - Adel and Rinoa (Battle) DISC 4 - Re-exploring the World Map ======================== FAQ CONTENTS ======================== ***************************************************************************** # BOSS BATTLES ***************************************************************************** - One thing to remember when battling bosses: IT'S USELESS TO LEVEL UP. Why? Because the HP and strength of the bosses would depend on Squall (or your party's) level. So it's also safe to tell you that documented boss stats in all FAQs you see are not credible. I don't need proof because all my siblings and almost all my cousins are RPGamers and we compare games. - One thing you must do the entire game is draw as much magic you can from all enemies you encounter. When you fight a boss that has elemental or weakness, you can use your elemental and status magic to junction. These could either protect you or help you absorb the damage (to gain HP). ***************************************************************************** # DIABLO, DEFEATING ***************************************************************************** Q: Do I really have to level up in order to defeat Diablo? How do I defeat him? - NO! Why do a lot of guys want the easy way out by levelling up all the time??? I accessed Diablo as soon as Cid gave me the Magic Lamp and I survived. There isn't any trick, y'know, just cast your most powerful GFs and have one of your party (particularly the one holding the weaker GFs) be your healer. There should be perfect timing, though, because Diablo can kill your GF. You should be able to tell when it's safe to cast a GF, usually it's when Diablo has just finished hitting you. The thing is to get hit first, then cast GF, then have your healer cure you. Make sure that your HP does not go below 300. Oh, and my level was below 10 at that time so I'm sure everybody can do it. Besides, if you try to level up, the boss levels up with you anyway. - Here is a tactic that I saw my brother use when he was almost "dying" out there: Cast Demi on Diablo. That's it. He'll cast Curaga on you if you do this tactic. - Here is another battle tactic if you already have the Carbuncle. Cast Carbuncle as soon as you can and Diablo's Demi will reflect back on him. Tip by Rowena Lim (http://animedomain.com/addict). More details on battling GFs on my Boss FAQ. ***************************************************************************** # TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN KING ***************************************************************************** Q: Help! The Map of the Unknown King's Tomb is confusing and I keep getting lost! - Yeah it is, because I noticed that when you enter a particular scene and you try to backtrack, the next scene wouldn't look like the way it was when you first entered it. That's because the camera is angled at your character's point of view, so the previous forward area becomes your backward area (the previous left area, becomes the right area and so on). If you try to decipher your location through the map as you backtrack, decipher it the other way around. - There is a trick here that you can use. When you first enter the dungeon, if you choose to go left first, you go left on every intersection, even when you backtrack. If you choose to go right first, you go right all the way, that way you don't get lost 'cause the map is of little help. Q: Help! I don't even know what to do inside the Unknown King's Tomb! - Now, what you need to do first is to get an ID number from the gunblade at the entrance of the dungeon. Take it down because that's what you'll submit to the guard at the entrance of the General's house in Deling City. The rest is a sub-quest, completely optional but it gets you a GF. - If you want to know how the sub-quest goes, you have to get to the four corners indicated on the map (the first one being the entrance). What happened to me was that I triggered a battle sequence with a Sacred Monster (He's a wuss, I tell ya). After that, I activated 2 levers that would make water flow. Once I was sure that I have been able to scour all four corners, I backtracked to the entrance, saved my game, then went forward-forward-forward this time, until I reached a bridge (in the middle of the map) leading to the Sacred Monster's Brother. If you defeat the Brothers, they will join you and they will become part of your GFs (pretty funny duo we got here). NOTE: There were two other corners that I was able to stumble upon before I reached Sacred. Both of which were epitaphs of unknown SeeDs that had dramatic carvings in them. You will encounter these epitaphs if you choose to go left all the way because if you chose right all the way and you defeated Sacred, those epitaphs will bury themselves under the ground and you will just see them as humps on hallways. Whew! Got lost here for what seemed like forever before I could figure out what the place was for! The trick is to keep going in one direction, if you choose to go left, go left all the time. If you choose to go right, then go right all the time until you've scoured all corners. ***************************************************************************** # DELING CITY FESTIVAL ***************************************************************************** Q: Where do I go after defeating the lizards sent by Edea to attack Rinoa? - When you leave the scene, you will notice a red carpeted area. There's a secret panel there on the right side of the floor that you have to play around with. That's where you exit. ***************************************************************************** # MISSILE BASE (AFTER PRISON TOWER) ***************************************************************************** Q: The Missile Base won't let me in, what do I do? - When this happens, it means your vehicle ran out of fuel and you tried entering the base on foot, right? Have no fear, just go find the nearest area, which happens to be Deling City. Go to the Shopping Area and purchase fuel. Buy 3 just to be sure, 'cause I don't know which area you ran out of fuel in. Now, as soon as you bought fuel, you can re-enter your vehicle and you have to get into the base WITH your vehicle. ***************************************************************************** # BALAMB GARDEN AFTER MISSILE BASE EXPLOSION ***************************************************************************** Q: Where the heck have the save points gone? - You can still go back to the world map and save there so don't worry. And the main save point is at the dormitory, but you have to get past some monsters there. - From Rowena Lim (http://animedomain.com/addict): Cid is a save point. ***************************************************************************** # GETTING ODIN SUMMON ***************************************************************************** Q: Where the heck is the Odin Summon located? - Look at your map and you will see a chain of islands at the upper South West area. These islands form a circle with a body of water in the center of it. Go into the center of the circle and find a landing point there near the South East part of the chain. Look for a golden brown tower with a nipa hut looking structure on top and enter it. Q: There's a 20-minute time limit? How do I get to the Odin with so many vile tonberries hanging about? - In order for the hassle to lessen, you must have developed Diablo's Encounter Nothing skill. Put this on so you won't have to trouble with the tonberries. Q: How do I get to the Odin's chamber? - Ahk, I remember this horrific adventure very well since I had to go through this three times (with my heart beating non-stop because of that blasted time limit!) before I finally got it right! - Okay here's a step by step procedure, but you have to use your brains as you go along so you don't have to keep looking at this FAQ every second: * Try to get in as far as you can, through all the stairs and going past a statue and stuff, until you reach a room that looks like a worshipping ground, with a platform at the middle. Step on the platform and it will become like an elevator that will take you up. * There are two ladders, left and right. Climb the left ladder until you reach a room with computer-like gizmos and stuff. Activate the switches. * Go back down until you reach the place where you previously found the two ladders. There's a blinking blue orb in between the two ladders. Activate it. * A stairway will appear on the right side, climb it until you reach a place with a door leading to a room. * Can't enter the room yet, you have to climb a ladder (not staircase) at the left side of this area. You'll see a statue there. Remove his eye then go back down. * This time climb the set of stairs at the right side of the area, just beside the door that you can't enter. Go up. * In this area, you'll see a dome with a ladder on it's side. Climb the ladder and you'll reach another statue. Put in the eye that you got from the other statue earlier. You'll be given a set of numbers. Jot this down then remove both eyes from the statue. * Go back down to the previous statue you examined and return both eyes. * Look at the right side of the screen and you'll see a set of numbers. Use your directional arrow keys to set the numbers (the code you got earlier): Left --> Decrease numbers Right --> Increase numbers Up --> Go up to previous code number Down --> Go down to next code number X --> Done * The room that you can't enter previously will now be accessible. Enter it (Gosh! Your party can climb ladders real slow!) * Meet Odin! [Cast scan if you want to keep track of the hits you've given him. When I fought him he had around 18,000+ HP. His HP will depend on your level, btw.] Q: I can't seem to find Odin in my GF list! Is there something wrong with my game? - Nope. 'Cause Odin's not a GF. He'll appear randomly in some battles. I actually got shocked when my characters mysteriously disappeared during a battle and were replaced with Odin ^^;; ***************************************************************************** # GETTING BAHAMUT ***************************************************************************** Q: Where is the so-called Bahamut? - Bahamut is located at the Deep Sea Research Lab. It's on an island not indicated on the map, but it is at the South West area. You can only enter it via the Ragnarok, not the Balamb Garden. Q: I have yet to take a step towards the center of the room because monsters won't even let me go on! - You need to find a way to walk while the lights are off ^^;; Q: When will the Ruby Dragon battles end? - When you select a blank answer on Bahamut's last question. There is an invicible answer in one of the choices. NOTE: More details on Bahamut sub-quest on the Boss Guide that I wrote. There's also a tip on defeating Bahamut himself. ***************************************************************************** # RE-EXPLORING THE WORLD MAP ***************************************************************************** Q: I don't want to go straight to Ultimecia Castle. Can I re-explore the world map? - Yep you can! If you notice while crossing the chain bridge leading to Ultimecia Castle, there are three windows on the left side of the screen? Go to the window nearest to Ultimecia Castle and you will find yourself on the Forest of Grandidi at Island Closest to Heaven. - Go through the forest and you will find a Chocobo Forest, but this one is a different Chocobo Forest, because it's actually the Chocobo Shrine. Get your free Chocobo there ^^;; The Chocobo will be able to travel on shallow waters so you can hop from one island after another. - Now go to the nearest docking point of the Centra Continent, where there's a desert in the middle. This island is closest to Esthar. You will find Ragnarok there so you can let go of the Chocobo. - You can now explore the world map again, although you won't be able to explore to your heart's content. Why? 'Cause all the major cities and villages have been barricaded by a special energy field. ======================== DISCLAIMER ======================== Under no circumstances can the content of this FAQ sheet be copied. If you want this on your page, please give this site proper credit. The Kraiders Otaku Fridge http://www.geocities.com/~kraiders FINAL FANTASY VIII is copyright 1999 by Square Soft Ltd. FINAL FANTASY and SQUARESOFT are registered trademarks of Square Co Ltd. and Dolby.