Final Fantasy VIII
FAQ
by Dragon Fogel(knearey@ualberta.ca)
v 1.0
The most recent version of this FAQ can be found at:
http://members.xoom.com/rpgfrontier/fogel/ff8.txt
Other places this FAQ can be found:
GameFAQs - http://www.gamefaqs.com
Contents:
1. Revision History
2. Triple Triad Guide
3. Walkthrough
-Trial By Fire
-Final Exam
-Talk About Your Long Days...
-Forest Owls
-Escape
-Obligatory Fetch Quest
-The Sorceress
-It's Laguna Again...
-KABOOM!
-Fisherman's Horizon
-Checking Up on Things
-Warring Gardens
-Setting Up The Rest Of The Plot
-Esthar Ho!
-Out Of This World!
-Down To Earth
-The Time Is Nigh
-Kurse All SeeDs!
4. Side Quests
-Rare Card Locations
-Timber Maniacs Locations
-Diablos
-Dollet revisited
-Brothers
-Winhill
-Shumi Village
-Chocobo Forests
-Centra Ruins
-Doomtrain
-Jumbo Cactaur
-UFO Chase
-Lake Obel
-Deep Sea Research Center
-CC Group
-Queen of Cards
-Omega Weapon
-Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks
-Beginning of a series of long lists-
5. SeeD Written Test Answers
6. Character Info
7. Spell List
8. Junction List
9. GF List
10. Abilities List
11. Learning List
12. Card List
13. Shop/Refinement List
14. Item List
15. Monster List (very incomplete)
16. Disclaimer
17. Credits
***REVISION HISTORY***
Version 1.0
4/23/00
First version; walkthrough and side quests sections more or less
complete, as well as several lists. However, there is still a lot of
work to be done; any help with the following would be greatly
appreciated.
-Items dropped by bosses if you don't Mug them
-Draw Point locations, particularly on the overworld
-Selling prices of items
-Just about anything for the monster list (like suggestions on how to do it. =P)
Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide information.
***INTRODUCTION***
I suppose you're wondering why I decided to write this FAQ when there
are already so many FF8 FAQs out there. Well, there are three major
reasons. The first, and most important, is that while there are many FF8
FAQs out there, there are very few _good_ FAQs. I won't mention any
names here, but I find that most of the guides on GameFAQs are either
poorly organized or incomplete. The second reason is that I want to
write a FAQ at least once, just for the experience. The third, and least
important reason, is that I can sneak some spam in. =P And here it is:
http://come.to/gameiaqs. Okay, that's it for the spam, and it will not be mentioned any more. Now read the FAQ.
***TRIPLE TRIAD GUIDE***
-Section under construction-
I decided to put this in here so those of you who want to know about
Triple Triad can look right at the beginning of the FAQ, instead of
scrolling through the walkthrough section and possibly seeing some
spoilers. This section has a description of the various rules, and some
(hopefully) useful tips for playing this addictive - and sometimes
frustrating - minigame.
I won't mention the basic rules, since you can see them in the Tutorial
and they're pretty easy to understand, but I'll discuss the various
special rules here.
Open - You can see your opponent's hand, and they can see yours. I don't
know if it affects the computer's strategy much, or at all, but it's
definitely to your advantage. I recommend spreading it to every region
you can.
Same - When at least two sides of a card match in numbers with two
adjacent cards, (at least one of which is an opposing card) both cards
will be turned over.
Plus - This is a bit tricky to explain. I'll use a diagram to illustrate
it.
3 8
5 (6+1) 5
4 2
+
3
2 A
7
6 + 1 = 7, 4 + 3 = 7. These add up to the same number, so Plus is
activated and the (8152) and (32A7) cards are turned over. (For the
record, I made up the card numbers, and have no idea if there are
actually cards with those configurations.) This rule can be very
annoying, especially without Open...
Combo - Some people have trouble understanding this rule, but it's
actually pretty simple. It works with the Same and Plus rules. It's
easiest to illustrate, so here goes...
3 7
4 4 4 3
5 6
________
5 | 2
3 1 | 4 3
2 | 6
The (3445) card has just been placed. The "Same" rule is in effect. The
(3445) card turns over the two adjacent cards. Now, here's where Combo
comes into play. One of the cards affected with Same is the (7436) card.
The 6 on the bottom beats the 2 on the top of the card below, so the
(2436) card is turned over. (Again, I'm just making up these numbers.)
In other words, a card taken with Same or Plus is treated like it's just
been placed in a game without Same/Plus. If it beats an adjacent card of
the opponent's, that card is turned over, and can take other adjacent
cards. One side effect of this is that when one player gets a combo, the
other player has a good setup for making a combo of their own...
Same Wall - Used with the "Same" rule. The border of the playing field
is considered to consist of "A"s for the purposes of using Same.
Elemental - Some squares have elemental symbols on them. The squares and
symbols seem to be chosen at random. If an elemental card is placed on a
square with the same element, the value the numbers on each side of the
card is raised by 1 for the purposes of normal matches. If a non-
elemental card or a card of the wrong element is placed on an elemental
square, the numbers on each side drop in value by 1.
Sudden Death - If there's a draw, each player takes the cards they've
won and the game restarts, with elemental squares moved if that rule is
in effect. This continues until one player wins. This can work to your
advantage if you've got a good hand, as you're pretty much guaranteed to
win in the end, but it can be annoying to play through over and over.
Random - Each player's hand is chosen at random. One of the most-
despised rules in the game.
Trade Rules:
One - Choose one card from the opponent's hand.
Diff - Choose a number of cards from the opponent's hand equal to the
number of cards you won by.
Direct - Keep the cards you turned over, lose cards turned over by the
opponent. The most hated of the trade rules.
All - Win all of the opponent's cards.
Affecting the rules:
Adding a rule to a region is easy. Just play in a region that has the
rule you want to add, then go to the region that you want to add the
rule to. Play cards with someone, and they'll usually ask you if you
want to add in the rules from the other region. Accept, and the rule may
be added after the game. Removing rules is done in pretty much the same
way, but it's rarer to see a rule removed. To make it easier, first
choose "Yes" when they ask you to play, then, when the screen with the
current rules pops up, select "Quit". The rules can be changed this way
as well, and rules seem to be removed more often. Also, sometimes rules
will be added and removed at random after a game. If you're having
trouble in a region, try messing with the rules.
Rule sets:
Balamb - Open
Galbadia - Same
Dollet - Random, Elemental
FH - Elemental, Sudden Death
Trabia - Random, Plus
Centra - Random, Same, Plus
Esthar - Elemental
Lunar - Open, Random, Same, Plus, Same Wall, Elemental, Sudden Death
Strategies for playing:
The first trick to winning at cards is to get a good hand. Since you
start with only Level 1 cards, this won't be easy. So, the first order
of business is to get good cards from the main game. There are two ways
of doing this; the first is to defeat GFs for their cards. You can get 4
GF cards this way before the end of Disc 1, all of them strong corner
cards. The second way of getting good cards without playing Triple Triad
is to learn the Card ability and use it to turn enemies into cards. Most
of the time, enemies turn into their own cards, but sometimes they'll
get turned into Boss cards instead. If you want a _real_ easy time with
the card game early on, wander around the grass areas of Balamb and use
Card on Glacial Eyes until you have 5 Jumbo Cactaur cards. It takes a
while, but once you have them, the only players you have to worry about
are the ones with rare cards.
Okay, so you've got some good cards. Now what? Now you need to know how
to use them. Personally, I play defensively. I get strong corner cards
(ones with two adjacent sides with a value of 8 or higher) and always
put them where only the strong sides are showing. Playing offensively is
also an option, but it doesn't work too well in Sudden Death. The other
important thing to do is alter the rules if at all possible. This is
especially important in Dollet, as the Random rule makes the Queen of
Cards side quest rather tricky. I'll try to have more strategies in a
future update.
***WALKTHROUGH***
Before I get into the actual walkthrough, there are two useful functions
that aren't described in the manual or the tutorial. First, to undo
Junctioned spells, use the Magic Junction option, select the spell you
want to un-Junction, and push the Square button. (or whatever button you
assigned to Play Cards) Second, to discard unwanted spells, go to the
Magic menu, select either Use or Exchange, move the cursor on the spell
you want to get rid of, and push Square. You'll be asked if you want to
discard the spell. These are useful features, remember them.
Also, I personally found the default control layout awkward; I recommend
changing it as soon as you can. I personally use Circle to talk, X to
walk, Triangle for the menu, and Square to play cards. Of course, you
may prefer another layout.
Another thing: the titles for sections (which look something like this:
| TRIAL BY FIRE |, and are typically followed by a sarcastic comment in
parentheses) are my own names. Therefore, I assume full responsibility
for how dumb, uncreative, etc. they sound.
Finally, a note on Draw Points. When I list Draw Points in an area, I
put an "r" in brackets next to the Draw Point if it recharges after a
while. If I have a question mark after the "r", it means I'm not sure if
the Draw Point recharges. Hopefully, I'll be able to eliminate most of
the question marks by the next version.
-Disc One
| TRIAL BY FIRE |
(I warned you. I'm bad at coming up with titles. Hey, I can be even less
creative that this.)
-Balamb Garden
Draw Points: Cure(r), Esuna, Blizzard(r)
Rare Cards: Quistis, MiniMog
Rule Set: Balamb
GFs: Quezacotl, Shiva
After an impressive FMV, sequence, you'll see Squall wake up in the
infirmary. Dr. Kadowaki will ask Squall how he is, and you'll be given a
choice. I'm not sure if the choice you make affects anything. Then
you'll be asked to name Squall. Change his name if you want. After some
more dialogue, Dr. Kadowaki will call Squall's instructor, Quistis. Then
you'll see a mysterious girl talk to Squall through the window... she'll
prove to be an important figure in the game. Then Quistis will come to
take Squall back to class.
Walk down the hallway with Quistis; there will be some dialogue along
the way. After a while, you won't have to walk. There will be a short
FMV, then the scene will shift to the classroom.
Quistis will talk to the class briefly about the field exam in the
afternoon, then tell Seifer he should be more careful not to injure his
partner in training. After she dismisses the class, she'll tell Squall
that he hasn't gone through the Fire Cave yet, and won't be able to go
on the field exam until he has. Quistis tells you to meet her at the
front gate, and says that you should review the study panel if you have
any questions.
Note: After completing the field exam, Squall's rank will be determined
by what he did prior to and during the exam. You'll gain and lose points
for various actions; I'm not sure how points are determined, though, so
I can only give small suggestions in this version. Hopefully, I'll have
a more thorough breakdown of how to get points later on.
Go to the study panel and select Tutorial; you'll receive two GFs.
GF Quezacotl's Stats:
Level 1
Starts with Mag-J, GF, Draw, Magic, Item
GF Shiva's Stats:
Level 1
Starts with Spr-J, GF, Draw, Magic, Item
Note that if you don't get Quezacotl and Shiva from the study panel,
you'll get them automatically when you talk to Quistis at the front
gate. You may lose points for this, though; I'm not sure.
Anyways, after getting your GFs (or not), leave the classroom. You'll
literally run into another student; after some dialogue, she'll ask you
to take her on a tour. Personally, I agreed; I'm not sure how this
affects your points later, though.
On the next screen, talk to the guy near the elevator to get 7 Triple
Triad cards. It may not be a good idea to start playing just yet; you'll
find it much easier to win the card game once you've gotten the Ifrit
Card in the Fire Cavern. However, there are two rare cards you can win
by playing cards here; the MiniMog card, from a little kid running
around on the first floor (he doesn't use it often, though), and the
Quistis card, which can be one from any of the Trepies. The one in the
cafeteria uses it the most, though. (When you get asked which one you
want to talk to, choose the one in the back. You'll understand when you
do it.) Note that the Trepies only have one Quistis card between them.
Anyways, once you take the elevator, you'll show the student the
directory if you agreed to give her a tour. Head to the front gate to
meet Quistis, who'll give you a tutorial on how to use GFs, then join
your party. If you want to skip the tutorial, hit the Cancel button;
this may cause you to lose points, though. Also, Squall will ask who the
girl at the infirmary was; Quistis will say she didn't see anyone.
Note that there's a Draw Point with Cure on the screen before the front
gate; just remember, you need the Draw command set in order to use Draw
Points. There's also a Draw Point with Esuna in the library (walk near
the bookcase and you'll come to a new screen with the Draw Point clearly
visible) one with Blizzard in the Training center. I'll say some more
about the Training Center later, when you have to go there.
Anyways, after Quistis joins, leave the Garden. Now you'll want to
Junction GFs; I recommend giving Quezacotl to Squall and Shiva to
Quistis. Next, set your command abilities; since you don't have any
spells now besides a handful of Cures from the Draw Point, choose GF,
Draw, and Item for both characters. Have both GFs work on learning Boost
first; it only takes 10 AP to learn and is quite useful when you're
summoning. After that, I suggest HP-J and then Card for Quezacotl and I
Mag-RF, then Str-J for Shiva. After getting those abilities, get
whatever other ones you want.
Before going to Fire Cavern, it's a good idea to fight enemies in the
surrounding area to stock up on spells. In the plains, you'll find lots
of Bite Bugs; you can Draw Fire and Scan from them. The latter isn't
that necessary, so you can skip it if you want. You'll also occasionally
run into Glacial Eyes; you can draw Blizzard, Cure, and Scan from them.
In the forests, you'll frequently find Caterchipillars; you can Draw
Cure and Thunder from them, and they occasionally drop Spider Webs. If
you get one, use it to teach Quistis the Ultra Waves skill. Also, you'll
sometimes find T-Rexaurs in the forest. If you do, RUN. They're REALLY
strong and have over 10000 HP, so they're quite a pain to kill right
now. They don't have anything special to Draw either. If you'd prefer
not to run, try to Card it; its card is pretty good.
Finally, on the beach you'll find a lot of Fastitocalon-Fs. You can Draw
Blizzard, Scan, and Sleep spells from them (the latter is a good
Junction for Magic at this point) and you get 3 AP for each one. Since
you always fight 2, that's an easy 6 AP. I recommend fighting them until
Shiva learns I Mag-RF, then using that to turn the Fish Fins you'll be
winning almost constantly into Water spells. Water is the best Junction
you can get at this point without playing cards. After getting 100 of
all the spells you want for both characters, (some extra Fish Fins and
M-Stone Pieces would be good, too) head to the Fire Cavern.
*****
-Fire Cavern
Draw Points: Fire(r)
Rare Cards: Ifrit
GFs: Ifrit
When you reach the Fire Cavern, Quistis will give you a tutorial about
Junctions, (again, you can skip it with the Cancel button) and then
offer to give you a refresher about your Gunblade. If this is your first
game, you might as well accept. After that, head to the entrance.
At the entrance, you'll be asked to choose a time limit; go with 20
minutes, you'll easily finish in that time. If you're replaying, though,
go ahead and choose 10 minutes. Choosing a shorter time limit will
affect your points later on. (I don't know exactly how, though.)
The path through the Fire Cavern is fairly straightforward; there's one
intersection a few screens in. Go straight to reach the boss; there's a
Draw Point with Fire on the right and a dead end on the left, neither of
which is very helpful. You can fight or run from enemies on the way,
depending on how you're doing for time. At the center of the cave,
you'll find Ifrit...
----BOSS BATTLE----
Ifrit
Absorb Fire
Weak against Ice, Water
This is fairly easy; have Quistis summon Shiva while Squall casts
Blizzard spells. (They'll do a little more damage than Water does.) The
timer stops after you win, so don't worry about not having time to get
out afterwards. When you win, you'll get 20 AP, a bunch of G-Returners,
the Ifrit Card, and the Ifrit GF.
-------------------
GF Ifrit's Stats:
Level 1
Starts with Str-J, Elem Atk-J, (Elem Def-J?), GF, Draw, Magic, Item
Quistis will give you a tutorial on how to use Elem Atk-J and Elem Def-J
once you win. Since Quezacotl and Shiva are probably at a higher level
than Ifrit, have both of them equipped on one person and Ifrit on the
other so that the GFs level up more evenly. Ifrit should learn Boost
first, then HP-J. After that, it doesn't matter much.
Leave the cave, then return to Garden.
| FINAL EXAM |
(Told you. This one isn't even mildly creative.)
-Balamb Garden
New Items: Occult Fan I
Quistis will leave. If you want, go to the Library and check the
bookshelves for Occult Fan I. Then, head to the Dormitory; go to
Squall's room and change into your SeeD uniform. Now head over to where
the Directory is and Headmaster Cid will brief you on your mission.
You'll then drive out of Garden in a car. Take the car to the nearby
town (Balamb) and then watch the short scene where you drive to the
docks. Get in the ship; there will be a short scene. After a while,
Seifer tells you to look outside; agree. (you'll probably lose points
otherwise) Leave the small area you're in, and watch the FMV. Then
you'll land on the beach in...
*****
-Dollet
Draw Points: Blind(r)
GFs: Siren
Cool music, huh? Anyways, at the moment you've got Squall, Zell, and
Seifer in your party. (Seifer's not following you around, but he _is_ in
your battle party.) Give each character one GF, and give all of Quistis'
magic to Zell. If you've got some spare Fish Fins like I recommended,
make some Water spells for Seifer. Give everyone the Draw command; this
way, you can Draw from the Galbadian soldiers when you need healing.
Don't talk to any of the other students; I think you lose points for
this. Head up the stairs to find a Save Point, then move towards the
next screen. You'll fight two Galbadian soldiers. They're easy to beat,
but it's a good idea to have Seifer Draw some spells for himself before
doing so. Keep going; after a while, you'll fight two more Galbadian
soldiers. If Seifer still needs some spells, Draw some here, too. When
you come to the fountain, you'll have to fight one G-Soldier; no
problem. Then Seifer will tell you to scout the area for enemies. Head
to the northeast section of the screen, and a G-Soldier will attack.
After defeating the Galbadian Soldier, the rest should be
straightforward. Take the northwest exit off the screen, then just keep
going forward. After a while, an injured Dollet soldier will warn you
about monsters, then...
----BOSS BATTLE----
Anacondaur
Actually, the Anacondaur isn't even a real boss. It is, however, quite
strong compared to the other enemies you've fought. It has around 1200
HP; if you've got some good Strength Junctions, though, it shouldn't be
a problem. Seifer will tell you to let him finish off the Anacondaur;
doing so may affect your points later.
-------------------
After defeating the Anacondaur, keep going some more. The path is
completely straightforward. After two more screens, Seifer will run
ahead and leave your party; then Selphie (the girl Squall gave a tour to
earlier) will appear and jump down the cliff. You can do this too, but
it may cost you points; instead, head east and walk. When you reach
Selphie, she'll join; she inherits Seifer's spells, but just in case
you're paranoid, you might want to Junction Exchange Seifer with Quistis
before he leaves, then Quistis with Selphie.
Anyways, after Selphie joins up, head into the communications tower.
(that's the building right ahead of you, in case you weren't paying
attention) There's a Save Point here, as well as a Draw Point with
Blind. Save, then go up the elevator...
There's a short scene with a Galbadian commander, Biggs, talking to a
soldier named Wedge. Then there's an FMV of the communications tower
activating. (looks more like a big gun than a communications tower...)
Then, Biggs notices you and tries to get away, but Seifer stops him.
Cornered, Biggs attacks.
----BOSS BATTLE----
Biggs
Weak against Poison
Wedge (appears after some time)
Weak against Poison
So easy you don't need a strategy. If you want, draw some Esuna spells
from Biggs. When you do enough damage to one of them, they'll be blown
away by some wind and you'll have to fight...
Elvoret
Flying Monster
This can be a long battle. There are two notes here; first, you can Draw
the Siren GF from the boss. Second, you can Draw Double spells, which
are good for Junctions and allow you to cast two spells in one turn. The
quickest way to beat Elvoret is to have everyone summon their GFs; when
Boosted to around 125%, they'll do around 300 damage to it. When you
win, you'll get some Cottages or Elixirs, some G-Returners, and the
March Issue of Weapons Monthly, as well as Siren if you Drew it.
-------------------
GF Siren's Stats:
Level 3
Starts with Mag-J, ST Atk-J, ST Def-J, GF, Draw, Magic, Item
After you defeat Elvoret, Selphie says that you have to get back to the
shore by 1800 hours. Seifer says that leaves only 30 minutes, and a
timer counts down. You can equip Siren if you want, but I don't
recommend it, as the clock's ticking. Go down the elevator, save if you
want (I _highly_ recommend using a separate file) and then leave the
tower. However, Biggs sends a huge spider-like robot to attack you...
----BOSS BATTLE----
X-ATM092
Weak against Thunder
If you've got Str-J on, you can probably knock it out quickly. Once it's
down, run away.
-------------------
Head to the right quickly. On the next screen, you'll see the robot
shortly; move quickly. When the screen fades, hold left and the control
pad IMMEDIATELY. If you don't move immediately, the robot will catch up
to you and you'll have to fight it again. On the next screen, WALK when
you come to about the middle. Otherwise, the ground will shake and
you'll be forced to fight X-ATM092 again. Next screen... no problem. The
bridge is after that. After you move far enough to the right, the robot
will jump over you; immediately turn around until you hear it jump
again, _then_ run to the right and off the screen. This lets you avoid
another battle with it. From here, it should be easy to make it to the
shore, and when you do, you'll see an FMV of Quistis blasting the robot
with a gatling gun.
Note: Apparently, it's possible to destroy X-ATM092. I'll have a
strategy for that once I do it.
| TALK ABOUT YOUR LONG DAYS... |
(Be warned. My titles are going to get worse.)
-Balamb Garden
New Rare Cards: Zell
You'll arrive in the town of Balamb. With Zell in the party, you can
play cards with his mother; she has the Zell card. Leave town and save
before trying it, though. Win the card (or don't) and go back to Garden.
You can get into a few fights before you go, though. If you're going to
build up Siren, I suggest Boost first, then L Mag-RF, then Tool-RF, and
pretty much whatever you want after that.
When you go back to Garden, Zell and Selphie will leave. Head to the
main lobby; Cid, Xu, and Quistis are standing in front of the directory.
Talk to them if you want, then head to the right and talk to Seifer.
After a brief scene, head to the elevator; I don't remember exactly
when, but at some point you'll be told to go to the 2nd floor hallway.
Go there and wait; after a while, one of the Garden Faculty will tell
Squall and Zell they've been chosen as SeeDs. You'll automatically go to
Headmaster Cid's office and receive your SeeD Rank report; in addition
to Squall and Zell, Selphie and another student have been chosen as
SeeDs. (You'll later find out that the fourth SeeD's name is Nida.)
After regaining control, talk to Cid and he'll add a "Battle Meter" to
the tutorial. You may have to talk to him again to play cards with him
later; I'm not sure.
After talking to Cid, leave the room. You'll automatically take the
elevator to the second floor walkway. Talk to the others, then head to
the hallway. After a short scene, your SeeD Rank Report will be
displayed. I'll have a full explanation in a future update, provided
someone gives me the information.
Now you're in the Dormitory; Selphie tells Squall to go to his room and
get his SeeD uniform. Do so, then leave the room and go to the dance. At
the dance, Zell and Selphie will talk to you; Selphie asks if you'll
join the Garden Festival committee. Answer either way, then she'll
leave; then, a girl in a white dress asks Squall to dance. After some
more dialogue, you'll get to see a rather amusing FMV of the dance. =)
After the dance, the girl leaves... but you'll be meeting her again soon
enough...
Quistis then appears and compliments Squall on his dance, then tells him
about the "secret area" at the Training Center. She tells Squall to
change into his regular clothes, then meet her at the Training center;
leave the screen and you'll automatically be in Squall's dormitory. Go
into Squall's room and change. Now leave and head to the Training
Center. Quistis will give you a Tutorial about Status Junctions, and
tell you that Junctioning Sleep on your weapon will make it easier to
defeat T-Rexaurs.
In the Training Center, you'll mostly encounter Grats; you can Draw
Sleep and Silence from them. You should have plenty of the former, but
the latter are good to have too. Draw 100, because there's going to be a
Boss that uses Silence soon, and you'll want them for status defense.
You'll also find T-Rexaurs occasionally; you can run, or you can be
prepared by giving Squall Ifrit and Siren, with 100 Blizzards on Elem
Atk (T-Rexaur is weak against Ice) and 100 Sleeps on ST Atk, as well as
a good Strength junction (like Water). Quistis should summon Shiva and
use Boost. You can also try Carding T-Rexaur once its HP drops below
about half. You won't get any Exp that way, but you will get 10 AP.
At any rate, getting through the Training center is fairly simple. Go
either left or right; there's a Draw Point with Blizzard on the right
path. Also, a man sometimes appears here and sells you items, but I'm
not sure when he firsts shows up. Anyways, the "secret area" is near the
save point. At the secret area, Quistis explains that she's been demoted
from an instructor to a normal SeeD; Squall doesn't care. This scene
pretty much tells you what to expect of Squall for much of the game...
After the scene, save, then head out of the Training Center. When you
try to leave, you'll see the girl from the infirmary being attacked by a
huge insect; she'll recognize Squall and Quistis, then the monster
attacks you.
----BOSS BATTLE----
Granaldo
Flying Monster
Raldo*3
This battle is EASY. Draw Sleep from Granaldo and cast it on him; it
works rather often. The Raldos won't attack, Granaldo will just whack
you with them. Kill two of them, (they only have a couple hundred HP)
then Draw Protects from the last one, putting Granaldo back to sleep
when necessary. You can also draw Shell and Blind from Granaldo; you
don't need a lot of Blinds, but Shell will be quite useful. Once you've
got all the spells you want, kill the last Raldo, then kill Granaldo
with your strongest attacks. You'll win a bunch of Wizard Stones.
-------------------
After the battle, some strange troops will take the girl with them, and
Squall and Quistis will wonder who she was...
I suggest turning the Wizard Stones into Curagas with L Mag-RF, then
Junctioning those to HP. Anyways, once you leave the Training Center,
Quistis will talk to Squall briefly and then leave. Head back to the
Dormitory; when you go there, Zell tells you that as a Seed, you've got
a new room. Squall will head off to sleep, thereby ending one of the
longest days in RPG history.
| FOREST OWLS |
(Yes, I believe I've already told you about my amazingly creative
titles.)
-Balamb Garden
New Rare Cards: Seifer, Diablos (See Side Quests)
New GFs: Diablos (See Side Quests)
Items: Magic Lamp, Pet Pals Vol.1, Weapons Mon Apr
You'll wake up in Squall's new room the next day. Check the desk for a
Weapons Monthly issue. Then head out of the Garden; Cid and a Garden
Faculty will tell you about your first mission; to go to Timber and meet
with a resistance organization. After the scene, talk to Cid and he'll
give you a Magic Lamp; even if you don't talk to him, he'll give you the
Lamp when you try to leave. The Magic Lamp will allow you to challenge
Diablos; see Side Quests for more information.
Before heading to Timber, there's one more rare card you can get; head
back into Garden and go to the elevator. You'll be allowed to take the
elevator to the third floor, where Cid's office is. Here, you can play
cards with him; he has the Seifer card, a VERY good card. Try to win it
now if possible.
Anyways, to get to Timber, you'll have to go to the train station in
Balamb. To get there, go to Balamb, and go left at the second screen.
The Queen of Cards is at the station; see the Side Quests section for
more about her. Even if you don't want to do that side quest just yet,
you can still play her to get a better trade rule, like Diff or All.
This will make your future card games more rewarding; be careful of the
Direct rule, though.
You'll have to pay 3000 gil for a train ticket. Do so, then get on the
train. There's a short scene; when it's over, follow Zell into your
cabin. Zell gives you a Pet Pals magazine; (more on those later) then
Selphie comes in, and everybody falls asleep...
*****
-Laguna Flashback 1
Draw Points: Cure(r), Water(r)
You're probably wondering what the heck just happened. You're now in
control of three Galbadian soldiers named Laguna, Kiros, and Ward.
You'll notice that your items and abilities have been transferred to
these guys; Laguna has Squall's abilities, Kiros has Zell's, and Ward
has Selphie's. Their Limit Breaks are different, though. Anyways, just
follow the path; it's completely straightforward, but you'll see some
grayed-out text in the dialogue boxes... those are Squall's thoughts.
You'll be fighting Funguars and Geezards here; they don't pose much of a
threat. Once you reach the car at the end, you'll arrive in Deling City
automatically.
Laguna parks the car in the middle of the street, despite Kiros'
protests; then he offers to take Kiros and Ward for a drink. Head to the
right, then up one screen. You'll come to the Hotel. Use the Save Point
if you want. Now, go downstairs; the waitress will offer to show you to
your table. Pick the greyed-out choice a few times for some laughs;
eventually, you'll want to accept. Once Laguna, Kiros, and Ward are
sitting down, Julia will come on to play the piano; Kiros and Ward will
tell Laguna to go and wave to her. Walk towards Julia. After some
dialogue, Julia will come to Laguna's table and sit down; she'll then
invite him to her room to talk. (I said to talk, you sickos.) Talk to
people if you want, then head upstairs. Talk to the guy at the front
desk and pick the option refering to Julia. You'll be taken up there;
Julia will offer Laguna a seat. After you regain control, talk to Julia
for some more dialogue. The scene ends with Kiros telling Laguna they
have a new assignment...
After that, Squall, Zell, and Selphie wake up. Selphie said she had a
great dream, then mentions Laguna's name; Zell says there was a Laguna
in HIS dream too, and then they realize that the three of them must have
had the same dream. After some more dialogue, the train will arrive in
Timber.
*****
-Timber: Forest Owls' Base
Rare Cards: Angelo
Items: Pet Pals Vol.2
When you get off the train, you'll be met by somebody. If you payed any
attention at all to the mission briefing, you know that the correct
response is "But the owls are still around". Pick the wrong one and
you'll see a rather amusing scene. ^_^ However, if you pick the wrong
one, I think you'll only gain 1 SeeD rank from successfully completing
the upcoming mission. Anyways, the man will lead you to a train. This
train is the base of the Forest Owls, one of many resistance groups
dedicated to the independence of Timber. On the train, another man
introduces himself as Zone, leader of the Forest Owls, and introduces
the guy who brought you here as Watts. They'll tell Squall to go and
wake up "the princess". Note: You can play cards with Watts. He has the
Angelo card. If you're wondering "Who's Angelo?", you'll see soon
enough.
Anyways, head up the stairs. On the next screen, there's a Save Point in
the room to your left; be sure to make full use of it during this part.
Head up one more screen and into the next room to find the "princess".
It turns out that the "princess" is the girl from the dance; you'll
quickly find that she's very enthusiastic (to say the least) about
having SeeD helping the Forest Owls. She'll leave, then realize she
forgot to tell you her name; you'll be able to name her. Rinoa is the
default. She'll then introduce you to her dog, who you can also name;
the default name is Angelo. Then you'll get a Tutorial about how to use
Rinoa's Limit Breaks. You have a Pet Pals magazine, so read it and
you'll be able to have Rinoa learn Angelo Strike. Anyways, head to the
meeting room for your mission briefing.
Rinoa, Zone, and Watts will go over the plan. The explanation is long,
but what you actually have to do is fairly simple. BTW, if you don't
understand how to enter the codes, you have to push the appropriate
buttons on the controller. Anyways, after the briefing's done, save.
(Sidenote: You can look at the dummy president in the Save Point room
and talk to the Forest Owls in the room for more details about it.)
Also, head to Rinoa's room and you can find Pet Pals Vol.2, which
teaches Angelo Recover. When you're ready to start the mission, talk to
Watts and tell him you're ready.
You'll now start on top of the Forest Owl's train. (Note: This is some
pretty cool music.) Move left and talk to Rinoa. The President's train
will show up, and a timer will appear. Rinoa jumps over to the other
train; do the same by pressing the X button. I'm not sure if you can
mess up the timing on this one, or what happens if you do. Anyways, on
the next car you'll have to deal with the sensors. This isn't that
tricky; if you move quickly, you don't have to worry about the sensors
at all. However, if you _do_ have to worry, in case you don't remember
your briefing, stay still if the blue guard is below you; if it's the
red, move.
Once you're on the next screen, you'll meet up with Rinoa. The timer
disappears and freezes during this part. After a scene showing what's
happening in the President's car, you'll be on the 1st escort car. Zell
and Selphie will keep an eye on the guards for you; you can also take a
look for yourself with the L1 button. Anyways, Rinoa asks if you
remember how to enter the codes; the timer's stopped, so there's no time
penalty for hearing it again. (It might affect the rank increase later,
though.) Just go down, (note: the timer starts up again when you're able
to go down) and when Rinoa calls out the codes, enter them quickly. You
can _probably_ enter all 3 codes before the guards reach you, but play
it safe and stop after the second if you need to. After entering all the
codes, you'll automatically climb back up. Head to the right. After
another scene, you'll be uncoupling the 2nd escort car. This one takes 5
codes, and you won't have Zell and Selphie watching the guards, so it's
a bit trickier and you'll _have_ to climb back up at least once. I
suggest climbing up after entering the second code, waiting for the
guards to pass, then entering the last 3 codes all at once. After
entering all the codes, you're done; head to the left.
Note: If you get caught by the guards, you'll have two choices. The
first choice is something along the lines of "No big deal". The second
is "It's all over...". If you pick the first choice, you'll start back
at the section you were at with about an extra minute. However, you
won't get the rank increase. If you pick the second choice, you'll get a
Game Over.
You'll now be back on the Forest Owls' train. If you did everytyhing
correctly on the train and gave the correct password when you met Watts,
your SeeD rank will go up by two; if you did everything right on the
train but gave the wrong password, your rank will only go up by one. (As
far as I can tell, anyways.) Anyways, Rinoa will say that she's going to
enter "serious negotiations" with the President. You'll go to the menu
screen to re-equip GFs; Zell's and Selphie's have been unjunctioned, so
make sure to set them up again. I suggest putting 100 Silences on ST Def
for the character with Siren; it'll be quite helpful.
Save, then talk to Rinoa and tell her you're ready. You'll go into the
President's car, only to find you kidnapped a fake. Then the fake
attacks you.
----BOSS BATTLE----
Fake President
This is easy. The Fake President attacks you, but he doesn't do much
damage. Draw Cure spells if you need to restock. After taking some
damage, he turns into...
Gerogero
Undead monster
Very weak against Holy
Weak against Water, Ice
Immune to Poison
(You knew he was going to turn into a monster. Admit it.)
If you didn't get a whole bunch of Esunas and Doubles from the battle at
the Dollet Communications Tower, now would be a good time to Stock them.
Gerogero mainly uses status ailments on you; Berserk, Slow, and Silence
are the major worries. If he casts one of these on you, Draw Esuna from
him and cast it on the afflicted member. (The reason I suggested putting
Silence on Status Defense was to prevent Silence on one character, which
may make the battle go faster.) He also hits you with Blind and Curse,
but these are less of a problem. Heal when you need it. In addition to
Esuna and Double, you can Draw Zombie and Berserk from him; however,
these aren't very useful for now, so you can go without if you want.
After you're satisfied with your spell stock, you can kill him quickly;
just Draw Double from him, cast it on yourselves, and cast two Cure
spells on him every turn. Since he's undead, Cure will damage him, and
with 100 Waters on Magic, it will hit him for about 400 HP each time. No
problem. You'll win some Zombie Powders and 20 AP.
-------------------
After defeating Gerogero, you'll be back in the briefing room. Watts
will come in with some new information. It seem that Deling is in Timber
to make a broadcast from their old TV station, which seems to be why
they fixed up the Dollet Communications Tower. After some more talking,
you'll gain control of Squall. Talk to Rinoa. After some more dialogue,
you'll make a party with Rinoa in it to go to the TV station. When you
want to get off the train, talk to Watts and tell him you're ready.
Note: This is your LAST chance to get the Angelo card and Pet Pals Vol.2
for quite a while, so be sure you have them before getting off the
train.
There will be a short scene, then you'll be in Timber.
*****
Note: Most of the following section (after the first three-and-a-half
paragraphs) was written by Matt Hobbs, since I was past Timber and
didn't feel like replaying it. However, he missed a couple of things, so
I've added in my own notes. I've also tried to fix most of his typos.
-Timber
Draw Points: Cure(r), Scan(r)
Hidden Draw Points: Blizzaga
Items: Girl Next Door, [Buel Card], [Tonberry Card] or [Forbidden Card]
Enemies: G-Soldier, Elite Soldier
Head back towards the train station. Here, you'll find a Pet Shop. This
sells some useful items, such as Amnesia Greens (make a GF forget an
ability, allowing you to teach it a different one) and two Pet Pals
magazines, which teach Invincible Moon and Angelo Reverse.
BIG TIP! The Pet Store sells GF, Draw, Magic, and Item Scrolls. The
purpose of these scrolls is to reteach the appropriate ability to your
GFs if you used Amnesia Greens to forget it. However, they have another
use; with Siren's Tool-RF, each scroll can be made into 10 Wizard
Stones! That's 50 3rd-level spells. This will be especially useful to
keep in mind once you get the Call Shop ability later on.
Anyways, the train's not running now, so you can't go back to Balamb.
You also can't leave Timber; if you head to the gate, you'll see a pair
of Galbadian soldiers harrassing two guards and you'll get into a fight.
The guards will be grateful if you defeat the soldiers, but they won't
be able to let you through. You also can't stay at the hotel (the owner
warns Rinoa that there are Galbadians staying there), but there's a Save
Point in there, so be sure to use it. Next to the inn is a junk shop
where you can remodel your weapons if you have the parts. Since you
probably don't (unless you've been playing a lot of cards), just ignore
it.
Anyways, head back to where the Forest Owls' train was and leave the
screen by the Northeast exit. You'll see the Timber Maniacs building
right ahead of you; go inside. Examine the magazines in the first room;
in one pile, you'll find the "Girl Next Door" magazine. Hold on to this;
it'll let you get the Shiva card later on. (DF's Note: Here's where
Matt's part of the walkthrough begins.) That yellow magazine laying on
floor in the back room is an old issue of "Timber Maniacs" (the
magazine); get it. In this same room, you can talk to the man in the far
back for some rather amusing scenes. (No matter which option you pick,
the guy starts rambling on about nothing, and Squall gets angry. ^_^)
Before leaving, go in the small 'closet' left of the front desk. You
can't see it (even with Move-Find set), but there's a Blizzaga draw
point somewhere behind the shelves; just feel around for it, you're
bound to find it eventually. Unfortunatly, this particular draw point
never recharges... Once you've gotten everything, leave Timber Maniacs.
The house next door isn't of any real importance. Talk to the lady
wearing the apron to learn that you can get to the TV Station by way of
the back alley behind the pub. She says you can see the alley from the
window upstairs, and suggests you take a look. Might as well... Well,
it's not much of a sight, but it gives you an idea of what to do next.
Oh, and despite what the kids say, you don't lose any money. Speaking of
those kids... Notice how they seem to be speaking in "AOL" language? =P
(It's not r kitty u know!)
Back in the city, head right. The pub that you're headed for is
downstairs, but go into the tunnel to the right first. At the entrance
is some strange girl who's willing to give you 'secret information'.
It's not at all useful, though, so you can just ignore her and go right
into the tunnel. You'll come out on some train tracks in a back part of
the city. Climb the stairs and go into the small house. Talk to the old
man sitting on the couch, and he'll ask if you like beverages; say yes,
and he'll allow you to drink some water from the tap on the opposite
wall. This seems rather pointless at first, but try taking him up on his
offer and having a drink. This is no ordinary water, but rather the
"Owl's Tears" that Watts spoke of. Your HP will be restored to full. Oh
yeah... Should you wanna be a heartless jerk, you can steal 500 Gil from
the old man by repeatedly examining the cupboard below the mirror. If
you do this, however, you lose access to the Owl's Tears...
Anyway, across the bridge just outside the house is a save point. Use it
if you need to, but don't waste time taking either of the lower roads
here, as they just lead to pointless dead ends; go back through the
tunnel you came from, and head downstairs.
Just outside the pub, you'll hear two Galbadia Soldiers gloating over a
card they swiped from one of the town citizens, and when they spot you,
they attack. After beating them, you'll get the card they stole: a Buel
card. In the area near the pub are two points of interest: an item shop
and a 'Cure' draw point. Buy stuff if you want, then enter the pub.
(Finally...)
There's some drunk here ranting about the town's situation, who mentions
that some soldiers stole his card. Well, that door behind him that he's
convienient blocking is the way to the back alley, so you might as well
talk to him... You have two options here.
(DF's Note: Matt hadn't tried buying him a drink, so I've altered this
part a bit.)
1) You can offer to buy him a drink for 100 gil, at which point you'll
get 6 choices for what drink to give him. If you give him the right
drink, he'll move; if you give him the wrong one, you've just wasted 100
gil. If you want to do it this way, talk to the other customer in the
pub to find out what color bottles the drinks are in, and which ones are
"sweet" and "bitter". Then, look at the drunk to see what color bottle
he's holding, then to the waitress to find out whether he likes "sweet"
or "bitter" drinks. (Though I think the waitress has it wrong.) Give him
the right drink and he'll move out of the way, as well as giving you a
Forbidden card.
2) Alternatively, you can offer to give the card you won outside back to
him. In thanks, he lets you keep it, and gives you a Tonberry card as
well. He then asks the owner to move him out of the way, clearing the
path to the back door.
Two things here: A save point, and a 'Scan' draw point. (For some
reason, though, it doesn't always seem to be here, and it's not hidden.)
Use them if you'd like, then head left and go up the long staircase. At
the top, you'll be stopped by Watts, who says that the whole TV station
is under heavy guard, and that it'd be a bad idea to just bust in. Rinoa
hesitates a bit, then decides to change her plan. At this point, Squall
gets angry at the Timber Owls' general lack of organization, and starts
yelling at Rinoa... Upset, she runs off, and Selphie shows up to take
her place. There's now a scene where President Deling makes his live
broadcast -- the first one in 17 years. Unfortunatly, he's not
announcing Timber's independance as Rinoa had hoped... Instead, he
speaks of 'peace talks', using his new ambassador, the Sorceress... His
'noble' speech is cut short, however, by a rather untimely visit from
Seifer and Quistis. Seifer, in his usual nature, tears the place
up, cutting off the broadcast, but not before Quistis orders Squall's
group to assist them. The team then dashes up the stairs. Make your way
to the TV station now, and you'll witness a long chain of scenes, which
results in Zell accidentally revealing to Galbadia that they're from
Balamb Garden, and the Sorceress making her grand appearance, then
disappearing with Seifer...
After the events have played out, you'll end up back outside the TV
station. Head back down the stairs, where Rinoa and Quistis are waiting.
Rinoa reveals that their base was found by Galbadia and was totally
destroyed. Fortunately, Zone and Watts managed to escape. After
informing you of this, the women run down the stairs. At the bottom of
the staircase, Rinoa will suggest that they get out of Timber for a
while, and runs off again. You'll meet up with Rinoa yet again at the
bar, where a woman suggests that the team hide out at her house for a
while. To get there, just follow the girls, and enter the house next to
the Timber Maniacs building. After a short discussion about the fate of
Seifer, the woman comes back upstairs and tells you that the Galbadia
Soldiers are withdrawing from town. The team then decides the next plan
of action. The Garden code states that after a mission, if the main
Garden is unavailable, report to the nearest Garden. In this case,
Galbadia Garden. (Excuse me? "Galbadia" Garden? Aren't we trying
to get *away* from Galbadia? ^_^) After forming a team (which can now
include Quistis), head back out into town. Before leaving, however, the
woman gives you a Potion, a Phoenix Down, a Soft, an Antidote, and a
Remedy.
Back in town, you'll notice a lone Galbadia soldier roaming around...
Though it may not seem like the most intelligent thing to do given the
situation, go over and talk to him. Turns out it's not a soldier at all,
just your old friend Watts in disguise. He says that the trains are out
of service, but that one last train will be heading out of town shortly.
Now head right, and you'll be stopped by a "Mystery Man", who turns out
to be Zone. He tells you thst all the tickets to the last train out of
town are gone, but that he managed to get the last five... He and Watts
remain in town, allowing your team to escape via train... Head into the
tunnel, and cross the bridge and head south. This is the train station.
Board the train, and ride it out of town.
You've finished the main stuff here, but there's still some stuff to get
should you wish to return to Timber. The inn is now opened, and you can
find another issue of "Timber Maniacs" in the hotel room. (DF's Note:
Too cheap to pay for the inn, but still want the magazine? There's a way
to get into the hotel room for free, although you can only do it once.
First, go to the railway bridge near the "Owl's Tears" house. You'll see
a girl stuck on the tracks, and hear a train. Talk to the girl a few
times and the screen will flash white, then you'll be in the room and
can get the magazine. My, that was a long note.)
Also, a man standing on the bridge overlooking the three railways will
give you a free Potion if Quistis is on the team (or maybe you just need
a female; I'll check). (DF's note: In my old game, he always mentioned
Rinoa... strange.) He'll run off, but he'll return later, so basically,
you can get an endless number of potions from him. Also, there's a man
outside the Timber Maniacs building who says that he's starting to think
he should give up. Tell him "No way", and he'll reward you with a Pet
Nametag later. Finally, if you wanted that 500 Gil from the man in the
"Owl's Tears" house, but didn't want to lose the healing feature, go
ahead and do it now. You don't need it anymore now that the inn is
opened. Still, this is a rather stupid act, and it may lower your SeeD
rank.
| ESCAPE |
(This is about the least creative title yet...)
-After Timber...
If you want, you can stay on the train and get off near Dollet. See Side
Quests for things you can do there.
At any rate, your goal is a small forest near the East Academy station.
Before going in, make sure Squall, Quistis, and Selphie are well-
junctioned. Inside the forest, you'll meet up with your other two
teammates and there'll be some dialogue, where Squall is his usual
charming self. =P After a while, Squall, Selphie, and Quistis will fall
down... Rinoa will ask what happened, and Zell will say he thinks they
went to the 'dream world'...
-Laguna Flashback 2
Draw Points: Sleep(r), Confuse(r), Cure(r)
Hidden Draw Points: ?
Laguna time again. Squall is Laguna (he always is), Selphie is Kiros,
and Quistis is Ward.
Laguna, Ward, and Kiros will talk for a bit, then you'll gain control.
On the next screen, there's a Draw Point with Sleep; use it if you need
to. Head across the walkway, and you'll be attacked. In the first
battle, you'll be back-attacked by one Esthar Soldier; then you'll fight
three. Not a major problem. You'll probably get a few Potions from
defeating them.
A few comments before I continue with this walkthrough. Considerably
later in the game, you'll be able to explore this place again, and the
things Laguna does here will affect what items you can get when you do.
Follow this walkthrough and you should (hopefully) be able to get all
the items later. Also, a note on enemies. There are 4 kinds of enemies
you'll fight in this place. You've dealt with the standard Esthar
Soldiers already, and you'll be fighting more of them. There are also
cyborg Esthar Soldiers; they're somewhat stronger than the normal ones.
There are two ways to tell them apart; by color, or if you're not sure
about the color, see what they have to Draw. If there's no Cure spell of
any level, it's a cyborg. Neither type of Esthar Soldier can be Carded.
The other two enemies are Elastoids and Gespers. You can draw Dispel
from the Elastoids, and make their cards into Steel Pipes. The Gespers
have Shell and Protect spells to Draw, and Float if they're at a high
enough level. They also frequently drop Black Holes, which teach Quistis
Degenerator, and can be made into Demi spells with Diablos' Time Mag-RF.
If you have the time, get 100 Demi spells for each character and
Junction them to your Magic stat. You can Card the Gespers and make
their cards into Black Holes as well.
That said, head inside the excavation site; there are two entrances on
this screen. One is a door, the other is just a ladder. If you go down
the ladder, Laguna will get a leg cramp; I'm not sure if this affects
anything. However, I suggest going down the ladder first, if only to
save a little bit of time.
Head up one screen and left one screen, then examine the rubble near the
bottom of the new screen. Laguna will pick up an old key, but it will
fall out of his back pocket. Go left three screens and examine the
rubble on the left side of the screen; Laguna will find another key, and
put it in his shirt pocket. However, he sneezes, and loses the key
again. (I don't know if getting the keys affects anything, but I don't
think it hurts.) The ladder here will lead to the other entrance to the
facility; ignore it for now and go back one screen.
There are 3 panels here; when you walk across the one in the middle,
you'll hear a clicking sound. There's a lever on the panel; examine it.
(It's near the top of the screen.) Laguna will notice that the lever is
loose, and suggest loosening it all the way to set a trap for the Esthar
soldiers. Kiros and Ward are skeptical; after the brief dialogue, you'll
have the option to either tamper with the lever or ignore it; tamper
with it. You won't be able to cross the panel after tampering with it,
but do it anyway. Leave the screen, and an Esthar Soldier will walk over
the panel, which will open under him and make him plummet. Go back to
the ladder where you came in; climb up and you'll be back outside the
place. Go in through the door. There's a walkway here, and you have
three paths you can take. The left path leads quickly to a dead end; the
right path leads to a Draw Point with Confuse. Use it if you want, then
take the middle path. This leads to a ladder; climb down.
This screen should look familiar. Go down and you'll be back on the
screen with the panels. You can only access the leftmost panel; you'll
notice it clicks when you walk on it. Examine the lever and you'll be
given the choice to tamper with it again. Do so; Kiros and Ward will
stop you, pointing out that if you _do_ mess with it, you'll be stuck
there. However, once you've triggered this event, you can open that
panel another way...
Retrace your steps to the other side of this screen, then examine the
lever on the rightmost panel. Again, choose to tamper with it; it's
stuck, but again, you can open the panel by another means...
Go back to the screen where you found (and lost) the first key. From
there, go up two screens. You'll see a small, black object on the
ground; examine it. As the ensuing dialogue reveals, it's a detonator.
You'll have the option of using it to move either the nearby boulder or
the one further down; first, choose to move the one further down. There
will be a short scene where you see an Esthar Soldier run away from the
boulder; also, if you tried to tamper with the leftmost panel, you'll
see it fall open now. Use the detonator again, on the nearby boulder
now. Laguna and company will run away, and you'll see the boulder roll
down, scaring away some Esthar soldiers. If you messed with the
rightmost panel, it'll fly open at this point, too. Laguna, Kiros, and
Ward will come back onscreen and make some comments, then you'll be back
in control. Leave the same way they did, and continue for a couple of
screens until you see a boulder. Examine the boulder, and Laguna will
push it, taking care of another Esthar soldier. You'll also be able to
use the Draw Point, which has Cure. Yay. On the next screen is a much-
needed Save Point. Use it, then use the exit on the top of the screen.
(the path on the right just loops back to where you've been) If you
didn't trigger the traps, you'll have to fight a whole bunch of battles
with Esthar soldiers; if you _did_ trigger them, however, you'll only
have to fight one battle against two cyborgs. When you defeat the second
one, he'll use an attack called Soul Crush, knocking Kiros and Ward down
to 1 HP...
After the battle, there'll be some more dialogue, and the flashback will
end. Squall, Quistis, and Selphie will wake up in the forest, there will
be some more dialogue, then you'll leave. Note that the forest will just
be an ordinary forest if you go back. Also, Quistis and Selphie are now
at 1 HP; if you don't want to bother healing them, just switch Zell and
Rinoa in. Head to the nearby structure; this is Galbadia Garden.
*****
-Galbadia Garden
Draw Points: Shell(r), Life(r)
Hidden Draw Points: Haste, Double(r?)
When you enter the Garden, you'll be treated to a short FMV. After you
regain control, just head through the next two screens. There will be a
short dialogue sequence when you reach the gates. Go through the gates
to reach the main hall. There will be an announcement over the PA asking
you to head to the 2F reception room. To get there, go straight ahead
(check the beam of light for a hidden Draw Point with Haste) until you
come to a room with some stairs. (Note: If you keep going straight at
this point, you'll find a Draw Point with Shell after a couple of
screens. Also, if you go left from the main hall, you can get to the ice
rink; you can't get the Draw Point _in_ the rink yet, but you can head
left to the locker room and a Draw Point with Life.) Go up the stairs,
and the reception room is behind the door at the bottom of the screen.
Inside, the party splits, and you control Squall. Talk to Rinoa and
Selphie if you want; when you talk to Zell, Quistis will come in. In the
ensuing dialogue, Quistis says that Seifer has been executed by the
Galbadian government... When you regain control, talk to Rinoa, then
Quistis. Squall will get frustrated. Head towards the door, and he'll
suddenly snap at everyone, then run out the door. Note: If you head
right from this screen, you'll reach a circular walkway above the main
hall. This leads to an auditorium where you can find a hidden Draw Point
with Double.
Go down the stairs (Zell's doing push-ups... heh.) and head back towards
the main hall. Just as you leave the screen, Fujin and Raijin will come
and talk to Squall. When Squall tells them that Seifer is reportedly
dead, they won't believe it. After they leave, there will be an
announcement telling you to go to the front gate. Go there and
Headmaster Martine will appear when you talk to Rinoa. (Note that Rinoa
has a bit of trouble with the salute... heh.) Martine will talk for a
while about your mission, then hand Squall the orders. Squall will
comment that the orders call for a sniper, and nobody on the team has
that skill. Martine says not to worry, and introduces Irvine, a
sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden. Irvine now joins the party, and you
have all the main characters. Now, talk to Selphie and Squall will
explain the orders. Your mission is to assassinate the sorceress.
After Squall explains the orders, Irvine will say it's time to choose a
party. The screen will fade; when it comes back, Irvine will be standing
between Rinoa and Selphie, and ask how this party is. If you choose to
accept, you'll see a rather funny scene and be left with a party of
Squall, Zell, and Quistis. If you don't, the party selection screen will
come up. Either way, Squall will give a tutorial on how to switch
members, then you'll leave Galbadia Garden. You can head to Deling City
now; if that's what you want to do, head to the clearly visible train.
However, you may want to take this opportunity to get some Level 6
cards. If so, go back into the Garden. Take the northeast exit from the
main hall, then take the door on the right on the next screen. There's
three students here, all of whom are card players. The girl (who says
something like, "We're too old for cards") uses all the Level 6 cards.
Keep playing her until you have whatever cards you want, then leave the
Garden and head to the train. Go up the stairs, and pay 3000 gil to
board the train.
Once you're on the train, head to the door you came in by and the other
team members will arrive. Selphie will head to the hall, and Irvine will
follow her; go after them to see a short scene. After that, head back to
the others. There will be another short scene, then you'll arrive in
Deling City.
By the way, now that you have Irvine, this might be a good time to start
learning Ifrit's Ammo-RF.
| OBLIGATORY FETCH QUEST |
(Amazingly, it's the only one....)
-Deling City
Draw Points: Thundara(r)
Hidden Draw Points: ?
Rare Cards: Kiros (see Queen of Cards side quest)
Leave the train station by the south side of the screen. Then go up the
stairs. After a brief FMV, your other two team members will be visible,
but Squall won't; move up and he'll appear on the screen eventually.
Talk to either team member and Squall explains that you're supposed to
meet with General Caraway. On the next screen, there will be a man
standing by the road; when you see the bus arrive, talk to the man to
get on. This bus will go right to Caraway's Mansion. Get off and talk to
the guard. He explains that before you can meet with General Caraway,
you have to go to the Tomb of the Unknown King and find an ID number to
prove you were there. (The ID number is different in every game, so you
basically have to go to the tomb.) Then he gives you a map of the tomb,
and explains how to use it. (hold Select when in the tomb; when the map
is up, you can leave by pressing the Triangle button, but your SeeD rank
will drop) After that, you'll be given several choices:
-Ready to answer
Pretty much self-explanatory. Don't bother with this until you've found
the ID, though.
-Buy a hint for 3000 Gil
If you choose this, the guard tells you that there's a GF inside the
tomb, and recommends you buy the location displayer if you're going to
try and find it. Not worth the price.
-Buy a location displayer for 5000 gil
If you buy this, you can see where you are in the tomb when you look at
the map. However, it's not too hard to find your way around in the tomb,
so don't bother with this unless you have a _really_ bad sense of
direction.
-Talk
The guard repeats what you're supposed to do and where the tomb is.
-Ask him to escort us out of town
The guard takes you to the entrance to the town, and suggests you rent a
car.
After talking to the guard, head out of town and to the tomb. If you're
having trouble finding it, look at the world map. There's a place just
northeast of Deling City where two small peninsulas almost meet; the
Tomb is at the edge of the peninsula on the west side. If you don't
understand those directions, just head northeast from Deling City and
you'll get to the tomb soon enough.
****
-Tomb of the Unknown King
Draw Points: Protect, Float
Hidden Draw Points: Cura
Rare Cards: Sacred, Minotaur (see Side Quests)
GFs: Brothers (see Side Quests)
When you reach the tomb, you'll see two Garden students run out. There's
a Save Point here, and a Draw Point with Protect. Use them if you want,
then head inside the tomb.
The ID number is on a sword in the second screen inside the tomb. You
might want to write it down. That's all you have to do here, but it's a
good idea to get the Brothers GF before going back. See the Side Quests
section for more details.
| THE SORCERESS |
(I suppose that title works...)
-Deling City: Parade
New Draw Points: Esuna(r), Zombie(r)
New Hidden Draw Points: Bio (r)
GFs: Carbuncle
Items: Weapons Mon May
After finishing your business at the tomb, go back to Deling City. Go to
Caraway's Mansion and give the guard the ID number. (Note: You give the
ones digit first, then the tens digit, then the hundreds digit.) Now you
can go to the mansion.
When you approach the doors, Squall will start wondering why both
Gardens are working with General Caraway, then decide it's not his place
to think about it. There's a Save Point by the doors; use it if you want
before going inside. (there's no real need right now, though) You'll
find yourself in the waiting room, and your teammates are getting
impatient. Talk to Rinoa, and she'll go to talk to Caraway, mentioning
that this is her house. After she leaves the room, Carway comes in;
you'll learn that he's Rinoa's father and the two of them don't get
along. He says he's decided that she should stay out of the operation
since she hasn't received the same type of training as the SeeDs. After
a brief dialogue, Caraway will lead you around the town, explaining the
plan along the way. Don't get too caught up with the details of the
plan; the actual sequence will be much less complex. After finishing,
Caraway says to meet him back at his mansion when you're ready. Note
that Rinoa is unavailable at the moment. Also, after this point, you're
going to be using the Junction Exchange option a _lot_...
Back at the mansion, Caraway will decide on the teams. Squall and Irvine
will form the sniper team, while Quistis, Zell, and Selphie will handle
the gate. You're in control of Quistis now; head for the door and Rinoa
will rush in, knocking Quistis back. Rinoa wants to help with the plan
by using something called an Odine Bangle to supress the sorceress'
powers, but Quistis says there's no time to make a plan, then leaves
Rinoa behind on her own. (Quistis is acting like Squall here. =P) Then
you'll leave the mansion; this would be a good time to save. Follow
Caraway; Squall and Irvine will have a brief conversation. (With Irvine
doing most of the talking. =P) There's a Draw Point with Thundara on the
way.
Once you reach the gateway, talk to General Caraway. (he's a bit hard to
see; he's standing between Zell and Quistis, except he's further up the
screen.) After he finishes talking, follow him. There will be an
automatic event and Caraway will head back to his mansion; then, Quistis
will decide to go and apologize to Rinoa. You're in control of Quistis'
team now; return to Caraway's mansion. When you go inside, you'll see a
short scene with Caraway and Rinoa, then Caraway will try to lock Rinoa
in. Rinoa rushes out before the door closes... and then Quistis' team
runs in just as it locks.
The scene shifts to Rinoa. There's a Save Point near where you come on
to the screen, and a manhole on the Northeast side of the screen. You
don't have to go down the manhole, but you can find the May issue of
Weapons Monthly if you head left a few screens down there. There are
enemies there, so Junction Rinoa properly. You'll have a chance to go
down there with Squall and Irvine in a little bit. Anyways, what you
have to do is climb the huge pile of crates and such, which isn't too
hard. On the next screen, climb the ladder, then move right about one
step. You can then climb the wall, and Rinoa will arrive in Sorceress
Edea's chamber. Once you regain control, approach the sorceress; Rinoa
will get blasted back. There will be an FMV of Edea walking to the
terrace with Rinoa being dragged behind her, then things start to get
really weird...
Squall and Irvine notice Rinoa up with the sorceress, then Edea gives an
unusual speech. President Deling wonders what she's doing and approaches
her, only to get zapped and tossed aside. Edea finishes her speech, then
walks away, mentions a "sacrifice", then raises her hand. There's an FMV
of a lizard-like statue coming to life and then running through the
streets, accompanied by an identical creature... The monsters jump to
the terrace and attack Rinoa, an action which does not go unnoticed by
Squall and Irvine. Unfortunately, the gate isn't open yet, so they can't
get in to help her.
The scene shifts to Quistis' team. Zell and Selphie start searching the
room; what you have to do is examine the shelves next to the door to
find a cup. Then, go the the statue in the upper-left corner of the room
and examine it to reveal a hidden door. This leads to a stairwell.
There's a Save Point here, which you should use. Go down the stairwell
and you'll find a ladder which leads to the sewers. Navigating through
here can be tough at first, so I'll try to give exact directions. Note:
In both the stairwell and the sewer itself, you'll fight shadowy enemies
called Creeps. You can draw Life spells from them. Anyways, from the
entrance to the sewers, head left, walk to the middle of the ladder
going across the water, and examine the waterwheel. You'll get on it and
be taken to another part of the screen. Head straight up. When you reach
the end of the next screen, Zell will hear the parade starting...
The scene shifts above ground with an FMV of the parade. The gate's
open, so Irvine rushes for it, then tells Squall to hurry up. Follow
Irvine, see another FMV, follow Irvine again, see another FMV... huh?
Seifer's on the Sorceress' float? No time to think about that now.
Follow Irvine for the last stretch and you'll make it through the gate.
You're now where Rinoa was earlier in the scenario. If you didn't get
the Weapons Monthly magazine before, get it now, since you won't get
another chance to find this one until Disc 3. Also, be sure to Junction
Squall and Irvine, as they've got a boss to fight soon. Climb the
structure like you did with Rinoa, then head left, climb the ladder,
then climb the wall. Now head left and climb another wall. Move forward
a bit and you'll come to the next screen; you're on the terrace now,
near Deling's body. Head to the back of the screen. Keep going, and
you'll find the two monsters attacking Rinoa...
----BOSS BATTLE----
Iguion*2 (Most likely, that's short for Iguana-Lion)
Weak against Earth/Holy
Immune to Fire/Poison
Be sure to draw Carbuncle from one of these guys; otherwise, you won't
have another chance to get it until near the end of the game. Besides,
they have a Reflect spell up until you get Carbuncle. You can also draw
Break spells from them if you want, but kill one of them first. Their
Magma Breath can petrify you in addition to doing a fair amount of
damage, and they have a powerful combo attack called Resonance. However,
their physical attacks aren't that strong. Since they're weak against
Earth, summon the Brothers GF if you got them. Otherwise, just focus on
one lizard at a time. After the battle, you'll get some G-Returners (You
can also Mug them during the battle, but then you won't get them
afterwards; not a big difference) and 20 AP.
-------------------
GF Carbuncle's stats:
Starting level: 16
Starts with Vit-J, Ability*3, Magic, GF, Draw, Item
I recommend learning Recov Med-RF first. It's only 30 AP, and it lets
you make Mega-Potions. Mega-Potions heal everyone for 1000 HP and can be
sold for a nice amount of money. After that, Counter, ST-Def-J and
Vit+20% are good ones to look at.
Head back one screen and open the hatch to get to the carousel clock.
Inside, pick up the sniper rifle just to the left of where you come in.
After some talking, it's back to Quistis' team. Go forward and open the
gate in front of you, then go to the upper-left corner and open the gate
there. You'll se a ladder; when you touch it, you'll knock it down and
can cross the water with it. Follow this path to reach a Draw Point with
Esuna. Now retrace your steps and go back across the ladder, then head
left. Go through the next gate, go forward, cross the next ladder, and
go through the gate on your right. You'll see a Draw Point on the other
side of the water in this screen; get to it from the next screen. It
contains Zombie. After getting it, (if you want it) go back to the right
and examine the waterwheel; then go right and examine the next
waterwheel to get to the other side. Go down, examine the next
waterwheel, go down again, examine the waterwheel again, and go down
again.
You're now on the screen where you entered the sewers. Knock down the
ladder nearby and cross it. This will let you get back to the Save Point
in the stairwell. Do so, then go back to where you knocked over the
ladder and head right. Use the next waterwheel, and you'll come to
another Save Point shortly. Climb the nearby ladder; you're almost done!
When you get off the ladder, examine it again and choose to go up. Zell
will say that you're just in time; go over to where he is and watch the
FMV. Once it's done, head over to the switch and use it.
The scene shifts to Squall and Irvine arguing. Irvine can't bring
himself to shoot, and Squall convinces him to try it, if only as a
signal. Irvine aims, and fires... but Edea blocks the shot with a
forcefield. Squall gets ready to attack head on, and the menu screen
somes up; be _sure_ to Junction Squall, Irvine, and Rinoa. After
preparing everyone, exit the menu screen. There will be a FMV where
Squall jumps from the roof, makes his way to the gate, and squeezes
through the bars. (why couldn't Edea do that and escape?) Then he'll
talk briefly with Seifer, and the battle begins...
----BOSS BATTLE----
Seifer
Weak against Poison
You've just got Squall in this fight. (Note: His HP is full at the start
of the battle.) There's no special strategy; just make sure you've got
good Junctions, or it's going to be a long fight. Not a hard one,
however; Seifer's physical attacks do only about 70 damage _without_
Vit-J. He gets the occasional critical, but even that's nothing to worry
about. Seifer's spells are the bigger threat, doing 200+ damage; if
you've got Carbuncle on Squall, try summoning it to reflect them.
Otherwise, just attack, healing when you need it. He'll go down easily
enough; in fact, just before writing this I managed to beat him without
any Junctions. (accidentally closed the menu screen too soon...) You
won't get anything for winning, but you can use Mug to steal a Hero
(sometimes even a Holy War) from him during the battle.
-------------------
Immediately after you defeat Seifer, you'll fight Edea. Luckily, Rinoa
and Irvine show up to help you at the start of the battle.
----BOSS BATTLE----
Edea
Pretty cool music here, huh? Anyways, Edea's spells are nasty, doing
around 400 damage. You have a couple of choices here; either summon
Carbuncle, which will cause her to cast Dispel on you instead of other
spells, or draw Cura from her when you need to heal. She also has a very
weak attack called Astral Punch; it does about 30 damage with Vit-J.
Note: You can Mug her for an Elixir. Actually, you don't need to win
here; the battle ends automatically after Edea says something like "Time
has run out, SeeDs!" After the battle, you'll get 20 AP.
-------------------
After the battle, there will be an FMV of Edea shooting a huge ice spear
at Squall, then the scene fades out and you get a prompt to save...
-END OF DISC ONE-
*****
-Disc Two
| IT'S LAGUNA AGAIN... |
(Have I mentioned enough times how bad I am at coming up with titles?)
-Laguna Flashback 3
Draw Points: Dispel(r), Drain(r)
Hidden Draw Points: Curaga, Reflect(r)
Yep, it's another Laguna sequence. This time, there's no setup, you're
just thrust into it. Anyways, as the scene opens, a little girl named
Ellone tells Laguna that someone's come to see him and is waiting at the
pub. After you regain control, use the save point, then search near the
door for a hidden Curaga Draw Point. Go downstairs and talk to Ellone,
then leave the house and head to the pub next door. Laguna will call
Ellone over, then you can go inside. Note: You may get into random
encounters when wandering around outside. These fights are easy, just
Bite Bugs and Caterchipillars. Anyways, inside the pub, you'll talk to
Raine, then Kiros will show up and greet you. Talk to him. After a
while, you'll be given some choices of things to ask Kiros about; ask if
you want, but when you're done, pick "Let's talk later...". Kiros will
join up with you, and you'll go off to fight some monsters. Be sure to
re-Junction Kiros; note that he has Irvine's stats in this sequence.
Leave the pub. In the southeast section of the area you're in, you can
find a Draw Point with Dispel, but it's not really needed. Head south
from the pub entrance to find a wooden bridge. When you go to the
bridge, Laguna and Kiros will have a short talk. After that's over, head
south. On the next screen, you'll see a Draw Point with Drain. Use it if
you want, then head south, or east for a hidden Draw Point with Reflect.
Basically, just keep heading south until you reach the town entrance.
(Buy stuff in the nearby shop if you want.) Then head back to the pub
and go upstairs. Raine and Ellone will be talking; Laguna wants to
leave, but Kiros makes him eavesdrop. =P After Ellone and Raine's
conversation, you'll regain control. Talk to Raine and you'll tell her
how many monsters you've defeated on your patrol. Raine tells you to
head to your room and get some rest. Go back to where the flashback
started, (if you forgot, it's upstairs in the house next to the pub)
save if you want, (probably a good idea, as there's a _long_ sequence to
go through before you can save again) and rest in the bed. That's it for
this flashback...
****
-Desert Prison
Draw Points: Berserk(r?)
Hidden Draw Points: Thundaga(r?)
Items: Tent, Pet House, Pet Nametag, Str Up, Combat King 001, Cottage, Rename Card
After the flashback, Zell wakes up in a prison cell with Selphie,
Quistis, and Rinoa. Quistis asks if he was in the "dream world" again,
and Selphie asks about Laguna. Zell says he was Ward and was working in
some sort of prison. Now you'll be in control of Zell. Talk to Rinoa
twice and she'll ask if Zell recognizes this room. He'll realize that
Ward was working in the prison they're now in...
After some more dialogue, the scene shifts to Squall. He'll try to think
about what happened, then there's an FMV of an elevator carrying him
up... Now it's back to Zell and the others. Some guards come in,
threaten you, beat Zell up, and take Rinoa away. Back to Squall; the
elevator stops, then Seifer walks in and tells two small red creatures
(Moombas) to take Squall away. In the next scene, Squall is hooked up to
a torture device. Seifer tries to get Squall to tell him what the secret
of SeeD is, but Squall isn't aware that there _is_ one. Seifer gloats
for a while, and the scene fades out...
Back to Zell... (getting tired of this yet? =P) Selphie tries to cast a
healing spell on him, but it doesn't work very well due to some sort of
anti-magic field. A Moomba comes in with some food and trips, then the
guard comes in again and threatens the Moomba. You have the choice to
help the Moomba or not; help it. You'll scare the guard away, and
Selphie will try to heal the Moomba. Choose to help.
Now it's Squall again. Seifer gloats some more, then leaves and tells a
guard to continue the interrogation. After a while, you'll be given a
choice between "...Just let me die" and "...I'll lie... I
must...live..." Choose the first option to save yourself a little
trouble later on in the prison. Either way, the scene will shift back to
Zell. Talk to Quistis and you'll start planning how to escape. Zell
decides that, since he uses his fists as weapons, he'll go and get the
other characters' weapons back. Zell gets the guard out of the way, then
leaves the cell with the Moomba following him. First, re-Junction Zell,
then go downstairs for a Save Point. (About time!) Then go up to Floor 8
to find the guards with your weapons. Head towards them and they'll
comment on the weapons. Get closer and they'll spot you, then attack.
They're pretty easy to beat, even though you only have one character.
They can cast Sleep on you, but that's about it. After you win, Zell
will reclaim the weapons.
Now it's back to Squall. Some Moombas will call him Laguna, then let him
down from the torture device... Then the scene shifts to Zell, Quistis
and Selphie. They've got their weapons back now, and the menu screen
comes up so you can Junction them. After you exit the menu, you'll hear
some guards talking... Biggs and Wedge come in and recognize Zell and
Selphie. After some rather funny dialogue, they attack you.
----BOSS BATTLE----
Biggs
Wedge
Yep, them again. And they're just as easy as before. You may want to
draw some spells from them, since they're so easy; Wedge has Reflect,
and Biggs has Regen. (As well as Haste and Slow, but you should be able
to refine those easily.) Reflect is a good Junction for Spirit, and
Regen is good for HP. Mug Wedge for a Strength Love, and Biggs for a
Regen Ring. If you didn't Mug them, you'll win some Remedies and
Elixirs.
-------------------
After beating Wedge and Biggs, leave the cell; another Moomba will come
down the stairs and say "Laguna" to your Moomba. They'll get excited and
run up the stairs. Then an alarm will sound. Now would be a good time to
save. A note: You can enter some of the doors in the prison. Walk up to
them and slide open. You should go down first and check the doors there,
as this is your only chance; here's what you'll find.
The Save Point is on Floor 6. Neither door on that floor has anything;
going down from Floor 6, the doors have:
Floor 5, Right Side: A prisoner who'll charge you 500 gil for a game of
cards. Win to get an item.
Floor 4, Left Side: Item box with a Tent.
Floor 3, Right Side: Item box with a Pet House.
Floor 2, Left Side: Item box with a Pet Nametag.
Floor 2, Right Side: Item box with a Str Up.
Floor 1, Left Side: Hidden Save Point. You need Move-Find set in order
to use it.
Floor 1, Right Side: It's hard to spot, but there's a yellow object on
the floor. Examine it to find Combat King 001. Read it to teach Zell his
Dolphin Blow Limit.
Moving up from floor 6:
Floor 7, Left Side: The cell you came out of.
Floor 8, Left Side: A guy from Garden running an item shop.
Floor 9, Right Side: Draw Point with Berserk.
Floor 10, Right Side: Another card player. He charges 300 Gil per game,
and will upgrade your Battle Meter the first time you win. The upgrade
lets you see how many enemies each character has killed and how many
times they've been knocked out. However, he doesn't give you any items.
Floor 10, Left Side: Save Point.
Floor 11, Right Side: Hidden Draw Point with Thundaga.
Floor 11, Left Side: Another card player, who charges 200 gil per game.
This one gives you items.
Nothing on Floor 12.
On Floor 13, you'll find Squall... and a LOT of Moombas if you decided
not to give in during the torture. Once you find Squall, you'll be in
control of him. Talk to the nearby Moombas; they'll offer to make a
shortcut on one floor of the prison. One gives you the choice of making
a shortcut on Floor 2, 3, or 4; choose Floor 4, as you won't be going
through the others. Choose whichever floors you want for the other two.
Now head out of the room. Zell will say that they should probably go
down, and Quistis will comment that it would be a pain with all the
monsters there. Squall will mention the elevator they used to bring him
up. After some more talking, Zell stays behind to operate the elevator
while the others go down. Don't bother re-Junctioning at this point.
Inside the elevator, Zell tells you to push the red button on the main
panel. Walk up to the center control and examine it to push the button.
You'll wind up on the bottom floor. On the next screen, you'll a huge
door; examine it and sand will pour out of it. Then you'll hear gunfire
and automatically rush out.
Now you're in control of Zell, who's being chased by guards. If a guard
catches up to you, you'll have to fight, which isn't much of a problem.
You _will_ have to start at the beginning of the screen, but it's still
not too tough. On the next screen, the Warden will catch Zell, but
Squall will come and and take care of him. Then Selphie and Quistis will
run in, and the guards will start shooting at you. It looks bad, but
then Irvine shows up and takes out a couple of guards. Rinoa's come
back, too. After some dialogue, Irvine will tell you to head up. You
have to make a party of Squall, Rinoa, and one other character. You're
now on Floor 9. Head up until Floor 13, and the scene will shift back to
Irvine.
One of the party members remaining with Irvine will suggest using the
elevator to get out, since going up doesn't seem to be an option. Re-
Junction yourselves and start heading down. Stop by the item shop if you
want, though. Then head down until you reach Floor 3, and the scene will
shift back to Squall. Move your Junctions around, then talk to the
nearby Moombas for a Cottage and a Rename Card. On the next screen, head
up the stairs. There's a hidden Save Point here. Head up the next set of
stairs to find a control room. Head out and an alarm will sound, and
you'll be attacked.
----BOSS BATTLE----
GIM52A*2
Elite Soldier
The Elite Soldier will cast boosting spells on the two robots. Take him
out first and this will be easier. The robots have a Micro Missiles
attack that halves your HP; just heal after this. Not too tough, all in
all.
-------------------
After the fight, you'll hear Irvine over the communications console in
the control room. Irvine will tell you to take the elevator up. Go back
down and use the Save Point. Now go back up and head back to where the
battle happened. Cross the bridge. The prison will start to move
underground; Rinoa and the third character will make it across, but
Squall won't. Once you regain control, you'll have to move Squall to
safety; just keep moving to the right, and you shouldn't have any
trouble. After the screen fades out, everyone will have found their way
back. You'll take two Galbadian military vehicles and drive away.
| KABOOM! |
(...I don't need to give a sarcastic comment here.)
-Desert
Draw Points: Aero(r?)
Rare Cards: Rinoa
In the next scene, you stop both cars and Irvine will say that Galbadia
is going to fire missiles at Balamb and Trabia Gardens. Squall will want
to warn the students at Garden; Selphie wants to stop the missiles.
You'll regain control now. Grab the nearby Aero Draw Point if you want,
then talk to everyone. When you talk to Selphie, you'll see some
missiles fire into the air... Irvine will say that he heard Trabia was
going to be the first one hit. Talk to Selphie again and you'll be asked
to choose Squall's team. You'll be using this team for quite a while, so
make sure it's a good one. You'll have a choice to change the team
assignments now; do it if you're not sure. Otherwise, pick "Go with it".
The two teams head off once your choice is finalized.
First, you'll have a short section with Squall's team. Head off the left
side of the screen and head to the control room. Watch the Galbadian
Soldier try to follow you, then you'll be in control of Selphie's team.
Note: At this point, you can go to Deling City and challenge General
Caraway to a game of cards. Lose the Ifrit card to him, (You can win it
back from Martine in FH) then ask him about cards and play again. He'll
probably use the Rinoa card now, and you can win it. You can also do
this later. Anyways, after doing any stuff you need to in Deling, drive
the car to the Missile Base; you may want to save before going in. Drive
the car in; if you go in without it, you'll see a funny scene, then have
to leave. So, get in the car and drive in...
****
-Missile Base
Draw Points: Blind(r), Blizzara(r)
Hidden Draw Points: Full-life(r)
Once you're in, Selphie will park the car and you'll get off. Go into
the nearby door. There's a Save Point here; use it if you want, then
examine the panel by the door on the left. One of your party members
will give you an ID card that was in the car. Selphie will use it to
open the door.
In the next room, you'll find a guard. You'll have three choices as to
how to get by him; I don't think it matters which one you choose, he
just says different (and funny) things. =P Head through the next screen;
there's another Save Point on the screen after. Go _straight_ down from
the Save Point (on the left side of the stairs you came down) to find an
easy-to-miss room. There's a Draw Point with Blind in here; more
importantly, there's two Galbadian Soldiers. Talk to the top one and
they'll tell you to deliver a message. Go back to the room you were just
in, and go through the door at the top of the screen. This is the
missile launcher room. Look just below the launcher on the left side of
the screen for a hidden Draw Point with Full-life; this Draw Point
recharges, so keep checking back. Anyways, talk to the soldier standing
next to the missile launcher and you'll give him the message. You'll be
given a choice of what to tell him the message was; it's "To go on
ahead", but it doesn't seem to matter what you tell him. Either way,
he'll ask you to tell them he's not done yet. Go back to where the
soldiers who gave you the message were and talk to them. They'll tell
you to do the inspection for them, since everyone else is too busy. Go
back to the guard you had to get past earlier and talk to him. He
leaves, and tells you to go ahead with the inspection. Go into the door
nearby.
There's a Draw Point with Blizzara here. Use it if you want, then
approach the control panel. You'll have a choice of "Ahh, just hit
whatever!" or "Hit a few buttons here and there..." Either way, nothing
will happen. After that, you'll have a choice of hitting more buttons or
banging on the console. Bang on it. You'll be told to press the Square
button repeatedly; do so and the lights will go out after a while. Leave
the room quickly; the maintenance team will show up right outside.
You'll have a choice of fighting them or talking your way out; talk your
way out and tell them that you were just going to go call on them.
They'll run in, then you'll run in after them and beat them up. =P Go
back to the screen leading to the launcher room; as you arrive, a
soldier will call the guards in to help. Head to the door; the guard
will walk out and you'll be given a few choices. First choose "Play it
cool", then "Help out". Go inside and talk to the soldier standing
alone; he'll ask you to help push the launcher in. Walk between the two
soldiers already pushing on it, and you'll automatically get into
position. Now hit the Square button repeatedly to push it. Talk to the
soldier standing alone again, and he'll tell you to set the coordinates
on the control panel.
Go to the control panel and examine it. You'll have a few choices;
Target, Equipment, Simulation, and Exit. If you go to Equipment and hit
Left, one of your characters will comment that you may be able to get it
to miss by setting the Error Ratio to Maximum. Go to Target, and you'll
have several other choices; Set Target, Set Error Ratio, Data Upload,
and Exit. You don't have the authorization to Set Target, so go to Set
Error Ratio. Hold Right and set the Error Ratio to Maximum. Now chooce
Data Upload. Go to Check Equipment and Simulation if you want, then
Exit. (Note: On the Check Equipment screen, hold the Card and Cancel
buttons and press Up to see the specs of a Galbadian Officer. =P) After
that, Save and talk to the guard by the right-hand stairway. Once you
get inside, however, a Galbadian Officer will see you and immediately
realize you're intruders.
----BOSS BATTLE----
Base Leader
Base Soldier*2
This is a pretty standard fight with Galbadian Soldiers. They're a
little stronger than most, but not too tough. The only thing of note is
that all three enemies have Confuse to Draw.
-------------------
After defeating the guards, examine the left-hand console. Selphie will
do... something. Examine the other two consoles in the room, then leave
through the North door. (Save first if you want) Examine the console and
you'll be asked to set a time. Set whatever time limit you feel
comfortable with; if you set 30 or 40 minutes, you'll have to go the
long way out of the base. Set 10 or 20 minutes for a quick exit. One of
the soldiers in the other room will do something at the console as you
leave... Just as you're on the way out of the base, you'll feel some
shaking. Then there will be a scene with some Galbadian Soldiers running
away. Once you regain control, head towards the gate... A Galbadian
Captain will be there, along with a large machine...
----BOSS BATTLE----
BGH251F2 (Iron Clad)
The timer's running in this battle, so be quick. Just keep hitting it
with your strongest attacks. It does a lot of damage, but if you have a
good HP Junction, you won't need to heal. As the battle goes on, several
of the Iron Clad's turrets will get blown off. Eventually, it will short
out, and the troops inside will run out to attack. Note: The Iron Clad
doesn't have anything to Mug.
Elite Soldier
G-Soldier*2
You won't have any trouble with these guys. =P When you win, you'll get
the June issue of Weapons Monthly and some common items.
-------------------
After the fight, head towards the fence in the back. After some
dialogue, there will be an FMV of the Missile Base blowing up...
(Note: If you did everything right here, you'll go up two SeeD ranks.)
****
-Balamb Garden
Hidden Draw Points: Demi(r?)
New Items: Mega-Potion, Gysahl Greens, X-Potion, Elixir, Remedy*2, Tent
The scene shifts to Squall's team. Before doing anything else, I
recommend going out and saving; it's going to be a _long_ time before
you can see the World Map again. Then go to the Switch menu and exchange
your Junctions. Also, it might not be a bad idea to stop by the Junk
Shop in Balamb to upgrade weapons. When you're ready, go back to Garden.
As soon as you get in, you'll see students running around, and a Garden
Faculty will be telling them to seize the Headmaster... And after a
while, you'll find there are random enemies around, too! Head further
in; at one point, a Garden Faculty will ask which side you're on. If you
say "I don't get it", he'll send a Grat and Caterchipillar to attack
you. It's an easy fight. If you say you're with the Garden Master, he
won't attack you. Either way, keep going. At the turnstile, talk to the
student on the ground twice to get a Mega-Potion. On the next screen,
you'll meet up with Fujin and Raijin, who apparently don't know much
more about the situation than you do. You'll tell them about the missile
attack, and they'll go off to warn everyone.
Now you can go all over Garden and fight off the Garden Master's troops.
At each of the various sections of Garden, you'll meet up with a Garden
Faculty who'll send monsters after you. You'll get items from each of
the areas except the Dormitory. I recommend you start by heading to the
Dormitory; you can rest and save there. You'll just have to fight a
Caterchipillar, which shouldn't be a problem. Here are the battles in
the other areas of Garden:
Cafeteria - A Bomb. It's rather high-level, actually; you can sometimes
Draw Firaga and Meltdown from it. Do that if you want, but it's not a
big deal. Once you're in the Cafeteria, talk to one of the students to
get some Gysahl Greens. Also, there's a hidden Draw Point with Demi that
only seems to appear during this sequence.
Quad - Bomb and Glacial Eye. No problem. When you meet up with the
students, tell them either answer, then talk to one for an X-Potion.
Infirmary - Here, the Garden Faculty is threatening some other students.
You have the choice of "Help them" or "Let them handle it". If you
choose to help, you'll fight a Granaldo. (the boss from the Training
Center) If you have Mug, you can steal a few Wizard Stones from it; it's
not too hard, though. Afterwards, talk to Dr. Kadowaki for an Elixir.
Library - A Grat. Inside the library, talk to one of the students for a
Remedy.
Training Center - As with the Infirmary, you have a choice of whether or
not to help out here. If you do, you'll have to fight a T-Rexaur; it's
strong, but you should be able to beat it. Talk to the student who was
being attacked to get another Remedy.
Parking Lot - You'll fight a Grendel here; again, nothing too tough.
After beating it, you'll see what looks like the Headmaster, but it's
actually just a hologram. Talk to one of the students for a Tent.
In the Cafeteria, you'll hear that this was Xu's plan; once you've found
this out, head towards the elevator and you'll see Xu go in. Follow her.
(you can fight the rest of the Garden Faculty's monsters first if you
want) She'll show up at the end of the hall on Floor 2. Squall warns her
about the missiles, and Xu tells you to go with her to Cid's office,
where he's been all along. =P
In Cid's office, he'll tell you to help with the evacuation, while he
tries something. After you regain control, talk to Cid; Squall will
volunteer to help with whatever he's planning. After a while, Cid
agrees, and gives you a key that will let you access the MD level where
you may find something... Talk to Cid again and he'll tell you to get
prepared. The menu screen will come up, but you really don't need to do
anything. (Though you can save.)
****
-Balamb Garden: MD Level
Draw Points: Full-life(r?)
Head back to the elevator... You'll see an FMV of the missiles in the
air, then it shifts back to the elevator, which stops suddenly...
Examine the hatch in the floor and you'll open it and climb in. Climb
down the ladder you find yourself on; at the end, you'll be on the MD
Level. You won't be able to get back for now, though. Examine the hatch
nearby; Squall will open it and you'll automatically go down. He'll
suggest you Junction Fire to your Elemental Attack in this section. It's
not really necessary, though. On the next screen, go down the ladder.
Then go through the door and examine the valve. You'll have 10 seconds
to push the Square button repeatedly in order to turn the valve; if you
don't succeed the first time, a second party member will help and you'll
repeat it, and the third will help if you failed the first two times.
It's not too hard.
Go out; you'll find that turning the valve has let you access a ladder
going down. Once you've climbed down, you can get a Draw Point with
Full-life. Head past it to find a ladder. You'll make a choice about who
investigates it. (I don't think it matters) Climb up. When you get high
enough, the ladder will and you'll crash through a window into a control
room. Examine the control panel nearby, then go back to the ladder. When
you get down, examine the blinking light nearby; it's a gate. You'll
open it and be able to reach _another_ ladder. Climb down to find a Save
Point.
Near the Save Point is a switch. Examine it, and you'll use it to open a
huge door in the distance. Head there, and you'll get attacked by two
huge monsters on the way...
----BOSS BATTLE----
Oilboyle*2
Weak against Fire
Immune to Water
Their "Sonic Wave" attack can Curse you, and their Oil Shot can Blind
you; however, they have Esuna in their Draw lists, so just cast it when
you get hit by status ailments. They still hit hard, though; however,
with a good Strength junction and Fira on Elem-Atk, the fight should be
over quickly. Also, they're vulnerable to Sleep; use this to get some
breathing room. After you do enough damage to one, it'll use a _very_
strong Oil Blast attack; try to finish it off quickly at this point. You
can steal Fuels from them, but you'll get Wizard Stones after the battle
if you don't steal. You'll also get 20 AP.
--------------------
After beating the Oilboyles, go to the door in the distance. Behind it
you'll find yet _another_ ladder going down. Start climbing, and you'll
see another FMV of the missiles on their way... Finish climbing down,
then head left to find a huge machine. Examine the nearby conolse;
you'll now activate the machine, which makes a platform rise straight
through Cid's office. There will be an FMV of Balamb Garden lifting out
of the ground and hovering away, barely avoiding the missiles. The scene
shifts to what's now become the bridge. After a while, one of your
characters will take the elevator down; talk to Cid and tell him you'll
investigate, then go to the end of the Floor 2 hallway and open the door
there. Go back in and you'll automatically return to the bridge; the
controls aren't responding and you're heading straight for Balamb.
Squall will hit buttons furiously, and the Garden will change course.
There will be an FMV of Garden dropping into the ocean, then the scene
shifts to Squall's room, where he ponders the recent events, then goes
to sleep.
| FISHERMAN'S HORIZON |
(Wow... another title that's actually decent. I must be slipping.)
-Balamb Garden
New Hidden Draw Points: Bio(r)
At this point, if you have Rinoa, she'll wake up Squall and ask for a
tour of the Garden. Go into each of the various sections to see some
rather funny scenes. =P If you don't have Rinoa, you'll wake up; I
forget just what happens in that case, so for now I'll write the
walkthrough for what happens if you _do_ have Rinoa in this team. Either
way, when you get to the screen with the Directory, a Garden Faculty
tells you that the Garden Master wants to see you and tells you to take
the elevator to Floor B1. Do so; you'll overhear Cid talking to the
Garden Master, and your third party member will come down the elevator.
(Note: If you're worried, go back to Squall's room and save before
talking to Cid.) When you regain control, talk to Cid. Then head off the
left side of the screen to meet NORG, a strange-looking creature. (Later
you'll find out he's a member of the Shumi Tribe.) He'll start ranting
and raving about your attempt to assassinate the sorceress, saying it
made her angry. Then he'll start getting more and more upset, and
eventually attack.
----BOSS BATTLE----
NORG Pod
Strong against Thunder
Poison has no effect
Left Orb
Immune to all elements
Right Orb
Immune to all elements
At first, NORG is hiding in his "shell". Attack the main pod while being
sure to keep hitting the side orbs; you can't destroy them, since they
just regenerate all their HP when you attack, but if you don't attack
them, they'll change colors. When they turn red, they'll cast a _lot_ of
spells. You can draw Bio spells from the Left Orb (but it's probably
easier to just refine them if you have Diablos) and you can steal a Mag
Up from it. The Right Orb has a Spr Up to steal. The pod has nothing.
Once you do enough damage to the pod, it explodes, revealing NORG.
NORG
Weak against Wind
Immune to Poison
Once NORG's exposed, draw Leviathan from him. You can also Mug him for a
Circlet. You may find it useful to summon Carbuncle here to deflect some
of NORG's spells, though they're not a major problem with a good HP
junction. He'll still be able to use his Psycho Blast attack on you,
though; it's fairly strong, but not much to worry about if your HP's
high. If you happen to have some Tornado spells, use them for some
serious damage; otherwise, just use whatever your usual boss-fighting
tactics are. He can cast Protect and Shell on himself; just use Dispel
when that happens. You'll get 20 AP when you win.
-------------------
GF Leviathan's Stats:
Starting level: 17
Starts with Spr-J, Elem-Def*2, Magic, GF, Draw, Item
As always, Boost is a good ability to start with. Other good abilities
are Supt Mag-RF, Recover, Auto-Potion, and Spr+20%. (which starts you on
the road to getting Spr Bonus)
Examine NORG's pod to find a hidden Draw Point with Bio. Leave the
screen and go back to the elevator. Head to the infirmirary to find Cid.
You'll get several choices of things to talk to him about. Talk to him
about all of them for some information, then leave.
Now head towards the Directory; Xu will run in and ask if you've seen
the Headmaster. She'll tell you that a ship is headed this way, and tell
you to go to the deck to see it. Do so and the ship will arrive. You'll
later find out that it's the White SeeD ship. They've come in peace,
then tell Cid that they've come for Ellone. Squall will recognize that
as the name of the little girl he saw in the Laguna flashback. Cid tells
Squall to get her; she's in the east side of the library. Go there, and
Squall will ask her what she knows about the "dream world". She'll say
it's hard to explain, but she's showing them the past... After more
explanation, Squall will get upset, then Xu will come in and take Ellone
to the White SeeDs. You'll see Ellone leaving while Squall's thoughts
flash by. Then you'll see a brief flashback to Squall's youth.
If you have Rinoa, she'll come in again and ask you to go for a walk
with her. Shortly after you leave the dorm, Cid will start talking over
the intercom, then suddenly sound surprised... The scene shifts to a
fisherman on a dock who comments on having a slow day, then there's an
FMV of the Garden floating straight towards him... =P
Back inside Garden, Squall heads to the bridge at Cid's request. Cid
tells you to go to Fisherman's Horizon, which is where you are. Note: If
you didn't win the Seifer Card from Cid earlier, you can do so now. He
also has some Level 6 cards now. Take the elevator down and your other
two characters will rejoin. Go to the deck and you'll arrive in...
****
-Fisherman's Horizon
Draw Points: Regen(r), Shell(r), Full-life
Hidden Draw Points: Ultima
Rare Cards: Irvine (see Queen of Cards side quest), Quezacotl
Items: Occult Fan III, Megalixir
As you enter the town, some fishermen warn you they don't want any
violence in here. After you agree, they'll tell you to see the Mayor,
whose house is in the center of town. Keep going for a couple of
screens; on the second, there's a hard-to-see ladder. Climb down it,
then head up the screen to find another ladder. Climb up that ladder and
head left to _another_ ladder. Head left to come to another screen, and
the Master Fisherman. Talk to him and you'll have a choice of things to
say to him; choose either and you'll get Occult Fan III. Remember where
he is; you'll want to come back later.
Now head to Mayor Dobe's house. (Note: If you walk past the Mayor's
house, you'll find Martine, the former Garden Master of Galbadia Garden.
You can play cards with him to win Level 7 Boss Cards, but he plays
_really_ slowly. Also, if you lost the Ifrit card to General Caraway
earlier, you can get it back now.) When you head upstairs to the Mayor's
house, he makes it quite clear that he wants you out of there as soon as
possible. After some more talking, you'll be asked to head back to
Garden. However, you may want to play cards first; Mayor Dobe has
Quezacotl's card, and his wife will have Irvine's card if you're far
enough on the Queen of Cards side quest. (See Side Quests for more
details.) Both are good corner cards. Also, both of them seem to have a
good supply of Level 6 cards. Note: If Dobe isn't using Quezacotl, try
getting all the common cards before playing him. He seems to use it more
often if you do. Finally, there's a hidden Draw Point with Ultima in
this room. Unfortunately, it doesn't recharge.
Head back to Garden. Just as you're heading back, you'll hear someone
screaming about Galbadian Soldiers. Head back towards the Mayor's house.
You'll see an FH citizen warning them about the Galbadians at the
station. Head back up; Flo will tell you that since the Galbadians are
probably here because of you, it's your responsibility. However, Mayor
Dobe will want to try reasoning with them and will head towards the
station on his own. Bad move. Follow Dobe. The next screen has a Save
Point and a Draw Point with Regen. The Inn/Item Shop is on the next
screen, but you don't need to head there just yet. You'll find the Mayor
on the screen after. BTW, there are random encounters here for the
moment. One new monster is the SAM08G; you may be able to either Mug or
win a Running Fire from it. You can also Card it and turn its card into
a Running Fire. This teaches Quistis the Blue Magic Gatling Gun, and can
be refined into 20 Demolition Ammo.
When you catch up with the Mayor, you'll listen in on him talking with a
Galbadian Soldier. You'll hear Ellone mentioned, and the Soldier will
threaten to torch the town... The Mayor pleads, but it's no good. You
have the choice to help now, or listen a bit longer. If you choose to
listen a bit longer, your other party members will force you to help.
Head towards the Soldier and the Mayor, and you'll be attacked by an
Elite Soldier and two G-Soldiers; a routine battle. After that, the huge
machine from the Missile Base will appear...
----BOSS BATTLE----
BGH251F2 (Iron Clad)
Weak against Water, Earth, Thunder
If you want Stop spells, the Iron Clad has them, and now's a good time
to Draw, since there's no timer. Still, they're not hard to refine, so
if you're in a hurry, don't bother. Mug the Iron Clad to get a valuable
Adamantine. Again. the Iron Clad isn't particularly tough if you've got
a good HP Junction. You'll get 20 AP after the battle.
-------------------
After you defeat the Iron Clad, it will slide away into the water, then
Selphie and her team will climb up... They escaped from the Missile Base
by climbing inside the Iron Clad. Now everyone will leave except Squall
and Rinoa. Talk to Rinoa for a short scene, then head back towards
Garden. On the way back, stop by the docks (East of the screen where the
Inn/Item Shop is) to meet up with the Master Fisherman's pupil and talk
with him a while for some funny scenes. =P If you've beaten the Iron
Clad, the kid will make one last attempt and actually get his line in
the water. Note: The man nearby runs a Junk Shop, and there's a Draw
Point near him with Shell. Then resume your trip back to Garden. You'll
meet Irvine on the way back; he'll talk to you for a bit, then he'll
join your current party. Now go and see the Master Fisherman again; the
ladder leading to him is just past where you met Irvine. You'll tell him
about his pupil's success, then start to leave. He'll stop you and ask
you to meet him at the Inn. Head there and he'll tell you about Mayor
Dobe. Then he'll ask if you want to talk some more; say yes and head
outside. Follow him to the docks, then talk to the shopkeeper. After a
rather long dialogue, talk to the Master Fisherman for a Megalixir.
He'll then leave, but you haven't seen the last of him...
Now, go back to the station. There's a house nearby; go inside to find a
Galbadian Officer yelling at a mechanic. Head towards them. The officer
is trying to get the Grease Monkey to fix the Iron Clad. Squall tells
the officer to step outside. (Note: There's an issue of Timber Maniacs
nearby.) After that, go outside and come back. Talk to the Grease Monkey
and he'll tell you that the officer escaped through the window. =P The
Grease Monkey will give you a Mega Phoenix as a reward. Now, go back to
where the Master Fisherman was to find a Full-life Draw Point. It
doesn't recharge, unfortunately. Finally, head back to Garden.
As you head back, Irvine will tell you to talk to Selphie, who's at the
stage in the quad. Go there and Cid will call Squall to the bridge, then
Irvine and Selphie will talk. The scene will shift to the bridge; Squall
will make a report, and Cid will decide that it's time to take action.
He'll announce that Garden is going to battle the Sorceress, then
appoint Squall as commander... much to Squall's surprise and
displeasure.
Squall will be laying in bed, mulling over this turn of events, then the
scene will shift to the others. Selphie and Irvine are going to get them
to play in the concert. =P You'll be asked to decide what instrument
Zell should play; he'll start playing it, and you'll be in control of
Irvine.
First, leave the stage and head back to Grease Monkey. The Galbadian
Officer is back, and he'll demand that you step outside. Leave and go
back in, and you'll find the officer lying on the floor, barely
conscious. =P Talk to the Grease Monkey for a Phoenix Down. (Yay.) Then
examine the Officer for 5 Fast Ammo, 5 AP Ammo, and 5 Pulse Ammo.
Now, go back to the stage. Pick the instruments for each of the 4
characters. (As far as I know, your choices here don't have any major
impact, but if you pick the Electric Guitar, Piano, Bass Guitar, and
Saxophone, the scene between Squall and Rinoa will be slightly
different.) When you do, the scene will shift to nightfall. Squall will
wake up. Leave his room; on the next screen, you'll meet up with Rinoa.
She'll ask you to come to the concert; you can try to refuse, but she'll
eventually force you to come along. Now, talk to Irvine twice, then head
down to the stage. Irvine, Selphie, Zell, and Quistis will play the
instruments you chose for them before. You can press Square to shift the
angle you see the stage from, but it's not really important. Leave the
screen and you'll find a magazine; examine it, and Squall and Rinoa will
start talking. (I thought this was a pretty funny scene. =P) After the
scene fades, Squall will be mulling things over in bed again; he seems
to do this a lot. =P The intercom will crackle, and Squall will be
called to the bridge.
| CHECKING UP ON THINGS |
(Okay, now I can insult my skills at coming up with titles some more.)
-Miscellaneous Errands
Rare Cards: Carbuncle, Leviathan, Gilgamesh, (see CC Group side quest),
Chicobo (see Chocobo Forests side quest), ChubbyChocobo (see Queen of
Cards side quest), Odin, (see Centra Ruins side quest)
Items: Pet Nametag
On the bridge, Quistis and Xu will suggest going to Balamb, and that you
let Selphie rest for a while. You'll then be in control of Garden!
Before heading to Balamb, though, there are some side events to do. At
this point, you can go to Winhill, Shumi Village, the various Chocobo
Forests, and the Centra Ruins to do side quests; you can also stop by
Timber, Dollet and Deling City to get some things you missed. Also, in
Timber I highly recommend buying Scrolls from the Pet Shop and refining
them into Wizard Stones; you should be at a point where 5000 gil isn't
too hard to get, especially with Recov Med-RF. Get 100 Firagas,
Blizzagas, Thundagas, and Curagas for everyone, as well as Bios, Stops,
and Dispels if you want them. While you're in Timber, talk to the guy
outside Timber Maniacs for a Pet Nametag if you encouraged him earlier.
At this point, the following Junctions are recommended:
HP - Regen (or Tornado if you can get it)
Str - Firaga/Blizzaga/Thundaga
Vit - Curaga
Mag - Demi
Spr - Reflect
Note: If you fight Odin and Draw plenty of Triple spells, go ahead and
put those on a stat to give it a BIG boost.
Once you've done everything you want to do for now, put Zell in your
team and go to Balamb.
****
-Balamb
New Rare Cards: Pandemona
New GFs: Pandemona
Items: Combat King 003 (later)
You won't be able to enter Balamb unless Zell is in your team. If he is,
talk to the Galbadian Soldier blocking your way into town. Then, move
away from the soldier and walk towards him. Squall will convince the
guard to let you in. Then, you'll be asked to make a party with Zell in
it; also, Selphie now becomes selectable again.
You'll have to do several things to get through this section. First, go
to Zell's house and go into the room on the right to find Ma Dincht.
She'll tell you about the situation. Next, go to the Hotel and talk to
the guards in front. They'll tell you to talk to the captain. Next, go
to the docks and you'll find out that the captain caught some fish and
said he was going to cook them. Go to Zell's house; Ma Dincht will say
that a man came in and cooked some fish, and the stench was horrible.
Finally, go back to the docks and talk to the dog. He'll start barking
like crazy and run off. Follow him to the train station; when you get
there, you'll see him run into the train and chase Raijin away. =P
Note: If you want, you can leave town. First, talk to the Big Bad Rascal
in Zell's house. He'll run off. At some point, he'll show up in the
house next door, consoling the Hotel Owner's daughter by offering to
check up on her parents. Go to the town entrance and talk to the guard.
Leave the dialogue box open until you see the Hotel Owner talk to Big
Bad Rascal; then, go back into town and talk to the Rascal. He'll offer
to help you leave town. If you accept, you'll be asked to make a party,
but you can't put Selphie in. Also, after doing the event at the town
entrance, you can play cards with the Hotel Owner's daughter to get the
Pandemona card; you can also get it from the Hotel Owner once you've
finished this section.
Whether you do that or not, go to the Hotel once you've woken up Raijin.
Fujin will kick Raijin straight out of the Hotel, then Raijin will
notice you and attack.
----BOSS BATTLE----
Raijin
Absorbs Thunder
Weak against Poison
G. Soldier*2
Weak against Poison
Pretty easy. Raijin's attacks don't do too much damage, and you can draw
Protect from him to reduce it. The soldiers, not surprisingly, are
wimps. Mug Raijin for two Str Ups, then just finish him off; an easy
task if you Junction 100 Bios to Elem-Atk. You'll get 12 AP for the
battle.
-------------------
Once you win here, you'll automatically go into the hotel and confront
Fujin. Then Raijin comes in (he sure recovered fast!) and you'll have to
fight both of them.
----BOSS BATTLE----
Fujin
Absorbs Wind
Weak against Poison
Raijin
Asbsorbs Thunder
Weak against Poison
This is a pretty tough battle if you're a beginner. Fujin's fairly
harmless; she'll cast Tornado at the start, but she can't use it after
you Draw Pandemona from her. So, do that right away. At this point,
she'll mainly use her Zan attack, which isn't too strong. However, she
sometimes uses Sai to drop a character to 1 HP. Raijin, on the other
hand, will start using his powerful Raijin Special attack when he takes
enough damage. Cast Protect (you can Draw it from Raijin if you want) to
reduce the damage. Use your best attacks on Raijin. Fujin has less HP
than Raijin, but a higher defense; most attcks do half damage to her.
The best way to damage her is with good Strength junctions and 100 Bios
on Elem-Atk. If you need healing, you can Draw Cura from Fujin. Once
again, mug Raijin for two Str Ups; Fujin has a Megalixir, but you'll get
that whether you Mug her or not. After the battle, you'll get Combat
King 002 and 20 AP.
-------------------
GF Pandemona's Stats:
Starting level: 19
Starts with Str-J, Spd-J, Elem-Atk-J, Elem-Def-J, Magic, GF, Draw, Item
After you win, you'll talk with them for a bit, then the scene will fade
to the bridge of Balamb Garden. Selphie will come in and ask you to go
to Trabia Garden.
Note: Come back here sometime during Disc 3. If you've got Zell in the
party, a girl at the entrance will tell him that a pigtailed girl was at
his house. Go to Zell's house, and Ma Dincht willl say she hasn't seen
anyone. Now, stay at the Hotel. In the morning, Zell will be gone; go
downstairs and you'll see him talking to the pigtailed girl. She'll give
him a book and walk away. You'll get Combat King 003. Also, you can find
an issue of Timber Maniacs in the Hotel Room.
-Trabia Garden
Draw Points: Thundaga(r?)
Hidden Draw Points: Zombie(r?), Aura
Rare Cards: Selphie
Items: Weapons Mon Aug
Once you arrive, Selphie will rush in (if she's not in your party
already) and climb the fence to get into Trabia Garden. Follow her, and
your other party members will show up on the next screen. After that,
you'll find Selphie talking to an old friend of hers. (There's a Draw
Point with Thundaga near them.) Talk to them; Selphie will tell you that
there's a basketball court in the back, and she'll meet you there. If
you take the right exit from this area, you'll come to a cemetery;
there's a hidden Zombie Draw Point and an issue of Timber Maniacs here.
Go back to where Selphie was and take the left exit from the area. Go
right if you want to talk to some people, otherwise just go left to find
a stage with a missile lodged in it. Examine the missile to find a
hidden (non-recharging) Draw Point with Aura. Now go left one more
screen to find the basketball court. Talk to your other party members,
and go to the upper right; a basketball will roll in, then Selphie will
arrive. There's now a long scene where you find out about the
characters' pasts; you'll have to move and talk to people from time to
time, but there's nothing special or complicated to do here.
When the scene's over, you'll be piloting Balamb Garden. Save, then go
back to Trabia Garden and challenge Selphie's friend to a card game. She
has the Selphie card. However, this region uses the Random and Plus
rules, so it'll be tough to win. Also, you can get the August issue of
Weapons Monthly nearby. (Weird that you can get the August issue now,
but you can't get the July issue until Disc 3...) Now, head to southwest
Centra and find the small building by a lighthouse; this is the
Orphanage. You can't go in, but you'll notice Galbadia Garden hovering
in the nearby forest. Pilot Balamb Garden near it...
| WARRING GARDENS |
(...there is something just _wrong_ with that one, but I can't quite
place it.)
-Balamb Garden: Under Attack
Items: Cottage
As soon as you approach the forest, the scene will shift to the bridge.
Squall and Nida will see Galbadia Garden approaching, then you'll be
given a list of orders to give the Garden students. I don't think it
matters what orders you give. After that, go down the elvator to find
your other party members. Choose a party, then take the next elevator
down. There will be an FMV of Galbadia Garden approaching. Talk to the
students in the hall to send them to their positions, then go to the
next screen. Talk to the Junior Classman for a Cottage. Now, go back to
the elevator and go to the first floor. Go to the quad to find Zell.
Talk to him; your other party members will show up, then Nida will call
you to the bridge.
The scene automatically shifts to the bridge. There's an FMV of Galbadia
Garden coming, and another one of Galbadian Soldiers charging into
Balamb Garden on motorcycles... by riding them off ramps straight into
the air. (These soldiers are crazy. =P) The scene shifts to Zell's team
in the quad. Equip them with GFs, then head left.
When you get all the way to end, there's an FMV of Galbadia Garden
crashing up against Balamb Garden; Zell and your third party members
will make it to safety, but Rinoa won't; she'll be desperately clinging
to the very bottom of Garden. Head out and go to the front gate. Squall
will be there. After some dialogue, you'll be prompted to choose two
party members out of Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine. The character left
out will help Xu; Squall's team will go to the classroom on Floor 2; and
Zell will help Rinoa. As you leave, Galbadia Garden will ram you. Re-
equip your GFs and head to the elevator. There will be an FMV of
Galbadian paratroopers storming Garden, then you'll have to fight...
----BOSS BATTLE----
Paratrooper*4
Weak against Poison
These guys are stronger than most Galbadian Soldiers, but still aren't
much of a threat. Easy.
-------------------
After fighting off the Paratroopers, you'll be called to the bridge. As
you head to the elevator, you'll get rammed again. Keep going; when you
reach Cid's old office, you'll meet up with Dr. Kadowaki. After some
talk, you'll decide to ram Galbadia Garden to get in