Where did you train?

Well i am currently playing the game again and i have just got to timber for the first time on disc 1 and Squall is lv 50. I found training in the training center with quistis was good. Thats how i got to that level quickly.
 
You don't have to take my advise or anything, but I really think you guys should know that, when you level up in this game, your stats hardly raise at all. Meanwhile, when the enemies level up along with you, their stats practically double. Seriously, there's absolutely nothing to stop you from becoming machines of destruction before you even take the SeeD Exam. All you need is a deck of Triple Triad Cards, a bit of patience, and some knowledge of where to get the best cards. I know that most early bosses have a level cap, but after Disc 2, that level cap becomes irrelevent. The bosses will have stats well above 130 and your characters will have a score of 50 in Attack. Trust me, you're much better off learning to properly utilize the Junction System.
 
Definitely agree with the above. Keep low level, and play Cid at cards asap (i,e right after you get Diablos, up in his office i think) Use card mod and get all the final weapons on Disc 1. Other items are required too, but youll have to check online for these sorry.

In the game, level 30+ is considered 'high level'. Anything seriously higher than that whilst playing through the game is overkill.

Also, to go with the lowish level game, learn how to best utilist Limit Breaks. Seplhie specially to begin with, Rinoa and Quistis a bit later on. Zells best combo is rally handy, whereby you repeatedly press 'up down' 'Left right' 'square circle' re[eat. something like that anyway, and you should be getting in 4-6 moves a second once you get fast.

Also keep your HP low! In 8, its far better as you can allow your limits to do all the damage. They are far better than using GF's to attack.
 
I still remember the old days where my uncle played this game, he managed to defeat Ultimecia, at Squall evel 75 through intense training. It took him 1½ hours.
We both didn't know the fact that monsters level up with you.
Brings back memories. =)
Well, nowadays, utilizing junction is your trump card.
 
Ultemecia's Level cap is 62 iirc, or possibly 64, but its somewhere around there, so even if you are at level 100, she will be maxed with Lv 62 stats.

Some other bosses also have caps, though i cant remember off the top of my head which.
 
I bought the game a couple of weeks ago and i'm on my way to ultimecia...i didn't get doomtrain and the tonberry and i only got eden from tiamat (i just can't go to that god dammed sea research deposit). With this junction system everything gets a lot easier and i beated all bosses (from raijin/fujin -last battle- to tiamat) only with renzokuzen and i only have the "punishment". Of course i have some decent magics (or i couldn't do anything right even with my lvl70 squall, lvl68 zell and lvl55 rinoa) like quake, flare, haste, death, tornado, meltdown and some aura, holy and ultima...Card mod works very well in this game - makes it a lot easier to raise your hp early with quake (you just have to defeat minotaur and sacred), etc.
Other aspect that many people talk about is the fact that drawing magic is a long process...in my opinion it should be tougher! Sometimes it almost looks like i'm using cheats, especially after beating bahamut. With strengh+60% and 100 quakes (i mentioned quake because its very easy to get) and squall's renzokuzen owns almost everything...
As for the allways boring leveling...i think that in this game it wasn't as bad as the others (in the islands close to hell/heaven your party's level boosts like hell and you can reach ridiculously high levels in no time) and i'm glad it happens this way - because i'm a very lazy player xD

Anyway if you ask me, in a scale form 0 to 100 i give this game 85:
-the story is great, but the end could be improved
-the battle system is completely diferent, but it's cool
-GF's animation are really great (i especially like diabolos)
-there are some good challenges and some tough monsters to beat (like those ruby dragons)
-you can beat the game in many diferent ways
 
Definitely agree with the above. Keep low level, and play Cid at cards asap (i,e right after you get Diablos, up in his office i think) Use card mod and get all the final weapons on Disc 1. Other items are required too, but youll have to check online for these sorry.

In the game, level 30+ is considered 'high level'. Anything seriously higher than that whilst playing through the game is overkill.

Also, to go with the lowish level game, learn how to best utilist Limit Breaks. Seplhie specially to begin with, Rinoa and Quistis a bit later on. Zells best combo is rally handy, whereby you repeatedly press 'up down' 'Left right' 'square circle' re[eat. something like that anyway, and you should be getting in 4-6 moves a second once you get fast.

Also keep your HP low! In 8, its far better as you can allow your limits to do all the damage. They are far better than using GF's to attack.

Exactly. I speak from experience when I say: don't level up until you have the Ragnarok. If you get good spells from playing cards early on (before you go to Timber is a good time) you can breeze through the game without levelling until you get the Ragnarok, like I mentioned. One of the easiest and best things you can do is get Siren from Elvoret (the boss in the communication tower in Dollet) and make her learn Life Magic Refinement (L Mag Ref) and card Buels and Bombs in the Fire Cavern when you come back and card them until you get Krysta cards. Mod them with Quezacotl's Card Mod ability for 10 Holy Stones. You know what to do with them. Junction Holy to Strength and that's pretty much what you'll need for that part of the game. For Vitality you'll need one spell only: Meltdown. Win Gayla cards from Cid and other players in Balamb and you can mod them for Mystery Fluids which in turn can be modded into said spell. Once you have the Ragnarok go to the Deep Sea Research Center. Make sure you have a decent spell junctioned to your Magic stat, fight Ultima Weapon and draw Ultima from him. Junction this new spell to your strength. Make absolutely sure you have Doomtrain, Cactuar and other GFs learn the Bonus abilities. This will be enough to equip two characters with only Bonus abilities. Kill off the third. Head to the Island Closest to Hell, summon Doomtrain at the beggining (causing status ailments and thus severely handicapping the enemy). Other requirements are the Revive and Recover abilities from Leviathan and Alexander. By the time you reach level 100 you'll be unstoppable. Sorry for this extremely long post, but I thought this could help people who are in the same boat.
 
Last edited:
that seems like a lot of hassle. all you need is lionheart. then when you are fighting anyone just cast meltdown on them and aura on squall and it will be over quickly
 
yeah but there is no challenge when doing that right? I never got the lionheart (but i never tried)...the magics and abilities i have are more than enough to beat tough monsters and since they are not the most powerful ones, there is allways a good challenge (against lvl100 ruby dragons for example).
 
I'm near the end of Disk 2 (Infiltrating Galbadia Garden) and my Highest level is Level 17, Lowest being 8.

I like keeping low levels and junctioning high stats, It makes the game so easy!
=D
 
Aww man this is really confusing me. I kinda get it that you don't have to level up as long as you junction right, but after being so used to the other FF games this is all proving to be quite a headache. It sounds so damn complicated!!>_<

All I seem to be doing is drawing to get 100 of each magic that I find, but that causes me to level up anyway which from what people are saying is messing my game up. I'm on disc 2 now, have I really been doing so badly?:shame:
 
it doesnt matter that you level up, all my characters were lv 100 lol.

it is easier if you are low level as everyone is that same level but because of the junctions you will be stronger.
having a high level just makes it a bit harder, not much though
 
At the moment I'm on my way to Trabia garden, could do with knowing if it's worth tackling some of the enemies around there. But am I right with the drawing thing? I do seem to be killing enemies easy enough, I only had trouble with NORG really. Squall is about lvl 34, and my other characters between lvl 18 and 24. Any good?
 
should be fine. remeber to draw meltdown from those g-things, can remeber their names, and get lots of mesmenir horns as they can be refined for lots of things
 
Aww man this is really confusing me. I kinda get it that you don't have to level up as long as you junction right, but after being so used to the other FF games this is all proving to be quite a headache. It sounds so damn complicated!!>_<

All I seem to be doing is drawing to get 100 of each magic that I find, but that causes me to level up anyway which from what people are saying is messing my game up. I'm on disc 2 now, have I really been doing so badly?:shame:
Allow me to teach you about the wonderful, funderful ability known as "Card." You see, when you use Card on an enemy (learned by Quezcoatl or however you spell it) rather than defeat it, you receive 0 Experience, but you still get AP. In simpler terms, that means you can collect Magic, have your GF's learn their abilities, and remain at a low level. Through the magical powers of Card, you, my friend, can make it through the game without leveling up once. Well, aside from the forced Experience Points you gain in the Laguna Flashbacks, but that doesn't amount to much. My point is there are actually ways around gaining Exp. without ruining your chances of drawing Magic.

*sales pitch-ish voice* BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! There are actually other ways of getting magic if you have some patience. That's right, you can actually make it through the game without Drawing a single Spell. Through Triple Triad, you can gain cards like Abyss Worms, which can be Modded (through the Card Mod ability) into Windmills, I believe. Now, Windmills can, in turn, be changed into Tornado Spells, which Junction very well to Strength. That's how I got my Strength stat up to 110 before taking the SeeD Exam.

Ahem...anyway, yeah, you can get around leveling up if you're prepared to devote a little time into learning the neccessary abilities. Really, it's never too late to change your strategy, so don't worry about the levels you gained earlier in the game. With the right Junctions, the game will be pretty easy regardless of what level your characters are at. Admittedly, Carding takes a while to get used to, but once you learn Enc. None, you shouldn't even have to bother. So I'd suggest putting some time into raising Diablos.
 
Err...yeah, it took me a while to figure out just how the hell the FF8 battle system worked, too. >_>" Definitely one of the more unneccessarily confusing engines in the Final Fantasy continuum. Once you get the hang of it, the game is laughably easy, though. Bosses go down in a few strikes without ever doing any real damage to you. Apparently, the game actually relies on the player not being able to figure out how to use the Junction System, considering how simple it is otherwise. Anyway, yeah, you should be fine as long as you have Card and Magic Refine Abilities.
 
Well when I was in disk 2 and with the Garden moving and all, I went to Island closest to heaven and Island Closest to hell, not a very good idea in those times but if I managed to defeat a monster I leveled up quickly.

Another good place to train was the lab where you found Bahamut and the Ultima Weapon.
 
Heh, I just took time to level up every single place I went to. But to get specific, I think I spent my longest time leveling up at Centra, and probably the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell.
 
Balamb Garden Training centre. i got to lv 100, it wasn't easy, F***ing boring tbh, but worth it!
 
Back
Top