Final Fantasy VIII Disc 1
Deling City
OK. Find the train station by Garden and buy a ticket for Deling City. If you try to go to Deling City without the train, please note the large Galbadia APC in your way. Now get on the train, and depending on who’s in your party, either try to exit the train or go and rescue Selphie from the clutches of Irvine. Well, you can’t do that, but anyway… After going to check on him, and returning, and listening to him go on about what a horrible life he has, note that the train appears to hit something. This is why you have to ride the train. :) When my guys finally reach Deling City, the game dies. Man the PS3 port of this game is teh suxxorz.
Once you get off the train, head down and enter the “down” side of the escalator, then go up the escalator on the next screen. Talk to Rinoa, then go forward to the next screen. If you talk to the guy in the uniform in front of the street. He’ll tell you to talk to him when the bus to Caraway’s Mansion gets here. If you’re not doing the Queen of Cards side quest, just talk to the guard when bus 08 shows up.
Optional: Queen of Cards side quest
If you’re doing this side quest, you can win the Kiros card that the Queen’s father created when you lost the MiniMog card earlier. From the screen with the uniformed guy above, head right (you’ll have to go out onto the street), then head forward. You should end up at the shopping arcade. Go down one screen to the next half of the shopping arcade and play the guy dressed in black, just up from the uniformed attendant. You can also use this chance to visit the GF AbilityOpens a weapon junk shop from the menu. Learned by Doomtrain. in deling city and get your new characters better weapons, if you have the right items. After winning the card, head down one screen and right one screen from that location to arrive at Caraway’s mansion.
Tomb Raider
When you get to the Caraway Mansion bus stop screen (it’ll say 60 on the road), talk to the guard at his gate. He tells you to go and get a ‘Code Number’ off of a previous students ‘Item.’ In other words, the number is on some guys sword that he dropped when he bolted. Then have him escort you out of town.
He will tell you it’s convenient to rent a car. If you’ve been playing cards and have used GF AbilityRefines Triple Triad cards into items, which can often be refined again into strong magic. Learned by Quezacotl. to get some float or tornado, he’s right. You should ensure you have either Float or Tornado for Squall. If you don’t have those magics, you could be in trouble when you get to the tomb. In that case, I recommend walking so that you can come across a Thrustaevis. These guys have float that you can draw. The easy way is to junction Guardian ForceGuardian Force drawn from Elvoret during the Dollet mission. Her L Mag-RF and Tool-RF abilities are extremely useful for refining life magic and useful items. to Squall and have him junction Status Attack to Sleep. Leave the city and head for the tomb.
Useful Enemy: Outside Deling City
| Enemy | Location | Card / Rare Card | Useful Draws |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thrustaevis | Outside Deling City | Thrustaevis Card / Gargantua Card | Lv 1-19: Blizzard, Scan, Float; Lv 20-29: Blizzara, Aero, Scan, Float; Lv 30+: Blizzaga, Aero, Tornado, Float |
To get to your next destination, head northeast to the end of the little penensula to visit the Tomb of the Unknown King. To get to the cave, stand by Deling City facing the ocean at it’s closest point (to the south, I think). Then, walk along the shore following the ocean’s edge clockwise until you come to a little forest looking area in the middle of nowhere with a door.
If you do opt to fight a Thrustaevis along the way, put it to sleep and then notice how the thing floats while asleep - that’s a handy skill! If you don’t already have it, I recommend you stock up on float for Squall at least. You don’t - technically speaking - HAVE to acquire an optional GF in the next section, but do you want to just go back from here and just give Caroway’s guard the Code Number after you find it, and miss out on an optional GF? Plus you get TWO REALLY COOL CARDS out of this deal - one of which you need for the Queen of Cards quest.
When you get to the tomb, go in, save your game at the save point to the right, and head into the temple looking thing (you can safely ignore the girls fleeing in terror yelling “float.”)
Area Enemies: Tomb of the Unknown King
| Enemy | Location | Card / Rare Card | Useful Draws |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armadodo | Tomb of the Unknown King | Armadodo Card / Catoblepas Card | Lv 1-19: Protect; Lv 20-29: Protect, Shell; Lv 30+: Protect, Shell, Quake |
| Blobra | Tomb of the Unknown King | Blobra Card / Granaldo Card | Lv 1-19: Shell; Lv 20-29: Shell, Blind, Berserk; Lv 30+: Shell, Reflect, Blind, Confuse |
| Buel | Tomb of the Unknown King | Buel Card / Krysta Card | Lv 1-19: Fire, Thunder, Blizzard; Lv 20-29: Fira, Thundara, Blizzara; Lv 30+: Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga |
| Forbidden | Tomb of the Unknown King | Forbidden Card / Red Giant Card | Lv 1-19: Zombie; Lv 20-29: Zombie, Blind, Stop; Lv 30+: Zombie, Blind, Stop, Death |
Go forward until you come to a cross in the path. That’s where the sword should be. Read the number off of it. REMEMBER THIS NUMBER I would tell you the number, but it’s random. If you want to skip a pretty powerful SystemGuardian Forces are FF8's summons and the source of most junction, command, support, refine, and stat-growth abilities., feel free to skip this next section. But also consider the rest of your life choices.
The Brothers Grim
Boss Fight Prep
If you need Life, Shell, Protect, or Berserk magic, make sure your characters are able to use the CommandLets a character draw magic from enemies or draw points..
To get Guardian ForceEarth-element Guardian Force earned in the Tomb of the Unknown King. Brothers brings HP-J, HP Bonus, and sturdy physical support., follow the right wall (6ish screens) along until you come to the first one (Sacred). He has nothing to steal/GF AbilityReplaces Attack with a stealing attack. Learned by Diablos and Bahamut.. It took one boosted Guardian ForceLightning-element Guardian Force available from Squall's classroom terminal at the start. Its Card and Card Mod abilities are the backbone of the early no-EXP power route. to drive him off for me, and I’ve been following the low-level route. You can draw Life, Shell, Protect, and Berserk. I had two guys full of Shell and Protect from the earlier Garden battle, but I drew up the third one here.
There’s a GF AbilityReveals hidden save points and draw points. Learned by Siren. save point here. Now, continue to follow the wall around to the right. (Notice, you have been going COUNTER-clockwise - according to the map you’ve been given - this whole time.) 8 screens, I think. When you come to a chain, go to the right hand side and inspect it. SPLOOSH! OK, draw the float if you want, then continue following the right wall. When you come to the next dead end (7 screens), you will see a water wheel and some gears. Go and inspect the gear. (It’s actually a lock, I think.) Now on to meet the Guardian ForceEarth-element Guardian Force earned in the Tomb of the Unknown King. Brothers brings HP-J, HP Bonus, and sturdy physical support.. If you wish to save the game first (HINT HINT) enable Guardian ForceGuardian Force drawn from Elvoret during the Dollet mission. Her L Mag-RF and Tool-RF abilities are extremely useful for refining life magic and useful items. GF AbilityReveals hidden save points and draw points. Learned by Siren.. There’s a save point right here (or go back to the beginning, one more 90 degree rotation around the area). OK, now that we are ready, let’s go. Head straigh up from the entrance. (Or if you saved at the gear box, that’s back one screen, forward two screens, right, left, left, straight.)
Boss Fight Prep
Enable Draw if you need Double. Be ready to cast Float during the battle. If you haven’t been really leveling up your guys, you should probably junction float and/or shell and/or life to your Elem-Def. If you have Tornado, it’s strongly recommended as a Elem-Atk junction for maximum damage.
Start the fight by casting float on both them and your party so their earth magic doesn’t hurt you and heal them. The “older” (little) one has Double. If you have it, cast Tornado against them for major damage. After the fight, watch the weird guy come out of the tomb and he’ll give you Minotaur Card. (Fun Fact: Those arm bands say “young” and “old”, in case you’re curious.)
Optimizing GF Distribution with Brothers
Group 1: Ifrit, Siren
Group 2: Quetz, Brothers
Group 3: Shiva, Diablos
Strategy: Adds Brothers where HP Bonus can support the low-level route.
Ability Priority: Str-J, Elem-Atk-J, HP+40%, HP+80%, HP Bonus, Spr-J. Full list.
Head back out (go down a screen or two, then straight three screens). Double check that you have the ID number of that student from the sword. Again, it’s a random number so it’s different every time. (If you’re curious, I’ve seen 16, 47, 140, 32… You get the picture.)
Optional: Queen of Cards
Now that you have the Sacred Card, you can head back to Dollet and lose it to the Queen so she can have her father create a new card. See the Queen of Cards Quest section for more info.