Final Fantasy VIII Disc 3
Endgame Prep
Lots of Things to Do
With the exception of BossOptional superboss in Ultimecia Castle. Bring 9999 HP, Aura, Holy War, and a willingness to get worked., all optional side quests and SystemGuardian Forces are FF8's summons and the source of most junction, command, support, refine, and stat-growth abilities. are now unlocked.
Optional: GF and Leveling Up
Final GF Distribution
Group 1: Siren, Carbuncle, Leviathan, Ifrit, Doomtrain
Group 2: Quezacotl, Brothers, Alexander, Tonberry, Cerberus
Group 3: Shiva, Diablos, Pandemona, Cactuar, Bahamut, Eden
Strategy: Group 1 gets Doomtrain's natural Abilityx4, Group 2 gets the Rosetta Stone on Quezacotl, and Group 3 gets Bahamut's natural Abilityx4. That keeps all three groups able to slot four GF Abilities after the stat-max grind, while Group 1 and Group 3 can level two characters with stat bonuses at the same time.
Now that you have the Ragnarok, all optional GF are available. Assuming you’ve got all the SystemGuardian Forces are FF8's summons and the source of most junction, command, support, refine, and stat-growth abilities. you could get by this point, go get Guardian ForceGuardian Force from Cactuar Island. Cactuar is the prize for stat-bonus leveling because it knows HP, Str, Vit, Mag, and Spr Bonus abilities., Guardian ForcePowerful Guardian Force earned at the Deep Sea Research Center. Bahamut comes with Abilityx4 and high-end offensive support., and Guardian ForceUltimate Guardian Force drawn from Ultima Weapon. Eden can break the normal damage limit and brings late-game ability refinement.. Once you have them all, head to Cactuar Island and do some grinding to earn them lots of AP and rapidly learn their abilities.
Optional: Side Quests
You are also able to finish the Obel Lake side quest and do the PuPu card side quest.
Optional: Weapons upgrades
You may want to take this time to get your characters’ weapons modified as high as possible at the GF AbilityOpens a weapon junk shop from the menu. Learned by Doomtrain.. See the Weapons Section to make sure you have the items needed to perform the unlock.
Optional: Queen of Cards Quest
If you won the Alexander Card from Piet, you should be able to finish this quest.
Optional: Dinner Time
Do you have Guardian ForceUltimate Guardian Force drawn from Ultima Weapon. Eden can break the normal damage limit and brings late-game ability refinement.? Guardian ForceUltimate Guardian Force drawn from Ultima Weapon. Eden can break the normal damage limit and brings late-game ability refinement. has an ability called GF AbilityConsumes certain weakened enemies for unusual rewards or stat gains. Learned by Eden. which you should really understand. By using GF AbilityConsumes certain weakened enemies for unusual rewards or stat gains. Learned by Eden. on an enemy that’s been sufficiently worn down, to around 25% of their total HP, the enemy will be consumed and you won’t get XP, so your levels don’t go up too fast. Depending on the enemy, this can have interesting side effects. For example, do you need some ItemGF learns Vit+60% ability to get your characters their best weapons? Head to the thin strip of island coastline north and a little east of Deling City. This area is called Dollet - Long Horn Island. Run around the beach area and you’ll fight two types of enemies: Fastitocalons and Adamantoise. GF AbilityConsumes certain weakened enemies for unusual rewards or stat gains. Learned by Eden. on fish will simply restore your HP. However… If you use GF AbilityConsumes certain weakened enemies for unusual rewards or stat gains. Learned by Eden. on an Adamantoise that’s above level 30, your character will have his or her Vit attribute permanently raised by one. Here are the best things to GF AbilityConsumes certain weakened enemies for unusual rewards or stat gains. Learned by Eden., and where to find them:
| Enemy | Becomes | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Adamantoise | Vit +1 | Found along beach of Long Horn Island, north and a bit east of Deling City. Must be level 30+. Use triple-cast Demi by two characters to quickly wear it down. Can drop ItemGF learns Vit+60% ability. |
| Behemoth | Mag +1 | Best found on Esthar Continent after acquiring Ragnarok. Must be level 40+. Actually, better found in Esthar itself at the same time. |
| Malboro | Spr +1 | Best found on Island Closest to Heaven, way north from Lunar Gate and a bit east. Must be level 30+. Set battle speed lowest and wait. Cast Triple and 3x Demi for all characters. Probably starts at level 100, so use GF AbilityLowers an enemy's level during battle, useful for reducing danger or XP. Learned by Tonberry. once. Junction Status-Def as Berserk, Confuse, Pain, and Sleep. |
| Ruby Dragon | Max HP +10 | Best found on Island Closest to Hell, westernmost island. Must be level 45+. Can drop ItemDragon's fang with recovery force. |
| T-Rexaur | Str +1 | Best found on Island Closest to Hell, westernmost island. Must be level 30+. |
Optional: Magic UP!
Before heading into the next area, consider trying to get at least three characters full of the most powerful magic:
- Ultima: Refine from ItemGF learns SumMag+30% ability (see Elnoyle below) or draw at Shumi Village.
- Full-Life: GF AbilityReplaces Attack with a stealing attack. Learned by Diablos and Bahamut. ItemGF learns HP+20% ability from Torama enemies near the Lunar Gate or Card Mod Chimera Cards.
- Aura: Buy 10 ItemGF learns Str+40% ability from Esthar Pet Shop. Refine AbilityRefines tools from items. Learned by Siren. into 100 ItemSame effect as Aura Useful chain: buy Power Wrist at Esthar Pet Shop, use Tool-RF into Aura Stones, then Supt Mag-RF into Aura magic.. Refine AbilityRefines support magic from items. Learned by Leviathan. into 100 Aura
- Meltdown: Card mod 10 Gayla Card into 10 ItemQuistis can learn Blue Magic, Acid. Refine AbilityRefines status magic from items. Learned by Diablos. into 100 Meltdown
- Meteor: Draw from a Ruby Dragon on Island Closest to Hell (See below)
Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell
Head to the farthest west and east islands and draw some cool spells. The toughest monsters exist here so be careful. If you LVL Up/Down enemies here, you can draw high power magic without grinding in the SystemFF8's card game. Winning cards feeds Card Mod, which feeds items, magic, weapons, GF abilities, and all sorts of nonsense in the best way.. Specifically, find a Ruby Dragon and get your Meteor up.
Edea’s House and the Presidential Palace
Back aboard the Ragnarok, you decide to head over to Edea’s House. Have the Ragnarok take you there. Autopilot can be engaged by viewing the big map while piloting around. Go on inside. Follow Angelo left one screen. After a while nothing happens. Yeah. Try talking to the dog. After a bit Rinoa shows up, or depending on your party she may be there all along. Talk to her to begin another long and boring, but at least not pointless, dialog. After you are interrupted, head right and try to leave to force Edea to talk to you. After a brief story, head back to the Ragnarok and over to Esthar City.
Land on the big cylinder in the middle of town, the airstation. It’s the default destination of the autopilot. You may have to nudge the airship forward to initiate the landing dialog. Head to the presidential palace following these directions:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Head down from the airstation. |
| 2 | Go right until the road ends and take the upper branch. |
| 3 | Follow that path straight until it ends in a triangle branch, not the first T-style branch. |
| 4 | At the triangle branch, read the optional Elnoyle note below before you continue if you need ItemGF learns SumMag+30% ability. |
| 5 | Take the rightmost branch to the entrance to the palace. |
| 6 | Head forward past the guards and get on the little elevator/transporter thing. |
| 7 | When it stops, head left one screen. This is the entrance to the room where you first left Rinoa. |
| 8 | Left a few screens from the entrance to this room is a door with two guards at the end of a hallway. |
| 9 | Step to the center of the room, but read below if you’re playing cards. |
If you have Squall sit on the couch in the presidential palace, you’ll see Odine leave the room. If you talk to the presidential aide, he’ll tell you that Odine is still an important guy. From there, you can follow him to Odine’s lab and play cards. I don’t think there’s anything else you can do except look into the restraining room and watch Squall mock Odine by suggesting he sequester himself there.
Win the Squall card from Laguna first, if you want, then be sure to ask Laguna about everything. Start from the bottom of the list and work your way up. He has some interesting tales to tell. You should be able at this point to figure out something major. For starters, think about this. When Raine died, Ellone was sent to an orphanage. But wait! Didn’t I hear somewhere that Raine had a child just before she died? OK, you sort of have to read between the lines to figure out that one, eh? Would that child have been sent to the same orphanage? Hmm. Makes you wonder, huh? Figuring out the point of this little story is left as an exercise to the reader. When Odine starts talking, pay close attention if you want to know what is going on!
Max Your Stats
See the Guardian Force Refine Reference to learn how you can leverage GF AbilityLets you call previously visited shops from the menu. Learned by Tonberry. and refine abilities to create STAT-UP items without leaving the menu. It takes a while to do, and costs a lot of money. Thankfully, there’s also a way to GET money by buying items, refining them, and selling the refined stuff.
The above is awesome, but I have Carpal Tunnel/RSI, so I’m not going to spend hours in the menu doing that. That’s where automation comes in…
Automated Stat-Up Farming
If you are playing on an Emulator, are a bit of tinkerer, and think it would be fun to play with a RaspberryPi, you might want to visit the Automation page. I built an automated key press device that can go into the menu, use GF AbilityLets you call previously visited shops from the menu. Learned by Tonberry. to buy, refine, and sell, then buy refine and generate STAT-UP items. It’s something you can do manually, but if your livelihood depends on saving your wrists, you might consider it.
Last Chance for Other Stuff
After Laguna’s flower power speech, and accompanying leg cramp, you’ll be back aboard the Ragnarok and heading for trouble.
Be sure to check out the Side Quests and Optional GFs for a bunch of stuff you might enjoy. Also, if you do the Balam Garden Card Club quest, you’ll be able to use a lot of really high power cards during the final sequence which will let you massively level up your guys. I strongly recommend getting all the SystemGuardian Forces are FF8's summons and the source of most junction, command, support, refine, and stat-growth abilities., if you can.
If you’d like to use the Disc 4 Card Club rules to seriously level up stuff, I’d suggest you use this last opportunity to abolish the Card RuleTriple Triad rule that randomly chooses your hand. It is usually the rule you most want to abolish. from any place where it exists. Hopefully you’ve nuked it from Lunar earlier. You should also consider removing it by playing games in Trabia Garden and LocationQuiet village tied to Laguna, Raine, and Ellone. Squall can complete a Disc 2 vase-piece side quest here.. See the Emulator Notes for more information.