Just Started FF VIII

[ReasonableAdult]

So I just started FF VIII. Visuals look great and the music is nice.

Should I grind before the fire cavern? I see there's a training area... And I like to become OP in RPGs when I can. I hear this may be difficult in this game?

 

[signal]

Enemies level with you so normal grinding is usually not the best. If you want the normal OP cheese strategy look up a guide on the 'card mod' ability.

 

[nsilvias]

dont level grind. enemies scale with your level. the key to 8 is grinding for magic shit. i never finished the game because of this personally. i made rite before the final disc and just couldnt be bothered to do it

 

[Makoto Yuki]

Enemies scale to your level.

To break the game you need to learn how to use the Junction System and refining cards.

 

[carda114]

You shouldn't necessarily grind experience in FFVIII because of level scaling. You'll want to grind out magic, as well as items that can be transformed into magic with GF mod abilities, which you can Junction to stats to make you particularly strong.

 

[YoungGunsII]

Dont grind. The enemies will level up with you, so it's kinda waste time + some of your party members might be under level'ed by it.

 

[Deleted member 81119]

Don't grind. Draw as much magic as you can without getting bored and just let your levels rise naturally.

 

[Dyno]

I'd also try not to go overboard with the junction and card system. You can really break the game and leave no challenge whatsoever in there.

 

[skillzilla81]

Leveling actually makes the game harder since enemies scale to your level, some get abilities they wouldn't otherwise have based on how high your level is.

 

[Alpheus]

The only benefit to grinding is upping the levels of the random encounters as well as the bosses. This will affect what "tier" of magic you can draw from them (although certain spells will be available regardless of level from certain bosses). There are other ways you can obtain high level spells though such as through Item > magic refinement abilities GFs can offer. Some GFs even offer magic > magic refinement which will allow you to refine higher level magic from lower level magic as an example 10 Fire spells for 1 Fira spell and 20 Fira spells for 1 Firaga spell (these ratios are made up but the principle is what I wanted to illustrate).

The only advice I can offer similar to other RPGs where sometimes the advice is "Grind to X level cuz a difficulty spike comes up at point Y in the story" is simply: Always check what you can draw from every boss fight. Some specific ones but not all have more than spells which you can draw from them and it opens up the game immensely if you're on top of this. They are not permanently miss-able but it's like "Wait until the final dungeon" levels of having to wait for another opportunity for what you can draw.

 

[Patazord]

The only reason to grind is for the GF (overpowered) ability, even if the enemies scale with you it's not a big deal at all. Just play the game the way you like.

 

[Ferrio]

I'd also try not to go overboard with the junction and card system. You can really break the game and leave no challenge whatsoever in there.

Click to shrink...

But that's the fun! I never get this sentiment it's like "Don't break open the pinata, candy will come out." Don't threaten me with a good time!

 

[Cheshire_Buddha]

Like others have said, there's no reason to grind and I only do it in two specific places in the game:

Spoiler

And that's when you get the two temporary party members, Seifer and Edea. But that's only because I hate having to Card random enemies in order to avoid EXP gain. For example, in the Dollet mission, I kill off Squall and Zell so Seifer can grind out AP for the first three summons which allow me to unlock junctions and start refining items early.

You are better off playing a shitload of card games, refining the cards into items, and turning those items into magic.

 

[Transistor]

Never grind in FFVIII. Draw. Junction. But never grind.

 

[Genesius]

Unfortunately I got bored after drawing magic the first time. I thought the premise was pretty interesting but I could not get past the gameplay.

 

[Deleted member 85465]

Do NOT Battle grind, abuse the junction system, in the most simple terms that I can think of you have to stack magic spells to a max of 100 of each one, you then have to attach that magic spell to a stat, so the more of a spell you have the more powerful you are.

FF VIII is a really weird game, I finished the game with a level 18 character lmao.

 

[Traxus]

Enjoy! FF VII - IX ...whew what a run of incredible games.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

17 posts and no one mentioned the level scaling, smh

 

[julia crawford]

Read up on the systems and the things you can do with summons, it get crazy

Enjoy and accept it for what it is, it's definitely an experience

 

[Weiss]

Final Fantasy VIII has extremely trash gameplay whose main challenge is learning how to circumvent it. Grinding in FFVIII doesn't make you stronger, it just makes the enemies stronger. No, it doesn't make sense to me either.

Rule one is level up as little as possible. If you're playing the remaster you can turn off random encounters whenever you want and you should liberally apply this. You acquire a skill early on that lets you turn enemies into Cards which can be refined into magic, and then you apply that magic to your stats that your currently equipped Guardian Forces let you junction to (so Ifrit lets you junction magic to your Strength stat for example).

You don't get money from random encounters either. You need to do SeeD quizzes to increase your salary, so just cheat and rack up the money. The main rewards from enemies are their material drops, which are used in crafting new weapons (oh yeah you don't buy weapons in FFVIII, you gotta craft them by finding new weapon designs in magazines) or refining them for further magic. An early game optional boss, for example, gives you an item that refines into 100 Demi spells, which will put your HP into the 4000 range as early as the end of Disk 1.

Always make sure to Draw from boss battles, as they have rare spells and Guardian Forces that, if you miss them there, you aren't getting until the very end of the game. An extremely easy miss is right at the start with the boss on the radio tower, who has a Guardian Force which lets you refine Cure spells. Don't miss out on this.

 

[Super Mega Man]

This game punishes you for level grinding. Never do it.

 

[Slaythe]

17 posts and no one mentioned the level scaling, smh

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Literally the first post ?

 

[Sweet James Jones]

Junction! Have fun, I love FFVIII.

Also: the music 😩😩

 

[Deleted member 85465]

You don't get money from random encounters either. You need to do SeeD quizzes to increase your salary, so just cheat and rack up the money. The main rewards from enemies are their material drops, which are used in crafting new weapons (oh yeah you don't buy weapons in FFVIII, you gotta craft them by finding new weapon designs in magazines) or refining them for further magic. An early game optional boss, for example, gives you an item that refines into 100 Demi spells, which will put your HP into the 4000 range as early as the end of Disk 1.

Click to shrink...

I honestly never figured out how to upgrade weapons, found the magazines and all, but didn´t understand how to get the materials or how to get the option to upgrade them (I think you have to upgrade them in a store?), since I found the menu to upgrade weapons in a store, but it wouldn't let me upgrade and it would not tell me why lol.

Finished the game never upgrading weapons.

The game is convoluted and weird in both the story and gameplay departments lmao.

 

[Agni Kai]

I'm about to do the same, lol. This is my bible:

 

[rjinaz]

Look up a card guide. That's the key to being OP. Cards can be turned into powerful magic, magic boosts your stats. You can basically become a god at the beginning of the game. Seriously.

There is a Quistis card you can get right away that will help you start winning games.

Also once you learn the "card" ability to turn enemies into cards, certain enemies have a rare chance at carding high level cards. I believe the Buel in the fire Caverns can be turned into a level 7 Krysta card.

Get a nice deck going with a Quistis, maybe one or two Krysta cards and bam, you're on your way.

basically, I spend A LOT of time playing cards in the game. A lot.

Keep in mind though that you don't have to play this way. Only if you want to become OP early in the game.

 

[Footos22]

Just play, don't grind. Grinding won't help you do what grinding is usually usefull for.
Games not hard anyway

 

[Musubi]

In FF8 you don't really want to grind for levels you want to grind for magic the junction system allows for you to make your characters incredibly broken even from early game if you know exactly how to spec them out. Also word of advice dont ignore the Triple Triad card game you can get a GF ability that lets you mod cards into items that will let you access high level magic and items pretty early on some of which are only obtainable by getting specific cards.

 

[JoJo'sDentCo]

17 posts and no one mentioned the level scaling, smh

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Everybody did. lol

 

[Transistor]

17 posts and no one mentioned the level scaling, smh

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The first post literally says enemies level with you.....

 

[rjinaz]

Honestly, I usually choose to level up high, even though enemies level with you. Others are saying you don't want to grind, and that's mostly true, however, you still can. Especially if you plan on being OP early on.

For a few reasons:

One- I'm usually so powerful from playing cards it doesn't matter anyway
Two- Higher level enemies tend to have better magic you can draw, which makes you even more powerful
Three- Higher level enemies usually drop better items or items needed to make better weapons and better magic.
Four- I find it a pain worrying about my level and keeping it low. I just play the game like I would most other games.
Five- Not all of the bosses level up with you in a way that actually matters. You'll ice almost anything with a few exceptions. For example, Diablos the GF, you want to beat him early before you level too much because he will wreck you. But again, you can beat him early.
Six- You can get GF skills which boosts your stats each level up.

Just don't go crazy. Once enemies reach level 45 or so, they all have their best drops and magic so there's not much point of leveling past that besides making the enemies stronger.

So once I hit that level, I tend to keep my leveling at a minimum.

 

[diablogg]

Also I'd just like to say, don't waste your time drawing a ton of magic. Check enemies, if there's any ???'s draw once or twice from them (if it's a boss it's probably a summon or some really rare draw spell)

Get the -Card Mod ability on Quezacotl, and for the other summons most have abilities that turn items or cards into sick junction magic. Just an alternate WAY better less mind numbing way of getting junction magic. You don't have to waste time drawing x99 of everything.

 

[rjinaz]

Also I'd just like to say, don't waste your time drawing a ton of magic. Check enemies, if there's any ???'s draw once or twice from them (if it's a boss it's probably a summon or some really rare draw spell)

Get the -Card Mod ability on Quezacotl, and for the other summons most have abilities that turn items or cards into sick junction magic. Just an alternate WAY better less mind numbing way of getting junction magic. You don't have to waste time drawing x99 of everything.

Click to shrink...

This is true. Most magic you can get through cards. I typically only draw for GFs and the rarer magic I don't currently have access to.

Drawing magic to get 100 spells, for all THREE of your players is a right pain in the ass.

 

[Nappuccino]

Some strange mechanics aside, FFVIII might be my favorite FF game. I hope you enjoy it, OP.

 

[Perzeval]

Congrats on the Fantasy.

It's one of the best.

 

[Switters]

17 posts and no one mentioned the level scaling, smh

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Comedy school applicants and alumni take note: this is a funny post.

 

[wouldyoukindly]

I enjoyed the game the most when I did a no levelling run (well at least, no levelling with Squall). Playing Triple Triad all day, transforming the cards into Tornado magic and junctioning it intro strength was so much fun. Low level and doing incredible damage on all enemies from the start of the game.

 

[theusedversion]

If you are playing on PC, you should check out the fucking incredible Project Angelwing Ultima mod.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/project-ultima-1-38274020


https://youtu.be/kmasyTTpvlc

 

[Shrikey]

So, while Card-refining is by far the most OP way of refining magic (and the only practical way to get a lot of a few specific high level spells/summons iirc), basically all the "ref" skills make getting magic a whole lot easier. Whenever someone critiques FFVIII for spending all their time drawing from random enemies, it's because they missed the magic refinement system. So any and all ref-skills are key for a pleasant playthrough.

Also, junction status spells to attack is sooo satisfying.

God I want the junction system to come back.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

You can become OP disc 1 and even get lionheart disc 1.
GGs

 

[Deleted member 1102]

Hope you enjoy it OP, it's an amazing game.

 

[rjinaz]

You can become OP disc 1 and even get lionheart disc 1.
GGs

Click to shrink...

Exactly. That's what I like to do, try and get Lionheart.

But I believe it requires you to level up as some of the drops needed only come from high level enemies. Another reason I tend to level up and not play low level.

 

[Turin]

You're in for a weird treat, OP. Enjoy 😊

 

[MrWindUpBird]

Take it easy and get ready for the best game in the franchise.

 

[Gradon]

draw draw draw draw draw draw draw draw draw draw draw draw draw draw draw draw draw

I hope you have fun OP, VIII is a gem.

Oh! OP make sure to Draw from Bosses too, sometimes you get something snazzy. 👀👀👀

 

[Lobster Roll]

It's my vote for coolest setting that a Final Fantasy game has ever taken place in. That said, don't level grind as it's pointless. Just play the game naturally and have fun. Take some time to understand the all of the gameplay systems and to understand what you're doing, though.

Learn the following things:
Junctioning
Card Game
GF Abilities (specifically, abilities like Card Mod and ones with names like "I Mag-RF")

You shouldn't even have to Draw grind ever, really. You can just use the modding & refining abilities to turn your inventory into spells. There's also not really a need to make yourself hilariously overpowered. If you're smart about your junctions, you're not going to run into anything in the game that requires you to be completely & utterly optimized. That said ... even if you want to obtain 100 of a certain spell, (e.g. Curaga) from early game sources, it isn't anymore more than a small detour of 5-10 minutes depending on the rarity of the spell and the speed at which you have battles set.

I will echo was Gradon said, though. Against every single boss, take one turn to use Draw against them. There are some one-time-only draws (only takes one action to obtain) from bosses.

An example of Card Mod being amazing with an extremely common card:
- Abyss Worm card converts in 1 windmill with the Card Mod ability
- 1 windmill converts in 20 Tornado with the T Mag-RF ability
- 5 Abyss Worm cards gives you 100 Tornado
- 100 Tornado immediately thrusts the following categories into ridiculous tier: HP, Strength, Magic, Speed, Evasion

All of that with a handful of playing cards.

 

[PJTierney]

So I just started FF VIII. Visuals look great and the music is nice.

Should I grind before the fire cavern? I see there's a training area... And I like to become OP in RPGs when I can. I hear this may be difficult in this game?

Click to shrink...

First time playing?

The unique thing about this game is that the enemies level up alongside you, so you don't really need to grind much at all.

Some light grinding at the start can help, but after a while you'll get a few GFs and can junction some magic to make your party stronger.

Just make sure to Save before you enter any area and you should be fine, have fun 🙂

Once you've experienced the story and completed the game, look up all the crazy stuff and snap the game in half on your second playthough 😄

 

[Kyubajin]

The Man with the Machine Gun, it'll be forever in your brain.

 

[CRIMSON-XIII]

I was always intimidated by VIII. But with the remaster as it launched, I got the platinum trophy somehow. I really took advantage of a guide to get ALL the cards for the card game from the students. I think i had 15-20 hours in the game before you do that big beach mission. Have fun.

Regarding the combat, it really took me all my life to wrap my head around the idea of not killing enemies and not leveling up and thus keeping the difficulty down. In all honesty for the final boss I used the infinite health cheat or whatever but it is whatever. It was fun drawing a lot of spells and running from enemies, and exploiting the combat.

What I also did was this thing with Seifer where you can grind all your magic to the Aga varient or something iirc. And I did that for a few hours quick before the beach mission ended. That really setup the game for not really needing to grind anything, while also being low level. I think it involved training only seifer to level 30-40 while the rest of the party was dead there. This would improve your magic and level you up without actually leveling up your real party. Thus keeping the difficulty down but party enhancements up.

 

[mute]

Don't grind, forget that EXP even exists in the game.

Prioritize skills that turns enemies into cards and cards/items into magic. Collect cards/items, turn them into magic, never have to draw. People that complain about drawing are doing it wrong.

Bosses have summons though, draw those.