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<-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-' F.I.N.A.L F.A.N.T.A.S.Y VIII '-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'->
<-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-' N.O G.F G.A.M.E V.E.R.S.I.O.N 1.3 '-'-'-'-'-'-'-'->
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Finally! My first faq
Copyright 2003, Mat Smith/Smoking Frog II
Contact me:
[email protected]
Note: Please do not try to contact me through MSN messenger etc. Regular
e-mails only if you please. I warmly welcome any contributions and
constructive criticism. Any Spam etc will be deleted, as will any e-mails
that have attachments (for safe measure). You have been warned.
The Final Fantasy series is copyright of Square.
This faq may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for
personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without my permission and consent. Use of this guide
on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited,
and a violation of copyright.
This FAQ has been written ONLY for gamefaqs, and If you require to put this
up on your website, You must e-mail me and get an affirmative reply BEFORE
you may do so. I do not allow linking sites do gamefaqs either, so don't
bother.
An extremely scary subliminal picture can be found at
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/subliminal.php
"You should never hit a crazy person" - Arnold
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V . E . R . S . I . O . N H . I . S . T . O . R . Y
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original Version 1.00: (24 - 25 April 2003)
Basic Structure including rules, tips and GF guide
Version 1.01: (26 April 2003 - 17 May 2003)
Added Monster and Boss mini FAQ, Added introduction, expanded and
revised rules.
Version 1.02: (25 May 2003)
Added contents, difficulty section, changed rules, revised all areas.
Version 1.03: (16 June 2003 - 10 August 2003)
Put in copyright section, changed the introduction.
Version 1.23: (18 June 2003)
After being published on Gamefaqs (woohoo)
I did some editing!
I added credits!
Version 1.3: (10 August 2003)
Reviewed legal stuff.
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C . O . N . T . E . N . T . S
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(Use Ctrl +F to find whatever section or keyword you might be after...)
I: Introduction
II: The rules
- Command abilities
- Character abilities
- Party / Menu / GF abilities
- Items
- Limit Breaks
III: Tips
IV: Difficulty Guide
V: Guardian Forces
VI: Character Guide
VII: Boss and Monster mini FAQ.
VIII: Credits
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I . N . T . R . O . D . U . C . T . I . O . N
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After reading about the no-materia game in Gamefaqs for final fantasy 7, I decided
I would have to do a similar thing in the other Final fantasy Games.
I hate Final Fantasy 9 to pieces Final Fantasy 10 was already done - the NSG
game.
Basically, The idea is to complete Final Fantasy VIII without using the GF
and magic commands, and without Junctioning magic to any characters.
I have play tested all of my rules. If I make up any words that do
not exist, you should be able to work them out quite easily. It's just
something I do.
This game is not especially easy, so I would wait until you have completed
it at least once. If you want to defeat Omega Weapon, you need to have
killed him normally several times, so you know a strategy.
If you are a seasoned veteran, hoping to find an excuse to play it through again,
you will want to do this. The No GF game takes slightly less time to complete than
the standard game. Aus.
Do not break the rules. If you cheat the game, you only cheat yourself.
It is supposed to be fairly hard, I've tried some bosses and failed
miserably, while others have been incredibly easy!
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C . O . M . M . A . N . D A . B . I . L . I . T . I . E . S
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* You may equip any legal Guardian Force
* The magic command may not be used at all. You are not allowed to
junction any magic to any stat. All magic in the inventory must be
deleted using the Square button, if you ever have any, which you should
not. If you have some, you know what to do.
* The GF command if forbidden. Phoenix, Chocobo, Moomba and
Odin/Gilgamesh are the only exceptions because they are not commands.
* You may not use the draw command. However, there are 2 exceptions.
The first is to draw Siren, the second is to draw Alexander DO NOT USE
THE DRAW COMMAND TO DRAW OR CAST MAGIC ON THESE BOSSES. Apart from this,
the command is strictly forbidden. You cannot use draw points, but
because you cannot use magic, they are pointless anyway.
* So, the following command abilities are also illegal: Magic, GF, Draw
[see above] Doom, Treatment, Recover, Ribbon, Revive, Minimog, Ribbon,
Lv Down, Lv Up, Kamikaze and Devour.
* You may use the: Attack, Mug, Absorb, Item, Mad Rush, Defend and
Darkside abilities. These must be used carefully and employed correctly.
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C . H . A . R . A . C . T . E . R A . B . I . L . I . T . I . E . S
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* Almost no character abilities maybe used. These are things like
'Str+60%' or 'Spr bonus.'
* The legal ones are: Med Data, Mug [optional], Cover, Auto-Potion,
Auto Reflect [Optional], Return Damage.
* Note that auto-reflect is optional - I think that in some ways it I
good, and in others it is bad. It makes many battles easier, except
for elemental monsters. It cannot be used against either of the weapons,
which is good. Against Ultimecia, you can only really use it in the
first round.
* Please note that the other auto abilities are not allowed, because
they are strictly magic. If you thing using auto reflect is ironic or
stupid, simply do not use it. The game is good with or without it. The
same goes for mug.
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PARTY / MENU / GF A . B . I . L . I . T . I . E . S
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* The only legal party abilities are: 'Alert' and 'Enc-Half.' If you
get siren you may use 'Move-Find' to find hidden *SAVE POINTS*. You
are not permitted to use enc-none or any other party ability.
* The Menu abilities you may use are: 'Tool RF', 'Card Mod' and Ammo
RF. All others are restricted. 'Med Lvl Up' is an exception, because
you may use it once to acquire the six remedies plus, required for
Doomtrain. It MUST then be forgotten.
* All GF abilities [Boost, SumMag +10% etc] are illegal (and pointless)
because you are not permitted to summon GF. The exceptions here are
'abilityx3' and 'abilityx4.'
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I . T . E . M . S
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* All items are legal except for ones that teach illegal abilities
[Anything forbidden.] For the sake of easifying, you are allowed to
use: shell stones, protect stones, flare stones, death stones and meteor
stones. These are optional, and will make your game a fair bit easier,
so you may want to avoid them. As you see, Ultima and Holy Stones are
not here. It is the fact that you get 100 of them from Ultima Weapon,
and If these stones were used, you would spend all of the time finding
Krysta and Ultima Weapon cards, which would be no good. I have decided
that meteor stones are ok, because you only get 5 stones for each card.
You may sell illegal items provided you buy many amnesia greens and delete
all of your illegal abilities. this must be done by the end of disc 3
before you enter Lunatic Pandora. You should still make profit by doing
this.
* To ensure a difficult game, do not use heroes, holy wars or their trials
or Rinoa's invincible moon limit break.
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L . I . M . I . T B . R . E . A . K . S
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* Angel wing is forbidden and useless, because you will not have any
magic because you will have deleted it.
Selphie's slot is forbidden only if you use a proper magic. It may
be used providing you use full-cure, rapture, percent, catastrophe
or the end.
* Edea's Ice strike limit is considered to be a magic so it may not be
used. The same applies for Seifer's Fire Cross and No Mercy attacks.
This only affects the characters when they are in your party.
* The 'Lionheart' trick appears to work in the normal game, too, but
it is even more useful if it works in this one, because it is harder.
I have tested it and I have reason to believe it might work. I found
that if you want to do Lionheart more often, try this: Squall's first
blade only teaches the first technique. The other gunblades teach the
2 in between. By only upgrading to the Lionheart, we will not learn
2 (unwanted?) limit breaks, so Lionheart will be done more often, in
theory. I have tested this, and I think it works, however it may not.
It doesn't hurt to try. It may only reduce the chances of doing the
other ones, not erase their use completely.
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T . I . P . S
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I would like to point out that there are many helpers and hints, but if
you'll just have to work them out for yourself. here are the basics.
* To get lots of holy stones, you need card and card mod. Go to the fire
cavern and card bombs and buels. There is a chance you will get a Krysta
card. These will each refine into 10 holy stones. do this before X-ATMO92
and battle made easy!
* Phoenix Pinions are your most treasured item. They only usable summon
which can actually revive your party.
* You need mega phoenixes - and lots of them.
* Go chocobo hunting early on - you will can many gysahl greens and lots
of precious stones. Sell the illegal ones, or make the ultimas into
pulse ammo if you can.
* Use your chicobo card in Ultimecia's castle when you have used up all
of your greens. You get 100 of them.
When you first go to the fire cavern, head to Balamb and stock up on
potions
and phoenix downs.
* Sell all GF recovery items. LuvLuvG's and other compatibility raisers
are useless. Make things with them, such as ammo for Irvine.
* Get the carbuncle card from Xu. You can get glow curtains from the card,
which teach auto-reflect. Only do this if you want to use auto-reflect.
* Play cards early on and use Card mod. Krysta cards rule - you can get
them from bombs and buels in the fire cavern by using the card ability.
* Try to be a few levels ahead than the usual.
* Distribute the GF's evenly with the legal special command abilities. See
the section on GF's for more info.
* Use stat modifiers carefully. If you cannot steal them from bosses
when you should [Raijin etc.] try again until you get them. I kept
trying until I got 3 str ups from Raijin 1st time outside the hotel,
then inside the hotel I got 4!. That was worth trying! You might
want to use them all on Squall, but It depends on your tactics.
* It will not be very easy to get Tonberry, Cactuar, Bahamut and Diablos.
Trust me!
* Because you will use healing items more, consider darkside a useful
attack. It is good low to mid levels. It is still useful on high ones,
but once your attack is 9,999, it will not be needed. (If it gets
that high!)
* Appreciate the legal commands. When you use defend, Omega weapon's
light pillar cannot kill you! It does 0 damage, seriously!
* With all that healing you have to do, med data is very useful!
* You cannot get some of the GF's, so Bahamut is King!
* Absorb allows you to drain your enemy of HP.
* Mug is worth learning. Even If you steal illegal items, you can sell
them and live like kings!
* You can forget about elemental and maybe status attacks, sheriff!
* Omega weapon can be defeated in this game. Check the Boss / Monster
section for more info!
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D . I . F . F . I . C . U . L . T . Y G . U . I . D . E
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pending on whether you want a hard game or not, you can choose which items and things
you want to use.
1. The use of Ultima, Holy and Meteor stones
2. The use of Aura stones (recommended!)
3. Will you draw Siren? (recommended)
4. Will you draw Alexander?
5. Will you use the Solomon ring?
6. No Weapon upgrades?
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G . U . A . R . D . I . A . N F . O . R . C . E . S
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Here are the GF's in their glory! I rated them from 1 to 10 on their usefulness.
I wrote this theoretically, but when I tested it, it was
pretty accurate. You may disagree, but this is what I think. I tried not
to be biased at rating. Here are Siren and Alexander :}
Name: Quetzalcoatl
Positive: Card and Card Mod abilities. 1st GF, immediate development
Negative: They spelt the name wrong in the game! Abilities lost.
Rating: 8/10
Name: Shiva
Positive: Receive at start of game, Item command early on
Negative: No decent legal abilities.
Rating: 4/10
Name: Ifrit
Positive: Ammo RF, Mad Rush
Negative: Str bonus might go to waste depending on difficulty. NOOOOO!
Rating: 7/10
Name: Siren
Positive: Move-Find, Tool RF.
Negative: Other abilities lost. You have to draw her!
Rating: 7/10
Name: Brothers
Positive: Defend command, cover
Negative: HP bonus is lost. Bugger.
Rating: 7/10
Name: Diablos
Positive: Mug, Enc Half, Darkside, Ability x3.
Negative: Damn hard to acquire - but worth it
Rating: 9/10
Name: Cerberus
Positive: Alert, Abilityx3
Negative: Good abilities and GF attack lost.
Rating: 7/10
Name: Alexander
Positive: Med Data
Negative: Is cheating really. Must be drawn. Med Level up is deleted.
Rating: 6.5/10
Name: Doomtrain
Positive: Darkside, Absorb and other useful goodies
Negative: Junctioning is lost.
Rating: 8/10
Name: Bahamut
Positive: The best GF. Abilityx4, Mug, other important abilities.
Negative: Great GF attack goes, No Str+60% ability!!!
Rating: 9/10
Name: Cactuar
Positive: Auto-Potion, Kamikaze, Defend. Stat bonus
Negative: hardish to get.
Rating: 8/10
Name: Tonberry
Positive: Auto-Potion! oh yes! oh! oh! indeed!
Negative: Hard to get as a GF.
Rating: 6/10
Junction chart:
This shows a rough idea of where to put each GF. GF's in (brackets) represent ones
that you might not have :} (-That person is none other than my elusive 'Lime Man')
Player 1:
Bahamut
Ifrit
Cactuar
(Alexander)
Player 2:
Diablos
Quetzalcoatl
Cerberus
(Siren)
Player 3:
(Doomtrain)
Shiva
Tonberry
Brothers
I've probably overlapped some abilities, but never mind. I'm sure you can do better
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C . H . A . R . A . C . T . E . R . S
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Name: Squall Leonhart
Strengths: quite good strength and Hp
Weaknesses: Could be a little bit faster
Rating: 8/10
Comment: Yeah. Good all-round, which is lucky cause Squall here is almost always
in your party.
Name: Quistis Trepe
Strengths: Good for Hp, and limit breaks at higher techniques, Cool hair
Weaknesses: Not great strength or vitality
Rating: 7/10
Comment: I would usually have Quistis in my party.
Name: Zell Dincht
Strengths: Great Hp and Strength. Fairly speedy. Excels at close combat.
Weaknesses: One rowdy guy
Rating: 9/10
Comment: Always have Zell whenever possible, because he is by far the best.
Name: Selphie Tilmitt
Strengths: you got to love that hair and yellow dress. Good limit break
Weaknesses: Nothing special overall and too few Hp.
Rating: 6/10
Comment: I do not usually with bother Selphie except on disk 1 until I get Hp bonus
from GF brothers.
Name: Rinoa Heartily
Strengths: Good magic. Ha!
Weaknesses: Can't use angel wing and the doggy Angelo moves aren't very special.
Too few Hp and Vit
Rating: 5/10
Comment: To be fair, Rinoa could be good if you used those level bonuses on her.
And finally...
Name: Irvine Kinneas
Strengths: Good attack and limit breaks
Weaknesses: Poor Hp, I must say!
Rating: 6.5/10
Comment: Irvine is quite good in battle, and according to my sister, looks
like a woman. My sister also tells me that "There is nothing wrong with
looking like a woman, only it's annoying when you can't tell..."
In conclusion, your party should be Squall, Zell and either Quistis or Irvine
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B . O . S . S . E . S
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Here are some of the hard encounters you will find, and strategy. A lot of these
are not hard, but here they are regardless. they re bosses, I suppose.
Standard Method: Ifrit/Anacondaur/Granaldo:
These really aren't hard. Just attack and use limits, stones and potions until they
go down. Cake.
X-atmo92:
This is not going to be very easy. At this point, you may not have any magic stones
unless you play cards before the fire cavern, which you should. Unless you are about
level 35, you will probably run out of time if you just attack. Get the items, Meteor
stones or whatever, and then use them and attack and use limits. It is not easy.
However, the reward is good, so if you can, do it!
T - Rexaur
It's a shame we can't cast zombie and use a phoenix down, isn't it? Okay. A High
Level won't help. We need good weapons, some magic stones. Protect
Stones are vital. Wait till you have Squall, Zell and Selphie in your party, because
only two people will not be as good or quick. Your choice. I suggest with Squall
and Quistis, attack with one person while the other heals. At the
start, both use protect stones. If you are not hurt, both attack, if you are greatly
hurt, both heal. It will take a lot of potions etc to do this, so get prepared. Limit
breaks won't hurt either. This process is easier with 3
people. Selphie should be the resident healer, because she has a lower attack.
Elvoret:
To defeat Elvoret, you should use the standard method. He is a little harder, because
he is quite resilient to physical attacks, plus he does some damage.
You might want to heal more often. The same method applies for Gerogero, except that
you need status healing.
Sacred and Minotaur.
These may be a little tricky to do. Make sure you heal often. Use attacks, limit
breaks and stones if you have any. protect and Shell are useful. Auto potion would
help if you had it at this point. As would med data etc. This is basically just an
advanced method of the standard procedure.
Iguion:
The only risk here is the magma attack and the petrify. Be as offensive as you can,
but remember to heal. Remember that it is illegal to draw carbuncle.
Seifer/Edea:
Seifer is quite straightforward. Just attack, and heal when you get below 50% of
your Hp. Or you can go down to 25% and use a limit, but this is riskier. Play it
safe... or just use protect stones.
Edea is not easy. You will not have the carbuncle card unless you are a card fanatic,
plus I don't think it is possible on the 1st disc. Is it? If you have got glow curtains
and learn auto reflect, it will be easy because it cannot be dispelled. Otherwise,
attack, then heal, use limit breaks. It can only be tricky if you are unprepared.
SHELL STONES, don't you think?
Diablos:
''An extremely tough opponent'' according to the official guide. I couldn't agree
more when you play the No GF game. Okay. What I tried first was to do it on disc
1 as soon as you get him. This is incredibly tough to do, because you do not have
any decent commands or attacks, other than magic stones. Protect and Shell was a
must. I did this in 2 turns on my party. Diablos used Demi, I healed with the victim.
I attacked with the other two. This happened several times until Diablos used
Gravijja. I healed with all three for a few turns. I used selphie's full cure x3
on the second Gravijja, and healed fully, while Squall and Zell used their respective
limit breaks. I was on level 15 with selphie and level 16 with squall and zell. It
was very hard because I could
not raise my stats without Junctioning. It was the physical attacks that eventually
killed Zell and Squall. Selphie attacked, then cured with a full-cure limit or
potion. I won - just. It was a catastrophic battle which was
very close.
I would not recommend this method. It will take you much trial and error. What
I like to do Is go through CD 1 with out levelling up where possible
[just bosses and must do battles.] When I had gysahl greens and phoenix pinions,
it was way easier. Unfortunately this makes CD1 quite a challenge - but if you are
a veteran, no problem, right! If you fail a boss, play cards
and get some items, then use them!
Other bosses:
You should generally use the standard method for bosses. Against a magic user like
Edea, use shell stones . For physical bosses, you need the protect
type. 'Tis common sense, my friend. Try not to waste stones on normal
fiends, unless it's a T-Rexaur or a Ruby Dragon - who uses meteor. Use
your initiative.
Bahamut:
Bahamut isn't that hard if you come prepared. We need shell stones on everybody.
We need meteor and flare stones. Steal a hyper wrist if you want
to. You win one anyway, though. Limit breaks are good, Gysahl Greens, Phoenix Pinions
etc.
Ultima Weapon / Omega Weapon
A little bit harder in the No GF game, but you should have no real problem.
The hard part will be getting to him. Okay. Start with shell stones - protect are
optional, but recommended. Use meteor, flare and the suchlike. Gysahl Greens, you
name it. * phoenix and chocobo will not work on Omega. DARKSIDE!
Heal in time, use limit breaks - no problem for the seasoned fighter. Auto reflect
is most probably useless. Defend is useful against the both of the regular attacks
[Megiddo Flame, Light pillar...] of Ultima and Omega. This
is harder again but you should follow the same method, I believe. Otherwise, use
any other methods you have. Just remember, heal and defend in time.
Ultimecia:
use your initiative. Auto-potion, Gherkin, Onion Rings and the works.
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Thanks to: Game FAQs for hosting the original version!
Thanks to: The NSG and No-Materia games from FF10 and FF7 respectively
Thanks to: The guys for putting up with weeks of my going on and on. Sorry!
Thanks to: all girls everywhere!
Thanks to: My family
Thanks to: My very own fan club
Thanks to: Luke H.
Thanks to: Tom Reed.
Thanks to: Imitation Red Bull. That stuff has kept me alive for oh-so long
4 days)
Thanks to: The reader, for having your time wasted by me.
