 VI. Disc Four |
After your fight with Seifer, head back down to the screen where you fought Mobile Type 8. On the right, you'll notice that the crane has lowered its boom, giving you access to the ledge above. Climb up the crane, then go right, along the ledge. Go up on the next screen, then heal your party and use the Save Point. On the next screen, you will fight Adel, who is holding Rinoa hostage.
Because Rinoa is attached to Adel, you can't use any attacks that will hit them both. If you're feeling lucky, you can Mug Megalixirs from Rinoa. Be sure to start this fight by Mugging the Samantha Soul from Adel. Rinoa carries Regen, so cast that on your party, and Rinoa herself, as Adel tends to heal herself using Rinoa's HP. Adel will use her Ultima attack on you, but don't worry about it too much. Just bombard Adel with physical attacks.
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Laguna and Ellone come in, and Time Compression starts.
In the room you come in on, a whole bunch of Save Points will appear. The first one is the only one that works. Go through the doors at the top of the screen. In the next room, you fight a series of Sorceresses. They're not very powerful, and you should be able to eliminate them quickly using physical attacks. While fighting them, you can stock up on the various stones that they carry by Mugging them. The final sorceress is the only one you have to worry about. Stock up on Holy by Drawing it from her. Watch out for her counterattack, which can cause between 1000 and 2000 of damage. When she starts counting down, she's about to cast Ultima on you, so heal your party, then unload on her.
After the fight, some FMV and other weird stuff happens, dumping you in the Orphanage's past. Go towards the beach, and you'll end up in the future. Go left, around some rubble. On the next screen is a Triple Draw Point. Go up the chain at the top of the screen. You'll see three portals on the left side. They lead to various places on the world map. To get to them, stand in front of the gate you want, and press Execute. The lower one goes to Galbadia's Wilburn Hill area, near the Missile Base. The middle door takes you to Centra's Serengetti Plains, near the Centra Ruins. Door number three takes you to the coast of Esthar's Grandidi Forest, near the sacred Chocobo Forest. Getting to the Ragnarok from here is tricky. See Part VII.R: Finding the Ragnarok on Disc 4 for more details. The only catch is there's not much to do on the ground. For instance, you can't enter any cities.
Continue up a couple screens to some stairs. On the right you'll find a hidden Flare Draw Point. Use the Save Point on the right, then enter the door into Ultimecia's Realm.
Immediately upon entering, you may notice that you are limited only to the Attack command. You can still junction your party, though. To get your other commands back, you must battle a series of bosses. While it is possible to fight Ultimecia without any other commands, I recommend against it. What follows is how to defeat all the bosses, and get your commands back. Note that if you leave the castle, you'll have all your commands, but the locked ones will disappear again when you re-enter. Another thing to notice are the green circles on the floor in some areas. Stepping into the middle will bring up a menu where you can switch parties. You'll see later on where you need to use them.
| 1. Sphinxaur/Sphinxara |
This is the easiest of the fights, and as such, should be your fist target. He's easy to find, too. He's sitting at the top of the stairs in the Front Foyer. Just walk up to him and fight.
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Before entering battle, junction Blizaga to your Elem-Def. This will help against this boss's Ice-based magic. As mentioned above, all you have is the Attack command, so use it.
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I recommend unlocking either the Magic or GF commands. Leave the castle and save, then go back in.
| 2. Tri-Point |
Go in the doors at the top of the Front Foyer. As you walk on the rusted chandelier in the middle of the room, it will plummet to the floor below. Open the trap door in the floor, and drop down to the Wine Cellar. If you chose the Draw command after the previous fight, there's a hidden Aura Draw Point in the barrels on the right. Walk up to Tri-Point at the bottom of the screen to fight him.
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If you missed the Siren GF the first time around, you can Draw it from Tri-Point. This guy likes to use Lightning-based attacks, so junction Thunder-type magic to your Elem-Def ability, and he'll end up healing you instead of doing damage. Each time you attack Tri-Point with a physical attack, he'll counterattack with his "Mega Spark". It won't hurt you if you followed the above advice. He has a weakness to Fire and Ice, but switches between the two after every hit. Rather than trying to plan your attacks accordingly, just hit him with everything you've got.
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If you haven't already, choose the GF command. It's essential to beating the next boss. Leave the castle, save, then go back in.
| 3. Krysta |
Split into two parties. Have your secondary party climb the stairs in the Front Foyer, and go in the doors at the top. The chandelier will again crash to the floor below. On the right side of the screen, you'll see a green circle next to a lever. Have your secondary party stand in this circle to flip the lever. Switch to your primary party, and go up the central stairs again. This time, the chandelier won't crash down, as your other party is holding the switch. Continue around behind the chandelier and out the door at the back of the room. You'll find Krysta on the balcony here. There's also a hidden Meteor Draw Point on the left near the railing.
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If you missed the Carbuncle GF the first time around, you can Draw it from Krysta. This boss counterattacks any physical or magic attack with a punch that can cause 3000 damage. He won't counterattack GFs, so summon Diablos and Cactuar, and the fight may be over before it starts.
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Choose an ability to unlock, then take both parties back outside to save, then go back in.
| 4. Trauma |
To get to Trauma, you have to solve a puzzle. Go through the door on the right side of the balcony in the Front Foyer. Go through the door on the lower floor.
To solve the puzzle, you have to look at twelve small paintings to get the clues, then look at the larger painting and combine the appropriate titles to name it. To start with, look at the two paintings on either side of the door, then go up the stairs to the right. Examine all the paintings there, then exit the screen to the left. Look at the paintings up here, and take note of the clock on the bottom floor. Particularly, notice the numbers the hands are pointing to. Go down the stairs and look at the painting to the right of the stairwell. Now look at the large painting on the left wall of the room. (Just to the left of the painting is a hidden Ultima Draw Point.) You have to figure out the name of the paining.
The clock hands where pointing to VIII, IIII, and VI. These refer to paintings with those particular letters in them. The V means a painting with a V in it, and the I's refer to how many I's are in the name. So VIII is "Vividarium", IIII is "Intervigilium", and VI is "Viator". Enter the three titles in that order. It's Latin for "In the Garden Sleeps a Messenger". Even though I've told you the solution here, it won't work unless you look at all the paintings first. Once you've entered the title, Trauma will appear behind you, on the stairs that led into the gallery.
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If you missed the GF Leviathan before, you can Draw it from Trauma This guy can create Dromas, which are miniature versions of itself (ignore them?). Trauma's main attack is his "Mega Pulse Cannon", which can do major damage. The Dromas also have pulse cannons, but they're not that powerful. Begin the battle by summoning Doomtrain, which will probably eliminate any Dromas, and weaken Trauma's defenses. Pandemona and Cactuar do serious damage. Consider using any non-summoning character as a medic.
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Choose your ability, exit, save, go back in.
| 5. Red Giant |
Head back towards the art gallery, but instead of going up the stairs on the right, go through the door at the top of the screen. Go down the hole in the middle of the next screen. Next go though the door on the left. Inside, pick up the Prison Key from the corpse's hand. This forces the protector of the key to come and fight you.
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If you missed it earlier, you can Draw the GF Pandemona from Red Giant. Start the fight by summoning Doomtrain. With the giant weakened and blinded, physical attacks are effective. Quezacotl and Cactuar also do some serious damage.
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Choose your ability, exit the castle, save, and go back in.
| 6. Gargantua |
From the Front Foyer, take the door to the left of the staircase. Go up through the hallway, and you'll be in the chandelier room, except that this time it won't fall on your head. Go through the door in the back of the room. To the left on the next screen is a Slow Draw Point. Go though the door in the middle of the screen. On the left side of this screen is a Dispel Draw Point. Take the stairs on the right, up to a bridge. In the middle is the Armory Key. If you run, it'll fall off, so Walk up to it and grab it.
If you dropped it, all is not lost. In either case head back to the room where you got the Prison Key. Actually to the room just outside that. The dropped key is just under the little bridge. Once you've got it, go through the door on the right. There are a bunch of statues lined up on a draw-bridge. Just behind the front left one's feet is a hidden Ultima Draw Point. Head across the bridge and up the little steps to fight Gargantua and his cronies.
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You can Draw the GF Cerberus from Gargantua if you missed it earlier. You'll initially fight a suped-up Vysage. After defeating all three parts (including Lefty and Righty), Gargantua himself will crawl out of the ground. He counterattacks your physical blows with his "Counter Twist" attack, which causes upwards of 2000 damage. For this reason, stick to magic and GFs. Be prepared to cure abnormal statuses, as he likes to hit you with Berserk, which makes your characters perform only physical attacks, which gets you hit with "Counter Twist".
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Choose your ability, exit the castle, save, go back in. Lather, rinse, repeat.
| 7. Catoblepas |
From the Front Foyer, head through the left door, towards where you got the Armory Key. On the second screen, instead of going through the door, search the fountain in the middle for the Treasure Valut Key. Go back to the Foyer, and take the door in the upper left. On the next screen, go around and down the stairs. Use the key just on the other side of the second pillar, then go in.The next room is the Treasure Room. Between the middle two boxes at the back of the room is a hidden Holy Draw Point.
The goal here is to have all four boxes open at once. Let's say the boxes are numbered 1 through 4, from left to right. Start by shutting box #1. Next, shut box #4. Now shut box #2. Lastly, Open box #3. Once everything's open, Catoblepas will appear in the middle of the room, behind you.
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If you missed the GF Alexander earlier, you can Draw it from Catoblepas. This guy likes to use Thunder. This means two things for you. First, junction Thunder to your Elem-Def ability. Next, avoid using any Thunder-based attacks, including Quezacotl, as these will actually heal the monster. Start the battle by summoning Doomtrain to blind and slow the enemy. After that, Leviathan and Brothers do some goodly damage. Catoblepas carries Meteor, which you can stock up on and actually use against him. When he finally dies, watch out, because he'll unleash a final "Meteor" spell.
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...you know what to do.
| 8. Tiamat |
From the Front Foyer, head to where you got the Armory Key. Continue over the narrow bridge and through the door on the other side. You're now in the base of a massive clock tower. In the middle of the floor is a hidden Save Point (equip Move-Find to find it). Spiral your way up the stairs until you come to a large, swinging bell. Stand on the left side of the tower and jump onto the bell when it's close to you. Your party will jump off onto a small ledge. Outside you'll find Tiamat.
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Draw Eden from Tiamat if you missed it earlier in the game. This boss's only attack is "Dark Flare", and it takes a long time to charge. Between hits, heal your party, cast Shield on yourselves, and attack with everything you have. As with pretty much every battle, start by summoning Doomtrain. Use other GFs, with the exception of Ifrit, Quezacotl, and Pandemona, as they won't do any damage.
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...duh.
| 9. Omega Weapon (optional) |
This fight is optional. The reason being is Omega Weapon is harder than even the final fight in the game. He's the toughest. On the other hand, beating him gives you serious bragging rights. It also opens up another menu item under Tutorial, called "Proof of Omega". Mad props indeed.
Preparation is key to winning this fight. Cash in all the cards you've been collecting through the game with your Card Mod ability. After all, what are those cards good for, if not to make items? In particular, you'll want the 100 Megalixirs from the Bahamut Card, 100 LuvLuv Gs from the Chubby Chocobo Card, and 10 Holy Wars from the Gilgamesh Card. Use the LuvLuv Gs to increase your characters' compatibility with their junctioned GFs to maximum. This will make your GFs summon quicker. Move the Megalixirs and Holy Wars to the top of your item inventory, so you can get to them quicker in battle.
Next, check your junctions. Junction 100 Death spells to everybody's Stat-Def. Try not to have any elemental magic junctioned to your attacks, as those tend to heal the boss. Have at least two people who can use Magic. Consider equipping the Recover, Revive, Auto-Potion, and Auto-Haste abilities. Remove any Bonus or Mug abilities. Stay away from Auto-Reflect. Make sure Squall has his ultimate weapon, the Lion Heart. Limit breaks with this can cause about 100000 damage. If Zell and/or Irvine are in your party, make sure their weapons are fully upgraded as well. The female characters' weapons aren't effective enough to worry about. Make sure Cerberus, Eden, and Doomtrain are junctioned to different characters, so they can all be summoned at once. Don't but Eden with Squall, as he has better things to do than summon GFs.
Make sure your magic users have access to plenty of Aura, Full-Life, and Curaga spells. The latter two for healing, and the first for triggering Squall's limit break. That should do it.
If you're looking for specific party suggestions, try Zell, Rinoa, and Squall. Give Zell the Item command and Eden. Give Rinoa the Magic command and Doomtrain. Give Squall the Magic command and Cerberus.
From gamer Jessie Brenner: Selphie, Rinoa and Squall, all at CRITICAL (only 1 HP left each 'cept Squall) on my team. Rinoa had Initiative and cast ( LUCK-ASS) "Invincible Moon" and Selphie cast (SHITTIY-LUCK-ASS) "The End." That killed him in 15 seconds flat.
Getting to Omega Weapon is tricky. Take your primary party (the one you just prepped) to the fountain outside the chapel (where you got the Treasure Vault Key. Stand on the green circle in the foreground and switch to your secondary party. Take your secondary party out from the Front Foyer, and go out the door in the upper right. In the next room is a bell hanging from the ceiling. You need to ring this to summon the boss. To do so, pull the rope over on the left side of the screen. Upon doing so, a timer appears, giving you 45 seconds to find Omega Weapon.
Immediately upon pulling the rope, go over to the green circle in the ground at the base of the stairs and switch to your primary party. From the screen with the fountain, go in the door at the top. Run straight ahead to the organ to initiate the fight.
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The main thing to be aware of in this battle is that it can take forever. Start off by summoning--you guessed it, Doomtrain. However, do NOT boost him, as you'll end up healing the boss. Follow quickly with Cerberus and Eden. Next have a spell caster cast Aura on everybody. With any sort of luck, Squall will use his Lion Heart attack several times in a row. Next use a Holy War on the party. This will make everybody temporarily invincible. The drawback is no magic will work on you. Aura will probably wear out before the effects of the Holy War, so make sure you time your castings properly. Omega Weapon likes to use his "Death" spell against you right off the bat, and it can wipe everybody out with one shot if you're not careful. If you have some spare time while you're waiting for the Holy War to wear off, you can stock up on Ultima, Holy, Flare, and Meteor. If you run out of Aura spells or Aura Stones, the following GFs will do some damage: Siren, Cactuar, Bahamut, Tonberry.
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Defeating Omega Weapon only nets you a Three Stars. But you do get to say you've beaten him.
There's one last thing to do before the final battle. This too is optional, so feel free to skip down to the next section. You'll need to split your parties into the "lighter" and the "heavier." Put at least two male characters in the "heaver" party. You'll see why in a minute. From the Front Foyer, take the "lighter" party through the top left exit. Go around and down the stairs, then up the hallway to a room with two elevators. Step onto the green circle and switch to your "heavier" party.
Take the "heavier" party to the room with the paintings, and go through the door. Then go up the stairs on the left, and through the doorway. Continue left, using the Cura Draw Point and the Save Point along the way. In the next room, walk onto the green circle on the elevator. The "lighter" party goes up, while the "heavier" party goes down. Switch to the "lighter" party, and go through the door on the left.
In the middle of the room is a hidden Curaga Draw Point. To the right of that, on the floor, is the Floodgate Key. Take the key to the Dungeon, and use it to unlock the lever in the middle of the room. Move the lever to close the floodgate, which stops the flow of water, and opens up another area of the castle.
Now head to the chapel, where you may or may not have beaten Omega Weapon. Walk up to the organ, and hit all four action buttons/keys simultaneously. Now head back out to the screen with the fountain, and exit off to the upper right. In this hallway should be a door in the lower right area. If there are still any bars covering it up, return to the organ and try pressing all the buttons/keys again. When you get it right, all the bars will be gone, and you can go through. On the next screen on the ground is the Rosetta Stone. This should come in handy for the final fight. On the bottom part of this same screen you'll also find a newly opened door that leads to the Dungeon.
From the Front Foyer, head out the left door, up the hall, through the door under the chandelier, around the fountain and through the door, up the steps to the right of the chapel, across the rickety bridge, and all the way up the spiral staircase, skipping the bell this time. At the top of the screen with all the gears in it is a Stop Draw Point. Exit the machinery room to the bottom. Climb out onto the clock hands, and take the ladder down to the ledge below. Climb the next ladder down, then continue towards the doorway at the far end of the screen. Use the Save Point.
Preparation for the final battle is similar to that for Omega Weapon, so rather than repeat myself, I'll just refer you to that section above. When you're ready, save, then go through the door.
Tip from Michael Ortaleza: Selphie's The End Limit Break is useable against Utimecia. It just ends the battle with a win for you. Makes for the easiest fight ever. Her Luck must be very high, though.
In the beginning Ultimecia will randomly choose three of your characters. Don't worry about it if she chooses one or more who you didn't prepare, as they'll be replaced when they die off. This can also work against you if one of your prepped characters dies, so concentrate on keeping alive the characters you want. Other than that, this first form is pretty easy. Summon Doomtrain to cut down on her defenses, then use physical attacks to finish her off. You may want to use Aura on Squall to take advantage of his limit breaks.
In phase two, Ultimecia calls on some help. This guy is really nasty in that he gradually eliminates your stored magic. This is particularly detrimental to your junctioned defenses. Summon Doomtrain again to cut the enemy's defenses. Follow up with Eden, Bahamut, and Cactuar. Using Aura on Squall can also help. Make sure to keep your party's HP high, as this boss has several attacks that can knock off as much as 6000 HP. This fight can take a long time, but try to keep it short to avoid loosing too much of your magic stores.
Phase three is tougher. This next boss can kill your GFs with a single blow, so avoid using them. On the other hand, you can use a Hero or Holy War on your character or party, respectively, and their invulnerability will carry over to their GFs. The draining of your stored magic continues, and there's nothing you can do about that. Just hope that not too much is taken from your stats. Casting Aura (before the Heroes or Holy Wars of course) will help, too. This boss can also create a "Helix", which absorbs any magic you cast, whether on him or your party. You can get around this and heal your characters by using the Recover and Revive commands, or you can destroy the "Helix".
The final phase of this boss can not only kill your GFs like the previous one, but has several attacks which can reduce your party's HP to one point. You can counter this if you have any Heroes or Holy Wars left. If not, cast Triple on everybody so you can quickly cure yourselves. Haste will also help here. If Selphie is in your party, and you think you can get it quickly enough, her Full-Cure limit break is handy. When the boss begins rambling, try targeting its lower half. There you'll find a spell called Apocalypse, which you can Draw and use against it. Plus, it has a cool animation.
Congratulations! You've beaten Final Fantasy VIII. Sit back and enjoy the half-hour ending. Be sure to stick around after the credits for some more cool FMV.