Final Fantasy VIII Remastered

Alright, so you've heard about Odin, right? He's a bit of a unique encounter in Final Fantasy VIII Remastered. He doesn't actually attack you directly, which is pretty wild. Your main challenge here is the timer. If that clock runs out, Odin unleashes his Zantetsuken attack, which *should* be a game over and make you lose progress. However, the PC version can be a little buggy, sometimes letting you off the hook even if the timer expires. So, you might not even be able to lose this fight if you're playing on PC!

Stats / Weaknesses:

• Level: 1-100
• HP (Lv10): 4,000
• HP (Lv20): 7,000
• HP (Lv30): 10,000
• HP (Lv100): 31,000
• Weaknesses: –
• Resistances: Gravity (immune)
• Status Resistances: Immune to most; The End 0%
• EXP: –
• AP: 20
• Draw: Death, Double, Stop, Triple
• Mug: Luck-J Scroll
• Drop: G-Mega Potion x8

Honestly, Odin isn't that tough. Even at level 10, he only has 4,000 HP, which is less than some regular enemies you've probably fought. At level 30, it's 10,000 HP, and maxing out at 31,000 HP at level 100. Compared to the Tonberry King, he's a pushover in terms of HP. Just remember, he's immune to Gravity, so if you were relying on that, you'll need a different plan. If your party is already pretty strong, or even if you're just spamming Limit Breaks, you can probably end this fight super quickly. Since he doesn't attack, you're free to go all out.

Strategy:

• Focus on dealing damage quickly to beat the timer.
• Spam Limit Breaks if your party is strong enough.
• Don't rely on Gravity magic, as Odin is immune.
• Consider drawing spells and mugging items while you fight.

Now, if you've got the time and want to get some sweet rewards, you can try to draw some really useful magic and items from Odin. The big one is Triple. Seriously, this spell is amazing for junctioning. It's one of the best for Strength (Str-J), Magic (Mag-J), Speed (Spd-J), Evasion (Eva-J), Hit (Hit-J), and Luck (Luck-J). If you can get three full stocks of Triple, you'll be in a fantastic position, especially for boosting your Magic stat. You can also try to Mug a Luck-J Scroll from Odin. It's a bit of a gamble, and maybe not the most exciting use of your time, but it's an option if you want to start boosting Luck. Otherwise, you'll just get eight G-Mega Potions, which are okay, but not exactly thrilling.

Once you defeat Odin, you'll get the usual 20 AP, plus the Odin Card. But here's the kicker: Odin doesn't work like other Guardian Forces (GFs). You can't junction him, and you can't summon him whenever you want. Instead, he'll randomly show up at the start of battles and take out your enemies. It can be a little annoying if you're trying to keep your level low, Mug specific items, or draw spells, because he just ends the fight. But hey, if you don't mind him interfering, he's a pretty cool addition to your party, even if you have zero control over when he decides to show up.

Alright, let's talk about the Tonberry! These guys are classic Final Fantasy enemies, and you'll find them in the Centra Ruins. They look a bit intimidating, but once you know what you're doing, they're manageable. The main goal here isn't just to fight a few Tonberries, but to defeat enough of them to summon the Tonberry King.

Where to Find Tonberry:

You'll want to make your way to the Centra Ruins. From the starting screen, go up one screen. You're looking for an area with some ruins and an arched doorway, possibly with a "My Blue Heaven" sign nearby. Just wander around this screen, and you'll eventually encounter Tonberries.

Tonberry Stats & Info:

Tonberries have a lot of HP, and it doesn't scale up dramatically as they level, which is a bit unusual. They're slow movers, so they won't rush you down. However, when they get close, they'll use their Chef's Knife attack, which can start to hurt quite a bit. The real danger, though, is their 'Everyone's Grudge' counterattack. If they decide to use it, they'll deal damage based on how many enemies a character has defeated – times 20! So, if a character has 100 kills, that's 2,000 damage, no exceptions. You can check your characters' kill counts in the Battle Meter.

Strategy for Fighting Tonberry:

• Gravity Magic: Spells like Demi can be effective, and summoning Diablos (if you've leveled him up) can also help.
• Brute Force & Limit Breaks: Since they're immune to most status effects and have no elemental weaknesses, your best bet is often just hitting them hard. Characters like Squall, Zell, and Irvine can dish out serious damage with their Limit Breaks, especially Squall's Lionheart.
• Low HP Strategy: If your characters have low HP, you can sometimes spam Limit Breaks more effectively.

Summoning the Tonberry King:

To get the Tonberry King to show up, you need to defeat about twenty regular Tonberries. Don't worry if you don't do it all in one go; you can leave the ruins and come back later. You can even rest at Balamb Garden if you need to. Just keep fighting them in the Centra Ruins. If the timer runs out, just select "Try Again" to return to the world map, and your kill count will be saved. Odin's timer and taunts are irrelevant here; focus on the Tonberries.

Tracking Your Progress:

There isn't an in-game counter for how many Tonberries you've defeated, so you might want to keep your own tally. A good way to track this is to start a Guardian Force learning a new skill right when you begin this grind. Since each Tonberry defeated gives 1 AP, you can easily see your progress that way. The Tonberry King will appear after you defeat a normal Tonberry, effectively extending that fight. To be safe, you might want to exit to the world map when the timer gets close to 10:00 to avoid any complications.

Boss - Tonberry King:

The Tonberry King looks bigger, but he's not necessarily much tougher than the regular Tonberries. He'll appear after you've defeated around twenty of his smaller brethren. Be ready, because the fight starts immediately after you defeat a normal Tonberry, so you could be ambushed!

The Tonberry King also has a lot of HP, and his scales more dramatically with level than the regular Tonberry's. At level 10, he has 25,000 HP, which is manageable. But by level 100, he'll have a massive 250,000 HP! It's definitely best to fight him when your party is at a lower level if possible.

Strategy for Fighting Tonberry King:

• Similar to Tonberrys: He's immune to most status effects and has no elemental weaknesses.
• Limit Breaks are Key: Just like with the regular Tonberrys, your best bet is to spam Limit Breaks from Squall, Irvine, and Zell. Squall's Lionheart is particularly effective.
• Diablos: If you're struggling, Diablos can help, but remember he'll only deal a maximum of 9,999 damage per summon, even at high levels.
• 'It's Sharp!' Attack: The Tonberry King has his own version of 'Everyone's Grudge' called 'It's Sharp!', which deals damage based on the number of enemies defeated x30. This can be a real killer for your high-kill characters.
• 'Junk' Attack: He also has a 'Junk' attack that causes a cascade of... well, junk.

Defeating the Tonberry King drops a Royal Crown x1. For regular Tonberries, you can mug a Chef's Knife x1, and they also drop one.

You’ll make the journey from Dollet to Balamb uneventful, after which you’ll be told by Quistis that you have some free time. This is good news, as there’s a bit of loot worth gathering here in Dollet, and perhaps some grinding to do.

First things first, however. Leave the port and Seifer will make off with the car, forcing you to return on foot. First up you can find the Timber Maniacs 1 magazine lying in two places around Balamb. While there’s not much gameplay incentive to find them all, you do get a Steam achievement for it, as well as some info on a character later on. This particular magazine can, if read, marginally change the way things play out in the future, although it’s a trivial difference.

To find these magazines, either make your way into the Balamb Hotel (the blue building on the screen adjacent to the port) and head up the stairs to the left. In the hotel room on the second floor you’ll find Timber Maniacs I on a desk to the right of the Save Point. The other place you can find this magazine is on the train platform. Just head left from the hotel, exit the town square to the left to reach the Balamb Station, then exit the screen by heading up past the conductor. You’ll find this copy of Timber Maniacs 1 on the ground to the left near some red railing.

Zell Card

Next up, a bit of Triple Triad is in order. Make your way to the town square (the area just south of the gas station, where a Thunder Draw Point can be found) and note that there are two houses to the right. Enter the lower one (the one closer to the camera) and you should get some chatter between Zell and his mother. Leave the house and return, then challenge Ma Dincht to a game of cards. She’s got a mediocre deck with a health spread of Level 1-5 Monster cards. The card you’re looking for is the Zell card, so play her until you get it.

As far as Card Mod goes, Zell refines into three Hyper Wrist items, which will teach a GF the Str+60% ability. This is rather appealing. We’ll leave this one to you, as the Zell card is good enough to play with, but it’s hardly essential.

L Mag-RF

With that, you’re done in Balamb and free to return to Balamb Garden, but there are grinding opportunities that need to be pointed out. Now that you have Siren, you have new abilities you can learn with that GF, and the two most immediately interesting are the L Mag-RF and Tool-RF abilities. The former will allow you to turn items into restorative magics from items while the latter will let you turn items into other items, some of which can be further refined into powerful magics later in the game.

You should already know how this works, go grind Fastitocalon-Fs on the beaches (use Card to avoid getting any experience if you’re shooting for a low-level run) and get these two abilities. Once you’ve learned L Mag-RF you can use your trust Card Mod ability to obtain the following items and spells:

Of course, your ability to get cards is limited right now, although you can play people in Balamb if you really want. Still, it’s worth noting this for later at the very least:

• While Tornado is still the best option for most stats, Regen and Curaga junction admirably well into HP and are easy enough to get. Both spells are excellent junctions for Spirit and Vitality, as well.
• Death is another incredibly easy spell to refine this way, and junctions well into Spirit and Magic, being just behind Tornado in the latter case.
• Although Full-