Shiva

Learn how to get Shiva, a Guardian Force in Final Fantasy VIII Remastered. Discover her abilities like Str-J, Vit-J, and Doom, and how to best utilize her in combat.

Alright, let's talk about Shiva, one of the first Guardian Forces you'll likely encounter in Final Fantasy VIII Remastered. She's a pretty basic GF to start with, but she's got some handy abilities that can really help you out early on, especially if you're looking to boost your Strength and Vitality junctions.

Shiva comes with Spr-J right off the bat, which isn't the most exciting, but she can learn Str-J and Vit-J natively. Having access to Str-J early is a big deal, as it lets you significantly boost your physical attack power by junctioning Strength-based magic to your attack stat. She also gets the standard elemental GF abilities like Elem-Atk-J and Elem-Def-J (and Elem-Def-Jx2), which are great for tailoring your elemental resistances. Plus, she can learn the essential commands like Magic, GF, Draw, and Item, so you'll always have those basic options available.

One of her cooler native abilities is Doom, which you can learn at level ten. This command can inflict the Doom status on an enemy, which is basically a death sentence after the counter above their head counts down to zero. It's not always reliable, but it can be a lifesaver against tougher foes. She can also learn I Mag-RF, a really useful tool for refining ice and water magic from items, which can come in handy for both offense and defense.

Here's a quick rundown of what Shiva can learn and how much AP it'll cost you:

Focus on getting Str-J and Vit-J learned first, as those are the most impactful early on. After that, consider I Mag-RF for its refining capabilities. The other abilities are good to have eventually, but prioritize those core junctions to get the most out of Shiva as soon as possible.