GUARDIAN FORCE SIDEQUESTS

The guardian forces found on the first two discs are obtained through the line of duty. You get them from characters, you draw them from bosses, you defeat them in battle. The later guardian forces are more hidden and far trickier to obtain. Whether performing an arcane ritual or exploring the depths of a subterranean maze, the procedures to get these last guardian forces are inordinately complex. Use this section to easily complete your guardian force collection.

Doomtrain

Combine the Solomon ring from Tears' Point with the right items to summon and obtain the Doomtrain guardian force. The first element you need is six Remedy+. Remedies are sold in most shops; convert 60 remedies into six Remedy+ with Alexander's med lev up menu. You'll also need six steel pipes; these can be stolen from the gorilla-like Wendigos southeast of Deling City. Find them in the triangular region bordered by two railroad tracks and a paved road. The final element is six Malboro tentacles. These can be either stolen or won from the fiendishly difficult Malboros found on the island closest to heaven. Give a character initiative, mug, auto-haste, and Spd+40%. With luck, you can get a plundering attempt or three in before the Malboro unleashes its debilitating bad breath attack.

Location: Combine Solomon's ring with 6x Remedy+, 6x steel pipes, 6x Malboro tentacles

Attack: Runaway train

Element: Poison plus all status ailments

Useful skills: ST/Elem-Atk/Def junctions, auto-shell ability

Overview: Summoning Doomtrain afflicts foes with a wide variety of status ailments. That is to say, all of them. His ST-Atk-J, Elem-Atk-J, Elem-Defx4, and ST-Def-Jx4 junctions are all invaluable. Auto-shell protects a character from magic attacks.

Tonberry

Now that the time limit is no longer in effect, return to the Centra ruins. Meet and fight with the Tonberrys near the entrance. They're tough, but persevere: Diablos and strong physical attacks are your best bet. Be sure you can revive deceased party members, as Tonberry is fond of killing your friends. Defeat 20 Tonberrys and don't neglect to save between battles. The 20th victory leads straight into a fight with the Tonberry king. Diablos works well, as do double and triple casts of powerful spells. If you've got aura, flaunt it! Defeat him to earn the Tonberry guardian force. (Aside: Be sure to Ammo-RF all your chef's knives into powerful AP ammo.)

Location: Defeat 20 Tonberrys and the Tonberry king at the Centra ruins

Attack: Chef's knife

Element: None

Useful skills: LV Up/ LVDown command, haggle menu, sell-high menu,

familiar menu

Overview: LV Up makes for a more difficult battle and more experience; LV Down weakens your foes and helps you win. Haggle makes merchants sell new items for less, while sell-high makes merchants give you more for used equipment. Familiar causes merchants to expand their inventories to include previously unavailable items.

In the southeast of the world, there's a small desert where a cactus pops in and out of the ground. This island is home to Cactaurs: small, shy cactus creatures who give you 20 AP apiece. Fighting them can net you up to 60 AP in a single battle - you'll learn those high-priced guardian force skills in no time! But you must be fast and have a high hit percentage: Cactaurs are notoriously flighty. Make contact with the large cactus to fight the fearsome jumbo Cactaur. This guy isn't too difficult, but he has a lot of energy. Draw meltdown and cast it on him. The jumbo Cactaur is weak against water, so junction 100x water to your Elem-Atk junction and summon Leviathan and Shiva. Cast aura on Squall and Irvine. If Squall has lionheart, hope he uses the lionheart limit break. Meanwhile, Irvine should pump the jumbo Cactaur full of AP ammo. Make sure every character is capable of reviving and revivifying lost comrades. After a long and protracted battle, victory - and the Cactaur guardian force - will be yours.

Location: Defeat the jumbo Cactaur on Cactaur Island

Attack: 1,000 needles

Element: None

Useful skills: Eva-J and Luck-J junction, Luck+50% ability, bonus abilities

Overview: Cactaur's damage strength is equal to the tens digit of his level multiplied by one thousand. For example, a level 47 Cactaur would deal out 4x1,000 or 4,000 hit points in damage. Cactaur is the only guardian force that can increase your evasion and luck statistics, making him particularly useful for the game's intangible benefits. Cactaur joins with the innate knowledge of several bonuses, helping savvy players pump critical attributes.

This submerged research facility in the southwest corner of the world map is filled with fire creatures, so junction blizzaga to your elemental attack and firaga to your elemental defense. Stay still when the light rotates and move when the light is dimmed. Examine the front of the light source. Choose the first option for the first question and the second option for the second question. For the third question, choose the secret, invisible third option to fight Bahamut. Use aura, guardian forces, and triple magic casting to dish out the damage and draw out curaga or full-life to restore your party.

Location: Defeat Bahamut at Deep Sea Research Center

Attack: Mega flare

Element: None

Useful skills: Ability x4, Str+60% ability, Mag+60% ability, rare item ability,

auto-protect ability

Overview: Bahamut's powerful nonelemental attack makes him an ideal guardian force to summon against nearly any foe. While he shares many useful abilities (such as mug) with other guardian forces, his unique skills put him in a class of his own. Ability x4 turns one lucky character into a powerhouse. Rare item makes collecting those difficult-to-find weapon ingredients far less of a chore. And auto-protect gives a character an innate barrier, effectively doubling his resistance to physical attacks. Whoever receives Bahamut's powers becomes an unstoppable force.

After obtaining Bahamut and returning to the Ragnarok cockpit, there's still more to be found. Return to the island with Zell and descend into the now-accessible depths. Use the proper number of steam blocks on each floor: 4, 2, 2, 1, and 1 blocks. Have Zell operate the machine to open the door, then continue down, down, down. Equip Diablos' enc-none ability to reduce, if not eliminate, enemy encounters. These are some of the toughest battles in the game, so make sure your party is prepared. There is a secret save point next to the machine on the bottom floor! You should still have 10 blocks of energy remaining; operate the machine to fight the ultima weapon.

Draw out the final and most powerful guardian force, Eden. Use Cerberus to double and triple your party. Cast regen, shell, and barrier on all three members. Draw demi from the boss and cast it for massive damage. Aura and your best guardian forces are most effective. Make sure that each character has some way to revive a friend taken out by the ultima beam - that burning sensation you feel is 9,998 hit points of damage. Success will be yours!

Location: Draw from ultima weapon at Deep Sea Research Center

Attack: Eternal breath

Element: None

Useful skills: Devour command, Expendx3-1 ability, GFAbl Med-RF menu

Overview: Eden shatters the 9,999 barrier, potentially dealing nearly 40,000 points of damage to foes. The devour command has a low success rate, but if it connects, it can instantly kill any foe. Expendx3-1 lets a character cast a spell three times for the price of one. GFAbl Med-RF lets you create items that teach your guardian forces useful skills.

OTHER SIDEQUESTS

Want to see the sights the world has to offer? Complete everything the game has to complete? Check out some of these exciting subquests. Some of them can be reached once you obtain the ship vehicle, others must wait until you get the airship vehicle. The best time to clean out the game's offerings is probably near the end of disc 3, immediately after obtaining Ragnarok. The guardian force Sidequests are more pertinent to success, but these are well worth your time, too.

Shumi Village

The village is found on the northernmost continent. Draw ultima for a fee, if you like, then take the elevator and make your way to the western-most house. Examine the statue, talk to the sculptor, then leave and head east to the house of the village elder - a Moomba is in front of the door). After talking to the leader, return to the sculptor and agree to help. Seek out the five stones scattered around Shumi village; when Squall is near a stone, he'll go "Huh...?", so examine those areas carefully. After finding each stone, deliver it to the sculptor and get your next assignment. The blue stone is in the large blue stone in the statue room. The wind stone is found in the pile of rocks on the first screen of the village, near the hotel. The life stone is found up the tree in front of the village elder's house. The shadow stone is in a shadow behind a pillar on the right side of the screen where you draw ultima. The water stone is found in the artisan's sink - his house is just east of the statue building. After you return all five stones, head to the chief's house to be rewarded with the phoenix pinion. Using it in battle simultaneously deals massive fire damage to your opponent and resurrects any deceased party members. The Centra ruins are a large, double-pyramid structure in the northeast of the Centra continent. Get all your characters' hit points to critical status, then equip Diablos' enc-none ability and enter. When the stairs split, go right. Examine the stone block in the center of the room to ascend. Take the ladder on the left and examine the orb. Climb down the ladder and examine the second orb to reveal a staircase. After climbing the stairs, take the first ladder on the left and take the left eye from the statue. Climb down the ladder and up the stairs on the right. Put the eye in the statue to gain the password. Take both eyes and return to the first statue. Put both eyes in the first statue and enter the password, top to bottom. Now, go through the open door and fight Odin. Odin won't attack your party, so don't worry about defending or curing. Just beat him before the timer hits zero! Stock triple until each character has 100 uses, then unleash your party's limit breaks (you did keep your hit points in the critical zone, right?) He should fall easily.

Guardian Force: Odin

Location: Defeat Odin at the Centra ruins

Attack: Zantetsuken

Element: N/A

Useful skills: N/A

Overview: Odin isn't junctioned like an ordinary guardian force. Instead, he randomly appears before fights to give your party victory. The frequency with which Odin appears is dependent on your characters' luck statistic.

The western-most and eastern-most islands on the world map are littered with dozens of hidden, high-powered draw spells. They're also littered with the most difficult random encounters the game has to offer. Equip Diablos' enc-none ability to clean up on draw points. Fight the enemies to clean up on experience - sometimes more than 2,000 EXP in a single battle! Odin's deus ex machina nature can come in handy.

Chocobo and PocketStation

Catch and name a chocobo at a chocobo forest by isolating Chicobo. Now, use the Gysahl greens in battle. It's your favorite bird friend to the rescue! If you have an imported PocketStation, you can move Chicobo into the Chocobo World minigame. Maneuver your chocobo around the map toward the event squares. When you meet an enemy, alternatively hit left and right to increase the speed of your ATB. A well-balanced weapon is better than a lopsided one. Cactuar's items are converted to booty when Chicobo returns to the game.

Guardian Force: Chocobo

Location: Find Chicobo in the chocobo forest

Attack: ChocoFire / ChocoFlare / ChocoMeteor / ChocoBuckle

Element: Fire

Useful skills: N/A

Overview: Use the Gysahl greens to summon Chicobo to battle. Send Chicobo to the PocketStation to level up and upgrade his attack. The higher your level, the more likely you will successfully rescue Mog at an event square. Rescuing Mog nets you Mog's armlet. This item gives a guardian force the MiniMog command; when used in battle, Mog will partially restore the hit points of all junctioned guardian forces. When your chocobo reaches level 50, he evolves, and his in-game attack becomes more powerful. Chocobo evolves again at level 100.

Guardian Force: MiniMog

Location: Rescue Mog in the PocketStation game

Attack: Moogle dance

Element: N/A

Useful skills: N/A

Overview: Rescue MiniMog in the PocketStation game, then give a guardian force the MiniMog command. It restores 1,000 to 1,500 hit points to each equipped guardian force during battle.

Return to the second-floor homeroom periodically to check up on the Balamb Garden network. Selphie keeps her online diary up-to-date with her perspective on the party's goings on. There's also a public bulletin board and Selphie's own shrine devoted to Sir Laguna. This is where all those Timber Maniacs you read end up! While absolutely optional, the virtual web sites make for some interesting reading.

Omega Weapon

Looking for a real challenge? The Omega weapon is for you. Before fighting the Omega weapon, make sure your party is prepared. Give every character in your party 9,999 hit points. Junction 100 death spells to all characters' status resistance. Get a lot of hero medicine (if necessary, card mod Laguna's card). Give characters initiative, auto-haste, Spd-J junctions, and Spd+percentage abilities. Revive and recover commands are a must. Make sure Squall has his best weapon, the lionheart. The Omega weapon resides in Ultimecia's castle. Take your real party to the party exchange spot before the fountain. Your dummy party should head to the hallway to the right of the main lobby. Pull the string in the bottom left of the screen. Switch back to the real party and take your party north. Enter the battle, cast aura on Squall and Irvine, and then use the hero drink on your party to render them impervious to attacks. Keep on casting aura and using hero drinks to keep your party in prime fighting condition. Revive and recover deceased characters. Learn his timing, then summon guardian forces right before his deadly Omega flare. Have Irvine pound bullets into him and hope that Squall's lionheart continually connects. Good luck!

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