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                  Disk two

Winhill- Use the Draw Point and heal yourself-any damage Squall took during his battle carries over to Laguna's scenario. Exit the vacant house and go to the pub. Although the village appears peaceful, you can still enter random battles. Hook up with Kiros at the pub, give him some GFs, then go on patrol. If you encounter a Caterchipillar, be sure to draw a new spell, Slow. Walk to the edge of town, then return to the pub. Go upstairs and talk to Raine.

Desert Prison- As soon as you can access Zell's item menu, give him a few good GFs. Stand up to the Mean Guy (no kidding, that's his name) when he tries to beat on the Moomba. During Squall's interrogating, select the top choice ("just let me die...").

Biggs and Wedge: Round 2- Once Zell if free, head up to Floor 08 where the weapons are stored. Give Quistis and Selphie one GF each. During the Biggs-Wedge rematch, draw reflect from Wedge (the one in blue), and Regen from Biggs (the one in red). If the draw from Biggs fails, soften him up with a few hits, then try again.

Going Down- Head down to Floor 06 and save your game. If you encounter Thrustaevis, draw Aero from it. Go to the first floor and snag the Combat King 001; read it, and Zell learns a new Limit Break, Dolphin Blow.

Rescue Squall- Your goal now is to reach Squall on Floor 13. There are a few noteworthy side trips. Floor 10's card player will add a new option, Battle Report to your Information menu in the Tutorial if you beat him, but he charges 300 Gil a game. The card player on Floor 11 gives you a random item each time you win, but charges 200 Gil per game. When your finished with the side trips, free Squall and give him a couple of GFs, but don't take any GFs away form Zell.

Room at the top- Take Squall's party up to Floor 14, then take Irvine down to the floor where the mechanical arm stopped. On Floor13, talk to each Moomba and bring Squall's party members to full health.

GIM52A and Elite Soldier- Floor 15 has three bosses: two GIM52A sentries and one Elite Soldier. Lightning and Water spells work wonders here. After the battle, head across the catwalk. When it falls apart and Squall is dangling from the ledge, push Right on the control pad to guide him to safety.

Team I: Galbadia Missile Base- Take Selphie's team to the Missile Base. Once you're inside the base, enter the door to the left, then walk past the guard standing watch. Head downstairs, then at the bottom make a 180-degree turn to the left. Talk to the guards (let's call them "A"), then go through the door in the next room. Talk to the guard (let's call him "B") at the far end of the room. Return to "A", then talk to the guard whom you walked past when you first entered the base. Mess with the panels inside the control room. When the guards outside confront you, select the bottom choice, then head back downstairs. When the guard talks to you, play it cool, then let him out. Help push the missile into place, exit the room, and go to the control panel. Make the following adjustments at the panel:"Confirm the Equipment," "Set Target," "Max Out the Error Ratio," "Upload the Data," and "Exit." Talk to the guard near the panel-and get ready to fight!

Command Leader and Command Soldiers- Reflect and Protect are your two best friends here: These troop guys cast Confuse, which can seriously mess up your party if it connects with a powerful member. Attack with your Siren GF. After the battle, search all the panels, then head into the back room to activate the self-destructive device. Set the timer for 20 minutes and leave the base. Before you exit the bunker, make sure that someone equips Quezacotl and that everyone has plenty of Thunder spells.

BGH251F2- BGH....whatever-this thing's a machine, and you know what that means: Lighting. Before you attack, draw Stop, then cast Protect on your party; the BGH-meister is armed with a Gatling gun that can kill a member in one turn. Remember, the clock's ticking, so defeat this thing as soon as possible. As BGH251F2 is slowly blown apart, don't get too confident-it has one last trick up its sleeve: the Beam Cannon. This sucker hits one member like the Gatling gun does. Fortunately, the attack is announced, so you have time to prepare with the proper spells.

The Commander and his Privates- It isn't over yet- after BGH251F2 is destroyed, you'll fight the three twerps piloting it. One round from any GF should do the trick.

Team2: Balamb Garden- When the faculty questions your loyalty, side with the Headmaster, Cid. Talk to the student at the reception gate before entering the Main Hall.

The Search for Cid- The monsters that have overrun Balamb are mostly from the Training Center. However, there are a few new critters to be aware of-especially Bombs. Physically similar to Bombs you encounter in the Fire Cavern, these guys inflate, then K.O. a party member with a suicide attack. Searching for Cid is a mop-up job: Start on the first floor, then make your way up. Help any students that need it, and challenge every faculty member you come across. Talk to any students that help you-they'll reward you with valuable items or potions. Make sure you're prepared when you enter the Training Center-T-Rexaur is still around. You can find Xu on the second floor.

Md Level- Climb down the ladder and pull the lever near the Save Point. When the two Oilboyles attack, use GF attacks immediately-Oilboyles like to suck 500-plus HP from their victims. At the dead end is small wheel. Give it a couple of turns.

Guided Tour- During your tour with Rinoa, look for a little kid running laps around the main lobby. Challenge him to a card game-you could win a rare MiniMog card. You can also win the Quistis card from Trepe Groupie #2 in the second-floor classroom.

Norg's Orbs- Focus you attacks on the two glowing blue orbs. The orbs change from yellow to red-keep them from turning red. Have the two flanking party members attack the orbs with physical attacks while the middle character hammers away at the center target with GF attacks.

Master Norg- When Norg's protective shield shatters, draw a new GF, Leviathan, and magic, Bios, from him. Remember to keep those orbs from turning red! Cast Carbuncle, heal party members when necessary, and keep up the pressure with magic and GF attacks. After the battle, you can find Cid in the infirmary and Ellone in the library.

Fisherman's Horizon- Before you go ashore, challenge Cid to a game of cards-he holds the rare Seifer card. Once you're ashore at Fisherman's Horizon (FH), you can win the Quezacotl card from Mayor Dobe.

G-Soldier and Elite Soldier- The attacking soldiers are easy to defeat-just be sure to draw plenty of Thunder spells from them before they fall. This is also a great opportunity to try out that Leviathan GF you took from Norg.

BGH251F2- Remember that mechanical monster whose name was a mouthful that gave Selphie's team such a hard time at the missile base? Well, here it is again. Mix a cocktail of Water and Thunder.

Explore!- Before you leave FH, take one last run through town. You can find an issue of Timber Maniacs in a house near the train station and another issue on the second floor of the hotel. Just after you hook up with Irvine, look for a ladder along the back wall that leads to a card player. Most importantly, return to the Mayor's house, go to the second floor, and find an Ultima Draw Point.

Big Night- To get the most out of Squall's date with Rinoa, assign these instruments: flute, guitar, tap, and violin. Before you report to the third floor the next morning, take a quick detour outside; you can find a valuable Draw Point where the card player was sitting the day before the day before. Psssst: Make sure you talk to everyone in this town before leaving.

Balamb- Now that Balamb Garden can fly, you can go almost anywhere. Head to Balamb City, put Zell in your party, and talk your way past the guard near the entrance. Talk to Zells mom, then challenge her to a card game. If you win, you'll get Zell's card.

Where's the Captain?- Go to the docks and talk to the soldiers, then talk to all the soldiers on patrol in town. Return to mama Zell's house, talk to her, and go back to the docks. Examine the dog, then follow it back to the train station. Stop back at Zell's place, rest, and save your game.

Raijin...- Go to the Balamb Hotel and fight Raijin. Hit Raijin with Blind, then summon GF (preferably Diablos, but not Quezacotl) to dispatch his guard friends. Although Raijin's primary attack is a swat with his bigass stick, he take off 500-plus HP a pop. Try to be in good health at the end of his battle-you fight another enemy immediately afterward.

...and Fujin, too!- Cast Blind on Raijin, then draw a new GF , Pandemona, from Fujin. Time to teach this one-eyed, one word-sentence-uttering monster a lesson! Cast Carbuncle (again, be careful about using Cure spells!) on your party, then hammer away with Ifirit and Shiva GF attacks (Fujin is the tougher of the two). Keep an eye open for her Sai attack, which drops your HP to 1 regardless of your status. Defeat the duo and you receive a copy of Combat King 002, which teaches Zell the Meteor Strike Attack.

Trabia Garden- Put Selphie in your party and go to Trabia Garden. You can win Selphie's card from the girl sitting in front of the fountain and find a copy of Timber Maniacs in the graveyard.

Shumi Village- Next stop: Shumi Village. Take the elevator, and when you get off, talk to the Shumi across from the first house. Continue to the left, then enter the second-to-last house. Get the copy of Timber Maniacs off the bed and talk to the Artisan. Leave the house, enter the one to the left, and take a look at what's in back. Enter the Elder's house (the one with the Moomba parked out front), talk to the Elder, then return to the Sculptor.

The Five Stones- You must find five stones: Shadow, Wind, Life, Water, and Blue. Each time you find a stone, take it back to the Sculptor. Blue is the easiest to find-it's to the left of the Sculptor (right under your nose). The Wind stone's next-it can be found among the rocks to the left of the hotel (the first building you saw when you got off the elevator). Ah, yes the Life stone. Did you see the huge root to the right of the Elder's house? Climb it and get the Life stone. The Shadow stone's next. Go all the way back to the elevator and take it up. When you exit, search the right wall near the base of the stairs; yep, you have the Shadow stone. One stone left, the water stone. Remember where you found that copy of Timber Maniacs? Go there and look in the sink. Take the last stone to the Sculptor, then go see the Elder. Your reward: Phoenix Pinion.

Before you leave...- Before you return to Balamb Garden, engage in a couple of random battles in the Trabia area. You're looking for Gayla, which hangs out in the snowy patches. When you find it, draw a new spell, Meltdown, from it.

Winhill- Take Zell and Irvine and head southwest from Shumi Village. Your destination: Winhill. Go into the mansion (it's to the right of the pub from Laguna's third scenario), and talk to the owner standing on the stairs. It seems his vase is missing; actually, it broke into four pieces that are scattered around the area. Guess who gets to find them? Each time you find a piece, take it to the owner.

Four Easy Pieces- The first piece is in the main hall of the mansion. Repeatedly search the suit of armor on the left side of the hall. If you don't find anything, leave the mansion, re-enter, and search it again (damn Chocobos). Head south from the mansion until you see an old lady to the left. Follow her into the flower shop, talk to her, and search her flowers. Tell her that you like flowers, then search the batch in the foreground. You've found the second piece. South of the flower shop is a Chocobo crossing. Run back and forth in front of the crossing. When a Chocobo scurries in front of you, kick it into the air and knock a vase piece from it. You can also kick potions and greens from them. To find the last piece, go to the second floor of the pub (to left of the mansion) and talk to the lady a couple times. Go to the first floor, search the tables, then examine the cat that appears on the bar. You have the last piece. Return to the mansion and collect your prize: a Holy Stone.

Centra Ruins- Before continuing with your quest, stop at Centra Ruins to pick up a rare item. Before entering the ruins, however, set the Diablos' party ability to ENC-None. You have 20 minutes to complete this task, and you don't need random, battles slowing you down. Get ready for some timed puzzle solving and boss fighting.

The Puzzle- Take the stairs up. At the top of the last staircase is a block; standing on it. Climb the left ladder and enter the room at the top. Pull the switch, exit the room, and descend. At the bottom, examine the blue plate on the pedestal between the two ladders. Go up the staircase that materializes to the right. Take the stairs up to the first landing, then climb the ladder to the left. Remove the statue's red left eye, descend, and continue up the stairs to the right. At the top of the stairs, climb the ladder and insert the red eye into the statue. Leave the statue as is and a code appears on screen. Write down the code, remove both eyes, and return to the landing below. Climb the ladder, put both eyes into the statue, and enter the code you were just given. Go through the door that opens below you.

Odin- Defeating Odin is easy because he doesn't attack; time is the real enemy. Cast Haste on all party members, then hammer Odin with a balanced mix of GF and magic attacks. If you defeat Odin before the timer expires, you'll receive the Odin card.

Tonberry- On your way out of the Ruins, turn off ENC-None; there are some tough monsters you should fight. Keep an eye open for the first Tonberry (21,200 HP!), who you can find near the fountain. You can draw Death from the little guy, and he gives up a valuable item: the Chef's Knife. Using Diablos on him is a must.

Tonberry King- Okay, the Odin card is cool and all, but no GF for all your hard work? Not exactly-you can come away from the Ruins with a new GF; however, at this point in the game you may not be ready. If you absolutely must obtain the GF right now, here's what to do. Stock up on Haste, Double (and Triple if you have any), Life, and Meltdown spells- at least 15 of each per character. Divide your GFs evenly between all members and include Selphie in your party. Go to the spot where you found the first Tonberry and keep defeating the others that attack. Take a break after every second or third one to venture outside and save your game. You'll eventually gain the attention of the Tonberry King, who appears immediately after a Tonberry's defeat without a break. He packs 77,500 HP and is kind pissed, what with you killing his minions and all. When he appears, one character should cast Meltdown; the other two should cast Haste on themselves and then Double, so everyone has Double and Haste status as soon as possible. When one of these wears off, immediately cast it again. The King has three spells to draw: Full Life, Courage, and Death. All GF attacks except Diablos are effective; Diablos, ironically, always miss. Ultima is helpful, too- especially if used as a Double or Triple. T. King has three attacks: a stab, which takes off 300-plus HP; "It's Sharp," which kills a party member; and Junk, where the King stomps on the ground and brings down a rain of heavy objects for 1000-plus HP damage to each member (and, no, you can't avoid it by casting Float). Keep all the party members in top health at all times and remember to hit the King with a meltdown spell. If it wears off (check the color of the King's robe), cast another. You may be tempted to cast Reflect during the fight, but don't; you'll constantly be throwing magic around (especially that drawn from the King), and it's very easy to accidentally heal your adversary. If you beat the King, you'll get a new GF, Tonberry, and some other items.

Why Timber Maniacs?- You're probably asking, "Why bother collecting issues of Timber Maniacs?" To read these issues, go to the second-floor classroom in Balamb Garden and access the Balamb Garden Network from your study panel. Enter "The School Festival Committee" menu, then go to "Sir Laguna's Page."

Centra: Garden Battle- Head south to the lighthouse at the Cape of Good Hope, then fly toward Galbadia Garden, which is hovering over the forest. Get ready for a long fight. Decision time-choose the following actions from the menus in this order:"The Garden's course," "Prepare for the attack," "Prepare our defense," "Take care of the junior class men," "Call my comrades," and "No orders." Divide GF evenly among all characters.

Zell and Squall's Teams- After Rinoa's "mishap," head to the front entrance and take Squall's team to the second-floor classroom. Galbadia Paratroopers cast Silence and Demi-equip your GFs accordingly. After the battle, talk to the seeds in the classroom to send them to safety. When the flying soldier on the second floor confronts you, don't try to run away from him. Press square, select "Look around for another option," then press square again and select "Press the button for the emergency exit." Unfortunately, there's no easy way to win the hand-to-hand fight. The best way is to block, then immediately punch, block, and repeat the pattern. Keep in mind there's a delay between when you press the block button and the moment your character actually blocks. After the fight, take Rinoa with you into Galbadia Garden.

Inside Galbadia Garden- Here's another confusing maze where every hallway looks the same. You must collect three keys before you can fight the sorceress. Enter Galbadia Garden. Save Point. This should be your base point. Always refer to it (prevent you from getting lost). Go right. Go to "open door "Actually, it's the stairs. Go upstairs. Talk to Fujin and Raijin. Go left. Enter the door on the right. Talk to the boy. Received card . Head back to save point. Go left. Enter door on the left. Cross the hockey field. Go through the right door. Enter the opposite door. Talk to boy. Received card key 2. Head back to save point. Go to stairs. Where you met Fujin and Raijin before. Go upstairs. Open door. Jump to the field. Enter door on the right to return to original save point. Go left. Go left, ignore the stairs for now. Go to the center of garden. Boss Fight: Cerberus. The golden rule when fighting Cerberus: Always cast Dispel on him when he casts Triple on himself. He can cast a variety of spells, including Tornado, Thundaga, and Silence, among others-you can handle these spells individually, but in threes they mean certain death. Conversely, take advantage of his Double and Triple magic and draw them for yourself. You should also cast Float on all party members for protection against Cerberus's Quake casting. Diablos and Siren are the strongest GFs here, but Quezacotl is a no-no. Cerberus acquired! Go to west wing. Enter the door on the left. Talk to girl. Received card key 3. Head to the stairs. Go to 2nd floor. You've been here before, right? Go left. Use elevator. Save point. Meet Seifer and Edea. Seifer isn't the pushover he was last time you fought-he's faster and stronger. Cast Carbuncle on your party (but do it in that order and be careful with those Cure spells!). Seifer limits himself to slashes with his gunblade and an occasional Fire attack; his latest trick is Demon Slice- a vicious 1000-plus HP to a single party member. Diablos does the most damage to Seifer; Shiva and Ifirit are also effective. Go to 2F. Go 1 screen to the right. Save Point. Enter the opposite door to the auditorium. Event. Boss Fight: Seifer and Edea. Seifer's back but he's a shadow of his former self. Use this opportunity to cast Cerberus, Haste, and Carbuncle on your party members, then finish off Seifer. When Seifer falls, tear right into Edea. Start things off by drawing Alexander from her, then draw and cast Demi for big-time damage. Edea casts Silence. so have Remedy ready-but keep an eye open for when she casts Reflect on herself, and have Phoenix Down and Full-Life ready to revive party members felled by her Death spell. Diablos is your most effective offensive spell here. Alexander acquired! Congrats! You've taken a big first step into the world of Final Fantasy VIII.