Seifer (Final Fantasy VIII gameplay)

Seifer is a temporary party member and a boss in Final Fantasy VIII. He wields a gunblade in battle and can deal increased damage with a trigger button the same as Squall can. Seifer is playable for the first portion of the Siege of Dollet during the SeeD exam. All the magic in his stock (but not his EXP) is passed onto Selphie after he leaves.

Seifer has an affinity to fire, as every time he uses his Limit Break, he starts off by casting a fire spell at his target in similar fashion as seen in the game's opening FMV. However, it is merely part of the animation and thus not the same as casting Fire with the Magic command. Fire spells are also drawn from Seifer during the encounters with him as a boss.

As with other playable characters in the game, a Triple Triad card based on Seifer can be obtained.

Party member[]

Seifer joins the player's party in Dollet as part of the SeeD exam by talking to him before heading into the town. He is not "subservient" to the player's lead character like party members in any other time, and runs off ahead to do his own thing rather than following the player. He still appears in battle alongside Squall and Zell. After crossing the bridge, the party walks along a mountain path where a set encounter against an Anacondaur occurs; Seifer gives the tutorial on the character dealing the killing blow to the enemy getting bonus EXP from battles, and tells the others to leave the kill for him. However, nothing happens differently if Squall or Zell deals the finishing blow. Once the player gets to the top where Seifer tells Squall about his life goals, he unceremoniously leaves the party by running on ahead and is replaced by Selphie, who inherits Seifer's magic stocks and junctions, but not his EXP.

Seifer's intro pose is to hold his Hyperion upwards in front of his face before slowly lowering it into his battle stance. His victory pose is to swing his gunblade, then hold it with both hands and lower it in front of his face, identical to how he often poses outside of battle.

Weapon[]

Seifer wields a gunblade. His particular model is Hyperion, featuring a pistol handle based on the Beretta M9, rather than the revolver handles favored by Squall. Seifer holds it with one hand, whereas Squall holds his gunblade two-handed. Pressing the trigger button when Seifer strikes will boost his damage by 50% (he never deals a random critical hit like the party members who do not wield gunblades). Hyperion provides 12 Strength. Like Squall, Seifer never misses with his physical attack.

Limit Break[]

Seifer's Limit Break is Fire Cross. No Mercy is the only one that the player can use during the time Seifer is a guest party member. Unlike the other player characters, Seifer can use his Limit Break without having to be in critical health. This reflects Seifer's ability to later use his special moves against the party as a boss even before being in low health. His Limit Break is unaffected by Crisis Level.

Stats[]

During his stint as a guest party member, the player can use the junction system to boost his stats.

LV	HP	Str	Vit	Mag	Spr	Spd	Luck
1	275	3	2	2	5	15	12
2	335	4	3	3	5	15	12
3	395	4	3	4	6	16	12
4	455	5	4	4	7	16	12
5	515	6	5	5	7	16	12
6	574	7	6	6	8	17	12
7	634	8	6	7	8	17	13
8	693	8	7	7	9	17	13
9	752	9	7	8	10	18	13
10	812	10	8	9	10	18	13
11	871	11	9	9	11	18	13
12	930	11	9	10	11	19	13
13	989	12	10	10	12	19	13
14	1048	13	10	11	12	19	13
15	1107	13	11	12	13	20	13
16	1165	14	12	12	14	20	13
17	1224	15	12	13	14	20	13
18	1283	15	13	13	15	21	13
19	1341	16	13	14	15	21	13
20	1400	17	14	15	16	21	13
21	1458	17	14	15	16	22	14
22	1517	18	15	16	17	22	14
23	1575	19	15	16	17	22	14
24	1633	19	16	17	18	23	14
25	1691	20	17	18	18	23	14
26	1749	21	17	18	19	23	14
27	1807	21	18	19	19	24	14
28	1865	22	18	19	20	24	14
29	1923	22	18	20	20	24	14
30	1980	23	19	21	20	24	14
31	2038	24	20	21	21	24	14
32	2095	24	20	21	21	24	14
33	2153	25	21	22	22	25	14
34	2210	25	21	22	22	25	14
35	2267	26	22	23	23	25	15
36	2325	26	22	23	23	26	15
37	2382	27	22	24	23	26	15
38	2439	27	23	24	24	26	15
39	2496	28	23	25	24	27	15
40	2553	29	24	26	25	27	15
41	2610	29	24	26	25	27	15
42	2666	30	25	26	25	28	15
43	2723	30	25	27	26	28	15
44	2780	31	25	27	26	28	15
45	2836	31	26	28	26	29	15
46	2893	32	26	28	27	29	15
47	2949	32	27	29	27	29	15
48	3005	32	27	29	28	30	15
49	3061	33	27	29	28	30	16
50	3117	34	28	30	28	30	16
51	3173	34	28	30	29	31	16
52	3229	34	29	31	29	31	16
53	3285	35	29	31	29	31	16
54	3341	35	29	32	30	32	16
55	3397	36	30	32	30	32	16
56	3453	36	30	32	30	32	16
57	3508	36	30	33	31	33	16
58	3564	37	31	33	31	33	16
59	3619	37	31	34	31	33	16
60	3674	38	32	34	32	33	16
61	3730	38	32	34	32	33	16
62	3785	38	32	35	32	33	16
63	3840	39	32	35	32	34	17
64	3895	39	33	35	33	34	17
65	3950	40	33	36	33	34	17
66	4005	40	33	36	33	35	17
67	4059	40	33	37	33	35	17
68	4114	40	34	37	34	35	17
69	4169	41	34	37	34	36	17
70	4223	41	34	38	34	36	17
71	4278	41	34	38	34	36	17
72	4332	42	35	38	35	37	17
73	4387	42	35	38	35	37	17
74	4441	42	35	39	35	37	17
75	4495	43	36	39	35	38	17
76	4549	43	36	39	35	38	17
77	4603	43	36	40	35	38	18
78	4657	43	36	40	36	39	18
79	4711	44	36	40	36	39	18
80	4765	44	37	41	36	39	18
81	4818	44	37	41	36	40	18
82	4872	44	37	41	36	40	18
83	4925	45	37	41	36	40	18
84	4979	45	37	41	37	41	18
85	5032	45	37	42	37	41	18
86	5085	45	38	42	37	41	18
87	5139	45	38	42	37	42	18
88	5192	46	38	42	37	42	18
89	5245	46	38	42	37	42	18
90	5298	46	38	43	37	42	18
91	5351	46	38	43	37	42	19
92	5404	46	39	43	38	42	19
93	5456	46	39	43	38	43	19
94	5509	47	39	43	38	43	19
95	5562	47	39	44	38	43	19
96	5614	47	39	44	38	44	19
97	5667	47	39	44	38	44	19
98	5719	47	39	44	38	44	19
99	5771	47	39	44	38	45	19
100	5823	48	39	45	38	45	19

Guardian Forces[]

During the time Seifer is a guest party member, the player can equip him with Guardian Forcess and magic for the junction system. They are better off prioritizing Squall and Zell's junctions, however, as there are no bosses or other tough enemies while Seifer is present, and he will soon leave the party and pass on his junctions to Selphie, who benefits from a magic-focused build for her Limit Break. Squall and Zell could thus equip Ifrit and Shiva, who have STR-J, and Seifer could have Quezacotl who has Mag-J, which will be passed onto Selphie when she replaces Seifer in the party. However, his Limit Break is physical, and he is likely the one who can use his the most frequently; it will be weak without a STR-J junction, but the enemies encountered at this point are also not hard to defeat with simple attacks. If the player gives him the magic-focused set-up, they could use Seifer for drawing magic while Squall and Zell handle the enemies with normal attacks.

After he leaves the party, he is never shown having a GF again, though he can still use magic.

The below values are the base compatibility values at the start of the game. Seifer only gets the opportunity to use the first three GFs, and so most of his compatibility values do not matter. Therefore they have the arbitrary pattern of decreasing by 20 instead of logically determined values.

GF	Compatibility
Quezacotl	500
Shiva	480
Ifrit	460
Siren	440
Brothers	400
Diablos	380
Carbuncle	360
Leviathan	340
Pandemona	320
Cerberus	300
Alexander	280
Doomtrain	260
Bahamut	240
Cactuar	220
Tonberry	200
Eden	180

Boss[]

Seifer is fought as a boss four times in the story. He uses Fire-based attacks and gains new Limit Breaks every time he is encountered. If the party has Odin, a cutscene will occur the last time Seifer is faced. Seifer is the only enemy to have the rare spell Aura available for drawing.

Triple Triad[]

Seifer is a Level 10 Player Card in Triple Triad used for playing the minigame and for turning into 3 Diamond Armors with Quezacotl's Card Mod. The card can be won off Headmaster Cid in Balamb Garden or Edea's House.