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Final Fantasy VIII

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Ultimecia's Castle - Tri-Point

By
Nathan Garvin

(1 of 4) Walk across the chandelier

Before the next fight, junction Thundaga to your Elemental Defense, and if you have Auto-Protect you’ll also want to have that active, even above other staples like Auto-Haste, if necessary. If you’re high level, the next boss can hit quite hard, and Protect will… well, protect you from a nasty attack, and thunder resistance will simplify matters considerably. If you’re low-level, just having thunder immunity should suffice to neutralize this upcoming boss.

In any event, go through the door behind where you fought Sphinxaur/Sphinxara to reach a room with a chandelier. Walk onto the chandelier and it’ll crash down onto the floor below, depositing you in the lower room… and just as importantly, smashing into a trapdoor. This collision will allow you to open the otherwise rusted-shut trapdoor, so examine the door and open it to descend to the room below. Go down some stairs and you’ll find Tri-Point floating around smugly. We’ll wipe that smile off its… well, we’ll show it who’s boss! Run under it and press [TALK/CONFIRM] to pick a fight.

Tri-Point
Lv: 1-100
HP: (Lv10) 6,000
HP: (Lv20) 10,000
HP: (Lv30) 14,000
HP: (Lv100) 42,000
Weaknesses: Fire (400% damage) or Ice (400% damage)
Resistances: Gravity (immune), Thunder (absorbs)
Status Resistances: Immune to most status effects; The End 0%
EXP:
AP: 30
Draw: Blind, Haste, Tornado, Siren*
Mug:
Drop: Rocket Engine

*Only if you didn’t draw Siren from Elvoret back during the SeeD Field Exam.

Time for that phrase again; if your party is low level, but high-powered, this will be a laughable fight. At lower levels, Tri-Point has less HP than Sphinxaur/Sphinxara, making it incredibly easy to defeat just by striking it a few times. Also, while at higher levels its Strength can reach over 200 and its Magic can nearly max out, it grows from a laughably low point to reach those stats. That being the case, its Onrush attack is fearsome at higher levels, and pathetic at lower levels - it’s the difference between an attack that can deal 9,999 damage if you don’t use Protect, and an attack that will deal 200~ damage with Protect.

(1 of 4) At the start of the fight, Tri-Point will rather clumsily allude to its elemental weaknesses.

That out of the way, let’s assume you’re not a low-level, high-power party and hence can’t sleep through this fight. Tri-Point will start out the fight by telling you that, well: “USING ELEMENTAL ATTACKS. WHATEVER I DON’T USE, I DON’T LIKE.”. Essentially, you’ll need to hit Tri-Point with elemental attacks that it doesn’t use. What does it use? Thunder. Particularly Mega Spark, which Tri-Point will use to counter all attacks not of the element he opposes, including physical attacks. This attack is actually quite damaging, even at low levels, but since it’s a simple matter to make yourself immune to thunder damage, this shouldn’t be an issue. In fact, there’s no good reason you shouldn’t be absorbing thunder damage, making Mega Spark a source of healing rather than damage.

Tri-Point is either weak to blizzard or fire, and you won’t know which unless you use Scan (if you have “Magic” unlocked) or by blind trial-and-error… and by weak, it’ll take a whopping 400% extra damage. Keep in mind that after you successfully target its elemental weakness once, it’ll switch its weakness to the latter - from ice to fire or fire to ice. If you’re immune to thunder you don’t even need to bother with this aspect of the fight, as the inevitable Mega Spark counter won’t be a threat, but it can be a nice way to score extra damage, if you need it. Most likely, however, you’ll be just fine with using normal attacks.

(1 of 2) Tri-Point will scan a character

Tri-Point will scan a character (left), after which it’ll follow up with its Onrush attack against said character - while weak at low levels, at higher levels it can be quite powerful. (right)

That’s not to say Tri-Point is harmless. It too can use Scan, and after it scans a character, be wary, as it’ll follow up with its Onrush attack. While not too terrible at lower levels, at higher levels it can deal serious damage, and if you’re at or near max level it might even be able to one-shot a character. Suffice to say this isn’t ideal, but Protect should keep the attack out of one-shot territory, at least if your HP are high enough.

So yeah, Tri-Point isn’t harmless… unless you’re immune to thunder, your HP are high, your level is low, or if you have Protect. Suffice to say, for most parties Tri-Point should be a pretty easy target, just be sure to draw Siren from it if you don’t have that GF before you show mercy and finish the fight. After it falls you’ll score a Rocket Engine, which will teach a GF the Spd+40% ability, or you can refine it into 50x Triple spells.

More importantly, you’ll get to unseal another power - if you unlocked “Draw” last time, unlock “Magic” this time. Unlocking “Draw” isn’t a bad followup to unlocking “Magic”, either, but you might also want to unlock “Limit Breaks”, as it’ll give you back your best offensive option for upcoming battles. Whatever of the three you pick, it doesn’t matter much - the next fight shouldn’t be very difficult, either.

Speaking of which, time to get back to the entrance, and coincidentally in position to fight the next of Ultimecia’s minions. First, grab an Aura draw point to the right, then return back upstairs. Back in the lower chandelier room, exit through some doors beyond the stairs to the left to reach a dark hallway. Head down and exit through a doorway to the right to return to the entrance chamber of Ultimecia’s Castle. Easy enough. Exit the castle and save your game if you wish, then move on to your next opponent - Trauma.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Square Enix
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS1, PS4, Switch, XB One
  • Genre
    RPG
  • Guide Release
    15 March 2019
  • Last Updated
    4 June 2022
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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Follow the exploits of Squall, a resident of Balamb Garden and SeeD aspirant whose first contract as a professional mercenary expands into a fight to save the world from an evil sorceress.

This guide will cover the main quest-line chronologically, giving advice on leveling (and how to avoid it), where to find the best spells, how to acquire all GFs and defeat all bosses. In addition the guide will cover all side quests and will also include in-depth mini-guides for Chocobo World and Triple Triad. By following this guide you can aspire to the following:

  • Complete walkthrough of the main questline.
  • All side quests and optional content.
  • How to defeat both of the game’s superbosses.
  • Information on how to acquire each GF and a discussion of their abilities, including where to assign them.
  • Information on Triple Triad, including the location of every card in the game and how to best use them.
  • Low-level run information.
  • Information on min-maxing stats.
  • A mini-guide for Chocobo World.
  • Information on all characters, including stats and how to acquire all their weapons and limits.
  • Triple Triad guide.

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