I have a question regarding Zell...

[commenghost]

Why does he suck so much at drawing magic? Is there a canon reason for it from when the game first came out or is it just a coding thing ? In any case. He is DREADFUL at drawing magic.

Case in point I am currently "trying" to draw magic out of diablos at level 30 or so. By the time my other two characters finished drawing EVERYTHING, Zell had not even finished Demi. And there are 4 spells lv 30 version Diablo has. I am now trying to draw holy from Diablos with Zell, and he has these hit and miss periods. Sometimes he will draw 3 in a row and sometimes even he will draw more than 1 spell a time, yet other times he will miss 3-4-5 times in a row. Anf frankly, those miss periods are more frequent. Trying to draw with Zell is a complete nightmare...

[DarkAlenia]

If I remember right, you can run away from that particular battle with Diablos?

*Run away
*Transfer those Diablos-specific spells from another character to Zell
*Go back to Diablos and stock up with the other character

Zell now has all the spells and you have less frustration xD

[commenghost]

Too late. I already went through that frustration...

I also have not ever had such issues drawing with anyone else. Not in any playthrough of the game no matter how far back I look.

Its just ZELL. He sucks at drawing. Yes sure, the others may fail once in a while. But Zell will happily fail 5-6-7 times in a row and then when he DOES draw, takes only 1. Squall and Selphie would occasionally miss. But they normally draw at least 3-5 of each spell EVERY time except when they are almost full of a spell. The same can be said for the other characters except for Zell. I do not know why...but he just seems to really really REALLY suck at drawing magic. I am not over-reacting when I say this, but he fails to draw more often than he draws. [its like a 60% chance of failure...where the others are probably 10%]

[Gough Whitlam]

The chance of success is based on the Magic stat

taken from http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Power

Final Fantasy VIII

Magic stat determines the power of spells and how well the character is able to draw magic from enemies. It also affects Quistis's Blue Magic, Selphie's Slots spells and Rinoa's Angel Wing spells. Magic stat doesn't affect the summon magic's power like in previous games.

The characters' base stats are low, but Rinoa has the highest natural Magic stat of the main six playable characters. Magic can be permanently boosted with Mag Up items, the Devour ability and leveling up (Siren and Cactuar also have a Mag Bonus that works like the Espers' level up bonuses in Final Fantasy VI), but the main method is via junctioning. Guardian Forces with Mag-J ability allow its user to junction spells to the character's Magic stat, and GFs also learn Mag+% abilities to boost it further.

However, spells in Final Fantasy VIII are mainly intended for junctioning and when used in battle, most offensive spells are significantly weaker than in previous games and usually inferior to physical attacks unless the opponent is weak against the particular element. Further, as there is no penalty to summoning in Final Fantasy VIII, magic spells are rarely used for offensive purposes. Higher Magic stat does, however, allow the character to draw magic from opponents more efficiently. Every spell has its own "draw resist" value, and if the unit's Magic stat is too weak, their draw might fail completely.

[srsface]

It's because you have Selphie and Squall junctioned with your guardian forces that up your Magic stat.

At that point in the game (assuming you fight Diablos immediately when you get the chance), only 2 GFs can junction Magic.

[commenghost]

It's odd the things you forget. I have not played this game for over 15 years now. I completely forgot how ability to draw is tied into your magic stat. Although proving a case in point, I just unjunctioned my other two characters GFs and had a look at their base magic compared to Zells. They are 3 points higher and this is at just lv 35. Now it's been a while and all, but I would presume the other 3 characters, Irvine, Quistes and Rinoa have Zell licked in that department as well. [for unjunctioned base magic stat] While it's good to know I can fix this problem he's got just by giving him a GF with the junction MAG skill...but I find myself asking if I even want him as one of my team, cause I have a similar opinion on Zell that Seifer has...being that Zell is a chicken wuss.

[Lord Wholesome]

Personally, I would forego drawing and instead turn items into magic, costs way less time and is generally the better way to go about things.

[CleanWater]

Man, my strategy is always to draw Magic with the other characters while Zell is attacking. Juncion a good magic on Zell Str and let him be the main figher of the group.

[srsface]

Originally posted by commenghost:

It's odd the things you forget. I have not played this game for over 15 years now. I completely forgot how ability to draw is tied into your magic stat. Although proving a case in point, I just unjunctioned my other two characters GFs and had a look at their base magic compared to Zells. They are 3 points higher and this is at just lv 35. Now it's been a while and all, but I would presume the other 3 characters, Irvine, Quistes and Rinoa have Zell licked in that department as well. [for unjunctioned base magic stat] While it's good to know I can fix this problem he's got just by giving him a GF with the junction MAG skill...but I find myself asking if I even want him as one of my team, cause I have a similar opinion on Zell that Seifer has...being that Zell is a chicken wuss.

If you're at 35, there's a good chance you had "Magic Up" equipped for a few levels on other people on top of him not having the best base magic stat.

And if you're not considering him on the team purely because his base magic stat is lowest, that's pretty short-sighted. Magic, generally speaking, is not for casting. High physical strength characters are the most powerful in terms of sheer damage per action. Zell is the second strongest character in the game in terms of damage per action, as his limit break is really, really good. It's not Renzokuken, but it's still really powerful.

Once you get enough GFs you can junction every main stat on everybody, base stats are largely irrelevant. Limits become the defining trait of any character. Squall, therefore, is an automatic shoo-in for best character because Renzokuken is amazing. Beyond that it's up to your personal tastes. I dislike Selphie because her limit takes too long to maybe possibly get an okay result. Zell is really good and reliable. Irvine is also really good but requires a bit of grinding to siphon out good ammo from rare materials. Hard to argue with Angelo doing things even when it's not Rinoa's turn. And Quistis gets Degenerator which is easily one of the best abilities in the entire game, AND it's super easy to obtain early from the card game.