What the cast looks like with the above GFs:
Squall:
Diablos
HP: 3000
Summon: Dark Messenger - Gravity-based percentage damage, MT Percentage based on level (50% mHP damage at L50, 100% mHP damage at L100) Damage cannot exceed 9999 cap.
Mug: Physical + Steal
Darkside : 3x Physical damage, costs 10% mHP
Innate boosts: (Can only equip 3, stackable)
Mag+20%,40%
HP+20%,40%,80%
GFHP+10%,20%,30%
Ability x3 – can equip up to 3 innate boosts.
Menu abilities:
Time Magic Refine -Slow, Haste, Stop, Quake, Demi, Double, Triple
Status Magic Refine - Silence, Berserk, Bio, Blind, Confuse, Sleep, Break, Pain, Meltdown
Junctions: Mag, HP, Hit
Squall's stats [with Junctions] (Junctioned spells/abilities)
HP - 4187 [9999] (PainX100) (HP+80%, HP+40%)
STR - 47
VIT - 41
MAG - 45 [115] (TripleX100)
SPR - 36
SPD - 37
LUK - 22
Hit - 255 [255] (DoubleX100 for a +40 boost! Yes!)
Squall can increase his Hit, too, but his weapon is already a 255 (max) Hit weapon. With Diablo, Squall gets access to a summoning meatshield that deals cHP damage against anything that doesn't resist Gravity. He also gets Darkside to deal 3x his normal (already game-best) physical for the minor cost of 10% mHP. Oh, and he hits the HP cap easily with HP+80% and +40%, which stack. He even has room left over for another innate boost thanks to Ability x3. If you allow the PCs to actually -cast- their refined spells and not simply equip them (I don't), then Squall is also a nasty status whore.
Rinoa:
Leviathan
HP: 3550
Summon: Tsunami – 2185 MT Water magic damage
Recover - Heals at no MP cost!
Innate boosts: (Can only equip two, stackable)
Spr+20%,40%
SumMag+10%,20%,30%
GFHP+10%,20%,30%
Boost 230%
Menu commands:
Support Magic Refine - Esuna, Dispel, Protect, Shell, Reflect, Drain, Aura
Junctions: Spr, Mag, Elem DefX2, Elem Atk
Rinoa's stats [w/ Junctions] (Junctioned spells/abilities)
HP - 4181
STR - 67
VIT - 31
MAG - 63 [87] (AuraX100)
SPR - 39 [111 (177 w/ Spr+40%,20%)] (ReflectX100)
SPD - 36
LUK – 22
Fire, Ice, Thunder Def: 40% (ProtectX100, ShellX100)
All other Elem Def: 20% (ShellX100)
Rinoa gets a big boost to her magic durability if you allow Junctioning. She also picks up the hardest-hitting GF of the PCs, so she'll be using that primarily for offense. More importantly, she gets the Recover commad, which is nearly-full free healing that she can spam every turn. So she basically becomes a staller who you must OHKO or outspeed.
Quistis:
Shiva
HP: 2750
Summon: Diamond Dust – 1897 MT Ice magic damage
Doom – 100% ID when Timer reaches 0.
Innate boosts: (Can only equip two, stackable)
Spr+20%,40%
Vit+20%,40%
SumMag+10%,20%,30%
GFHP+10%,20%
Boost 180%
Menu commands:
Ice Magic Refine - Blizzard, Blizzara, Blizzaga, Water
Junctions: Spr, Str, Vit, Elem Atk, Elem DefX2
Quistis' stats [w/ Junctions] (Junctioned spells/abilties)
HP - 3883
STR - 46 [76] (BlizzagaX100)
VIT - 30 [44 (62 w/ Vit+40%) (70 w/ Vit+40,20%)] (WaterX100)
MAG - 42
SPR - 34 [42 (59 w/ Spr+40%) (72 w/ Spr+40,20%)] (BlizzaraX100)
SPD - 34
LUK - 21
Ice Def: 50% (BlizzardX100)
*Ice Def: 150% (Absorbs damage as HP) (BlizzagaX100)
*Ice Atk: 100% (Physical becomes Ice-elemental) (BlizzagaX100)
*Quistis can drop her STR boost to opt for an Ice-elemental attack for whatever reason, she probably prefers to just summon Shiva in this case. But she can also drop her STR boost for the ability to absorb Ice-elemental attacks.
Quistis gets a nice STR boost, but at the moment, I'm not sure what kind of effect this has on her physical damage output besides 'it increases'. She also picks up some fun Ice-elemental tricks and Doom, which might allow her to stall until ID hits against slower opponents. The defense boosts are a nice addition, too. Water is sucky spell for Junctioning compared to the other elemental magic refine sets.
Zell:
Ifrit
HP: 3100
Summon: Hell Fire - 1980 MT Fire magic damage
Mad Rush: Grants Berserk, Protect, Haste to party
Innate boosts: (Can only equip two, stackable)
Str+20%,40%
Str Bonus (+1 Str per level up)
SumMag+10%,20%,30%
GFHP+10%,20%30%
Boost 180%
Menu commands:
Fire Magic Refine - Fire, Fira, Firaga, Flare
Ammo Refine
Junctions: Str, HP, Elem-DefX2, Elem-Atk
Zell's stats [w/ Junctions] (Junctioned spells/abilities)
HP - 4018 [5418] (FiragaX100)
STR - 47 [153 (214 w/ Str+40%) (245 w/ Str+40%,20%)] (FlareX100) (Str Bonus)
VIT - 33
MAG - 42
SPR - 27
SPD - 35
LUK - 20
Fire Def: 130% (Absorbs Fire as HP) (FiraX100, FireX100 to both Elem-Defs)
*Fire Atk: 50% (Physical gets Fire-element attributes) (FireX100)
*Zell can lose some Fire resistance (down to 80%) and Junction his Fire spells to Elem-Atk to get a Fire elemental physical for whatever reason. He probably wants to use Ifrit in this case, but then again, his STR stat is awesome.
Yikes. Ifrit's skills are well-tailored for dueling. STR Bonus grants a point of STR at every level up. This would mean that if Zell had Ifrit from level 1, he'd get a +98 STR increase because FF8 characters' stats are taken at L99 in the DL for some reason. I'm capping this at STR+50 for a more conservative estimate, but just be aware that it could be higher. Additionally, Ifrit also allows STR junctioning AND STR percent boosts, so Zell can almost hit the STR cap. Not sure how much damage this translates to in his physical, but needless to say, it's a lot. To top it off, he can use Mad Rush, which Berserks him (no Limit hype then), but it also boosts his damage further AND he gets Haste and Protect out of the deal to become a speedy physical powers who absorbs Fire for good measure. If he needs magic damage for whatever reason, he'll drop the Str boosts and go for Summon Magic boosting to get some mileage out of Ifrit's not-too-shabby summon, too.
Selphie:
Siren
HP: 2700
Summon: Silent Voice - 1356 and high chance of Silence
Treatment: Cures all status effects
Innate boosts: (Can only equip two, stackable)
Mag+20%,40%
Mag Bonus
SumMag+10%,20%,30%
GFHP+10%,20%
Boost 200
Menu commands:
Life Magic Refine - Cure, Cura, Curaga, Regen, Life, Full-Life, Holy, Zombie, Death
Status Medicine Refine
Tool Refine
Junctions: Mag, St-DefX2, St-Atk
Selphie's stats [w/ Junctions] (Junctioned spells/abilities)
HP - 3680
STR - 45
VIT - 28
MAG - 49 [119 (167 w/ Mag+40%) (190 w/ Mag+40,20%)] (CuragaX100) (Mag Bonus)
SPR - 38
SPD - 37
LUK - 26
Status Attack: 100% ID attached to physical (DeathX100)
*Status Attack: 100% Zombie status attached to physical (ZombieX100) I believe Zombie ends a match if all remaining opponents are Zombies.
Status Def(x2 slots): 80% ID resist, 40% resist against Poison, Berserk, Zombie, Sleep, Curse, Confuse, Drain (HolyX100, Full-LifeX100)
*Stat Def(x2 slots): 100% ID resist (DeathX100), 100% Zombie resist (ZombieX100)
Well, Siren works really well with Selphie's weapon. She's able to get two flavors of 100% ID attached to her ITE physical. Yikes. She can also opt to junction these to her status defense for 100% ID protection if necessary. Her Magic stat got a nice boost too, which is useful if you allow her to cast Holy from the menu, or if not, STILL useful thanks to how it effects the power of her Limits. She also has Silence by summoning Siren should she be facing an ID-immune mage. Regen and Curaga are nice too if you allow them to cast their menu-refined spells (I don't).
Irvine:
Quezacotl
HP: 2850
Summon: Thunder Storm – 1892 MT Thunder magic damage
Card - ID. Sucess percentage increases as enemy's HP decreases, turns enemy into a card. Godly.
Innate boosts: (Can only equip two, stackable)
Mag+20%, 40%
SumMag+10%,20%,30%
Boost 180%
GFHP+10%,20%
Menu commands:
Thunder Magic Refine - Thunder, Thundara, Thundaga, Aero, Tornado
Mid Magic Refine
Card Mod
Junctions: HP, Vit, Elem DefX2, Elem Atk
Irvine's stats [w/ Junctions] (Junctioned spells/abilities)
HP - 3880 [6880] (TornadoX100)
STR - 45
VIT - 31 [47] (ThundagaX100)
MAG - 42 [42 (59 w/ Mag+40%) (67 w/ Mag+40,20%)]
SPR - 28
SPD - 39
LUK - 21
Thunder Def (x2 slots): 130% (Absorbs Thunder as HP) (ThundaraX100, ThunderX100)
*Wind Def (+Thun Def in slot2): 80% (AeroX100, ThundaraX100)
*Thunder/Wind Atk (1 slot only): 80% Thunder or Wind-elemental physical (ThundaraX100 OR AeroX100)
Irvine picked up some increased durability and Thunder/Wind elemental tricks. Nothing particularly exciting, but the increased HP means that his Limit range is little broader and he's more likely to survive being knocked into range so he can unleash the big damage or status whoring. Also spoils Thunder/Wind reliant characters and picks up a summoning meatshield with magic damage. He probably doesn't care about the Magic stat boost and will opt for the SumMag boost instead to increased Quezacotl's summoning effectiveness.
Personally, I find the cast to be extremely interesting this way, and there's -just- enough gameplay backing for me to take the cast like this. So uh... yeah, Selphie for Heavy.
But... if nothing else, these numbers might be useful for coming up with an average to take Junctioned FF8 PCs against.
