Dollet

Duchy of Dollet is a small, independent duchy in Final Fantasy VIII. It is the setting for Squall, Zell, Seifer and Selphie's SeeD entrance exam. Dollet is one of the few locations in the world to possess broadcasting technology, which makes it important to multiple parties.

According to the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, Dollet Dukedom is the last remnant of the Holy Dollet Empire, which once governed most of the world. Dollet Empire was the first major settlement started by the people who emigrated from Centra. Most of what used to be part of Dollet Empire is currently governed by Galbadia. Lying in the northeast region of the Galbadian continent, Dollet is a small territory. Being known as Holy Dollet Empire alludes to the real world Holy Roman Empire, a weak, fragmented empire of city states proclaimed as a successor to the Roman Empire. In the game, locations related to Centra have an architectural style reminiscent of ancient Rome.

Due to Dollet's warm climate and beautiful scenery, it has become a popular tourist attraction, with the wealthy from various nations setting up high-class resorts. Dollet holds a small-scale infantry troop, but they lack combat experience and cannot cope with a sudden offensive surge. Due to a small military budget, the necessary funds to commission SeeD were raised by an extra tax on the residents.

Story
Dollet hosts one of the few radio communication facilities left after the abandonment of radio technology 17 years ago due to the worldwide radio interference. When Galbadian president Vinzer Deling wants to broadcast Sorceress Edea's ascension as the nation's new ambassador, he attacks Dollet take control of the duchy's radio tower. In 49 hours the Galbadian Army breaks through the Dollet lines of defense and occupies the city, forcing the Dollet army to withdraw to the surrounding mountains. 54 hours into the battle the Dollet Parliament votes to hire SeeD mercenaries to assist, and 18 hours later the reinforcements arrive in seven SeeD Assault Boats.

Squall, Zell and Seifer are among the mercenaries, their deployment being their final SeeD exam mission. Their main purpose is to remove remaining Galbadian soldiers from the town center, but Seifer becomes impatient and decides to follow soldiers heading for the radio tower on the mountains, disobeying a direct order from Balamb Garden. On their way to the radio tower they meet up with Selphie from the intelligence squad who has a message for Seifer, and joins the team after Seifer runs ahead.

Atop the tower Biggs and Wedge reactivate it, and fight the aspiring SeeD. A monster Elvoret blows Biggs and Wedge out and after Elvoret is defeated, Selphie delivers an order to withdraw to the beach within 30 minutes; failure to show up in time would result in them being considered missing in action. Biggs sends a mechanical spider after the cadets which chases them to the beach. The party can either defeat the spider, or, once they have reached the beach from which they arrived, Quistis will take it down with a gun turret mounted on the SeeD Assault Boat.

Following the SeeD withdrawal Galbadia reaches a truce with the Dollet Parliament in which the radio tower would stay activated and Galbadian troops remain stationed at the mountain, while Dollet is allowed the retain its independence. Despite the lack of a clear victory, the SeeD deployment is considered a success.

Location
Dollet is situated within the Hasberry Valley in the Galbadian Continent, right on the edge of the ocean.

Layout
Car Rental at the town entrance hires out cars for a small fee. Although driving a car allows the party to avoid random encounters, they need fuel to run them.
 * Car Rental:

A two-floor installation; the first floor for beverages and confectionery and the top floor devoted to the game of Triple Triad. Another room, accessed via a bridge that cuts over the street outside, also plays host to the game, albeit only those invited are allowed, very V.I.P.
 * Dollet Pub:
 * Items - Timber Maniacs Magazine, Occult Fan II Magazine

With housing either side and cobblestone paving, the streets of Dollet are wide enough for cars to run through and run a circuit through the town.
 * Street:

During the Siege of Dollet Squad B was assigned to hold position on the town square. The center of Dollet, the square holds host to a prominent water fountain, as well as the entrance to the Dollet Hotel.
 * Town Square:
 * Draw Points - Silence

Timber Maniacs journalist Laguna Loire once wrote an article about this Hotel, having stayed during his trip to Esthar.
 * Dollet Hotel:
 * Items - Timber Maniacs Magazine

The bridge crosses the gap between the township and the mountain path.
 * Bridge:

The primary target during the Siege of Dollet, the Galbadian Army attempted to gain control of the tower in an effort to restore communications around the globe. Although successful in reactivating it, the army was pushed out by SeeD forces soon after.
 * Dollet Communications Tower:
 * Items - Weapons Monthly Magazine
 * Draw Points - Blind
 * Guardian Forces - Siren

A seaside town like Balamb, Dollet features a small harbor complemented with little cafes dotted along the wharf.
 * Dollet Harbor:

Dollet's beach was used as the primary entry point by the SeeD forces during the Siege of Dollet. The beach is contained by man-made walls.
 * Beach:

Junk shop
Weapon remodeling can be done at the junk shop, located within the Nautilus.

SeeD exam score
The score Squall receives after the exam is determined by his actions on the day of the field exam, and his score determines his starting rank as a SeeD, which in turn determines his salary. The player can get extra points by destroying X-ATM092 head on instead of letting Quistis destroy it, and should interacting with the dog on the town square during the escape to save it. Points are deducted for poor conduct.

Dog sidequest
After coming back to Dollet after the SeeD exam, the player can do a sidequest involving the painter, his grandson and a dog. The boy will paint a bone into the man's paintings indicating the dog's location. If Squall finds the dog after this, he gets an item.

On disc 1 or disc 2 the rewards are Potion, Phoenix Down and Soft, but if the player waits till after the Battle of the Gardens with the quest, they get X-Potion, Mega-Potion and Elixir.

Triple Triad
Dollet uses Dollet region rules where Random and Elemental are the starting rules. Dollet is a pivotal location for the Queen of Cards sidequest. Once the Queen travels to Dollet, her artist father can create new rare cards, and the cards the Queen requests can be won back from her son (the boy who paints the bone in the artist's paintings).

The Siren GF card is held by the pub owner. If the player wins any game against the pub owner, they can visit his "secret room" where they can obtain various items by observing the magazines, one being the rare Occult Fan II.

Enemies
The enemies appear during the SeeD field exam, apart from the G-Soldiers that can still be fought afterward on the bridge.

Beach and beachfront

 * No encounters

Spice Bar street
Available after the party has access to "Bridge". No encounters during the persecution from X-ATM092.
 * G-Soldier (A) (50%) (can't escape)
 * Elite Soldier (50%)

Shining Bomber
Available after the party has access to "Bridge".
 * G-Soldier (B) (33.3%) (can't escape)
 * Elite Soldier (33.3%)
 * G-Soldier x3 (33.3%)

Nautilus street
Available after the party has access to "Bridge".
 * G-Soldier (A) (30%) (can't escape)
 * G-Soldier (B) (30%) (can't escape)
 * G-Soldier, Elite Soldier (25%)
 * G-Soldier x3 (15%)

Town square

 * No encounters

Bridge

 * G-Soldier (50%)
 * G-Soldier x3 (50%)

Mountain path (first area)
Random encounters will trigger after clearing the fixed Anacondaur battle, leaving the and re-entering.
 * Anacondaur (fixed battle)
 * G-Soldier x2 (30%)
 * Geezard (30%)
 * G-Soldier (25%)
 * Anacondaur x2 (15%)

Mountain path (second area)

 * G-Soldier
 * G-Soldier x2, Elite Soldier
 * Geezard
 * Anacondaur x2

Cliff

 * No encounters

Mountain path (third area)

 * G-Soldier x2
 * G-Soldier, Elite Soldier
 * Geezard
 * Geezard x3

Mountain path (fourth area)

 * G-Soldier
 * Elite Soldier
 * Geezard
 * Anacondaur, Geezard x2

Outside communications tower

 * No encounters

Communications tower - lower floor

 * Before defeating Elvoret
 * G-Soldier
 * G-Soldier, Elite Soldier


 * After defeating Elvoret
 * G-Soldier x3
 * Elite Soldier

Communications tower - upper floor

 * Biggs and Wedge (boss)
 * Elvoret (boss)

Several locations

 * X-ATM092 (boss)

Musical themes

 * "The Landing" - accompanies the SeeD field exam, accompanying the FMV of their arrival in Dollet.
 * "Starting Up" - following the activation of the Dollet Communications Tower.
 * "Dance with the Balamb-Fish" - the field theme for Dollet. This theme is also shortly used at the SeeD graduation and on the Lunar Base.
 * "Never Look Back" - played during the chase scene between the SeeDs and the X-ATM092 Assault Mech.
 * "Dead End" - played during the final moments of the chase scene.

SeeD Field Exam
Squall and Zell are assigned to a three-man squad led by Seifer for their SeeD field exam. As they approach the exam site in the Duchy of Dollet, the shells whizzing overhead make it clear that they are entering a true war zone.

Dollet
Squall and his party make their way toward the beach to withdraw before their ships pull out, but Biggs has one final plan to stop them from escaping.

Trivia

 * The demo for Final Fantasy VIII revolves around the Dollet Invasion but certain aspects are different from the game version. Most notably the playable cast features only Squall, Zell and Rinoa, Squall and Zell are in their civilian clothes and not their Garden uniform, and the game's demo uses a music track during the Dollet invasion which is not featured in the game's final version. Leviathan is the only available GF to summon.
 * On close examination of the introductory FMV, the Dollet soldiers use the same machine guns as Laguna.
 * If the player revisits Dollet later in the game, certain things will be different depending on how X-ATM092 was destroyed. If the player destroyed it, X-ATM092's remains will not be on the beach. If X-ATM092 is destroyed after passing the central square, a blue car in the path leading from the square to the beach will have been destroyed and replaced by a green car.
 * However, if X-ATM092 was destroyed on the bridge, the blue car will still be replaced with the green car.
 * Later in the game, if the player tries to return to the Dollet communications tower, a Galbadian Soldier will call two robots identical to X-ATM092. The first one (RoboVite 001) falls off the cliff, and the second (RoboSharp 002) falls from the mountain path, entering the screen in an upside-down position, blocking the path to the tower.
 * A dummied line in the game data indicates the player would have been prevented from going back to the beach after the exam started, with Zell stopping the player if they tried to return. This doesn't happen in the final game.
 * The painting called VIATOR in the Art Gallery in Ultimecia Castle may depict Dollet, as the coastline of the town in the painting is similar.

Dollet Dollet