Seifer (boss)

Seifer is a boss in Final Fantasy VIII, fought against four times in the game.

At the first battle, Squall faces Seifer one-on-one. Then Edea joins him, and Squall is joined by Rinoa and Irvine. At the second battle, Seifer is faced alone. At the third battle, Edea joins Seifer. At the fourth battle, Seifer is faced alone.

First Encounter
Seifer is fought alone with Squall in this climatic battle at Edea's Parade. Unfortunately, this won't be any close or heart-pounding match; However, it can be a hard battle if Squall does not have Fire resistance junctioned. Seifer's strongest means of attack is the Fira Spell which will not affect Squall if he is protected against Fire based attacks. Fortunately, Seifer rarely conjures the Fire spell. Instead, he just lunges upon Squall, delivering standard attacks. What's more, the Hyperion rarely triggers; when he does, you can expect the damage to be a little higher. Don't bother with GFs here; just hack away at Seifer with physical attacks and he'll go down soon enough.

Second Encounter
Seifer is again fought alone, in the Master room in Galbadia Garden, but this time you have a full party of your choice to use. Draw Haste from him and cast it on the party as well as stocking some for later use. He won't use his old Fira spell, instead preferring to attack you with Gunblade attacks. These can easily be cured with standard Cure magic and the Hyperion still doesn't trigger often. When you lower his health, he will say "Ready to die Squall?" and attacks Squall with Demon Slice. This does a lot more damage than Hyperion, so use Cura. After he uses that move on Squall, he will randomly trget party members with it. However, Seifer isn't much harder than last time, summon your GFs and he falls pretty easily, especially if your party is boosted by Haste.

Third Encounter
Seifer is now joined by Edea, in the Auditorium but she will just watch the fight. Seifer is still recovering from the last battle, so he has less HP. But his attacks are now more powerful. The best way of approaching this battle is to Draw and cast Haste on the party again, then attacking him in your preferred manner. Keep an eye on his HP throughout the fight with Scan. When you can knock him down with a couple of strokes, renew your Haste status then defeat him, so that when you battle Edea, you are already Hasted. When Seifer falls, then Edea will intervene.

Final Encounter
Seifer has changed, in both attitude and appearance. His coat is ragged and he now sees himself as a revolutionary. Your battle is this time in the Lunatic Pandora, again with a party of your choice. At this point, you have access to a lot more option than before. He attacks again with sword attacks and a new attack called Bloodfest. But Curaga can easily heal these. Draw his Aura spell and stock it, but also cast it on your party. Now, whenever Seifer deals damage, you can use a Limit Break. Renew this status by Drawing the spell from your enemy. Renzokuken, Blue Magic, Shot and Angel Wing are very effective here. At a certain point in the battle, if you have GF Odin, then he will arrive. Seifer unleashes Zantetsuken Reverse, which destroys Odin. Gilgamesh arrives and claims Odin's sword. Now, if you don't win the battle within 13 turns, Gilgamesh arrives and defeats Seifer for you. This is your final Seifer battle, so you never have to fight him again.