Alert (Final Fantasy VIII)

Alert
(けいかい, Keikai?)
Availability
Obtained	Cerberus
AP	200
Classification
Type	Support ability
Effect	Enemies never get advantageous battle formations in random encounters, and the player starts with an advantage more often
Related pages
Recurring appearance	Vigilance (ability)

Prevents Back Attack.

Description

Alert is a support ability in Final Fantasy VIII. When equipped to a member of the active party, random encounters are never back attacks. Although the menu description does not mention it, Alert also makes it easier for the player party to surprise enemies in random battles.

Obtained

The Guardian Force Cerberus learns Alert for 200 AP. Cerberus is recruited after fighting him as a boss during the Battle of the Gardens, or by drawing him from Gargantua in the final dungeon. If the player removes Alert with Amnesia Greens, there is no way to get it back.

Mechanics

When Alert is in effect it prevents back attacks from occurring against the party and increases the chances of them occurring against random encounters. A preemptive strike can occur for either side, announced as either "Chance for first strike!" for the party or "Struck first!" for enemies. The benefiting side starts with full ATB gauges, while the vulnerable side starts with empty gauges, though they will still fill normally. Back attacks can also occur, which function similarly, though the vulnerable side will also start the battle faced away, causing targets to take double damage and turn around if struck by a physical attack. A back attack in the party's favor is announced as "Back attack!" while "Back attacked!" is announced for enemies. Enemies will not always attack right away when back-attacking the party.

Alert does not protect against the fixed back attack in the Deep Sea Research Center against a Ruby Dragon while answering Bahamut's questions. Some enemies cannot be struck preemptively without Alert equipped.

Use

Alert is generally useful, but perhaps not valuable enough to use up a support ability slot for. It would be useful on Island Closest to Hell and Island Closest to Heaven to prevent enemies from getting the first move, though a character with Initiative would still start with full ATB even in back attacks. If the player simply does not want to be surprised by random enemies, they can also use Enc-None to remove all random battles.

It is not useful to equip for boss battles or other fixed battles.