Eva-J (Final Fantasy VIII)

Eva-J
(回避J, Kaihi J?)
Availability
Obtained	Cactuar, Eden, Aegis Amulet
AP	200
Classification
Type	Junction ability
Effect	Junction magic to a character's Evade stat to raise it

Junctions Magic to Evade

Description

Eva-J is a junction ability in Final Fantasy VIII. When a party member junctions a Guardian Force that has Eva-J mastered, they can raise their evasion rate to physical attacks by equipping spells from their current Magic inventory to their Evade stat in the junction menu.

See also: Junction system

Obtained

The GFs Cactuar and Eden learn Eva-J for 200 AP. It can be taught to any GF AP-free with the Aegis Amulet item, easiest obtained from the UFO?; the player can even farm them with an exploit:

UFO? Aegis Amulet farming from FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered

The UFO? needs to be defeated by the auto-triggered Phoenix, which happens randomly after the player has manually used a Phoenix Pinion in battle at least once, and the party is annihilated. The player can enter the battle with the two other party members petrified, and then have Squall kill himself with an attack, and then escape when the Phoenix is summoned and revives him. The UFO? never starts its proper death animation if defeated by the auto-triggered Phoenix, and instead will only jump in place. The player can then return to the location to fight it again.

Mechanics

Eva-J allows the character equipping a GF who knows the ability to junction spells to their Evade stat, raising the chance physical attacks toward them will miss. This stat is where Eva+30% is calculated, as well. Any spell can be junctioned to Eva-J, but different spells offer variable increases. The best spells for Eva-J are Tornado, Triple, and Ultima.

Whether a physical attack hits is determined by the attacker's Hit Rate and Luck, and the target's Evasion stat and Luck, using the following formula:

$Hit\% = (AttackerLuck / 2 + AttackerHit - TargetEva - TargetLuck)$

Units with Stop have their Evasion fall to 0%.

The following spell list is from worst to best for Eva-J; effect on Evade per single spell. The maximum is 100 spells to one stat, and each spell can be junctioned to one stat at a time (exception, see junction glitch); if the player wants to equip a spell to another stat, it will be unequipped from the current -J ability. When using a draw point, if the offered spell is currently being junctioned to an active party member's stat, it will show a symbol next to it when choosing the recipient upon using the draw point.

Spells	Effect
Pain / Zombie	Eva +0.01
Cure / Cura / Esuna / Life / Protect / Shell / Aura / Drain / Berserk / Blind / Bio / Silence / Meltdown / Scan	Eva +0.02
Fire / Blizzard / Thunder / Quake / Flare / Double	Eva +0.03
Dispel / Curaga / Regen / Full-life / Reflect / Float / Break / Death / Confuse / Sleep / Fira / Firaga / Blizzara / Blizzaga / Thundara / Thundaga / Water / Demi	Eva +0.04
Holy	Eva +0.07
Haste / Slow / Aero	Eva +0.08
Meteor / Apocalypse	Eva +0.12
Tornado	Eva +0.13
Triple	Eva +0.16
Ultima	Eva +0.24

Use

Eva-J is a boon to have but not crucial. It helps avoid damage by evading physical attacks, but the player can simply mitigate damage with Vit-J, Vit+%, and Protect. Not all physical attacks are also able to be evaded, and does not help at all against magic. Most normal encounters the player should be able to defeat without taking much damage, and bosses use many un-evadable attacks.

Eva-J is a late game ability, first learned by Cactuar, obtained by defeating Jumbo Cactuar at Cactuar Island, reached with Ragnarok. Eden, meanwhile, is drawn from the boss at the bottom of the hidden island in the corner of the world map accessed in the late game. The player can easily get one more Eva-J by doing the UFO? sidequest.

It is probably not worthwhile to prioritize Eva-J for the best spells, Ultima and Triple, but Tornado is a good option. By the time the player can get Cactuar, Eden, and an Aegis Amulet, Tornados are easily available from Abyss Worms and the Windmills them and their cards yield.