Increases speed temporarily
Description
Haste is an indirect magic spell in Final Fantasy VIII. The spell increases the target's speed for the Haste status effect's duration. It can also be be junctioned to boost stats, notably Speed.
Haste is the counterpart to Slow, which reduces speed. Haste is also applied by the support ability Auto-Haste and the command ability Mad Rush.
Obtained[]
Haste is a spell drawn from a few enemies and draw points. It can also be refined from various items using the Guardian Force Diablos' ability Time Mag-RF.
A good source of Haste is Vysage, as not only can the spell be drawn from it, but it is a good source for Lightweights, which can be refined into 20 Haste spells. Cactuars also drop Lightweights and on the Cactuar Island the player only encounters them in large quantities, making amassing Lightweights easy as long as the player is fast enough to kill them before they flee.
Stats[]
Use[]
Haste applies the status effect of the same name, which increases the target's speed for 32 seconds. It is cast using the Magic command or Selphie's Slot Limit Break. Casting Haste in battle increases compatibility with Carbuncle by 1 and with Cerberus by 0.6, but lowers compatibility with Eden by 0.2.
Cerberus teaches the support ability Auto-Haste, and Accelerators can be used to teach the ability to any Guardian Force. Auto-Haste renders casting Haste redundant, as it is permanent and cannot be removed. Ifrit also teaches Mad Rush, a command ability that casts Haste along with Berserk, making it riskier.
Haste provides decent stat boosts, especially to Speed, for which it provides the third-highest boost. As the player can obtain the Auto-Haste support ability, it is better to junction Haste to speed rather than cast it.
The following enemies use Haste: Biggs (2nd), Elastoid, and Fujin (2nd). The spell can be reflected.