Massive Anchor (Final Fantasy VIII)

Massive Anchor
(マッシヴアンカー, Masshivu Ankā?, lit. Massive Anchor)
Availability
Character(s)	Ward
Classification
Type	Limit Break
Effect	Physical damage to all enemies
Specifications
Power	150
Related pages
Recurring appearance	Massive Anchor

Massive Anchor is the Limit Break for Ward in Final Fantasy VIII that deals physical damage to all enemies depending on his Strength stat. It is slightly stronger than Laguna's Desperado. Massive Anchor is Ward's only Limit Break; Limit Breaks are randomly available when Ward is on low health or under Aura.

When he uses Massive Anchor, Ward throws his harpoon into the air and rides it down, landing in the middle of enemies, damaging all of them. Massive Anchor is reminiscent of Dragoons' Jump-style special attacks from the Final Fantasy series.

Mechanics

Massive Anchor deals non-elemental physical damage to all enemies as per the following formula:

Critical Determination

$Critical\% = (Luck + 1) / 256 \times 100$

Where "Luck" is Ward's Luck stat. If the attack criticals, it will deal double damage.

Base Damage Calculation

$Damage = Strength^2 / 16 + Strength$

$Damage = Damage \times (265 - Target's~Vitality) / 256$

$Damage = Damage \times 150 / 16$

Where "Strength" is Ward's Strength stat and "Vitality" is the target's Vitality stat.

If the target has Protect, damage is halved.

Limit Breaks never miss and are unaffected by Elem-Atk junctions.

Use

Ward "Massice Anchor" Limit Break from FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered

Massive Anchor is Ward's Limit Break. It is best used against a group of enemies, but it is always strong, even stronger than Laguna's Desperado when the two have equal stats. As a physical ability, Massive Anchor can be a critical hit.

Ward is only playable in certain dream world sequences and inherits the level and junctions from someone in Squall's party; Squall himself always inhabits Laguna. During the dream in Timber and Deling City, Ward gains Selphie's junctions. During the dream in Centra Excavation Site, he gains Quistis's junctions. In the following dreams at the Vienne Mountains and Esthar, the player can pick whose junctions Ward gets out of Quistis, Zell, Selphie, and Irvine.

Ward is best with Strength-focused junctions, though he inherits junctions from Selphie and Quistis who are better focused toward magic damage due to their Limit Breaks. However, there are no unique bosses fought with Ward in the party, the most boss-like encounters being the groups of Esthar soldiers atop the Centra Excavation Site. Depending on the player's actions with regards to the Timber Maniacs magazines, he may not be in the party in the Vienne Mountains to participate in the battle against the Ruby Dragon there. All battles in Laguna scenarios should be easily won without special attacks, but Massive Anchor makes defeating enemies faster for its strength. It is still much better than his normal Attack even if the player keeps the magic-focused junctions unchanged.