Scatter Shot (Final Fantasy VIII)

Scatter Shot
(グレープショット, Gurēpu Shotto?, lit. Grape Shot)
Availability
Obtained	Shotgun Ammo
Character(s)	Irvine
Classification
Type	Limit Break
Skillset	Shot
Effect	Physical damage to all enemies, 0.7s per round
Specifications
Power	14
Related pages
Recurring appearance	Scatter Shot

Scatter Shot is a Limit Break for Irvine in Final Fantasy VIII that deals physical damage to all enemies depending on his Strength stat. It is used with the easily available Shotgun Ammo. When Shot initiates, the player has a variable amount of time to fire at their targets with and cancel with . Ammo cannot be swapped amid a Shot action. Scatter Shot has fairly fast firing speed. The time allotted for shooting depends on Irvine's Crisis Level, a hidden calculation in the game. Limit Breaks are randomly available when Irvine is on low health or under Aura.

Obtained

Irvine can use Scatter Shot when the player has Shotgun Ammo is the inventory. It costs 40 gil per ammo in shops and drops from low level Base Leader and Elite Soldier. It is a good idea to keep stocked up whenever passing by a shop; after the player has Call Shop, keeping stocked up becomes even easier.

Mechanics

Scatter Shot deals non-elemental physical damage to all opponents, each hit's damage calculated as per the following formula:

Critical Determination

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

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

Base Damage Calculation

$Damage = Strength^2 / 16 + Strength$

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

$Damage = Damage \times 14 / 16$

Where "Strength" is Irvine's Strength stat and "Vitality" is the targets' Vitality stat. For comparison, the Power value of a normal attack is 20, meaning one hit from Scatter Shot, whose Power is 14, is 30% weaker than using his Attack command; the damage potential comes from being able to fire consecutively, the guarantee that the shot will not miss, and the ability to hit all enemies.

All damage is randomized slightly:

$Damage = Damage \times ([0..32] + 240) / 256$

The time Irvine has for Shot depends on his Crisis Level in the following manner:

Crisis Level 1: 8 s

Crisis Level 2: 12 s

Crisis Level 3: 20 s

Crisis Level 4: 26.6 s

Crisis Level is a hidden stat calculated based on how low Irvine's current HP is compared to his maximum, the number of dead allies, and the number of ailments he is afflicted with. The worse off he is, the longer Shot times the player can expect. Crisis Level is also raised with the Aura status.

One round of Scatter Shot takes 0.7 seconds from the timer. This makes it equal with Normal Shot and Dark Shot, but slower than Quick Shot (0.2s).

If the target has Protect, damage is halved. Shot will not awaken sleeping enemies.

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

Use

Scatter Shot is Irvine's most readily available Limit Break that hits all enemies. His other ammo that targets all enemies is Flame Shot, which is better whenever the enemy does not absorb Fire damage, though it is slower. Scatter Shot can still remain useful until the endgame for its simplicity and fast firing speed, which stacks up the longer the Shot time is.

Scatter Shot is best used against groups of enemies, such as in the first boss battle where Irvine is playable: Iguions. If the player brings him to Missile Base, Scatter Shot is good against the groups of G-Soldiers fought therein, including under the timer after BGH251F2. If the player brings him to Balamb Garden, Scatter Shot is good against the groups of enemies the Garden Faculty summon during the Balamb Garden Revolt, and also perhaps against NORG for being able to also target his orbs. However, depending on Irvine's stats and the time allotted for Shot, he may have been able to do more damage to enemies by summoning a Guardian Force. Scatter Shot is good against groups of Cactuars.

Irvine should be junctioned toward high Strength to make the most of his Limit Breaks. The Guardian Forces that have Str-J natively are Shiva, Ifrit, Brothers, Pandemona, and Cerberus. It is also worthwhile to give Irvine any Str+% abilities. Because each hit has a chance of being a critical hit, Irvine is also an excellent choice for Luck-J and Luck+50%; the only GF that has Luck-J natively is Cactuar, but Luck-J Scroll is available from some sidequests to give to the GFs Irvine is junctioning.

Scatter Shot can be the desirable Shot to use even in the endgame when the player has stronger ammo, because the other ammo may be rare, and because the damage of each hit caps at 9999; if the player can reach close to that (especially with critical hits from having high Luck), then Scatter Shot's faster firing speed offsets its lower attack power. If the player additionally inflicts Vit 0 onto the enemies, Scatter Shot can be even more powerful. For the best chance of getting the maximum timer, the player can have Irvine in critical HP and have him under Aura status. However, Aura spells and stones are rare.

Irvine's shots are good against any sleeping enemies for not awaking them; one strategy against Raijin and Fujin would be to put them to sleep, and then damaging them with abilities that will not awake them. Irvine's limitation is that he may run out of certain types of ammo, especially during long battles where he uses his Shot extensively. Scatter Shot's limitation is that it is weaker than Normal Shot against single targets, and most tough enemies appear alone. Scatter Shot can be good in boss battles where the boss summons minions, like Trauma or Ultimecia (Griever form).