Fisherman's Horizon - FF8 Guide
At the top of every page of my Final Fantasy 8 Walkthrough I will have a list of the most important GF Abilities for you to learn as well as my personal preference for who to junction GFs to for this part of the story. The game's auto order for GFs learning abilities is extremely terrible so it's strongly recommended you interfere and do the abilities in the order I provide here.
Throughout the game you can also refine Cards into Items and then those Items into magic. I've provided a list of the refinements that you can do for the cards that you will most likely have in your possession at this time during the story below as well. This same information will be provided at the top of every page during the full walkthrough, keep checking it as it'll change as the story progresses.
GF Abilities to Learn:
Diablos: ST Mag-RF, Time Mag-RF, Enc-Half, Enc-None, Boost, HP-J, Mag-J, Mug, Hit-J, Mag+20%, Mag+40%, Mag Bonus
Brothers: Str-J, Elem-Atk-J, Spr-J HP+20%, HP+40%, HP Bonus, Cover, Boost
Carbuncle: Vit+20%, Vit+40%, Vit Bonus, Boost, Mag-J, HP-J, Vit-J, ST-Def-J, ST-Atk-J, Counter, Recov Med-RF
Leviathan: Supt Mag-RF, Spr+20%, Spr+40%, Spr Bonus, Mag-J, Spr-J, Elem-Defx2, Boost, GF Recov Med-RF
GF Junctioning:
Squall: Ifrit, Carbuncle, Leviathan
Zell: Shiva, Diablos
Quistis: Siren, Quezacotl, Brothers
(Or whomever you choose as your party; junction them as you see above)
First thing you need to know is that there is a side quest/side event that you can mess up if you don't do it right now before advancing the story. Your reward will be Occult Fan III as well as some scenes later. When you exit the 2F balcony and run down the long linear path into Fisherman's Horizon keep an eye out for the large water tanks.
Right when you see the water tanks there will be a semi-hidden ladder you can go down (pictured above). You're going to want to go down this ladder, follow the path until you find the guy in the screenshots above. Talk to him once to get the Occult Fan III magazine then you're going to want to speak with him again for him to tell you about his pupil. This is very important as it's the second half of this mini side quest.
Head back to the water tanks and take the lift down. Follow the path until it splits, the route north leads to the Mayor's house (the area encircled by the solar panel looking things) and the route east leads to town. You're going to want to go east before visiting the Mayor, as that's where the Fisherman's Pupil is and the second half of this quest is done.
Note: On your way into town you'll pass a Save Point along with a Draw Point next to it. You can and should use the Draw Point as it has Regen magic, which is especially useful at this part of the game.
Continue down the rail road tracks until you see a dock on your right, you'll find it just after you arrive in the town portion. Follow the dock until the end then speak with the boy sitting in the boat (pictured above). Keep speaking with him after you've gone through these three dialogue choices.
"Sort of"
"I saw him"
"I was sort of...impressed"
Once the kid stops casting his line and presents you with no new dialogue you're free to explore the rest of town or head to the Mayor's House, it doesn't matter. You're done with the first half of the Master Fisherman's Quest.
You can now explore the town and do whatever you want - I will alert you when the next part of the quest is available. As for what's to be found in the town, the Item Shop has a Timber Maniacs Issue upstairs and there's another Timber Maniacs Issue in the small shack by the abandoned train station.
When you're finished with everything in town, to advance the story forward go to the Mayor's House (the building in the center of all the solar panel things). Earlier if you lost your Ifrit Card to Caraway for the Rinoa Card you'll be able to win it back from Martine at the Mayor's House. Martine is just outside, run to the right of the screen to find him.
Note: On the second floor of the Mayor's House (the area pictured below) you'll find an Ultima Draw Point; it may only be visible with Move-Find.
FH Mayor and his wife + Ultima Draw Point.
Additionally you can win the Quezacotl Card from Mayor Dobe and the Irvine Card from Flo if you have done the Queen of Cards Side Quest up until now and lost the Sacred Card to her. These two NPCs are located on the second floor of the Mayor's House, the same place you'll get a scene that advances the story forward.
Important Junction Warning: If you're using Auto Junctions you have to change them or you'll hit the upcoming boss for 0. Auto typically junctions Bio to weapons which this boss is immune to; use Lightning, Water or Earth elements instead
While leaving Fisherman's Horizon you'll get a scene of Galbadian Soldiers arriving and the Mayor deciding he is going to speak with them and run off. Go through the town of Fisherman's Horizon and over to where you found the Timber Maniacs Issue by the Moomba doll (if you went there earlier). If not, it's basically just straight north through town.
Here you will have a few scenes, an easy fight against some guards then a fight against the same boss your team at the Missile Base faced off against... Just much more beat up!
Bio Auto Junctions hit for 0!!
Once the boss fight is over speak to Rinoa then Dobe before leaving the area. While talking to Dobe choose the dialogue options, "I want him to understand us" and "Try to continue". Even if saying these two things aren't required for game progression, what Squall says is an important line of dialogue everyone should read.
Squall will be alone currently and this is the only opportunity you're going to get to finish the Fisherman's Horizon side quest. If you don't care about this side quest then just skip this next part of the walkthrough. To make things easier, here's a succinct list of everything you have to do prior to returning to Garden. The above steps are listed too since I know some people prefer this format anyway.
1. Speak with Rinoa
2. Speak with Mayor Dobe & choose the dialogue "I want him to understand us" and "try to continue"
3. Go to the Master Fisherman's Pupil (the kid in the boat) and speak to him
4. Return to the Master Fisherman whose still in the same spot
5. Go to the Inn that the Master Fisherman asks you to go to (also the Item Shop)
6. After the long scene answer "Why not?" then follow the Fisherman to the Dock with his Pupil
7. Speak with the Shopkeeper here for more scenes
8. Speak with the Master Fisherman for more scenes
9. When he asks if you need any help getting back tell him no
Along with the Megalixir you're given 20 SeeD Experience as your reward. That completes the Fisherman's Horizon side quest. Before leaving Fisherman's Horizon there is one more item that you're able to collect and a few scenes to watch at the Grease Monkey's House.
The Grease Monkey's House is to the north just across the tracks from where we fought the boss. Remember this location as you're going to have to do some back and forth to here within the next 20 minutes for some awesome loot. Speaking with the Grease Monkey will reward you with a Mega Phoenix, after receiving this you can return to Balamb Garden.
Note: Make sure you keep hitting the Regen Draw Point in Fisherman's Horizon, it refills quickly and Regen magic is great for Junctioning.
On your way to Balamb Garden Irvine will tell you that Selphie is feeling depressed and is at the Quad - our next destination. Once there speak with Selphie and get ready for a bunch of story scenes... With a brief intermission for some loot!
When you're in control of Irvine after you tell Zell which instrument to play - but before you tell him "ok, sounds good" and confirm his instrument there is some stuff you can do. So you know what I am talking about, this part of the game is shown in the screenshot below.
**Important** This is literally your only opportunity to get the upcoming loot - so make sure you pay attention!
Leave this area before talking with Zell and return to the Grease Monkey's House. The Galbadian Officer is back and you're going to want to speak with him again, leave the building when he asks you to then go back inside and speak with the Grease Monkey then the Officer.
The Grease Monkey will give you a Phoenix Down but the Officer gives you three different types of Ammo, 15 Fast Ammo, 10 AP Ammo and 5 Pulse Ammo. The Pulse Ammo is actually used in Squall's Ultimate Weapon and this is the only place you can find it in the game. The only other ways to obtain it are Card Moding and Ammo-RF.
Before returning to the Mayor's House and confirming your instruments you can also return to Balamb Garden and see another scene for the Zell's Love Quest. This is another completely optional thing that gives no actual reward besides extra dialogue.
As for the instruments that you want to pick, you have the choice between two different songs... Your instrument choices have no effect on the game (aside from changing what the band sounds like). Here are your two sets of choices for instruments:
Slow Song: Sax, Electric Guitar, Piano and Bass Guitar
Fast Song: Guitar, Violin, Flute and Tap
Once you confirm the instrument choices for everyone you'll wake up as Squall in the dorm. Just leave the dorm for another scene.
Talk to Irvine twice, follow him, then examine the magazine to the right of the stage to proceed with the story. When you wake up again you'll want to go to the 3F of Balamb Garden and speak with Quistis and Xu here for some more scenes.
As of now you're officially in control of the Garden! You can sail it to many different places around the world and as you could probably guess there are many different side quests currently available for us to complete. We'll get to that in the next section!
Continue to Side Quests & Balamb Town Disc 2 Walkthrough
Return to Balamb Garden Disc 2 Walkthrough