After the Laguna sequence, you'll get on the train that serves as base
for the Forest Owls. Save first (there's a save point up the stairs in
the first room). Now challenge Watts to a game. This is the first time
you'll change some rules.
When you challenge Watts, he will say, "Mr. Seed, you seem to know rules
unfamiliar to this region. Let's play a game with Balamb's rules and
ours, sir." This type of phrase is an invitation to mix rules. You'll see
it everywhere you go in slightly different form when you travel from one
region to another. Mixing rules is what changes rules. You'll either
spread a rule, abolish a rule, or the rules will remain unchanged. Never,
and I mean never ever, mix rules in areas that you've already fixed.
Since Balamb's only rule is Open, you NEVER mix rules in Balamb. Have you
ever played in Balamb with Open, then the next time you visited, the
rules were Open and Random? This means that you mixed rules and Random
spread to Balamb. If you're happy with the rules in a particular place,
never, never mix. Always answer No to the above question. You may have to
say No twenty times, but keep saying No and eventually the person you're
challenging will quit asking. S/he will just ask to play cards. Never
forget this.
In this case with Watts, we want to change the rules, so we must mix.
When he asks to play with "Balamb's rules and ours," answer Yes. Now the
mixed rules will appear: Open and Same (and whatever trading rule you're
using). Instead of playing, choose Quit. After a hand or two, you should
get the message "Open has spread to this region." If you don't get this
message and Watts quits asking to mix the rules, then nothing happened,
so reset and do it again. After you receive the message that Open has
spread, you've successfully changed your first card rule. Go save. Now
challenge Watts again and play him this time for the Angelo card.
Galbadia uses the Same rule. This means that when the numbers match on
two or more sides of a card (the numbers are the same, thus the name),
you'll turn the matching cards. Here's an example:
2 1
7 3 7 6
6 4
Turtapod Blitz
Turtapod's in the top-left corner; Blitz is in the top-right corner. If
you place a Bomb card between them, you'll turn both cards.
2 | 2 | 1
| |
7 3|3 7|7 6
| |
6 | 6 | 4
Turtapod Bomb Blitz
Because the Bomb card matches the 3 on the left and the 7 on the right,
it turns both other cards. This matching can be in a horizontal line (as
above) or a vertical line. Most commonly, however, it will be a corner
play.
2 |
| Balamb
Joker -> Centra
Club -> Dollet
Diamond -> Trabia
Spade -> Esthar
Heart -> FH
King -> Lunar
Adjust my advice as it best suits you. I abolish everything, but
abolishing just Random and Plus everywhere is almost as effective.
Elemental and Sudden Death are more annoying than dangerous, so just
abolish based on your personal preferences.
When the Ragnarok lands, you'll be just outside the Kashkabald Desert.
When Rinoa leaves, junction Enc-None and go out the way she did. We're
going to start the Alien side quest now for the Pupu card (that blank
space in your level 5 card list). Run around in the desert until you have
an alien encounter - you'll see a spaceship carrying a pyramid (you won't
have to fight). Now fly to Winhill (don't you love Ragnarok's auto-pilot
feature?). With Enc-None still junctioned, run circles around the village
until you see the spaceship go by with a cow. Save your game.
Enter Winhill from the end closest to the Desert Prison. You'll see two
mercenaries standing there. We're going to start abolishing Centra's
rules now. In case I haven't been clear enough before, I'll go
step-by-step.
Go to the first mercenary and press the square button to challenge him to
a game.
He'll say, "You seem to know rules unfamiliar to this region. Let's play
a game with Lunar's rules and ours."
Choose Yes.
The rules will appear:
Open
Sudden Death
Random
Same/Plus/Same Wall
Elemental
Trade Rule: One
Choose Quit.
The guy tells me, "The Same Wall rule has spread to this region." That's
not what I want, so I reset.
I go back and try again. Mix? Yes. Rules. Quit. This time, he tells me,
"The Open rule has spread to this region." Great. I go outside and save.
I am now carrying Centra's rules. I abolished Random at Lunar Station, so
I must use Centra's rules at Lunar Gate because I've already gotten rid
of Random everywhere else. If you abolished Plus in space, you'll need
Centra's rules, too. If you abolished Same in space, go to Timber and
pick that up. If you abolished Elemental, go see Martine in FH to pick
that up. Just keep saying No to mixing rules so that you will carry the
rules of that region. Now that I'm carrying Random, I'll fly to Lunar
Gate.
At Lunar Gate, save outside then go in and challenge the girl standing on
the right to cards.
She'll say, "I don't think those rules exist in this region. Let's play a
game with Centra's rules and ours, O.K.?"
Say Yes.
When the rules appear, choose Quit.
On the first hand, she said, "The Random rule has spread throughout this
region." No, no, no. Reset and go back in.
Challenge. Centra's rules and ours? Yes. Quit. This time, I get "The
Elemental rule was abolished from this region." Yes, yes, yes. Go
outside and save.
Fly back to Winhill. Save outside. Go back to the same man.
Lunar's rules and ours? Yes. Quit. "Same Wall has spread..." Reset.
Lunar's rules and ours? Yes. Quit. "Same Wall has spread." Reset.
Lunar's rules and ours? Yes. Quit. "Sudden Death has spread." Reset.
Lunar's rules and ours? Yes. Quit. "Sudden Death has spread." Reset.
At this point, I'm seeing a pattern I don't like, so I'm going to try a
different rule. Often, your chances of knocking out a rule at a certain
place are better if you're carrying only one different rule (just
Elemental instead of Same Wall and Sudden Death). Sometimes you get lucky
and knock one out right off, but it's not working, so I'll head to FH. If
you've already abolished Sudden Death in FH, you're all set. Just
challenge Martine when you land in FH. When he asks to play with Centra's
rules and ours, say No. He asked me five times (though I have had players
ask me as many as twenty times) - say no EVERY TIME. Eventually, he'll
just say, "A game of cards you say?" Choose Yes and you've set FH as the
rules you're carrying. Play or quit then head back to Winhill.
If you haven't abolished Sudden Death in FH yet, go to Timber and pick up
Same. Now go to FH. Save your game at the railroad track first (you don't
want to risk spreading Same). Now challenge Familiar Face #3 (the guy who
doesn't like Squall) until you abolish Sudden Death. Timber's rules and
ours? Yes. Quit. If you abolish Elemental, do it over. Keep on until
Sudden Death is gone. Now you'll be carrying Open and Elemental. Head
back to Winhill.
You know the drill. Save outside. Challenge the mercenary. FH's rules and
ours? Yes. Quit. Nothing happened (no message), so I challenge him again.
If he doesn't ask to mix rules this time, the rules remained unchanged,
so you'll need to reset. If he does ask to mix, continue. Mix? Yes. Quit.
Nothing happened. Mix? Yes. Quit. "Random was abolished from this
region." Yes!! Go outside and save.
Return to FH and pick up Elemental from Martine (no, no, no to mixing).
Back to Winhill. DO NOT abolish Open and DO NOT spread Elemental. Reset
if you get either of those messages. After several resets, I abolished
Same this time. Now I can either get Elemental from Martine or Same from
the guard in Timber to use for abolishing Plus (the last rule left in
Centra). Once Plus is gone, Centra's rules have been reduced to Open. All
right!
With Open as Centra's only rule, you're now ready to play Edea (she uses
Centra's rules) if you didn't previously. You won't have any trouble
winning her card from her. If you missed Seifer previously, you can get
him from Cid here, too.
I always put the Edea card into my playing hand as soon as I get her. She
would replace either Siren or Selphie (whichever you're using). This is
completely subjective. I use Siren and Selphie interchangeably up to this
point. I like Edea because she's impossible to turn (unless she gets
caught up in a combo play, which we've eliminated with all those rules).
Edea and Alexander make a wonderful combination. I always play Edea first
in the bottom-left corner (my anchor card, if you will). Then when a
player boxes in that top-left corner, I use Alexander. With a 9 on top,
he can turn many cards that Seifer can't, and Edea provides protection to
Alexander's vulnerable 4 on the bottom. Then I use Seifer to turn the
next boxed-in card (if it happens to play out that way). This is just a
matter of personal preference though. You need to use the cards you feel
most confident in playing. My good friend, Vilurum, plays from the top
down while I play from the bottom up. Your personal style of play will
best dictate which cards you use.
Now, back to abolishing. Since I've already abolished Elemental in Lunar
Gate, I'll return to Martine in FH to pick it up. He won't ask you to mix
this time because you're only carrying Open. Just play a game with him,
and you've got the rules. Just keep flying back and forth between FH and
Lunar Gate until all the rules at Lunar Gate are gone. I know I've said
it a million times, but I'll say it once more. Each time to go to Martine
and he asks to mix Lunar rules with ours, say NO. Since I've already
gotten rid of Random and Elemental, that leaves Sudden Death, Plus, Same,
and Same Wall at Lunar Gate. If you knock out Same, you can forget Same
Wall because it will no longer be enforced, so concentrate on eliminating
Sudden Death, Plus, and Same.
Note on Same Wall: DO NOT abolish Same Wall in both Esthar and Lunar
Gate. You can abolish either one, but don't abolish them both. You'll
need the Same Wall rule in one of these places to get rid of the last
rule in the world.
Once you've reduced the Lunar rules to Open, it's time to go get
Alexander if you didn't get him in space. Fly past Tears' Point (be
careful not to run into Lunatic Pandora), over the fence, to the end of
that long stretch of land (the Abadan Plains). Land Ragnarok and just run
around at the end of the peninsula until you hit the Lunar Crash Site.
The location changes from game to game, but it's always in this general
area. You can't see it, so you'll just run until you hit it. You will
find Piet here beside the crashed escape pod. Take Alexander off his
hands.
We've neglected the Queen of Cards for a long time. Now that you have
Alexander, head to Dollet. Remember to save at the top of the stairs in
the pub. Lose Alexander and make sure she's going to Balamb. If she says
Galbadia, reset. Remember, too, that if she uses a trading rule you don't
like (like Direct), quit and challenge her again to try and avoid
spreading Direct where you are (the trading rule will be reflected with
the CC memebers, too). I had to reset seven times this time to send her
to Balamb, but she finally went.
Run down the street and retrieve Alexander from the queen's son. You
might as well do the dog bone side quest now if you haven't before. Look
at the bone on the painting then find the dog and look at the bone on his
collar. You can do this three times for three items. While you can do
this earlier in the game, the items are much better on Disc Three. The
last item you get will be an Elixir, which you'll need for Pupu.
Now go to Timber. Park Ragnarok near the front gate then run up and over
the railroad tracks to Mandy Beach (it's not far from the railroad tunnel
there by the ocean). Run around on the beach until you have your third
alien encounter.
Save, then enter town and go to the pub.
Play cards with the bartender on the right (he's under that weird
cat/woman sign). This man has the Doomtrain card (the one created from
Alexander). I'll be honest - this guy can be a royal pain. He's very easy
to beat, but he's unusually slow using the Doomtrain card. I usually have
to play him upwards of twenty games before I ever see Doomtrain. Just
keep at it. Doomtrain will eventually appear, and this card is definitely
worth the trouble. At this point in the game, I'm using Seifer, Edea,
Alexander, Ward, and Irvine. This will be my normal hand for the
remainder of the game.
Now that you have Doomtrain, head to Balamb. Doomtrain is the last card
that the queen wants. Save at the hotel, lose Doomtrain to the queen and
make sure she's going to Dollet (she can't give her father the card if
you let her go elsewhere). Reset until you send her to Dollet with
Doomtrain. Now you go to Dollet. Get Doomtrain from the boy then stop in
and speak to the queen about her artist father, and she'll tell you that
the presidential aide in Esthar has the new card. This isn't strictly
necessary, but it might speed up how soon the aide uses Phoenix when you
play.
At this moment, if you've abolished all the rules we've talked about,
there are very few rules other than Open left in the world. You have
Elemental in FH, Elemental and Same Wall in Esthar, maybe Same Wall at
Lunar Gate, and Same in Galbadia. We're going to use Same/Same Wall to
knock out Elemental.
Head to Timber and pick up Same from the guard. He won't ask to mix since
you're carrying Open. Now fly to Esthar.
In Esthar, when you come out of the air station, you'll be at an
intersection. Go up then straight ahead through the next screen. Continue
straight to the right, and you should enter the screen with the
presidential palace. Run past the palace to the right and you'll see a
broken lift in the next screen. Junction Siren's Move-Find to see the
save point. Save your game and return to the palace. Esthar is
interesting because it has a hidden rule (Same Wall). Since Esthar
doesn't have Same, Same Wall is not enforced, so it doesn't even show up
in the rules when you play. It is still there, however, and you will
carry it with you when you leave. Challenge the first guard to cards. Mix
Galbadia's rules and ours? Yes. Quit. Play him until you abolish
Elemental (if you didn't spread Open with Odine, you'll need to do that
first, then head back to Timber for Same, then return to Esthar to knock
out Elemental). Now go back and save again.
Enter the palace and go see the presidential aide in that first room. You
won't have any trouble winning Phoenix from him.
Congratulations! You've just completed the Queen of Cards quest.
Now that we've finished the queen's quest, you can send her other places
if you need to. If the Direct trading rule is in force somewhere and you
haven't been able to get something else to spread there from another
region, try it with the queen. She has a specific location where you can
find here in each region of the world:
Balmb: On the steps of the train station
Dollet: Upstairs in the Pub
Galbadia: In the Deling City Hotel
Trabia: In the Shumi Village Hotel
Esthar: In the presidential palace
FH: On the train tracks near the save point
Centra: In the Winhill Hotel (she's right beside the front door but you
have to turn to the right into that main room or you can't see her)
Far, far away: At Lunar Gate (she's easy to miss, but she's standing
inside the building, kind of in the back)
Let's say you've got Direct in Esthar and you can't get rid of it. We
left the queen in Dollet. Go see her. To send her to a new location, you
must lose a rare card (level 8-10). Just give her a card that you never
use for playing or that you don't plan to mod (I use Minimog, but it
doesn't matter which one you use). Ask her where she's going. If she says
Galbadia. Let her go.
Follow her to Deling City. You can play her until you win back Minimog or
you can lose another card to her to speed it up. I don't know why, but in
certain locations, it's almost impossible to win your card back. I once
played her thirty games in Deling City, and she never once used the card
I'd lost to her. In Centra, she used that same rare card on the very
first hand. I don't know if this is random or not, but I have terrible
trouble getting my cards back from her in Deling City.
A rare card must change hands for the queen to move (whether you lose one
or win it back), and the only rare cards the queen will have now are the
ones you lose to her. Play the queen in Deling City then ask where she's
going. She'll usually say FH, but sometimes she'll go straight to Esthar.
Either one's fine. From FH, she tends to go to Esthar, too. If she goes
to FH, follow her there and send her on to Esthar. If she mentions any
other location when you speak to her, reset and do it again. She almost
always goes to Esthar from here, so you shouldn't have to reset more than
a time or two to get her to Esthar. She usually uses rare cards faster
here in FH, too, if you want to win one back.
Now, she's where you need her to be. We want to get rid of Direct. Save,
then challenge the queen to a game. If she's playing with Direct, quit.
Challenge her until she uses a trading rule you like then play. When
you're done, go challenge the presidential assistant to see if the
trading rule changed. If not, play the queen again. Just keep playing her
until you change that rule.
Normally, you wouldn't need to bother with all of this. With all the
rules gone, you can pick and choose the CC members you want to play later
for modding purposes (I'll explain that to you on Disc Four), so you
could just avoid whomever has Direct unless s/he has a rare card you
need. You would only use this method in extreme cases. Let's say you've
had a bad run of luck with the trading rules and Direct has spread
everywhere (I had this happen once). You should first try playing ten
games somewhere where the direct rule is not used and try to get a
different rule to spread. The Queen of Cards is just a last-ditch option
that I wanted you to be aware of.
Now, we'll finish with Pupu.
Fly to Trabia. Look for Health Peninsula (the long, sandy area you
crossed during the Chocobo quest). Land Ragnarok on the small island just
beside Heath Peninisula and run around for the fourth alien encounter.
Fly east from this little island. You'll see two large, dark green
islands. The second one is the Island Closest to Heaven. Land on the
cliffs near Heaven. You should see the Chocobo Sanctuary here, too. The
cliff you're supposed to be on will be directly between Heaven and the
choco forest. Run around in the open areas (not the trees) until the
alien appears. You'll fight him this time, but he's very easy. When he's
defeated, you only have one step left.
Fly to Balamb. Make sure that you have five elixirs in your item
inventory. Give all three of your characters the Item command, then run
into the crater where Balamb Garden used to be. Here, you'll find Pupu.
Feed him five elixirs, and he'll give you his card. Pupu is unique. If
you mod it, you can never get it back. I usually mod it anyway, but if
you want all the cards in your inventory, you can't mod him. Keep in mind
that all you get for all the cards is a star by Card in your menu
(besides the satisfaction, of course). As a long as a card HAS BEEN in
your inventory, you'll still get your star.
There are very few cards left until your collection is complete. Before
we go get them, head to FH. Since you last played in Esthar, you should
be carrying Same Wall. Save at the train tracks then go play Familiar
Face #3. Esthar's rules and ours? Yes. Quit. Challenge and reset until he
abolishes Elemental. DO NOT abolish Open and DO NOT spread Same Wall.
With Elemental gone, we have only one rule left to go.
The only enforceable rule in the world that we have left is Same in
Galbadia. Since none of the CC members will use Galbadia's rules on Disc
Four, it isn't necessary that you get rid of it. I do (I know, it's a
pride thing). If you want to, return to Esthar to pick up Same Wall (or
Lunar Gate if you didn't abolish it there). Go to Timber and play the
guard until you abolish Same. The first time I did this, it took me an
hour (he kept wanting go abolish Open or spread Same Wall). The second
time, it only took three hands. You just have to decide if it's worth it
to you or not. Vilurum prefers to use Same to knock out Same Wall since
the CC members don't use Galbadia's rules. I don't care about Same Wall
because it's never used. Do it whichever way you like the best.
If you abolished Same in Timber, then... Congratulations! You've just
established Open as the only card rule worldwide. If you didn't abolish
Same in Timber then...Congratulations! You've still established Open as
the only rule used by the Card Club.
Once you're satisfied with the card rules around the world, it's time to
move on with the game. When you're called to Esthar and meet Laguna, the
first thing you should do is challenge him to a card game. Do this before
you agree to the mission or he'll leave (well, you'll all be transported
to Ragnarok). Win the Squall card from him. If you end up on Ragnarok
before you play him, be sure to get Squall's card before you hit Lunatic
Pandora. On Disc Four, Laguna won't be on Ragnarok.
The only cards left are Bahamut (defeat him at Deep Sea Research Center
to obtain his card), Eden (defeat Ultima Weapon at Deep Sea to obtain
Eden's card), and Odin (defeat him at Centra Ruins to get his card). If
you're no-levelling, you'll have to obtain Odin from the CC members on
Disc Four. My friend, Vilurum, doesn't fight Ultima Weapon because he
wants to leave the fixed encounters (Tri-Faces for Curse Spikes,
Behemoths for Magic Ups, etc.) alone. If you do it this way, you'll get
Eden's card from the CC members and draw the GF Eden from Tiamet at
Ultimecia's Castle. I always go get Ultima for the Ultima spells, but
it's just personal preference. You'll also get Laguna from the CC members
on Disc Four if you didn't play Ellone in space.
With the possible exceptions of Odin, Eden, and Laguna, your collection
is complete!
All we have left to discuss now is card playing on Disc Four.
Disc Four
After defeating Adel and entering Time Compression, you'll end up at
Edea's house. A giant chain runs from the ground to the castle. You'll
notice three portals to the left of the chain. Face the second one and
press X to enter it. It will take you to the Serengetti Plains of Centra.
Run left. Stick to the shoreline on Squall's right, and it will lead you
to the mountain that hides a choco forest. Go in and get a chocobo. When
you leave the forest, cross to the other side of the continent and look
for the beach just beyond Centra Ruins. Follow the shallows across until
you get to Edea's house (it's sealed off now). From there, run the length
of the continent to the red dot flashing on your world map. You'll find
Ragnarok in the Kashkabald Desert. Now, you're ready to go. We'll first
discuss the Queen of Cards.
Update: This is MAJOR new information. Since writing this FAQ, I have
learned that there are actually three ways to get the Queen's cards. Her
original card quest and Abadan Plains on Disc Four are already in the
FAQ. What I didn't know was that you can bypass the queen completely and
get all of her cards from Diamond on Disc Four. This came out on the FF8
board and no one that I've asked seems to know who first posted this
information. Mojoy thinks it might have been him, but even he's not sure.
Thank you very, very much to Mojoy and whomever else may have contributed
this information. I have not myself bypassed the original quest (I always
get Kiros on Disc One for Auto-Haste), but I'm assured that it can be
done. I do know from personal experience that Diamond will have all the
QoC cards you've modded no matter when you modded them. I modded Kiros on
Disc One and Doomtrain on Disc Three then went straight to Diamond on
Disc Four - Diamond had them both. This is much, much easier than playing
the queen on Disc Four. Another very important thing I've learned was to
always play the girl on the left when playing Diamond. I have always had
a horrible time getting Diamond to give up her Queen of Cards cards, but
I've always played the girl on the right (for whatever reason). Mercurius
wrote me and said that I should always play the girl on the left. Three
different times, he modded all (or most) of his QoC cards. After twenty
games, the girl on the right hadn't played a single one of them. Then he
tried the girl on the left. Within about a dozen hands, she had used them
all. He also noticed that she always plays them one at a time and in a
specific order: Chubby Chocobo, Phoenix, Doomtrain, Kiros, Irvine. I have
tried his strategy with great success. The girl on the left plays the QoC
cards very quickly. Many, many thanks to Mercurius for sharing this with
me. I have left in the following section on the queen in Abadan Plains
just in case someone wants the challenge of playing her on Disc Four, but
I would recommend skipping it and going with Diamond.
Any of the queen's cards that you've modded up to this point will be with
the queen at the Lunar Crash Site, and you can win them from her again.
If you modded Kiros to three Accelerators on Disc One, for example, he
will now be in the queen's hand.
Go to the crash site and save before you go in. The queen is very tough
here. The first time I abolished the rules worldwide, it was mainly to
see if it would affect the queen on Disc Four. It does not. She will play
with her own rules here ("Permit me to play with whatever rule I
desire"). She will use all the rules in the game EXCEPT Open. This is a
killer for Plus plays because you don't know which side of the play to
break up (since you can't see her cards). Though logically, she can't see
your cards either, I sometimes have my doubts.
If you got tired of it and didn't finish the queen's quest, whichever of
her cards you didn't get will be with her as well. If you skipped her
quest entirely, she will have all five of her rare cards here but that
makes for one tough hand to beat, especially with these rules. Luckily,
she always uses the trading rule of One here, so you don't have to worry
about losing all of your cards at the same time.
I have won all of the queen's cards here, but it wasn't a great deal of
fun. There are a couple of ways to make it easier though. Save first.
Then if she starts taking a lot of your cards, you can reset and try
again instead of trying to win them all back. An easier method (that I
only discovered while working on this guide) is to not worry about the
cards you're losing. Every time you win one of her cards, go save. When
you're done, all the rare cards you lost to her will be with the CC
members on Ragnarok. It's much easier to win them back from them than
from the queen.
Now, what if you want to mod her cards again? I have played FF8 ten
times; I had the CC group on Ragnarok nine of those times. Out of all of
those games, I never once saw a Queen of Cards card with the CC members.
I would have told you without a doubt in my mind (and I have told people)
that you could only get the queen's cards twice - once through the quest
and a second time from her on Disc Four. Someone at the FF8 board,
however, said that he won Chubby Chocobo from Diamond, so I decided to
test it. I went to the crash site and won back all the queen's cards that
I'd modded prior to Disc Four. I went out and saved my game then modded
all five cards again. I returned to the queen, and she never once played
any of her cards. The queen will only have her cards that you missed,
modded, or lost prior to Disc Four.
So, I reset my game and went to Ragnarok. Standing with Xu, I modded all
five of the queen's cards again. I went all over Ragnarok, playing all
the members as I looked for the queen's cards. I found and won back all
the rare cards I'd lost to the queen in the plains, but I didn't find any
of the queen's cards. So, I kept playing. Lo and behold, after dozens of
games with the various members, Diamond finally played Chubby Chocobo
(please remember the update - girl on the left). The fact that I had to
win back all the non-QoC rare cards first may or may not have been
coincidence (Mercurius, too, had already won back the other rare cards).
I just don't know. I went back and tested it again and finally came to
the conclusion that Diamond is the key. I modded all the Queen of Cards
cards (standing with different members of the CC) and every last one of
these cards ended up with Diamond. She's usually very slow to play them,
but if you want to pick up some Speed Ups with the Irvine card, Diamond's
the one you need to play.
Update note: I have seen it mentioned several times on the FF8 board
lately that if you'll stand and play the same person long enough, s/he
will play all the rare cards you've lost (except Pupu and the QoC cards
which we've talked about). I always go among the different members
because the rare cards tend to show up in the first hand or two, so I've
never tried this. If you're having card/trading rule problems, however,
it might be something to try.
Now, let's talk about the rest of the CC group. If there are any rare
cards that you missed, they will be here. Couldn't get Odin because
you're no-levelling? He's here. Took the money instead of Shiva from
Zone? She's here. Lost a rare card to the boy outside Balamb Garden then
never saw him again? It's here. Modded Bahamut for Megalixirs? He's here.
The seven members are spread out in Ragnarok. Just play them all a few
hands (rare cards usually show up within two or three hands if a player
has one) until you win back all the cards you want. To play Quistis, have
her in your party and drag her with you to the airlock. Turn to face her
and hit the square button to play. Unless you're missing lots of rare
cards, each of the rare cards will be with a different player. So, if you
win a rare card from Xu, move on to another player to look for the next
one.
The cards I normally use when playing the CC members are Doomtrain (or
Irvine), Edea, Alexander, Seifer, and Ward. I use Doomtrain while I'm
still looking for rare cards because he can't be turned. Normally, Irvine
can't be turned either, but a rare card with an A on the top could do it.
A few of the CC members will follow the normal upper-left corner pattern,
a few will not. Diamond's a good example of a pattern that shows up quite
a bit with the better CC players. Here's a typical game:
Her hand: Tri-Point, Fastitocalon, Red Giant, Adamantoise, Hexadragon
My hand: Doomtrain, Edea, Seifer, Alexander, Ward
_________________________________________
| 7 | 6 | 3 |
| | | |
| Her - 2nd | Me - 5th | Me - 3rd |
| | | |
|3 5|4 9|A 3|
| | | |
| Fastitocalon| Seifer | Doomtrain |
| | | |
|______1______|______A______|______A______|
| 8 | 4 | 6 |
| | | |
| Her - 4th | Her - 6th | Her - 8th |
| | | |
|8 5|6 5|7 8|
| | | |
| Tri-Point | Adamantoise | Red Giant |
| | | |
|______2______|______5______|______4______|
| A | 9 | A |
| | | |
| Me - 1st | Me - 7th | Me - 9th |
| | | |
|3 A|2 A|8 7|
| | | |
| Edea | Alexander | Ward |
| | | |
|______3______|______4______|______2______|
Diamond doesn't always use this, but I've seen it enough that I thought
I'd mention it. She'll start in the upper-left corner (if she goes
first), but she won't box it in. She'll go from there to the upper-right
corner then start jumping around. Your goal is to fill in the left side
and the top then turn cards in the four blocks that are left. Ward is an
especially good card for this because he has three strong sides, so he
can usually turn a card on any side except the bottom.
If you decided not to abolish all the rules on the ground, be aware that
rules will spread among the CC members in the same way that they did
between the towns. You can say No to mixing or you can go ahead and let
them spread. It's up to you. You can abolish in the same way by going
between different CC members, too. If Same Wall is all you have left, go
ahead and let it spread. Because Same is gone, Same Wall will never be
used. It won't even show up in the rules.
Once you've got all of your rare cards back, you can begin modding in
earnest. Choose a CC member. Standing beside that player, mod a card
(this only applies to rare cards). Your rare card will go directly into
the hand of the person you're standing beside so that you can win it
again. In this way, you can mod a card and win it back over and over and
over again. This will work with any of the CC members, but I prefer to
use Xu because she tends to play the card again immediately. Some people
seem to have better luck with Quistis, but I've had her take as long as
six hands to use a card I modded with her. Xu will normally (not always,
but usually) use the card immediately. Just keep in mind that if you're
modding the queen's cards, only Diamond will have them. Here are some of
the cards I normally mod many times:
Eden = 3 Monks Codes = 3 Strength Ups
Minotaur = 10 Adamantines = 2 Vitality Ups
Ward = 3 Gaea's Rings = 3 HP Ups
Gilgamesh = 10 Holy Wars
You can get Spirit Ups from the Rinoa card and Magic Ups from Edea's
card, but you have to win each card four times for one Up, so Devouring
is probably as fast. Playing cards is just another option. If you're
raising money to buy and convert items to Ups, you can mod Bahamut to
Megalixirs, sell them for 750,000 gil then win Bahamut back and do it
again. These are just a few things you can do with cards on Disc Four.
I'll go ahead and list all the rare cards and what they mod into just in
case you want to mod some I didn't list above. Remember, the Pupu card is
an exception. Once it's been modded, you'll never see it again.
Chubby Chocobo = 100 LuvLuvGs (raises character's compatibility with ALL
GFs)
Angelo = 100 Elixirs (full cure/heal for one character)
Gilgamesh = 10 Holy Wars (makes your entire party invincible)
Minimog = 100 Pet Houses (GF version of a tent - I've never used one)
Chicobo = 100 Gysahl Greens (summons Chicobo "GF" - very weak)
Quezacotl = 100 Dynamo Stones
Shiva = 100 North Winds
Ifrit = 3 Elemental Attacks (teaches GF Elemental Attack)
Siren = 3 Status Attacks (teaches GF Status Attack)
Sacred = 100 Dino Bones
Minotaur = 10 Adamantines (teaches GF Vit+60% or 5 refine to 1 Vitality
Up)
Carbuncle = 3 Glow Curtains (teaches GF Auto-Reflect)
Diablos = 100 Black Holes
Leviathan = 3 Doc's Codes (teaches GF Med Data)
Odin = 100 Dead Spirits
Pandemona = 100 Windmills
Cerberus = 100 Lightweights (refines to one Accelerator = Auto Haste)
Alexander = 3 Moon Curtains (teaches GF Auto-Shell)
Phoenix = 3 Phoenix Spirits (teaches GF Revive)
Bahamut = 100 Megalixirs (full cure/heal for all characters)
Doomtrain = 3 Status Guards (teaches GF Status Defense X 4)
Eden = 3 Monk's Codes (teaches GF Counter or refines to 3 Strength Ups)
Ward = 3 Gaea's Rings (teaches GF HP+80% or refines to 3 HP ups)
Kiros = 3 Accelerators (teaches GF Auto-Haste)
Laguna = 100 Heroes (makes one party member invincible)
Selphie = 3 Elemental Guards (teaches GF Elemental Defense X 4)
Quistis = 3 Samantha Souls (teaches GF SumMag+40% or refines to Triple)
Irvine = 3 Rocket Engines (teaches GF Speed+40% or 5 refine to 1 Speed
Up)
Zell = 3 Power Wrists (teaches GF Strength+40% or refines to Aura Stones)
Rinoa = 3 Magic Armlets (teaches GF Spirit+60% or 10 refine to 1 Spirit
Up)
Edea = 3 Royal Crowns (teaches GF Magic+60% or 10 refine to 1 Magic Up)
Seifer = 3 Diamond Armors (teaches GF GFHP+40%)
Squall = 3 Three Stars (teaches GF Expendx3 or refines to Triple)
Pupu = 1 Hungry Cookpot (teaches GF Devour or refines to a Shaman Stone
which can be further refined to a Rosetta Stone)
Well, I think I've managed to tell you all I know about Triple Triad. I
hope Granny's pleased. If I've missed something, I apologize. Hopefully,
I didn't miss much. I hope this guide has made the card game easier and
more enjoyable for you. Happy card playing! -- Sister
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