Final Fantasy VIII is the type of game that requires a gamer to have a very intuitive knowledge of the interaction between each of it's interrelated gameplay elements. The creators of the game have gone into great detail to make customization not only an option but a necessity. You will find that as you become accustomed to the strategic use of both Guardian Forces and junctioned Magic drawn from enemies your characters will perform more efficiently win more battles.

First and Foremost, Draw, Draw, Draw. Although it may seem to be an arduous chore, drawing spells is vital in not only being able to cast magic, but to stock it for statistical junctioning. Always equip party members with the Draw command, because you never know what new spell could be hiding inside your next enemy. When you first encounter an enemy, immediately check to see what spells can be drawn from it or maybe a GF! Always draw a spell listed as ???? because more than likely you don't have it and it's magic is rarer than ordinary elemental magic. If you can try to get 100 units of every spell, or even 100 units of spells like Ultima, Full-Cure, Meteor, and Meltdown for each character because the more you have the higher your characters' statistics can become. As your characters level up, so too will enemies, and as this happens often times the same enemy that had weak spells now has new more powerful spells to be drawn.

There is an art to junctioning and when done properly an otherwise puny character can become a force to be reckoned with. You must remember that before a statistic can be junctioned with magic to boost it higher, a Guardian Force must be Juncitoned and it's junction abilities must enable such junctioning. At first you may only be able to Junction one statistic like Vit (Vitality), Mag (Magic), Spr (Spirit), or Str (Strength) on each character, but as Guardian Forces Level up, adding more AP to new Junction Abilites more will be unlocked. Also, often when you acquire a new GF, immediately Junction it to a character because it often comes automatically with a junctionable statistic. I recommend Junctioning Esuna to your Status Defense. The following are some of the best spells to Junction to Status Attack. Use Death on your Status Attack to instantly kill some enemies, use Drain to get HP when you attack, use Sleep to put enemies to sleep, and Pain will cause Bio, Darkness, and Silence all at once. Ultima, Shell, and Life work well with your Elemental Defense. You can even work it where it is possible to Absorb every elemental attack. Ultima, Meltdown, Pain, Curaga, Full-Life, Aura, Triple, and Meteor seem to all greatly increase a characters HP. Firaga, Flare, and Triple do quite well with "Str." Protect, Reflect, Full-Life, Regen, and Curaga do very well with "Vit" as well as Meltdown. "Mag" increases most with Holy, Death, Flare, Water, Tornado, Quake, Triple, and Pain. "Spr" increases substantially with Full-Life as well as Regen, Curaga, Death and Holy. I recommend always junctioning "Spd" with Haste. I had this first junctioned to Squall and it almost always seemed like it was his turn. The ATB was in perpetual Haste, without having to cast Haste. Remember to Junction your Character Abilities under the Junction Menu. Sometimes I was quite surprised when I discovered I had ignored this area entirely and there was a juicy Vit+40% sitting in there completely unused.

Guardian Forces may seem like an easy way out of a battle, but sometimes it can be just as quick to use regular attacks when a character is really pumped up.

Pressing R1 when Squall Gunblade passes through an enemy will always do extra damage. Master the timing and you can trash some opponents without ever summoning a Guardian Force. Maybe I was just dreaming, but I did this with other characters and they seemed to sometimes get extra damage in some how as well. Precise timing seems to be the key.

Limit Break really can really trash opponents, so you may not want to always cure a character whose fallen below 1/4 of their total HP.

Never leave anyone with a Status Change during battle.

When you get Diablos' Mug ability be sure to use it frequently because many enemies have rare items needed to modify weapons into more powerful versions.

Weapons Monthly Magazines allow new weapons to be selectable at Junk Shops. Find as many of these as possible. Pet Pals Magazines allow Rinoa's Dog Angelo to learn new abilites. Combat Kings allows Zell to learn new Limit Break moves.

Hidden Draw Points can be found all over the world map in crevices like Train Tunnels and river sources.

Always refine crappy level 1 magic to level 2, and likewise level 2 to level 3.