Canister Shot (Final Fantasy VIII)

Canister Shot is a Limit Break for Irvine in Final Fantasy VIII that deals strong physical damage to an enemy depending on his Strength stat. It is used with the slow-firing Demolition Ammo. When Shot initiates, the player has a variable amount of time to fire at their chosen target (the player can re-targeting during) with and cancel with . Ammo cannot be swapped amid a Shot action. 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 Canister Shot when the player has Demolition Ammo is the inventory. It costs 800 gil in Cloud's Shop in Esthar City, but requires the Familiar ability from Tonberry to show up in the wares. Much earlier than this, Demolition Ammo can be made with Ifrit's Ammo-RF from Cactus Thorn (1=40), Missile (1=20), and Running Fire (1=40), and with Quezacotl's Card Mod from Trauma cards (1=30).
The easiest way to get it early is likely from card-modding the Cactuar card into Cactus Thorns and then refining the thorns with Ammo-RF. When the player has the mobile Balamb Garden, they can easily farm Cactus Thorns on Kashkabald Desert.
==Mechanics==
Canister Shot deals non-elemental physical damage to an opponent, 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 60 / 16
Where "Strength" is Irvine's Strength stat and "Vitality" is the target's Vitality stat. For comparison, the Power value of a normal attack is 20, whereas one hit from Canister Shot has the Power value of 60; the damage potential increases from being able to fire consecutively and the guarantee that the shot will not miss.
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 Canister Shot takes 1.9 seconds from the timer. This makes it the slowest shot alongside Hyper Shot.
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==
Canister Shot is much stronger than Normal Shot, but also fires much more slowly, and in practice is rarely the best ammo to use. It is up to the player to decide which ammo suits their current battle situation. Normal Ammo is available from general stores, whereas Demolition Ammo is rarer. Demolition Ammo would be especially useful early on, because if Irvine can reach the damage cap (or close) with good junctions, Normal Shot is preferable for its faster firing speed, whereas Canister Shot's sheer power makes it worth using on lower Strength stats. Canister Shot would be best when there is one strong enemy, such as Edea in Deling City where Irvine is a mandatory party member, or BGH251F2. Irvine's limitation is that he may run out of certain types of ammo, especially during long battles where he uses his Shot extensively.
Canister Shot is equally slow as the strongest shot, Hyper Shot. The ammo for the latter is rare and best saved for making Squall's ultimate weapon. Rather than using Canister Shot, the player is often better off using Armor Shot whenever available, which fires faster, is stronger, and ignores enemy Vitality in damage calculation.
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.
Canister Shot's usefulness diminishes toward the endgame when Irvine gets good Strength and Luck junctions due to its slow firing speed. If the player additionally inflicts Vit 0 onto the enemy, even lower powered shots can reach toward the damage cap, or if the enemy does not have Vit 0, Armor Shot is always best to use. Canister Shot's slow firing speed benefits from a longer timer; 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.
==Etymology==
==Citations==
Category:Shots in Final Fantasy VIII