Seifer (Final Fantasy VIII gameplay)

Seifer is a temporary party member and a boss in Final Fantasy VIII. He wields a gunblade in battle and can deal increased damage with a trigger button the same as Squall can. Seifer is playable for the first portion of the Siege of Dollet during the SeeD exam. All the magic in his stock (but not his EXP) is passed onto Selphie after he leaves.
Seifer has an affinity to fire, as every time he uses his Limit Break, he starts off by casting a fire spell at his target in similar fashion as seen in the game's opening FMV. However, it is merely part of the animation and thus not the same as casting Fire with the Magic command. Fire spells are also drawn from Seifer during the encounters with him as a boss.
As with other playable characters in the game, a Triple Triad card based on Seifer can be obtained.
==Party member==
Seifer joins the player's party in Dollet as part of the SeeD exam by talking to him before heading into the town. He is not "subservient" to the player's lead character like party members in any other time, and runs off ahead to do his own thing rather than following the player. He still appears in battle alongside Squall and Zell. After crossing the bridge, the party walks along a mountain path where a set encounter against an Anacondaur occurs; Seifer gives the tutorial on the character dealing the killing blow to the enemy getting bonus EXP from battles, and tells the others to leave the kill for him. However, nothing happens differently if Squall or Zell deals the finishing blow. Once the player gets to the top where Seifer tells Squall about his life goals, he unceremoniously leaves the party by running on ahead and is replaced by Selphie, who inherits Seifer's magic stocks and junctions, but not his EXP.
Seifer's intro pose is to hold his Hyperion upwards in front of his face before slowly lowering it into his battle stance. His victory pose is to swing his gunblade, then hold it with both hands and lower it in front of his face, identical to how he often poses outside of battle.
===Weapon===
Seifer wields a gunblade. His particular model is Hyperion, featuring a pistol handle based on the Beretta M9, rather than the revolver handles favored by Squall. Seifer holds it with one hand, whereas Squall holds his gunblade two-handed. Pressing the trigger button when Seifer strikes will boost his damage by 50% (he never deals a random critical hit like the party members who do not wield gunblades). Hyperion provides 12 Strength. Like Squall, Seifer never misses with his physical attack.
===Limit Break===
Seifer's Limit Break is Fire Cross. No Mercy is the only one that the player can use during the time Seifer is a guest party member. Unlike the other player characters, Seifer can use his Limit Break without having to be in critical health. This reflects Seifer's ability to later use his special moves against the party as a boss even before being in low health. His Limit Break is unaffected by Crisis Level.
===Stats===
During his stint as a guest party member, the player can use the junction system to boost his stats.
===Guardian Forces===
During the time Seifer is a guest party member, the player can equip him with Guardian Forcess and magic for the junction system. They are better off prioritizing Squall and Zell's junctions, however, as there are no bosses or other tough enemies while Seifer is present, and he will soon leave the party and pass on his junctions to Selphie, who benefits from a magic-focused build for her Limit Break. Squall and Zell could thus equip Ifrit and Shiva, who have STR-J, and Seifer could have Quezacotl who has Mag-J, which will be passed onto Selphie when she replaces Seifer in the party. However, his Limit Break is physical, and he is likely the one who can use his the most frequently; it will be weak without a STR-J junction, but the enemies encountered at this point are also not hard to defeat with simple attacks. If the player gives him the magic-focused set-up, they could use Seifer for drawing magic while Squall and Zell handle the enemies with normal attacks.
After he leaves the party, he is never shown having a GF again, though he can still use magic.
The below values are the base compatibility values at the start of the game. Seifer only gets the opportunity to use the first three GFs, and so most of his compatibility values do not matter. Therefore they have the arbitrary pattern of decreasing by instead of logically determined values.
GF 	Compatibility
Quezacotl	500
Shiva 	480
Ifrit 	460
Siren 	440
Brothers 	400
Diablos 	380
Carbuncle	360
Leviathan	340
Pandemona	320
Cerberus 	300
Alexander	280
Doomtrain	260
Bahamut 	240
Cactuar 	220
Tonberry 	200
Eden 	180
==Boss==
Seifer is fought as a boss four times in the story. He uses Fire-based attacks and gains new Limit Breaks every time he is encountered. If the party has Odin, a cutscene will occur the last time Seifer is faced. Seifer is the only enemy to have the rare spell Aura available for drawing.
==Triple Triad==
Seifer is a Level 10 Player Card in Triple Triad used for playing the minigame and for turning into 3 Diamond Armors with Quezacotl's Card Mod. The card can be won off Headmaster Cid in Balamb Garden or Edea's House.
Category:Character gameplay in Final Fantasy VIII