Hyper Shot (Final Fantasy VIII)

Hyper Shot is Irvine's ultimate Limit Break in Final Fantasy VIII that deals extreme physical damage to an enemy depending on his Strength stat. It is used with the slow-firing and rare Pulse Ammo. Because of the rarity of the ammunition type, and its slow firing rate, Irvine is usually better off using his other Shots.
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 Hyper Shot when the player has Pulse Ammo is the inventory. It is the rarest ammunition type, refined from Laser Cannon (1=5), Energy Crystal (1=10), and Power Generator (1=20) with Ifrit's Ammo-RF.
Laser Cannons can very rarely drop Level 20+ Elastoids, but they are only fought in Centra Excavation Site with Laguna's party (spoils earned in Laguna scenarios carry over to the main party). Elastoids are not too common and the player is likely on a level lower than 20 at this point. A Laser Cannon can also extremely rarely drop from a Level 30+ Belhelmel (when the party is not using Rare Item). The best way to get a Laser Cannon is from the late-game boss Mobile Type 8. If the player does get a Laser Cannon, they will likely rather use it to teach Quistis Homing Laser rather than turn it into Pulse Ammo.
Energy Crystals are best farmed from the fixed encounter Elnoyle in the late-game Esthar City. However, the player can also card-mod their card (10=1).
Power Generator is an extremely rare item, seldom mugged from a Level 30+ Blitz. It is also found in Lunatic Pandora late into the game if the player opened all trap doors as Laguna at the Centra Excavation Site. However, if the player gets one, they may want to use it to teach Quistis Ray-Bomb over refining it into ammo.
One low effort but easily missable way to get Pulse Ammo is the 5 such ammo procured from the G-Soldier in Grease Monkey's house in Fishermans Horizon when visiting with Irvine alone.
Pulse Ammo is also needed for making Squall's ultimate weapon; the player should not fire any for Hyper Shot until they have modeled the Lion Heart. Energy Crystals are the easiest source of Pulse Ammo, but Elnoyles are only available to fight late into the game, and Energy Crystals themselves are also used for weapon modeling for ultimate weapons.
==Mechanics==
Hyper 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 120 / 16
Where "Strength" is Irvine's Strength stat and "Vitality" is the target's Vitality stat. For comparison, the Power value of Canister Shot is 60, whereas Hyper Shot's is 120. Quistis's Crisis Level 4 version of Gatling Gun and Rinoa's Angelo Strike also have a Power level of 120, but only hit once.
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 Hyper Shot takes 1.9 seconds from the timer. This makes it the slowest shot alongside Canister 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==
thumb|330px
Hyper Shot by far the strongest shot, but is also the slowest, and in practice is rarely the best ammo to use. Pulse Ammo is cumbersome to make until the late-game when the player can freely fight Elnoyles, and by that point, Irvine's Strength stat should be high enough to deal more damage with his faster shots in comparison to Hyper Shot. Hyper Shot would be best when Irvine's Strength stat is low, but the one time this might happen is if his Magic stocks are blown away in the final battles.
Hyper Shot would be best when there is one strong storyline enemy, such as Adel. Against superbosses, the player will likely have prepared with the best Strength junctions, meaning that Irvine's faster shots are preferable. Irvine's limitation is also that he may run out of Pulse Ammo mid-battle, it being so rare.
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. However, as Hyper Shot is so strong, it may already hit the damage cap without critical hits, especially if the player additionally inflicts Vit 0 onto the enemy. Hyper 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.
==Citations==
Category:Shots in Final Fantasy VIII