Invincible Moon (Final Fantasy VIII)

Invincible Moon is a Limit Break for Rinoa in Final Fantasy VIII that protects the player's battle party from damage for a time. It is one of Rinoa's best Limit Breaks. It is her Level 3 Combine ability, a command available randomly when Rinoa is on low health or under Aura status.
Rinoa throws a bone to her dog, Angelo, who jumps to the sky and howls at the full moon, bestowing the party with invulnerability. Afterward, Rinoa balances the bone on Angelo's nose, who nudges it to her mouth and runs off.
==Obtained==
Invincible Moon is learned from Pet Pals Vol. 3, bought from the Timber Pet Shop for 1,000 gil. After Rinoa joins the party, the player can set what ability they want Angelo to learn in her Status menu. To learn Invincible Moon after reading the magazine, the player needs to walk for approximately 900 steps with Rinoa in the active party.
Steps are accumulated the fastest by driving a fueled car on the world map (or riding a chocobo, but chocobos are not yet available when the player first gets Rinoa in the party).
==Mechanics==
Invincible Moon is Rinoa's Crisis Level 3 Combine Limit Break, also used on Crisis Level 4 if Wishing Star is not learned; Angelo will use the highest level skill that she knows and that is valid to use.
* Crisis Level 1: Angelo Cannon
* Crisis Level 2: Angelo Strike
* Crisis Level 3: Invincible Moon
* Crisis Level 4: Wishing Star
Crisis Level is a hidden calculation; the lower Rinoa's current HP, the more ailments she is afflicted with, and the more KO'd active party members she has, the higher her Crisis Level.
Invincible Moon bestows Invincible on all non-KO'd members of the player's battle party for ~24 seconds, making them immune to almost all damage and "locks" their status; neither new ailments or buffs (including Angel Wing or trying to re-use Invincible Moon) can be applied during invincibility, but any prior buffs are kept, such as Aura. Invincibility removes ailments. Curative spells and items still work. The only way to damage units with Invincible is the Darkside command.
Angelo abilities are not available in the battles against Propagators.
==Use==
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Angelo Strike is Rinoa's Level 3 Combine Limit Break that protects the party from almost all damage and perhaps the most desirable outcome of Combine. The player can forgo learning Wishing Star to get Invincible Moon on both Crisis Level 3 and 4. As Pet Pals Vol 1—4 are all available right as Rinoa joins or very soon after, the player needs to choose which one to master first. Invincible Moon takes the most steps to master, but might be worth getting the earliest for its sheer potency.
The other ways to negate damage are with elemental absorption of enemies' attacks via Elem-Def-J, the Defend command against physical damage, and gaining Invincibility from Hero or Holy War (or their trials). Holy War has the same effect as Invincible Moon, but is a very rare item, the only "good" way to get it being from card-modding a rare card that itself is part of a sidequest. However, doing this nets 10 Holy Wars, which can last the rest of the game, and in the endgame, the player can re-mod the card endlessly if they completed the Card Club quest before the point of no return. The boon of using Holy Wars is that the player can use their Limit Breaks for damage rather than for protection, and time the invincibility effect. Invincible Moon is the easier way to get Invincible in a casual playthrough, however, and the only way before Heros and Holy Wars are available.
The player can aim to have Rinoa use Invincible Moon more often by deliberately letting her Crisis Level rise by having her afflicted with ailments and getting her to especially low health. Being on critical health with Aura will get Invincible Moon all the time if Rinoa does not know Wishing Star. However, if Rinoa's Limit Break re-activates during Invincibility, using Invincible Moon again will not stack the effect; it will just miss. The player also cannot use Angel Wing when Rinoa is invincible; because it works by bestowing a status, it will simply miss.
Invincibility is most useful in tough battles, such as in the final battles, against Ultima Weapon's Light Pillar, and Omega Weapon's attacks overall; the latter's Terra Break is tough to avoid dying to without Invincibility or Defend. Invincible Moon can be difficult to time under the superboss circumstances, however. Another good use is to protect against damage while drawing, such as to get three stocks of 100 Ultima spells from Ultima Weapon without needing to pause to revive or heal. Having Aura before casting Invincible Moon is the best scenario, as the party can keep using Limit Breaks while being immune to damage. Invincibility is also a good time to heal in preparation for when the status will wear off.
In Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, the player also has invulnerability cheat available separate from the Invincible status.
Category:Combine abilities in Final Fantasy VIII