This came from a request on YouTube. I'm not familiar with the character, so I tried my best - be sure to let me know what you think! This build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
You can check out a video on the character over here on YouTube.
Let's get into the build for Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VIII!
SQUALL
CHARACTER Squall Leonhart
SOURCE Final Fantasy VIII
BUILD GOALS
o An orphan who became cold and distant after he thought his childhood friend abandoned him
o He trained to become a mercenary known as a SeeD, specializing in the use of the gunblade, a weapon that uses the harmful vibrations of a firing gun for a more grievous effect
o Squall can manually trigger the gunblade on a hit to launch a blast to deal additional damage and also boasts the highest accuracy of the game with his weapons
o His Limit Break is Renzokuken, which is a series of four to eight slashes followed by a finishing move
o Rough Divide is the first finisher he has access to, which sees him charge an enemy with an upward slash before triggering an explosion to deal heavy damage to a single foe
o Second for his finishers is Fated Circle where he jumped into the air while charging energy in his weapon. At the apex, he spins to release a shockwave that damages all enemies around him
o With Blasting Zone, he extends a pillar of light from his blade until it reaches the sky before slamming it down on all enemies
o His final finisher is Lion Heart, which has him charge power into his weapon before knocking an enemy upward, unleash a flurry of blows, and then slam them back into the ground
o Like all characters in FFVIII, he can summon guardian forces though favors those that enhance his physical stats, such as Ifrit and Cerberus, to take advantage of his own physicality
Summary of Goals: Squall is a stoic mercenary who wields a gunblade with incredible accuracy. He unleashes rapid attacks, enhancing his damage with shots from his firearm and channeling magical power into his blade. His magic also allows him to summon guardians to aid him in battle though he favors those that enhance his physical power.
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Ifrit Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Dexterity
o Ancestry Feat: Natural Ambition
Background: Martial Disciple
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Athletics (trained), Warfare Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Quick Jump
Class & Subclass: Fighter
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Crafting (trained), Intimidation (trained), Stealth (trained), Survival (trained)
o Class Feat: Sudden Charge, Vicious Swing
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str +4, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +1, Wis +0, Cha +0)
Squall will stick with the human ancestry but takes up an ifrit heritage for a feat down the line and as a reference to the fact that many of the guardian forces he synergizes with tend to have a fire theme – and include ifrit. Given his training to become a SeeD, he uses the martial disciple background with a focus on Athletics to get Quick Jump, which is a very solid starter feat. Given his ability to consistently trigger critical hits and his high accuracy, the fighter class actually seemed like a good base for him and, thanks to his Natural Ambition, it provides him with Sudden Charge and Vicious Swing. Both of these are meant to resemble his Rough Divide, which features a charge as well as a powerful slash against a single target. It’s a pretty basic and versatile start that we will expand on as we delve deeper into its design.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Blade Brake
o Skill Feat: Cat Fall
o Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Ancestral Paragon – Inner Fire
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: +1 gun sword, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Slam Down
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare
o Gear: bracelet of dashing, +1 gun sword, Jack’s tattered cape, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Intelligence (Str +4.5, Dex +3, Con +2, Int +2, Wis +1, Cha +0)
o Ancestry Feat: Noble Resolve
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert), Society (trained)
o Weapon Mastery: Sword
o Gear: +1 striking gun sword, bracelet of dashing, bracers of missile deflection, Jack’s tattered cape, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
Blade Brake felt too anime not to use for the character but then Squall takes up Slam Down to knock enemies down, similar to how he finishes with his Lion Heart attack. Cat Fall follows a similar idea as Blade Brake, letting Squall drop incredible distances without injury. His other skill feat for the level is Intimidating Glare, based on Squall’s aggressive stoicism that usually means he prefers glaring at people than trying to actually communicate. This stoicism is further explored in Noble Resolve from his ifrit heritage, which also grants him Inner Fire thanks to Ancestral Paragon to make him able to summon brief demonstrations of magic. This references a bit of his guardian forces but is super minor in that regard and instead will play into an aspect further along in the build – actually, right with our next level. Additionally, during this block, Squall gains access to his critical specialization, and the critical fusion of his gunblade is perfect for how he uses the gunblade. It can be used to amp the damage of his blow, dealing 2 additional damage per weapon damage die.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Magus Dedication
o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o Skill Increase: Arcana (trained)
o Gear: +1 studded leather, +1 striking gun sword, lifting belt, bracelet of dashing, necklace of knives, Jack’s tattered cape
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Gear: lesser grub gloves, +1 studded leather, tactician’s helm, +1 striking gun sword, bracelet of dashing, bracers of missile deflection
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Spellstriker
o Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o Gear: boots of bounding, lesser grub gloves, ring of the ram, +1 studded leather, +1 striking gun sword, lifting belt
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Hardy Traveler
o Skill Increase: Arcana (expert)
o Gear: +1 resilient studded leather, boots of bounding, bravery baldric (restoration), lesser grub gloves, tactician’s helm, +1 striking gun sword
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence (Str +5, Dex +4, Con +3, Int +3, Wis +1, Cha +0)
o Class Feat: Hybrid Study Spell – thunderous strike
o Skill Feat: Rolling Landing
o Skill Increase: Thievery (trained)
o Gear: thunderblast slippers, +1 resilient studded leather, shock weapon rune, bravery baldric (restoration), lesser grub gloves, +1 striking gun sword
With his Intelligence at +2, Squall can pick up a Magus Dedication, which ends up dominating this entire block. The best options from this are going to be gouging claw, with its persistent bleed, and live wire to get some more elemental damage. Spellstriker limits how often he can be doing it, but Limit Breaks seem to be something that isn’t coming out every round, so having it as something that can only be used once per combat likely ends up working out for him. In addition to whatever cantrips he picked up with his dedication, he does have ignition from his ancestry to draw upon with this ability as well. He also takes Hybrid Study Spell for thunderous strike. This doesn’t recharge his Spellstrike or anything like that, but a single action Strike that hits in an area, and specifically one that extends his reach a bit, feels like a solid fit for Blasting Zone, even if it falls a teensy bit short. His skill feats are all about enhancing his mobility with Rolling Landing letting him turn a fall into Step or short Stride and Wall Jump enhancing his verticality. Hardy Traveler is a classic for adventurers, fitting with the far-roaming exploits of characters such as Squall.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Arcana (master)
o Gear: +2 striking gun sword, thunderblast slippers, armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient studded leather, bravery baldric (restoration), wounding weapon rune
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Crashing Slam
o Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler
o Gear: +2 resilient studded leather, +2 striking gun sword, shadow signet, thunderblast slippers, shock weapon rune, thundering weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Summon Fire Elemental
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (master)
o Weapon Legend: Sword
o Gear: +2 greater striking gun sword, +2 resilient studded leather, master magus ring, shadow signet, armbands of athleticism, thunderblast slippers
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Whirlwind Strike
o Skill Feat: Kip Up
o Gear: propulsive boots, +2 greater striking gun sword, moderate grub gloves, +2 resilient studded leather, impactful weapon rune, shadow signet
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +5.5, Dex +4, Con +3, Int +4, Wis +2, Cha +1)
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary), Nature (trained)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient studded leather, propulsive boots, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking gun sword, bravery baldric (stoneskin), master magus ring
Crashing Slam expands on the effects of Crashing Slam, adding some guaranteed damage to its knockdown effect, but slightly more important is Whirlwind Strike, which will be useful for simulating the mechanical effects of his Fated Circle and allowing him to slash all his enemies around him. He’ll probably have to rely on a Spellstrike to do the charge up of energy. Titan Wrestler should let him down larger creatures with his Crashing Slam and Kip Up is just one of the best skill feats in the game. He uses Summon Fire Elemental from his ifrit heritage to gain the ability to call upon a fire elemental inspired by the guardian forces that he and others can call upon in the game.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Overwhelming Blow
o Skill Feat: Cloud Jump
o Gear: greater thunderblast slippers, +2 greater resilient studded leather, soaring armor rune, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking gun sword, moderate grub gloves
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking gun sword, greater thunderblast slippers, greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient studded leather, keen weapon rune, spell reservoir weapon rune
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Savage Critical
o Skill Feat: Water Sprint
o Gear: bracers of strength, +3 greater striking gun sword, greater ashen weapon rune, greater thunderblast slippers, +2 greater resilient studded leather, soaring armor rune
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Robust Health
o Skill Increase: Arcana (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient studded leather, bracers of strength, vorpal weapon rune, +3 greater striking gun sword, greater shock weapon rune, greater thunderblast slippers
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +6, Dex +4, Con +4, Int +4, Wis +3, Cha +2)
o Class Feat: Weapon Supremacy
o Skill Feat: Unified Theory
o Gear: +3 major striking gun sword, +3 greater resilient studded leather, titan’s grasp, vorpal weapon rune, greater ashen weapon rune, major crown of the fire eater
Squall has the ability to manually inflict critical hits in FFVIII and he can recreate that aspect with Overwhelming Blow, which lets him get a guaranteed crit as long as his attack hits and gives him even more damage if he happens to roll a crit. For similar reasons, he takes Savage Critical so that he crits on a 19 as well as a 20 though the usefulness of this feat is questionable as there are likely limited circumstances where a natural 19 isn’t going to be a crit anyway. Finally, he takes Weapon Supremacy to make him permanently quickened, giving him the opportunity to make more Strikes as per the multiple attacks from his Renzokuken or Lion Heart itself. Cloud Jump and Water Sprint feel super anime and as such a natural fit to the character while Unified Theory is mostly because he maxed out his Arcana just in case he wanted to take more magus spellcasting feats. As the main protagonist of his game, Heroic Presence feels like a good fit for him that actually plays into his favoring of enhancement type Guardian Forces.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: With Squall not quite having the necessary Intelligence to take Magus Dedication to start with, he can begin with a Gunslinger Dedication. He doesn’t quite use his gunblade in this manner, but going the Way of the Triggerbrand can give him some options such as Triggerbrand Salvo to replicate his effect as well as giving him options to reload, such as Running Reload and similar options. Then he goes into Magus Dedication with much that we already see her in the build and likely expanding upon it with more spells. In addition to attack spells, he can likely take advantage of whatever buffing spells he can grab to simulate his favored Guardian Forces.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Squall Leonhart is an ifrit human fighter with the martial disciple background. He underwent training to become a mercenary with his background and he represents his gunblade with a gun sword. Once he gets his critical specialization effect, the critical fusion trait will allow him to use the firing of the gun to enhance his damage. The fighter fits with his accuracy and Overwhelming Blow gives him a way to guarantee a crit as long as he lands his blow. Renzokuken is a series of slashes and his Weapon Supremacy letting him make up to four Strikes in a round is a good way to show it off. Sudden Charge can cover the initial charge of his Rough Divide while its heavy blow comes from Vicious Swing – which should be modified with the likes of Furious Focus through his flexibility class feature. Whirlwind Strike allows him to slash out at all enemies around him, akin to Fated Circle, whereas the energy he charges it with comes from his Magus Dedication and Spellstriker. This archetype also grants him access to thundering strike, letting him enhance a Strike with damage that strikes in a cone behind his primary target, akin to the way he extends his blade with Blasting Zone. Weapon Supremacy pulls double duty for his Lion Heart, but he also works in Crashing Slam and Slam Down to smash his enemies into the ground, as per the finishing of his effect. On top of his physical capabilities, he grabs Summon Fire Elemental from his heritage to reflect his ability to call upon guardian forces within the game, going for ifrit as he seems to favor fiery forces.
Amply armed and able, this awkward anti-hero amplifies his attacks with ammunition and arcane additions, acting with advanced accuracy to annihilate adversaries.
Let me know what you think and what other builds you would like to see.
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Have a fantastic Friday!
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