Restore HP to a party member with low HPDescription
Angelo Recover[note 1] is an Angelo ability for Rinoa in Final Fantasy VIII that heals a critical party member during battle.
Angelo Recover is one of four passive Angelo abilities not used via the Limit Break Combine command. It randomly summons Rinoa's dog, Angelo, to heal a party member on critical health (yellow HP digits). It can also trigger as a counterattack in response to Rinoa being hit by an enemy, and so tends to _target her most often.
Obtain
Angelo Recover is learned from Pet Pals Vol. 2, found in Rinoa's room on the Forest Owls' Base and bought from Karen's Store in Esthar City. The magazine in Rinoa's room is missable; the player needs to return there after Zell and Selphie are back in Squall's party and the mission is about to commence.
After reading the magazine, the player must walk ~200 steps with Rinoa in the party to learn the ability. The ability to learn is set in Rinoa's Status menu. The fastest way to accumulate steps is by driving a car when the party has fuel, or riding a chocobo on the world map, but chocobos are not yet available when Pet Pals Vol. 2 is found in Rinoa's room. A sound will chime when Rinoa masters the skill.
Mechanics
The game has a hidden "Dead Time" timer that counts down from 200 when no one acts (just like the ATB bar only fills when nothing else is happening). After the timer reaches 0 (after 13.3~ seconds), the following things will be checked in this order:[1]
- if (12 >= [0..255]) Gilgamesh is summoned (5.1%)
- else if (8 >= [0..255] Angelo Recover is used (3.3%)
- else if (2 >= [0..255] Angelo Reverse is used (1%)
- else if (8 >= [0..255] Angelo Search is used (3.2%)
- else if (2 >= [0..255] Angelo Reverse is used (1%)
- else if (8 >= [0..255] Angelo Recover is used (3.3%)
If the player does not have the skill, its check is skipped. Angelo Recover and Angelo Reverse only trigger if their conditions are met; Angelo Recover will only trigger if there is an ally with less than 25% of their max HP, and Angelo Reverse will trigger if there is a KO'd ally.
Angelo Recover also has a separate trigger mechanism: when Rinoa is damaged by an enemy in battle. It uses the same mechanism as determining if Angelo Rush occurs.[1]
- if (16 >= [0..255]) Angelo Recover is used on Rinoa (6.6%)
- else if (16 >= [0..255]) Angelo Rush is used on the enemy that attacked Rinoa (6.2%)
If Angelo Recover is not learned, its step in the calculation is skipped. If the enemy attack killed Rinoa, then no counter activates.
Angelo Recover heals 62.5% of the _target's max HP, unless the _target has Zombie, in which case Angelo Recover will KO them.
Angelo abilities are not available in the battles against Propagators.
Use
Angelo Recover is available to learn early on, as soon as when Rinoa joins the party. It is up to the player to decide which Angelo skill they want to learn first. After mastering, Angelo Recover is active in every battle where Rinoa is in the active party, except against Propagators. Angelo Recover gives a random free heal without using up a turn, either simply when nothing is happening, or in response to Rinoa being damaged by an enemy. This also makes Rinoa a good candidate for Cover, taking damage for others and hopefully getting healed with Angelo Recover should she drop low herself.
Angelo Recover is more of a means of situational bonus healing than a part of gameplay strategy. There is no way to turn it off or unlearn it once it has been mastered in case the player wants to keep the party on low health for Limit Break activation purposes.
Angelo's passive abilities make Rinoa a useful party member to have overall in tough encounters, such as against bosses, where free random heals are most beneficial. The player needs to take extra care if the party gets Zombiefied as Angelo Recover will kill the afflicted party member rather than heal them. Zombie is a rare status to contract, however.
Notes
Annotations
- ↑ If the player renames Angelo, the ability will be called [Name] Recover.
Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 (2010). "Final Fantasy VIII – Battle Mechanics FAQ". From GameFAQs. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023.