Summons and Magic

[OnOneRyder]

I started this game a week or so ago, and so far the story is pretty good. I'm just not able to figure out how to use summons and magic. I can see Dagger (Garnet) has two summons available but they're not useable, what gives? Also, so far I only have cure and fire. How do I get other magic? A decent quick answer would be appreciated, I have to go back to work monday, I want to be a dork and game all weekend.

The setup in FFVIII was way more user friendly in my opinion, very self explanatory.

You can't use summon magic untill about halfway threw disc 2 mostly on disc 3 though. So just ignore those cause you can't use them. You get new magic by buying new weapons that contain magic so it can be learnt. I think your better off buying a guide or looking on google for a better explanation

[vivismyboy]

You can't use summons until Ramuh's little story quest and like GobStopper said, magic is learned by equipping weapons.

[Lordofdragons]

to completely learn magic look at the exp bar on the weapons and equipment u have equiped when thery have stars that magic or skill is been completey learned and u dont need to equip that equipment 2 use it.
same applys for summons.

[vivismyboy]

Originally Posted by Lordofdragons

to completely learn magic look at the exp bar on the weapons and equipment u have equiped when thery have stars that magic or skill is been completey learned and u dont need to equip that equipment 2 use it.
same applys for summons.

Get in a lot of battles so you can learn abilities faster and when you get a new weapon, you won't have to wait! That is what I do, it works great for me too.

[Big Pája]

The fact that You cannot use Eidolons right away is, like vivismyboy pointed out, story-related. I do not remember it very well but it had something to do with the fact that Garnet was afraid of her power because Queen Brahne wanted to extract those Eidolons from her.
And yes, You LEARN abilities from equipment for keeping unlike in VII or VIII, where You had to have materia or GFs equipped.

[suikoden5]

well you can get different magic from some armor and you can't use summons until disc 2,an you can get summons from little orbs.

[Fishie]

That's the thing I hated in the beggining about Garnet's summons having a lot of MP to summon till later on, but don't stress on that at all. As for magic, its pretty simple like everyone said:weapons and some equip help you learn the skills but equip auto-ability once you mastered its AP and equip it so you can learn abilities faster.

[Andromeda]

Actually it is possible to use the Summons that Garnet has before gaining Ramuh, but you have to have the MP. The only reason you are unable to now is because it requires like 200 MP for one summoning. The number changes later, but there is a story related reason to why it costs so much to summon early on.

As said, Magic and all abilities are learned from Equipment. You have to equip the gear that has the ability you want and while you wear it you have that ability. As you fight, you gain AP after each battle, which is put into your abilities. Each ability requires so much AP before you learn it and do not require the gear to use the ability. Once you have that maxed out, there will be three stars on the meter rather than numbers. This means you learned it. Also when you learn it, you will be notified at the battle results screen that a character learned something.

That is how it works.

[skater_sam98]

The fact that You cannot use Eidolons right away is, like vivismyboy pointed out, story-related. I do not remember it very well but it had something to do with the fact that Garnet was afraid of her power because Queen Brahne wanted to extract those Eidolons from her.
And yes, You LEARN abilities from equipment for keeping unlike in VII or VIII, where You had to have materia or GFs equipped