-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suikoden III Boss and Character FAQ. Written by: Matt620 (Matthew McGeehin), with help from BlindTelescope Version 1.25 I.) Introduction II.) 108 Stars III.) Team Suggestions for Boss Battles IV.) Legal Documentation and Thanks I.) Introduction The purpose of this FAQ is to list the 108 Stars of Destiny of Suikoden III, explain how they are recruited, then, provide detailed information about these stars, and explain how effective, or ineffective, they may be. Following this, a list of storyline boss battles is provided, as well as effective teams and strategies to help defeat these bosses. II.) 108 Stars The following is a list of all 108 Stars of Destiny. All stars will follow this format Name: The name of the star Automatic: Detailing whether or not the star is gotten automatically or not. If they aren't, then this will explain how to obtain them. Not all optional characters do not have to be gotten in the chapter that they are listed, but it may be wise to do so, as you may not be able to reach them for a while, or they have a certain level advantage that proves handy. To recruit non-automatic stars, you must visit Budehec Castle first. Geddoe can reach it in Chapter 1, Chris chapter 2, and Hugo will automatically go there in his Chapter 3. Thomas can start recruiting after he has his "land-lease" idea. Battle Fighting Style: Some characters fight differently then others. Pure magic users will rarely attack, and berserkers will almost always attack, even if issued a defend command. Here is the list of styles: Offensive Fighter: Will attack if you say to, defend if you say to, and if the other person in the pair uses magic or an item, they will attack. Defensive Fighter: Will attack if you say to, defend if you say to, if the other person in the pair uses magic, they will defend, and if the other person in the pair uses an item, they will attack. Berserker: Will attack if you say too, will attack if you issue a defend command, and if the other person in the pair uses magic or an item, they will attack Magic User: Will defend if you issue an attack command (EXCEPTION: if there are two magic users in a pair, the one in the front will attack, and the other will defend), defend if you say to, and if the other person in the pair uses magic or an item, they will defend. Support: Is a support character, does not fight. War Fighting Styles: What the character does in strategy battles. The choices are: Leader – They lead a unit. They must fight in wars where they are the leaders, and when they die, the unit is defeated. Fighter – They fight in units led by one of the leaders, and may be switched around from unit to unit unless it is expressly stated in the walkthrough that they cannot. These characters do not have to fight unless they cannot be moved. Support – They offer support skills, but do not fight in the battle themselves. Doesn’t fight – They do not fight in war. Mixed – They fulfill more then one role over the course of the game. The rating will be broken down by which role they fulfill if the rating differs. Skills: Unique skills for each character. These skills are skills such as Heavy Damage that not everyone learns. Strengths: Highlights what the character does best in a situation. This will also detail important skills to raise to get the most out of a character. A Support character will not get this category Weaknesses: This will detail the character's drawbacks, and ways to counter them, if they can be countered. A Support character will not get this category Support Discussion: This applies to Support characters. This section will discuss how useful the support abilities of a character are. Also, if applicable, this section will explain what the character does at Budehec Castle and where to find them. Certain playable characters, like Juan, will have this section if they perform a function at Budehec Castle. Skill List: A list displaying the maximum levels each character’s skills can reach Stats - Like all games, characters have stats that factor in what they can do better then others. The following list are the stats of the Suikoden III world. PWR - Power. Physical, offensive power. SKL - Skill, Determines into accuracy MAG - Magic. Determines amount of spells one may cast before resting REP - Repel. Determines dodge MDEF - Magical Defense, determines how well one fares against magic. SPD - Speed, factors into how fast a character can move LUCK - Luck, helps determine random variables HP - HP, helps determine how durable a character is. Physical defense is determined by the armor a character wears, with the exception of animal stars, as they cannot equip any armor. The stats in this game are a "base" of sorts. They factor initial ability, but one trains up skills (physical skills at a Bujitsu Teacher, magical skills at a Tutor) to help make the characters better. Some skills are trained better then others, evident by the grades that can be reached. Geddoe Chapter 1 Name: Geddoe Automatic: Yes Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Leader Unique Skills: Freeze, Parry, Magic Repel Geddoe is one of the three main characters that can be played as in Suikoden III. He is a mercenary, the captain of the 12th unit in the Harmonian Southern Frontier Defense Force. He’s a mysterious character; not even his partners know that much about him. In truth, he is the bearer of the True Lightning Rune, and one of the oldest people in the world. He fought alongside the Fire Bringer against Harmonia fifty years ago. He wears black clothes and chainmail, and he uses a broad sword to fight. Strengths: Geddoe will always bear some type of True Rune, so he'll have a great magical offensive ability. Couple that with his above average magic stat and high magical skills, he will dish out magical offense with the best of them. Geddoe is also tough enough to handle himself, with a great Parry and alright Repel and Armor Protect so that he will usually not need to be protected with a tank, and his magical defense is fine too, with a high MDEF and Magic Resistance to supplement his only average Magic Repel. Weaknesses: Geddoe, perhaps not surprisingly, has a low SKL rating, so he'll tend to miss. To compensate, Geddoe can usually just attack with magic, or train up his Accuracy to help a little. Skill List: Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Parry: A Freeze: B+ Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: A Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B+ Magic Repel: B Name: Ace Automatic: Yes, he starts with Geddoe Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Discount, Thief Ace is the accountant of the 12th unit in the Southern Frontier Defense Force, a job he handles because no one else wanted it. He loves to drink and chase skirts. He used to be a member of Gilbert’s mercenary crew (Gilbert from Suikoden II). He’s got brown hair, wears a brown and beige patched shirt with a red scarf tied around the arm, camo pants, and he uses a pair of sai to fight. He learned about sai from a book and had a blacksmith make a pair. Strengths: Although most people don't try it out to realize it, Ace is actually a very efficent damage dealer, with the ability to boost his attack and hit in an area with 100% accuracy. The sacrifice is that the rune will unbalance him, although building up Ace to his highest potential will more often then not kill the enemies before the second round. Ace can also hold his own in most situations, with a high REP stat to avoid attack, and above average HP to help his above-average defense and average magical defense. Another good thing about Ace is that he requires very little maintenance, he doesn't need a rare equip like a Fury Rune. Weaknesses: Ace is very balanced in the sense that he really has no weaknesses. He's got a low MGC stat, but Ace does more damage with physical attacks anyway, so that's pretty useless, and even if you want Ace to use magic, he uses Lightning, so he'll outdamage anyone who uses an Earth, Wind, or Water Rune. Perhaps the only other real drawback is that Ace only has 4 free skill slots, so he can't do absolutely everything, although he's not the kind who needs many skills to be effective anyway. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Discount: C Repel: B Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Thief: B+ Fire Magic: C Water Magic: C Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B Name: Queen Automatic: Yes, she starts with Geddoe Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Heavy Damage, Shield Magic Queen is a member of the 12th unit in the Southern Frontier Defense Force, and she is the only woman in the unit. Queen is a tomboy; she enjoys drinking as much as the men in the unit. She used to be an aristocrat in a country called Sanady, but Harmonia conquered it and she was forced to live as a slave as a child. She got black hair, wears a green shirt and black pants, and she uses a one handed saber to fight. Rating Strengths - Queen's very high on offense, with a quick weapon for multiple swings and Heavy Damage to dish out pain, and with her Repel, she can avoid most hits. Queen's also got a high MGC stat and will be perhaps the best Wind Magic user until the end of the game when Yuiri becomes available. Thirdly, Queen gets the skills she really needs as natural skills, so she doesn't need to worry much about her skill slots, since she only needs one free slot (for Damage) Weaknesses - Perhaps Queen's only weakness is her lack of a second free rune slot. She gets one, but her Ripple rune is only useful for scoring a 100% accurate hit since it lessens damage. As such, Queen can only use one of her strengths, magic or physics. She can dual-class with more efficency then Percival since she outdamages him. Her lower HP can raise problems, but as a female, she can equip a Blue Ribbon. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: B+ Heavy Damage: A Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B+ Shield Magic: B Name: Joker Automatic: Yes, he starts with Geddoe. Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Support Unique Skills: Counter-attack, Continual Attack, Focus, Pale Gate Magic Joker is the oldest member of the 12th unit in the Southern Frontier Defense Force. He’s foul-mouthed and enjoys making cracks at Ace. However, Ace and Joker get along surprisingly well, and the two of them, along with Queen, enjoy their drinks. He’s got black hair and a mustache, wears all purple, and a bunch of tribal necklaces, and he uses his fists as a weapon. For those who have played Suikogaiden, Joker is Wan. Strengths: Joker is one of the best mages you'll have. Although he doesn't possess a True Rune, he has the highest magic stat in the game, which makes for the mostspells. As such, Joker has powerful magical abilities, with the exception of Lightning. He makes for an excellent dual-wielder of Fire and Water. Joker is also one of the best fighters among the magicians, with Continual Attack that most fighters would kill for. Also, among wizards, Joker is easily the most survivable, with an A in Repel, the highest HP, and even a B+ in Armor Protect. So essentially, Joker has the best non-mage talents of a mage, fighting for those times when spells would be not worth using, and defense since, well, everyone can use defense. But his magical abilities are still top-notch Weaknesses: As a wizard, Joker's survival abilities, although the best among the wizards, are at best, average. Joker's other drawback is that his Isshin Rune is not that useful, and his third slot opens much later in the game. Joker does not possess a natural S in magic, but it's very easy to reach an S in Fire with easily found equipment. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B Damage: B Repel: A Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Counter-Attack: A Continual Attack: A Fire Magic: A Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: C Pale Gate Magic: B Focus: A Name: Jacques Automatic: Yes, he comes with Geddoe Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Sharpshoot Jacques is the newest member of the 12th unit in the Southern Frontier Defense Force. He’s really quiet, and doesn’t drink alcohol like the rest of the group. He’s rather strange; no one knows exactly why he does what he does. He’s blonde, wears a light blue coat and khaki pants, as well as a white headscarf. He uses a gigantic crossbow to attack. Strengths: Jacques has the best Sharpshoot, which grants him some critical ability and allows him to attack at any time without moving. He's also decently tough and doesn't have to worry about dying most of the time, especially against monsters like Chimeras that target archers. His Boranda Hawk rune is also very good at sweeping the field of enemies since it hits everyone and does a higher damage multiplier then Great Hawk, and that it's much, much faster. Weaknesses: Jacques's damage, although fine for blitzing commons, really tapers off when he goes against single strong enemies. Although he can reach two shots with a C swing, he'll be outdamaged by Geddoe, Ace, and Queen all the time. He's also unsuitable for magic, but he's better with a Double-Strike Rune to use in conjunction with Boranda Hawk anyway. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: B Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B Sharpshoot: S Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: C Name: Aila Automatic: Yes. In Karaya Village, Ace and Joker will see her argue with a woman and go chase her. Pursue them, and when Karaya is attacked, Aila will join with Ace and Joker. After you meet Geddoe and Queen again, Aila will join permanently. This is all automatic. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Doesn’t fight Unique Skills: Shield Magic, Freeze Aila is a young Karayan girl who travels with Geddoe. She has some ability to sense the spirits, but she tends to stick to her bow rather then her wits. She hates the Zexen Knights for their attacking and destruction of Karaya Village. She wears bright yellow clothing, has brown hair tied in curls, and carries a short bow to attack. Strengths: Aila is very good in the early game. Since Geddoe's brigade lacks a dedicated healer, she easily fulfills this role with her Shield Rune, and can do this even until the late game. She's can do some decent far-away damage. Her biggest strength however is that she will outclass all Earth Magic users until the end of the game (she'll tie one, but beats her out in other areas) Weaknesses: Aila's weaknesses can be summed up easily: She runs out of gas later on. Although she'll be a great healer early on, once Joker gets his rune slot and Water Magic, she'll have little use as a healer. Although Aila can do some decent damage, she'll lose out to everyone except Jacques in a physical damage build, not to mention she requires a Fury Rune to even be a serious contender as a physical damager. Aila's also got pathetic defense and HP; she'll die easily if she's not protected. Thirdly, Aila has no Sharpshoot, which makes her the only archer without a critical hit mark. Skill List: Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: B+ Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: B Freeze: A Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: A Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Shield Magic: B+ Name: Jeane Automatic: No. Offer her a job at Budehec. She is in Brass Castle’s Rune Shop. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Support Skills: Healing, Rune Sage Jeane is the sexy Rune Sage in Brass Castle. No one knows much about her. It is suspected that she has a True Rune, but no one knows where it is. Jeane is at least 150 years old (very well put for someone that age, haha) She’s got white hair and wears a shiny black dress. Support Discussion: Jeane, as always, is the rune sage. Her shop will sell any commonly sold rune that is seen in a shop before, so if you need any runes, they can usually be found with her. Outside of the party, Jeane may attach or remove any non-permanent rune from any character, even if they are not in the active party. Inside the party, Jeane will heal a little damage, which is a nice perk, but truly shines in her Rune Sage ability, which causes rune chanting time to shrink, allowing for faster spells, not to mention allowing one to access a rune shop instantly. This ability is especially great if one is using the Pale Gate Rune, which has a naturally slower startuptime. Jeane's shop is located on the first screen of Budehec Castle, on the right end of the long building to the left of the stairs to the manor entrance. Skill List Healing: E Rune Sage: A Name: Ernie Automatic: No. Talk to her in Brass Castle’s Tutor shop, and answer her five questions. Basic Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t fight Skills: Tutor Ernie is the young girl wearing the graduation robe and mortarboard in Brass Castle. She is looking for a place to do research. She’s got brown curly hair and carries around a stack of books, as well. Support Discussion: Ernie is your castle Tutor, so see her for increasing any magical skills. Outside of battle, she will function as a Tutor for anyone, even if they are not in the active party. In the party, her Tutor skill allows one to access a Tutor at any time and for a slight increase in the damage of magical spells. Not as useful as Rune Sage, because it doesn't matter how much extra damage a spell is given if the character is hit out of it, but still a useful skill nontheless. Ernie is located in the upstairs library, in the small partition War: N/A Skill List Tutor: B+ Name: Scott Automatic: No. Bring him a Deer Antler. They can be found in Vinay del Zexay’s trade shop. Basic Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: None Skills: Discount Scott is the guy outside of Brass Castle who has the parrot on his shoulder. He wants to plan trade routes all around. He’s blonde, wears a red beret-like hat, and a striped shirt and vest. Support Discussion: Scott is the trader, and his post allows for another outlet in the trading world. Trading is a quick way to make extra Potch by buying an item where the price is low, then selling it when it is high. With the addition of area and treasure bosses, however, this is not as useful as it was in Suikoden II. In the party, Scott provides a minimal discount that is outclassed by almost every other person with Discount, including Ace, who isn't in Support. Just get him here since he is easy to get. Scott's trading post is located next to the door leading to the basement of the castle. War: N/A Skill List Discount: D Hugo Chapter 1 Name: Hugo Automatic: Yes Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Leader Unique Skills: Parry, Heavy Damage, Counter-attack, Continual Attack Hugo is the son of Lucia, the Karayan chief. He’s energetic, positive, and enjoys riding, whether it is on horses or on his pet griffon, Fubar. He’s selected to go visit Zexen, the empire to the west, and deliver an important message at the bequest of his mother. He’s got blonde hair that tapers to black in the tips, wears a bright yellow vest and black pants, and carries a long knife as a weapon. Strengths: Hugo can really dish out pain fast, unbelievably fast. With a fast weapon and high Swing, he'll get a lot of hits; with Heavy Damage, he'll really dish it out, and with Continual Attack, he can keep on going. Defensively, Hugo has an S in Repel and a respectable Parry that allows him to be nearly invincible to single targeted attacks. Hugo also gains access to a True Rune, and this allows him to really dish out some magical pain. Weaknesses: Despite Hugo's high defensive skills, magic or non-avoidable, non-parryable hits will show that Hugo has low defense and HP, and he can't avoid targeting like Queen does with Blue Ribbons since Hugo cannot equip them. Also, Hugo doesn't have high magical marks, so, although he can do a fair amount of damage with his spells, he won't be casting them fast at all. This is especially true if he is chosen to inherit the True Water Rune, since his Water Magic is the worst of his, Chris's, or Geddoe's. Skill List Swing: A Accuracy: A Damage: B Repel: S Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: B+ Parry: B+ Heavy Damage: A Counter-Attack: B+ Continual Attack: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B Name: Sgt. Jordi (Joe) Automatic: Yes, joins with Hugo Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Heavy Damage, Chant Volume Sgt. Joe is Hugo’s mentor. He’s a Duck village clansman and a veteran of wars. He is the voice of reason for the hotheaded and emotional boy, and the Sgt. constantly stops Hugo from giving into his anger. He wears a brightly colored helmet and vest, and uses a large halberd to attack. Strengths: Sgt. Joe dishes out pain much like Hugo does, with higher strength and stronger weapons to take the place of many hits. Although Hugo will do more damage, the Sgt. still has Heavy Damage and Damage enough to be formidable. Joe, since he is always with Hugo in the beginning, is easily the healer for his charge, with a better Water Magic score and starting with a Water Rune; allowing him to handle that aspect that Hugo cannot provide very well. He's also got the always-useful Magic Repel, which allows him to take no damage from spells at times. Weaknesses: Sgt. Joe is not that great defensively, with defense only barely better then Hugo without the Parry or great Repel. Especially in war battles, Joe tends to eat it much quicker then Hugo does. Also, Sgt. Joe can barely muster a second hit with his weapon, although he has an extra rune slot over Hugo to help the gap, he will lose out in damage compared to those with more hits. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: B+ Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Heavy Damage: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Chanting Volume: B+ Name: Fubar Automatic: Yes, with Hugo Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Freeze Fubar is Hugo’s pet griffon, a cross between lion and bird. He’s very intelligent and can understand what Hugo tells him. He’s also very obedient, although he tends to go looking for food when he’s alone. Fubar has all white feathers except on the top of his wings, which are black. Strengths: Fubar can be divided into two sections: Mounted with Hugo and going it solo. Mounted, Fubar is a powerful war machine, allowing Hugo to do more damage (at the cost of the unit being considered as one, so if one dies, so does the other). Solo, Fubar is definitely worse off. Regardless, Fubar still has high damage and can stun enemies, so he's useful for that. Weaknesses: Fubar is a monster, and thus, he can't equip any armor or acessories other then medicines or Sacrifical Jizos. So he can't regenerate HP, gain resistance to spells, et cetera. His Shining Wing rune can be useful, especially in war battles, since it doesn't unbalance and hits a fairly large area, but for the most part, whenever Fubar is used, he should be on Hugo. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Freeze: B+ Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: C Name: Lulu Automatic: Yes, he joins with Hugo Battle Fighting Style: Berserker War Fighting Style: Doesn’t fight Unique Skills: Continual Attack Lulu is Hugo best friend, a boy with a perpetual grin on his face. He wears brightly colored clothes, has black hair except for on top, which is dyed red, and uses a knife to attack. Strengths: Lulu is Hugo-lite. He's fast, can attack a few times, and gets Continual Attack to attack again. Those are some great points to Hugo, so they are great points to Lulu too. Weaknesses: Lulu is not as good as Hugo, practically all of his skills are worse then Hugo's. But most importantly, Lulu will be inaccessible for most of the game, for, at the end of Hugo 1, Lulu will try to attack Chris and get killed, preventing anyone from using him again. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: B+ Continual Attack: B+ Fire Magic: C Water Magic: C Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Name: Melville Automatic: No. In Hugo Chapter 1, watch him argue with Guilliame. After that, enter the alleyway, climb up the scaffolding, and knock on the window, answering “Saint Loa Knights” when the voice talks. After the scene plays through, you’ll have Melville temporarily. To recruit Melville permanently, recruit Billy, then wait to Chapter 4, and then talk to Melville in the alleyway where his clubhouse was. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Heavy Damage Melville is the captain of the Saint Loa Knights, a group of 12 year olds who idolize the Zexen Knights and pretend to be knights themselves. Melville is the “Swordsman of Rage” of this group. He wears a white shirt, blue vest, brown highwater pants, has brown hair, and he uses a small sword to attack. Rating Strengths: Melville has a surprisingly high Heavy Damage. When coupled with his Swing and two rune slots, he can actually do damage that is surprising. He's decently fast too. Weaknesses: Melville requires rare equipment to become a high damage dealer, plus a lot of time since A+ skills like his Heavy Damage take longer to level up then even S class skills. Also, Melville is very fragile and has a durability like that of mages, yet he doesn't have the protection of hanging around back and casting spells. He could do that, did he not have a low MGC. Oh well, he could do it with Water since that uses low level spells. War: N/A Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Heavy Damage: A+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B+ Name: Alanis Automatic: No. Temporarily in Hugo Chapter 1, you recruit her as you recruit Melville. To recruit her permanently, wait until Chapter 4, and then talk to her in Great Hollow with Melville and Elliott in the party. Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: N/A Unique Skills: Shield Magic, Precision, Pale Gate Magic Alanis is the “Silver Maiden” of the Saint Loa Knights. She moves with her father constantly because of his job, and never had friends like she had with Melville and Elliott. She wears a red dress and boots, has brown hair and uses a rod to attack. Rating Strengths: Alanis has some pretty diverse magical skills, gaining two forms of unique magic, as well as three rune slots to use it with. She's also okay with her Repel and magician-type status to protect herself. Weaknesses: Like all wizards, Alanis has horrible strength and shouldn't physically attack. She's also got horrible defense, again, like most wizards. However, the really horrible thing about her is that she has a low MGC stat, which is something a magician should not have. Even fighters like Queen or Elaine have a higher magic stat. War: N/A Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B Damage: C Repel: B+ Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: B+ Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: A Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Shield Magic: B+ Pale Gate Magic: A Precision: B+ Name: Elliott Automatic: No, he is recruited, both temporarily and permanently, the same style as Melville. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Potch Find, Treasure Hunt Elliott is the third member of the Saint Loa Knights, and the only one that doesn’t fight. He joins as a guest in Hugo Chapter 1, but becomes a support character when he’s recruited permanently. He’s blonde, wears a red ascot, yellow shirt, shorts, and glasses. Support Discussion: Elliott has the highest Potch Find of all the support characters, so if one is going on a money run, take him along for the extra perk he provides. He's also got Treasure Hunt, raising the chance one can find items after battle, which is always useful since rare equipment like second-level runes can be harvested after battles. War: N/A Skill List Potch Find: C Treasure Hunt: D Chris Chapter 1 Name: Chris Lightfellow Automatic: Yes Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Leader Unique Skills: Parry, Heavy Damage Chris Lightfellow is the hero of Zexen, the Captain of the Knights and the only woman in the unit. She’s soldierly and strict, but a little wishy-washy, especially against the Zexen Council, a bigoted group of elected officials. She has white hair tied up into a bun, and wears heavy armor with a red skirt, the standard uniform of a Zexen knight, and she uses a one handed sword to attack. Strengths: Chris does a lot, but she shines first and foremostly defensively. Chris is just someone that does not die. She's really tough with her ability to equip heavy armor, her Armor Protect raising it's effectiveness, and even Parry to help her avoid even more attacks. Offensively, Chris is no slouch either, with an A in Accuracy, Damage, and Heavy Damage to make her attack a lot and not miss, coupled with a unique rune that allows her to double her damage. With the True Water Rune, Chris can become an effective dual-caster, with a lot of healing to supplement her other abilities. Weaknesses: Chris has a horrible magic stat, so her True Rune abilities are dampened quite considerably if she elects to take the True Fire Rune. The True Water Rune, however, with it's best skill at Level 1, does not have this disadvantage. Chris has no free rune slots, however, with the True Rune and her command attack rune taking them both up. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: A Damage: A Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: C Parry: A Heavy Damage: A Fire Magic: C Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: A Name: Salome Harras Automatic: Yes, he starts with Chris Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Leader/Support Unique Skills: Shield Magic, Magic Repel Salome is the strategist among the Zexen Knights. He isn’t as bigoted as the other members of Zexen in regarding the Grasslanders. Throughout the story, he advises Chris, despite his somewhat weak-willed tendencies. He has short blonde hair and wears a red scarf and black jacket over his standard Zexen uniform. He uses a mace to attack. Strengths: Salome is a support mage, and a damn good one at that. He possesses an A in both Water and Shield, two very useful magics for the support mage (His Shield is also unmatched by anyone else) and he also possesses three rune slots, so he can go for a third magic in Fire, Wind, or Earth for some attack spells. His MGC stat is decent for a mage, but the good thing is that, for a generally mage-type character, Salome is tough, able to equip chain type armor that no other mage can do. And, of course, Magic Repel is always nice. Weaknesses: Salome will be outclassed as a support mage by Sasarai since the Bishop has a higher magic stat. Not to mention he rivals Nei as a supporter, since she beats him out in another type of support magic. Also, Salome can only reach one swing with his weapon, lowering his damage. Finally, Salome doesn't have that many free skill slots. If he trains two of his magics to use with Shield, then he'll only have one free for another skill Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B Damage: B Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B+ Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: A Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B+ Shield Magic: A Magic Repel: B+ Name: Roland Lesarus Automatic: Yes, joins with Chris Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Split - Fighter/Leader Unique Skills: Sharpshoot Roland is the elf among the Six Zexen Knights. He’s calm, levelheaded, and his relatively expressionless. He tends to assert himself when dealing with the Grasslanders, being a bit more forceful then Chris. Roland has purple hair and pierced, pointed ears, wears the Zexen Knight uniform, and uses a longbow to attack. Strengths: Roland is easily the toughest archer among the bunch, having HP and defense on the level of Jacques with higher Armor Protect. He's also got two free rune slots and decent skills all around that allow him to do some alright damage. Roland is also very easy to build up, requiring very little time to build skills. Weaknesses: Roland needs speed-bulking equipment to reach a second swing, and until he reaches it, he will be outdamaged by all of the other archers. He also a poor choice for magic, since he cannot bulk his Wind Magic with the Wind Hat. This guy is probably hte worst knight. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B+ Sharpshoot: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: C Name: Borus Redrum Automatic: Yes, joins with Chris Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Heavy Damage Borus is the hotheaded violent one of the Zexen Knights. He’s arrogant, has a bad temper, and gets offended easily. Because of this, he is taken advantage of by mysterious forces when the knights go to Karaya Village. Borus is a blonde pretty boy who wears the Zexen Knight uniform and uses a long sword to attack. Strengths - Borus is like a miniature Chris in the sense that he can really dish out some pain while protecting himself with high defense. Borus's Damage, Heavy Damage, and Armor Protect are at Chris's levels. Despite a B Swing, he'll reach two swings, like Chris. Weaknesses - Borus lacks the magical abilities, offensively and defensively, of Chris. Borus cannot equip magical runes at all, but at least his Sword of Rage is not permanent so that another rune can take it's place. Borus also lacks Chris's solid MDEF. Lastly, Borus only has one free rune slot. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: A Repel: B Armor Protect: A Holy Dash: C Heavy Damage: A Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B+ Name: Louis Keeferson Automatic: Yes, he joins with Chris Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t fight Unique Skills: Healing, Cook Louis is the little mascot among the Zexen Knights. He’s Chris’s squire, and he is constantly cheerful and tries to help Chris take her mind off of her troubles. Borus and Percival enjoy getting Louis drunk, much to the dismay of Chris. Louis has light blonde hair, and wears a little armor: two shoulder pieces, greaves, and a small breastplate. Other then that, Louis wears red and yellow. Support Discussion: You'll be forced to take Louis during the early part of Chris's game. He's better then nothing, but there are both better healers and better cooks. At least you don't have to wait around and recruit him, so that's pretty nice that he's available for Chris, but other then that, he should only be put in a Chris-themed team. Skill List Healing: E Cook: D Thomas Chapter 1 Name: Thomas Automatic: Yes Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Leader Unique Skills: Parry Thomas is the indecisive master of Budehec Castle. His father, a Zexen councilor, who doesn’t want him hanging around Vinay del Zexay, sends him there. Thomas is kind, brave, and determined, determined to keep his position and keep everyone at the castle. He’s got brown hair and wears a tan coat and green pants, and he uses a small sword to attack Strengths: Thomas has some pretty good skills, specifically dealing with evasion of single targeted attacks. He's perhaps the best at evading single targeted attacks, as he can reach an S in not one, but two dodging-type skills. Thomas is also exceptionally accurate and possesses two free rune slots, as well as plenty of free skill slots to bulk up his abilities more. Weaknesses: Thomas, despite his two rune slots, still won't be a spectacular damage dealer because of his lower strength. Also, despite Thomas's A+ in Wind Magic, his pathetic magic stat won't allow Thomas one of the very useful Level 4 spells. Also, like Hugo, although Thomas is a master of avoiding attacks, un-avoidable attacks cause Thomas to eat the damage pretty harshly. Finally, his A+ skills take a long time to bulk up, and only late game, very late game, will he get them bulked, and that's after excessively using him. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: A+ Damage: B Repel: A+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Parry: A+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: A+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: C Name: Cecile Automatic: Yes, she joins with Thomas Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Leader/Fighter Unique Skills: Shield Protect, Fighting Spirit Cecile is the Commander of the guards in Budehec Castle, despite being a young girl. She’s got romantic feelings for Thomas. She’s also hot headed and charges into battle headfirst. She wears armor and a helmet all the time, and she uses a spear and shield as her weapons. Strengths: Cecile's like a Zexen Knight; dish it out and take it, with real emphasis on the take it. Cecile's got a high Shield Protect, being one of two characters that can reach an S to protect with a shield, couple that with her ability to equip heavy armor, and Cecile can be pretty tough. Cecile can also dish out some pain, able to reach a second swing later in the game and having a beautiful A+ in Damage that can be bulked into an S. Weaknesses: Cecile is actually not a great character to use as a tank-type, since she possesses no free rune slots at all for the Firefly Rune tanks need. Thus, unless everyone else uses a Skunk Rune or Blue Ribbon, she won't be targeted as often as a tank should. Thus, with no free rune slots, Cecile will become outclassed by other fighters since she can't bulk her damage higher. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: A+ Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: A+ Shield Protect: A+ Fighting Spirit: B+ Fire Magic: C Water Magic: B Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B Name: Piccolo Automatic: Yes, joins with Thomas Battle Fighting Style: Magic User War Fighting Style: Mix – Fighter/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Pale Gate Magic, Focus Piccolo is the old timer who tells fortunes at Budehec Castle. He works with Martha to get gullible people to buy lots of lottery tickets at her stand. He wears colorful clothing, is bald, and carries a rod around to attack. Strengths: Piccolo is Thomas's wizard, and useful as one since everyone else in Thomas's Chapters is not great as wizardry. Piccolo's A+ in Lightning means he can cast very fast, do some decent damage, and bulk to maximum with only one piece of equipment (which can be purchased, I might add). He can also Pale Gate with the best of them, and his Earth and Fire magics are commendable. Thirdly, Piccolo has Focus, which is very helpful for any wizard. Weaknesses: As a mage, Piccolo's fighting ability is horrible. Thus, the Mallet Rune, his command attack rune, is little more then a novelty. Hilarious, but novelty. This really takes away from his magical abilities, since he doesn't have three free slots for his magic. Next, Piccolo's got god-awful defense, even among mages. Even Alanis has dodging ability, and Piccolo has none. Lastly, Piccolo, like most of Thomas's crew, takes a long time to bulk up effectively, with the A+ skills and all. Support Discussion: Piccolo doesn't possess any support skills, but he can offer hints based on the money you pay him. If you are unsure of what to do, stop by Piccolo's and he can offer advice. His tent is right next to the entrance. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B Damage: C Repel: C Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: C Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: A+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Pale Gate Magic: A+ Focus: A Name: Juan Automatic: Yes, with Thomas Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Leader/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Heavy Damage, Continual Attack, Bujitsu Teacher Juan is the sleepy Bujitsu Teacher at Budehec Castle. He naps constantly and chews herbs that cause drowsiness. He’s a blonde guy who wears a green and gray fighting robe, and he uses his fists to attack. Strengths: Juan is all about power. In fact, his damage potential can only be matched by Yuber. Juan's Swing allows him many attacks, Heavy Damage to critical more often and dish out more pain, and Continual Attack to allow him to kill something else after he kills his first enemy. Useful for him, since it doesn't allow him to waste hits as often. Weaknesses: Juan is not without weaknesses. Like Thomas, Juan, despite his A+ in Fire Magic, has a lower magic stat, although Juan's is higher then Thomas's and he can reach a Level 4 spell. Defensively, Juan is okay, but with his Waking Rune, he starts battles asleep, his means he cannot dodge an attack until he is hit first. Support Discussion: When he's not in the party, Juan is the Bujitsu Teacher of Budehec, and can train any character, even if they are not in the active party. Juan's stand is on the west side of the castle, down the steps from Guilliame's shop. Skill List Swing: A Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Heavy Damage: S Continual Attack: S Fire Magic: A+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: C Bujutsu Teacher: B+ Name: Sebastian Automatic: Yes, he joins with Thomas Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Mix – Support/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Potch Finder Sebastian is a fastidious person in charge of Budehec Castle’s inn. He constantly worries about the Zexen Council and what they plan to do when they realize that Budehec Castle sells out shop leases to Grasslanders. He wears a blue suit and pants, and has blonde, curled hair. Support Discussion: Sebastian runs the inn, which is free for Thomas and once Chapter 4 is reached. That's always useful, since inns replenish spells and HP. He can also change your party in Chapters 1-3, which is again, very useful. The inn is located right next to the stairs leading to the front of the castle. Skill List Potch Finder: E Name: Martha Automatic: Yes, she joins with Thomas Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Mix – Support/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Discount Martha is the oldest person living in Budehec. She’s a Grasslander and runs the lottery business, working with Piccolo to con the gullible into buying lots of lottery tickets. She has gray hair and wears a small hat, and wears green and purple, gypsy-like clothing. Support Discussion: Martha's Discount is the highest in the game, which is good for obtaining rare equipment from shops, like Windspun Armor, which can be rather pricy. In Thomas's war battles, she also gives a WindRune to damage from afar. Although Thomas's wars aren't about killing your enemies, this could still kill off an enemy and prevent them from destroying the allies. Martha also runs Budehec's lottery, which is a very useful way to make money if one dislikes running to fight treasure bosses. Martha's shop is right next to Piccolo's tent, right near the entrance gate. Skill List Discount: B Name: Muto Automatic: Yes, he joins with Thomas Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Apprisal Muto is the scatterbrained kobold that runs the storage warehouse. He constantly tries to be cheerful and pick up everyone’s spirits when times look grim. He wears a red shirt and overalls with a bone on the front, and a blue hat. Support Discussion: Muto appraises when in battle, which is nice, but ultimately unnecessary since appraisers are inexpensive. It does cut out the middleman and save time though. His real use is in the warehouse, where he stores items. Great if one retrieves things like recipes and scripts, yet the character who needs them hasn't been recruited yet, or for saving rare equipment and runes for characters not recruited yet. Muto's shop is in the first basement level, near the passage to the ship. War: N/A Skill List Appraisal: E Name: Eike Automatic: Yes, he joins with Thomas Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Appraisal Eike is the librarian who looks like the stereotypical silent butler, with brown hair and dressed in a collared shirt, vest, and pants. He collects old books and tells you about them when you speak to him. He is a member of the Black Book Club, and disappears from time to time, which worries Thomas when he does. Support Discussion: He's just Muto without the usefulness. His appraisal is higher, so he'll identify items more often, but appraisal itself is not that useful. His library has a few books, which can be a fun diversion, but ultimately, the knowledge in the books is not that useful. War: N/A Skill List Appraisal: C Name: Kathy Automatic: No. Go to the Plains of Amur – North, and she will be there with her horses. Count the amount of horses, and then when she asks, tell her how many there are. Offer her a job at Budehec Castle afterwards. If you make a mistake, she’ll leave and come back later. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Trade-in Kathy is the cowgirl who runs the ranch in the back of the castle. She’s a little ditzy, but she likes those horses. She’s blonde, wears a pink hat and vest, a white shirt, striped pants, and boots. She’s Billy’s daughter and Melville’s sister (or half-sister, at least) Support Discussion: The horse race track can garner some impressive equipment, like a Knight Statue S for recruiting Billy, a Pale Moon Casque, and other equipment like that. Her Trade-in ability is minor, so don't take her in the party unless you have lots of items and just want to sell them for extra potch. Her ranch is just behind the smithy and armorer War: N/A Skill List Trade-in: E Name: Kidd Automatic: No, you must solve “The Duck Clan Murder Case”. Talk to the various ducks around Duck Village to gain clues, interrogate the suspects and search the crime scene. When you’ve done it all, return to Kidd and the case will be solved. Offer him a job at Budehec afterwards. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Treasure Hunt Kidd is the self-proclaimed great child detective. He blows everything out of proportion and exaggerates things excessively. He’s got black hair, wears a gray hat, a blue tuxedo shirt, coat, and bowtie, high blue socks, and dickey shorts. He also wears a red mask when on business, which covers half of his face. Fans of anime will notice that Kidd looks an awful lot like Detective Conan. Support Discussion: Kidd's got the best Treasure Hunt in the game, so if you're rare equipment harvesting from enemies, take him along. He's not as powerful as the Hunter Rune, but you don't need to wait and hit them. Kidd's detective stand is a very interesting diversion. He is located in the very basement of the castle, down the hallway from the storage room War: N/A Skill List Treasure Hunt: C Name: Mio Automatic: No. Talk to her in Iksay Village’s upstairs room in the inn. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Support Unique Skills: Healing, Appraisal Mio is the nurse and assistant of Dr. Tuta. All the men in the castle fall in love with her and fake illnesses so she can give them a check up. She met Tuta in the High East Rebellion three years ago, when she lost her husband, and they’ve been working together ever since. Mio is dressed as a nurse, a nurse’s hat and a black and white dress. She carries a clipboard. Support Discussion: Mio is a great healer, easily the best of the early game, and only beaten by Tuta. Her Appraisal is a nice tack-on. However, she is very useful in the war battles, since she provides QuickAid and Heals to recover damage. Skill List Healing: B+ Appraisal: E Name: Mel Automatic: No. Talk to her in Iksay Village and offer to show her Budehec. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Fighter/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Pale Gate Magic, Blinking Magic Mel is the ventriloquist teenager who has the doll, Branky (which appears to be a wolf-like thing) on her right arm. Mel insists that the doll talks on it’s own, and indeed, the doll has a foul mouth that Mel does not have (Branky also appears to be male). Mel wears a blue and white dress, has brown hair and a pink bow, and uses Branky to attack. Strengths: Branky is a claw-type weapon, so Mel will get a fair amount of attacks from it. They can really add up in the later game. Mel is also formidable with her magical skills, especially with a natural S in Lightning. Lastly, Mel can dodge rather well, and is decently tough, a lot like Joker. Weaknesses: Mel's Devil's Doll rune is just a weak fire-type spell, so it's really not as good and takes up a rune slot better suited for magic. More importantly, Mel has a horrible 04 MGC, which makes her cast less spells then the other mages. Thirdly, Mel misfires with her runes. A misfire is a chance that Mel fails casting and instead, an explosion damages her and people close to her. Thus, although she's got fast skills, she's barely better then characters like Ace or Franz because of her stats, and beaten out by better choices like Geddoe and Elaine. Skill List Swing: A Accuracy: B Damage: C Repel: A Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: S Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B+ Blinking Magic: B+ Pale Gate Magic: B+ Name: Kenji Automatic: No. Find him in the Northern Plains, and talk to him. After you exercise, ask for water. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Chant Volume, Chant Purity, Continual Attack. Kenji is the gymnastics teacher, exercising constantly. He tries to get everyone into shape at the castle, which is torture on many of the others. He wears a white tank top and green sweat pants, and uses his hands to attack. Strengths: Kenji can do some decent damage with multiple hits and Continual Attack to go again. His magical skills are okay, also, with an A in Earth. Weaknesses: Kenji has a low STR and SPD so that, despite multiple hits, he won't do that much damage. His MGC stat is also low so that he won't get a Level 4 spell. Thirdly, Kenji cannot equip the Jongleur Rune, so having the decent skills with that rune is useless. Defensively, Kenji leaves much to be desired, with a pathetic MDEF and only average defense Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: S Continual Attack: A Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: A Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B Chanting Volume: B+ Chanting Purity: A Name: Twaikin Automatic: No, talk to him in Great Hollow, and then lie him out of a jam. Offer him a job to expand Budehec. Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Shield Protect, Adrenaline Power To put it as BlindTelescope would say, Twaikin reminds me of the gravedigger in Zelda 64. He’s a dwarf who loves to dig, and he works on expanding the underground Great Hollow. He wears mining equipment, including a hard hat, and uses a shovel to attack. Strengths: Twaikin is tough. Very tough. He's got amazingly high defense, and, unlike most tanks, a very strong MDEF to make him able to take anything. Weaknesses: Twaikin reaches only one hit and has one free rune slot that's best off with a Firefly Rune, so he's not going to be doing much damage at all, his horrible accuracy abilities notwithstanding. Twaikin also is bad with magic, with only an A in Earth, yet horrible MGC to make it rather useless. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: C Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Shield Protect: B+ Adrenaline Power: B+ Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: A Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B Name: Belle Automatic: No. Talk to her in Brass Castle, and she’ll ask for a screw. Find one fighting the white rabbits with the hatchets in the Plains of Amur, and then give it to her. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Shield Magic Belle is the little girl who travels around with the robot Gadget Z (who looks suspiciously like a barrel with eyes and wheels). Belle likes to tinker around with her robot, eat strawberry pie, and has a freaky crush on Hugo. She’s also Meg’s daughter from the previous Suikodens. She wears a bright pink vest and blue pants, has brown hair in ponytails, and uses a red hammer to attack Strengths: For a hammer user, Belle can get two hits and use her Comet Rune to do some commendable damage, especially early on. But she makes a decent magic user with her A in Fire or Earth. Weaknesses: Belle has only a maximum of two hits, so, despite her strong weapon, she'll lose out to others who get more hits. Belle also has only one free rune slot, so she can't use Fire and Earth. Lastly, Belle, despite her B+ repel, is not great with her defense with her pure mage-esque HP War: N/A Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Fire Magic: A Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: A Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Shield Magic: B+ Name: Gadget Z Automatic: No, joins with Belle Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Fighting Spirit Gadget Z is the movable barrel with eyes that travels around with Belle. It constantly breaks down and combusts (which is very funny) and Belle keeps trying to fix it. Strength: Gadget Z has a high PDEF growth and doesn't need to worry about equipment, plus it gets two hits rather easily. Weaknesses: Gadget lacks a lot of real strong damage since it lacks a lot of hits or high damage skills. Magic is practically non-existant for this guy, and even his magical defense is lousy. Only good at physical defense, which is still better handled by Twaikin. War: N/A Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Fighting Spirit: S Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B Name: Nei Automatic: No. Go to Vinay del Zexay and watch Guilliame chase Shabon. Then, talk to Nei and Toppo in the city and ask about her. Then, go to the Zexen Council Hall where Guilliame will be chasing Shabon. Duel Guilliame and win, and then Nei and her band will join you. Battle Fighting Style: Normal War Fighting Style: Mix – Fighter/Support Unique Skills: Shield Magic, Chant Volume, Chant Purity Nei is the young elf woman in the traveling troupe of music makers that includes Toppo and Shabon. She plays the lute and constantly worries about the group’s finances. She has blue hair and wears a white shirt and checkered pants. She uses her fists to attack. Strengths: Nei recieves a lot of praise among Suikoden players, and the reason is her magic. Nei has a decent MGC score and high Water and Earth magic to make her a talented support mage, on the level of Salome. Nei's offense, because of her multiple hits, will be better then Salome's, as well as her magical defense. Nei's support advantage over Salome is her ability to use the Jongleur Rune, which allows Nei to chant and give her allies abilities as long as she continues the chanting. This is useful in the factthat allies can do lots of damage, speed their chanting without using Jeane,or healing themselves with attacks. Weaknesses: If Nei is using the Jongleur, then she can't do anything else unless she stops, negating the effects. This really detracts from her magic. The Jongleur too, although nice to do lots of damage, is really nothing more then novelty considering the low HP of enemies and bosses in this game. The 1st level spell of Jongleur, that speeds chanting, is easily beaten by taking Jeane into support, and the 4th level spell, which is healing, would be better off having Nei take advantage of her A in Water. Lastly, Nei's physical damage will only be decent if she sacrifices her rune slots, and thus, magic, for it. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: A Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: A Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: S Sword of Magic: C Shield Magic: B+ Chanting Volume: A Chanting Purity: S Name: Toppo Automatic: No, he joins with Nei Basic Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Fighter/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Chant Volume, Chant Purity Toppo is the only male in the traveling troupe. He plays the fiddle and never speaks unless he is acting in a play. His reason: actors do not talk. He has brown hair, a blue vest, a blue hat and red pants. He uses throwing knives to attack. Strengths: Toppo can use the Jongleur with decent ability, has decent magical skills in attack magic, and can reach three hits despite only a B in Swing. Weaknesses: Toppo's damage is not that impressive compared to other fighters, and neither is his defense, his low MDEF and high cost to Magic Resistance coupled with low physical defense offsets his higher HP. As for magic, Toppo's magic stat is like that of Mel's, too low for a wizard, and thus, his magical abilities are not that great. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: A+ Sword of Magic: B Chanting Volume: S Chanting Purity: B+ Name: Shabon Automatic: No, she joins with Nei. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Fighter/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Chant Volume, Chant Purity Shabon is the little girl who plays the drum in the traveling troupe. She’s cheerful and always refers to herself in the third person. She wears all yellow, has brown hair in two little buns on the top of her head, checkered pants, and uses her fists to attack. Strengths: At first glance, Shabon would be rather unimpressive, but she is capable of something good. Because of her high number of hits and three rune slots, she can devote herself solely to damage and actually do an impressive amount. She's also got a pretty fast movement rating, so she can dish it out before most enemies can move. Weaknesses: Shabon's damage is about on the level of Ace's, yet he can do that damage without a rare Fury Rune, not to mention he's much more survivable then she is. Shabon has low defense and a horrible MGC stat despite affinities, so giving her a Fire Rune for that A in Fire is pretty useless. Skill List Swing: A Accuracy: B+ Damage: C Repel: A Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: A Fire Magic: A Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: C Chanting Volume: A Chanting Purity: A Name: Goro Automatic: No. Talk to him in the Zexen Forest, while he is looking at trees. If you have someone with the Appraisal skill, you can help him find what he needs to build a bath. Then, offer him a job at Budehec. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Bath Goro is the bathmaster of the castle. He enjoys making hot baths (These are communal baths, by the way. Taking different combinations of people can result in a funny conversation.) He is in competition with Tetso from Suikoden II (who happens to be Goro’s father). He has brown hair and wears a blue and white jacket, bath shorts, and sandals. Support Discussion: The skill Bath heals status effects and some damage after battle, that's very helpful early game when HP totals are lower. Goro's bath can be rather funny, unusual, or downright disturbing. He is located in the ship, which is on the 1st floor basement next to Muto's stand. Skill List Bath: A+ Name: Augustine Automatic: No. Talk to Augustine in Vinay del Zexay (he is by the ocean). Buy a Rose Brooch in the item shop in Iksay Village. Return it to him. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Parry Augustine is the...um...pirate that mopes in Vinay del Zexay because he lost his favorite brooch. Although he appears to be a man, he is extremely effeminate, and the game regards him as "no gender". He’s got long blonde hair and dresses in a style that suggests “French nobleman”, white and blue. The Vincent de Boule of this game. Strengths: Augustine is capable of high damage without a Fury Rune, which is good since berserk can come from other sources that are not so rare. His damage is pretty high for someone with no Heavy Damage. His defensive abilities are great early game with his high starting armor, plus his natural S in Parry makes him rather survivable (although he can equip Blue Ribbons too if he starts to become a liability in that department). Augustine's damage comes from the fact that he can equip accessories to boost his Swing, and is the only character who can do this. Weaknesses: Augustine's Custom Tunic is a permanent accessory, so, although it's great early on, it'll lose out compared to the others later game. Secondly, Augustine's Brooches, which are the accessories that boost his Swing, are rare finds at a shop, so one must really go out of their way to get them, for they don't show up all the time. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Parry: S Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B+ Name: Gordon Automatic: No, if you are playing as Chris, then talk to him with a full party (5 others). If you are anyone else, then you talk to him with a party of only males. He is the owner of Iksay’s item store. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Discount, Trade-in Gordon is the casanova business man in the Iksay Item Shop. He associates himself only with gentleman and lays the flirting on thick and smooth when it comes to women (or maybe just Chris). He has a friendship of sorts with Augustine, a very strange relationship indeed. He wears a maroon suit. Support Discussion: The Discount is nice, but Martha provides a higher one, so you can use him to get rid of things and gain more potch then if Kathy does it. But just use him for his item shop. Like Jeane's rune shop, Gordon will sell anything you've seen in shops before. He's located right in between Jeane's and Guilliame's shop, right next to the stairs leading to the manor house. War: N/A Skill List Trade-in: D Discount: C Name: Shizu Automatic: Yes. She will fix the elevator in Thomas’s chapter. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: None Shizu is the polite girl who runs the elevator. She is a student of Adlai from Suikoden II. She’s dressed like a maid and has purple hair. Support Discussion: The elevator is not that useful, since everything is so smallin the castle, it's easily accessed by walking. You need Shizu to continue the plot, but other then that, she's not that useful, don't put her in the party, since she does nothing. The elevator is the white gate located at various spots in the manor. War: N/A Skill List None Name: Dominic Automatic: No, purchase his Mole Armor at his shop in Vinay del Zexay. After that, offer him a job. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: None Dominic is the guy who runs an armor shop. He makes Mole Armor (which is not really good), and sells it for an obscenely high price. He has white hair and wears an apron and glasses. Support Discussion: Dominic is the Gordon of an armor shop, which is very useful since only Chris can access the shops in the Vinay del Zexay Guild Hall, but once she sees them, Dominic can sell the highest grade armor. No support abilities, so don't bother putting this guy in the party Dominic's shop is on the west side of the castle down the steps, right next to Juan's Bujitsu stand. Skill List None Name: Peggi Automatic: No, give her one of the new hammers. The Iron Hammer is held by a Chishan man in the Great Hollow Trading Post, the Copper Hammer is held by a Calerian stand-owner (not obtainable until chapter 3). The Silver Hammer is held by an Alma Kinan woman in Duck Village's Tutor (not obtainable until Chapter 4.) and the Golden Hammer is a rare find in Iksay's item shop in Chapter 5. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: None Peggi is the shouting blacksmith who can’t seem to stay quiet. She enjoys hitting hot metal with a hammer. Support Discussion: Peggi has no support abilities, but her blacksmith stand is the best way to raise attack power. Depending on the hammer Peggi has, she can bulk up to a certain level. Only Peggi can raise equipment past Level 10. It's good to bulk the weapons of those in your war parties so they can dish out more damage, kill the enemies quicker, and run less risk of dying and missing out on the Major Victory prizes. Peggi's shop is directly behind Juan's Bujitsu stand on the west of the castle Skill List None Geddoe Chapter 2 Name: Mike Automatic: No. Win 15000 potch in his card game of Kabu (it’s kind of like baccarat) He’ll join afterwards. Mike is in the Caleria trade shop. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Rune Sage, Trade-in Mike is the cheerful, laughing card player who lies constantly about his identity. He seems to have dealings with the Howling Voice Guild, of which Clive and Elza were affiliated with from the previous games. He’s got red hair and glasses, and wears light blue. Support Discussion: Mike's Rune Sage ability is good if you don't have Jeane, and Trade-in is an added perk for this guy, good if you forget to hit storage (also good for Hugo, who can only store things in Budehec, while Chris can store at Brass Castle and Geddoe in Caleria.) Mike plays a card game similar to baccarat, which pays money depending on how much you bet and the hand you recieve. Mike is located in the same room as Jefferson, first floor of the manor on the east side. War: N/A Skill List Rune Sage: C Trade-in: C Name: Edge Automatic: No. Give him 1000 potch, and them beat him in a duel. He is outside of the Le Buque magic shop Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Counter-attack Edge is the owner of the Star Dragon Sword. He seems to not notice the sword’s contempt of him. Apparently, Flik and Viktor from Suikoden II helped Edge rescue his village from vampires, and Viktor gave Edge the sword in commemoration (although the real reason was because Viktor couldn't get the sword to shut up, at least that's my theory). Edge has brown hair, a glazed expression in his eyes, and wears yellow and black. Strengths: Edge can do some pretty nasty damage, since the Star Dragon Sword, despite being a strong weapon, is rather fast. Coupled with two free rune slots and a high starting strength, Edge is no stranger to pain. Edge's magic is also rather good, with his high skills in most magic and a respectable MGC stat. Defensively, Edge isn't bad either, with higher hit points and good skills. Weaknesses: Edge, like Ace, really has no glaring weaknesses. Edge will lose out in damage in the late game since he only has two hits. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Counter-Attack: A Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B+ Hugo Chapter 2 Name: Lilly Pendragon Automatic: Yes, she joins with Hugo temporarily, and then leaves during his Chapter 3. She returns again, permanently, in Chapter 4, and that too is automatic. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Leader Unique Skills: Parry, Heavy Damage From Suikoden II, all grown up, here’s Lilly Pendragon. She’s a spoiled brat of a girl who’s left Tinto to find the Fire Bringer, who were rumored to have re-surfaced and attacked Tinto caravans. Lilly has red hair, wears a purple shirt, long pants, and a wide brimmed feather hat (she almost looks like a pirate), and she uses a one handed sword to attack. Strengths: Lilly is really good at dishing out the damage, with a fast weapon, Heavy Damage, and multiple swings, and with two rune slots, she can really bring out the pain even without a Fury Rune. Lilly's magic is okay, a bad stat, but she can use a Lightning or Fire Rune with some proficiency. As for defense, Lilly has a decent Repel and Parry, although as a female, Blue Ribbon can make her all but invincible to single target attacks. Plus, Lilly can go berserk easily with her unite, not needing a Fury Rune to garner it's damage. Weaknesses: Lilly is a lot like Queen, and thus, has Queen's weaknesses. Magical defense will see Lilly not as great as her counterpart, and her lower HP can cause problems when she is focused on, since she cannot take direct attacks well, especially if she uses the Double-Strike Rune. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: A Damage: B+ Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Parry: B+ Heavy Damage: A Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: C Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Name: Reed Automatic: Yes, joins with Lilly both temporarily and permanent Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Freeze Reed is one of Lilly’s two servants. He’s the hapless one who constantly asks for a chance to rest. He has blonde hair styled like Kuwabara’s from Yu Yu Hakusho, and he wears a white shirt, khaki pants, and what appears to be a blacksmith’s apron. He uses a long sword to attack. Strengths: Reed has a high strength and a faster weapon, he'll outdamage Lilly for most of the game. His defense is also pretty good with higher HP. With his decent movement speed, he'll get some pretty good use out of his Freeze. Weaknesses: Reed's one rune slot won't open when you get him the first time, and he only has one slot to use. He's also not worth using any magic. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B Freeze: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B+ Name: Samus Automatic: Yes, he joins with Lilly both temporarily and permanent Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Fighting Spirit Samus is the other of Lilly’s servants. He’s the accountant of the group, and he typically speaks his mind, even in front of Lilly. Samus is dark skinned, dressed exactly the same as Reed, and has gray hair. He uses a sword like Reed’s to attack. Strength: Samus has some average stats all around, but he's got two rune slots and a high Damage score, so he can be decent in the physical department. Samus Weaknesses: Samus's magical skills aren't worth bulking up, and his defense is only average with lower HP. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B Damage: A Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: C Fighting Spirit: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Chris Chapter 2 Name: Percival Fraulein Automatic: Yes, joins with Chris Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Leader/Fighter Unique Skills: Shield Magic, Parry, Counter-attack Percival is like Borus’s counterpart. Both of them enjoy teasing, flirting with Chris, and getting Louis drunk. Percival is not as violent as Borus, but he’s Borus’s best friend and tries to help Borus cope with what happened at Karaya. He’s a pretty boy knight with brown hair; he wears the standard Zexen uniform, and he uses a long sword to attack. Strengths: Percy makes an impressive dual classed fighter-mage, with a decent magic skills in Water or Lightning, and with his faster weapon and swing, he can do some impressive damage too. Percy can equip the the heaviest armors like Windspun to make him rather tough, assisting his already high Parry and such. Weaknesses: Just like Ace, although Percy is good as some things, he's not a master. Percival has only one rune slot, so he'll never do a lot of physical damage, and as a healer, Percival is outclassed by characters like Salome. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: A Damage: B+ Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B+ Parry: A Counter-Attack: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Shield Magic: B Name: Leo Gallen Automatic: Yes, joins with Chris Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Leader/Fighter Unique Skills: Adrenaline Power, Fighting Spirit Leo is the last of the Six Zexen Knights, and he’s the biggest of the bunch. He’s called very manly and often engages in drinking contests with people like Joker and Wan Fu (but they all lose to Anne), and a contest with Wan Fu and Hallec to see who can stay in the piping hot bath the longest (Hallec gets out and Leo and Wan Fu faint from the heat). He wears the standard Zexen uniform, has brown hair tied in a ponytail, and uses a large axe to attack Strengths: Leo is tough, Leo is very tough. He is the only tank-type character that doesn't need a shield, but with his S in Armor Protect, he doesn't need it. His natural S in damage really helps his offensive game. Weaknesses: Leo takes all of his hits, not blocks them, so Heavy Damage could hurt him since it pierces defense. Also, Leo has one rune slot and one swing, so his damage won't be anything more then a perk. And, of course, Leo should not use magic. Leo's magical defense is also bad, but is about average with his high HP. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B Damage: S Repel: B Armor Protect: S Holy Dash: B Fighting Spirit: A Adrenaline Power: S Fire Magic: C Water Magic: C Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: C Sword of Magic: C Name: Watari Automatic: No. Give him 100,000 potch. He’s in Iksay village, hidden behind a house. Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Split – Fighter/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Counter-attack Watari is the ninja who used to be a Blight loyalist. He is marked for assassination by members of his old guild. He wears all black and gray clothes with no sleeves, wears a mask, and his hair is alternating silver and black strands (it looks totally awesome). He has a sword, but he throws daggers to attack (he uses the sword for counter-attacks) Strengths: Watari is fast, and can really rack up the hits with fast weapons and three free rune slots. His unite with Ayame is an effective, quick attack. And finally, his dodging ability is quite impressive. Weaknesses: Watari's defense is pathetic, especially his magical defense, he dies rather easily unless he dodges his attacks. Unlike the women though, he can't Blue Ribbon to protect himself, although with three rune slots, he can spare a Skunk Rune and still be a powerhouse. His magic is not great, since he can only use Fire or Wind with any effectiveness, and Wind requires lots of spells, while Fire potentially hurts your allies. Also, Watari has very few free skill slots, making him unable to really tweak him out.And finally, Watari requires very rare equipment to become a powerhouse. Skill List Swing: A Accuracy: B+ Damage: C Repel: A Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: A Counter-Attack: S Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: C Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: C Sword of Magic: B Name: Ayame Automatic: No. Talk to Watari in Budehec Castle to see a scene about him and a female ninja named Ayame. Then, go to North Cavern’s treasure boss room with Watari in the party, and Ayame will be there. Duel her, and if you win, she joins. If you lose, she’ll disappear and you can try again later. Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Continual Attack Ayame is the ninja in pursuit of Watari. She tends to talk more then Watari does, but she’s still silent. She wears a red hairband and has wild black hair, a purple catsuit and face mask, and she, like Watari, has a weapon out but throws daggers (hers is a claw, and she uses it like Watari does, when she counters.) Strengths: Ayame is like Watari, fast and powerful. However, she possesses a unique rune, Shrike (for all of you who played the older game, Shrike is Kasumi's unique rune), allowing her to do massive damage turn after turn. Ayame moves very quickly and has two powerful unites to take advantage of, one allows her to hit an area for some decent damage, the other is a single- targeted unite that is powerful, but ultimately not as useful since Ayame can reach high damage on her own with her rune. Weaknesses: Ayame has the same weaknesses as Watari, very low defense, bad with magic, and few skill slots. Ayame doesn't need equipment as rare as Watari to become good, though, so she's better in that regard. War: N/A Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: B Repel: S Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: S Continual Attack: A Fire Magic: C Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: C Sword of Magic: B Name: Nash Clovis (Latkje) Automatic: Yes, joins in Iksay, leaves briefly, then joins again at Brass Castle. He’s unplayable for the later part of the game, but he will rejoin when Sasarai joins the Fire Bringer. Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Leader/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Heavy Damage, Continual Attack Nash is the spy from Harmonia sent to observe the Grasslanders at Sasarai’s request. He flirts with Chris, and goes with her to hunt for the Flame Champion. He is married, presumably to Sierra Mikain from Suikoden II, but he lusts after women like Ace does. He wears all green and a yellow scarf, and uses throwing knives to attack. Suikogaiden fans remember Nash as the hero, although his snake sword Grosser Flux isn’t around. Strengths: Nash can dish out some physical pain like a great, with a high Swing, decent Heavy Damage, and Continual Attack. Nash's stats are all pretty decent, except for his Luck. Nash's defense is very good for a mid-range fighter, allowing him to take hits in case his formidable dodging doesn't work. Weaknesses: Nash's magic isn't great, only an 04 MGC and Wind is his only best. Nash is also unusable for a portion of the game that would really benefit from him, but that's about it. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: A Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: A Heavy Damage: B+ Continual Attack: A Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: C Thomas Chapter 2 Name: Koroku Automatic: No, adopt him in Mt. Hei-to. Take the first fork up and then go left. He’s in the grass to the left of the body. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Fighter/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: None Koroku is the dog. There’s not much else to say about him. He’s part of a hilarious mini-game that lets you walk around as him in the castle and talk to people. He has reddish fur and has a scarf with pebbles in it. There are five other dogs in the game: Koichi, Connie, Konsaji, and Kogoro. Strengths: All of the dogs are pretty much the same and have a unite together. Weaknesses: The dogs have a low physical damage output, magically they are pretty pathetic, and defensively, they just might be the worst in the game. They really are only meant for fun, although Thomas could get some use of Koroku since Koroku fights in his wars. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: C Repel: B+ Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: B Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: C Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: C Name: Arthur Automatic: No. Talk to him in Brass Castle’s mess hall, then look at the cooking stove that Hugo and company fell through in his Chapter 1. Go towards the end of the tunnel, and at the end, Arthur will join. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Appraisal, Treasure Hunt Arthur is the newshound who’s at odds with Kidd. Arthur writes the newspaper which gives sometimes funny news (mostly factual news though), and publishes “Erk’s Adventures”, a god-awful and absolutely hilarious (not to mention awful) story written by one Hitman Bravo, who we all assume is Ace. He’s got brown hair and wears a blue shirt, glasses, khaki pants, and carries around a notebook. Support Discussion: The newspaper is only a quirk. In the party, Arthur's Treasure Huntcould be used if you don't have anyone better, plus his Appraisal could be used to recruit Goro if you don't have him already. Other then that, though,there's no reason to put him in the party. Arthur's newspaper is located on the second floor of the manor, near the comment box and in between the two hanging picture frames. War: N/A Skill List Treasure Hunt: E Appraisal: B Geddoe Chapter 3 – No new characters Hugo Chapter 3 Name: Hallec Automatic: Yes, joins at Brass Castle Battle Fighting Style: Berserker War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Heavy Damage, Adrenaline Power Hallec comes from the Northern Lands, and he is looking for the Flame Champion, who once helped his people. He wears a loincloth, fur boots, and helmet, and he uses two broad axes to attack. Strengths: Hallec can dish out a whole lot of damage without a whole lot of effort. Early on, Hallec can really dish out the pain with a high Swing and high strength, and with Heavy Damage, he can do even more pain. Weaknesses: Hallec has no free rune slots, so he'll lose out later on to other characters. His magic is nonexistant even without looking at his MGC score since he has no rune slots to use it. Hallec's defense is also only average with his high HP but no dodging ability and crappy MDEF. Skill List Swing: S Accuracy: B Damage: A Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B+ Heavy Damage: B+ Adrenaline Power: A Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: C Sword of Magic: B+ Name: Mua Automatic: Yes, he joins with Hallec Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Shield Protect Mua is the Free Knight of Kamaro who comes with Hallec to look for the Flame Champion. He has brown hair and a mustache, and he wears armor with a green and yellow checked pattern on the front. He uses a sword and shield as his weapons. Strengths: Mua can equip heavy armor and is decently tough. He can do decent enough damage as far as a tank is concerned with his two hits. Mua is also the best tank defensively, as he can use two rune slots for a Firefly and Wall Rune combo, making him much tougher then anyone else since Wall doubles his defense. Weaknesses: Mua's damage won't be as high as Fred's unless he uses his rune slots, which sacrifices his tanking. Mua's got a high magic stat, but crappy affinities so much that magic is a waste of time. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: B Armor Protect: A Holy Dash: B Shield Protect: B+ Fire Magic: C Water Magic: C Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B Name: Sanae Y Automatic: No. After you have recruited 50 Stars of Destiny, find her in the back of Duck Village. Settle her dispute by telling her “You should thank him from your heart”. Then, offer to have her help you. Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Healing, Counter-attack, Shield Magic Sanae is Freed and Yoshino’s daughter; she looks like her mother and acts like her father. She has long black hair, glasses, and wears clothes similar to that of Japanese mikos, Shinto priestesses, in various animes, a white top and a long red skirt. She also uses nagintas to attack, a long polearm with a curved blade on one end. Strengths: Sanae's decent all around, has some great magic affinities and can do some commendable damage with her naginta. Sanae's also not bad defensively, like Joker, with her decent protection abilities. Weaknesses: Sanae doesn't do a lot of damage since Sickle-Weasel doesn't increase damage. Her magic, although she has great affinities, has only one rune slot to use with; not to mention Sanae's MGC stat is low, although Shield is decent enough for her since it doesn't have a fourth level spell. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: B+ Repel: A Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Counter-Attack: A Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: A Sword of Magic: B+ Shield Magic: B+ Name: Mamie Automatic: No. She is in Duck Village. Give her a Crab Rice Bowl (you can fight Mantikras in the Zexen or Kuput Forest for them, and Hallec starts with one equipped). Then, she’ll join. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Cook Mamie is the daughter of Bashok, one of the men who challenged Hai Yo in Suikoden II. She runs a restaurant, much to the delight of Rhett and Wilder, when she is recruited. She is dressed like a chef, complete with hat. Support Discussion: Mamie's Cook is the highest in the game, so you can get food itemsfrom enemies better with her then with everyone else. Mamie's restaurant, though, is a better way to get food. Bring her recipes (found everywhere, in mini-games, bounty from treasure bosses, and from people on the street.) and spices (Sugar, Salt, Soy Sauce, Mayonnaise, and Red Pepper, which are all trading goods), and she can make food. Food, if eaten fresh, can heal much morethen medicine, and one food item can even raise fallen allies, which can onlybe done otherwise with a high level Water spell or getting lucky with Adrenaline Power. Mamie's restaurant is on the west side of the castle in the back, near the exit of the manor's basement War: N/A Skill List Cook: A+ Name: Guilliame Automatic: No, after Nei is recruited, go to the Ancient Highway, to the doors that the masked man and Sarah were standing outside of. Guilliame will be trying to get in. When he sees you, he’ll duel you. Beat him, and then offer him a job. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Appraisal, Potch Finder, Treasure Hunt Guilliame is the...ahem, pedophile, who chases around little kids like Shabon. He’s also supposedly switches the items he appraises for fakes. He wears a beige shirt and carries around a trident that he uses in duels, but he doesn’t physically fight after you recruit him Support Discussion: Guilliame runs an appraisal stand, so you can give all of your treasures to him. In the party, he provides Treasure Hunt and Potch Finder, which is nice, but he's outclassed by Elliott in those. Appraisal is nice, but unnecessary as the appraiser is inexpensive to just take items too. War: N/A Skill List Potch Finder: E Treasure Hunt: E Appraisal: A Name: Wan Fu Automatic: No. Talk to him in Chisha, and then give him 3000 potch to cover his debt. He’ll join you. Battle Fighting Style: Berserker War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Adrenaline Power, Heavy Damage Wan Fu is the guy who ate too much and can’t cover his restaurant debt, so he gets you to do it. He wears a pair of shorts (that’s it) and uses a pole to attack. Strengths: Wan Fu is a critical fighter like Lilly or Queen, which is nice because it pierces defense. He's also got an S in Adrenaline Power, which is nice. Weaknesses: That S in Adrenaline Power is helpful, because Wan Fu certainly will be taking most of his hits. His magic is horrible, and Wan Fu is quite inaccurate for a fighter. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: C Heavy Damage: B+ Adrenaline Power: S Fire Magic: C Water Magic: C Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B+ Name: Emily Automatic: No, beat her in an arm wrestling match. Between the group of your characters, you need to have a strength of at least 600 to win. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Heavy Damage Emily is Ronnie Bell's daughter (The father is possibly Mose the blacksmith, but unconfirmed). She’s Herculean in strength and quite...masculine to boot. She wears a orange half-karate gi, purple shorts, has red hair, and uses her fists to attack. Strengths: Emily is all about dishing it out. With so many hits, and Heavy Damage to use it with, she's going to do a lot of damage no matter what. She's also great at dodging with a permanent Haziness Rune, and requires no rare equipment to be very strong. Weaknesses: Emily shouldn't bother with magic. Her defense is lower, but with higher HP, she can fend for herself. Skill List Swing: S Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: A Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: B Heavy Damage: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B Chris Chapter 3 Name: Fred Maximillian Automatic: Yes, he joins either at Duck Village or Chisha Village, depending on if you tell him your mission. Battle Fighting Style: Berserker War Fighting Style: Mix – Leader/Fighter Unique Skills: Shield Protect, Adrenaline Power Fred is the grandson of Maximillian, and one of two members of the Maxmillian Knights. He wants to bring the Knights back to their period of greatness. Fred is arrogant and a bit of a dope, but he’s really kind-hearted. He’s got black hair and wears armor with a phoenix crest on the chest. Strengths: Among tanks, Fred is both the strongest and the fastest. He can reach two hits like Mua, but has a higher damage and STR to use it with. He's also got a natural S in Shield Protect, so he doesn't need the Chaos Shield to boost his Shield Protect, allowing him to use the much better Earth Shield for the status resistance. Weaknesses: Fred cannot equip heavy armor, he must contend with chain. Also, he only has one rune slot unlike Mua's two, so he'll never be tougher. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: A Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Shield Protect: S Adrenaline Power: A Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B+ Name: Rico Automatic: Yes, she joins with Fred Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Fighter/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Shield Magic, Fighting Spirit Rico is Fred’s attendant. She constantly shouts at Fred, but she really cares about him like a little sister. Rico’s father was Maximillian’s squire Sancho, and she’s living up to her father’s expectations. She has curly hair and wears a pink hat, a pink shirt, a traveling pack on her back, shorts, and she uses a hammer to attack. Strengths: Rico is a support mage, and respectively tough as far as a mage is concerned, like Salome. Among support mages, she's got the highest STR and strongest weapon. Weaknesses: Rico is very inaccurate, and can barely muster to hit her enemies. She's also got the lowest MGC stat as far as support mages go, easily losing to Salome and Nei, to say nothing of Sasarai. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B Damage: B+ Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: C Fighting Spirit: A Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Shield Magic: B Name: Rhett Automatic: Yes and no. Rhett and Wilder are recruited as guides to Chisha by Chris in her chapter 3, and they must join. After the strategy battle at Chisha, the two ducks will leave. To recruit them permanently, wait until Chapter 4, then talk to them with Sgt. Joe in the party. They will be in Duck Village Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Fighter/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Magic Repel Rhett is one of the two cowardly ducks from Duck Village. He’s pudgy and loves to eat. He’s a friend with Sgt. Joe. He wears a green shirt and carries a halberd to attack. Strengths: Although it doesn't look like it initially, Rhett can do some decent damage, with the surprising A+ in Swing coupled with an A in damage. He's also got Magic Repel, which, even at a B rating, is good to have. Weaknesses: Rhett shouldn't touch magic, has a relatively low HP total for a fighter without Repel or a protection skill to help himself with. But most tragically is his accuracy, which is some of the game's worst. A slap in the face to a fighter. Skill List Swing: A+ Accuracy: B Damage: A Repel: B Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B+ Magic Repel: B Name: Wilder Automatic: Yes and no, as Rhett. Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Fighter/Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Magic Repel Wilder is the other duck, the tall skinny one. He’s a coward, but he loves the girls from Alma Kinan. He wears a brown colored coat, glasses and uses a halberd to attack. Strengths: Like Rhett, Wilder can do some decent damage and has Magic Repel, although Wilder has a better grade with it. Also, Wilder is slightly more accurate then Rhett. Weaknesses: Wilder is frailer then Rhett and doesn't amount to the damage that Rhett can. He's also bad with magic, and defensively, he's not that hot either. Rhett and the Sgt. are better choices. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: B+ Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B+ Magic Repel: B+ Name: Barts Automatic: No. Bring him a Grape (Grapes can be purchased cheap in Chisha Village. Barts is in Iksay). Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Discount, Bath Barts is the farmer from Iksay who loved growing crops, then the Lizard Clan burned them. He enjoys waking up early. In the castle, he plants the seeds you bring him, and they grow into herbs or trade goods. He’s got brown hair, dresses in a brown shirt and pants, and he always carrying his hoe around. Support Discussion: Barts can grow trade goods or medicines if you bring him seeds. Ultimately not that great since medicines are plentiful and the items he grows won't sell for a much. The Discount and Bath skills are good, especially for Chris since she doesn't get many support characters to use in her chapters. Bart's field is on the west side of the castle, right next to the steps. War: N/A Skill List Discount: C Bath: C Name: Hortez VII Automatic: No. Talk to him in Duck Village and tell him how to get to Budehec. Then, go to Chisha and tell him how to get there. Next, go to Caleria and talk to him a third time. He’ll be back at Duck Village. When you talk to him again, lie about the location, and Hortez will finally make it there. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Tutor Hortez VII has the impossibly long name that Kidd finds out about (or rather, it’s his father’s name), and has a complete and utter lack of direction. He runs a scroll shop, which can turn runes into scrolls that are used as items. He’s dresses like an ancient Egyptian, all red and an impressive hat. Support Discussion: For all the effort he takes, Hortez is not worth it. He turns old runes into scrolls, but, unless the scroll being used is something like Kindness Rain, it's more profitable to sell extra runes. Hortez's shop is with Jeane's, right next to the stairs leading to the entrance of the manor. War: N/A Skill List Tutor: C Name: Yumi Automatic: Yes. Yumi will join temporarily to bring Chris to Alma Kinan. After you leave Alma Kinan, Yumi leaves the party. She’ll return permanently after Chris is ambushed and attacked, and you reach the first strategy battle of Chapter 5. Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Magic Rationing, Sharpshoot Yumi is the young woman from Alma Kinan that men fall in love with. She’s calm and polite, and never gets angry, even when Chris insults the entire Alma Kinan Clan. Yumi has brown hair, wears all green clothes lined with fur, and a short skirt. She uses a small crossbow to attack. Strengths: Yumi deals out some impressive damage for a long range attacker, with high strength and Sharpshoot, but she's really good with her magic. Yumi's got great marks in Earth, and a great 06 MGC to use it with. She is beaten only by Sasarai when it comes to magic (Estella, Joker, and Yuiri beat her in stat only). She's also got some good hit points for a long range lady. Weaknesses: Yumi needs speed bulking equipment to reach her second swing, like Roland, and her defense is only okay. Yumi tends to get targeted by enemies with unique targeting scripts, since they target both women and archers. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Sharpshoot: A Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: A Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: C Magic Rationing: A Name: Yun Automatic: Yes. She joins in Chisha Battle Fighting Style: Guest – She stays with the party, but does nothing War Fighting Style: Support Unique Skills: Healing Yun is the young child from Alma Kinan, who can hear the spirits talk better then anyone. She’s sweet and nice, like a child is supposed to be. However, when you get to Alma Kinan, Yun announces that she is a sacrifice for a ritual. Despite Chris’s protests, Yun dies. Support Discussion: Yun won't do anything since she is never even in support, she is a guest. You can still get her profile and act her in plays, if you have Kidd and Nadir. Skill List Healing: C Name: Yuiri Automatic: Yes. She joins for two boss battles in Chris’s Chapter 3 (and only the battles), then she joins permanently with Yumi in Chapter 5. Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Support Unique Skills: Heavy Damage, Magic Rationing, Sharpshoot Yuiri is the leader of Alma Kinan, a community of all women who don’t have visitors. She takes offense at Chris when Chris insults her traditions, but the two eventually grow to like each other. Yuiri has short brown hair, wears a green shirt and khaki-colored pants. Strengths: Yuiri can do really high physical damage, since she possesses three things to bulk her ability to critical hit: Sharpshoot, Heavy Damage, and a permanent Killer Rune. Yuiri's also got very high magic, with great skill in Wind Magic, the best Wind magic user in the main game. Weaknesses: You only get Yuiri for the end-game, which is unfortunate. Chris uses her in two battles, but Yuiri won't stay afterwards to bulk her skills. Yuiri's also got low defense and HP. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: A Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Heavy Damage: A Sharpshoot: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: A Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Magic Rationing: B+ Name: Estella Automatic: No. Talk to Rody outside of Alma Kinan’s inn. Then, go inside the inn and talk to Estella. She says she’ll join your party if you find Gordius Village, the all-male counterpart of Alma Kinan. Go to the clearing where Yun sacrificed herself, and talk to the girl there. She will say there is no such thing. Return to Estella, and she and Rody will join your party. Battle Fighting Style: Magic User War Fighting Style: Support Unique Skills: Magic Repel, Focus, Pale Gate Magic Estella is a pathological liar, but a powerful wizard. She tells tall tales like “Hallec is an arachnid”, or “Fubar is two people in a griffon suit”. Her tales get annoying after a while. She has short pink hair, wears all red and black (I’m not sure what to call it, see for yourself. It appears to be something like lingerie), and uses a ring that shoots out magic to attack. Strengths: Estella is a wizard's wizard. Her claim that she beat Crowley might be dubious, but she's got some great magic regardless. A natural S in Fire Magic and a permanent Rage Rune makes Fire her best, although her Lightning is great too. She's also got Focus, a handy tool for a mage, a great Pale Gate Magic score, and the always-useful Magic Repel. Weaknesses: Estella's physical damage is beyond pathetic, and her defense is horrible. Not to mention that Fire Magic and Lightning Magic are skills easily bulked up since the Wizard Hat raises both at the same time, so her unique position is compromised somewhat, especially with Joker and Geddoe around. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B Damage: C Repel: B Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: C Fire Magic: S Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: A Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Magic Repel: B+ Pale Gate Magic: A Focus: B+ Name: Rody Automatic: No, joins with Estella Battle Fighting Style: Magic User War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skill: Blinking Magic, Precision, Magic Rationing Rody is Estella’s apprentice. He looks female, but is male. He believes all of Estella’s lies, although he probably doesn’t believe the one that says he’s a water imp she transmuted and enlisted as her apprentice. He uses a broom (that he’s trying to learn how to fly on) to attack, and he also has black hair and wears green clothes and white pants. Strengths: Rody's a wizard with some decent skills in magic. His Water Magic is nice and high for quick healing, and decent affinities in several magics, as well as a hefty 06 MGC. Rody's Precision is nice if he plans to use Fire Magic, Breath of Ice, or Set!, and Magic Rationing allows him to acquire lost magic points without resting at an alarming success rate due to his S in the skill. Weaknesses: The magic he has good affinities in, besides, Water, are lousy. Blinking Magic in unreliable, and Sword of Magic is not only a low power boost, but Rody will rarely physically attack enough to use it. Like most wizards, Rody's strength is bad, and his defense is laughable. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: C Damage: B Repel: B Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: A Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: S Blinking Magic: A Precision: A Magic Rationing: S Chapter 4 Name: Lucia Automatic: Yes, joins after the strategy battle of Brass Castle. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Leader Unique Skills: Magic Repel, Continual Attack Lucia is Hugo’s mother and the Chief of Karaya Village (Suikoden II players will remember Lucia worked with Highland). She is fierce yet intelligent. She wears a black dress with colors and shapes on the top, has blonde hair, and she uses a whip to attack. Strengths: Lucia has three rune slots, a high Continual Attack, and high skills for powerful physical offense, an A in Fire and an 05 MGC make her decent with magic. Basically, it's Watari with the bad magic defense taken out. Weaknesses: She does need rare equipment like Fury Runes to become really powerful, and she can only equip light armor. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: A Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Continual Attack: A Fire Magic: A Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B+ Magic Repel: B+ Name: Beechum Automatic: Yes, joins with Lucia Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Mix – Leader/Support Unique Skills: Continual Attack Beechum is Lucia’s lieutenant, and he served with her when she served Highland. He’s sort of like a father figure to Hugo. In battle, he’s as tactical and calculating, also as lethal, as the woman he serves. He’s blonde, has a scar across his face, wears colorful clothing, and uses a sword to attack Strengths: Beecham has two rue slots and a lot of free skill slots, so that can do a whole lot. He's got some decent dodging ability, and Continual Attack is always helpful for any fighter. Weaknesses: Beecham won't be as good later on with his lack of multiple swings, his defense is only average, and he requires rare equipment to become really good. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Continual Attack: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Name: Jimba Automatic: Yes, joins with Lucia, unless Hugo is the Flame Champion, when he joins when Hugo returns to Chisha Village. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Parry Jimba is Lulu’s older brother. He’s calm, cool, and collected, and acts like a middle-aged man. He is blonde, wears a black shirt with no sleeves, grey pants, and uses a sword to attack. Strengths: Jimba is, among the Water mages, easily the strongest, and almost as tough as Salome. Weaknesses: Jimba has only one free rune slot, reaches only two swings, and is playable for only a brief period, as he will die as Chapter 5 begins. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: B+ Parry: A Fire Magic: C Water Magic: A Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Name: Dupa Automatic: Yes, joins with Lucia Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Leader Unique Skills: Freeze Dupa is the Chief of the Lizard Clan, succeeding Chief Zepon, who dies during Geddoe’s Chapter 1. He is aggressive, doesn’t like the Zexens, but during the story, he grows to respect Chris for her strength. He has green scales, wears a feather headdress and white jacket, and uses a “gride”, the standard weapon of the Lizard Clan (it’s hard to describe, but it’s similar to a pike with extra points) as his weapon. Strengths: Dupa has a lot of physical power, is really tough, and has a permanent Fury Rune, which bulks his power up higher. Weaknesses: With only one swing and no free rune slots, other characters built up do more damage then Dupa. Dupa's also got low magic defense. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: A Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: C Freeze: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B+ Name: Shiba Automatic: Yes. Joins briefly in Geddoe Chapter 1, but leaves quickly. Joins in Chapter 4 permanently with Lucia. Battle Fighting Style: Berserker War Fighting Style: Mix – Fighter/Leader Unique Skills: Fighting Spirit Shiba is the strongest member of the Lizard Clan. He is the most rational among the Lizards, but he’s not above charging into battle. Shiba has sandy colored scales and wears a white jacket. He uses a Gride to attack. Strengths: Shiba is physically the toughest and strongest of the lizards, and tougher then most of the characters in the game. Weaknesses: Shiba's got a low REP, so his permanent Warrior Rune doesn't tack that much on to attack. He's also got one swing and no free rune slots, like Dupa before him, so he's got little room for growth. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: A Repel: C Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: C Fighting Spirit: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B+ Name: Bazba Automatic: Yes, he joins with Lucia Battle Fighting Style: Berserker War Fighting Style: Mix - Leader/Fighter Unique Skills: Freeze Bazba is the third of the three great lizards, and supposedly the handsomest. He’s smaller then the other lizards, but not by a whole lot. He has green scales and an orange underbelly, as well as a horn crest on his head (like a dinosaur horn). He uses a gride to attack. Strengths: Bazba has a permanent Cyclone Rune, and is the only character to get one of these. He's also, like all lizards, got a high strength and is decently tough. Weaknesses: Bazba suffers from one swing, and gets his second rune slot late game, and unlike Joker, he's not required to be used. Bazba's Wind Magic and MGC score are also so pathetic, it makes the permanent Cyclone Rune rather limited in use. By the time one gets Bazba, they already have Queen, and a Cyclone Rune can be found easily in Chisha. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: A Damage: B+ Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Freeze: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B+ Name: Luce Automatic: Yes, she joins with Lucia Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t fight Unique Skills: Healing, Cook Luce is Lulu’s mother. She’s a heavyset woman in her 40s who enjoys laundry. She used to give Lulu bone-crushing hugs, but after he died, she decides to be a mother to all children, and gives the occasional spine-crusher to Hugo. She wears a brown dress and has long brown hair Support Discussion: Luce doesn't do much. The skills she provides are okay, a little healing tacked on with Discount is better then nothing, but it's hardly game-breaking. She doesn't do anything in the castle. War: N/A Skill List Healing: E Discount: D Name: Anne Automatic: Yes, she joins with Lucia Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Support Unique Skills: Healing, Cook Anne was the owner of a shop in Karaya Village, but it burned down with the rest of the village. She eventually opens a pub in Budehec Castle, and it is successful, even if it’s just due to the crowd like Geddoe’s mercenaries and the knights playing more pranks on Louis. Anne won the drinking contest in the pub, beating out all the men present. She wears a brown dress and has dirty blonde colored hair Support Discussion: In the party, Anne provides skills on a level slightly better then Louis, which is not impressive. However, outside of the party, Anne fulfills one of the most important roles of all; she allows you to change your party. She's in the pub, in the western hall of the castle on the first floor. Skill List Healing: D Cook: D Name: Caesar Silverburg Automatic: Yes, joins with Lucia Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Support Unique Skills: Tutor Caesar Silverburg is the chief strategist of the Fire Bringer Army. He’s young, has a stupid grin, and doesn't do a very intelligent job of being a strategist.He wears a green shirt and brown pants, and has spiky red hair. Support Discussion: There are better Tutors then him around, so he should never need to be put into the party. Just before war battles, he is the one to talk to if one wishes to change the formation, so that's always handy. His support abilities in war are great too, but other then that, he's forgettable. Skill List Tutor: E Name: Apple Automatic: Yes, she joins with Caesar Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Mix – Support/Leader Unique Skills: Potch Finder Apple is, like before, the assistant strategist (although why she'd serve under Caesar is anyone's guess). She’s aged, and was married, then divorced (the most likely ex-husband is Sheena). She works with Caesar to help Thomas and Chris before actively joining the Fire Bringer in Chapter 4. Support Discussion: Apple's support skill is better then Caesar's, but it's still not impressive since Treasure Bosses provide a high amount of money even without this skill. However, her skills on the warground are useful, so she can have use there. Skill List Potch Finder: D Name: Jefferson Automatic: No. Once you recruit 70 Stars of Destiny, he will be at Budehec’s gates. Go to him, and he joins automatically. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Bujitsu Teacher Jefferson is like a drill sergeant missing from his boot camp. He assigns titles to people based on what they look like and what they do (No one really likes them: Cecile is the Tin-plated Halter, Juan is the Goldbrick Gang Boss, and Barts is the Blue Sky Baron. Barts and Jefferson fought a duel over that last one.) He’s intense and never stops shouting, but he’s not as bad as Peggi. He looks exactly like a drill sergeant should, with furrowed brows and dressed in an army uniform. Support Discussion: Jefferson's support abilities are okay, but, like the Discounters, there is a character who fights who provides a higher grade (in this case, it's Juan.) The titles, though, are an impressive way to bulk grades and make character's abilities go even higher then they could before. Jefferson is located in the east wing of the manor on the first floor. Skill List Bujitsu Teacher: D Name: Tuta Automatic: No. First, recruit Mio. Then, wait till Chapter 4 and go to Chisha Village with Mio in support. Find Tuta in the room where Hugo was resting after his defeat by Yuber. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Support Unique Skills: Healing Tuta has grown up and is now a doctor. He goes around Grassland helping eople with Mio, his nurse. They met during the High East Rebellion. And no, Tuta doesn’t throw rocks at people anymore. He’s dressed in a small red, fez-like hat, and a red and orange robe with a beige overtop. Support Discussion: In your party, Tuta provides the most healing out of any of the healers. This is useful if one takes lots of damage from attacks and one does not wish to constantly heal with medicine. Skill List Healing: A+ Name: Viki (Big) Automatic: No. In Chapter 4, go up the Mountain Path to Caleria. There, Viki will fall from the sky. Recruit her then. Battle Fighting Style: Magic User War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Blinking Magic, Pale Gate Magic, Shield Magic. Viki is the ditzy teleportress who appears in every Suikoden game. When she sneezes, she teleports herself and everyone around her. Viki is a kind girl, but really air-headed, probably because when she teleports, she not only jumps through space, but through time too. She’s got black hair, wears a white dress with blue trim, and uses a staff to attack. Strengths: Viki has high marks in several types of magic, as well as possessing three styles of unique magic. She's also got decent dodging ability, for a mage, and some superb magical defense. Also, when it comes to Blinking Magic, Viki is the best. Weaknesses: Viki, like all mages, cannot fight very well and is defensively weak against physical attacks. Viki also has a permanent Blinking Rune on her hand, which really detracts from her abilities as a mage since Blinking Magic isn't all that useful. Viki, like Mel, also has the ability to misfire with her runes, which can damage your party, but more importantly, does not damage the enemy. Support Ability: Once Viki is recruited, she can teleport the party from her mirror to any place they have been before. Sometimes, she fails, but the party just ends up at the front gate of Budehec, so they can just go back and try again. Viki is located on the first floor of the manor, near the stairs. Viki can teleport the party regardless of whether she is in the party or not. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: C Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: A Wind Magic: A Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: A Sword of Magic: B Shield Magic: B+ Blinking Magic: S Pale Gate Magic: B+ Name: Viki (Little) Automatic: No. Once you recruit Viki (Big), put her in your party and go to the Mountain Path where you met Viki (Big) before. After the scene plays, Viki (Little) will join and give you a unique item called the Blinking Mirror, which returns you to Budehec Castle from anywhere on the World Map. Battle Fighting Style: Magic User War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Shield Magic, Blinking Magic, Pale Gate Magic Little Viki is basically a pint-sized version of the bigger Viki. Their stats and skills are almost the exact same, but Little Viki is serious and knowledgeable while Big Viki is ditzy and flighty. Strengths: Little Viki has the same strengths and weaknesses of Big Viki, although Little Viki does not teleport. Big Viki is slightly stronger physically then Little Viki, and Little Viki can dodge better, but they are more or less the same person. Big Viki's advantage is that she fights in wars, so that might be the reason to bulk her over the younger counterpart. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: C Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: A Wind Magic: A Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: A Sword of Magic: B Shield Magic: B+ Blinking Magic: S Pale Gate Magic: B+ Name: Futch Automatic: No. He’s on the Mountain Path close to Caleria. Offer to help him and he’ll take you to Caleria. Find the girl he’s looking for, and then talk to Futch outside the gates. He’ll join you. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Leader Unique Skills: Parry Futch is the Dragon Knight from the previous two games. He lost his first dragon, Black, but his new one, Bright, is grown up and matured. Futch is calm, level-headed, and is stuck putting up with a young, immature girl that acts like he did when he was that age. He’s got brown hair, wears a green vest, white shirt, brown pants, and a gold circlet with dragon wings on his head. He uses the two handed sword “Muramasa”, a gift from Humphrey. Strengths: Futch is decent at all facets, can dish out some physical damage, okay with magic, and with Lightning, which is the best magic, and pretty tough. He can also mount Bright, which, like Hugo mounting Fubar, grants a huge offensive boost. Weaknesses: Futch can't reach two swings without speed boosting equipment, and he'll be outclassed magically by others. By himself, Futch isn't that spectacular. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B Parry: B+ Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Name: Bright Automatic: No, joins with Futch Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: None Bright is the white dragon that belongs to Futch. Futch can ride it really fast, but anyone else who rides tends to get airsick. Bright was raised by Futch all of the creature’s life. Suikoden II fans might remember when Futch first found Bright with Humphrey and Riou. Strengths: Bright can dish out a lot of damage since he's a monster and has a hefty power. He can also be mounted on Futch, although this gives Futch more boosts then Bright, it still makes Bright better. Weaknesses: Bright can't equip any accessories, so he cannot resist magic, or gain extra defense, or bulk his skills as armor and accessories do. His strength will also taper off since he only has so much attack power and cannot bulk it other ways. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B Damage: B+ Repel: B Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: C Name: Sharon Automatic: No, joins with Futch Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter unique Skills: Shield Protect, Parry, Magic Rationing Sharon is Commander Milia’s (from Suikoden I) daughter. She’s energetic, a bit bratty, and always tries to wander off. She’s blonde, wears yellow clothes and a dragon winged circlet similar to Futch’s. She uses a spear and shield, Futch’s old spear. Strengths: Sharon's a tough little cookie. Possessing two block-attack skills and high marks defensively, enemies will struggle to hit her. She's also got some decent magic with Fire or Wind, and can reach a second hit with her spear, and with two free rune slots, she could do some respectable damage. She's also a part of the powerful Girl unite. Weaknesses: Sharon has a severe lack of skill slots which means she runs at diminished capacity. Also, since two is her maximum amount of hits, she'll end up doing only average damage when she is built up. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B+ Holy Dash: B+ Parry: B+ Shield Protect: B Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B+ Magic Rationing: B Name: Landis Automatic: No, in the Kuput Forest, have an empty space. Run around and fight monsters until you find him in your party. You must stand in a certain spot to recruit him. From the west entrance to the forest, continue until you reach a path split. It is inside this split where Landis can be recruited. Battle Fighting Style: Berserker War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Freeze, Thief Landis is a Winghorde that looks and acts like something to come out of Stephen King. He likes laughing and scaring children senseless. He wears all dark red, has black wings, and uses a scythe to attack Strengths: Landis is a part of the Condemnation Unite which can be really powerful. Landis also has superb magical defense, decent magical affinities, and an S in both Freeze and Thief for extra potch and enemy halting. Weaknesses: Landis will never do much damage unless he's paired with Ayame, and she can do lots of damage by herself with the Shrike Rune. Landis also has only one free rune slot, and his Drain Rune essentially useless since Landis does not possess a skill to increase his critical rating. THirdly, Landis possesses low HP and no dodging skills to avoid attacks. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B Damage: B+ Repel: B Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Freeze: S Thief: S Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B+ Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: S Sword of Magic: B Name: Billy Automatic: No. Place an “S” rank statue in the statue room, leave, and then re-enter. Beat Billy at cards to recruit him. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Cook, Trade-in Billy is Melville and Kathy’s father. He’s dressed as a cowboy, with lasso, hat, clothes, and boots. He is a gambler and a bit of a thief, but he’s honest enough when he’s caught. Support Discussion: Billy's card game is a good way to gain a few prizes. A free Crystal Ball to sell at Duck Village, Blue Ribbons, a recipe for Mamie, and the game is a mindlessly amusing diversion. Billy's skills are nothing to be impressed over, though, so no need to put him in the party. Billy's located in the library, on the second floor of the manor. War: N/A Skill List Cook: D Trade-in: D Name: Nadir Automatic: No. Talk to him in Caleria, upstairs in the inn. If you have a party of three men, two women, and one child, he will join your party. Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Discount, Tutor Nadir is the drama producer who directs all of the plays in the castle. The theater is infinitely amusing, and even provides a little bit of money (not much, but it’s mainly for fun). Nadir is dressed all in black and wears a white mask, like the Phantom of the Opera. Suikoden II fans might find he looksa little like Culgan. Support Discussion: Nadir provides Tutor, which is nice, but ultimately, not that great. The plays are easily the most amusing mini-game present, with such awful and hilarious combinations possible. Give him Scripts to get more plays, and depending on whether or not data is loaded from the previous Suikodens, more scripts may be available. Nadir is located in the pub, in the west wing. War: N/A Skill List Discount: D Tutor: D Chapter 5 Name: Duke Automatic: No, you must not abandon the Le Buque villagers until Duke gets there. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Leader Unique Skills: Counter-attack, Heavy Damage Duke is Geddoe’s mercenary rival, and the leader of the 14th unit in the Southern Frontier Defense Force. Duke is cocky, doesn’t like to lose, and can get quite nasty to Geddoe. Duke wears all green with a matching bandana and black pants, and has red hair. He uses a two handed sword to attack. Strengths: Duke's pretty tough for someone who can't use heavy armor, with loads of HP. Duke's also got Heavy Damage, which is always helpful, and two free rune slots. Weaknesses: Duke's can only get one swing unless he uses a Gale Rune, so, although he can pierce defense, he won't do that much damage. He's also only passable at magic, with only Fire being good, although he does get a Level 4 slot to use with it. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B+ Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Heavy Damage: B+ Counter-Attack: B+ Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B Sword of Magic: B Name: Elaine Automatic: No, as Duke Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Precision, Magic Rationing Elaine is the only woman in the 14th unit of the Southern Frontier Defense Force. She’s flirty, and she flaunts it every chance she gets. Elaine and Queen do not get along, and they don’t resist a chance to insult each other (Queen often calls Elaine a wench). Ace flirts with Elaine, but she will have none of it, because she really likes Duke. Elaine wears a red top that shows a lot of cleavage and green pants, and has blonde hair. She uses a fancy sword to attack. Strengths: The strongest of Duke's unit, Elaine can get multiple attacks easily. Elaine is also a superb magician, possessing skills and a stat like Geddoe, making her an excellent choice for Lightning Magic. Defensively, Elaine can equip a Blue Ribbon, but has decent Repel and can equip medium armor even if she doesn't want to use that. Weaknesses: Elaine is a lot like Lilly and Queen, but physically, Elaine is the worst of them since she possesses no Heavy Damage. Also, like the other two girls, they aren't exactly defensive giants, although they are capable of taking care of themselves, constant attack will find them losing out. Elaine, although a great magician, is still not as good as Estella or Piccolo, and doesn't possess Geddoe's True Rune. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: A Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: A Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B+ Precision: B+ Magic Rationing: B+ Name: Gau Automatic: No, he joins with Duke Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Parry Gau is the kobold who works in the 14th unit of the Southern Frontier Defense Force. He’s sour, nasty, and doesn’t get along well with Ace. He’s worked with Duke for a while now, and always stands by and helps him. Gau wears a beige and purple shirt, black pants, and has brown fur. He uses a spear to attack Strengths: Gau can dish outsome hefty damage, and is the only character who can equip Lion God Rings, a nifty little accessory sold in Chisha. He's also pretty tough Weaknesses: Gau has only one free rune slot and his Counter Rune is not extremely helpful since counter attacks aren't that frequent. He's also bad with magical attacks Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: B+ Repel: B Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B+ Parry: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: C Sword of Magic: B Name: Nicolas Automatic: No, joins with Duke Battle Fighting Style: Defensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Shield Protect Nicolas is the last member of the 14th unit in the Southern Frontier Defense Force. He’s the oldest in the unit, and takes care of Duke like an older brother. Duke’s father’s last words to Nicolas were “take care of my son”, words that Nicolas has devoted himself to. Nicolas is not cynical or nasty to Geddoe’s team like the rest of the group, but he does enjoy competition. Nicolas wears blue clothes and black pants, has short black hair, and uses an axe and shield. Strengths: Nicolas does have a permanent Earth Shield which makes him immune to any status effect. He's also got high defensive marks all around. Weaknesses: Nicolas's damage output is pretty poor, since he only has one swing, not to mention he can't use magic. But most importantly, Nicolas has no rune slots at all. None. So he cannot tank or increase his damage. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B Damage: B Repel: C Armor Protect: A Holy Dash: B+ Shield Protect: A Fire Magic: C Water Magic: C Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: C Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: C Name: Franz Automatic: No, do not abandon the villagers in Le Buque. He joins after Duke. Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter (Leader when he is your enemy) Unique Skills: Adrenaline Power Franz is the head Mantor Trainer from Le Buque. He takes orders from the Harmonians and follows them out to the letter, in hopes that he can grant the citizens of Le Buque second-class citizen status. Le Buque is third class, which means that Franz, like Queen, was forced to live in Harmonia as a slave. Franz wears blue armor with epaulets, a pair of khaki pants, and has spiky brown hair. He uses a spear to attack Strengths: Franz is the third of the mounted pairs, and he'll have all the same perks as them. Franz is pretty much the same as Futch, with Adrenaline Power in place of Parry. Although Franz does move faster then the other, he won't be as fast as Hugo. By himself, Franz is much like Futch with less defense, but slightly higher offense due to a stronger weapon and that he reaches his second swing much easier then Futch. He's also a decent dodger Weaknesses: Franz is pretty frail, especially for a frontline fighter. He can't protect himself with something other then his dodging, which isn't great to rely on in general. He's also only decent at Lightning with his low magic. Skill List Swing: B Accuracy: B+ Damage: B Repel: B+ Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B Adrenaline Power: B+ Fire Magic: B Water Magic: C Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: B Name: Iku Automatic: No, she joins with Franz Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Healing, Tutor Iku is Franz’s friend since they were child. She is a bit meek, but she truly wants what’s best for him. Unlike Franz, she does not like helping Harmonia and wants to return to life like it was when Le Buque was a part of Grassland. She stands up for him after Le Buque is saved, but no one listens until Geddoe takes matters into his own hands. Iku wears a white shirt and blue pants, and has purple hair in a style similar to Princess Leia’s. Support Discussion: Iku doesn't do anything in the castle, but in the party, she does combine Healing and Tutor to make an effective pair, since Tutor by itself is pretty useless. The boost to spell damage isn't impressive, but a nice perk, and the Healing is always nice. There are better choices then Iku, but she's alright. War: N/A Skill List Healing: C Tutor: C Name: Ruby Automatic: No, joins with Franz Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Fighter Unique Skills: Freeze Ruby is Franz’s Mantor. He’s the fastest of all the Mantors, and apparently, the most attractive (somehow, Bazba can speak Mantor). He’s green and black all around, and wears a saddle. Strengths: Ruby is extremely fast, which couples well with his Freeze since he can move before enemies do. He's also decently strong and tough, especially against magic. Weaknesses: The Shining Wing rune unbalances, which will end Franz's turn if he is mounted on Ruby. Ruby, like all animals, cannot have any equips. Skill List Swing: B+ Accuracy: B Damage: B Repel: B Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: B+ Freeze: A Fire Magic: B Water Magic: B Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: B Lightning Magic: B Magic Resistance: A Sword of Magic: C Name: Sasarai Automatic: Yes, he joins after the first strategy battle in Chapter 5 Battle Fighting Style: Magic User War Fighting Style: Leader Unique Skills: Magic Repel, Pale Gate Magic, Precision Sasarai is a bishop in the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia, and up until the end of the game, he is your enemy. After he is betrayed and his True Earth Rune is stolen, he joins with the Fire Bringer to prevent the world from being destroyed. He’s short, has light brown hair, and wears a blue shirt and white pants (for those who played Suikoden II, he's not wearing that stupid hat). He uses a magic ring to attack. Strengths: Sasarai is probably the best support mage in the same, with a powerful natural S in Earth and an A in Water for all the useful healing and defensive spells. The True Earth Rune also garners him a powerful attack spell, although it can only hit grounded opponents. Sasarai is also great with Pale Gate Magic, and can use it in wars since he fights in wars. Also, he's got Magic Repel to further assist his already high magical defense. Weaknesses: As a pure mage, Sasarai has pathetic physical defense and even more pathetic physical attack. Unlike his counterparts Joker and Yuiri, Sasarai cannot even dodge to protect himself, and thus, he would need to take precautions to ensure he's not swarmed. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: C Damage: B Repel: C Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: C Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: A Wind Magic: B Earth Magic: S Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: A Sword of Magic: B Magic Repel: A Pale Gate Magic: A Precision: B+ Name: Dios Automatic: Yes, he joins with Sasarai Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Doesn’t Fight Unique Skills: Discount Dios is Sasarai’s attendant. The bishop himself is calm, but Dios always tries to make sure that Sasarai is taken care of. Dios enjoys Crystal Palace and loves to return there after battle. He treats Sasarai like a son, despite the fact that Sasarai is older then he is. Dios wears a black hat, has curly blonde hair, wears clothes like Sasarai, and has a gigantic nose. Support Discussion: For an end-game character, he doesn't do a whole lot. You'll already have Martha, who's Discount is higher, so don't bother with him. Dios doesn't do anything in the castle. Skill List Discount: D 6th Point of View Name: Luc Automatic: You must recruit all 104 Stars of Destiny before the strategy battle at the Ceremonial Site (after Nash returns). After defeating the final boss, a new section will appear on the Trinity Sight. Once it is selected, Luc becomes the main character. Battle Fighting Style: Magic User War Fighting Style: Doesn't fight (is an enemy leader in other POV's) Unique Skills: Pale Gate Magic, Focus Luc is the major enemy in Suikoden III, and his point of view is experiencing the game from the eyes of the "enemy". He has borne the True Wind Rune his entire life, and now, seeks to destroy it to destroy a bleak, lifeless future that the True Wind Rune showed him. Luc is similar in appearence to Sasarai: he's short, has dark colored hair, and wears a green robe and cape. He uses a magic ring, exactly like Sasarai's, to attack. Strengths: Picture Estella, with her high magical attack. Now think of someone better. Luc possesses the magical offense like Estella does, only he can do it better, with his permanent True Wind Rune, high marks all around in magic, and a higher Focus so he doesn't lose his chanting. Couple that with actual dodging ability, and he's nearly the perfect mage. Weaknesses: Luc, like most mages, has pathetic attack and defense. Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: C Damage: C Repel: B+ Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: B Fire Magic: A Water Magic: A Wind Magic: S Earth Magic: B+ Lightning Magic: A Magic Resistance: A Sword of Magic: B Pale Gate Magic: A Focus: S Name: Sarah Automatic: Yes, she joins with Luc Battle Fighting Style: Magic User War Fighting Style: Doesn't Fight (is a leader when she is an enemy) Unique Skills: Pale Gate Magic, Precision Sarah is the sorceresss who was a slave in Crystal Valley like Franz and Queen. Luc found her once, and took her along for her magical power. Luc is the only person who is kind to Sarah and as such, she loves him. Strengths: Sarah is just as powerful as Luc when it comes to magic. She's got a permanent Flowing Rune, with a natural S in Water Magic to use it with, as well as A's in the other magics pretty much across the board. She also has a high Precision, which is useful because Sarah's attacking rune is a Rage Rune. Weaknesses: Low defense, low attack, like all mages. Also, she can't use her S in Pale Gate Magic since her forehead slot has the permanent Flowing Rune. War - N/A Skill List Swing: C Accuracy: B Damage: C Repel: B Armor Protect: C Holy Dash: C Fire Magic: A Water Magic: S Wind Magic: B+ Earth Magic: A Lightning Magic: A Magic Resistance: A Sword of Magic: C Pale Gate Magic: S Precision: A Name: Yuber Automatic: Yes, he joins with Luc Battle Fighting Style: Offensive Fighter War Fighting Style: Doesn't fight, (enemy leader, though) Unique Skills: Heavy Damage Dressed in a black top hat and all black clothes, the blonde haired seeker of chaos is present in every Suikoden to date, but never has his role been explained in such detail (even as vague as it is here). Yuber travels with Luc and Sarah to witness the destruction of the True Rune. Yuber himself is a True Rune bearer (his is called the Eightfold Rune), but he hates the True Runes immensely and longs for their destruction for the chaos they would cause. Strengths: Yuber has high offense. Very high offense. With a high Swing and a fast weapon, he'll really bring on the pain, and with Heavy Damage and an S in Accuracy, he'll dish out more pain and not miss while doing it. Then, throw in his Eight-Devil Rune, which doubles his attack without penalty like unbalance, the fact that he can use Lightning Magic almost as good as most mages, and his great defensive abilities, and this guy is just sick... Weaknesses: You can't use him in the main game, like all of Luc's Chapter characters. Skill List Swing: A Accuracy: S Damage: B+ Repel: A Armor Protect: B Holy Dash: B Heavy Damage: A Fire Magic: B+ Water Magic: B Wind Magic: C Earth Magic: C Lightning Magic: B+ Magic Resistance: B+ Sword of Magic: A Name: Albert Silverburg Automatic: Yes, he joins with Luc Battle Fighting Style: Support War Fighting Style: Support as an enemy, doesn't fight when you control him Unique Skills: Tutor Albert Silverburg is Caesar's elder brother, and the strategist for Harmonia Albert is superior to Caesar, but he still is not very effective; his forces couldn't overcome the Grasslands despite the fact that Harmonia outnumbered Grassland at least 4 to 1. Albert works with Luc to gain position in Harmonia but when Luc betrays, Albert deserts and works for himself, but asks the Flame Champion to "salvage Luc's soul." Albert wears a white coat, has dark red hair, and wears earrings. Support Discussion: Well, you can use Albert to increase Luc and Sarah's magic right from the bat, but the power boost isn't that helpful since Luc and Sarah would kill anything in their path without it. Skill List Tutor: C Boss Battles Geddoe Chapter 1- Chris Lightfellow? Boss Hit Points: Chris – 800 Zexen Knight – 380 Recommended Formation Queen Geddoe Ace Joker Shiba Jacques Walkthrough – This battle depends on if Chris uses Breath of Ice. If she does, your team is more or less screwed if not dead. Sometimes, Chris will attack, or cast Kindness Rain. She will typically move first if she casts, as she has a high skill in Water Magic. Start with Geddoe casting Soaring Bolt, Joker casting Dancing Flames centered on Chris, and Shiba’s group attacking, focusing the attack on Chris so Jacques hits her. Second turn, Geddoe should heal Queen with an item if necessary, or if she is fine, have him cast Berserk Blow on Chris. Joker should heal Ace if necessary, otherwise, attack Chris. Shiba’s group should attack Chris, since Jacques can hit her no matter where she is. The goal of this battle is to eliminate Chris and the threat of her magic. Once she’s done, the Zexen Knights should fall easily, especially since Soaring Bolt has weakened them. Geddoe Chapter 1 – Little girl with a bow… Boss Hit Points: Aila: 500 Karaya Fighter: 210 Recommended Formation Jacques Geddoe Ace Joker Queen Walkthrough – You must beat this battle in three rounds, or Jimba will end it and you will gain no experience. Geddoe’s should cast Soaring Bolt, Joker should cast Dancing Flames centered on Aila, as no one will reach her before he casts it, preventing your allies from getting hit, and Queen should just attack. The Karayans should be gone the first round, leaving the girl alone. Use Mercenary B if you want, or just auto attack and kill her. After finishing this battle, be sure to rest at the inn to gain your Soaring Bolt back before you go to Jimba’s house. If you’ve beaten Chris, she should be a piece of cake. Geddoe Chapter 1 – Borus, the Swordsman of Rage Boss Hit Points: Borus – 850 Zexen Knight – 290 Recommended Formation Queen Geddoe Walkthrough – This battle should start with Geddoe casting Soaring Bolt quickly. This should wipe out both knights and hurt Borus. After that, Geddoe should heal Queen with medicine every turn, while Queen wails on Borus with her sword. If you have a free turn, Geddoe should cast Berserk Blow. Geddoe Chapter 1 – Twin Snake on the Mountain Path Boss Hit Points: Twin Snake’s body – 3,900 Snake Heads – 1,200 Recommended Formation Queen Geddoe Ace Joker Jacques Aila Walkthrough – This snake, like Chris, has a powerful attack that can cripple your party. However, it’s not completely game over if he uses it. First turn, have Geddoe cast Soaring Bolt, Joker should cast Blazing Wall centered on one of the heads, as it will make most of the area covered by the spell covered by the snake so you won’t get hurt. Aila should cast Clay Guardian to reduce damage. Next turn, Aila should cast Great Blessing if you need healing. The rest of them should attack, and target the heads, because once one of the heads is dead, the monster can’t use his power attack. Hugo Chapter 1 – North Cavern Bandits Boss Hit Points Bandit – 180 Recommended Formation Hugo Melville Lulu Alanis Sgt. Joe This battle isn’t too bad if you’ve leveled up Melville and Alanis. Hugo’s team and Sgt. Joe should attack while Alanis casts Flaming Arrows. It’s a weak attack, but it prevents Alanis from getting into the battle. With Hugo and Sgt. Joe attacking, this shouldn’t take long at all. Hugo Chapter 1 – Escape from Vinay del Zexay Part 1 – Zexen Infantry Boss Hit Points Zexen Infantry – 180 Recommended Party Hugo Lulu Sgt. Joe Walkthrough – This battle should be cakewalk if you went with Melville and Alanis to the North Cavern. Just go all out on offense. Since Sgt. Joe can do a lot of damage, you should only use his Kindness Drops if Hugo and Lulu are in trouble, or if you are out of medicine. Lulu should stick to healing while Hugo attacks. Part 2 – Zexen Pincer Attack Boss Hit Points Zexen Knights – 230 Recommended Party Hugo Lulu Sgt. Joe This battle is pretty much the same way as last time; Hugo on all out offense while Lulu sticks to healing, and the Sergeant doing both roles. You should’ve gained some levels from the last battle, so this one shouldn’t be hard at all. Part 3 – The Pretty Boy and the Big Knight Boss Hit Points Leo – 600 Percival – 500 Zexen Knight – 230 Recommended Party Hugo Lulu Sgt. Joe This battle is difficult, but luckily, you don’t have to win, just survive. You can avoid this battle by saying that there is no reason to believe the Knights and their accusations. If you’re going to fight, you may need to use magic to wipe out the units quickly. Use The Shredding with Hugo’s Wind Rune and Breath of Ice on Sgt. Joe’s Water Rune to lay the smack down on the knights. This should take out the two knights. Focus your next attacks on Percival, charging a Sword of Cyclone with Lulu, so Percival doesn’t cast Kindness Drops. Go for Leo last, if you still have time. This battle will end in a few turns, with or without your victory. Strategy Battle – Chris Chapter 1 – Zexen vs. Lizard and Karaya This is a surprise ambush by the Lizard Clan after they receive the news that Chief Zepon is dead. You’ll start with four units. Chris leads unit 1 (which has Borus as a fighter and Louis in support), Roland leads Unit 3 (with Salome in support, and units 2 and 4 are Zexen commander units. The goal is to get a swift retreat by going to the spot indicated with an arrow. If you’re going to fight, then wipe out the Lizards while you are still healthy, as they can really hurt. Then go for the Karayans. Be wary of Lucia, as she is the strategist for the enemy army. They can move 5 units each turn, but without her, they can only move three. As for your enemies, they are mostly Lizard Clan generic fighters, with Dupa, Shiba, and Bazba leading three units. Lucia leads unit 10, and Beecham is in Unit 11. Geddoe Chapter 2 – Attack of the giant bugs Boss Hit Points: Franz – 400 Ruby - 400 Mantor Legionnaire – 350 Mantor – 350 Recommended Party Queen Geddoe Ace Joker Jacques Aila The goal is to beat these guys before the masked bishop shows up and ends the battle. Use the typical Soaring Bolt with Geddoe, center Blazing Wall with Joker on Ruby, and have Aila cast Clay Guardian. The two spells should wipe everything out. If not, then simply attack, or if there is only one person left, use Mercenary B. In Le Buque, train Wind Magic for Queen. Also, if Geddoe is being turned into the Flame CHampion, train Ace for Lightning Magic. Geddoe Chapter 2 – Duke at Mt. Senai Boss Hit Points Duke – 700 Nicolas – 800 Elaine – 600 Gau – 750 Recommended Formation Geddoe Jacques Ace Joker Queen Aila This battle is like fighting Geddoe’s team as Geddoe, but you have the advantage of the two archers. This battle is a prelude to the next one, so don’t go all out and keep your HP high. Geddoe’s team should attack, Joker should cast Dancing Flames centered on Elaine, and Aila should cast Clay Guardian to help reduce damage. Take out Elaine first, as she can cast Fire Magic. Next, go for Duke or Gau, whichever one. Nicolas you should save for last, as he tanks and you might run into his shield, blocking the attack. If you are having trouble with hitting past his shield, Geddoe and Ace can cast Berserk Blow, if you trained Ace's Lightning Magic. Geddoe Chapter 2 – Battle at the altar of the Flame Champion. Boss Hit Points Masked Bishop – 900 Sarah – 750 Recommended Formation Geddoe Jacques Ace Joker Queen Aila You are fighting two extremely powerful wizards and you don’t get the chance to heal after Duke, so watch out. Sarah casts Fire and Water magic; sometimes she starts with Kindness Rain, which helps you guys out immensely because she doesn’t start attacking. The Masked Bishop tends to start with The Shredding, but he doesn’t look like he’s casting, so you can’t stop his chanting. Go after Sarah first, to remove the healing from the problem. Geddoe should cast Soaring Bolt; Ace should cast Soaring Bolt as well, if he can get it off in one turn, otherwise, focus a Dancing Flames with Joker on Sarah, with Aila casting Clay Guardian. The next turn, if the Bishop cast The Shredding, you should really need healing. Use Great Blessing with Aila to heal if you need it, otherwise, Queen should cast The Shredding, and have Geddoe cast Berserk Blow on the Bishop (if Sarah is dead; otherwise, her). Ace’s team should attack. He should go down after that. Otherwise, just cast Berserk Blows with Geddoe and Ace. Equip Sacrifical Jizos. Hugo Chapter 2 – Battle at the Ancient Highway Boss Hit Points Man in Black – 2,500 Recommended Formation Lilly Sgt. Joe Hugo Fubar Reed Samus This battle can be considered one of the hardest battles, as the Man in Black has a very high evasion rate, and your characters here are mostly physical in nature. Lilly should start with the Tinto unite, while Hugo’s team attacks. The reason for the Tinto unite is not only just to give Lilly the Berserk status, but also to keep the three of them initially out of the battle. If you can help it, you want Hugo to be the target, as he and Fubar can take the most damage. Next turn, have Sgt. Joe use Kindness Drops on Hugo if he needs it, but if he doesn’t, Lilly should charge her sword with Sword of Rage to do more damage. The Man in Black will only attack or cast a weak Soaring Bolt, but he can do some serious damage physically. Samus can use his Wind rune to heal individual characters if they survive his attacks. An important thing to note is who the Man in Black faces at the beginning of the round. That person will be the person the Man in Black's target. That pair of characters should defend rather then attack, as not only does that character take less damage, but also they have an increased chance to dodge his attacks. If they dodge, then the combo strings of the Man in Black will be stopped (Lilly may also Parry). Since the Man in Black never heals himself, just whittle him down until he dies. Equipping Sacrificial Jizos is a good idea. Chris Chapter 2 – Strategy Battle, Zexen vs. Lizard and Karaya Clan, Take Two. This strategy battle takes place at the Great Hollow, and it’s payback for what the Lizard and Karaya Clans did in Chris Chapter 1. The goal is to kill 5 units of Lizards and/or Karayans without losing Chris’s unit. Of course, since Chris is one hard woman to kill, it won’t be that hard. Unit 1 is Chris’s unit; Roland leads Unit 2, and Leo heads up Unit 3. The first units that are your enemies are Lizard Clan units. The three lizard leaders lead the first three: Dupa, Shiba, and Bazba, while there are some other lizards led by generic Lizard Clan warriors. After a few turns, the Karayans will appear. The two named units are Lucia and Beechum, but some generic Karayan units also appear. Lucia is the head strategist of this army, as she has the Control of this army (at 5 units a turn), so wipe her out first. Once she is gone, your enemies will lose their strategist and can’t move as many units. Then pick off your enemies at your leisure. During the battle, you will gain four new units. One is led by Borus, another by Percival, and two are generic Zexen commander units, one with each commander. Borus appears to the north, and Percival to the southeast. Use them to ambush the Karayans and gain Cover. Salome, your strategist, will allow 6 units moved in a turn, which is more then enough. This battle is not too difficult, just designed to orient someone to the fighting style and gain a victory. Chris Chapter 2 – Shiba at Great Hollow Boss Hit Points: Shiba – 850 Lizard Fighter – 240 Recommended Party Chris Percival Leo Roland Borus This is a pretty easy battle if you’ve trained up your knights (Talk to Salome before the strategy battle to put everyone in your party). All of your parties should be on offense, unless you take some damage. In that case, Percival is the healer. If you've played Chris's chapter 2 before Hugo's, you have the option of dueling Lucia, so you may want to make sure Chris is healthy. Chris Chapter 2 – Burning Iksay Part 1 – Fighters at the gates Boss Hit Points: Lizard Fighter – 250 Karaya Fighter – 220 Recommended Party Chris Nash With Nash as quick as he is, this battle shouldn’t be too hard at all. Just attack with Chris, center your attacks on the Karayans, as they are the faster of the two fighters. Nash has a Water Rune for healing, but you shouldn’t need it. Part 2 – Return of the Swordsman of Gale Boss Hit Points: Lizard Fighter – 250 Karaya Fighter – 220 Recommended Party Chris Percival Nash This battle is more or less the same as the last time, only you’ve got Percival back. Percival should take over for Nash as the healer, as Nash can attack very quickly. Chris should stay on offense, again, focusing on the Karayans, with Nash and Percival backing her up. Part 3 – Revenge of Shiba Boss Hit Points: Shiba – 950 Lizard Fighter – 220 Recommended Party Chris Percival Nash Shiba’s back and out for your head. He’s stronger then last time, and you don’t have the support of Borus and Leo, so you may have a hard time in the beginning. Have Percival and Nash both cast Breath of Ice to kill the lizards, with Chris focusing on Shiba. Once the lizards are gone, attack Shiba till he dies, keeping Percival on healing duty. Geddoe Chapter 3 – Defense of Budehec Boss Hit Points: Zexen Patrolmen – 350 Recommended Party Geddoe Jacques Ace Joker Queen Aila Depending on if you played Thomas’s Chapter 2 or not, you have two or three waves of these. The first is at the gates, after the Councilor leaves. The second, if you didn’t play Thomas’s Chapters, is outside the inn. The third is inside the castle foyer (If you played Thomas’s Chapters, Queen is the person who threw the flashbomb at the Zexens when Thomas fought his impossible battle, ending it.) These guys are a joke at Geddoe’s high levels, just attack and kill them. Hugo Chapter 3 – Escape from Budehec Boss Hit Points Zexen Infantry - 260 Zexen Knight – 430 Recommended Party Hugo Fubar Reed Lilly Sgt. Joe Samus You’ll fight as you leave the plains a few waves of these. Samus is on healing duty with the Wind Rune, but Hugo and Reed’s group should be on offense. This battle shouldn’t give too much of a problem. Hugo Chapter 3 – Defense of Chisha Village Part 1 – Harmonian Rear Guard Boss Hit Points Harmonian Soldiers – 350 Recommended Party Hugo Fubar Mua Sgt. Joe Hallec Sanae Y This battle shouldn’t be too terribly difficult, stick everyone on offense. Sgt. Joe should heal. Sanae can use her Sickle-Weasel Rune to attack the back soldiers and hit the soldiers going up to them as well. Part 2 – Le Buque attacks from the sky Boss Hit Points Mantor Legionnare – 400 Mantor – 400 Recommended Party Hugo Fubar Mua Sgt. Joe Hallec Sanae Y Same set up here, Le Buque’s soldiers are just stronger and faster. All out offense with Hugo, Mua, Sanae, and Hallec, while Sgt. Joe can heal or attack. Chris Chapter 3 – Franz’s Decree Boss Hit Points Franz: 400 Ruby: 400 Mantor Legionnaire: 400 Mantor: 400 Recommended Party Chris Nash Fred Rico Rhett Yumi This battle isn’t difficult, but don’t get cocky. Chris should attack the first group she sees with Fred backing her up. Rhett’s group should target Franz, as Yumi will reach him. Your healer is Rico, but your shouldn’t need it. Franz is the biggest threat here, as he can use Lightning Magic that you can't dodge, but the Mantors can dish out a powerful Shining Wing attack that hurts, but unbalances the bug. Chris Chapter 3 – Strategy Battle: Repelling the Harmonian Invasion The goal of this fight is to not let Harmonia’s units kill Chris or reach the center square that represents Chisha. This is the first strategy battle where you can arrange your units, and you do this by talking to Caesar. Unit 1 – Leader: Chris Rhett (blank) (blank) Chris Support: Yun Unit 2 – Leader: Nash Wilder (blank) (blank) Nash Support: Sana Unit 3 – Leader: Fred (blank) Rico Yumi Fred Support: Caesar Unit 4 – (Not able to be arranged, but this unit will show up) Leader: Hugo Hallec Mua Sgt. Joe Hugo Support: Apple Your enemies are Harmonian units with commanders in the back, so you must fight your way through the Harmonians to reach them. The chief strategist is Dios, who is in Unit 3. This battle is not an offensive war, but defensive. Don’t seek the enemy unless you are luring them into a trap or you’re finishing them off. If you defeat a few of the Harmonians, another enemy unit will show up. This unit is led by Sasarai, and with Sasarai’s Water Magic skill, and the Breath of Ice he likes to lay down, you don’t want to seek him out if you can help it. Franz and a Mantor Unit will show up, but the Chisha villagers will repel them with smoke that Mantors can’t stand. Chris’s unit should be the main attacker, as she is the strongest, with Fred the secondary attacker. Nash should just finish off the weaker units, but Wilder can fight a little bit. Yun can heal 3 times, Sana gives QuickAid, and Caesar is the chief strategist providing Control (7) and Tactics (3) to assist Fred. Once Hugo shows up, the battle is over, and you will win. Chris Chapter 3 – Yuber Boss Hit Points Yuber: 2,500 Recommended Party Chris Nash Fred Rico Yumi Yuiri This battle is like Hugo’s fight with the same guy in his Chapter 2, although you have characters that can use magic and Hugo didn't. If you trained Nash with a Wind Rune, have him cast The Shredding, Fred uses the Maximillian unite. For the girls, you’ll want to use the Alma Kinan unite, as Yuber cannot dodge this. After that turn, Rico should be on healing duty while Chris and Fred are the main fighters. Start by casting Clay Guardian with Yumi to reduce damage, and then you can cast Earthquake to seriously hurt this guy (Save Yuiri’s spells for later.) He’s not as hard as he was in the Ancient Highway. After this battle, equip Sacrificial Jizos on everyone, as the next battle will need them. Chris Chapter 3 – Defending Yun’s Sacrifice Boss Hit Points Masked Bishop: 900 Sarah: 750 Yuber: 2,500 Recommended Party Chris Yumi Fred Rico Nash Yuiri This battle can be nasty if you’re not prepared. The Bishop can deliver powerful wind spells, Sarah can heal and use Fire Magic, and Yuber is all about physical offense. Deal with Sarah first by having Yumi cast Earthquake, Rico cast Breath of Ice, and Yuiri casting The Shredding to sweep the field. Once Sarah is gone, focus on the bishop. Yuber here is actually the least of your worries, as Yuber can’t attack the entire party. Rico’s Kindness Rain will help here immensely. Chris and Fred will be on offense, as both Sarah and the Bishop have low hit points and defense. Switch over to magic, with Yumi’s Earthquake, and Nash’s and Yuiri’s The Shredding to take out Yuber. Chapter 4 – Test of the Flame Champion Boss Hit Points: Fire Rune Incarnation: 5,000 Recommended Party Chris Hugo Geddoe Regardless of who you’ve chosen as the Flame Champion, this battle will be the same. This battle is like Geddoe’s battle with Duke in that you have a battle immediately following this, so keep your HP high (If Hugo has an Earth Rune, cast Clay Guardian, but it’s not necessary). Geddoe should use the True Lightning Rune’s spell Hammer of Raijin to severly hurt the dragon. Chris and Hugo are both attacking, with Hugo healing with items unless Chris has a Water Rune equipped. Geddoe should always heal himself with items if necessary. Chapter 4 – “I won’t give up the True Fire Rune” Boss Hit Points Masked Bishop: 1,000 Sarah: 900 Yuber: 2,500 Chimera: 700 Recommended Party Chris Hugo Geddoe Like Chris’s battle in Alma Kinan against these guys, this fight can be disastrous if you’re not ready. If Hugo or Geddoe is Flame Champion Chris is going to go on offense while Hugo uses his True Rune. If he has the True Lightning Rune, then have him cast Thunder Storm. If he has True Fire, cast Final Flame on Sarah. Geddoe should follow the same strategy as Hugo using his True Rune, just switch based on which rune he has. Whoever uses the True Lightning Rune will eliminate all the Chimeras, and both spells together will more then likely kill Sarah and cripple the Bishop. Yuber again is the least of your worries, as Hugo has a high Repel and Chris and Geddoe have hit points. If Chris is the Flame Champion Geddoe should cast Thunder Storm while Chris and Hugo go on offense. Hugo will heal with items or Wind rune. Chris won’t move quickly enough to use the Fire Rune effectively, so she should just attack. This is a little longer then the other method, but still not bad. Chris's group should target Sarah first, then the Bishop. Chapter 4 – Series of Strategy Battles Part 1 – Outside of Chisha Village You don’t have control over who goes in what unit. Lucia and Beechum lead units one and two; two Karayan Fighters assist both. Units three, four, and five are led by Dupa, Shiba, and Bazba, assisted each with two Lizard Clan fighters. Next turn, you’ll receive two new units. Chris will lead Unit 6 with Borus and Roland inside; while Salome will lead Unit 7 with Percival and Leo. The turn after that, you’ll get your last unit. If your Flame Champion is Geddoe, the unit will have Geddoe as the leader with Ace, Queen, and Jacques in the group with Joker in support. Otherwise, it’s Hallec, Mua, Sgt. Joe and Hugo with Hugo as leader. This battle cannot be won, as the Harmonians will gain three new units at the beginning of each of their turns, and the condition for victory is to kill all the enemies. Your chief strategist is Salome followed by Lucia, and the enemy has Albert Silverburg. Don’t worry too much about victory. Defeat here will cause the Zexens and Grasslanders to retreat to Duck Clan Village. Although if you want to last until Lucia orders a retreat (meaning you don't lose units yourself), then take out Albert, as then the enemy will only be able to move three units a turn rather then 8. Avoid Yuber's unit (Unit 2), and the Masked Bishop's Unit (Unit 10). Sasarai is in Unit 6, Dios Unit 7, and Duke and his merceanries occupy number 11. They have an exchange if Geddoe's unit (if Geddoe is FC), fights them. If you lose Lucia's unit or Dupa's Unit, you lose the battle, regardless of how many other units you have (One can lose Geddoe, Hugo, or Chris) Part 2 – Joined by the Duck Clan Your units are the same here, although you do not get Chris, Hugo, or Geddoe. But, you’ll also receive two generic Duck Clan units lead by a commander. Sarah and Yuber are in this group of enemies, but they cannot be defeated. Again, this is a battle you cannot win. Later in the battle, Franz will show up with Mantors from the north, which will cause them to fence you in. Just survive this battle until Chris gets here. When Chris gets here, the Zexens will cover the Grasslander’s retreat to Brass Castle. The chief strategist in this battle on your side is Lucia. Depending on the Flame Champion, after Chris gets here, a different scenario can occur. If Hugo or Geddoe is the Flame Champion Apple will have informed you in Duck Village about the illusions, so you’re going to go and take care of Sarah. If your Flame Champion is Geddoe, your group will consist of his mercenaries and Aila. If the Champion is Hugo, then you will select a group that must include Aila. I use... Hugo Fubar Jimba Aila Emily Sgt. Joe This is one of the few chances to use Jimba... Boss Hit Points Sarah: 1,100 Harmonian Soldiers: 450 You’ll fight one group of Harmonian soldiers, and then another, then a third with soldiers and Sarah. Have Hugo sweep the field on Fubar and attack Sarah as quickly as possible. Jimba’s group should attack Sarah as well, because Aila can reach her. Emily will attack whoever is closest to her, unless she has a Lion Rune, when in that case, unleash it on Sarah. You shouldn't need to heal if you move quickly but Aila is the healer, as Jimba doesn't have a water rune. With Geddoe, arrange your party like… Jacques Geddoe Ace Joker Queen Aila You can end this battle really quickly if Sarah casts Kindness Rain the first turn (she tends to). Have Geddoe cast Final Flame on the sorceress, Ace cast Soaring Bolt, and Queen cast the Shredding (Aila can substitute Earthquake if she is trained to the max and has a Mother Earth equipped). If Chris is the Flame Champion Chris does not fight that battle; Chris stays in the strategy battle longer. You cannot defeat Yuber or Sarah, so keep moving and try not to get surrounded. Yuber and Sarah’s unit cannot be defeated, but I’ve never seen Sarah’s unit move. Chris’s team can do some damage if you’ve trained Borus and Roland previously, as can Salome’s with Leo. Just keep going until Hugo attacks Sarah, then she’ll lose focus and the battle will end. Salome will have the Control and be the chief strategist, but you only have two units, so it won’t matter. Part 3 – “Don’t give up the Castle ” The battle in Chris’s Chapter 3 was like a prelude, this is a real strategy battle. If you lose the Flame Champion, or Harmonia captures the Brass Castle space, you lose. You can arrange your units by talking to Caesar. Note: Whenever units are listed in a strategy battle, the Flame Champion listed will be Geddoe, so adjust your units accordingly if Hugo or Chris takes that role. Unit 1 will always be the Flame Champion. Here is the formation I used for this battle, and this works regardless of Flame Champion. Unit 1 – Leader: Geddoe Bazba Fubar Percival Geddoe (Joker) Unit 2 – Leader: Hugo Shiba Sgt. Joe Ace Hugo (Caesar) Unit 3 – Leader: Chris Leo Queen Roland Chris (Salome) Unit 4 – Leader: Lucia Fred Jacques Borus Lucia (Apple) Unit 5 – Leader: Dupa (blank) Dupa (blank) (blank) (Beechum) You are up against 7 Harmonian units. A few of them have named soldiers: Sasarai leads Unit 1, Dios leads Unit 2, Yuber Unit 3, and Albert Unit 4. Of these, Sasarai, Dios, and Albert are in support and their unit cannot be defeated until all enemies in the unit are defeated. The Flame Champion will have one FireRune to use, and whomever has the True Lightning Rune will have one LightningRune. Use these wisely, especially against Yuber, who can be a beast. Your Flame Champion should normally avoid battle if you can help it, as when the Flame Champion dies, the game is over. However, with this one, it is not so much an issue, as you will need all of your attacking units for a Major Victory. This battle, like Chisha village, should be fought defensively: use the fortifications of Brass Castle to reduce damage. Plus, the Brass Castle space can heal your units at the beginning of every turn. Hugo and Lucia’s units are all about offense, Chris is also offensive, but she has the special mission of eliminating Yuber, and Leo can take the damage. Yuber should be targeted with the LightningRune; the FireRune too if you can help it. Only use Dupa to mop up the survivors, like if a unit retreats and has only one wounded soldier left. Yuber is the biggest threat here, but don’t neglect Sasarai. He has two LightningRunes in support, and he can be pretty nasty with those. Plus, he’s not in the battle itself, so he can’t just get rushed. The enemies chief and only strategist is Albert, who can control 8 units at once (8 max, enemies only have 7). Once Albert is gone, the enemy can only move 3. Your chief strategist is Caesar Silverburg, Albert’s brother, who controls 7 units a turn. The other three you have are Salome (6 units), Lucia (5 units), and Apple (5 units). This battle ends when Caesar’s allies show up, or if all enemies are defeated. Mua will lead Unit 6, Hallec Unit 7, and Thomas Unit 8. You don’t control them, and the remaining Harmonians will flee when they show up. After everything is done, Lilly will show up with Reed and Samus in tow in Unit 9. The prize for a Major Victory (defeating all enemies) is a Silver Shield, which works rather well for Fred. Chapter 4 – Sarah’s stalling tactic Boss Hit Points Sarah: 1,100 Chimera: 800 Ghost Armor: 1,000 Recommended Party If Chris or Geddoe is Flame Champion Chris/Geddoe Percival/Sgt. Joe/Beechum Futch Bright Fred/Cecile/Leo/Mua Big Viki If a character has a slash between them, take the character that has lower levels (Exception: Chris or Geddoe, then you have no choice in the matter. The reason is because during Chapter 5, you’ll want many different characters to be as leveled up as possible.) This battle is not too hard; the goal is to eliminate Sarah, or all of her units. There’s no time limit, but the quicker you beat her, the less chance she has to cast a devastating spell. Viki can cast the Open Gate spell to thin out Sarah’s support, but I’ve never seen the spell kill the sorceress herself. Futch/Bright should attack Sarah, and they will probably wipe her out quickly with their quick attacks. Geddoe can cast Final Flame if you are using him, but don’t try casting it with Chris. Percival or whomever is subbing for him is the healer. If Hugo is Flame Champion Hugo Fubar Fred/Cecile/Leo/Mua Big Viki Dupa/Shiba/Bazba Percival/Sgt. Joe/Beechum Same tactics, Viki with Pale Gate, only Hugo is taking the place of Futch. Not too hard, especially with Hugo’s high speed. Chapter 4 – Explosion of Ice Boss Hit Points Water Dragon: 9,000 Ice Pillar: 2,500 Recommended Party If Chris or Geddoe is Flame Champion Chris/Geddoe Salome Ace/Edge Big Viki Reed/Samus Jacques/Roland If Hugo is Flame Champion Borus Hugo Queen/Reed Big Viki Leo/Fred/Cecile/Mua Percival/Salome/Sgt. Joe/Beechum This battle can be either really nasty or really easy, but to make it easy, follow one simple step: Have Big Viki cast Open Gate to wipe out the pillars, and with a little luck all of them will die. If one or two are left, Queen, Roland, or Reed can cast Funeral Wind to take care of it too. The Flame Champion’s unit should attack; but Geddoe can cast Final Flame (Hugo too if he has equipment bulking his Fire Magic), Chris shouldn’t touch magic, use power. The rest are pretty much straight offense, just attack the dragon. The pillars revive over time, the dragon revives them, but with Wind magic users and Viki, they can be killed easily. Chapter 5 – Deadly Trap at Le Buque Boss Hit Points: Luc: 1,200 Sarah: 1,100 Recommended Party Jacques Geddoe Ace Joker Queen Aila Another battle at the altar of the Flame Champion. Don’t be deceived by the bosses hit points, they can be especially nasty mothers, dishing it out like it’s no tomorrow. If Geddoe is the Flame Champion, he should cast Final Flame on Sarah. If he’s not, cast Thunder Storm. Ace should have a Thunder Rune and should cast Thunder Storm as well (if he's trained, he may not be trained if Geddoe kept the True Lightning Rune, in that case, Joker should cast Final Flame on Sarah), while Queen should cast The Shredding; or, if Aila has a Mother Earth Rune, cast Earthquake. Against these wizards, the point is to blitz them before they can cast spells. You don’t need to win this battle, but the experience will help later on. You’ll also gain a Wind Magic Ring, great to benefit Queen’s high magic. Chapter 5 – “Such a tasteless present” Boss Hit Points Ghost Armor: 1,200 Salamander: 1,800 Mirage: 370 Recommended Party Jacques Geddoe Ace Joker Queen Aila Well, Luc has left a present that no one likes, but he didn’t give you a receipt for the return, so you must endure it. You fight round after round of enemies, and after each one, you are given the chance to run away. Do not, no matter what, as you will lose out on 7 Stars of Destiny permanently, a few of which are good. Aila is on healing duty with Great Blessing, while Geddoe, Ace, Jacques, and Queen are fighting. You won’t have the True Rune, unfortunately, but Geddoe should be fine without it, as you still have the rest of the mercenaries. These battles aren’t hard, just fight until Duke’s unit shows up. Chapter 5 – Yumi? Boss Hit Points Sarah – 1,100 Azzodess – 800 Recommended Party Chris Reed/Samus ` Fred/Cecile Lilly Borus (If Chris is Flame Champion: Beechum), otherwise: Sharon/Sanae/Emily Sarah impersonates Yumi? She won’t get away with this. If Chris is Flame Champion, she goes on offense with Fred’s group while Beechum lays down a Silent Lake preventing Sarah’s spells. If Chris is not Flame Champion, she will do this herself with the True Water Rune while Borus goes on offense. With Silent Lake on the field, the Azzodess’s cannot cast Thunder Storm, and Sarah becomes a pushover. Chapter 5 – Why the hell do the Harmonians keep coming? Boss Hit Points Harmonian Soldier: 600 Recommended Party Hugo Fubar Lucia Sgt. Joe Dupa/Shiba/Bazba Sharon/Sanae/Emily Yes, the Harmonians are coming. You fight wave after wave of them, and for some reason, which will be explained in the game, they keep coming despite the fact that you wail the crap out of them. This is mainly to help Hugo’s low levels; these battles are really easy. You must take Sgt. Joe, so he’s on healing, or Sanae can double with a Shield Rune if you take her, but you shouldn’t need it. Fight until Luc gets there. Chapter 5 – Strategy Battle: Unexpected Allies You will fight this battle after Hugo loses the True Rune (now you will have none), and Chris returns with Alma Kinan. Talk to Caesar to adjust your units. You won’t have the ability to use a few characters, but they will come soon enough. Here are my listings. Unit 1: Leader – Hugo Fubar Sgt. Joe Edge Hugo (Caesar) Unit 2: Leader – Chris Borus Percival Roland Chris (Salome) Unit 3: Leader – Lucia Leo Franz Ruby Lucia (Mio) Unit 4: Leader – Dupa Shiba Dupa Bazba Yumi (Yuiri) Unit 5: Leader – Lilly Fred Reed Samus Lilly (Estella) Unit 6: Leader – Duke Nicolas Elaine Gau Duke (Jeane) Unit 7: Leader – Futch Bright Sharon Emily Futch (Tuta) Unit 8: (Cannot change men in unit) Leader – Apple Zexen Knight Zexen Infantry Zexen Infantry Zexen Infantry (Apple) Unit 9: (Cannot change men in unit) Leader – Thomas Cecile Karayan Fighter Karayan Fighter Thomas (no support) Unit 10: (Cannot change men in unit) Leader – Geddoe Geddoe Ace Queen Jacques (Joker) Unit 11: (Cannot change men in unit) Leader – Sasarai Harmonian Soldier Harmonian Soldier Harmonian Soldier Sasarai (Dios) As you can see, my line-ups for these units are mainly storyVIP. StoryVIP mode, for the most part, creates effective pairings. The optional characters must simply be placed accordingly. This battle is fought at Brass Castle, and the goal is to defeat Yuber’s unit. You start with your first seven units. Soon after this, Caesar’s reinforcements will arrive in the form of Apple’s unit and Thomas’s unit. Thomas’s unit can be effective if Thomas and Cecile are leveled up, but if they aren’t, keep them out of battle. Apple’s Zexen Unit is mostly for providing Cover. After this turn, Yuber will mention that with Luc gone, he can’t summon any more monsters, then Geddoe’s unit will appear from the bottom. You can use his unit to create a sandwich on the enemies, and knock them out quickly. Following this turn, Sasarai’s unit will show up as an enemy in the top right, but the unit will not move. The turn after that, Sasarai declares that Luc has betrayed Harmonia, and that he will join the Fire Bringer. Sasarai’s unit will be placed under your control. Yuber is invincible until Sasarai crosses over to your side. Once he does, let him have it with Duke’s LightningRunes. As for your units, Lucia and Chris are the main offensive powerhouses in the beginning. Chris has Borus and her Heavy Damage, and Lucia has the speed and power of herself and Franz, plus Leo’s tanking ability. Hugo can also attack, but be careful with Edge. Geddoe’s unit, when they show up, also has a lot of power, especially if Queen equipped a Blue Ribbon to protect her hit points. Futch and Lilly are in charge of mopping up, but they can also be powerful: Emily and Lilly can Heavy Damage, and Bright, Lilly, and Reed can deliver two attacks (Emily many more). Don’t send Thomas into battle if Cecile and he are not leveled, and don’t send out Sasarai and Apple, use them for cover only. If Yuber attacks before you’re ready, just retreat; use Mio and Tuta’s healing. You can use one LightningRune on Yuber before Sasarai joins (Yuber doesn’t go below half health), and I find that when Yuber is weaker, you have a higher chance of retreating without him attacking. When you retreat, make sure you pull units back to space adjoining Yuber’s on your turn, so he can’t move forward. Chapter 5 – Finally, the Fire Bringer goes on the offensive… This is the last strategy battle you fight, so go all out on the formations. Train up all the characters that can fight in these wars, even if you don’t plan on using them for offense, as you may need to pull another unit up to cover. Here are my units... Unit 1 – Leader: Geddoe Ace Queen Jacques Geddoe (Joker) Unit 2 – Leader: Hugo Fubar Sgt. Joe Edge Hugo (Caesar) Unit 3 – Leader: Chris Borus Roland Percival Chris (Salome) Unit 4 – Leader: Thomas Cecile Big Viki Emily Thomas (Apple) Unit 5 – Leader: Lucia Leo Franz Ruby Lucia (Mio) Unit 6 – Leader: Dupa Shiba Dupa Bazba Yumi (Yuiri) Unit 7 – Leader: Lilly Fred Reed Samus Lilly (Estella) Unit 8 – Leader: Sasarai Mua Hallec Augustine Sasarai (Beechum) Unit 9 – Leader: Duke Nicolas Elaine Gau Duke (Jeane) Unit 10 – Leader: Futch Bright Sharon Sanae Y Futch (Tuta) With friends like these, you’d think your enemies wouldn’t stand a chance. Well, they’ll put up a fight at least. Your enemies consist of your three main enemies: Luc, Yuber, and Sarah, and the goal is to take out Yuber. Luc will summon units to defend himself, but Sarah will have Harmonian Soldier units accompanying her (Any unit Luc summons will have the mark of the True Wind Rune; Sarah’s will be illusionary units such as Zexens or Harmonians, and they will be marked by their respective symbols.) Luc will disappear after the beginning of the third round, and he will not move otherwise. He has 3 WindRunes, but he’ll never get close enough to you to use them. When you destroy five groups of enemies, Sarah will summon some Zexen units. Destroy a few more units, and she gets angry and summon some Lizard Clan warriors. Keep killing a bunch of units, and then Sarah will summon some Karaya fighters, but get exhausted. Her unit will then disappear, leaving all the summoned units on the battlefield Yuber’s unit is the one you need to destroy to win, but destroying Sarah’s will give you an advantage. When Sarah’s unit is destroyed as a result of battle, all the units she summons disappear with her. Her units include the nasty Harmonian soldier units. So, it’s not necessary to take her out, but the battle will be in your favor if you do. Your main offensive units are Geddoe, Lucia, Hugo, and Chris, with Lilly, Duke, and Futch backing them up. It’s best to have the characters in those units leveled up to about 53-55 level. Duke’s party, Franz, and Ruby probably already start at that level, and Geddoe’s group probably got that high with Mt. Senai. Stick to the three spaces in front of the beginning, and divide your units between the two fronts: left and right. Yuber can typically come from the right, while Sarah, if she comes down, comes from the left. Put a few strong units on each front: I like to put Hugo, Chris, Dupa, Duke, and Sasarai on the left front, while Geddoe, Lucia, Lilly, Futch, and Thomas take the right front. Against RockGolem enemies, Lucia, Duke, and Geddoe work well, against GhostArmor, send Hugo (or any of the previous. If you like living dangerously, try Lilly). BoneSoldiers are fodder units, and Lilly or Futch can wipe them out easy. The Siren unit can give a problem, but if you leveled up the lizards, Dupa’s unit can kill a Chimera in one turn really easily. Sarah can cast WaterRune and LightningRune, so be careful about what units you leave damaged on the battlefield, as Sarah can and will heal them. The best way to take out Yuber is to use Sasarai and Duke to cast two LightningRunes, then Lilly use her FireRune, then attack with whoever is left. By then, Yuber can be taken out in one swing. I prefer to use the Flame Champion’s unit, just because it seems fitting, but you don’t have to. Chapter 5 – The True Lightning Rune is mine Boss Hit Points Yuber: 4,500 Skeleton: 750 Hellsteed: 1,700 Recommended Party Borus Geddoe/Hugo Emily Yumi Reed Beechum This is what it comes down to: Destroying Yuber and all of his cronies. This party can do some serious damage here. Geddoe/Hugo should have a Thunder Rune and cast Thunder Storm, Yumi should cast Earthquake, and Reed should have a Cyclone Rune and cast Shining Wind. This will wipe out all the skeletons and possibly the Hellsteed. Next turn, Beechum should heal who needs healing (Beechum should have a Flowing Rune in case you need Mother Ocean). Geddoe/Hugo should cast another Thunder Storm if he can. If he can’t Geddoe should cast Furious Blow while Hugo attacks. Emily should attack and finish off the Hellsteed, and, if you don’t need healing, Reed and Beechum should take the offensive to Yuber. Be wary of the Eight-Devil Rune, as it can be nasty with Yuber’s high strength. He can only do it once, but it's still nasty. Equip Sacrifical Jizos. Level you characters up to Level 55-ish, and this guy should go down pretty easy. Default Party Battle If Hugo or Chris is the FC Jacques Geddoe Ace Joker Queen Aila (Jeane) Yuber has 3 bone skeletons and a Hellsteed backing him up. Yuber is one of the most destructive forces in the game, with insane heavy damage, accuracy, and swing skills. On your side, you have a group of drunks and Little Miss Cheerleader. Good luck... Yuber is incredibly powerful physically, hard to hit and quick to counter. Luckily, your units are all either good mages, distance fighters, or both. Geddoe and Ace should both have trained up lightning magic and Thunder runes, Joker should have a Rage and a Flowing Rune for emergencies, Queen should have a Cyclone Rune, and Aila can hold on to her Shield rune and an Earth rune. Have Geddoe and Ace clear out the rabble with a pair of Thunder Storms, and Aila should cast Clay Guardian. Against someone like Yuber, 15%-reduced damage can mean life or death. Afterward, only Yuber is left alive, so pound him with your most powerful spells, Geddoe casting Furious Blow (or another Thunder Storm, if he can), Joker casting Final Flame, and Queen casting Shining Wind. Ace should have the HP and repel to stand up to Yuber, and Queen and Joker has decent enough repel and speed to get out of a Yuber combo before it kills them. If Queen dies often, equip a Blue Ribbon on her. You can also use Mercenary B on Yuber for some style points. With this team, Yuber is not difficult. If Geddoe is FC Hugo Fubar Fred Sgt. Joe Dupa Lucia (Ernie or Iku) Young Hugo, do you think you can challenge the very incarnation of chaos? Well, you're going to have to in order to get back the True Lightning Rune. Yuber is like a souped-up version of Hugo...He's fast, accurate, and has multiple swings. However, it's 6 on 1, after you take out his skeleton soldiers and hellhorse. Have Hugo attack that horse first turn, while Fred and Sgt attack to move into position. With Lucia and Dupa, use their unite attack to obliterate the enemies, as well as hit Yuber for some good unavoidable damage. Watch Yuber in this battle. He always looks towards his next target. If the target is not Fred or Hugo, have them defend. Fred will attack anyway, and since Hugo is mounted, you'll survive whatever Yuber can dish out. Sgt. Joe's your healer, and if Lucia has a rage rune, have her use Final Flame on Yuber. Show him what you're made of, Grasslander boy. Chapter 5 – “Get out the way, I’m reclaiming the True Water Rune” Boss Hit Points Sarah: 3,200 Horror Beast: 1,900 Azzodess: 950 Recommended Party Chris/Hugo Salome Fred Franz Futch Yuiri (Jeane) With the right characters and runes, namely, Salome with a Flowing Rune and Jeane in support, Sarah will fall easily. Salome should cast Silent Lake; while Fred combines with Futch and Franz to do the Adonis unite. This attack is extremely strong and the only drawback is that Sarah is berserked, but even when she’s berserk, Sarah does crap physical damage. Either Yuiri or Salome, preferably Salome, should have a Yellow Scarf to protect against silence. Chris just attacks the first thing she sees, and after the unite, Fred’s team and Futch’s team should as well. Healing, since spells are silenced, should be done with items: Salome, Franz, and Yuiri will be in charge for their pairs. The dangerous people in this group are not Sarah, but the Azzodesses. Take them out as soon as you can. Default Party If Hugo or Geddoe is FC Chris Roland Borus Percival Leo Salome (Jeane) Note: Since Louis is, in effect, a support character, I don't really count him as party of the battle. But if you want the extra scene when going to the Water Rune; take him, then go back to Apple and switch him out. Or you can keep him in...to make it harder. You have a melee party against a powerful mage. Percival and Salome should have Flowing runes so they can Silent Lake Sarah, rendering her and her Thunderstorm-ing Azzodesses next to harmless. Those two knights should also have a Yellow Scarf equipped to prevent from their silencing 'summoning' attack. Roland optionally can have a Cyclone Rune. First round into it, have Percival can Silent Lake, Salome cast Battle Oath, and Roland cast The Shredding. Since you have Jeane, the Silent Lake will go off before Sarah or the Azzodess can cast a spell. Hopefully, one or both of them will have tried to cast Thunder Storm, wasting a turn. Next turn, each character should attack, and Borus and Percival can use their unite attack against Sarah, because she can evade quite quickly. Kill Sarah and the Azzodesses, it shouldn't take more than four turns. If it does, have Percival or Salome drop another Silent Lake. If Chris is FC Hugo Fubar Dupa Lucia Emily Sgt. Joe (Jeane) Shouldn't be too bad. Hugo on Fubar does amazing physical damage. Have the Sergeant lay down a Silent Lake, and Lucia and Dupa can do their clan chief unite. Then, keep attacking until every opponent is gone. The secret to this battle is to kill the Azzodesses first. With their 'summon' attack, where the gate opens and the thing flies around, they are the highest damage dealers after the blue-flaming monsters directly in front of you. Leave Sarah for last. If you take too long, cast Silent Lake again. Chapter 5 – Guardians of Dharma; the orderly cosmos Boss Hit Points Guardian: 300 Recommended Party Geddoe/Hugo/Chris – Whoever is Flame Champion This battle is really easy; it’s just a simple part of the story before dealing with Luc. Regardless of Flame Champion, just use the Blazing Wall from the True Fire Rune to wipe all three Guardians out both times. Your Flame Champion does not need Lvl 1 spells in the final battle, and even Chris can cast them quickly enough to take out the guardians without taking a hit. Chapter 5 – Incarnation of Wind Rune Boss Hit Points WindRIncar – 11,000 WaterRune – 4,000 EarthRune – 3,500 FireRune – 3,000 LightningRune – 3,000 Alright, this is the final battle. Equip all high-level medicines, high-level armor, and train up skills, especially Magic Resistance. If the character doesn’t reach a high magic resistance or have the good stat, don’t bother taking them; they’ll just get in the way Recommended Party – Here’s what a final party should support... Flame Champion Great Healer with Flowing or Shield Rune (Good Candidates: Percival, Salome, Beechum, Lucia, Joker, Aila) Lightning Wizard with Thunder Rune (Good Candidates: Ace, Franz, Futch, Edge, Elaine) Someone with decent Wind Magic and a Cyclone Rune for Shining Wind (Good Candidates: Queen, Yuiri, Reed, Roland) Strong character with Heavy Damage (or something equivalent that can attack and dish out physical damage,. Also, make sure they have a high MDEF (Good Candidates: Lilly, Queen and Yuiri if you don’t use them in spot 4, Jacques and Yumi with Sharpshoot) Backup Healer who can fight (Other healers I’ve mentioned) Support: Jeane – This is a magical battle, Rune Sage will be the most helpful. Arrangement with some of those examples Geddoe Percival Lilly Franz Lucia Queen If the Flame Champion is Geddoe, be careful. He has the ability to really dish out the hurt with Hellfire, but you run the risk of the others getting hit. Stick with Final Flame on the Water Crystal. Franz should cast Thunder Storm, while Lucia targets the Lightning Crystal. The crystals cast spells like the True Runes do. The Water Crystal casts Mother Ocean and Heavenly Drops; the Lightning casts Furious Blow, Thunder Storm, and Hammer of Raijin; The Fire Crystal casts Final Flame and Hellfire. The Earth Crystal is unique, as it casts Earthquake, but it also casts a protective spell that surrounds your enemies with pylons and imposes a picture of the True Earth Rune. When this happens, don’t cast any offensive magic, as the spell will be absorbed and reflected back on your party for massive damage. Take out the Water Crystal first, as once it’s gone, the thing can’t cast Mother Ocean and the crystals, when destroyed, will stay dead. You’ll have to hack your way through the Lightning Crystal for your melee parties to reach it. Use Final Flame for your Flame Champion (If Lucia has a Rage Rune, use that first turn). The second turn, if the protective spell was not cast, follow these instructions. Lucia should heal with Kindness Rain, or, if you’ve bulked up her Wind Magic skill, Queen might be able to get away with Shining Wind to heal and attack. (It needs to be high though…) Franz should cast Furious Blow on the Water Crystal, while Geddoe’s uses a Final Flame. The Water Crystal should collapse, and the Lightning probably will as well. You’ve got some breathing room. Take out the Fire Crystal next, as Hellfire can seriously hurt. Once it’s gone, the Earth Crystal awaits. Percival and Lucia still heal with Kindness Rain, Percy as the main healer. If the protective spell is cast, the only spells you cast are healing spells (minus Shining Wind). Stay on physical offense. Use items if you run out of healing, but you shouldn’t need them. If you cast Guardian Earth, the protection spell will be removed without effect, it's the only safe way to remove it. Note: You can use the other True Rune bearers in this battle. I don't like to, and I don't recommend it, it takes all the fun out of this battle. However, you can if you like, or if you're having a real hard time of the battle. Storyline Battles Geddoe- Geddoe's team was built for the final battle, as they play well off of each other and between themselves can accomplish a lot. Although Hugo's team could be considered a bit easier, that's because Hugo only needs three characters to accomplish this, and two are a mounted pair. There are two ways to do this battle: The short, riskier way, and the longer, safer way Short way formation Geddoe Queen Ace Joker Jacques Aila (Jefferson) Short way: Attach Violence Runes to everyone minus Aila, and an additional Double-Strike Rune on Geddoe and Joker. Start by attacking the Lightning crystal, with the archers focused on the Rincar. The Lightning Crystal should not be able to take all of that, and it will be destroyed. The next turn, use Mercenary B on the RIncar if you have Violence status. Violence status occurs when any character has lost half health. Merc B with all characters Violenced should do an obsence amount of damage. Combined with the attack on the RIncar that the archers (and any one who attacked after the LightningCrystal was destroyed) should do it in. If not, attack next turn, focus on the RIncar Long Way formation Geddoe Jacques Ace Joker Queen Aila (Jeane) Long Way: A magical battle is here. Geddoe should cast Hellfire, Ace should cast Thunder Storm, and Queen should cast The Shredding. Next turn, have Geddoe and Joker pair up with Final Flames on the Water Crystal, while Aila either heals with Great Blessing (if needed), or have her cast Canopy Defense for shielding. Once the Water Crystal is destroyed, go for the Lightning Crystal, then the Fire. Once those three are gone, it's all a matter of attacking and outlasting. Joker should be trained in Water Magic and Fire Magic both, and should have a pair of Rage and Flowing Runes. Flowing is for Kindness Rain only, Aila is on secondary healing; she heals until Joker finishes his Final Flames. Chris- Formation Chris Roland Leo Salome Borus Percival (Louis) Chris's team is probably the most difficult, espeically if Louis is in support. If one has high quality medicines equipped, Silent Lake should render the crystals useless and the RIncar only able to attack with one weaker attack. First turn Roland should cast The Shredding, Salome casts Battle Oath, and Percival lays down the Silent Lake. Bulk up Percy's Water Magic skill so it moves quickly. After that, it's an attacking game; take out the Lightning crystal to reach the RIncar, and the Water Crystal to prevent revival once Silent Lake wears off. After that, it's like Geddoe's team, only Salome is the lead healer and Percy is on backup Hugo- Hugo only requires himself, Fubar, and Sgt. Joe. The other three can be whomever one pleases. Here is a team that could decidely be a "Hugo" team... Hugo Fubar Lilly Sgt. Joe Reed Samus (Jeane) Now, Hugo's team isn't abysmal with the MDEF like Leo and Borus, but don't get cocky, the entire party has lower hit points except Reed. Hugo/Fubar should always attack. Lilly is on offense while Sgt. Joe is the healer. Reed should have a Cyclone Rune to cast Shining Wind, if needed. Samus can go any which way, but a Mother Earth Rune for Canopy Defense should help (just make sure to bulk his grade a little. I believe Sasarai starts with an EarthMagicRing Samus can borrow.) IV.) Updates August 16, 2004 - Updated a few rankings, and added the storyline boss fights for the RIncar V.) Legal documentation and Thanks The Suikoden series and all affiliated parties are copyrights of Konami. This FAQ is copyrighted by Matt620. It may be used as long as it is properly cited as my work. Thanks go to... -Suikosource.com, and one of it's writers who provided some input on characters that I do not typically use. Thank you, KoRnholio. All boss hit points numbers were taken from Suikosource's boss guide. -BlindTelescope, for the default party battles and other varied and throuough input -NeoElfBoy, for providing input on characters that are not typically used by me. Not to mention for being the most serious debater on the Suikoden III boards that's the con to my pro. -Heroic Luc and TenkoStar17, for the support and agreeing to help look over the FAQ.