Suikoden Tactics (PS2) Character Analysis

By DarthMordechai

Contents

1) Introduction
 1a) History
 1b) Copyrights
2) The Characters
 2a) Template
 2b) The Whole Shebang
3) Support Characters
4) Credits
5) Contact
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1) Introduction

Suikoden Tactics came out over two years ago now (at the time of writing)
for the PS2 and it was generally held as a solid and enjoyable Tactical RPG that
carried on the story from Suikoden IV. Many characters came back from IV to
help expand what we already knew, and it answered many questions that was left
at the end of Suikoden IV

Now, thanks to the ability of looking at video games and then writing the
results down on internet forums, we've managed to nail down a general analysis
for the many characters in the game. Although the game has roughly the 
characters of a normal Suikoden, but that still gives you over 50 of them. Some
people can get a bit lost having to choose between them all, and that's where 
this guide comes in

Let me get this out now - none of the characters are useless. Sure, I'll be
calling them useless, but they're only useless in comparison to the superior
characters. You'll be able to finish the game well enough by using a team that
consists of mostly " the worse" characters. But if you want to use the best 
characters and get the best out of them, then read on and I'll tell you what you
want to know

Also a warning - there will be spoilers about certain characters you can recruit
so please bear that in mind as you read

1a) History
25-02-2008 I started this FAQ, slavering away in my basement for days on end
08-03-2008 Finished and uploaded for your viewing pleasure

1b) Copyright

Copyrights are boring, but they're serious business. You know the drill people.
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed 
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web
site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a 
violation of copyright. Unless you ask me first, then who knows!

2) The Characters

There are a few basic steps as to why each character is where, the criteria 
being how quickly you can recruit them, their base stats and their ability to 
equip certain pieces of equipment, most notably the Hand of God, Ogre Breath, 
Ogre Mail and Master's Vest. The first three pieces of equipment raise attack, 
with Hand of God being better than Ogre Breath. Ogre Mail raises attack, and 
Master's Vest prevents Unbalance, which allows you to use some of the more 
powerful runes without having to miss the next turn

2a) Template

It's all gonna look like this:

Name: What the characters are called in alphabetical order
Element: Their base element affinity. Each element has it's benefits and
drawbacks, and you want to keep your teams to 2/3 elements if possible. There
are equipment available which can change a characters element
Class: Their class affects what runes they can equip, as well as how to
calculate damage and things like how many attacks they get in a full combo
Killable: If they run out of HP during battle characters that are killable can
possibly die. This sucks, so watch out for these characters if you're using
them
Hand of God: Whether or not they can equip the Hand of God
Ogre Breath: Whether or not they can equip the Ogre Breath
Ogre Mail: Whether or not they can equip the Ogre Mail
Master's Vest: Whether or not they can equip the Master's Vest
Kangacorn: Whether or not a character can mount a kangacorn. Kangacorns boost
defence and move, but number of attacks in a combo are reduced to one
Great Owl: Whether a character can mount a great owl. Great Owls boost speed and
move, as well as letting them fly over great heights and gaps characters usually
can't make it across. Again, amount of attacks in combos are reduced to one

2b) The Whole Shebang
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Akaghi
Element: Fire
Class: Claw
Killable: No
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

The ninja with Paul Phoenix hair is sadly nowhere near as awesome as Paul 
Phoenix. But there's not many people who can actually say they are. Regardless,
here is Akaghi and boy howdy does he try hard for you to like him! Perhaps too
hard? Good HP and alright strength coupled with decent evade and speed makes a
character you would like to use if only there weren't so many people better than
him. He can use Hand of God too, but it's still not good enough to push him
ahead of other, more worthy characters. Incredibly usable, but simply pales in
comparison to others
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Ameria
Element: Wind
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

As I'm writing this, I have Beck playing. The song is Where It's At, and I
really like this song, and other pieces of work that Beck has done. He is also
the only one of my music loves which I haven't saw live yet, and I'm hoping I
can correct that within the next year or so. Other music loves are Queens of the
Stone Age, who at the time of writing I am seeing a week tomorrow, and Gogol
Bordello who I am seeing at the end of this month. There, me talking about what
music I like is far more interesting than me talking about Ameria, who is
so average that I'm fairly sure she doesn't exist

Seriously, One Handed Sword Users are pretty poor. Not as strong as other
classes, they also get dumped with a terrible Viper Rune and to round things off
every single one of them is killable. There are one or two good ones, but by and
large they're just going to be fodder for your army
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Andarc
Element: Lightning
Class: Mage
Killable: No
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

I hate Andarc. Let me get this out the way now so I can unbiased when it comes
down to it. I really hate this guy. He's too nerdy for my liking, a pushover who
gets bullied by Seneca most of the time and he's too gormless to realise whats
going on half the time. I'd be amazed if this idiot can even tie his own shoe
laces

Now that's out the way...awwww, he's actually a pretty decent mage. How
dissapointing. He's physically stronger than the other mages, if you feel like
using physical attacks with mages and he has good HP for a mage. Decent speed
and defence, good magic, several talks with people and a decent combo with
Seneca and an awkward one with Kyril and Seneca. I wish I could put him lower
on the list out of spite, but it's just not to be. You win this round Nerdy
McNerdface!
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Axel
Element: Earth
Class: Great Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

very High HP and attack, average to poor in everything else. Not even the Hand 
of God could make this guy any better, even if it was literally God's Hand that
possesed him. Great Sword users are not very good characters in this game, as
they are far too slow to be worthwhile. There are loads of them in the game too
and you're just going to have to roll past my "Great Sword - they suck" analysis
a few more times
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Blue Mercenary
Element: Lightning
Class: Spear
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

Shouldn't the mercenary who is blue be a water element character? I'm onto you
colours! Apart from that, he's awesome because he uses a spear and there's not
enough spear users in the game (spears are awesome) he's pretty good because he 
has good strength, he's pretty bad because you get him so late in the game, and 
he's rubbish because the rest of his stats suck. There are other better spear
users, and since this guy is one of the last people you'll get in the entire
game there's no real justification to using him
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Busk
Element: Fire
Class: Spear
Killable: No
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

What the hell Busk!? What the hell! Above average HP, quite good strength, and
absolute garbage with everything else. I have no idea why he was nuked so badly
but he is pretty much terrible. Use at your own risk, or at the risk of others
with his horrific portrait too. He has to have one of the ugliest portrait and 
worst character combo in any Suikoden game ever, and I'm counting Roy and Freed
Y in this too. You get him really late too and I'm sure the Suiko-Gods are all
laughing at this guy. Hell, I'm laughing at him right now
********************************************************************************
Corselia
Element: Water
Class: Mage
Killable: No
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Our first good character now, and she's also the first plot important character 
on the list. Despite the fact she can use the Hand of God, you really don't want
to put it on her as she will never be attacking anything. Come on, she's a 
mage! One of her runes will be a Wizard to make her even stronger, and the other
two are up to you. Make sure you level her magic skill up with whatever you're 
going to use. What makes Corselia the best mage is the fact she has insane evade
and this makes her more durable than the other mages. You can see her getting 
attacked from behind and she'll still move out the way. Of course, if your mages
are being attacked you're doing something wrong, but it's still there in case 
something bad happens. She also gets the very handy Extra Move skill pushing her
even higher above the other mages. You get her about halfway through the game, 
and you can't say no to the plot important characters, can you?
********************************************************************************
Champo
Element: Earth
Class: Claw
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Champo? More like Chumpo. I really dislike the Nay-Kobolds, although that is
more Chiepoo's fault than this guy. Sadly, discrimiantion works this way so I'm
obliged to hate this guy too. As you'd come to expect at this point, his stats
are pretty average with pretty good speed and being able to use Hand of God is
another bonus. But do you really want a glorified furry in your team? No, I
didn't think so. DM out!
********************************************************************************
Coop
Element: Water
Class: Great Sword
Killable: No
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

What can I say about Coop? He's very good for a Great Sword user, which is like
saying he's very active for the coma that he's currently in. Above average HP, 
very good attack and thats about it. You'd think his defence would be quite high
but it's very average too. His speed is absolutely terrible which is paramount 
to being useless in this game. He's the best of a very bad bunch, and I really 
reccomend you skipping Great Sword users unless you love seeing guys with 
weapons twice as large as them being left behind while your better people run 
ahead and kill everything in sight
********************************************************************************
Charlemagne
Element: Earth
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Charlemagne is the epitome of average. When I called other characters average, 
they at least had a few stats above average. Not this guy. Every single one of 
his stats are either on the average, or below average. I'd try and describe how 
much I hate this guy, but words are failing me at his utter blandness. His
portrait is horrible, his class is horrible, his friends are horrible (he likes
the other chump Reinbach) everything about him demands my hatred. Do not use as
punishable by eternal damnation
********************************************************************************
Dario
Element: Earth
Class: Axe
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

There are only two recruitable axe users in this game, and you get them both at
the same time. So, I can only compare them against each other, and Dario is
nowhere near the same level as Nalleo. Nalleo does everything his dad can, and
he does it so much better. He's even a better element, as so many useful
characters are wind and not many are earth. You could easily use Dario and be
happy with the results, but Nalleo just plain wipes the floor with him. The
biggest insult comes from Nalleo having nearly double Dario's speed. There is
just no real reason to use Dario with his son there, superior in every way
********************************************************************************
Eugene
Element:Water
Class: Spear
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

This guy is the start of tanks. War generals would look at Eugene and say to 
themselves "Of course! We take something that is indestructable and then throw 
loads of guns on top of it!" Eugene is a very very useful character to have, and
thats also taking into consideration the fact he's a coward. His beauty comes 
from his Firefly rune - no, it's not a rune about a cancelled TV show. It draws 
in enemies towards him instead of other characters. I don't get how it works,
but thats not the point. The point is most of the enemies will go straight for
Eugene in fights, ignoring the others unless they are in range and Eugene isn't.
But Darth, I hear you cry, Eugene is killable and that is bad!

Well alright I can't hear you, but I'm going to answer anyways. Eugene cannot
die. I'm serious. Slap a decent piece of armour on him, and his naturally high
defence and HP will soak everything up, not to mention his demonic evade means
he won't be getting hit often anyways. His poor speed can be corrected by making
him mount a kangacorn which will also boost his defence even more. He's not the
strongest, but because he gives you so much tactical options he's highly rated
in my books
********************************************************************************
Flare
Element: Water
Class: Archer
Killable: No
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: Yes

Our first archer comes now. She's a lesser Frederica if you want to be outright
with her, since she can't use the Hand of God. You do get her a lot earlier, and
she has a decent combo with Corselia. Flare is a very usable character that 
although may not be as good as Frederica, she has a better natural element and 
you'll be getting more use out of her too. Put her on an owl and you'll be able
to snipe most enemies quite happily without fear of repraisal. Outshined by 
Frederica eventually, but she is still very handy for how early you get her
********************************************************************************
Frederica
Element: Earth
Class: Archer
Killable: No
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: Yes

Our next archer of the list comes up now, and very good she is too. Fast and
with decent attack, coupled with Hand of God and an owl she'll be even faster
and stronger. It's a bit silly that she is unkillable, since she's in two
cutscenes the entire game, but this is just another one of her positives. 
Because she's an archer she'll have good range on her attacks, and there's no
reason for her to not be on an owl. Just remember not to level up her Battle
Lust if she's riding an owl, as it's pretty useless. You also get her quite near
the end of the game, so take that into consideration
********************************************************************************
Gretchen
Element: Earth
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

Average. Mediocre. Boring. Gretchen is all of these things, and there's many 
more yet to come who are part of this group. Hopefully, the word "average" will 
have lost as much meaning for you as it has for me after writing all of this out
,that is my only hope for you the reader
********************************************************************************
Hero IV
Element: Wind
Class: Dual Sword
Killable: No
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Right at the top of the pile is Hero IV, and deservedly so. He gets a lot of
attacks if you level up Battle Lust, has very good stats all around, and has
many talks and combos with people, including Kyril, Kika, Snowe and many others.
What makes him the best by far, however, is his rune. Yes, the Rune of
Punishment makes its return here, and it's overpowered to hell and back.

His level one spell damages one enemy, and when you level Punishment Magic
skill up it acts instantly nearly 100% of the time. It's range is very large too
so it's a good way of weakening enemies from a distance without putting him to
close for repraisal. His level two spell hits a 3x3 square of enemies up to
eight times, and this too casts very quickly and can be very powerful. If there
is only one enemy in the square then that will take all of the hits, more than
likely killing it unless your Hero IV is weak. His level three spell instant
kills most enemies, but not bosses or large enemies like golems or dragons. His
level four spell is a bit slow, but it has a massive area of effect, hits 
anything in the area for big damage and heals anyone of your party in the area 
as well. You won't get many uses for it, but it's a good trump card

Throw a Wizard Rune on him, level up his Punishment Magic and he'll be a 
human nuke for you. Anything that gets close to him can also be attacked for 
quite a bit of damage too, and he gets so many turns and lots of goodwill 
partners. I could swoon on about him like a deranged stalker, or we can just 
agree that he is all kinds of awesome and deserves the #1 spot here

HE'S THE BEST! AROUND! NTOHING'S EVER GONNA KEEP HIM DOWN!
********************************************************************************
Hervey
Element: Fire
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

Above average HP, good attack and strength, and average everything else. He's 
also a one handed swordsman, and I've already established they aren't very good.
What more do you want from me? I really can't see anyone picking him over a
useful one handed swordsman like Snowe or Millay, but he isn't really that bad,
he just isn't exactly that good either
********************************************************************************
Jeane
Element: Lightning
Class: Mage
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

If you listen carefully as you read this you can hear the tears of the fanboy
falling to the floor. Jeane is not very good in this game.  Her magic is really
high, but her speed is really low. The only way she'll be able to cast anything
is if the enemy come close to her, and she's going to be dead if that happens.
I would like to say she is good...but she really isn't. At least her fanboys
can take solace in the fact she isn't the worst mage in the game, not by a long
shot
********************************************************************************
Jeremy
Element: Lightning
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

As far as one handed swordsmen go, you could do worse than Jeremy. As far as one
handed swordsmen go you can also do so much better. I'm fairly sure the word
"average" will become redundant by now, but it's all downhill from here. Bad
magic defence and speed pretty much nails him in the "Not going to be used"
category despite alright HP and strength
********************************************************************************
Jewel
Element: Water
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

Good attack and evade, average everything else. There really is nothing to say
about her. You recruit her kinda late in the game too, which makes her even more
boring. I'm racking my brain trying to think of something to say here, but I got
nothing
********************************************************************************
Karl
Element: Lightning
Class: Fist
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

That's some damn impressive speed and HP he has going on there. He's also pretty
damn strong, which is another positive. Bad defence and evade means he'll be
getting hit often and for lots, as well as a pathetic magic defence makes big
negatives. Poor magic, skill and luck round him off pretty badly. Lalacle is
miles better than this bare chested moustache sporting chump. If this is your
first playthrough I'd really ignore fist users altogether and wait until
Lalacle becomes available before you start using them
********************************************************************************
Katarina
Element: Fire
Class: Mage
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

For a mage, her magic is pretty low. I have no idea how that happened, but there
you are. Below average speed also hampers her, although she has pretty decent HP
for a mage. Sadly, she too loses some uses due to how stupid the AI is with
her when you try to reruit her. What is a good idea for a mage to do when in
battle? I know! I'LL CHARGE AHEAD AND LET EVERYTHING MASSACRE ME BEFORE I KNOW
WHAT HIT ME! HOW CAN THAT POSSIBLY GO WRONG!?
********************************************************************************
Kate
Element: Lightning
Class: Knife
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: No

For a supposed ninja master I was expecting so much more from Kate. Take one
Sigurd, make him completely average and then make him recruitable near the end
of the game. There, you just described Kate. Above average evade and speed can't
help her, and anyone who uses Kate over Sigurd is losing out. Sigurd-lite would
normally be a compliment, but in this case it's more of an insult. Her Element
is even pretty bad, as there aren't really many good lightning element people
worth using
********************************************************************************
Keneth
Element: Lightning
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

What is it with Knights of Razril, One Handed Swordspeople and being painfully
average? I don't know, but get used to it as we're going to be seeing another
load of them before I stop writing. There really is nothing remarkable about
Keneth except for the fact I keep spelling his name with two N's but he only has
one N in his name. Wait, scratch that, it isn't remarkable at all
********************************************************************************
Kika
Element: Wind
Class: Dual Sword
Killable: No
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

The pirate queen with the tramp stamp just misses out on my love after reigning
supreme in Suikoden IV. Her high evade makes up for her average defence and low
HP, she's pretty speedy so she'll be getting plenty of turns and her weapons 
means her combos get more hits, making her quite strong. Her Falcon rune has 
been toned down significantly from Suikoden IV, but it's still very powerful in 
this game. I'd ignore her level 1 rune though, and her level 3 rune causes
unbalance as well as massive damage to the enemy, and since she cannot wear
the Master's Vest you need to watch out for that. You get her very early, she's
unkillable, has talks with Kyril, HeroIV, Sigurd, Nalleo and the other pirates
as well as a very good combo with HeroIV. All of this adds up to her being a
very good character to use and you get her handed to you early on. Ignore the
tramp stamp, she is someone worth using
********************************************************************************
Kyril
Element: Fire
Class: Weird Double Bladed Thing
Killable: No
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Our protagonist heads up the Pretty Umpressive group. He has his own class due 
to his weapon, and apart from good attack HP and skill he's incredibly average.
His rune doesn't become fully powered until near the end of the game, and he can
not kill fishmen until then either, so his use is limited against those enemy 
types.However, you're forced to use him more often than not so it's probably for
the best that you use him enough to be decently levelled, or else the last few
battles are going to drive you insane. You may as well use him, because he's the
main dude and all, but that doesn't make him as impressive as other characters
********************************************************************************
Lalacle
Element: Water
Class: Fist
Killable: No
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Lalacle is up now and she has one of the highest attacks when fully sharpened. 
How you sharpen a fist is beyond me, but it sounds painful. Not nearly as 
painful as the pain Lalacle brings to the table. Good speed means she'll be 
getting plenty of turns, high HP means she won't be getting killed by much. 
You'll also be recruiting her very early on in the game. The downside is that 
she's only recruitable in New Game + so you can just ignore this entry if you're
on your first playthrough. Just remember to use her in New Game + as she is 
awesome
********************************************************************************
Lino En Kuldes
Element: Fire
Class: Spear
Killable: No
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

The King has left the building! Well, if only then I wouldn't have to write
about him so much. High attack is held back by a poor weapon, but his HP is very
tasty. His speed is nonexistant, and you recruit him right at the very end of 
the game. If you want to use a spearman with Hand of God, why not Reinhold? 
That spearman who is actually good and you got him ages ago too? Yeah, I thought
you'd agree with me
********************************************************************************
Maxine
Element: Fire
Class: Mage
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Another member of DM's Love family, and it's a chick. Surprised!? Maxine is 
still sort of under debate as to deserving this spot, as she isn't as good as 
Corselia and it's up in the air about if she's better than the other mages. I 
like Maxine especially in this game, you get her very early, and she isn't 
Andarc. Seriously, what other reasons do you need for her? A little frail, but 
then again she is a mage, her magic is very good, but then again she is a mage.
She also gets a combo with Jeane and Roget, and she has some weird talks with
Jeane too, but even if you don't use those two Maxine is still a very viable
option when it comes to mages that you can get a lot out of
********************************************************************************
Mercenary Leader
Element: Water
Class: Mage
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

What's up with all these mages being able to use Hand of God? Regardless, this
is a good mage with her main asset being her very high speed. Her magic is also
high, and above average evade rounds her off nicely. You will be focusing more
on her speed though, as this pushes her ahead of the other mages. Her main
drawback comes from the fact you recruit her so late, but if you put the effort
into her she'll be a very useful mage in the end game segment
********************************************************************************
Millay
Element: Fire
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

A One Handed Swordsman who is actually good!? Be still my beating heart! She
is an auto recruit quite early on and handy while you slowly build your 
characters up. Being able to mount both kangacorns and Great Owls makes her 
even faster, and  she is naturally strong as it is. The Viper Rune is sadly 
terrible, so don't bother putting that on Millay. A kangacorn or great owl rune
would be good for her as well as some power boosting runes to really get the 
pain flowing
********************************************************************************
Mitsuba
Element: N/A
Class: Great Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

A Great Sword user who I actually have something to say about shocker! She may
fit into the clichéd high HP and attack, low everything else mold of other
Great Sword users, but she brings something else to the table. Her Chameleon
Rune which you can't take off changes her element depending on what element day
it is. So if it's Fire Day she'll be fire element and so on. This can be a help
or a hinderance depending on your team setup, but it probably won't matter much
anyways since Mitsuba is pretty bad in this game and so you really won't be
using her at all. Mitsuba is another character I liked in IV but cannot like
here due to her being worthless, and that breaks my heart
********************************************************************************
Mizuki
Element: Water
Class: Claw
Killable: No
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Her evade and speed are through the roof. Just a shame when something does hit
her it'll cripple her due to terrible defence. She isn't that strong either, so
the last of the ninja three is in fact the worst one. I really liked Mizuki in
Suikoden IV too, so it pains me to say these horrible things about her. However
she deserves it for being a bit dump in this game
********************************************************************************
Nalkul
Element: Fire
Class: Claw
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Whaaa!? He's a carbon copy of Akaghi except weaker physically, a little faster
and with higher evade. Oh, and this chump is killable, making him slightly worse
than Akaghi. And like I mentioned with Champo - this guy is begging to be
accepted into the furry community. You won't be able to respect yourself if you
use him, so save yourself the bother and just don't use him
********************************************************************************
Nalleo
Element: Wind
Class: Axe
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

I was quite surprised with how good Nalleo is in this game. High HP and attack,
decent speed, goodwill partners that are useful and a combo with his dad. Being
able to use Hand of God alongside his already impressive attack means that he'll
be tearing things apart like they're nothing. Average defence and evade means he
can be in trouble if surrounded, but when it comes down to one on one battles
Nalleo will nearly always come out on top. Very very good character
********************************************************************************
Ornela
Element: Lightning
Class: Spear
Killable: No
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

Another character recruited right at the end of the game that holds her back. If
it wasn't for the late recruitment she'd be a lot higher. Her stats are pretty
good, with good strength, skill and especially speed. She's on par with Rachel,
losing out because Rachel is recruited far earlier, and loses out to Reinhold
with Hand of God for damage. A shame, but thats how this cookie crumbles
********************************************************************************
Pablo
Element: Earth
Class: Mage
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Pablo is a really surprising mage, since he has quite high HP. He's even more
surprising once you realise his magic stat is terrible for a mage and by far and
away the worst mage in the game. You get him quite early, but you also get
Maxine then too and she's so much better than Pablo that you're a fool if you
use him
********************************************************************************
Paula
Element: Wind
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

I swear to God if I have to call another one handed swordperson average I will
kill myself and anyone around me. Oh guess what, she is incredibly and painfully
average! Better get the old 12 gauge out and get to work
********************************************************************************
Rachel
Element: Fire
Class: Spear
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

Above average speed, decent enough attack and average HP. What makes her this
high is the fact you can get her early, thus getting more use out of her in the
game. Being able to mount both creatures is another benefit, and she can easily
hold her own in just about any situation. If you want to use a spear user that
isn't going to be spending most of the time tanking then Rachel is a good choice
********************************************************************************
Red Mercenary
Element: Fire
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

And now we see another merc, the mercenary that is red. Above average HP and
strength as you would expect. Poor evade hurts him however, not nearly as much
as his late recruitment. By the time you get around to recruiting him you should
have recruited every other character in the game. At least the leader had some
merit to using her because of her speed, this guy just sucks
********************************************************************************
Reinbach
Element: Fire
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Look at this scrub, thinking he's too good for any good equipment. Decent
skill and evade with above average magic, and everything else is average. Just
because his hat is awesome (it is) doesn't make him a good character. That is
reserved for Killey, who actually is awesome beneath the hat too. Just look at
him - you know he thinks he's better than you. He's the K-Fed of the Suikoden
world and that's why you'll never use him
********************************************************************************
Reinhold
Element: Fire
Class: Spear
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

Man, that's a lot of yes' there. However, most of his stats are around average,
some pushing above and some pushing below. He's completely unremarkable once you
get over his ability to use the best equipment and mount creatures. You get him
after Rachel too, and you'll have gotten better people than him in general by
the time you recruit him. He's still light years better than his partner though.
If you must use a spear user then he's probably the best for damage with Hand of
God
********************************************************************************
Rita
Element: Lightning
Class: Hammer
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

First thing to note is her class. She doesn't fit in with any other class, as
her weapon is pretty unique. well, I say unique - it's a giant hammer. If you
like pretending school girls with annoying voices are Thor then you'll love
Rita. She is the first character who is completely average in all fields, or at
least I could say that if her luck wasn't so high. She also has the benefit of
being the first person you can recruit in a non New Game + playthrough, so many
people think she is useful early on. She loses usefulness as you get better
characters, but she is still very handy early on in the game. She also drops
a few places because you need her to recruit Ugetsu OH GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE!?
********************************************************************************
Roget
Element: Wind
Class: Mage
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

It's pretty funny that he only becomes killable once he joins you. His magic
is lower than Simeons, but Roget has much better speed, and he gets a few talks
with people who are actually good. He also gets better HP than Simeon in case 
you love getting your mages attacked. So it's a toss up - if you want higher 
magic go with Simeon, or if you want more HP and speed go with Roget. If you 
want actually good mages then go with Corselia, Maxine, Mercenary Leader or even
Andarc
********************************************************************************
Selma
Element: Wind
Class: Great Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

High HP and attack, low everything else. She doesn't even get Hand of God, so
even Axel kicks her ass. Man, that must really suck for her. You also get her
kinda late, which makes her even worse. Just forget about her, your life will be
just as fulfilled and enriched without her
********************************************************************************
Seneca
Element: Wind
Class: Archer
Killable: No
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Fast, strong, good HP. Seneca makes a very useful archer, but her inability to
use Owls puts her behind Flare and her lack of Hand of God pushes her behind
Frederica. She is tied heavily to plot and you get her right at the start, so
she has that going for her, and she also has several talks with people for
goodwill. You already get two archers through the story that are better than her
but she's still a decent choice to have in your party
********************************************************************************
Sigurd
Element: Water
Class: Knife
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: No

Moving up from painfully average in Suikoden IV to painfully painful in Tactics,
Sigurd grabs the #2 slot. The only thing that is going against him is his 
average speed, but even that isn't so bad. His knives are ranged wapons, and 
if you equip the Eagle Rune on him his range will triple. He'll only be able to
make one shot with it, but that shot will be powerful. His defence is 
surprisingly good, and he has excellent magic defence too so the fact he's 
killable won't matter so much. With the Hand of God, Sigurd is deadly 
especially if you use some attack boosting runes. Sigurd is a long ranger 
anyways, so he shouldn't be anywhere near the enemies to get attacked anyways. 
He has a few goodwill talks with decent characters like Kika and Nalleo, you can
recruit him quite early as well and he'll be difficult to kick out once you get 
him
********************************************************************************
Simeon
Element: Water
Class: Mage
Killable: No
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Good magic and magic defence. Incredibly average everywhere else, except when it
comes to physical stats where he just blows. You get better mages sooner than
Simeon, and the only reason I'd use him is because the noise he makes when he
casts magic cracks me. I have no idea why, but there's a reccomendation you
probably weren't expecting
********************************************************************************
Snowe
Element: Water
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

I really like Snowe. He was my favourite in Suikoden IV and I still like him
here. He gets plenty of HP as he levels up, although he always starts at level
one and is incredibly frail until he gets a few levels under him. What really
pushes Snowe ahead though is his amazing speed - he's naturally faster than just
about everything. That said, his poor luck means you won't be getting many
criticals off of him, and to be fair One Handed Swordsmen aren't very good here.
However, if you want to lead the charge with Hero IV and want someone there to
back him up, then Snowe is your man. They also have a decent combo together
if that's your thing
********************************************************************************
Tal
Element: Earth
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: Yes
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: Yes
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

...Welp. Ok, stay positive, we can get through this without resorting to weeping
pathetically. Well alright, you're already crying, but it's not that bad. Look,
his HP is quite high, and look at that strength! That's impressive, right? Come
on, stop crying...so his other stats are all pretty bland, is that such a
problem? Hand of God, thats good, right? Right!? Please stop crying :(
********************************************************************************
Trishtan
Element: Earth
Class: One Handed Sword
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
OGre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: Yes
Great Owl: Yes

I'm sure this list is just mocking me at this point. At least this guy mixes it
up a bit by having really high HP and good defence. He sucks at everything else
though, so at least I don't have to call him average this time. I've saw so many
One Handed Swordsman here I'd say I'm going to end up dreaming about them, but
that could be taken the wrong way so I won't be saying that at all
********************************************************************************
Wendel
Element: Water
Class: Claw
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: No
Ogre Mail: No
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

Very good speed, evade and magic (which is a bit surprising considering Wendel
isn't a mage) and thats about it. Wendel can't equip any of the good equipment,
mount any of the creatures and will be remembered for nothing except the
confusion in gender because of a translation flubb in Suikoden IV
********************************************************************************
Yellow Mercenary
Element: Earth
Class: Archer
Killable: Yes
Hand of God: No
Ogre Breath: Yes
Ogre Mail: Yes
Master's Vest: No
Kangacorn: No
Great Owl: No

There really is little to say here. His stats are all incredibly average, there
are other archers who are far superior to this guy and you don't get them right
at the end of the game either. Who would want to be Earth element anyways? It's
like the Gods themselves hate this guy and cursed him to mediocrity
********************************************************************************
3) Support Units

Now you may be asking yourself where the support units are. They're characters
too, aren't they? Well, yes but that doesn't make them useful. Most of them can
be ignored and you'll be just fine. In fact, the only one I'd ever use is Rene,
who you need to use to dig up artifacts in the Obel Ruins as well as some good
equipment. Noah's steal can also be useful, although you have to get within
hitting distance for you to be able to steal, and that is too dangerous

Besides, why would you want to take up your limited number of characters per
stage with someone who cannot even attack? Even some of the worser characters
will be better than the support characters. If you really must use them then by
all means, go ahead, but I'm not going to rate them considering I don't rate 
them at all

4) Credits

- First of all I'd like to thank me, since I'm pretty awesome. Thanks a lot me!
- Big thanks go to rpgfreakazoid for starting the topic on the boards which
eventually spawned this FAQ right here after months of work being put in, and
just for being an awesome jerk in general
- More big thanks go to KFCrispy, since his level 50 chart he made was a big
help in making my job a lot easier as well as constant input in the topic on the
board and for not being wrong about anything
- Kudos go to Konami for making Suikoden games fun for all to enjoy
- Thanks to GameFAQs for being there when it matters the most
- And thanks to you for reading this far. You should have stopped a few
paragraphs ago, but I still appreciate it

5) Contact

Comment? Disagree with what I say here? Praise? Fan mail? Death threat? Don't
worry, I'll accept them all! My email address is gitsandshiggles@hotmail.co.uk
and be sure to label your emails as "Suikoden Tactics Tier List" or I might
think you're someone important and just delete your email without reading it