Hero 6's Job Class...

[ninjaluc79]

I agree... I would say they are of a different dimension.

How should I put it, like FF5's Bare with all the class boosts...

[eldrasidar]

Actually, historical, until the advent of accurate firearms, most successful and celebrated generals were comfortable leading from the front lines. Then again, until the advent of accurate firearms, becoming a successful general meant you had already survived several campaigns on the frontlines, so by the time you were leading an army, you were probably one of the better skilled soldiers in in the army. Most high ranking officers who didn't get their rank in this manner simply didn't last long. Since Suikoden is a world where there aren't a lot of accurate long ranged weapons, then most leaders reach their high rank the hard way, and that is pretty much how all the Tenkai stars have risen up, as well as the majority of in game leaders, like Barbarossa, with Hikusaak being the only real exception to this.

With the exception of Thomas, every Tenkai star has also fit this model. Now, the Tenkai star could be a Mage Knight, and I'd actually argue that most of them fit that role more or less right now. So if you're suggested I'd like to play a hero like I have in all the other Suikodens, then my answer is yes. There isn't a single suikoden where the main character is not asked to go on outrageously dangerous missions. the majority of mages are great for support casting, launching fireballs from a far and what not, but they really don't want to go on dangerous missions that could very likely kill them. That's not the kind of mage character that has been presented thus far in Suikoden.

the technical problem with a mage, is that Suikoden is a fairly light magic game system. A high level mage in final fantasy works because they can cast well over 100 spells before resting. in Suikoden, 27 is a lot, most characters never get more than 17. to have the main char be based in magic use is fairly tricky then, and would probably lessen the importance of Suikoden 6's Chizen Star, who is normally the strongest mage, but can't compete with a Tenkai using a True Rune at high level, without also having a true rune, which would just be broken. The other issue, is that Magic is currently far more limited than Fighting. All one can do to boost magic damage is raise their skill level, and equip a wizard rune(which doesn't give extra magic slots, and not available in suikoden 5), but even the best mage caps at around 3000 damage, meanwhile with all the combat skills, Fury, Warrior, Double Strike, Killer, and so on, it's pretty easy to get physical damage to go over 7000. To make a main char be based on magic, you'd really want to flip those figures around, which is pretty drastic changing. if you're not going to do that, then you might as well just stick with a Mage Knight, someone who has above average magic and physical skills, balancing extremes like Georg, or Zerase. Besides, a mage knight is a more uniting presence, since he has synergy with far more types of characters than a mage or a knight would.

[ninjaluc79]

Then how about this:

I have always liked the idea of a young student of some Magician Academy whose hometown was ravaged by a foreign army led by a ruthless general or king. Then he may or may not have an initial encounter with that general or king but if he does, he will lose at first due to his inexperience with swords. So he realizes that his learning in the mage academy is not enough to defeat this general/king. So he gets taught by a master swordsman from a resistance army against the enemy kingdom the art of the sword.

While in swordsman training, he became the next bearer of the True Wind Rune previously owned by Luc. Then the other TR bearers from the previous Suikodens will help him fight the enemy. He learns swordsmanship easily, masters the use of the True Rune, and combines these with his previous magician training to defeat the opposing army and bring peace to his land once again. He will be known as the great hero of his land, but then wanders off somewhere to live the rest of his life bound by the curse of agelessness.

[KFCrispy]

the Suikoden V rock-paper-scissors dueling system would allow any character to work. damage was not determined by stats, just the attack type.

[Antimatzist]

the Suikoden V rock-paper-scissors dueling system would allow any character to work. damage was not determined by stats, just the attack type.

Gameplaywise yes, but I guess most people in this thread were talking about real background. Mages aren't well trained in physical combat, so they would stand little chance against a real fighter. On the other hand, duels don't really representhe background so well... the best duel was maybe Pahn vs Teo, because that was a hard one.

@topic: Actually, every weapon could work somehow, it's just that close combat weapons are often just cool. To me, the most important thing would be that the weapon represents the hero's background.

[Nikisaur]

I had this theory about the Tenkai's only using blunt weapons, but 3 and 4 kind of go against that so nvm. I like the idea of the weapon being a part of the character's background, like how Genkaku trained Nanami and Riou with blunt weapons. Or how Lazlo was a knight, so it makes sense for him to have a bladed weapon, but not just a normal sword.

I think that's why I was disappointed in Tierkreis how you could change their weapons. I think their fighting style is part of who they are as a character.

As for Suikoden 6's hero... I don't really mind as long as it fits and isn't just a boring sword ^.^

[Antimatzist]

Or how Lazlo was a knight, so it makes sense for him to have a bladed weapon, but not just a normal sword.

I think this made very little sense. He used a Sword as a knight, but then after that two short swords? Were they his own? I mean all other knights were using normal swords...

[Nikisaur]

Well, it made sense, seeing as he was the main character and needed to be a bit different from everyone else. He was also exiled from Knighthood, and left behind the single sword style of the knights behind. Having a non-bladed weapon would be really out of character, but I think dual swords kinda makes sense for these reasons.

[ninjaluc79]

Well, yeah, sort of. Some of history's greatest generals and soldiers change weapons from time to time, and archers from historically known armies are known as excellent weapon specialists, i.e., they can wield any weapon with ease.

Look at Killey and Lorelai. In S1, Lorelai used a bow; in S2, an axe; and in S5, a whip. In S5, Killey used a ranged weapon, and then a melee weapon by S2.