In-Depth: Combo Magic is flashy, but useless

[wataru14]

I've been thinking about combination spells recently, and I came to realize that there really is no point in using any of the combo spells (except for one) unless you want to see the flashy extra spell animations. Here are my figures as to why:

Let's say we have two mages in the party with equal MGC stats. For this evalutaion we'll say it's Luc and Crowley with MGC stats of 200 each. Based on the Magic Damage formula of base spell damage + [MGC/2], here are the expected damage results of each level 4 spell (damage calculations assume no elemental strength/weakness):

Earth: Earthquake - 800 to all
Mother Earth: Guardian of the Earth - 0 (spell doesn't do anything)
Fire: Explosion - 800 to all
Rage: Final Flame - 1000 to all
Lightning: Ball of Lightning - 1100 to one
Thunder: Thunder God - 1000 to all
Water: Rain of Kindness - heal party
Flowing: Mother Ocean - full heal party
Wind: Storm - 600 to all
Cyclone: Shining Wind - 600 to all plus heal party

Now, here is a look at the combo spell vs. casting the two component spells separately:

Earth + Fire
Combo Spell: 1400 to all
Earth + Fire = 1600 to all
Earth + Rage = 1800 to all
Mother Earth + Fire = 800 to all
Mother Earth + Rage = 1000 to all

Using the Earth Rune with either partner results in less damage than using the component spells individually. Using the Mother Earth Rune, you'd be better off using Earthquake as a Level 3 spell instead (in which case damage would be the same as the Earth Rune combos). You could say it's OK since the Mother Earth Rune has nothing to use it's Level 4 MP on, so they'd still be getting some bang out of it if they were out of Level 3 MP, but that's far too situational.

Fire + Lighting
Combo Spell: 1600 to all
Fire + Lightning: 1900 to one, 800 to all others
Fire + Thunder: 1800 to all
Rage + Lightning: 2100 to one, 1000 to all others
Rage + Thunder: 2000 to all

No contest. The component spells do more damage separately than they do together.

Lightning + Water
Combo Spell: 2100 to one plus full heal party
Lightning + Water: 1100 to one plus heal party
Lightning + Flowing: 1100 to one plus full heal party
Thunder: Water: 1000 to all plus heal party
Thunder + Flowing: 1000 to all plus full heal party

This is the only one that's worth it, but only against bosses. The damage output is better than any other spell or combo against a single target. Essentially you are getting double your bang on the Lightning half of the spell, while the Water half does what it always does. Against random encounters it's a big waste of MP, though.

Water + Wind
Combo Spell: 900 to all plus heal party
Water/Flowing + Wind/Cyclone: 600 to all plus heal party

This one has an increase in damage output over the components (simply because Water doesn't have an attack spell), but you're wasting a lot of MP for redundant healing here. The combo is better than its components, yes, but there are better things you could be doing with your Rune Slots than this.

Wind + Earth
Combo Spell: 1100 to all
Wind + Earth: 1400 to all
Wind + Mother Earth: 600 to all
Cyclone + Earth: 1400 to all plus heal party
Cyclone + Mother Earth: 600 to all plus heal party

See Earth + Fire above. The Mother Earth caster is better off casting Earthquake as a Level 3 spell in all cases.

[KFCrispy]

yes combo magic isn't always the best, but you're actually forced to cast combo magic if you're using complementary elements' level 4 spells! it's unnecessary effort to try to "optimize" your spell usage by purposely not casting spells that will unite, so just enjoy the fireworks when they happen

in Suikoden II, the runes are generally gimped, making the unite spells a little more valuable. the biggest gain is using Water/Flowing in a combo, because it's the only way to achieve a full party revive/heal. In Suikoden 1, this is still a great benefit if you are using Water Rune and a character is dead, but otherwise the Water/Flowing level 4 spells in Suikoden I are way too good.

a minor benefit is that the unite magic uses the faster caster's speed, so any magician who is typically too slow to cast anything before the enemy hits you benefits slightly from this effect.

[sticky-runes]

Doesn't the damage also diminish greatly when you use spell combos against the final boss, because of each heads immunity against certain elements? I usually avoid combining magic in the final battle.

[wataru14]

Each head is immune to one element. One to Fire, one to Lightning, and one to Wind. So no combination spell will be able to deal full damage.

[KFCrispy]

the Mother Earth Rune is the best choice against the final boss due to the immunitiies to the other offensive runes; and in this game, even Viktor gets a decent number of level 3 spells so he can drop rocks all over it.

[BrucePrintscreen]

Thanks wataru! I got the feeling it was the case and rarely ever used combo magic but now thanks to you we have an in-depth analysis to support that claim