[Discussion] Member Recommended Parties with Reasoning

[eilie_nigel]

well, for me, my best party was when I used Riou, Shiro, Flik, Viktor, Stallion and Eilie. Stallion is pretty useful because of his speed. I attached a resurrection rune to him. Then water runes to Eilie. Well, as for Viktor, I attached fury and double beat on him and double beat on Shiro as well. Just don't know if you guys would like that too

[Black Fang]

Shiro I can somewhat understand as he is a powerhouse, but as a monster is a complete waste in the fact that he cannot equip stat enhancing accessories.

Instead of Eilie, you'd be better off using Luc, Mazus, Tengaar or Rina as a healer as all of them have way better magic stats. (I think Eilie's water affinity is pretty crap too).

Stallion in my opinion becomes USELESS towards the end of the game. Speed really doesn't mean much at the end (especially after you 99 all your characeters or at least your party). The only exceptions would be Tankers such as Viktor but they are acceptable as you can always give em a speed ring or three as well as a master garb (not sure if Vik can have one of these but you get the point).

Not using Tir is just wrong and should be considered a crime!!!

[Red Killey]

Black Fang, if you want to make suggestion to other people's party setup, try to make improvement on the setup itself and not on who to use (unless the poster asked for alternate characters to use). So for eilie_nigel's case, try to give suggestion on his party setup. Something like maybe it's better to make Eilie a pure fighter instead of making her a healer instead of suggesting to replace her with Mazus, Luc, etc.

This thread isn't meant to find the ultimate best party ever, but more like giving reasons why you use certain party. If you feel that the party isn't as efficient as it could be, then you could suggest alternate setup that would make the party better than the original setup.

I'll comment on your party, Black Fang. The one that is most obvious is that you need to replace the Lightning Rune with Thunder Rune because Thunder is just more powerful than Lightning and there is no reason to not attach Thunder Rune instead of Lightning.

Attaching Flowing Runes to the weapons seem to be quite questionable as well. It heals 15 HP per turn if I'm not mistaken, but 15 HP isn't really that much at all. Most likely, you only need to heal during boss fights, but you already have Riou (with Bright Shield) and Luc (with Flowing and Cyclone Rune) as possible healers that would make the Flowing Rune on weapons seem to be useless.

Last but not least, the accessories. It's a small matter, but you mentioned Luc and Mazus to be equipped with 3 Magic Rings. Then at the end of your post, you said that you fixed Mazus' speed by equipping a few Speed Rings. I just think that you should clarify on which accessories you really used because you can't equip 3 Magic Rings and few Speed Rings at the same time on Mazus.

Overally, I think your party is a very good and efficient one. But to be honest, I'm not too keen on bringing two pure magicians. If the party isn't at level 99, they might find some difficulties in defeating normal enemies in 1 turn if they come up in 6 monsters (unless you want to spend MPs).

[Black Fang]

Fair enough. Just thought I'd give advice for better suiting character but guess thats aite. Eilie is better used as a fighter/fire user, where as Rina is better with water affinity if he wants a healer(me thinks).

As for my party, Thunder Rune!!! I mixed the two up but yeah. Thunder Runes on everyone. Personally my favourite (asides from true runes) as it absolutelly carves up bosses.

Attaching Flowing Runes to Weapons might not seem like much but, I don't use Runes for healing that much (nor do I use items), thus 15HP a turn is good enough to keep the character at max HP in case they do get hit every now and again. I put Friendship and Kindness to boost up attack and sometimes down or sleep runes on Viktor or Flik but asides from those there really aren't any more decent weapon runes. Rage and Thunder are definatelly good but I hate fighting elementaly immune monsters with them so I hardly ever use them. Guess weapon runes are really more suited to play style rather than having strongest -> weakest.

I use Luc as a pure magician because he is there for ATTACK, not to heal, same with Riou, aside from his final two spells for the obvious reasons.

As for accessories, basically it depends on the way the character levels up. I generally end up giving Mazus 3 magic rings to make him a complete magic powerhouse, but if his speed stat didn't level up as it should I replace a magic ring or two with a speed ring. Same goes with Viktor. Basically it all depends how well your characters develop. If you find that even the slowest of your characters goes before the fastest of enemies then clearly putting on any more speed rings is a waste.

As for two pure magicians hehe, either trust me on this one or try it out yourself. You can always give this set-up a shot and see what I mean. If I decide to spend MP (usually lvl2), I clear out 6 monsters in one go and if I don't want to use MP Luc and Mazus sit it out. Thing is with 4 GREAT fighters, ALL with a double-beat and a major boost in tech points, well you get the picture. Those four alone wipe the floor with just about anything. Most of the time the Flik doesn't even get a turn (I beef up Viks speed a LOT), meaning he is just a back-up. This is on auto, not to mention that a lot of the time the fastest fighters end up taking out 3 to 4 guys in a turn. To top it off I've always got the two-leader unite to clean out as well so yeah. Good set up and I boost them to lvl 99 all the time, every time, even though I use them anyways from the moment I get Mazus.

[Red Killey]

Unless your party is really strong, I doubt that 15 HP healing would be enough to keep them at max HP all the time. Obviously not against the bosses which you would use healing spells anyway. And if you're talking about the normal battles, I usually use the "I-have-too-many-of-them" medicine bundles for healing after the battle. So yeah, IMO, Flowing Rune on WPN seems to be a waste.

If you're looking for a good WPN rune, I would consider Exertion as the best one (excluding Kindness Rune trick that is). It gradually adds up your ATK up to x2. So it's useful on the fighters like Viktor way more than the Down or Sleep Rune because bosses are immune to status attack. If you don't like Rage/Thunder Rune on weapons because of their elemental factor, attaching M.Earth Rune would be a good idea to boost the MDEF stat because most bosses would use magic attacks.

Thing is with 4 GREAT fighters, ALL with a double-beat and a major boost in tech points, well you get the picture.

3. Flik - Fury, Lightening (Knockdown)

Your Flik doesn't have Double Beat Rune attached on him.

This is on auto, not to mention that a lot of the time the fastest fighters end up taking out 3 to 4 guys in a turn. To top it off I've always got the two-leader unite to clean out as well so yeah.

You can't use the Tir-Riou unite if you use the "auto" command. And if you're going to use their unite, it would be a waste to attach Double Beat Runes on them because the rune would be in effect if they do the normal attack instead of the unite.

[Ginzo]

My favourite formation is

-Pesmerga(along with the fury rune doing at least 500 damage each turn)
but I also sometimes switch him with vector(lvl 16 star ragon sword with 170 attack power)

- Flik ( using thunder and flowing )
- Camus ( Rage and Mother Earth)
- Hero (- Darkness or Thunder- and Bright Shield and - Rage or flowing-)

Now here is a turn over with the last two members:

Condition : Nanami is still alive

Formation A : condition is true
- Nanami with water and wind runes
- Luc with cyclone and Flowing rune

Formation B : condition is false

- Luc with Flowing and Cyclone and Mother Earth
- Khan with Resurrection and Mother Earth (or darkness) Runes

Analysis:

As you can see I'm combining both strong attacks with strong Magic

My all time favourite is Formation B, it gives me the feeling that each one of my party has his/her own unique peronalty and statics
And I just MUST have all the rune combos there and ready for my signal
so I don't have to waste two charecter's turns just for one combo .

My basic attackers are Flik, Camus, and Riou
Luc would be the healer( considering his magic res) but when he is not healing he does great damage with eartquake

Pesmerga is just guarding riou with his armor ( yet doing great damage when needed)

and when I'm in a hurry I just use Khan's lvl 1 darkness to eleminate foes
and then I would attack with him to restore those used spells (magic drain)

So.... what do you think??

[Black Fang]

attaching M.Earth Rune would be a good idea to boost the MDEF stat because most bosses would use magic attacks.

I find mother earth just as useful as Flowing actually. The only really GOOD weapon runes are Exertion and Friendship.

Your Flik doesn't have Double Beat Rune attached on him.

True. My bad, but as I said though he hardly ever gets a go due to insane party Tech. I did forget to mention that all 4 have fury for an awesome tech/strenght combo.

You can't use the Tir-Riou unite if you use the "auto" command. And if you're going to use their unite, it would be a waste to attach Double Beat Runes on them because the rune would be in effect if they do the normal attack instead of the unite.

I know. I hardly ever use the unite as they kill all on Auto. When I said "to top it off" I was just sayin that it was another open OPTION, not that I use it much though.

- Flik ( using thunder and flowing )
- Camus ( Rage and Mother Earth)
- Hero (- Darkness or Thunder- and Bright Shield and - Rage or flowing-)

I'd look into the rune affinity guide if I was you. It does make a difference, especially when an E affinity character uses a rune compared to an A affinity one.

And I just MUST have all the rune combos there and ready for my signal so I don't have to waste two charecter's turns just for one combo .

Like I said in mine, I just give the 5 elementals to Luc and Mazus for major MGC damage and combinations (you get to see the names of most or all of the unites), as it leaves other members rune slots free, and you get the added bonus of Luc and Mazus having A affinity with all elemental runes as well as the best MGC in the entire game.

Seems like a decent party, just a lil slow for my liking, especially with a lack in power. I think you're serriously underestimating support runes. If you use Flik, Camus and Riou as attackers, give em fury and/or double beat (or even killer) runes and watch them do way more than 500 dmg (dependent on your level).

Pesonaly I think if you have to heal often, it ain't a good party, mind you, your party could be very good indeed if you use the right accessories and level them up to 99. I still think some runes need switching around though.

Try it out and see what you think.

[Ginzo]

Seems like a decent party, just a lil slow for my liking, especially with a lack in power. I think you're serriously underestimating support runes. If you use Flik, Camus and Riou as attackers, give em fury and/or double beat (or even killer) runes and watch them do way more than 500 dmg (dependent on your level).

Point taken. But I did say that I often have Pesmerga with fury.
but since you often can't get more than two killer runes in the game I don't really depend on them (except for George maybe).

Pesonaly I think if you have to heal often, it ain't a good party, mind you, your party could be very good indeed if you use the right accessories and level them up to 99. I still think some runes need switching around though.

Try it out and see what you think.

actually I only need to heal after defeating the Beast Rune ! so healing isn't very much my concern,and that is why I don't prefer direct attacks using support runes .ie,because no matter how good they are they can't inflict that much damage as runes(unless of course if you launch a critical attack each time!) and that just results in expanding the time of each battle causing you more than neccessary damage which requires you to heal your party members more often. Ain't that so?

[Black Fang]

Point taken. But I did say that I often have Pesmerga with fury. but since you often can't get more than two killer runes in the game I don't really depend on them (except for George maybe).

Sure you can. Go to Ryube Forest and fight the chicks. They drop it rarelly but they do drop them. Good thing is if you're determined, you can get them at the start, even though I reckon getting a few double-beats from cut-rabbits through Tenzen Pass is better, but its your choice.

I don't prefer direct attacks using support runes .ie,because no matter how good they are they can't inflict that much damage as runes

Once again. Do not underestimate support runes. Boost up Viktor to lvl 99 (with lvl 16 sword of course). Give him a Double-Beat and a Fury Rune. Equip three Skill Rings and any wind hat (one you get in cave of the wind) and if he can equip Master Garb (forgot if he can) give him that, if not go for windspun armor. Basicly boost his tech, then his speed and with his power, try him out. He'll dish out anywhere from 2-6 hits A TURN, not to mention about 2-3 of those should be critical. There is also the added bonus of dodging and counter attacking on the defensive end.

Magic deals a lot, but pure fighting force is bloody good too. I had Vik deal 3000 DMG+ in one turn once, so yeah.

[Red Killey]

Double Beat Rune can be dropped by the Cut Rabbits in North Sparrow Pass, not Tenzan Pass.

And seriously, Suikoden 2 is a game easy enough to finish without over-powering the characters into level 99. So if you make suggestion, try to avoid suggesting them to level up until level 99, it's totally unnecessary unless you want to overkill every single thing. At level 99, it doesn't really matter what customization you have anymore.

Viktor cannot equip Winspun Armor though. Only Humphrey and Miklotov could equip it.

[Black Fang]

Bleh, I know this stuff but I keep bloody mixing up the names. Tanx for the correction though.

Yea I know about the ease of the game at lvl 99 but the I was just suggesting a way to completelly boost up a tanker and see what pure physical force can be like. Realistically he can do the same with Viktor at a lower level and he'd still dominate anyone and anything.

The lvl 99, and 3000 DMG+ was just an example Red, just to prove my point.

[Ginzo]

I have tried equipping some support runes to my main attackers and the results were amazing!! before that I didn't take on my count the ability of each party member to attack more than one enemy each time but right now ..... well...talk about doing five highland soldiers and their commander with only Riou doing all the work!

No honestly that turned out to be really useful (thanks alot Black Fang)
right now I'm working on maintaining a balance with my new attributes

[Black Fang]

Glad to help out Ginzo. Another recomendation if you like plentiful hits is double-beat on clive. He already has INCREDEBLY high tech. Boost him to 99 and give him 3 skill rings and I've seen him shoot up to 12 times.

The guy turns into an absolute machine (he isn't overly powerful though).

[Gorudo]

FRONT (Left to Right)
Sid: Double-Beat, Double Strike, Fury (Rage Weapon)

Chaco: Double-Beat, Double Strike, Fury (Rage Weapon)

Sheena: Double-Beat, Double Strike, Killer (Thunder Weapon)

BACK (Left to Right)
Killey: Double-Beat, Double Strike, Killer (Thunder Weapon)

Rina: Cyclone, Double-Beat, Double Strike (Thunder Weapon)

Riou: Mother Earth, Flowing, Bright Shield (Flowing Weapon)

This is my most recently used party against the Beast Rune. It does tons of damage, can heal forever and with Canopy Defense, it defends against many of the Beast Rune’s attacks. I can always do Storm Fang, if it’s really needed, and the physical damage is downright over-whelming. It’s a good party, but some of my more magic based parties were more fun to use.

[Kuromimi]

'Another recomendation if you like plentiful hits is double-beat on clive. He already has INCREDEBLY high tech. Boost him to 99 and give him 3 skill rings and I've seen him shoot up to 12 times.'

There are better characters for this. Giving someone more technique will not increase the chances of attacking multiple enemies; the speed stat effects that. Unfortunately, Nanami is one of the best characters for this. She has two free rune slots, allowing her to have Double-Beat and either a Fury or Double-strike for a nice boost in damage. Her technique is also quite high and her luck is decent, so she'll probably be landing critical blows occasionally. When fighting a group of six Skeletons, she managed to take out five of them on the first hit from Double-Beat.

Of course, someone with three rune slots could easily acquire very high speed by equipping a Gale rune.

To one of the above posters: When dealing with physical fighters, I wouldn't bother with the magical runes.
If a character has one rune slot, give them a Double-Beat
If a character has two rune slots, give them a Double-Beat and Fury
If a character has three rune slots, give them a Double-Beat, Fury and Double-strike

When it comes to armor:
Head: Flame Helmet and Wind Hat
Body: Dream Robe, Robe of Mist, Master Garb and Windspun Armor
Shield: Earth Shield and Chaos Shield
Accessories: Power Gloves (or Power Ring) and Winged Boots (or Speed Ring) for melee
Winged Boots (or Speed Ring) and Goldlets for mages

When dealing with Chaco and Sid, the Wing Ornament would be a much better choice for the speed accessory. Gold Necklace is a good choice for them and the kobolds as well. Skill Ring is only necessary for those who have low technique; high strength is useless without the accuracy to back it up. Magic Rings are a waste of a slot, mainly because the damage increase in magic is very small and they don't increase MP if it increases the magic value to a certain value.

For a weapon rune: Exertion, Kindness, Friendship (when you have all recruits) are probably the best. I find Mother Earth to be the best for mages or those who may be lacking in defense.