[Guide] Stage Guide - S Rank criteria and Bonus Rewards

[Sasarai10]

Yeah, make sure all skill levels for your characters are maxed before going to new game+

I finished intro battle, in a New Game+ and I see characters can only have 3 skills. Although they are A/S.

[Antimatzist]

The number of skills you can equip depend on the level of the character. For every 10 levels, they get one additional skill slot.

[Sasarai10]

The number of skills you can equip depend on the level of the character. For every 10 levels, they get one additional skill slot.

Sometimes it's 5 isn't it?
I remember getting one at 20 then 25 then 30.
Has anybody ever managed to get Star Earrings by Rita by the way?
Those elemental balls are slower than Kyril and they mess up last turn.

[Wolkendrache]

Well problem here is those Skeletons who use fists. Their counter attack can be fatal. And Magic Sword attack is 100% successful.

All weapon rune attacks have 100% hit chance. At higher levels, only Rita and Charlemagne do not have attacks with 100% hit chance, so don’t attack Skeleton Fists with them.

Wolkendrache, you're awesome for your thorough research. Now after many years I think we can conclude the "how do you get S ranks?" chapter, haha.

Thanks! I’m just thinking many of us got S ranks before the detailed stage requirements and the formula was available here. All you need to know is:
- deal as much damage as you can
- avoid getting damaged as much as you can
- get a lot of Exp
- stay on your terrain often
- try to finish battles quickly
If you’re good, you’ll most likely get S ranks. So in the end, the most important things when playing games like this are getting used to the mechanics, understanding the enemies’ AI, and finally developing strategies for battles. That’s why topics about character setups (skills, runes, equipment) and battle strategies are arguably more helpful. If you don’t understand the mechanics, you’ll have a hard time meeting the requirements for S rank, even if you know them. In those cases where you know you have performed greatly in battle but only got rank A, then this topic will tell you in detail why.

The EXP requirement is often killing it.

Speaking of Exp… in those monster hunting areas you can get S rank any time. That’s only the theory. The enemies there either have fixed levels or they max out at some point (I don’t know which one). If your characters exceed these levels, your chance of getting S rank is gone. Just get S rank as soon as possible.

Has anybody ever managed to get Star Earrings by Rita by the way?

I got them, took me 3-4 attempts. They are not worth the effort, imo.

[Sasarai10]

Aha thanks. I didn't know about Rita and Charlemagne.

But how can you make Kyril finish last? Like if you have 30 Fire Tiles and Rita has 34 Lightning Tiles, it would be a perfect chance to lay 5 Fire Tiles on a non-elemental terrain area. But unfortunately after Kyril makes his move either Rita or those balls can make a move as well.

[Antimatzist]

It depends a bit on luck. I got them in my S Rank run on my first try, but never before. It's really not worth it, but a nice to have, I guess.

From my research, it's 1 Skill slot every 10 levels, so you max out at level 50. At least that's how I think it's working. And maximum skill level is something like one new skill elvel every 10 recruits.

[Sasarai10]

It depends a bit on luck. I got them in my S Rank run on my first try, but never before. It's really not worth it, but a nice to have, I guess.

From my research, it's 1 Skill slot every 10 levels, so you max out at level 50. At least that's how I think it's working. And maximum skill level is something like one new skill elvel every 10 recruits.

S Rank???? Wasn't supposed to be 1 Tile more?

[Wolkendrache]

Win by more than 15 tiles -> S rank
Win by exactly 1 tile -> bonus item: Star Earrings
S rank run doesn't mean you attempt S rank in every battle. Once per map is enough, as it usually means getting all S rank items. I'm sure Antimatzist got S rank in Razril already in that previous story battle.

[Sasarai10]

Win by more than 15 tiles -> S rank
Win by exactly 1 tile -> bonus item: Star Earrings
S rank run doesn't mean you attempt S rank in every battle. Once per map is enough, as it usually means getting all S rank items. I'm sure Antimatzist got S rank in Razril already in that previous story battle.

Oh yeah in the battle against Furballs. It was easy as it is even in a fresh game. But I wish to get Star Earrings by hitting S, than try to win by 1 Tile. Sounds easier.

[Antimatzist]

Yeah, the first Razril battle is easy to S Rank so I didn't try in Rita's battle (in a previous normal game, I got a S Rak in her battle, though, but of course not the Earrings). What was the bonus again, healing per round and a bit of PDF?

[Sasarai10]

Yeah, the first Razril battle is easy to S Rank so I didn't try in Rita's battle (in a previous normal game, I got a S Rak in her battle, though, but of course not the Earrings). What was the bonus again, healing per round and a bit of PDF?

I finally got it after 20 tries or so. And it's +1 PDF. I know it's useless and all...but honestly I'd even collect a turd if it was a unique item in Suikoden.

[KFCrispy]

i added a link to a spreadsheet where i wrote down the official Japanese Guide's information on S Rank criteria.

[KFCrispy]

ha, I tested the Stardust Dress requirement of not killing any soldiers and received the Stardust Dress reward! I tested killing 1 enemy and did not receive the item, so that confirms the information. I actually got an A Rank just from gaining good EXP from dropping terrain a few times, so I think it could actually be possible to S Rank using my method with more focus on leveling. With Platinum gear and other rare equipment, as well as Jewel, you can have a wall of tanks just blocking the soldiers. My Kyril and Eugene were taking puny damage.

To start, just use mages and long-distance unites, archers, and Sigurd to hit the 2 nearby Rune Cannons. Have Flare geared well with good defense, as she is probably the best candidate to send up with good speed and range, but Frederica, Millay, and Ameria can also be sent up. Frederica joins just before the battle begins and is already lv 27 with high SPD, but you can't mess with her runes or skills yet. If you have Dying Wish ready, you can set the 3 to be in position of hitting the far Rune Cannon (5 tiles away).

Once the owls come in, you can dedicate Jewel to tanking and have Paula just sit in the back, while your geared characters (Flare, in particular) start heading up to deal with the back-side of the map.

I sent Flare first who had to 2-hit the north Rune Cannon, and actually you can use any useless owl rider to go up to the top and switch to Cedric the next turn, which frees the owl for another character (but it's probably not necessary to send so many). Cedric's goal is to reach the east corner of the map and switch to a good DPS character (Nalleo would be great) to help Flare finish the last 2 Rune Cannons.



Anyway, i tried a couple times and could only get A Rank. I looked at the S Rank criteria from the official guide: 260 turns, 2300 total damage, 110 damage efficiency, and 40 positive terrain. I am not sure about the total turns, but I am doing enough damage unless damage to objects like chests and wooden barriers doesn't count... my damage efficiency is probably higher than 110, and I am pretty sure I got 40 positive terrains, but it's hard to keep track. It's either the positive terrain isn't enough, in which case I have to delay completing the stage, or the damage to objects doesn't count towards Total Damage, and it would be difficult to overkill the 5 Rune Cannons to achieve 2300 damage.. they have around 250 hp each.

[Antimatzist]

I'm getting crazy. I currently replay the game and try to S Rank everything without Hero IV. But I'm already struggling at the very beginning ...

Secret Room in Middleport. I consistently A Rank it. Average Damage is definitely S ranked, as is Elemental Terrain and Damage received. Turn number - I have no diea, but should be OK. I think I struggle most with the EXP. There are just no ways to get lots of EXP! The first wave of enemies is not giving enough EXP, and the second wave is always too spread out to attack more than two enemies with a Dying Wish Attack (which would give all three characters several hundreds of EXP, if not more). I'm really getting crazy here, retried it five times already. Rita is getting something like 150 EXP per Elemental Bead, which is simply not enough ...

[Wolkendrache]

Turns: 50 or less
Total damage taken: 130 or less
Average damage inflicted: 35 or more
End turn on positive terrain: 5 or more
Exp.: 500 per enemy
…for S ranks. I guess either turn count or Exp is your problem.

Don’t forget, you’ll get a rank for each of these criteria, but not visible in the game. Afterwards, the overall rank is calculated and visible. If you get S rank in 3 of these and A rank in the remaining 2, you’ll still get overall S rank. But if you get B rank in one of these, you can never get overall S rank.

Details on page 4 of this topic.
Criteria numbers for each stage, see link in the original post.