RPG Review FAQ

Castle of Toran
After you finish Moravia and get Vincent at the top, go to the meeting room on the fourth floor. Agree to get ready for the Fortress of Shasarazade.

Watch the scenes as your army prepares for one of the biggest battles yet. Viktor gives McDohl the Steel Hatchet (Gremio's weapon).

The next day, go out to the port part of the castle. 500 boats have been made thanks to the Dragons, and your army is ready to attack Sonja Shulen's Floating Fortress of Shasarazade.

Battle at the Floating Fortress Shasarazade
The enemy has a whopping 17000 soldiers here. You should have slightly more if you have all 107 recruits at this point. Continue to use your Ninja's to figure out what the enemy will be doing. Sonja is capable of using magic or a charge on you.

Choose your party afterwards, Viktor must come with. Bring a powerful party, tough bosses are within. Go west down the stairs to get a Chaos Shield. Follow the path as you work south a bit then west once more for a Guard Ring. Southwest of here for a Master Garb.

Continue east, south, and then when you get to the T go west for a Mega Medicine. Rest up before you go south here.

Shell Venus is here. "There you are!" says Viktor. This Shell Venus has like 10000-12000 HP, so even though you can likely do a ton of damage at this point you will need to do it for several turns. Using Lightning Runes is nice as is Judgment by McDohl. I had Yam Koo and Tai Ho (level 16 weapons) using their unite to take off about 1500 each time it was used. 100,000 bits are your reward.

Take the Thunder Crystal, a high-level Lightning Rune. Very nice. Viktor shuts the sluice so run out, but as you leave it seems someone set fire early! Sonja Shulen rushes out, upset about the fire. She has about half the HP as the Shell Venus but your rune magic is probably expended at this point. Or at least a lot of it. Use your best attacks on her to put her away but her physical attack and magic can be devastating if you don't have the means of healing.

Outside the army is in flux, as Sanchez lit the fire early. Sanchez was the imperial spy (which is why he was never one of the 108 stars). Mathiu says not to execute him now so that morale does not plummet.

Castle of Toran
Back at the Castle, go to the basement to see a scene with Cleo and Sonja. Talk to Sonja and convince her to join, even if she hates you. Sonja is the last recruit, assuming you followed the guide up to this point. Save your game and then talk to Mathiu.

Mathiu wants to march on the capital. Once you talk to him he won't let you say no so hopefully you have all 108 characters at this point. And hopefully Pahn survived the Teo fight. If so, Leknaat will come and revive Gremio for the final fight.

The Last Army Battle
Yuber and Kanaan are waiting for you, with 100,000 enemies. But Lady Leknaat and Joshua combine their magic to magic 80,000 monsters disappear. Like the Shasarazade battle, you should have an easy time telling what the enemy will do with three ninja's and three thieve's on your side. If a thief fails just send out Joshua's dragon knights for some damage. Yuber Charge is dangerous so it would be great if your Ninja or Thief told you about that attack early on. With little effort you should be able to finish the last war battle. Hanzo from Rokkaku thanks you, even Zorak from the Warrior's Village is here.

Gregminster
Viktor and Flik join McDohl at Gregminster. Choose the other three characters. Hopefully an elite magician or two (Crowley, Luc, Hellion, etc) or a combo with a great unite attack (Tai Ho / Yam Koo, Sydonia / Varkas, etc).

At the bridge leading to the palace area, you see Ain Gide. He will not let you pass despite the Imperial Army being overthrown. He uses high level fire rune magic like Final Flame, so you will want to take him out quickly. Fortunately he has only 8000-9000 HP so 3 turns with your party should be enough, especially if McDohl can cast Judgment 3 times.

Gregminster Palace
As you enter, things look a little different. Take the Windspun Armor to the east (elite heavy armour). Now go northwest to exit, though you'll have to face some Imperial Guards along the way. Get used to them.

Head to where you met Barbarosa first, with your dad, but go behind this area now. Soon you will be fighting soldiers left and right, approximately 10 groups on one floor where you travel west a few steps, fight a group, and repeat. Make use of Hell, and use your magicians spells up. You will probably want to go all the way through here to kill off these mandatory soldier fights, then return to spend your bits on sharpening weapons and rest up.

When you get past that area, continue to go east in the next one until you reach a Horned Helmet. Northwest of here for a Power Ring and a save point. This is it, the end. Make sure you save here if you plan on transferring your data to a Suikoden II 2 play-through.

Emperor Barbarosa
Follow the path north until you reach the garden. Barbarosa does not plan on giving up of course. He uses his Dragon King Sword to turn into a three-headed Golden Hydra.

Fortunately, this beast only attacks once per round despite the three heads. It will either be an exploding-cocoon attack for good damage on one ally, or a thunder attack on the party for decent damage. Having a Flowing Rune user makes for each healing otherwise you'd have to bust out a Mega Medicine for everyone. This beast is strong against Lightning and you cannot use it at all on the middle head. The left-most head (it's RIGHT head in actuality) can heal the other heads, so defeat that one first. Then it doesn't matter which one you take out last. Because it only attacks once per turn you really should not have too much trouble.

No level up for defeat, as this is the end. Enjoy the ending and reading about the fate of the 108 Stars of Destiny for Suikoden I.

Posted by Philippines Orphanage at 4:43 PM | Permalink

Castle of Toran
At the Castle, go to the meeting room to talk about going to the Dragon's Den. Humphrey and Flik are coming with.

Northwest of Scarleticia is the entrance to the Dragon's Den. The guard won't let you pass even with Humphrey Mintz.

Antei
Vincent De Boule is having a problem with the innkeeper. Pay the keeper 200 bits and then go back to the path to the Dragon's Den.

Dragon's Den
Vincent de Boule shows you a secret passage here. Enter the cave behind the rock. North for a bit, east for a Goldlet. North for a while, then the path goes east to the Old Book Vol 5. As it turns north again you will have some stairs going up.

East at the next intersection for Power Gloves. West and before you know it you will fall down a cliff. Sleeping dragons are abound. This must be why they closed off the path. Futch and Lady Milia are here. Now that you know their secret with the dragons, leave to the west.

Dragon Knights' Fortress
As you enter, go due north and look for a red ninja along the east end of the castle. Fuma the ninja will just join you. Enter the big doors and speak with Kreutz. Humphrey knows him and convinces him to join.

Upstairs to meet Joshua. He explains the dragons just fell asleep a few months ago. Search the bookshelf behind Milia for Old Book Vol. 4 and then Window Setting 2.

Bring Liukan to Joshua now. Turns out someone poisoned these dragons. Milia joins and you are to go to Seek Valley on her dragon Thrash, one of the few that is still awake.

Seek Valley
To get to Seek Valley, go in front of the Dragon Knight's Castle. Seek Valley can only be reached by a dragon.

Head east as you get in. Return to the dragon if you need to leave. Anyway, east for a Master Robe. The path leads south, west, and back north to a fork.

Take the east-most path to see a blacksmith in hiding. It is Mace, the top blacksmith. He will not join you right now. Back to the fork and take the west path for Sound Setting 2.

The center route is what continues onward. Go straight north for a Mega Medicine then take the path as it winds west.

You will run into a boss, the Crystal Core. This boss has 6 crystals surrounding it, as you take off damage the crystals will disappear one by one. The boss likes regular attacks on one member. However once you take off all the crystals and do some more damage, the Crystal Core turns into a little red ball. This is where things get interesting. It's physical defense goes down slightly but the Crystal Core will use a dangerous lightning attack from above every turn now. Expend all of the magic you have to destroy it as fast as possible because it can be hard to heal when your party sustains 200 damage each turn. Don't think it is almost gone once it turns into the little red ball, the Crystal Core still probably has 3500-4000 HP. A whopping 70000 bits is your reward for this fight.

West for a Cyclone Crystal and a save point. The Cyclone Crystal is high-level Wind magic, another terrific rune. North for a Gold Necklace and north more for Moonlight Weed.

As you are about to take the Moonlight Weed, Windy comes by and demands the Soul Eater. She brings Ted back out, but he seems weird. Ted demands the rune but choose not to give it to him since he seems possessed. The rune then beckons and McDohl and Ted talk to each other where Windy can't see. Ted has the Soul Eater consume his body, and Windy's plan is ruined. Soul Eater reaches level 4 and you can cast any spell with Soul Eater now. Windy tries to physically take the rune but she is blocked.

Milia grabs the Moonlight Weed and it is time to get out of here. Walk all the way back to Thrash and fly out of here.

Gregminster
Meanwhile, Futch is en route to get another ingredient, the Black Dragon Orchid. It is in the garden of the Emperor in Gregminster. Barbarosa is generous enough to let Futch flee after he catches him, but Windy is not so kind. She fires magic at Black and Futch as they flee, and the two go down.

Dragon's Knights Fortress
Thankfully, Futch is saved at the Dragon Knight Castle. Unfortunately, Liukan tells everyone what the third ingredient was. The third ingredient is a Dragon's Liver, and it belonged to Black. Black did not survive Windy's magic. Black though saved the rest of the Dragon's, they are awake and now the Dragon Knights will ally with the Liberation Army. Joshua joins, as does Futch and Milia.

Castle of Toran
Back at the Castle of Toran, Krin and Kasumi seemed to have found a spy. Go to the fourth floor and the spy talks since McDohl is here. Turns out this Taggart guy is a servant of Warren who is a friend of Viktor. Warren and Viktor lost to Kasim Hazil in the north, and obviously you need to save one of your big guns in Viktor.

Mathiu suggests that you 'train' for this fight. Agree to this hunch of his since he is generally right. Mathiu says to rest, but you can do some things.

Kalekka
At this time, Leon Silverberg at the front of Kalekka should say something about how your army has grown. You need almost 90 recruits for him to say something. Then go back to the castle and talk to Mathiu. You can't talk to him about it when the plot is going on but he is free on the fourth floor before you go training for Kasim. Speak to him and he sends a letter with McDohl to bring to Leon.

Now go back to Kalekka to give Leon Mathiu's letter. Mathiu still does not trust Leon from the past war but he nonetheless knows his power as a tactician. Leon is impressed by Mathiu's respect for him and thus Leon joins your army.

Rikon
Enter Rikon and go to the Inn. Do you see a black shrouded figure to the left of the Innkeeper? If not, you either missed some recruits and need more, or you need to leave the village and enter it again and check a few times. If you have the recruits, eventually Clive shows up.

Seek Valley
You need a ton of bits to pull this off. With Moose, upgrade your hero's weapon to level 15. Then get Moose, Mose, Maas and Meese in one party. Like Clive and Leon you will also need about 90-100 characters for him to even want to join. But with all of those prerequisites met, bring those blacksmiths to Seek Valley and take that first east at the fork.

This time, Mace is proud to see his fellow blacksmith's and he joins up. You can now sharpen your weapons to the maximum level, 16.

Neclord's Castle
Having a Champion's Crystal makes this task less annoying (Escape Talisman's for some reason do not work in Neclord's Castle). But with 90-100 characters recruited you can get another character up here. Pesmerga is one of the most formidable heavy-armor, tank-type characters you can find. With the right number of recruits you will find Pesmerga near Neclord's piano, as he is in search of Yuber. Recruit Pesmerga

Qlon Cave
Remember that hermit-looking magician in Qlon Cave? Go to him now that you have almost 100 recruits. He will join you outright. This is another situation where you might want the Champion's Crystal so you do not have to any random battles.

Castle of Toran
Back to the Castle of Toran after you finish up with those recruits. Return to your room, and Mathiu will approach you about something. Evidently a spy has emerged in the Liberation Army, and Mathiu wants to oversea the military maneuvers tomorrow morning at training. Talk to Mathiu in his room in the morning to head out.

Northern Checkpoint
Just as you begin training, Mathiu announces a surprise attack on the Imperial Army. Since there is an imperial spy in the Liberation Army, Griffith at the Northern Checkpoint has the wrong information and is not prepared for an attack.

Battle at the Northern Checkpoint
Griffith tries to stall, but your party presses on. You should have around 4x the soldier count as the imperials here, so just use your Ninjas to figure out what the enemy plans to do, and counter it properly. My copy of Suikoden tends to screw up loading out of this war battle, but mine is old.

After the battle, recruit Griffith to your army.

Castle Toran
Mathiu plots what to do. He sends Lepant and Humphrey separate ways to get Kasim's army's attention. Meanwhile McDohl will sneak in with Kasumi and Krin.

Northern Checkpoint
Re-enter Northern Checkpoint to get the Old Book Vol. 7.

Moravia Castle
North of Northern Checkpoint is Moravia Castle. Enter the cast and get the Pink Paint to the east. North of here is a place to rest and save. Return back to your castle to equip your characters properly if you did not get a chance to earlier. Also, drop off the Pink Paint as it is the final one for Ivanov. Ivanov gives you binoculars for this.

In Moravia Castle, go west of the entrance to get Taikioku Wear. Follow the path north and stick to it as it winds outside to the balcony. It will go a long ways until you eventually reach a Mega Medicine.

Outside, Krin throws a rope across and you can enter the northwest area. Get the Needle inside, then continue to the next balcony. Eventually you reach the jail cell with Viktor, Warren and Vincent De Boule.

Meanwhile, Kasim Hazil is talking about the past with Mathiu. He will eventually have to surrender once McDohl and the reinforcements come in.

Northern Checkpoint
After you are done with Kasim, go back to the Northern Checkpoint. Max and Sancho will join you here. They look silly but they are actually the most powerful charge attack available to you.

Moravia Castle
Head back to the top of Moravia Castle. This may be a task you want the Champion's Rune for. Anyway, get the Mother Earth Crystal at the top and talk to Vincent De Boule. You just left him here when you escaped with Viktor and Warren.

Castle of Toran
The empire is crumbling. Only Kwaba, Gregminster and the Floating Castle of Shazarazade remain.

Posted by Philippines Orphanage at 10:49 AM | Permalink

Castle of Toran
At the meeting room, the army is upbeat after the defeat of Teo McDohl. The empire is scrambling around to get it's forces in one place, leaving smaller areas uncovered. The region of Lorimar has few troops, so Lepant has his eyes set over there.

Lorimar Fortress
Turns out, no one is here. Kasumi scouts it to make sure. A bunch of empty graves at Lorimar. Choose your party; Viktor and Cleo join up automatically. Put Mose, Meese and Maas in the party actually, for now at least.

Leave and re-enter Lorimar. Kirke the grave digger is here. Pester him so that he joins.

Warrior's Village
A scene with Hix and Tengaar as you enter. Zorak is here too and he mentions Neclord, which catches Viktor's attention. Go back to their house for the night to hear the legend of his village. Talk to Viktor at night to hear about what Neclord did to his village. Now you see why he wants revenge.

In the morning, Neclord and Zombies are here to scare you. Viktor goes out to attack him, but nothing you do can hurt Neclord. After you wake up Zorak tells you to go to Qlon Temple to find a sword that might be able to do something against Neclord.

Check out the blacksmith house in the northeast of the Warrior's Village . You will find Moose. You need Mose, Meese and Maas in your party and he will join.

Once you get Moose, teleport back to your castle and get Kirkis in your party. Fight outside the Warrior's Village for a while, with McDohl's new Hell spell this should be easy. You want Kirkis in the high 30's, then teleport back to your castle. This time teleport to the Burnt Elves Village, then walk to the Kobold Village. Rubi will now join you since Kirkis is in the high 30's.

Qlon Temple
Before you enter the Qlon Temple, get the Blue Flower Seeds, Yellow Flower Seeds and Red Flower Seeds. They are at Teien, Rikon and Warrior's Village. Now at Qlon Temple, go northeast to see the gardener Zen. Give him the seeds. He thanks you, finishes planting, and joins you. Morgan inside also joins you, and Hugo would but he is looking for a War Scroll. Search the bookshelf near Hugo for an Old Book Volume 3.

Talk to Fukien in the south part. He knows that McDohl is Starmaster. Fukien opens the path to the Qlon Cave.

Qlon Cave
Take the east path as you go north for a save point. Down the stairs in the north, then you'll be moving southeast in the next area. Take the west stairs for a Crimson Cape. East a bit then north for a room with Medicine and a Flowing Crystal. The Flowing Crystal is an improved version of the Water Crystal. Back to the fork you were just at, and go south.

In the next room, angle southeast through the wall for a Window Crystal. Bring this to Window at Warrior's Village once you're done. Back through the wall and east (going north for a Head Gear when you can). Take the northeast exit for the Old Book Volume 2. South all the way, then west for 5000 bits. North for an Escape Talisman and the exit going up.

Travel southeast and another southern wall you can walk through. This one is much harder to navigate through, you have to weave east and west slightly as you head south. Crowley is down here but he won't join you until the very end. Back to where you went through the wall, then head northeast for the War Scroll that Hugo needs.

Keep heading southeast all the way until you reach a cavern door. Enter for Medicine and a Silverlet. Follow the path north and east, taking the north cavern for a Skill Rune Piece and Mega Medicine. Continue to follow the winding path until you reach a floating sword. The Star Dragon Sword will talk to you and teleport you somewhere.

Hidden Rune Village
Back in time actually. You will see little Ted. Take the Mega Medicine in Little Ted's house. Now you see a scene with the village chief being surrounded by Windy, Neclord and Yuber. The village chief will pass over the Soul Eater to little Ted, and you are told to flee the back route. First, go back in and go south to the treasure the old lady was guarding in the south house. It is a Champion's Crystal, which prevents weaker enemies from even starting a battle with you. This is great to put on a high level character if you just want to run through any given area.

Go to the Village Chief's house and go behind it, then south to see Yuber and Neclord. They teleport away and you appear back in the center of the village. Before going up to the light in the grey temple, head to where Yuber disappeared to get the Boar Crystal.

Qlon Cave
Back in Qlon, the Star Dragon Sword joins Viktor in his quest against Neclord. Use an Escape Talisman, hopefully you have one. Talk to Hugo at Qlon Temple since you have the War Scroll. He will join, give him your Old Book's on Floor 3 of Castle Toran.

Warrior's Village
Zorak and friends are going to Neclord's Castle to get Tengaar. Hix too. Meanwhile, go to Window at the western shop and he will join since you found the Window Crystal at Qlon. He is like Melodye except Window takes your Window Settings.

Neclord's Castle
Go south of the Warrior's Village to find Neclord's Castle. Unfortunately, Hix joins your party here so it will be him, McDohl, Cleo, Viktor and two of your choosing. I like to take Tai Ho and Yam Koo or Varkas and Sydonia for their outstanding Unite attacks, but you may wish to bring magicians with a Water Rune or Lightning Rune. If you have Varkas / Sydonia or Tai Ho / Yam Koo, sharpen their weapons as much as possible to make them even stronger. Hix is more or less a wasted slot as he is only a mediocre front-line attacker. Cleo can be useful with the Fire Rune but if you don't have a healer you may wish to give her the Water Run to be the party healer, even better the Flowing Rune you just got. Neclord is a really tough boss, arguably the hardest in the game.

Upon entry, take the eastern path as you go north. A zombie will give you advice for bits, but I would ignore it. Some can help, but you have a guide so why waste the bits? Grab the useful Full Helmet though.

Take the west route to save, then go north to the balcony. Head west a ways until you can go south. There is a puzzle with four pictures in the next room. First, check all the other rooms for an Antitoxin, Medicine and Sound Setting 1. Then at the puzzle...choose the second one from the right, then the third one from the right, then the right-most picture, and finally the last picture of Neclord the demon of the night.

Another balcony to traverse. Next area, get in the southeast room for Earth Boots. West a bit for a room with Green Paint, then go in the middle room with some tombstones. Travel north to get through and up the stairs.

On this next floor, refrain from going up the stairs in the southeast. This is the battle with Neclord. First search the other rooms for an Antitoxin, Earth Rune Piece, Cape of Darkness and a Magic Rune Piece. Heal up, hopefully you still have ample rune power and Mega Medicines aplenty in your party (unless you have a dedicated healer of course).

Up the stairs is Neclord, playing piano with Tengaar the bride. The battle soon begins. You need to attack Neclord with Viktor to be able to hurt him with anyone else. However unite attacks seem to work before this. Neclord has a very powerful physical attack, but his lightning and fire attacks on all is what causes trouble. This is why a Flowing Rune on Cleo is so important, so she can cast heal-all spells for a long while. Mega Medicines are only good on one ally unless you want the entire party stalled using Mega Medicines. Anyway, Neclord's magic defense is high so high-level Lightning attacks are dwarfed a little bit, but quality unite attacks can carve him up which makes Varkas / Sydonia and Tai Ho / Yam Koo so valuable. Viktor can just use the Clone Rune while McDohl attacks or uses level 2 Soul Eater. Neclord does not have that much HP but his added defense can make the battle longer. Once defeated, Viktor gives him the finishing blow.

Alas you cannot Escape Talisman out. Watch your way out to a hero's welcome. Afterwards, Viktor wants to go out on his own after this huge burden has been lifted off his shoulders. Tengaar and Hix join you permanently after this. Time to head back to the Castle on Lake Toran with Neclord taken out.

Posted by Philippines Orphanage at 8:31 AM | Permalink

Castle of Toran
First of all, before you go to the meeting room to see the ninja, make sure Pahn is level 12 weapon, fully healed, with the best armor possible. And save.

At the meeting room, you will meet the Ninja Kasumi. She is from Rokkaku, an all-ninja village. Kasumi joins you, but you learn that Teo's huge army has returned from the northern expedition and is on it's way to take you out.

The fight is coming, as Gen sees the enemy on their way.

Battle with Teo
The battle with Teo begins. He has his armored cavalry, and they cannot be defeated. Just do a few attacks and the battle will be over. Teo wins, and he pursues you with Alen and Grenseal.

As you retreat, Pahn feels it is his destiny to encounter General Teo. Sure enough, he gets his wish. This is the hardest battle on the game. General Teo vs. Pahn duel

Problem is, Pahn's defense just gets shredded by Teo if you get hit by a Desperate Attack. Try to just defend the entire time, Teo is pretty aggressive in general. It's rare that Teo will nickel and dime you to death with a regular attack, he'll eventually use a few desperate attacks. If Pahn loses, well...let's just say despite the difficulty of this battle it is imperative Pahn wins for the secret ending.

Castle of Toran
Despite Pahn's victory, the party is demoralized from the Armored Cavalry. Rest with McDohl.

Leknaat wakes you up. She knows you have gone through a stressful time. She tells you about the Gate Clan and the 27 True Runes.

Next day at the meeting room, Flik remembers the Fire Spears! They should be finished at the Liberation Army Secret Base. Back by the port, Kamandol and Gen are working on a high speed boat. You need either Gen or Tai Ho in your party to use it since they are the ones who are good with boats around here.

Kirov
North of the Pirate's Fortress is another rapid that you could not pass until now, with this high speed boat. Kirov is an interesting town with even more interesting music.

Check the two little buildings north of where you enter. Search the chimney areas to check out the stew. You need to find two of these stews, then go to that big building in the south. Lester is in here and he knows that you were testing his stews. He joins you, you could always use a second cook.

Try to recruit the maid Sarah here. She needs Soap though. Talk to the guy north of her who can give you Soap, but he needs Soy Sauce. The guy west of him has Soy Sauce, but needs Salt. The lady in the southeast has Salt but needs a Yardstick. The guy at the east part of the Inn has a Yardstick but needs Sugar. Thankfully, you can buy Sugar at the Item Shop. Then follow that list above, giving each character what they need until you have the Soap for Sarah. She joins your entourage.

At the Inn is a guy named Georges, who plays a card game with you. You have to win his game for him to join. Not a tough game to win, just get a match in the center of the cards and watch it open up real quick.

Kalekka
North of Kirov is Kalekka. If you have listened to any of the history of the Scarlet Moon Empire, you remember an important battle took place here. The town is destroyed.

The first building has Leon Silverberg. He is an old strategist but is not going to join you right now. The broken down item shop in the southeast has an Earth Rune Piece.

The bar in the center has the last living resident in the town. Grab the Old Book Volume 8 here. West of this bar is another building with an antique ? painting.

Speak with Blackman the farmer without stepping on his crops first. The building east of this has the Sound Crystal.

Secret Factory
North of Kalekka is the Secret Factory. Those goof-balls Kessler and Ledon are here, with a strong woman named Ronnie Bell. Step up and calm the three, then have Ledon and Kessler join up. Enter the Secret Factory and pay Kage 20000 Bits to join up for the rest of the war.

Take the Window Setting 0 here, and talk to Mose. You need plenty of boats to transport these but thankfully there is a guy named Kun To in Kirov that Tai Ho knows. Teleport back and use the Blinking Mirror, or go through Kalekka for EXP and bits.

Kirov
Talk to Melodye in the southwest part, now that you have the Sound Crystal from Kalekka. Melodye joins. Give Melodye your Sound Settings (at HQ) and you can change the sound effects in Suikoden.

At that southern building, you see Kun To. Tai Ho asks for 10 boats from him. Kunto joins you and Ronnie Bell loads the boats up with Fire Spears.

Castle of Toran
As you return, Tai Ho goes and gets some rest. McDohl does too.

When you wake up, go save, then to the meeting room. It is now time to see how Teo's Army responds to the Fire Spears.

Army Battle vs. Teo
Teo thinks you are wasting his time again. To attack with the Fire Spears, just use your Strategist Mathiu to build up your Charge strength, then use your best Charge Attacks (Lepant's Family, Pirates, Hero, etc). Just straight up attack, Teo's forces have no choice.

Teo is in a bad way. But he challenges his son to a duel. You cannot refuse. He is just as tough as he was in the Pahn fight, but Teo has only half of his HP. Again, being defensive is best here.

After the victory, Teo is down. Soul Eater reaches level 3.

Posted by Philippines Orphanage at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Castle of Toran
Three months after defeating Kwanda Rosman, Flik is in the meeting room throwing a fit. He wants to know what happened to Odessa Silverberg. With the Liberation Army being rebuilt, Mathiu feels its time to reveal that Odessa is dead. Flik is in shot and upset that McDohl has taken over the lead of the army.

Go to the basement of Castle of Toran and teleport with Viki to Kaku.

Kaku
Flik is here. He seems to have mellowed out, so allow him to join your cause.

Castle of Toran
Back to the meeting room, and Mathiu and Flik agree that the time is right to attack the gate to Milich's Domain, the Fortress of Garan. Choose to depart. These Imperials should be no match for you, as they are a weaker army than Kwanda's. Use Krin and Giovanni, and then Mathiu / Apple as your strategists to boost your charge. This battle can be over in as little as two turns.

Fortress of Garan
After taking over the fortress, Flik and Pahn get a little overzealous about attack Milich straight up right now.

Battle of Scarleticia Castle
You can use a thief here, but Milich will just use his Poisonous Pollen. Your party cannot survive more than one turn, so you flee and it turns out Mathiu was right. A reconnaissance team is a better idea.

Flik and Viktor join you outright, and then Gremio tries to but Viktor tells him not to. Still, Gremio won't not go with you, so he comes with. Talk to Mathiu to admit two more. You probably should have Pahn with you, you will need him in a key role very soon. Hopefully you have been using him, if not though Suikoden is nice in that you can gain a lot of levels really quick. Head west outside of Garan to explore the new area of Milich's domain.

Teien
Teien is the city just west of you. Called Lac Virginite by Milich's friends. Go into the Inn, and speak with Hellion. She is one of my favorite characters, a powerful mage. Have her join, plus she gives you the Blinking Mirror. This valuable item allows you to return to the headquarters at Toran Castle anytime you are on the world map. Combined with Viki's teleportation, it is very easy to get around now. So, grab the Blinking Mirror and the Mega Medicine.

The item shop sells three very important things; yellow paint, yellow flower seeds, and the awesome Killer Crystal which ups your critical hit rate. You don't need the yellow items quite yet, but just make sure you talk to the item shop guy so the items appear at your HQ.

The blacksmith here can sharpen your weapons to 12. Go ahead and do this for Pahn, undoubtedly. You will see why soon enough. You can really expend your bits at this blacksmith.

Eikei is by the eastern port. You are not strong enough to impress him but he tells you how many more levels you need to gain :).

Rikon
South of Teien is Rikon, another port village. Like Teien, everyone talks about Liukan and his ability to make medicine, but he is a recluse now. Go to the top floor of the Inn and talk to Lotte, who wants her cat Mina. Remember the cat running around by Meg at Kaku? That's Mina.

Before you leave town to do that, go to the item shop to see that they have an Earth Rune for sale and the Blue Flower Seeds / Blue Paint combo.

Jabba is an expert appraiser. He won't join you unless you can stump him. Jabba is one of the toughest characters to get because you need a monster to randomly drop a Nameless Urn. The Holly Boys outside will eventually drop a Nameless Urn for you. Bring it to Jabba, and he won't be able to appraise it, so he joins you.

Use the Blinking Mirror, then teleport to Kaku. Get Mina the Cat (have someone with the Holy Rune in your party if you have to), then return to Lotte in Rikon to recruit her.

Antei
West of Teien is Antei, the third village in Milich's domain. Cool music in this place.

Go to the Inn and speak to the dancer, Mina. Remember how I said to equip the Toe Shoes on McDohl? This is where you need to have them equipped, so that you can dance with Mina. She then joins you. Upstairs in the Inn is Esmeralda, who is another character like Jabba who joins after you find a randomly dropped item, the Opal Ring.

Go to the armor shop to speak with Chapman. He will join you and open up his armor shop at your castle. Same with Jeane at the rune shop. This should be it for now but spend any money you have at the nice shops here.

Rikon
Back to Rikon, the port specifically. Get in your boat and sail southwest (to the flashing dot on the map). rapids block you unfortunately. Use your Blinking Mirror and have Viki teleport you to Teien, after the party talks about their options. Go to the house north of the blacksmith in Teien. Gen is inside and he will help you but you need his neighbor Kamandol's help as well.

The party travels back to Rikon, you will have to make room for those two. A scene as you stay the night at Rikon, then you are off. Sail southwest and you can pass the rapids.

Liukan's Hermitage
Take the Black Paint in Liukan's house, then go talk to him. Just as you speak with him, Milich rushes in and takes Liukan. Milich doesn't want you neutralizing his plants so Liukan will be going to Soniere Prison.

Soniere Prison
West of Rikon for Soniere Prison. Of course, you can't just enter.

Castle Toran
Back to Toran and speak with Mathiu. He has an idea and writes letters to Kimberly and Tesla.

Antei
Go to the eastern house to meet the pink-robed Kimberly. After a night with Flik, she helps the party. Tesla is in the house to the north, after some hassling from Viktor he joins too.

Castle Toran
Tesla and Kimberly have the forged documents to enter Soniere Prison.

Soniere Prison
Pick a quality party here. Remember, you are looking for the Opal for Esmeralda here as well.

The illegal documents work and you get inside. Go north and east at the fork, to save and get the Silver Necklace. Back west for another chest (Old Book Volume 6) and hit the switch to continue down the stairs in the northwest.

Now you will be going through several sets of stairs. Fight all the battles since you are looking for the Opal which is a random drop from an enemy inside Soniere Prison.

Eventually you will reach a different area, with cells. Grab the Antitoxin along the way east and then south. Now you will come across Imperial Soldiers guarding the cells, so take out each group. Some of them at the very bottom south are optional but they are protecting treasures so fight them and grab the Half Helmet and Sound Setting 0. At the very southwest is Dr. Liukan, who is pleased to see someone rescue him.

Walk all the way back, but something bad happens. Remember that room with the lever? The party is stuck here it looks like, but a party member sacrifices themselves to shut the door and keep the rest of the party away from the deadly spores. Mathiu comes much later to release everyone.

Toran Castle
Back at Toran Castle, save and go to the meeting room. Liukan has prepared the antidote to stop Milich's flowers, so it's time to attack Scarleticia.

Battle vs. Milich at Scarleticia
You do not have to worry about Milich's flower attack that slaughtered your army. Still, you only have two thieve's to see what the enemy is going to do, so hopefully they are successful in telling you what the enemy is going to do. Most importantly remember that Milich's attack is a magic attack so be sure to use bow if you hear this ahead of time.

Scarleticia
Once the battle is over, choose a party to go with Flik and Viktor and McDohl to subdue Milich. Take the left route upon entering for some Red Paint and the right side has a Magic Robe. On this first floor, go to the back west part to see a picture. Say that Milich too is a victim, and a stairway opens up. Take the Magic Rune Piece and the Window Setting 1.

Also on the first floor is Ivanov the painter (on the east end). He seems to want to be freed. Go upstairs and southeast to meet Kasios who likes to sing for her lord Milich. Most importantly, go west of here to get a Spark Crystal, which allows every character in your party to attack after the Spark Crystal user. So basically put it on someone with a high agility and everyone else will attack after this character.

Take the southwest door out and the party will confront Milich. The poisonous flower ends up burning Milich's Black Rune, and he gains his sanity. Only Mathiu notices this though, as everyone else wants him dead because of Gremio. Choose the option that says that something is wrong, and then ask Milich to join. Your party members will not understand but it is clear something is different with Milich.

Milich Oppenheimer has been converted to the Liberation Army. Stallion runs in with his True Holy Rune to tell you that the Imperial Army is attacking Castle Toran! Time to head back and consider strategy.

Toran Castle
Even though you are being 'attacked', you actually have some time before you talk to Mathiu for the war battle. Put Milich Oppenheimer in your party to go to Scarleticia.

Scarleticia
You can recruit Ivanov without Milich in your party, but you need him to get Kasios the singer at the top of the mansion.

Antei
The girl at the entrance, Qlon, will join you here.

Pirate's Fortress
Put Tai Ho and Yam Koo in your group. Sail northwest of Castle Toran to see a new spot on the map, which is the island with the Pirate's Fortress.

Tai Ho mocks Anji, and then a fight starts with Leonardo, Kanak and Anji. Their attacks are similar and quite powerful as a group. Anji has the most HP so try to gang up on one of the other Pirates to take one out quickly. Tai Ho and Yam Koo's 3x damage unite is on display here.

Posted by Philippines Orphanage at 5:15 AM | Permalink

Suikoden 1 Guide continued

Castle of Toran
Now that you have Lepant and Pahn, back to the Castle of Toran. On the 2nd floor, you will meet up with Varkas and Sydonia. They heard about the Liberation Army starting up here, so they wanted to come join. Time to hold a banquet for all of the new friends like Varkas, Lepant, etc.

At the banquet, talk to everyone and leave the room. An Assassin charges out to attack McDohl! Not to worry, he makes a few weak attacks and flees.

The next day, your friends line up to protect your room from an Assassin. Overkill just a little bit. With Gremio, go outside to the port to find an elf down.

Turns out the elf is Kirkis, and the army puts him in the Hero's bed to recover :) When he wakes up, he tells the Liberation Army about Kwanda Rosman in the southeast who plans to exterminate the elves. Something must be done, despite the fact that your army is too small to mobilize. Take a small party there first, starting with McDohl, Gremio and Kirkis. Choose three more members. I suggest Juppo for sure, so that you can recruit Meg. Then two characters of your choice, though I like to bring two characters that can use Unites (like Lepant / Eileen, Varkas / Sydonia, Tai Ho / Yam Koo). Lepant is another good character to bring since he can recruit Sheena in Seika.

Kaku
Your first stop with Kirkis is at Kaku. Since you have Juppo in your party (hopefully), talk to Meg near the Inn. She joins you. Save your game, then go to the bar.

Remember where you played the dice game with Tai Ho? Gaspar is now here. He will play with you, and if you win 5000 bits he will join you. Again save, because of the unpredictable nature of this game. Hopefully you get lucky and beat him quickly - you earn the bits, plus Gaspar joins you. At your HQ, he plays this dice game if you want.

Seika
Speak with Sheena in the Inn. Lepant will watch this circus unfold, and then scold Sheena. Sheena then joins as per Lepant's order. Speak to the cook Antonio here. He mentions he wishes there was an Inn for him to work at. Return to HQ and talk to Marie a few times until she mentions not having time to prepare food. Now return to Seika and Antonio. He will now join and you have a cook.

Great Forest
Southeast to the Great Forest. If you followed the guide, you've been here before to level up with these tougher monsters. If you did so already these monsters obviously won't be too tough. But now with an elf Kirkis in your party, you can continue east instead of be in an infinite loop.

Continue east in the Great Forest and you will pass a log bridge, and Viki teleports in. Viki joins and teleports back to your castle. If you revisit the HQ, you will find that Viki can teleport you to previous villages you have been to. Very useful. East more when you get her, for a Gauntlet, and then south and east for an Escape Talisman.

West to continue on, grabbing the Needle and Water Rune Piece as you go. The path will wind back east, so grab the Fortune Rune Piece and keep going until you reach the Kobold Village. The Kobold Village is empty, except for one curious Kobold named Kuromimi.

Village of the Elves
Now that you are out of the Kobold Village, you are in the southeast part of the continent, a place you have not been yet. Go directly south (maybe a bit east) for the Elve's village.

As you enter the big tree of the Elves, you see the Elf King argue with Valeria who gets sent to prison. The elves aren't too keen on humans. Check out the Armor Shop if you want for a Magic Robe, then head north to the Village Chief and Sylvina. Your entire party gets locked up here.

In Jail, speak with Stallion and Valeria. Valeria seems to know a lot about General Kwanda Rosman, since she was a former imperial herself. She is sure that Kwanda is planning on destroying the elves from Pannu Yakuta Castle. The Burning Mirror is what Kwanda will use to fry the village. Search the jail cell afterwards and Sylvina will help you out.

Exit the jail cell and leave the Village of the Elves. Valeria catches up to you and joins. She is a tremendous asset as a fighter but you have to send one of your 3 optional members back.

Dwarf Trail
Northeast of the Village of Elves is the Dwarf Trail...which of course leads to the Dwarve's residence. Take the northeast exit in the first area, then look northwest right away in the following area for a Feather, and north to exit.

Third area, look east for a Karate Uniform. North a bit more and west for a Sacrificial Buddha. North to exit. Now you have a few choices here, but first go west and north up a ladder for a Guard Robe. Down the ladder and east for a Killer Crystal (hard to see, but make sure you get it). Then go up that eastern ladder.

You are on the mountain top. Just go north in this first area and then look east for a Medicine. North in the next area for a Fortune Rune Piece then north across the steel bridge. In the next path you will find Kuromimi again. He is mad that the Dwarve's won't listen to him. Continue north and you will find a save point. Then east to exit.

Village of the Dwarves
Northeast of here is the Village of the Dwarves. At the Item Shop we can buy a Turtle Crystal which prevents status ailments but is pretty useless overall.

Talk to the Blacksmith Meese. Since Maas joined you, he will too. Why do you need multiple blacksmith's? Because they have different max levels. Maas' was 5, but Meese can sharpen weapons up to 9. The generic blacksmith here can even sharpen weapons to level 9. It is expensive but this is where all those bits from the Rockland Marco game pay off even more. Hopefully you got about 200,000 bits because you can then get a few characters to level 9 weapon with ease.

Check out the Armor Shop for some goodies like Half Helmet and Fur Cape. But talk to the Dwarf Elder at the north part of the village when you are ready. He asks you why you are at the Dwarf Mines and the party tells him that the Burning Mirror has been stolen from his vault. Naturally he does not believe you but if you break into his vault and get the Running Water Root he will believe your story and aid you.

Dwarves' Vault
North of the Village of the Dwarves is a huge vault. The dwarf lets you in.

Go down a few sets of stairs and you will come to three switches. Hit the middle, right, and left ones. Go south to get the Sunbeam Crystal and cross to exit. Down more sets of stairs until you see a door to the north.

You are now in a maze of sorts. Go to the southeast corner for a Blue Ribbon. Back west, then north for a Medicine. North more and circle around to the southwest corner for a Magic Robe. Take the northeast path to exit.

Down a bunch of stairs, now you have some platforms that move you around. Go south twice to take you to the Thunder Rune Piece. Now take the eastern platforms to take you to the southern area. Down more stairs, you are nearing the bottom.

Look for a Pointed Hat to the east, then a Skill Rune Piece north of that. Follow the path as it circles around for a Medicine.

The exit to the northeast leads to a weird gravestone and two switches. You need to rotate hitting them, not back and forth but you must figure out the order. The answer is left, right, right, left, left, left, right, right. The door then opens. At the four-way stop, go west for a Mega Medicine and east for 5000 bits. North for stairs.

At the next fork, go southwest for an Escape Talisman, then the southern stairs. Follow the path until you reach Gigantes, who looks like an old man on top and some sort of demon on the bottom. Throw all you have at this guy. He will use a physical attack and an attack on all of your members that takes off less. I had a Lightning Rune equipped on Luc and his Raging Blow did upwards of 1300 damage and Kirkis did 800 damage with The Shredding. This will quickly whittle down his 3000 or so HP. 3000 Bits is your reward, and you can continue north.

Take the left path for a Defense Rune Piece, then the center route for the Running Water Root. Use an Escape Talisman to leave.

Village of the Dwarves
The Dwarf Chief believes you, now that you have the Running Water Root. He tells you that the Burning Mirror can be stopped by the Firewind Cannon, but you must act quickly.

Dwarf Trail
As you leave the mountainous area of the Dwarf Trail, you see a forest on fire. The party is smart enough to know what happened already.

Burnt Village of the Elves
As you return, you can tell something is amiss. When you get there, you find the village in ruins. Kirkis throws a ring away but Gremio tells him to hold out hope.

Leave the Burnt Village of the Elves, and then re-enter. Templeton is here now. She is a cartographer and gives you the Suiko Map. Now navigating the world is much easier!

Kobold Village / Great Forest
Northwest of the Elves Village to the Kobold Village. As you get here, Kuromimi is here but so are a ton of Empire Soldiers. Valeria leaves the party to sway the enemies but they attack you anyway. Kill off these soldiers, and then you have reinforcements in the form of Humphrey and Mathiu. Sylvina and Stallion are here too.

More importantly, the Liberation Army is ready to go head to head with Kwanda Rosman's Army with your new recruits. Give the order, and your first Army vs. Army battle is about to occur.

Liberation Army vs. Kwanda Rosman's Army
This is actually probably the toughest army battle, because you do not have Ninjas to see exactly what the enemy can do. But you do have a few Thieves that can either steal money or tell what the enemy is going to do. But they are not 100% accurate, sometimes it does not work. Army battles are essentially Rock / Paper / Scissors matchups, with bows being strong against Magic, Magic being strong against Charge attacks, and Charge being strong against Bows. Start off by using a Thief under the Other command. Krin will go check on the enemy. As stated above, he may not be successful or he may steal money. But if he says something like Kwanda's Attack, you know for sure it is going to be a charge. Thus, use Magic.

One big note about a strategy battle is your characters can die here. Not special storyline characters (like Lepant for example), but someone like Luc or Eileen can die if the enemy trounces you on one of your attacks. This is why it is so vital your thieves find out what the enemy is going to do so you can counter properly, if not it is guesswork. Also note though that you can power up your charge attacks with Mathiu. So long as Krin or Giovanni is correct, you should be able to get the upper hand quickly on Kwanda Rosman's Imperial Army.

Pannu Yakuta Castle
At Pannu Yakuta Castle, Kwanda runs to the Burning Mirror. Just as he is about to, the Windfire Cannon destroys the Burning Mirror. The Dwarf Chief comes up and laughs about it, and it's time for your party to go in and apprehend Kwanda Rosman. Gremio, Kirkis, Viktor, Valeria, and Kuromimi go with McDohl. This may be a problem if you were not using a character like Viktor and he has poor equipment. The other characters should at least have decent equipment, plus Pannu Yakuta Castle can provide us with treasure.

Take the left path in for a Steel Shield, then up the stairs and north for a Thunder Rune Piece. North, and you are now in the castle. Take the northwest door for a Medicine and the northeast for the Old Book Volume 1. Southeast room has a Gale Crystal, then go south to the southeast balcony.

Speak to the maid to rest. This is helpful for grinding around here if you need to. Now let's enter the first floor. Skip the first two paths west and east, but go north a bit and east for a Gauntlet. Northwest part of this first floor has a Half Plate Armor. Now go up a few sets of stairs.

Ahead is the Dragon, which likes to use a Lightning attack on one character for almost 100 damage and a fire attack on each ally for about 50 damage. This battle will be a war of attrition, in part because you probably don't have anyone here who can cast strong spells save for Kirkis if you gave him a Lightning or Wind Rune. 3500 bits is your reward.

Behind the king's throne and up the stairs. Before you go out on the roof, heal up McDohl. Also, give McDohl the best armor you have here. Now go out on the roof.

Kwanda Rosman The Insurmountable is out here. You are now in your first duel. It is also very rock paper scissors-like, with you and Kwanda using defend, attack, and desperate attack. Defend beats a desperate attack, attack beats defend, desperate attack beats attack. Your hint is what your enemy says. When they call you to attack, they are probably going to defend. Likewise, they will let you know when they are attacking. The hard part is guessing if they are going to attack or use desperate attack. If nothing else, be conservative and use defend, which reduces the regular attacks and does a counter on the desperate attack. Kwanda should give you a test if you are a beginner, but you should prevail if you are prepared.

Speak with Kwanda afterwards, as his Black Rune explodes. He seems to have regained his senses after this. Say 'something is not right' and then ask him to join you. It is clear he was manipulated and you want to recruit all the quality soldiers you can get. Kwanda is a powerful addition to the team, a defensive juggernaut that can fight in the front or back.

The first battle is a huge success. The kobolds are freed, and now you have a huge army back at the Castle of Toran. When you talk to Mathiu, say that wait, I have some unfinished business. If you choose to go you will automatically return to the Castle of Toran, but there are things you need to do on the way back.

Great Forest / Kobold Village
Since you have Kuromimi in your party, go back to the Great Forest. Check out the south house to meet Gon, a friend of Kuromimi. He will join you (he can use a unite attack with Kuromimi).

The Inn has a few strange characters. Speak with the tiger-like Fu Su Lu. He wants a ton of food (10000 bits worth). Again, hopefully you made a ton of bits at Rockland with Marco :). Make sure you recruit Fu Su Lu though, he is a good fighter. Rubi is here too but he does not respect Kirkis. Maybe come back later. The item shop here has a Wind Crystal and Hazy Crystal. Not much else to do so head off. Head through the Great Forest and stop off at Kouan.

Kouan
You are much more powerful than you were when you were last here. So go to Lorelai at the Inn, and she will finally join you.

Seika
Last but not least, go to Seika. Mathiu's home. One of his students, Apple, is here. She will join you after some bickering. Back to the Castle of Toran. Suikoden I Guide continues back at the Castle of Toran.

Posted by Philippines Orphanage at 2:36 AM | Permalink

Fortress of Kwaba
South of Lenankamp is the Fortress of Kwaba. Commander Lord Ain Gide resides here, an old friend of Teo McDohl. Decide a fake name, it does not matter which you choose.

Gremio pulls a nice act but the party still needs some help from Ain Gide. Speak with Chandler, an aspiring merchant. then leave.

Seika
South of Kwaba is Seika, where Mathiu is supposed to be. Water Crystals can be had here, and there are some characters here you will want to make note of, like Marie and Onil for example. Speak to the guy near the northeast house to find out where Mathiu lives.

The kids at Mathiu's tell you he is out for a walk so go back and talk to that guy. He is indeed Mathiu but does not want to hear about Odessa's last request. Talk to him again at his house, then leave.

Imperials rush to Mathiu's. Follow to see that they are threatening the kid in an effort to get Mathiu to join the Imperial Forces. Join the fracas and kill off the Empire Soldiers.

Talk to Mathiu afterwards, and his tone has changed. He is indeed Mathiu Silverberg, brother to Odessa and a key tactician in the Battle at Kalekka. Mathiu understands this will not go away so he offers to join. But he states that McDohl is the one in line to lead this Liberation Army - accept his proposal and your fate has now changed. You are to find a headquarters, and the search begins southwest at Kaku.

Kaku
A blacksmith here but she does not go past level 5. Rest, save, and make note of Meg outside the Inn. Check out the bar in the southeast.

Camille is here and knows Gremio. Gremio is in debt to her in fact, but Viktor convinces her to just join so that she can get the money when you have it. She tells of Tai Ho, so talk to the barkeeper and then save. Make sure you save, then go back to the bar and downstairs to meet Yam Koo and Tai Ho.

Tai Ho can help you with a boat to Castle Toran but wants you to bet all of your money (by 'all of your money' he means 1000 bits I guess). Listen to his instructions if you want; this can be a difficult game if you are not lucky, which seems to be the case more often than not. That's why you save, and if you lose more than a few times just restart. Eventually you'll get a lucky hand or he'll get a 1-2-3 or 1-1-1 and you'll win.

To the dock area you go, and the party will sail to Toran Castle.

Castle Toran
Tai Ho joins the party here. I tend to talk to Yam Koo and return to Kaku, in an effort to build up levels with Camille and Tai Ho, and in turn explore this new land. If you want to just continue into Castle Toran, Ctrl F Castle Toran to follow the guide.

Back at Kaku, sharpen Tai Ho's and Camille's weapons to level 5. Then head south out of the village to find Kouan.

Kouan
At Kouan you can appraise all of your ? antiques. Nice armor here as well, particularly the Emblems which increase magic and have good defense. The Karate Uniforms and Leather Armors are nice; this is where it pays off to have done all of that Rockland bit grinding with Marco's game. Leave Kouan and go southeast.

Great Forest
This is where you want to be. Tough enemies are east of this village in the Great Forest path, but they yield terrific EXP for this stage in the game. Rest up and save though, you will need Cleo's fire rune to win the first few battles to gain all those levels. Use a few Firestorms and Dancing Flames and with little effort you will be on level 18, 19 and or 20. Back to Kaku.

At Kaku, get a Holy Crystal if you have not. You may have given a Water Crystal to Gremio - if so, take it off and give Gremio the Holy Rune since his magic is poor. Now you can hold circle to run! I absolutely love this rune for that reason. If you have a Water Crystal, give it to Camille who is a decent magician. Set sail back to Castle Toran.

Castle Toran
Now that you are level 18-20, Castle Toran is much easier. Still, the enemies here are not to be taken lightly especially the bigger ones like Ghost Armor. Take the east route but before you take the entrance, look south for a Mega Medicine.

Enter the cave and go east, sticking to the south part of that pond. You can get that southern treasure this way, a set of Toe Shoes. Give these to McDohl, you'll find out why much later on.

Next area, look for an Antitoxin, 2000 bits, and a northeast exit. Up the stairs, then east to a new area. Go south for a Power Rune Piece, north for a Pointed Hat and south for Medicine.

New spot coming up with a save point and an Antitoxin. Go straight east to the next area and east again for a Wind Crystal. Back west but try to walk south through the wall. You kind of have to walk to the southeast and make your way to the Hazy Crystal. Southeast to a new part of Castle Toran.

You are in the castle part of Toran. Take the stairs down and rest up. A tough boss is ahead.

At the lowest floor you see the cause of this fog, the Zombie Dragon. This is where your leveling to 18-20 will help immensely, if you did so. If not, you can still win. Utilize your top fire rune spells like Dancing Flames for almost 900 damage. The Zombie Dragon has a breath attack that takes off 25-75 damage to everyone. His physical attack does more, but to only one member of course. This guy has a ton of HP, so even with a Dancing Flames and Firestorm spells you will be in for a multi-turn battle. For victory you get 2000 bits and sometimes a Lightning Crystal.

Castle of Toran
Once you acquire the castle, immediately the group begins thinking of a name for it. Dragon Castle, White Castle, McDohl castle, etc.

The scene switches to the next day, with Mathiu entering the castle. He declares this the New Liberation Army's Founding Day.

Leknaat teleports in to speak with McDohl. Remember her mentioning fate? She talks to you about this and gives you the Stone Tablet of Promise, which shows the stars you have recruited. There are 108 in all, scattered throughout the land. Her other gift is Luc, who will be one of your first recruits. He is still cocky but an able magician.

Afterwards, Mathiu tells you to go find some recruits. Namely a fellow in Kouan named Lepant. If you followed the above guide, you have already been to Kouan. It is just a stone's throw south of Kaku.

When you regain control, the joyous castle music plays and Gremio joins you. Head to Mathiu to get some advice about Lepant, and then Cleo and Viktor join you. Choose two more allies to bring, I generally take Luc along for his Wind Magic and Yam Koo to get his level up.

Kaku
Return to Kaku, and speak with Sergei. He is the inventor who knows about the elevator, but now you have a place for him to go. And once you recruit him, you have an elevator at your castle!

Meg won't join you quite yet, so head northeast to Seika.

Seika
Head to the Inn and speak to Marie. You know she is loyal from when she helped you out, so have her join and run your Inn.

If you got the Lightning Crystal from the Zombie Dragon, you may wish to get rid of the Wind Rune for Luc and give Luc the Lightning Crystal, which has more powerful offensive spells. Anyway, go to the house north of the Inn to speak to Onil. She can be recruited easily and she mentions other recruits to you at your HQ.

Kwaba
Remember Chandler at Kwaba on your side of the gate? Go to Kwaba and speak with him, and he will be happy to open up an Item Shop at Castle Toran.

Great Forest
Head south all the way to the Great Forest. Check out the western building to meet a bath expert, Sansuke. He joins you, as does the blacksmith Maas next door. Might want to take a step east into the Great Forest to build up a few levels for Luc and or Yam Koo if you brought them with. Luc especially becomes a much more powerful magician if you can get him to the upper teens in levels.

Garan
Before you head to Kouan, go to the far southwest where there is a bridge. Speak with Kai who is on your side of it - he is the former trainer of McDohl and he joins you.

Kouan
Now to Kouan (south of Kaku, northwest of Great Forest). Speak with Giovanni at the entrance to Lepant's mansion. He does not seem to be optimistic about you meeting with Lepant. Use the appraiser if you need to or get armor, but go to the Inn when you are ready.

Save, then talk to Krin. This guy sounds shady but he may be your only way in to see Lepant. At night he will in fact get a rope to go to the roof of Lepant's House. Take it, and enter the stairs down.

Lepant's Mansion
Get the Shoulder Pads, then go south. See that guy nearby? This is Rock, a storage guard. He joins you and will build you a huge warehouse. Get the Medicine and 700 bits that was near him.

Take the east exit, but you will see a ton of robots. Be sly when you move around them, so that you aren't in their direct vision. Grab the Counter Crystal in the southeast and exit to the north.

Get the Speed Rune Piece, then head south. Tons of treasures in this room. From east to west - Fire Rune Piece, Leather Armor, Medicine, White Paint, and then you will run into Juppo. Remember Meg at Kaku mentioning him? Anyway he shuts off those robots you saw earlier and walks away. In effect he actually joins you unofficially.

The west room is one giant roulette. You can land on a monster spot, an item slot, -10 EXP, + 10 exp, and the northmost path is what you are looking for. You just have to get lucky to get - I'm not sure if you can press X to influence, it seems like you can but it also seems kind of random too. Take that north exit when you can, and get the Kirinji sword.

Leave Lepant's house, and meet up with Krin. He has some 'tea' for the party. But they won't be fooled so easily after Ledon. Viktor forces Krin to drink it and he passes out.

About when this happens, Lepant rushes in. He wants his damn sword Kirinji back! Ask him to join and tell him Mathiu sent you. It seems like he would like to, but he can't leave his wife Eileen behind. Give him his sword back, but Giovanni rushes in! He mentions the new commander has taken Eileen.

Rest and Save, then follow Lepant. The guards at the new commander's house get slaughtered by Lepant, so go in. Two more guards get trounced by Lepant inside. The Kraze name is mentioned by one of these guards! Sounds like that idiot is here. Take the southwestern path for a Water Rune Piece, then go northwest to Lepant. He joins you here, so get rid of one of your spare characters.

Problem is, Lepant starts off in the back row and he has an S weapon. So he is useless in this fight, but just use the Fire or Lightning Rune to quickly kill this group.

Go upstairs, and take the west door for a ? Ornament. Enter the next door to find Eileen and Commander Kraze. Kraze complains to McDohl, saying he is the reason that Kraze got stuck in Kouan. More soldiers rush in after he talks with you, so just blow them away.

Next though, the man who betrayed you comes in. Pahn. Fortunately Pahn recovers his senses and knocks Kraze from Eileen. You now have a choice as to what to do with Kraze. Let him flee, or kill him. I'm thinking 99% of the players choose to just off this annoying guy. Your choice does not matter later on in the game.

Afterwards, talk to Pahn. Let him join you, then talk to Lepant and Eileen. They join too. You now have a significant group in the Liberation Army, certainly a good start. Back to Toran Castle to talk to Mathiu.

Posted by Philippines Orphanage at 11:58 PM | Permalink

Gregminster
Back to Kraze at the imperial palace of Gregminster. Kraze has a mission for you; reach Lady Leknaat the Seer to get the Astral Conclusions. The Dragon Knight is by the barn to transport you. Leave the castle and go east to meet Futch and Black. They take you northeast to the Black Forest.

Black Forest
Weakest monsters in the game are here. If you went outside Gregminster to level up you should have no problem, even without that you should be fine.

North through the first area, then look west for a Medicine before continuing northward. When you get to a fork, take the east route going north for a Leather Coat.

The other path north leads to an enemy. Luc the magician uses his Wind Rune to summon a Golem. If you leveled up at all this Golem should be easy. Just attack with every character besides Pahn and Gremio, who should do Unite Attacks. A few turns should do this foe in, your reward is 1500 bits.

This Luc character is evidently with Leknaat. Follow him north and up a few flights of stairs. Speak with the beautiful Seer Leknaat, Windy's sister. Follow her to get the Astral Conclusions and she will take a closer look at you and notice that you have a heavy burden upon you. You do not know about it yet but you will find out later as this fortune teller assures you.

Before you leave, Leknaat rewards Cleo with the Fire Crystal. Then you are off back to Gregminster with Futch.

Gregminster
Return to Kraze, who continues to be a jerk and says you were late. Now Kanaan is with him. Give Kraze the Astral Conclusions.

Kraze then tells you about Rockland and Mayor Grady who won't pay taxes. Kanaan will go with you to make sure everything goes okay.

Rockland
Rock Rockland. Chances are you have already been here, but if not just head east of Gregminster. You will find the village of Rockland.

Rest and save if you like, and you will see a unique character named Marco by the Inn. She plays that pick 'em game (choose middle for the 1st correct answer, left for the 2nd correct answer, quit, startup, repeat). Once you get to 10000 bits you can really make a haul.

Anyway, buy some stuff and head to the north mansion. Kanaan calls for Grady, who tells a story about the Mt Seifu bandits that rob the villagers making taxes impossible to pay. It seems you must go and take them out.

Mt. Seifu
East of Rockland is a trail that leads to Mt. Seifu. Enter the nearby cave after Kanaan makes his way to the back of the party.

Keep heading northeast in the first part of the cave for some Medicine and a pair of Boots. Back to the west path going north, and take this until you reach a huge fork.

Plenty of paths to take here. Start with the second one from the east edge, for a Defense Rune Piece. Use this on a character to increase defense. Then take the west-most path going southwest for an Antique / ? Pot. Back to the four paths going north and take the nearest one from that southwest exit. This takes you to 1000 Bits. Now take the path just east of here to exit to the north.

North a bit and then you will be in another area with several forks to take. West quick for a Medicine, east for a Leggings. Take the western path going north for an Escape Talisman, then follow the north path.

You will see a huge Queen Ant. You get in a fight with her so just beat up the Soldier Ants. Queen Ant will use Quake on you for 20 damage to all. After three turns, Ted takes over. He uses a strange rune that just banishes the Queen Ant. Kanaan makes note of this strange rune.

Continue north on the path and it will take you east, by a Thunder Rune Piece. The south route leads out of the cavernous area and near a save crystal.

Just ahead are the main bandits, Varkas the Whirlwind Axe and Marksman Sydonia. They sic a bunch of bandits on you, they are easy to trounce. Next though, Varkas and Sydonia attack. Sydonia has few hit points while Varkas can take a few hits. Might want to gang up on Sydonia and use your Unite to take him out quickly. Varkas is much easier by himself. You get a decent amount of EXP and 700 Bits. Not to mention Kanaan and the group take the bandits with them to Grady at Rockland.

Rockland
Thankfully, you do not have to backtrack out of Mt Seifu yourself. The game does it for you. Back in Rockland, go east to find the little kid literally getting a shoe in his backside from the Empire Soldier. Choose to fight them and maul those soldiers. The kids thank you.

Talk to Grady in the north, and he takes away Varkas and Sydonia. Then he feels compelled to give Kanaan 10000 bits.

Gregminster
Everyone rejoices about the mission being over. Unfortunately Kanaan tells Ted to come with him to the palace.

Go back to Teo's house and the party gets ready for dinner. It is raining at night. When you get a minute, go downstairs to find a passed-out Ted.

Turns out Ted has a magic wound. He relives what happened with Lady Windy, Kanaan and Kraze. You learn more about the Cursed Rune, the Soul Eater. Pahn wants to tell the guards but is convinced not to do so. Speak with Pahn when you get the chance and he'll look for some medicine.

Then speak with Ted. He asks the hero to take off his glove, the Cursed Rune Soul Eater. Take the rune off his hand and you now have the Soul Eater at your disposal.

Just as this happens, Pahn, Kraze and Kanaan burst in through the front door. Ted just goes and surrenders himself since the empire thinks he still has the rune. Escape through the back by the kitchen with Gremio and Cleo.

Every place is locked, besides the Inn. Marie will help you out here. Next morning, try to exit but you will come across some imperials. Thankfully some Viktor guy bails you out and you leave the Inn.

Once you are outside of the Inn, go find Viktor to the north. He has an idea as to how to escape Gregminster. In fact, Viktor just gives the guard some money from Gremio's wallet and the party is out! Viktor wants you to meet someone at Lenankamp.

Lenankamp
As you enter, Viktor runs off but says to meet his friend later. If you haven't affixed the Fire Crystal / Fire Rune to Cleo, do so here. Also there is a Blacksmith in Lenankamp. You may have noticed you do not buy weapons in Suikoden, but rather you sharpen your current weapon. As it reaches different levels it transforms into a more powerful weapon (look for a weapon name change). If you made several 10,000 bits from Marco in Rockland, you should have no problem getting everyone maxed to level 5. Weapons can be sharpened to level 16 in Suikoden but certain blacksmiths can only go up to arbitrary levels (like 5 for this one).

Head to the Inn. In the back is a guy who lost his life savings because someone robbed his hotel room. Hmm. Talk to the person at the Inn and save, then stay. A special room is prepared for you thanks to Viktor.

During the night the party questions what to do next. But soon enough the empire breaks into the Inn. A mysterious voice calls you to the clock, so go down the secret staircase.

Liberation Army Hideout
Meet Odessa and the rest of the Liberation Army. They fight the imperials, but are weak and have this humble secret base at the Inn.

Odessa Silverburg is the leader of the Liberation Army. Sanchez, Flik, and Humphrey are the other members you have not met. Speak with them, but Gremio says you probably should not join the Rebel Army! You can show interest yourself though.

After you are done speaking, go north to find a bandit near the entrance! How did he find this place. Anyway, he tells about how Grady of Rockland is going to starve Varkas and Sydonia without giving them a trial. Speak up, since you captured them. The party of three plus Viktor decides to go free them.

Rockland
You know where Grady's mansion is. The guard stops you but Viktor gets the house on fire and thus a way in.

Take the left path once inside, the one you couldn't take earlier. Empire Soldiers rush out, kill them and take the Medicine. More soldiers in the north area, then three paths in that hallway south of you. The northmost one looking east has a Brass Armor and more soldiers, while the left path has soldiers and no treasure. Southeast path has a ? Ornament and the final path before the western soldiers has 700 and 1000 bits.

With the empire group there is another captain who is a bit more dangerous. Use Firestorm by Cleo if you have it. Go outside and talk to Varkas to set him free, and they'll join you for a second. Walk out and Grady is here to stop you at his entrance. He eventually runs from the bandits, and the party escapes.

Lenankamp
Back in Lenankamp you are praised, and Odessa wants to go with you to Sarady to deliver blueprints for the Fire Spear. Viktor comes with. You probably don't need to buy anything for Odessa.

Mt Tigerwolf
Just northwest of Lenankamp is a bridge going west, and north of there for Mt Tigerwolf. This is a longer path with some tougher enemies, but nothing your party can't handle if you sharpened your weapons to 5 at Lenankamp.

Once at Mt Tigerwolf, just head north the first few screens for a Circlet, Medicine and Gloves. Circlet is nice for Odessa. Once you get to a north / west split, go west for a Wind Rune Piece and then north to exit. Continue this way until you meet Ledon.

Whether you like it or not you'll be staying with Ledon. And you have to sip his special tea...which of course poisons you. Just as he is finished robbing you, Kessler comes in to tell him that this is Odessa. They are friends of the Liberation Army and prepare the antidote for you. Rest and Save.

Further north, get the ? Pot in the northeast and continue on. When you see a treasure next, grab the Medicine, then go northeast for a Clone Rune. This should be affixed to Viktor when you get back to Lenankamp. It does near 2x damage but makes Viktor unbalanced for a turn. North to exit Mt Tigerwolf.

Sarady
Sarady is to the north. Check out the Water Rune at the Item Shop, if you did the Rockland bits trick you should be able to get at least one of these. Might be useful for someone without a rune like Gremio just for a heal spell or two. Rest at the Inn.

Talk to Odessa at night, and then Kage comes to get the Fire Spear blueprint. Go back to sleep and head to Lenankamp the next morning.

Lenankamp
Affix that Clone Crystal to Viktor first, then talk to the soldier by the Inn. Turns out the hideout has been discovered! As you enter the Innkeeper is down and a kid screams. There goes Odessa.

At the hideout take the west paths as you go south to encounter Empire Soldiers. The southern-most one has more soldiers and a screaming Odessa. After the battle you will hear her requests. You are to bring the Earring she gives you to a fellow named Mathiu in Seika village, and with that the party is off. The Soul Eater gains power.

Posted by Philippines Orphanage at 1:22 AM | Permalink

Suikoden I has made it's way to the Playstation Network for the PS3. This classic RPG from 1996 was one of the first quality titles on the original Playstation.

Start the game off after you name your hero - real name is Tir McDohl. You start off with your father Teo, who is a general in the Imperial Army led by Barbarossa. Teo is to head out to protect the Empire while you stay back and take care of some business for Kraze.

Once you gain control, head down the stairs. Instead of speaking to Kraze right away, go to the east room and search the eastern statue for 100 bits. Then talk to Kraze about your mission. You are to look for a Dragon Knight so you can fly north to Leknaat for the Astral Conclusions.

Before you go off and do that, I like to take Pahn, Gremio, Cleo, Ted and leave Gregminster town. The monsters outside are tough but if you can manage to win a battle or two, your levels will skyrocket. Now you do not need to head out here and it is dangerous at level 1, but this will get you ahead of the game for a bit. Just run from the Boar.

You can visit Rockland and do some educated gambling with Margo. This is quite easy to manipulate, as she always chooses the left and then the middle one. Then stop the game, talk to her again, repeat the pattern, continue to earn money.

Posted by Philippines Orphanage at 1:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Suikoden fans around the world received great news with the recent Famitsu magazine. Suikoden Tierkreis was recently trademarked by Konami America, and low and behold they have confirmed plans to release Genso Suikoden Tierkreis on Nintendo DS. Suikoden had not been heard of since Suikoden V was released in April 2006.

Suikoden Tierkreis means Suikoden Zodiac (Tierkreis = Zodiac in German). As usual, it provides many of the things past Suikoden's have, such as several races along with the 108 stars. A new Popas race has been confirmed. Though if you read closely there seems to be something different about the 108 stars in this one; they do not share the same fate as the previous 5 sets of 108 stars.

Battle screens have shown that there are 4 members in the party, much to the chagrin of Suikoden lovers. This is a step back to the days of Suikoden IV, and the main issue with having just 4 characters in battle is that with 108 characters it is hard to develop said character's even with 6 characters in your party. Having 4 limits your flexibility, though there is said to be an Alpha position for a fifth character. Maybe this is similar to the support character's of past Suiko's? Character's are said to have their own unique abilities in battle, along with of course unite attacks.

Posted by Philippines Orphanage at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)