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Rune of Punishment's usefulness
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Parallax

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Rainrir wrote:
BASICALLY, they designed the rune pretty badly and if it ever appears again it should be revamped.


Well, the Rune of Punishment is excellent in Suikoden Tactics. It even works almost the same, but the effect of the second level spell (whatever it's called, I forget now) has been changed to make it suck less. After all, that's the big spell on the Rune of Punishment which is just terrible, even compared to normal elemental Runes. Anyway, in Suikoden Tactics it does something more like:

Hits randomly in a large area 8 times for ~50+ damage and does 50 damage to Lazlo.

That doesn't sound all that great since the hits are random, but if you're clever about positioning the area, since all eight will always hit something (in other words, it doesn't have the drawback of Malak and Rafa's skills in Final Fantasy Tactics, if you're familiar with Truth and Un-Truth) you can make it fall 8 times on a single target, or spread on two targets. That does a whole ton of damage, and makes the spell useful.

Also, the Instant Death spell is much more useful in Suikoden Tactics because it doesn't have the drawback (as far as I remember) and it has a higher probability of success against peon-type enemies, up to 99% or 100% or whatever. It's really the cast range that makes it so powerful though, so it would still be kinda useless in a 'normal' Suikoden type battle system where cast range is irrelevant.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

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No fair comparing the crappy Suikoden IV version of Soul Eater!

Why is it unfair? It's actually fair because we're comparing both True Runes that appeared in Suikoden IV. Being in different games automatically makes the comparison as invalid because different games have different mechanics.

I'll just use a simple example of Earth Rune. It appears in Suikoden I, II, III, IV (and V, but we'll leave V out of this for obvious reason). Which one is the "fair" one to compare with Rune of Punishment? Obviously the one that appeared in the same game as Rune of Punishment (a.k.a. Suikoden IV). Just like how Timbo compared Rune of Punishment with Suikoden IV's Cyclone Rune and not Suikoden I's or II's or III's Cyclone Rune.

So if I were to compare Rune of Punishment with Souleater, then it has to be Suikoden IV's Souleater Rune and not Suikoden I's Souleater Rune.

Quote:
1. Why are you using Rune of Punishment's level 4 spell against normal groups of enemies?

Who said that I'm using the level 4 spell against normal groups of enemies? Do you not remember that the Final Boss (Giant Tree) is not a single-target enemy? Not to mention that it's "non-elemental" attack too which means that it's not going to get resisted or absorbed. And if I'm not mistaken, all final bosses are multiple-target? Making this even more useful.

Quote:
My experience would indicate that doing small amounts of damage to all enemies is inferior to killing a single enemy instantly.

I agree. However, I've already pointed out that Rune of Punishment can also heal 3 allies for a total of 1500 HP, something that Souleater cannot do. So that's 500 damage PLUS 1500 HP healed against 1 enemy compared to 1500 damage to 1 enemy if using Souleater.

Quote:
Conclusion: I'm not really willing to say that the Rune of Punishment is the worst True Rune (though it's close to the bottom), nor is it the best one.

I'm sorry, but I disagree with the word "conclusion". It's not conclusive to compare True Runes from different game as if they're the same. Like I mentioned briefly above, different games have different mechanics. Even the same Souleater Rune performed very differently in Suikoden I and Suikoden IV. How are we to properly compare Souleater Rune? We can't.

Also take into consideration the enemies HP. I'll just find a simple comparison. We can clearly see that from the spell lists that True Elemental Runes were strong, even very strong compared to most of other True Runes. However, upon looking at Suikoden III's bestiary, we can also say that the enemies are stronger. Making the "stronger spells" to be pretty much not as strong as it might sound.

I'll name a few monsters (non-bosses just to make it fair picture overally) in Suikoden III:
Spark Beetle: Level 25, 220 HP
Demon Seed: Level 43, 550 HP
Chimera: Level 50, 850 HP

Suikoden IV:
Rodent Leader: Level 27, 183 HP
Spectral Leaves: Level 44, 400 HP
Elite Trooper A: Level 58 (highest level of non-boss), 600 HP

So as you can see for yourself, Rune of Punishment might not be able to deal as much damage as True Fire/Water/Wind/Earth/Lightning Rune. But the enemies are weaker too. So it sort of balances out one or the other anyways.

Quote:
you can use the rage rune + flowing rune tactic more than 2 times for an entire battle. The damage dealt would be higher than that of Everlasting Mercy as the battle progresses.

That's true. However, that's not specific Rune of Punishmet issue. It happens to every single rune that level 4 MP is less than level 2 or level 3 MP. For you to say "I can use Flowing Level 2 and Rage Level 3 more than using Rune of Punishment Level 4" is pointless since it happens to every single other rune as well. You can also say that you can use Thunder Rune Level 3 spell more than Souleater Rune Level 4 spell that in the end you deal more damage with Thunder Rune. Does that make Souleater Rune crap too?

Quote:
But if you use the rage + flowing rune combo, you only use 1 MP (level 3 or 4 MP for rage rune and level 2 MP for flowing rune) for two different characters.

Exactly why Rune of Punishment is not crap. You need to spend 1 MP each of Rage and Flowing Rune to do something that is similar of what can be done with 1 MP of Rune of Punishment.

Quote:
There is also the fact that if you use Everlasting Mercy, Lazlo won't be healed. So you'll have to spend another MP to heal him.

Unfortunately, it is entirely situational. What if Lazlo doesn't need healing? What if you can use that "Rush" option? My point is, you have to consider the situation too. If you see that all 4 characters need to be healed, then by all means use Kindness Rain. But if say only Kika needs healing, why waste Kindness Rain (or whatever single target healing) when you can heal while attacking at the same time?

Quote:
Therefore, using Everlasting Mercy twice would be a waste of MP if you want Lazlo to be healed.

Exactly. And that is why you shouldn't use Everlasting Mercy if you want Lazlo to be healed. Same with if you want to attack the enemy, you wouldn't use Kindness Rain. You just have to know when to use the spell.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Quote:

Exactly why Rune of Punishment is not crap. You need to spend 1 MP each of Rage and Flowing Rune to do something that is similar of what can be done with 1 MP of Rune of Punishment.


I think he means that 1 lvl 3 MP abd 1 lvl 2 MP is not worth as much as 1 lvl 4 Mp. I think

Since we are at it...why not compare the ST RoP to the other Runes? I believe the RoP is far stronger in ST.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 3:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Quote:
I think he means that 1 lvl 3 MP abd 1 lvl 2 MP is not worth as much as 1 lvl 4 Mp. I think

I know that, but regardless of what level the MP is, it's still 2 MP being used by 2 different characters to do something that is similar of what 1 MP being used if you use Everlasting Mercy though it is a level 4 MP.

This "2 characters vs 1 character" is especially important because Suikoden IV only has 4 people in a party. Therefore, if Everlasting Mercy can replace pretty much Rage+Flowing, that leaves another character to do something extra that Rage+Flowing cannot do.
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Rainrir

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 5:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Nevertheless, the Rune of Punishment was never really a very big help in battles. I guess that is the reason why everyone think it sucked.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 11:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

I would argue that the Evertlsting Mercy will require you to use another healing spell. If you are using it for its maximum effect, that is healing your partry and hurting theirs, then it is assumed that your entre party is low on life. When the entire party is low on life, it is normally from an attack tht hits everyone in your party, not lotsof hits to each member. This means it hits Lazlo as well. But, if your healing doesn't hit Lazlo, you'll need to use anoter spell to heal him, meaning that trwo speels will ahve to be used to heal your party. Now, it may not be two level four spells, it could just be a level four and a level one or level two spell, but that fact is that you still use another character's turn. Putting into consideration that you usually send out your most powerful spellsin the beginning when fighting a boss and often all spells are not used up, then using everlasting mercy would lower your damgte capabilities.

Also, I am moving this section of ths thread to a different thread, as we are going off topic from the original topic.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Quote:
I would argue that the Evertlsting Mercy will require you to use another healing spell.

There is nothing to be argued about this. It is a fact that Everlasting Mercy cannot heal Lazlo (and hence, require a second character to heal Lazlo OR the usage of "Rush" option). Point is acknowledged and understood.

Quote:
If you are using it for its maximum effect, that is healing your partry and hurting theirs, then it is assumed that your entre party is low on life.

Not exactly accurate. If we are using it for its maximum effect, then it is healing the 3 allies and hurting all enemies. Not healing all of the party members as we all know that Everlasting Mercy cannot heal Lazlo.

Quote:
When the entire party is low on life, it is normally from an attack tht hits everyone in your party, not lotsof hits to each member. This means it hits Lazlo as well. But, if your healing doesn't hit Lazlo, you'll need to use anoter spell to heal him, meaning that trwo speels will ahve to be used to heal your party. Now, it may not be two level four spells, it could just be a level four and a level one or level two spell, but that fact is that you still use another character's turn.

If you know that all of your allies are hurt and in need of healing. And if you know that Everlasting Mercy cannot heal Lazlo. Why would you want to use Everlasting Mercy anyways? Everlasting Mercy is not meant to be used to heal everyone (hence, why it can't heal Lazlo). If you chose to use Everlasting Mercy in such situation, then it's simply your own tactical error in wasting the character's turn.

Using a spell in a situation that it is not meant to be used does not mean that the rune is useless. I can't complain if I ended up doing 0 damage with Earthquake when facing flying enemies, can I?

If you see that only 1 of your ally is hurt badly, would you use Kindness Drop/Rain instead of Everlasting Mercy (assuming MP is not an issue)? Not really. Everlasting Mercy would heal that ally and deal damage. Why use a spell that only heals instead?

People often underestimate Rune of Punishment because it doesn't do huge numbers. But that doesn't mean that it's crap or useless or even "normal". It's still better than most. It's just not as obvious when compared to previous True Runes in previous Suikoden games. However, it is a fact that True Runes in Suikoden IV were made to be weaker so not to overpower them (as shown by how Souleater in Suikoden IV was significantly weaker compared to the one in Suikoden I).
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Quote:
If you know that all of your allies are hurt and in need of healing. And if you know that Everlasting Mercy cannot heal Lazlo. Why would you want to use Everlasting Mercy anyways? Everlasting Mercy is not meant to be used to heal everyone (hence, why it can't heal Lazlo). If you chose to use Everlasting Mercy in such situation, then it's simply your own tactical error in wasting the character's turn.


One thing to consider in using spells is the practicality of their usage. The two most commons needs of helaing are from an attack that hits all your party members, or for a large attack against one party member.

Of the two most common needs for healing, the RoP only satisifes the needs of the second one. Given, that the situation does arise, although seldomly, when you will have two characters low on health, the RoP becomes more useful, but as I said, this does not hapen very much.

If we look at it this way, then the healing of the RoP losses much of it's practical usage. Times when you can use Everlasting Mercy to its full efect, with out using another spell to heal Lazlo are few and far between, meaning its more common usage is to heal one party member and do damage. If this is the case, then I would argue that the cylone's rune 4th level spell is more useful, as it satisifes both the most common healing need and does damage, although a smaller amount.

Also, going by your statement:
Quote:
This "2 characters vs 1 character" is especially important because Suikoden IV only has 4 people in a party. Therefore, if Everlasting Mercy can replace pretty much Rage+Flowing, that leaves another character to do something extra that Rage+Flowing cannot do.


I find that the first statement quoted here contradicts this statement, as the flowing+rage combo heals everyone and you have stated that you shouldn't use the RoP to heal everyone, meaning that the RoP does not replace the flowing+rage combo.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Rainrir wrote:
Nevertheless, the Rune of Punishment was never really a very big help in battles. I guess that is the reason why everyone think it sucked.


in the begining no it wasn't a very big help, but towards the end of the game it was some what better with it's finally spell and the first spell since they did some good damange. the 2nd spell was a meh but the 3rd spell was just a waste since it had a chance to fail not like deadly fingertips and hell from the soul eater. but like i have said tons of times before and if you had played tactics before you'll find out the rune of punishment is by far the best rune in that game.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Quote:
Given, that the situation does arise, although seldomly, when you will have two characters low on health, the RoP becomes more useful, but as I said, this does not hapen very much.

I personally don't think that this is true. My memory might be a bit hazy since it has been a while since I played Suikoden IV, but I don't remember the bosses using "attack all enemies" *that* often at all (example: if a boss fight lasts for 5 turns, I don't think the boss ended up using 3+ "attack all" moves, leaving the boss to deal single-target attack more than attack all in which Everlasting Mercy can be useful). Otherwise, I'd ended up using Kindness Rain so often (which I don't remember doing so). But if you have proof, then I'll gladly conceed this point.

Quote:
Times when you can use Everlasting Mercy to its full efect, with out using another spell to heal Lazlo are few and far between, meaning its more common usage is to heal one party member and do damage. If this is the case, then I would argue that the cylone's rune 4th level spell is more useful, as it satisifes both the most common healing need and does damage, although a smaller amount.

If that is indeed the case, then I'd agree that Cyclone Rune would be more useful than Everlasting Mercy. But I don't think that it was the case because I don't remember that bosses used "attack all" moves as often as you made it sound. But once again, if you do have proof, then I'll gladly conceed this point.

Quote:
I find that the first statement quoted here contradicts this statement, as the flowing+rage combo heals everyone and you have stated that you shouldn't use the RoP to heal everyone, meaning that the RoP does not replace the flowing+rage combo.

It didn't contradict the first statement. That's why I carefully said "pretty much replaced" instead of saying "(fully) replaced". "Pretty much replaced" was meant to refer to the fact that Everlasting Mercy did almost the same thing but different that it didn't fully replace Rage+Flowing (obviously because Everlasting Mercy couldn't heal Lazlo). Just like if you said "Well chicken drumstick is pretty much the same as chicken wings" when you're about to cook something that needs chicken meat in it.

So Everlasting Mercy can replace Rage+Flowing combo for certain situations (in which Lazlo needs no healing) but not during the situations where Lazlo needs healing. Pretty much replacing, but not exactly replacing.

EDIT: One last thing, Timbo. I'm interested in reading your comment regarding Suikoden IV's Souleater Rune. Would you rate it better than Rune of Punishment?
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Quote:
If that is indeed the case, then I'd agree that Cyclone Rune would be more useful than Everlasting Mercy


Don't be so fast to concede that. Cyclone's spell requires you to sacrifice attack power for health. If I am not mistaken, more health healed = less damage done.

In any case, the RoP doesn't suck. It just DOESN'T excel as much as we would expect of a True Rune. Especially since the game makes a BIG emphasis on its destructive power. Perhaps everyone was affected by the fact, that the RoP isn't much better then the advanced elemental runes. You know..the letdown effect.

It would be alot better if RoP did alot of damage to the user and its targets. In my memory, trying to make a "cursed ability" usable (that means with low penalties and moderate power) just makes it unwieldy and lackluster in comparison to other "normal" abilities.
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Black Pesmerga wrote:
[
Why is it unfair? It's actually fair because we're comparing both True Runes that appeared in Suikoden IV.


You're taking me way too seriously, my friend. I was being completely facetious. You can make your comparisons however you find them most valid.

Quote:

Who said that I'm using the level 4 spell against normal groups of enemies? Do you not remember that the Final Boss (Giant Tree) is not a single-target enemy? Not to mention that it's "non-elemental" attack too which means that it's not going to get resisted or absorbed. And if I'm not mistaken, all final bosses are multiple-target? Making this even more useful.


Again, you're taking me too seriously. I never implied you were using the spell against normal enemies. It was a rhetorical question meant to point out that against most game bosses, Everlasting Mercy does less damage than Judgement. Against the Great Tree, which is a three target boss, it's an equal amount of damage inflicted. It would only be more damage against the Beast Rune or the Wind Rincar.

I find that citing final boss battles for this example is not entirely valid. You only fight one final boss per game, after all.

Quote:

I agree. However, I've already pointed out that Rune of Punishment can also heal 3 allies for a total of 1500 HP, something that Souleater cannot do. So that's 500 damage PLUS 1500 HP healed against 1 enemy compared to 1500 damage to 1 enemy if using Souleater.


Fair enough. I used Everlasting Mercy as my only heal against the Great Tree, if I recall correctly. However, you may not always require the healing, so it can be wasted sometimes...or you may need to heal Lazlo, which means that the heal is not as effective as a true global heal that you find on Water/Flowing or Cyclone Runes. Of course, Lazlo may not need healing, or (as you say later in this post I'm quoting) you might have the Rush option available. Basically, the healing portion of Everlasting Mercy is very situational.

I never said that the spell was bad. I just don't find it as useful as you say that it is. I found it to be slightly underwhelming. Part of that is probably bias, however, for having to wait so long to get the spell, and really expecting something deadly considering how the Rune of Punishment acts in the cutscene modes.

Even within the situation of Suikoden IV, Judgement was the staple damage dealer I used to inflict massive harm on the Great Tree. It does so much damage so quickly with Ted's remarkably high magic that you can put away parts of the Great Tree very easily.

Quote:

I'm sorry, but I disagree with the word "conclusion". It's not conclusive to compare True Runes from different game as if they're the same.


Okay. That's fine, I cede this point to you.

The topic is about the usefulness of the Rune of Punishment, so I'm perfectly free to compare how useful True Runes from different games were in their own game.

In that case, the True Fire, True Water, and True Earth Runes are all inferior to the Rune of Punishment, but True Lightning and the Soul Eater rank far above it. That's Soul Eater in either Suikoden I OR Suikoden IV, where it became my staple weapon from the instant Ted joined my party until the end of the game. Actually, I guess True Wind is inferior too, since it was totally useless since Luc was going to win any battle in his chapter anyway.

Allow my to redraw my conclusions, since my chart wasn't to your liking:

True Fire - It hurts your own people, and can be hard to use. Also, none of the three people who can equip it have very good proficiency with Lightning. Chris is way too strong physically to bother trying to use magic she's crappy with, Hugo has decent synergy with the Rune, but he can't help to knock out the disadvantage of burning your own party to death. Geddoe is extremely good with his True Lightning, so it's a horrible waste to give him True Fire. I barely used True Fire at all, I actually consider it to be the most useless of all True Runes.

True Water - It's not any better than any other good healing Rune (Flowing, Cyclone, Water) in terms of what it can do, it simply casts Mother Ocean more times. So what? Its top level damage spell is pretty mediocre. I didn't have much use for it.

True Earth - All that powerful magic is wasted on the end boss, who is all floating. Otherwise, it's a decent Rune, but I've never found the defensive earth spells to be all that useful, since it's hard to predict when the enemy will use Magic. Particularly in Suikoden III with the introduction of the 'chant time' feature, it's hard to make sure your spell goes off when you want it to. I used this one a couple times to canopy defense my team against the Wind Rincar, and a couple times against other big enemies for Earthquake and ... I forget what the level 4 is called. Just kind of a mediocre Rune in my opinion.

True Wind - I include this only for the sake of completeness. It's insanely powerful, yes, but it's useless because Luc could easily win any of the battles in his chapter with Pale Gate Magic, or whatever Sarah has, and so on.

Rune of Punishment - It was extremely valuable early-game for the huge damage of Eternal Ordeal. Since Suikoden IV doesn't have a lot of 'special character Runes' floating around to eclipse it, and you need offensive power against early bosses and tough enemies, I find it very valuable. Even into the mid-game, it did more damage than other level 1 spells, so it was useful against treasure boss type enemies, or bosses. Later in the game, I found its usefulness diminished quickly since the Level 2 and 3 spells on the Rune were pretty useless for me. I never once had the level 3 spell successfully kill a single enemy ever. I used it many times, in case you were wondering. The Level 2 spell was mediocre even when I first had it, but became completely obsolete the moment I started to pick up better Runes like Rage, Mother Earth, and the Soul Eater. I found it useful later in the game again once it received Everlasting Mercy, but it came so late that I was a bit underwhelmed.

True Lightning - This Rune was exceptionally good. It doesn't have the drawback of True Fire burning your own party, but it does ridiculous crazy amounts of damage. I used it as a boss killer against any of the late bosses, especially the Wind Rincar. I also used its lower spells to mop up stronger groups of enemies, and saved mostly the heavy ammunition for boss fights. Geddoe's high proficiency with this Rune made it an extremely important weapon for me.

Soul Eater (Suikoden IV) - This became my staple damage dealer basically as soon as Ted joined my party. Its level 2 spell is extremely good, even if 1 and 3 are pretty mediocre. I never found either one to be all that useful, even with the hp draining effect. Its Level 4 was my main slayer for late-game enemies like Angel Hairballs and the Great Tree.

Soul Eater (Suikoden I) - I used this Rune to clean up enemy groups to level up characters when I wanted to use them, or when I was exiting dungeons if I didn't feel like fighting anymore or I'd been depleted by a boss. I used Deadly Fingertips to assassinate key enemies in random encounters (like big dragon type things) so they couldn't spray my party with crap and wear them down. Due to Suikoden I's crappy inventory system, it was hard to carry enough supplies to heal up when needed, so it was crucial to preserve the party when possible. Levels 2 and 4 were premium damage dealers both against harder encounters and against bosses, since they are powerful and non-elemental in nature, and backed by Tir's high stats.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Quote:

True Fire - It hurts your own people, and can be hard to use. Also, none of the three people who can equip it have very good proficiency with Lightning. Chris is way too strong physically to bother trying to use magic she's crappy with, Hugo has decent synergy with the Rune, but he can't help to knock out the disadvantage of burning your own party to death. Geddoe is extremely good with his True Lightning, so it's a horrible waste to give him True Fire. I barely used True Fire at all, I actually consider it to be the most useless of all True Runes.


Except its second last spell, which is pretty useful AND powerful. Hugo can easily reach the stage where he has 4 lvl 3 MP with a little luck and stone manipulation (I got it in my game...in my memory). The second last spell in the TFR only targets one enemy and does 1200 to one target. Which is better then almost every other single attack spell on all other runes OTHER then TLR.

The last spell can also be used as an effective opening spell. But you have to customise Hugo/Geddoe to do so. Its damage is essentially the highest of all the all-enemy targeting spells. The proficieny problem isn't something that cannot be overcomed...with the "relative abundance" of the elemental rings (confirm 3 rings if I am not wrong).

The TFR isn't as bad as you make it out to be.

Quote:

True Water - It's not any better than any other good healing Rune (Flowing, Cyclone, Water) in terms of what it can do, it simply casts Mother Ocean more times. So what? Its top level damage spell is pretty mediocre. I didn't have much use for it.


Its pretty much the ONLY revive spell amongst the true runes. Its useful if you aren't overleveled/geared for the final boss (HE WILL KNOCK someone out). Its final spell doesn't do much, but its decent damage to all targets without an restriction (no self-nuke, no-single target, no-ground only condition). The best of all healing runes (known to man) with Healing Rain at 9 times...

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True Earth - All that powerful magic is wasted on the end boss, who is all floating. Otherwise, it's a decent Rune, but I've never found the defensive earth spells to be all that useful, since it's hard to predict when the enemy will use Magic. Particularly in Suikoden III with the introduction of the 'chant time' feature, it's hard to make sure your spell goes off when you want it to. I used this one a couple times to canopy defense my team against the Wind Rune Incarnation, and a couple times against other big enemies for Earthquake and ... I forget what the level 4 is called. Just kind of a mediocre Rune in my opinion.


Yeah agreed. But its Earth spells, combined with Sasarai's high MP, MAG and Proficiency, makes him THE random mob clearer amonst the true rune holders. This rune out damages the cyclone rune and has no penalty (other then flying). Useless against the final boss, but Canopy Defense lasts until magic is casted on the target, which will HAPPEN OFTEN on the final boss. Quite a lifesaver.

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True Wind - I include this only for the sake of completeness. It's insanely powerful, yes, but it's useless because Luc could easily win any of the battles in his chapter with Pale Gate Magic, or whatever Sarah has, and so on.


Its a boss-rune. Its suppose to be powerful LOL.

The RoP has the problem of being rather underwhelming from the second level onwards. But it does offer a good set of abilities, its just that it cannot make up for the weak lvl2 and lvl3 it has. It is, at least in its S4 Version, slightly inferior to the othe True Runes we see before.

That is mostly because the runes are DESIGNED to do what they are supposed to do. How good a rune is is linked to how much it excels in the area it is suppose to EXCEL in (story-wise).

TFR does alot of damage over a wide area, but will hurt allies.
TLR does alot of damage, but to one target only.
SE is suppose to KO opponents ASAP
TWR is suppose to have a little of everyone's power
TWR(water) is supposed to be uber healing
TER is supposed to give powerful support
RoP is supposed to do ALOT of damage at the expense of the user

TFR, TLR, TWR, SE(1) and TWR(Water) all fulfills this roles effectively. Though TFR's fault is that it does its job TOO well.

RoP, TER and SE(4) does NOT do what it is supposed to do. TER has too much attack spells and insufficient support spells. RoP doesn't do enough damage to justify its drawback and SE(4) lost its original design to bring death ASAP. They do not fill their supposed roles at all. Which is why they seem to suck when compared to the other runes which DO fulfill their roles.
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