Stars you ignored/neglected in S4..now party mainstays?

[Thief]

I have used all the Support characters in different occassions, but never Ema. How best should I use her abilities? I dare say that she is easily one of the worst healers in the game given her special ability, so there must be something else that she's good at.

I use Carrie for healing purposes most of the time, until I get Yu. Yu was the best Healing support in S4, and he still is arguably the best support character in Tactics. I could not see how "he was as useless as they come" back then, and I still cannot.

[Hawk Thanatos]

At the end of Suikoden IV the eight characters I used for the final battles were Lazlo, Jeane, Kika, Gretchen (Team 1) and Snowe, Ted and two other characters who I can't remember right now (Team 2).

And now in Tactics the only characters who I use often that I didn't in IV are Millay, Jeremy, Maxine and Rachel. I'll probably give Mizuki and Karl a try later since I heard that they're good.

I still use Lazlo, Jeane, Kika and Gretchen from my SIV party but Snowe gets used less often.

[Falcon Critical]

I dont have Yu yet but I must say Carrie has the potential at least to be insanely useful. She has an AOE heal around herself, she can use it EVERY round and it is really quite powerful.

I say "the potential" because I've not needed any real healing for a long time in this game... instead I just park characters on their elemental squares and they're fine XD

Gary however - he truly is useful, but not as you might expect. His battle song thingy I still haven't seen it make any real difference to attack or defense or anything, he is however able to wear heavy armors and has one of the highest defenses in my entire team. Since he cannot counter or indeed fight at all, I use him to pin enemies in corners... and also to train weaker characters. You get a lot of experience for hitting high level enemies/characters right? Well hit Gary... he wont die, he wont counterattack.
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[Elzamine]

Out of support characters, I've been using cedric a lot lol. He gets to the exits in obel ruins a lot, and his voice makes me laugh ehehee. The extra evasion boost is always nice too.

Good thought on Gary, Falcon. I suppose you have a good point, just raise him high, he won't hit back. I never tend to hit my own people because I'm scared they'll die, but given the level match up he won't go down. I'll give it a try when I'm not collecting S rank items ^^
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-My DeviantArt-

[Falcon Critical]

Like in FF Tactics basically every battle I do ends up being an item searching marathon, and therefore it is good to have a way to stop the enemies from doing any damage without ending the level.

In tactics I loved Mustadio that little legend - Arm Aim, Leg Aim, Arm Aim, Leg Aim... while Rafa ran around the deep dungeon searching for those items. In Suiko Tactics I need to be a little more creative - I've been using the archers with Shadow Weave to hold one enemy down and its working pretty well, however as I advance I'm going to want more indefinite ways of holding enemies back. Archers and support characters cannot counter attack so they are good for cordoning off monsters... and Gary like I said has great defense for that.

This is of course not always required, in the Obel Ruins I can safely dispatch all the enemies and then waste time running my fighters around in circles or acting out stories while Rene does her thing.
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[Elzamine]

Most of the time you have an elemental spirit floating around though, makes it easier to treasure hunt with those too. That or just use a mage to put a lesser enemy to sleep while rene runs around ^^
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-My DeviantArt-

[fuji]

Trishtan has probably seen the greatest difference in use between the two games.

Others who were ignored but are now mainstays are:

Mizuki -- shrike + untouchable evd -> mage assassin
Flare -- giant owl + owl rune -> mobile sniper
Sigurd -- Eagle rune is amazing
Kate -- same as sigurd, but i bring only one depending on elemental need.
Dario -- great tank with decent damage output.

I always used Kika and Millay in S4, and I am still using them whenever I can.
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______ "We're still flying"

___ "That's not much"

"It's enough"

[squall20005]

lol i have nothing 2 say....coz all words have been said by them (uhhh) so i can only agree with them but for the s4 part....i have been using all chars bcoz i trained all 2 lvl 99 :P except reinhold ccoz u cant train him.
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oh yeah i'll **** you in the face. Kan Ni Na la Ci Bai

[Justice Johnny]

Grrrrr... no Wendel love? She's pretty much Mizuki's twin, except Lion Rune's second skill > Shrike Rune's when it comes to wiping out enemies quickly. She doesn't have any good will with anyone though... which sucks. :(

Eugene, I thought at first with Kangacorn was pretty great, then came Trishtan. Wow. Like wow. Very great improvement from Suikoden IV. He takes hits like nobody's business, and counterattacks like 80% of the time.

Of course, I didn't neglect Millay during Suikoden IV. She was my ultimate damage dealer, and in Tactics, she still is and I just have to mention it. She's just plain awesome. Great defensive skills (Parry, Shield Protect), and she can counterattack for a hefty amount of damage too. Not to mention the stats I loved her for in IV are still the ones in Tactics (STR, SKL, SPD, LUK). I don't think she even has any weak point!!!

Flare is also pretty great. I don't have the Giant Owl thing yet, but I find that she may be the best candidate for it. I didn't use her much during IV because I had other awesome characters (Millay, Ameria and Maxine) by the time I got her anyway.

And believe it or not, I'm putting Lazlo down in this list too! LOL I neglected him for most of the game in Suikoden IV because he had wretched stats (EVA as only strong point wtf), but now he has earned my respect because his stats are OFF THE ROOF, and his awesome Punishment Magic just owns your ass!!!

Uh... who else? I don't have Yu yet, but agreed about Carrie. She's a pretty great healer, and keeping her in wind tiles is pretty easy because most of my characters are equipped with Wing Mail right now anyway. When she's in a wind elemental tile, she heals for more than half of the characters' HP, which is quite impressive. If Yu's better than that, then I would love him even more than Carrie!!! Well maybe not even more, since he's not as hot as her and all. :P

Noah's also great with her Steal and UNGODLY Dodge at the time you recruit her. The Nay-Kobold Garb also gives great defense so she's pretty stable to keep in the party, at least for the moment. Her game in Suikoden IV, however, was EVIL!!! :x

I always thought Kika was overrated in IV, and still is in Tactics, but the difference is, I might actually use her, mainly because of her Cooperation Attack with Lazlo. And seeing Lazlo hit five times, I can imagine her doing the same, which would be AWESOME, and the Falcon Rune is a pretty great rune too.


In conclusion, only three neglected Suikoden IV characters are party mainstays for me: Trishtan, Lazlo and Flare. Kika's a semi-mainstay, and Millay was never neglected, because I <3 her. :oops:
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"Oranges can't fit into circles because rectangles are made of cheese."

[El Regrs]

Rita. Though I never used her in S4, she seems pretty strong to me in Tactics. :shock: She's the one who not only counters the most at her low levels, but she'll smash at a better rate than someone like Axel, while countering!

[Zahak]

I always did use Sigurd and Hervey, what I dont get in Tactics, so of your characters will die, if they lose, when that happeneds I just retry.
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"Even if the morrow is barren of promises nothing shall forstall my return."- Genesis

[VikiFanatic]

Let's see. There are so many characters here in Tactics that we're very mediocre in IV and are now good additions for the party.

The godliness of Millay in battle is really amazing. She's a melee tank, with Shield Guard abilities, and it's also a + that she can Ride all the cavalry animals. Her ability to mount protect her from the number of water elemental fields on the game and she's still pretty mean with the sword of Rage.

Rita wasn't such a good fighter before but had the ability to support others. Her power can be really impressive if you build her right. She's amazing since you can get her early on. Thunder Sword Rune works best along with Killer!

Mitsuba was never used in my party, but she's pretty much a good addition here. Even though Chameleon gives her a risk to use. You can still control the outcome. Since you can rest for the days to go by anyway.

Kate is an amazing longrange character. I rarely used her in IV but her kunais are lifesavers. Especially in Thunder themed fields.

Flare is also amazing for a party member. She can do longrange attacks while on an owl and does best against annoying opponents that are approaching. She was useless in my game in IV but she's pretty much permanent in my party...

and of course, Karl. I didn't use him before. But now, i do. He's survived even when hit by hordes of enemies. I can't ask him anything less. He's amazing... :mrgreen:
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[Justice Johnny]

Millay was NOT mediocre during Suikoden IV, VF!!!!!!! :evil:
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"Oranges can't fit into circles because rectangles are made of cheese."

[Blazing Camp]

The characters from IV that I thought were much better in Tactics is; Trishtan, Flare, Millay, and Nalleo

Trishtan is one of my best tanks. He's pretty has a high counterattack as well as good stats when he joins, And he's also the only person in my party that I use with a Kagnacorn.

Flare is the best long-range attacker. Her Hawk rune has helped me in tough battles (the Strong Arm move is one of the best attacks in the game IMO) and I usually use her to go after mages that are getting ready to cast spells.

Millay is also a tank that I can depend on. I can get her to do critical damage most of the time. The only weakenss I can think for her is her mediocre MDEF and the fact that she's not a story character.

Nalleo is decent when he starts. But leveling him up, he becomes a good fighter. I liked his unite with Dario and he can dish out good damage with the Gozz Rune.

As for charcters I did'nt use: Snowe, and Jeane. Snowe is'nt a powerhouse like he was in IV anymore, and I already have Andarc whose a much more effective lighting mage so Jeane is pretty much useless.:(

[VikiFanatic]