What's your Team in the final Battles? (Spoilers a-plenty)

[Starslasher]

As the title suggests, who did you use to fight in the last battles. Also tell me how you used them.

As the title suggests, there's going to be big spoilers here. So leave if you want to be surprised.



For me, i used Kyril, Kika, Andarc, Seneca, Ornella, Busk, Tristan, Flare, Corselia and Coop in the first battle. In that, i let the enemies come to me, and i had Tristan and Busk Mounted on the Owls and had them knock down the Rune Cannnons. Tristan's part was to use the M.Earth Rune on Iskas, wherever possible. Flare and Seneca were the rangers, obviously, and Corselia is the primary healer. Kika, Ornella and Kyril were pretty much the vanguard, but i kept kyril more for reserve. I was really struggling then. But with some luck i beat Iskas.

In the second battle, i used the same people. But i had Busk and a few other equip Earth Force Beads to weaken that monster Iskas. It really did help. Kyril was able to pull off more than 200 damage to him that way, and then Andarc finished him off with a Thunder Runner.
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Guardian of Greenhill & Devoted Protector of Oulan



Bork! Bork! Bork!

[Scarlet Assassin]

Kyril, Andarc, Seneca, Corselia, Busk, Ornella, Lino, Mizuki, Eugene, and Simeon. Euguene, Kryil, Seneca, Busk, Lino, Mizuki, and Ornella were enough to beat down everything that came their way. IN the second figh ti used the same team and it was Corselia and Kyril using th icecrush attack that took down giant fish Iskas. As a precautionary measure in this fight I loaded up every character with mother earth beads and used them each turn, but it wasn't until the evil eye used earth that I took the fish down. There's something quite satisfying about watching Corselia kill Iskas though.
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Chief of Beat-em-up Honeys Division, Devoted Protector of Lady Tifa Lockhart

[Parallax]

I found the final battle to be quite easy...I used the same party I'd been using the entire time, which was a seemingly random conglomeration of element tiles and such. My basic strategy in the first battle was to strike directly at Iskas. (I got an S-Rank in the first battle)...I pretty much just ran him down, spreading doom across the map with my ranged attacks and spells from Lazlo.

My entire team was equipped with Godspeed and Extra Move to give me maximum mobility. I found it was better to just end these battles as quickly as possible. Combined with Battle Lust, Critical Hit, etc. to maximize damage output, it proved a good combination for me.

Kyril - Mainly used to directly attack the boss. I kept him mostly as reserve otherwise, bringing him up to land big hits on enemies when the opportunity arose, but mostly using the first level spell on his Swallow Rune and keeping him out of the main fighting. I finished Iskas with Kyril's level three Swallow Rune spell. I gave him the Berserker Belt and pretty much all the attack up items I had, which lowered his physical accuracy something fierce, so I stuck to Rune combat.

Seneca - My main ranged fighter. I really beefed the hell out of Seneca, she was loaded down with S-Rank tokens and defensive items, and lots of firepower. It still annoys me to this day that Seneca can't use the Eagle Rune, but I couldn't bear to part with her. She provided good ranged damage.

Mizuki - My point girl. The fact that she's essentially impossible to hit, combined with her good mobility (due to the skills) and making clever use of her Shrike Impale to move even further, allowed me to get good position with her. Not too much to say about Mizuki...most of you are probably pretty familiar with her skills and abilities.

Sigurd - Equipped with an Eagle Rune to extend his range and give me some distance power, Sigurd was part of the main attack force. I used him to pick off weakened enemies from a distance, or to weaken enemies to be picked off by Kate or Seneca (or Lazlo's Rune). Didn't bother having him join the fighting against Iskas, but rather sent him out to bring down the Rune Cannons.

Hervey - Hervey was pretty under levelled for this battle, as I had been using a core group of eight for some time. However, his damage output gets huge really fast, so I used him as a backup fighter, attacking wounded enemies from behind and finishing them, then pulling back to a safe distance.

Kika - Much like Hervey, Kika was underlevelled, but it didn't affect her as much with her Falcon Rune. I used her in pretty much the same fashion, moving up a bit and using an appropriate Falcon spell, then using Extra Move to pull back. I tried to keep her largely out of harm's way.

Kate - She and Sigurd formed a ranged duet, using the Eagle Rune to strike at enemies and pick them off to clear the way up to Iskas. However, Kate's superior evade made her more of the "point" of the duo, so she was mostly used to weaken enemies so that Sigurd or Lazlo could drop them.

Lazlo - A large part of my battle strategy revolved around the Rune of Punishment. I can't say enough good things about it in Suikoden Tactics. I found it to be a bit lackluster in Suikoden IV when stacked up against any of the other True Runes. However, in Suikoden Tactics, Double-Edged Sword could kill most enemies provided it was positioned right. Considering the excellent range of the Rune, I mostly used Double-Edged Sword to either pick off enemies (or Rune Cannons, as the case may have been) or to badly weaken them to eat them with one of my other ranged combatants. At close range, Lazlo's five attacks and good damage put a quick end to the enemies I faced.

Ornela - In terms of raw physical power, Ornela and Kyril were my heaviest fighters. Kyril was a bit stronger, but not quite as fast, and without as many line-range spells as Ornela's Unicorn Rune. I used her to clear the enemies right around Iskas and begin my attack on him, (since Lightning is her native element as well) ...and then I switched the elemental tiles for the finishing blow with Kyril.

Paula - Paula really isn't anything special, I just like her, so she got a spot on my final team. I gave her a Cyclone Sword Rune, which was mostly useless given the massive element changes that happened all the time. I used her to change elemental tiles that were off the "changing" tiles to undermine the enemy soldiers, or to increase Lazlo's or Seneca's combat power. She had some neat items, so she was also a pretty effective fighter, and I sent her off to dispatch one of the Rune Cannons once most of the guards were dead.

The second battle I found to be marginally more "difficult", if considerably shorter. I left my two weaker characters (Kika and Hervey) out of this one entirely. Giant-Fish-Iskas dealt out a lot of damage, but pretty much regardless of that, I charged him. I used the Rune of Punishment to heal all of my troops at one point, and then I converged on him and unloaded with everything. I threw all my best Runes at him, and then finished with 900 damage or so from Kyril's Swallow Rune.

I dunno, seemed pretty standard here.
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He's a victim - not a perp - and I'm choosing to let him go.

[fuji]

Hero4, Kika, Seneca and Roget were the main push for my team. I used that group every chance I could (Before Roget it was Maxine). They were the lead battle group going after the most threatening enemy. They were all about 2 levels ahead of anyone else on my team.

Since elements weren't that important since there was a healthy mix in the enemies, I just chose to go with my fire and water groups. Kyril, Millay and Maxine formed the second group and Mizuki, Flare (on Great Owl) and Snowe formed the third. I have a group of 3-4 characters for every element who each have different battle styles that I always use together.
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______ "We're still flying"

___ "That's not much"

"It's enough"

[Wolf Stew]

I just finished Rhapsodia for the 2nd time last week. My final party depends on who is alive, first of all. I don't usually restart the PS2 when characters die, so I lose a few along the way. I can never keep Reinbach or Charlemagne alive, for example. Or Trishtan. Those 3 always die at the first chance they get.

My final party was:
Kyril - good for bringing down Iskas, especially with his swallow rune.
Seneca - she's good for attacking things at a long-distance.
Andarc - he's good for attacking things long-distance with his lightning rune, or any other rune you fix on him.
Kika - just a good melee fighter, in general. She doesn't take damage well, though.
Karl - he's good, because he can take a lot of damage and you can put him up front, where all the action is.
Corselia - I always keep her in the back, and use to her heal, basically.
Flare (mounted on an owl) - good for flying to the chests and getting the treasure inside them, and for attacking things long distance.
Akaghi - he's almost always in my party anyway, so I'm just used to him being there. He dishes out big damage, too.
Mizuki - same as Akaghi, she's always in my party anyway. I like her because she of her range of moment, I guess.
Jewel (mounted on an owl) - She's among the most consistent at dealing at big damage, from what I can tell.

[Yontory]

I used a lot of character and switch them often. Basically, i didnt have any permanent character. I choose my fighter based on situation at hand.

When fighting Iskas (human) I use Kyril, Trishtan mounted on kangacorn, Mitsuba, Nalleo, Flare mounted on owl, Frederica mounted on owl, Jeane, Corselia. In the middle of the battle i replace Flare with Kate, and Frederica for Mizuki. Then near Iskas when Jeane and Corselia cant jump i repelace them with Keneth and Gretchen. Then I realize Gretchen was too slow, i need to get near Iskas as fast as i can so change her with Millay. Getting nearer to Iskas i replace Mitsuba with Kika to deal a falcon slash, my secret weapon.

Why i choose them? I dunno. all of my character was a good character and very useful. I have Ornella, Busk, Millay, Karl, Lino, Coop, and Akaghi ready to replace fighter and I have Simeon, Maxine, Roget, and Andarc to replace magician. I have Seneca ready to replace Keneth in case Kika couldnt finish Iskas but i dont need to unleashed my last secret weapon because Nalleo, Kika, and Kyril could do the job.

When fighting Iskas (Fish) I use Ornella and Trishtan as a tank both mounted on Kangacorn. I choose Trishtan because he had a highest def among my other character, and Ornella as his partner because she had a high speed for a tank. Then I use four magician: Maxine with rage, Corselia with Cyclone, Simeon with Flowing, and Jeane with Thunder. I didnt use roget because Corselia have higher mag and evade. I dont use Andarc because he's slow. Jeane was slower, but she got way better mag. Then I use Flare and Frederica again mounted on owl. And accompanying Kyril is Seneca. I choose her because she's my ace.

In the middle of the battle i replace Flare and Frederica with Kika and Mizuki. They have a great rune and high critical rate combined with berserker belt and skill boosting equipment to take care the left wing and right wing enemies alone without making me worry so Kyril and Seneca could sneak into Iskas and finish the job.
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