Solo Game. Is it possible?

[Excalibur1027]

***May Include Suikoden V SPOILERS***

I apologize if the topic has come up before, but to my knowledge, I've never heard of anyone trying to beat a Suikoden with only the hero. I've been debating this with a friend for a while and I think it might be possible. The rules would be:

1. No using any character but the hero (obviously.)

2. If a character is forced into the party they must be put in the entourage. If the entourage option is not available, they must be killed before the hero can start fighting a battle (may it be random or a boss.)

This isn't much of a problem for S5, which is why I think it would be one of the best games to try this challenge with. The annoying thing about this rule is that, to my knowledge, S1 is the only game that has your characters stay at 0 HP after the battle ends. Which means, for every other game, you'd have to kill the forced party members during the start of every battle. This would be necessary to make sure that they're not used as meat shields. Maybe they could constantly use medicine on the hero until they die, while the hero defends. That would ensure that the hero is alone and at at full HP. Then the battle could actually "start."

3. This may be against good judgment, but I think the Matilda glitch in S2 should be allowed. However, remember that you can't use Humphrey and Futch to help you level up, so good luck taking on three flamingos with a level 12 Riou.

4. In S3, whoever's chapter is being played, they are the only character who can be used. After the FC is selected, only they can participate in battle.

I admit, I really don't see a way that someone, alone, stuck with the mediocre True Fire could possibly beat the Wind Incarnation. Hugo might be able to land enough criticals, and Geddoe could use a Thunder rune, but it'd be tough. One way around this would be to make sure Chris or Hugo gets True Fire. Then, fight the last boss with the FC dead but with Geddoe, the True Lightning, and two free rune slots. Though I don't know if you would consider this cheating.

5. No New Game+ for S4 and S5.

Well, those are all the rules I can think of so far. I don't think we need a rule against potch glitches, since you really shouldn't have that much of a problem financing one character. I also don't think we need a rule against the level up cheat in S3, since it really wouldn't help Chris that much. Keep in mind that these rules are open to debate. I know many of you might not agree with them.

Any thoughts?
_________________

[Justice Johnny]

It's definitely possible. I think the most useful tools in making this challenge easier are magic scrolls. I'll just give my views on this, but I'm purely basing this on theoretical aspect.

Let's start with Suikoden V: Thanks to the entourage system, it definitely gets easier, compared to the other games. Less space in the party = more skill points for the Prince. At the start, it will REALLY be quite a challenge (you're gonna spend a lot of time building up your levels to compensate for low-rank skills), but once you get access to higher ranks for skills, it won't be much difficult anymore. Most of the game, you will probably rely on spells. One particular difficulty in doing the solo thing would be the fight at Sable, where Faylen and Faylon are forced into your party. It doesn't help that the Prince is in the front of the formation either. :| The final boss is really gonna be a challenge. I'm not sure what the nature of the final boss's attack is, whether it's purely magical, or a mix of physical and magical, so I don't really know if I should equip a Boundary Rune (0.2xmagic damage received, but 0 PDF). Also, I think it's gonna be tough to survive Ashtwal Mountains with Lyon and Zweig at their initial levels. Champion Rune wouldn't work either, because Lyon starts at Level 6, and Zweig at Level 33, so there should be some sort of special rule regarding the two of them.

That's my thoughts for Suikoden V. I might add some more later if I remember something of note. As for the other installments...

Suikoden I: it's very highly possible, because once you've succeeded in killing a character, they're down forever, at least, until you do something to recover them. There's no difficulty in major battles, because McDohl's got that trusty Soul Eater anyway. As for the Golden Hydra, it really won't be that difficult, I would imagine. McDohl's got a damn good MAG stat, so surviving hits won't be much of a problem. I imagine McDohl's inventory will be filled with Mega Medicines, and one worry is that he might have trouble if he runs out of it, so basically, he needs to kill one of the heads as fast as possible. Once he's done that, it will really be just a matter of endurance. Ugh... I just remembered a troubling boss that could be quite difficult to take on solo: the Crystal Core at Mt. Senai... As far as I remember, its physical hits are quite a pain, and that you can't dodge them. Not to mention that annoying magic attack when you've destroyed the crystals... It will be a bit difficult, but not impossible, I would think.

Suikoden II: doing the Matilda trick would definitely help, but in my opinion, it should only be done after the Muse-Highland mission. You should be at least Level 22 by then, having around 210-220 HP, and taking on the flamingos wouldn't be so hard anymore. The Knights still pose quite a difficulty though. Getting the Dragon Armor at the Greenhill-Matilda pass asap will help as well. Doing the solo thing can be quite tricky at the start though, because you get forced with five members after the Mercenary Fort burns down. The best thing you can do is run away from every single battle, until you get one thing that will definitely make life easier: the Fire Lizard Rune. Which reminds me... having Zamza would really make things easier so that he can damage himself with the Fire Dragon rune, making him more vulnerable. It gets harder once you head south, but it will be free breezing once you get your castle. I have to stress that having a Clay Guardian scroll ready would be helpful for boss battles, like the Star Dragon Sword, Abomination, Luca Blight, etc. And equipping the Fire Sealing Rune during the Greenhill liberation is also helpful (Lucia and the Bone Dragon both have fire-elemental attacks). It's also helpful for the battle with Luca. One particular boss battle that would get annoying would be the battle with Neclord at Tinto. He has a one-hit kill attack, so you should equip at least one Sacrificial Jizo. Hopefully you get lucky and he doesn't use it at all. As for the Beast Rune Incarnation... well, I would say it's possible to beat it alone, but at a very high level. I beat it with only Riou and McDohl before, but they were both at Level 99.

Suikoden III: This would probably be the hardest out of all the games at the start. You have too many characters that you would want to kill, it's insane. My advice would be just to run in every single battle. Geddoe has one chance to level up, and that is at Karaya Village when he challenges Borus. I don't know if a Clay Guardian scroll is already available at this point in the game, but that would really make things easier. Geddoe's the only character that can beat the True Wind Incarnation by himself. He gets two free rune slots (Barrier and Alertness go here), the capability to get an S in Fire Magic (Wizard Hat + two Fire Magic Rings... third accessory slot should be reserved for a magic scroll, preferably Revenge Earth), and a Magic Repel skill (Barrier will help its chances to be triggered). Skills should be: Armor Protect, Magic Resistance and Fire Magic (Damage, Parry, Freeze, Magic Repel are inherent).

A question, by the way. Is the stat-stone trick allowed? That's gonna be VERY helpful in the first three installments.


Also, should this topic be here? I think it should be in the Gameplay Questions forum, but with Suikoden V being discussed in this thread as well, I'm not really sure.
_________________
"Oranges can't fit into circles because rectangles are made of cheese."

[Excalibur1027]

Well, unless I'm going crazy, I'm quite positive I posted this in the Gameplay forum. I guess someone moved it. But, I guess it being in the S5 forum makes sense because if we're going to be discussing all the games, there will no doubt be S5 spoilers somewhere. It's still too early to discuss S5 spoilers outside this forum.

Anyways, I think the stat-stone trick should be allowed. In fact, I don't see a way that some bosses would be possible without the extra stat bonuses. I just started a solo S1 last night and I'm terrified of fighting the Zombie Dragon. I already have a Defense piece, and I remember there being a Power piece in Toran castle. Then I suppose I'll go to the Great Forest and let the Kobald homicides begin.

But, before I even try all that, I need to finish hunting for Water rune pieces. I've only found one so far, so I guess this will take a while. My resoning for going with Water pieces is because it's possible to get 9 of them very early in game, and to help with healing. I'm not sure I trust some of the elemental pieces. I remember quite a few bosses that would pose a problem for someone with an elemental weapon.

[Sophita]

I moved it. All Suikoden V information goes in the Suikoden V forums, at least for now. Eventually it'll get moved back, but for now, to keep those who don't have the game yet, we'll have to keep it here. :)

I agree that Lyon and Zweig would have to be leveled up a bit. I don't think they could survive the last part of the game if they weren't, since there is at least one boss fight that is inescapable.
_________________

SCII month continues! DueFiumi.com

John Layfield wrote:

But bubbles... children love bubbles! XD