Certin runes seem dumb

[snakebite105]

Mainly what im thinking about is Chris and Ace's Phenoix and Double tusk runes.

If they both get stunned right afterwrds whats the point.

Ace can attack the equivlent of 3 times during 4 turns and Chris 4 times of 4 turns.

Why not just take the chance to get a crit unless the enemy (Which only happens to human enemies) is drooping so you know it can finish it off.

[Belcoot4]

I do agree that Chris's phoenix rune is a rather wasteful but its very effective early on in the game. Ace on the other hand I'd have to disagree, I don't use his rune regulary but when I'm fighting enemies, who are slow and stationary, and they're paired together his attack will reach both enemies. Which I wouldn't say is really dumb. I do think that if they wanted to make as many runes as they did that stun you after usage that they should have also made runes, like in SV, like the equilibrium rune which prevents becoming stunned.

[Blutiger Engel]

I rarely use runes that have side-effects like that. I'd rather just attack twice, since it'll usually do about the same amount of damage. Also, in the case of healing or what not, the character is free to heal, use an item, or cast a spell next turn, which could sometimes be more helpful.

[Belcoot4]

another good point to support mine, I'm not sure when they programmed the game if they meant to do this but in S3 when you're stunned you can still use Medicine. I know when you're paralyzed it doesn't let you select anything but when stunned like after using one of those runes you can still heal your pair with medicine. I too don't usualy use any runes that cause effects like that except for SV because Belcoot's Falcon Rune is amazing.

[KFCrispy]

there are ways to avoid getting Unbalanced, such as a Balance Rune or having another character use an item that heals unbalance in the same turn. so really, their practicality is limited to whether or not you want to develop a strategy around them.

Also, characters can still use items and scrolls while they're unbalanced.

Of course, critical hits in this game are far superior to most command attacks in this game because they completely ignore defense (so a critical hit always deals more than a 2x dmg rune attack), but even when fully developed, you can't predict when a critical hit will occur.

in the end when everyone's fully developed, Chris may be better just attacking because of her high critical hit rate, but Ace may still be better off using his rune and combining it with Balance Rune or Double-Strike/Fury with a stack of items/scrolls for his unbalanced turns.

Phoenix Rune still has 100% accuracy (or way better accuracy) than a normal attack, avoids a counter-attack, and it's an automatic double damage. Do you really want to risk getting counter-attacked by Yuber?? Perhaps if this game were actually difficult, you'd appreciate the behaviors of these runes better!

[Belcoot4]

I totaly agree, if the game was a little more difficult (still probaly the most difficult of the series) more people would use caution when using straight melee tactics (auto attack constantly). Especialy against Yuber the more damage you deal against him it seems the better his defense gets. I just fought him, again, at the ceremonial site and had him down to where one hit would do him in and he repelled my entire parties' auto attack three straight turns, so again if it was more difficult people would look at the "dumb" runes to be useful or "smart".

[KFCrispy]

oh i forgot to mention one more advantage rune attacks have over normal - rune attacks use your character's full damage including all possible swings regardless of how much time was lost for traveling during the turn. in those areas where enemies start out very far away and you use up a lot of time running up to them, you may end up only swinging once instead of the normal two or three times.

[Rikimaru]

another thing is during strategy (Army) battles, chris and roland etc. use their runes they start with even though you just say "attack" so that is just one good thing their for...

[Calloe]

Runes such as that have another decent advantage over the same regular attacks: they ignore ZOC (Zone of Control, in some games, where movement is restricted when next to another unit). You can, in simple terms, attack a rear enemy with the rune, where as you would have to attack the front and try to get your way to the rear later if using regular melee attacks.

[patapi]

The kind of thinking here is mostly why nearly all command runes were removed from Suikoden IV, minus series staples like Falcon and Shrike runes.

[Oppenheimer]

Also, if an enemy has 1.5 times you attack in hit points, why would you not use your 2x attack rune? Your being unbalanced won't matter if the battle is over.

[Calloe]

Also, due to the way armor mitigates damage, two weaker melee hits will usually do less damage than one major one.

[Mise]

I rarely use runes like this as well. I think the point of these runes is to aim for a deathblow, where Chris doing double damage now would result in finishing something off early, as opposed to doing 1x damage now and letting it get in another hit.
That said, I do wish there was a way to just remove it. Her AI has the worst judgment on when to use the rune in tactical battles, more often than not, she opens the battle by using the rune on a peon, leaving herself completely vulnerable and surrounded by other enemies.

[eldrasidar]

those command runes with only target a single opponent, and then cause the umbalanced status aren't all that useful true, if you expect the combat to be prolonged(at least 3 rounds). In a standard combat though, there are rarely instances when you go past a second round, it really doesn't matter, and as people have pointed out, you can still use items and so forth, so really, it's not all bad.

any command rune that does damage to multiple foes though, particularly if they can hit more than 2, then they are nearly always useful in standard combats(they are useless in boss fights, but they are meant for fighting groups, not individuals).

it should be pointed out that all equipped command runes are usable in the Army battles, as are all magic runes(although apparently only if equipped on a mage/magicn character). While sometimes the AI is stupid about using them, they can still be useful every so often. If you are really clever you can actually get the AI to only use them when you want. Mise, you complained about Chris often using phoenix on a peon, when if she'd just used it on the leader, the battle would have been over. when you can, in later battles, have control over unit make-up and position, put chris in a group with faster characters, so that when she gets to attack, the faster chars have already dispatched the peons, leaving chris with only the leader to use phoenix with. similar tactics can be employed for various situations.