Suikoden III Character Tiers

[ninjaluc79]

So, anyone interested in making character tiers for S3?

As always, the tiers are divided between Damage Dealers, Tanks, and Mages.

Damage Dealer - The party's offensive power. DDs are usually physical damagers because magic in Suikoden, no, pretty much EVERY CRPG EVER, sucks at the endgame anyway. Unless it's the PS-era Final Fantasy where Blue Magic and Flare are so broken they're not even funny.

Tank - The party's defensive wall. Tanks usually have high defense and hit points, and they're usually used to take damage for the whole party and protect the mages and DDs with pathetic defenses.

Mage - Any CRPG is never complete without mages. They have the best damage in the early game when your physical DDs are still dealing crap damage, but usually end up as support party members by the late game as your physical DDs can now deal godly insane damage.

For a start, who are your top five of each category: DD, Tank, and Mage?

P.S. I am working on my own character tiers for S1 and S2, but it's pretty difficult to come up with a criterion which covers all aspects of physical damage (effect runes, command runes, unites which can redeem otherwise useless characters, etc.). But I'm under the impression that S3's DD criterion is simpler to come up with.

[Punkaiser]

But I'm under the impression that S3's DD criterion is simpler to come up with.

you'll regret saying this
No game is ever as simple as S1....and S3 by far has got the most complicated battle system in the series. But i'm working on physical DD ranking anyway.

[ninjaluc79]

Oh, so I was wrong, then. Haha.

But at least Tanks are the easiest to rank. I just added up the HP, DEF, and MDEF (for Anti-Magic Tanks) stats.

Mages are complicated with affinities, too.

[Sasarai10]

DDs: 1st Yuber
2nd Hallec
3rd Dupa
4th Shiba
5th Emily

Tanks: 1st Nicolas
2nd Mua
3rd Fred
4th Twaikin
5th Sharon

Mages: 1st Sarah
2nd Luc
3rd Sasarai
4th Estella
5th Joker

[ninjaluc79]

I assume the DD tier is based on Base ATK instead of Max Damage Potential. Hallec is punished by his low number of hits and one rune slot, while Emily can be buffed with the proper settings. Juan can be a good DD also.

So Sasarai's the best mage in the hero army of S3, then? Estella would be the best offensive mage.

[Punkaiser]

your listing is very biased, Sasarai. Although personal thoughts and favorites may lead to right result sometimes but not this time. Anybody who knows how to use double strike rune will not hesitate to kick the lizards and Hallec out of your list.

These are criteria for DD:
-Base attack (str growth, equipments bonus, weapon growth, bonus from warrior rune)
-Damage modifier (runes, number of swings,damage skill, unite)
-cri rate is also a factor but too hard to rate it in S3, i'll take it as a bonus ranking point for the characters.

[ninjaluc79]

Crit rate can still be factored in, though, but damage mods and rune slots usually seal the deal for DD tiers.

[Sasarai10]

I assume the DD tier is based on Base ATK instead of Max Damage Potential. Hallec is punished by his low number of hits and one rune slot, while Emily can be buffed with the proper settings. Juan can be a good DD also.

So Sasarai's the best mage in the hero army of S3, then? Estella would be the best offensive mage.

Yes Sasarai is the best mage in the hero's army of course,but he is available only after defeating sarah at the ceremonial site.

But if the mages were seperated into offensive and defencive,then as you said,Estella would be the best offensive mage of the hero's army,and Sasarai the best defencive of course.


By the way,Salome is a good mage too. He gets A at water magic,and he can be very usefull if he gets a flowing rune,so he can use twice the "Silent Lake" move during the battle with Sarah.


As for Hallec...he gets S at swing,and he can go up to 3 swings

your listing is very biased, Sasarai. Although personal thoughts and favorites may lead to right result sometimes but not this time. Anybody who knows how to use double strike rune will not hesitate to kick the lizards and Hallec out of your list.

These are criteria for DD:
-Base attack (str growth, equipments bonus, weapon growth, bonus from warrior rune)
-Damage modifier (runes, number of swings,damage skill, unite)
-cri rate is also a factor but too hard to rate it in S3, i'll take it as a bonus ranking point for the characters.

Well the truth is that the Damage Dealer system in S3 is too complicated,as you said.


But yet my top 5 list,is based in my personal criteria,since i've been using the lizards and Hallec a lot during the game,and i had their weapons fixed up to the level 16...and Hallec made a 2000 hp damage once (with level 16 weapons,berserked,and critical hits)


Well,when i play S3 again...i'll try using Emily and Juan to compare with Hallec and the lizards

[Aerolithe Lion]

IIRC, Hallec gains no additional rune slots. So Juan + DS rune is pretty much 2-3x better than Hallec. Juan has great strength and Heavy Damage as well as hitting twice as many times every turn.

And I would add my vote for Chris in as a better tank than Sharon. Sharon's shield block skill is only a B or B+, whereas Chris seems to dodge/parry/armor defense an extraordinarily high number of attacks compared to her skill levels. Add in a reasonably high health stat and best armors in the game, and shes solid. Her major downfall is that she only has an open runeslot at the very beginning of the game and toward the end.

[KFCrispy]

another huge problem is that you don't get to use many characters for the majority of the game. Lucia, Salome, and Sasarai are outstanding characters you will rarely ever get to add to your party. Yuiri and Yumi are also way too late to the party. Some players might not even notice that Jimba is playable for a brief moment (although he doesn't offer anything special).

[Aldo]

Don't forget Shabon as well. She's a little glass cannon if you gear her well. 6 hits, three rune slots. She's kind of like a little Emily.

[Aerolithe Lion]

When Japenese anime style comes into play, I can accept many obscure things. But Shabon is a little too much. She's FIVE. Yeah she's cute, has a tough attitude, but she's the same age that Pilika was in SII. Just think about that... I can never bring myself to use her, especially because she doesn't even use magic or a crazy weapon, she's a straight up brawler. Just a little odd to me.

[Punkaiser]

She's a genius and if you think of her future this way, it wouldnt be bad

[Sasarai10]

When Japenese anime style comes into play, I can accept many obscure things. But Shabon is a little too much. She's FIVE. Yeah she's cute, has a tough attitude, but she's the same age that Pilika was in SII. Just think about that... I can never bring myself to use her, especially because she doesn't even use magic or a crazy weapon, she's a straight up brawler. Just a little odd to me.

To tell the truth i too,tend to overlook characters like kids,musicians,cooks,inventors,etc. Generally characters who have not have the appearance of a warrior a martial artist or a mage,i mean people who look strong.


But Punkaiser has a different opinion saying that Nei or Shabon are stronger than Dupa,Hallec or Leo. That's acceptable of course...but besides that,personal preferences plays a major role,since Suikoden games offer a large cast of characters.

[Aerolithe Lion]

I agree with your outlook, Sasarai. I can never bring myself to use the musicians or characters dressed in clowny clothing. Although I have been warming to using younger characters lately, the Sharons, Wakabas, and Luns.

I do also suffer from the opposite issue, I will gladly take a character I'm thrilled about than a proven superior. I'll take Percival, Jeremy, Bob, and Genshu over Joker, Kiki, Killey, and Sheena any day of the week.