Exile Party

[wataru14]

Which two of the four Knights of Gaien do people to choose in the early stages of the game and take into exile? I usually take Tal and Paula (best fighter and best mage) but recently I've been questioning my choices. In my current playthrough I chose Keneth because of his Lightning Rune and because I've never taken him before. I am very pleased with this choice since the Lightning Rune owns everything at low level. I remember taking Jewel once upon a time (I think the first time I ever played the game) but I don't remember her standing out too much.

In terms of character, it seems to make the most sense for Tal and Jewel to accompany you into exile. They are both more friendly to you in their dialogue choices than the others and I see them as Chaotic Good in alignment (using D&D terms). I can see them abandoning the Knights because they feel an injustice is being committed. Doing what's right over duty. Keneth seems to be more Lawful Good and Paula seems detached and aloof. I don't really see either of them leaving the Knights for you.

[sticky-runes]

I prefer the boys over the girls (for their personalities and their performance in combat) When you're on the deserted island, it's a bit like having a lads weekend, doing a bit of male bonding around the campfire. If you take take the two girls they end up chatting about Jewel's crush on Snow or something.

If you're talking about storyline reasons, i think Keneth would be least likely to join the hero in exile, because he does go on to become the vice commander and is the only one who stays with the knights when you finish the game, so he obviously takes the knighthood more seriously than the others. Whereas Tal would have no problem ditching the knights for a friend, because he's more into fishing and eating and relaxing than pursuing a knight career. He even falls asleep during Glen's graduation speech, while the girls are chatting to each other. Keneth is the only one who pays attention all the way through it.

I prefer Paula to Jewel because she's got better magic, and it's nice to have an elf to mix things up a bit, and you get a rare bit of extra dialogue if you take Paula to meet the other elves on Na Nal early.

[Belle]

I usually choose Jewel and Keneth since they were the ones from the demo. I have switched it up a couple of times but my reasons had nothing to do with efficiency in battle. I was just curious what would happen.

[eldrasidar]

Keneth is always an easy choice because of his early lightning rune, and his being a reasonable mage knight. He will however become obsolete as soon as you recruit Rita, which you can do almost immediately after reaching Obel.

Tal comes with Earth Rune, which has a most helpful level 1 power, which could come in handy on the exile island. Tal also is the strongest and hardest to kill. He'll be your best pure physical fighter until you get Mizuki(who's shrike rune makes her insane).

Paula comes with the Wind Rune, which is the least helpful rune available, but Paula is the best mage and you'll have the ability to grab fire or water runes which are helpful to equip to her in Obel, and she'll remain your best mage until you pick up Jeane or Viki.

Jewel offers the water rune which is useful, but it is easily obtainable elsewhere. Her stats also put her as between Paula and Tal in most categories, and she's very similar to Keneth(who is slightly more magey to her being slightly more knighty). She becomes obsolete when you pick up Akaghi.

Personally, I often put a water rune on the hero, which negates the some of the point of taking Jewel. I often take Keneth because the first level lightning spell is incredibly good for the exile island boss fight. Between Tal and Paula, I seem to often choose Tal simply for his durability. Paula is the best mage of them, but in suikoden 4 magic really isn't that impressive, particularly not at the lower levels your party will be at prior to picking up Jeane and Viki.

[Punkaiser]

Basically, in term of usefulness Tal & Kenneth are the obvious choices for early game. They can do whatever Jewel and Paula can do and more.

Don't want to let go of Jewel's water rune? We can rob another one off Snowe before the escort mission. What about Paula's wind rune? It's way too lame at early stage with just the sleep spells so we shouldn't be bothered.

[sticky-runes]

I hardly bother with the water rune, I always give the hero a medicine rune so he can top up a person's health after every round.

[Sasarai10]

Any good ideas to beat Colton early in the game?

Which characters shall you use? And what runes/armor,etc. Obviously in New game+ because in a fresh game it's impossible i guess

[eldrasidar]

@ sticky-runes
the one flaw of the medicine rune is that it isn't available prior to you being exiled, unless you carried it over with a new game+, otherwise it won't become available until you visit Na-Nal after reaching Obel.
@ Sasarai10
the fight against troy and colton on the merchant ship is impossible to win, as Troy has unlimited health. For the purposes of other fights in the exile remember, you'd only be able to equip a rune to the hero, as there is no opportunity to take any of the other exile characters to the rune shop prior to being exiled, so they will all be stuck with their default runes. I'd recommend giving the hero either Thunder, Rage, Flowing or Cyclone. For equipment, Ogre sets for Hero, Keneth, Jewel, or Tal, Goblin sets for Paula or Chiepoo.

[sticky-runes]

I'm kind of assuming that most people here are new game plussers, since we're discussing an event that is one of Suikoden 4's main replay value features

[Sasarai10]

@ Sasarai10
the fight against troy and colton on the merchant ship is impossible to win, as Troy has unlimited health. For the purposes of other fights in the exile remember, you'd only be able to equip a rune to the hero, as there is no opportunity to take any of the other exile characters to the rune shop prior to being exiled, so they will all be stuck with their default runes. I'd recommend giving the hero either Thunder, Rage, Flowing or Cyclone. For equipment, Ogre sets for Hero, Keneth, Jewel, or Tal, Goblin sets for Paula or Chiepoo.

I know that Troy is invulnerable,so beating only Colton would still be a good achievment.