Using only unkillable characters

[gildedtalon]

I'm currently stuck on Small Border Village, it's so hard

[Antimatzist]

What is hard? Are you trying to S Rank it?

Just keep in mind the reach of the rune cannons and don't try to be too fast, then it should be no problem.

[gildedtalon]

No, the game is hard enough, I only manage to S rank the Steele fight

How did you win the fight on Small Border Village? My characters take so much damage

[Antimatzist]

Don't enter the area of the rune cannons and kill them as fast as possible with your strongest magic. You should be able to kill the first two in your area pretty fast. You shouldn't take too much damage if you're always on your own terrain and well equipped.

And really, pay attention to where the rune cannons can hit your characters and where not. Does every character of you die when a rune cannon shoots you?

[gildedtalon]

No, the rune cannon kills a character in two hits
It's the soldiers that are crazily powerful. I guess I need to grind after all, I never grind at all from the beginning, having trouble everywhere and only won because of save states

[Antimatzist]

Then you should definitely level up your characters a bit. How would you describe your strategy? Playing it a bit more defensively never hurts in this game. You might even think about using support characters for buffing your attackers and mages.

[Wolkendrache]

It seems you don't have the hang of the game yet, so it's a good idea using only unkillable characters, not only because they're unkillable, but also because you save a lot of money and skill points by only using few characters.

Some general tips:
- Use terrain elements! Either use beads or attach the respective elemental sword rune.
- Maxed weapon level for fighters (mages don't need honing). Should be level 5 before small border village.
- Skills: maxed battle lust + extra move for fighters. Then godspeed or defensive skills or raising accuracy skills. Mages need their respective element magic + extra move + godspeed + concentration. Then some defensive skills.
- Equipment: Generally the best stuff available. Check Chiepoo's stuff. As accessoires, all fighters should have strength sash, godspeed anklet, and magical cape. Mages should have tome of the arts, godspeed anklet, and any high defense cape.
- Runes: Fighters should have their respective attack rune (eg Lion rune for claw users) + elemental sword rune. Mages should have their respective elemental rune + magic boost rune (or gale rune if you don't have/can't afford magic boost runes).

I would advise you to visit the Obel Ruins to solve several problems at once: 1. you gain money, 2. and skill points, 3. and some good stuff, 4. and experience, 5. but most of all, it's a good training for you to get the hang of the game. Also do quests in Middleport for reasons 1.-3.

[Antimatzist]

Also, do you have Suikoden IV data loaded? With Hero IV, this should not pose a serious problem (put him on his terrain, have magic enhancing equipment on him and let him go crazy).

Wolkendrache's tips are all very good and helpful. Without further knowledge of your gameplay, we cannot really help you. But if you get the hang of the game, it is really easy to beat.

[gildedtalon]

I have already played this game numerous times, however this time I'm too lazy to retry if someone dies so I never do any quest quild or recruit new characters
No Suikoden IV data

I wanna avoid Obel Ruins, the enemies there are too dangerous

I get extra move, dodge, guard, jump

[Antimatzist]

SO you don't want to use any extra characters or what? Quest Guild missions will give you a lot of potch, skill points and sometimes good equipment, and also unlocks Chiepoos best stuff.

If these are the only skills you got equipped, that's not good. You will never need jump (except for a few places - most mages can't leave the starting platform ob Obel 5-B without Jump). Godspeed for every character that can get it, mages mostly need their element rune affinity and extra move - defensive skills are not required, because ideally, they will never be attacked physically.

I find Block pretty useful for those who can use it - Guard isn't as good imo. But I can't really follow your battle plan - your characters should never be ganged up. If you have a frontline of 2 or 3 fighters, they can be attacked two times at most and if they are on their own terrain, you should be able to survive a few hits.

[gildedtalon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYCXh2qzxXw

Yeah, I don't want to use characters that can die

[sticky-runes]

I wanna avoid Obel Ruins, the enemies there are too dangerous

Pansy. You can still just use the Obel ruins to level up your non-killable characters and you don't have to do the whole thing, just exit after finishing the first battle.

[gildedtalon]

But the equipment I need to buy are so far away from Obel

[sticky-runes]

It's a point and click map - it just takes a few seconds to move back and forth between the Island Nations and Kooluk Empire. It's not Suikoden 4 where you have to bloody steer a ship through an ocean of random encounters.

[Antimatzist]

Then spend an hour in Obel, then you should have enough money. Iirc there is a version of the first level with infinithe skeletons (they respawn as soon as you kill them all). Perfect for grinding Potch and skill points if you don't want to spend much time. You don't have to go back and forth all the time.

But I don't see much wrong with your equipment/skills, it's not perfect but I'm sure it must be your strategy that's flawed.