Rune Combinations

[Isiolith]

I realize this sort of thing will vary based on available rune slots and statistics, but in terms of the following, which is/are the "best" or "better" combinations?

Fury, Double Beat, Double Strike, Killer

Basically, it comes down to increased critical chance plus berserk, increased critical chance plus two (at least) attacks, increased critical chance plus 1.5x damage (does this stack with the 3x damage a critical causes?), and so on...just wondering people's opinions.

[gildedtalon]

Killer is so underpowered, don't use it. Also, the Warrior rune doesn't work correctly in this game unlike other games where it's so powerful. It's really meh

STR up by (DEF/4).
DEF -50%.

http://suikosource.com/runes/list/?rune ... ikoden%202

[Vextor]

The Suikoden 2 In-Depth Analysis section in this site goes into detail on the best rune configuration for maximum damage. Specifically, the articles "The importance of rune slots" and "clash of the titans."

Basically though, Fury and Double Strike are a must, while Double Beat, Killer, etc are optional depending on what you are trying to achieve.

[Omnigamer]

I believe you should also consider Violence, but it again depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you just want to achieve consistent, stable damage then double-beat+fury is very reliable. If the all-at-once damage is important, double-beat+violence will decimate any boss in the game as soon as violence is triggered (which takes only a turn, in most cases). If critical hits had more properties beyond a simple damage amp (some other RPGs have crits ignore defense, for example) it would be more useful. Crits are inferior as-is compared to Violence, however. Besides, even with the characters most likely to get crits, you can only expect a 5-7% increase in crit chance. It may pay off in the average, but you're still going to get better results from double-beat+fury. For 3-rune combos, double-beat+double-strike+violence all play off of each other and lead to some ridiculous damage.

[Isiolith]

That's what I was looking for, thanks -- so even on high skill, high luck characters, Fury/Double-Beat over Killer/Double-Beat, Killer/Fury?

For L-range fighters (Kinnison, for example), since they can't be countered, which would be better -- Fury/Double-Beat, Fury/Double-Strike, or Double-Beat/Double-Strike? And for S/M-range fighters, Fury/Double-Strike over Fury/Double-Beat since it's a flat 1.5x damage done/received without Double-Beat's 2x damage on a counter drawback?

For single-slot characters, does it really matter which of Fury/Double-Beat/Double-Strike one uses?

[Punkaiser]

If you use a character for his normal attacks:
*Double Beat > Fury > Double Strike >>> Warrior ~ Killer ~ Gale(warrior rune performance depend on character's PROT stat)
Violence can be considered.
*Weapon runes: Kindness rune bug >>> Rage/thunder > Fire lizard > Exertion > everything else.

For unite attacks:
*Fury > Double Strike > Warrior
Violence can be considered, everything else is useless.
*Weapon runes: Kindness rune glitch >>> Exertion > normal Kindness ~ Friendship

Use that order to make your rune setup.
1 slot + regular attack -> DB
2 slots + regular attack -> DB + Fury
...