Map help~~

[sketchpad]

I just got this game not too long ago. I know it's late, but that's not what I want to say, so heck.

I'm stuck at the map...um, the second time you go to the secret underground cave with that rune cannon seller whose name starts with 'I', I can't remember what. Kyril lv 7, Seneca 6 and Andarc 5 (he kept on dying the first few maps and there was nothing I could do about him). What should I do?

And, I acquired Rita but she died in an earlier map. Is there any way I can get her back?

Thanks.

[son_michael]

well as for helping you out,with your battle

I find its an extremley great asset to have all of your characters be the same elemental affinity in the early parts of the game,so I would suggest you buy thundergod robe, equip it to seneca and use rita and seneca along with andarc,use them as a lighting unit, rita will get extremly powerful..very fast! so you will be nicely surprised with her, and if andarc and seneca are the same element..it will be much easier for them to learn unites and get good will with each other which is a HUGE help,always keep them on there elemental tiles and just remember to keep upgrading your skills regulary and make sure you have a nice stock of elemental beads,elemental tiles are extremley important

as for characters dying=andarc,seneca,kyrill and any other character thats important to the storyline cannot die, characters that you can recruit and have nothing to do with the story can indeed die and once they die...there gone forever,pay attention to what the description says when the characters leave the battle,if it says they"withdrew from the battle" there alive and will fight with you again but if it says they"died" they dont come back

[Oppenheimer]

There's already a topic about permanently character deaths that you might want to look into. It talks specifically about Rita.

http://www.suikosource.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=4980

There is something you can do if you want to keep your characters that have died permanently. After you loose one but really want to keep that character but don't want to loose the progress you've made in the level, all you have to do is figure out what the defeat condition is and satisfy it. In other words get the rest of your part killed or a certain character or whatever. Then the "give up" screen will appear, select continue and you'll start the battle over, with experience that you gained still present and the dead person will be back and you can try again. The only problem is of coruse that you have to redo the level every time you want to save a dead person, but you'll be getting so much experience it'll get easier every time.

I used to do this a lot but am starting to get sick of redoing levels and since I have a large surplus of characters I like and have levelled up if one or two of them dies I just forget about it and move on. Also depends on how long the level is.

[sketchpad]

Oh thank you, I didn't see that thread.

Hmm...but I lost my Rita the first time I went to the underground cave (without Iskas--yes, I got the guy's name) and I saved it straight away since I have a habit of doing so after every battle and when I checked the status screen she was missing, see. And now I'm at the first town in Kooluk (gotta check that name out...). So can I still head back and reclaim her?

Plus..., even if she died, that still means that I acquired that character, right?

Map help II: I'm looking for an easy way to defeat the pirates in the map I am at, which is---first town of Kooluk, entrance of Corselia. My party consist of Kyril lv 11, Seneca lv 10, Andarc lv 9, Kika lv 10, Trishtan lv 10 and Maxine lv 7. I changed Trish's element to wind and I'm wondering if it's a good idea....

I didn't like the idea of having mages, so Maxine, Pablo and Flare didn't appeal to me. I chose Maxine anyway, hoping she could be of help to Kyril. She was a disappointment when I realised she could only cast her flaming arrows twice. And she had such low hp and attack she wasn't of much use in the map I am at even though I know her lv is low. Hmmmm.

[KFCrispy]

if you just want an easier time, you can recruit more characters and/or train. you are able to hunt in Collanbal Ruins now and also go to Obel Ruins. upgrade weapons and equipment. if you have Rene, you can dig for a couple useful items in Collanbal and Obel. also, if you don't want to level up (because it makes getting S rank harder), you can just complete as many quests as possible for the money and skill points.

for actual strategy in Merseto... well i had Seneca equip Thunder God Garb and Thunder Sword. make sure the unite attack btwn Andarc and Seneca is available. have her move to the back on her turn positioned to hit both pirates on ground level (in my game she is the fastest of the 3 main characters) and lay down lightning tiles for her and Andarc. then Andarc can move in and initiate the unite. either of them can use attacks or spells to hit the archer and chest above afterwards.

if you have Nalleo and Dario, their unite has great range. it can be used to take out most enemies on the far side of the map, just make sure they line up together. Dario should start in front since he has less MOV (Nalleo can learn Godspeed skill i think to get 7 MOV)

it's also possible to set up the unite btwn Kyril, Andarc and Seneca against the Merchant and others but i had difficulty getting it to successfully work (this one time.. i was so close but covered the wrong place with Water in an attempt to discourage the Merchant from moving there.. blah)

[sketchpad]

Map Help #3: In small border. When Paula and Jewel (OMG~!!) first appeared. Party of lv 25 average. I had difficulty cuz the soldiers kept on respawning and the rune cannons would fire if I went too close, but if I don't go too close I can't attack!! And the respawned soldiers are so strong.

[KFCrispy]

Mages are good for this battle, particulary those with Extra Move so they can keep up with the others. if you have a Wizard Rune that will prove extremely useful on the mages with high MDEF. improving everyone's speed with Godspeed Anklet and Gale Runes are pretty helpful. you definitely want the tanks up in front, like Trishtan (enemies prefer to target him probably because of low Luck stat) and Eugene (Firefly) so you don't really have to worry about the others getting hit. if your mages are strong enough, they can take out the two closest cannons immediately. characters like Jeane and Pablo will not make it to the other side of the map, but you can switch them out or have them charge 'hit all enemies on Fire/Lightning/Wind' spells and have your teammates spam the enemy terrain with that element.. i think the enemies cover up their area with Fire in this battle when they first start. (if you're using Jeane for the first time like i did, you can switch her to Fire magic)

as for what magic to use, Lightning has its instant and quick-charge Berserk Bolt that are both a good deal against single targets. Wind magic is useful because you can get out of range of the cannons and hit them with The Shredding (followed up by Shining Wind if you have that).

to see the cannons' ranges, just highlight them like any other enemy and you can see their red border.