The next Suikoden.. gotta be harder

[Antimatzist]

One thing that came to my mind is... I never (really NEVER) used the Earth Rune too often. Why is that? About all of its spells are to protect someone of the party, and Earthquake is the only offensive spell(and not too great, either)... I want a Suikoden to be challenging enough to use this Rune!(I use Pablo sometimes in Suikoden tactics to protect Rene, but that's it...)! But why shpuld I use a Rune to protect my teammates, if I can kill the enemy in a handful of rounds when I don't use it?

[Runemaster]

One thing that came to my mind is... I never (really NEVER) used the Earth Rune too often. Why is that? About all of its spells are to protect someone of the party, and Earthquake is the only offensive spell(and not too great, either)... I want a Suikoden to be challenging enough to use this Rune!(I use Pablo sometimes in Suikoden tactics to protect Rene, but that's it...)! But why shpuld I use a Rune to protect my teammates, if I can kill the enemy in a handful of rounds when I don't use it?

I find Earthquake useful in 3 and 4 but NEVER in Tactics. Also, what brings Earth Rune close to uselessness are Vengeful Child and Canopy Defense. I don't think those spells are usefeul and is just a waste of MP. But anyway, it has a lower price in some Suikoden's than the other Elemental Runes so let the price explain which is useful and which is not.

[JanusThePaladin]

I actually find the Earth Rune to be useful during the Luca Blight battle in S2. Having read no strategies on the battle, i just do it my way, and using the Earth Runes defensive capabilities and the Water Runes as well, it helps when you're as ill prepared as i usually am...

[Redheim]

Yeah, the Earth, and Mother Earth runes are pretty useless, atleast they are in Suikoden.

[Mio]

that's because Earth Rune is there to add to those people who are not as good as you guys in the game

wether they are new to the game or completely not a good RPG gamer

These people like to play safe (I myself always have a Mother Earth Rune on standby on boss battles)

That Canopy Defense saved my arse many times while fighting the Wind incar in S3
(in a number of trials)

just wanted you guys to know that there's another side from RPG geniuses is all

[LanceHeart]

Most of the advantages from the Earth Rune are usually remedied by buying better equipment for your team.

Keeping MP for healing rather than protecting is far more useful when fighting bosses, unless you're weak to the point where they can take out a character in one hit (at which point you should notice you're underleveled).

[Redheim]

Usually if you just use the most basic RPG strategy, wich is kill the enemy before they hurt you. You will almost certainly win. ^_^ XD

[Mikain Clan King]

That Canopy Defense saved my arse many times while fighting the Wind incar in S3
(in a number of trials)

just wanted you guys to know that there's another side from RPG geniuses is all

Yeah It saved me alot too....but I loved the fact that you could have Sassari in your party, towards the end of the game is when it gets epic.

[Mio]

Usually if you just use the most basic RPG strategy, wich is kill the enemy before they hurt you. You will almost certainly win. ^_^ XD

believe you me i have tried that and most utterly failed

it's quite a shame that it wasn't even a boss battle but a dungeon battle

yes i confess, ruins of obel (S4) gave me the boot the first time i went inside

T_T

[Antimatzist]

that's because Earth Rune is there to add to those people who are not as good as you guys in the game

wether they are new to the game or completely not a good RPG gamer

These people like to play safe (I myself always have a Mother Earth Rune on standby on boss battles)

That Canopy Defense saved my arse many times while fighting the Wind incar in S3
(in a number of trials)

just wanted you guys to know that there's another side from RPG geniuses is all

But in Suikoden, there is no need for a "stronger defense" Rune. My first RPG was FF VII, and there were quite a lot useful support spells(as in every Final Fantasy..), like Haste, those Barriers which lessen magic/physical damage.. even Grandia makes good use of support spells(and BoF, too). but in Suikoden, you can win most battles easily by attacking with all characters in turn 1, and after that, one of your characters uses a Water/Flowing Rune to heal if necessary and the other 5 party members keep attacking.

And I'm certainly NO RPG-genius.

[JanusThePaladin]

that's because Earth Rune is there to add to those people who are not as good as you guys in the game

wether they are new to the game or completely not a good RPG gamer

These people like to play safe (I myself always have a Mother Earth Rune on standby on boss battles)

That Canopy Defense saved my arse many times while fighting the Wind incar in S3
(in a number of trials)

just wanted you guys to know that there's another side from RPG geniuses is all

It kinda bugged me that you could not combine the Elemental True Runes powers like you can with the regular elemental runes. That would have been mind blowing in the extreme.

In my opinion, S3 had the most overlypowered True Runes in terms of gameplay. Using true Fire or True Lightning allowed you to cast level 3 spells as level ones and up to 9 times! I mean jiminy christmas! talk about making a game to easy!

[Mio]

that's because Earth Rune is there to add to those people who are not as good as you guys in the game

wether they are new to the game or completely not a good RPG gamer

These people like to play safe (I myself always have a Mother Earth Rune on standby on boss battles)

That Canopy Defense saved my arse many times while fighting the Wind incar in S3
(in a number of trials)

just wanted you guys to know that there's another side from RPG geniuses is all

But in Suikoden, there is no need for a "stronger defense" Rune. My first RPG was FF VII, and there were quite a lot useful support spells(as in every Final Fantasy..), like Haste, those Barriers which lessen magic/physical damage.. even Grandia makes good use of support spells(and BoF, too). but in Suikoden, you can win most battles easily by attacking with all characters in turn 1, and after that, one of your characters uses a Water/Flowing Rune to heal if necessary and the other 5 party members keep attacking.

And I'm certainly NO RPG-genius.

oh but wait, Earth Runes aren't there for BETTER defenses

they offer ABSOLUTE defenses

magic cancellation is a handy safety device for me

@Janus
hey having 5 true runes in a game is a no brainer overpowered gameplay already

[Antimatzist]

@Mio: But you don't need absolute defence, good equipment is all you need. You can heal your whole party every Round... and that's about all you need.

[Mio]

@Mio: But you don't need absolute defence, good equipment is all you need. You can heal your whole party every Round... and that's about all you need.

and i guess thats the line in between good gamers and not so good

i myself didn't bother much about hunting good armors

i didn't grind long hours to upgrade each weapon to maximum (or hunt for those good runes)

i only get by with what i stumble upon treasure chests (easily noticed ones)

i'm most of teh time underlevelled each time i face a boss

oh and I'm stubborn with my character selection (i use who i like whether he's strong or not)

it made the game extra challenging plus i enjoy utilizing all the runes

i bring with me all of the basic elemental runes

[JanusThePaladin]

I'm with mio on this one. the extent of my searching for items is that i dont normally go what would appear to be the most obvious direction in dungeons. i try my best to vary my party as best i can, and use as many different set ups on each characters runes as possible. I splurge my money on the hero, and then whoever else i use most.

And i mostly just use the characters i like, not the characters that are the stongest. (i didnt even know how strong richard was as a character until someone mentioned it in a different subject).

You can always purposefully make games more difficult for yourself by going against your regular modes of action. Everything doesnt always have to be the same.