Genso Suikoden 3 - Strategy Guide (Page 09)

Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for Genso Suikoden 3 - Strategy Guide (Page 09).

-To save yourself time, do things in chunks.  That is, buy your characters
gear/sharpen their weapons until you run out of money, use the Prosperity Set
to get more money and level up characters, then come back to buy/sharpen again.
When you do this, make use of the O button.  At every shop including the Tutor
and bujutsu teacher, you can access your entire roster with the O button.  For
example, let's say you want to buy everyone a Premier Casque that can wear one.
Go to the Armor Shop to talk to Dominic, select Buy, press O, and voila, you
can now buy whatever item you want for anyone you want.  It works the same way
for leveling skills and sharpening weapons.  Talk to Juan, pick Lesson, press
O, and you can now teach your entire roster.  You can also do this with Muto
and all the items in your warehouse.   This is a huge time saver so you don't
have to swap people out 5 at a time through Anne to do what you want with them.

-On the same note as the last tip, every time you go on a spending spree, bring
Martha.  Her discount support skill is tops in the game at a B and this will
save you a ton of money in the long run.  She doesn't discount on sharpening
weapons, though.

-In terms of what's satisfactory gear and how high you should level up, you can
break your roster into two distinct groups.  One group will fight strategy
battles and the other group won't.  The characters that are directly involved
in strategy battles (meaning you see them on the battle screens):

Ace             Dupa           Hallec         Mua             Sergeant Joe
Augustine       Edge           Hugo           Percival        Sharon
Bazba           Emily          Jacques        Queen           Shiba
Borus           Fred           Landis         Reed            Thomas
Bright          Fubar          Leo            Roland          Twaikin
Cecile          Futch          Lilly          Samus           Viki (Big)
Chris           Geddoe         Lucia          Sanae Y         Wan Fu

You'll want to level up 20 of these characters to give you 5 really good attack
groups for the later strategy battles.  For the purpose of the strategy
battles, you only need Armor that's around level 60 (stuff like Blessed Leather
and Blessed Chainmail are fine).  In terms of level, 52 is very good and won't
take long to get to by fighting the Copper Suns at the Flame Champ Hideaway.
Keep in mind that all of these characters already come with a set number of
skill points that you can use up by visiting Ernie and Juan then making use of
the O button to train all of them at once.  You can also visit Peggi and hit O
to sharpen everyone's weapon as well.  Level 12 is good enough.  The Silver
Hammer you got allows you to level up to 15.

-Although only the characters above participate in strategy battles, the rest
of your roster are still quite useful because they can participate in the later
boss battles.  In this regard, level up and customize whoever you want.  You
will want 3-4 characters leveled up to be used as healers.  That is, characters
who are at least a B+ in Water or Shield Magic.  The game truly lends itself so
that you can beat the boss battles with practically any party combination so
have fun with it and try out whoever you want.

-The three people I always like to level up are Nei, Juan, and Emily.  As I've
stated before, I believe Juan and Emily are the two best fighters in the game.
Nei's Chant Magic is the best in the game and her Magic Resistance skill
naturally goes up to an S.  The final bosses are primarily magic users so she's
not as vulnerable as most other magic casters with this skill.  Juan's high
bujutsu skill (which aids group melee attacks) and Nei's Song of Madness will
allow you to do ungodly amounts of damage.  It's not unusual to have Juan and
Emily do 5,000-8,000 pts. of damage EACH in a single turn once you max out
their Swing, Heavy Damage, and Continual Attack skills.  The only drawback with
this is you have to invest a lot of skill points to raise them up properly.
You'll also want to put a Yellow Scarf on Juan so he's awake at the start of
battle and doesn't lose a turn.  You can counteract his lost berserk status
with a Fury Rune.

-A good default skill for the boss battles of chapter 4 and 5 is Magic
Resistance.  If you have an empty skill slot and don't really have a preference
for a skill, this is the most useful.  Some of your characters also can wear
the accessory Gold Emblem, which boosts this skill by 1 grade level.  It is a
Rarity at Brass Castle and the VdZ Guild Hall.

That's it for "roaming" time.  There's nothing special about the treasure boss
monsters in chapter 4 in terms of strategy.  If your party's around level 45
or better, you won't have much problem taking the bosses out as long as you
keep yourself healed.  The notable loot I got after doing 2 sweeps in chapter
4:

Mt. Hei-Tou:  ?Figurine
North Cavern:  Stone of Luck, ?Statue
Mt. Path:  Stone of Speed, Drain Rune, Resistance Ring, 2 ?Paintings
Mt. Senai:  2 ?Statues
Flame Champ Hideaway:  Nothing

Nothing too great, huh?  The best treasure boss gear pops up in chapter 5.  On
a very rare occasion, you can get a Balance Rune for the Mt. Path boss.  On 4
playthroughs I've only been able to get it once.  It prevents your character
from ever becoming unbalanced.  This is great for characters whose Runes make
them unbalanced (such as Ace's Double Tusk) or they become unbalanced after
doing a combo (such as Thomas).

When you want to make the story progress, put together a party with a healer,
whoever has the Pale Gate Rune, and three other characters that you feel
confident you can win with.  I personally took my FC, Juan, Nei, Emily, and
big Viki.  All of them were around level 53.  Before you head out, you can talk
with Jefferson to boost certain skills like Accuracy, Swing, Damage, etc. by
giving the characters in your party his titles.  Go back to the Ancient Highway
and head through the open doorway.  Save at the blue crystal.  As you make your
way through this dungeon, save at least 4 first level spells for whoever has
the Pale Gate Rune.  Remember that you can use an Escape Scroll to go back to
the exit if you want.

Take the left path first.  On the next screen, take the first left on your
mini-map.  When you get to the dead end square, look to the top right corner.
You'll see a sliver of a black tail-this is the final non-star dog.  Talk to it
and adopt it if you didn't get it earlier.  Go back and take the second left on
your mini-map.  Follow it to the end and you'll see a corpse.  Loot it for a
random item.  Go back and take the north exit on your mini-map.

On the next screen, take the first right on your mini-map.  Head to the dead
end area to the southeast.  There's another corpse in this square dead end.  If
you loaded Suikoden II data, you would get Script #5.  If not, it's another
random treasure.  Backtrack your way to the starting point where the blue save
crystal is.  Take the right path this time.  On the next screen, take the
second exit to the right.  Follow it then take a right (don't exit the screen
north).  Follow the path over the stairs to the dead end to the southeast on
your mini-map.  There's another corpse here that has Old Book Vol. 4.
Backtrack one screen.  Take the first exit to the right this time.  That is,
if you were just entering from the area with the blue crystal, it would be your
first right.

Follow this path around until it exits north.  Keep following it until you exit
the screen to the very top north (by taking a left diagonal route on the mini-
map).  On the next screen will be a blue save crystal.  Save your game.  Go
north and you'll run into Sarah again.  She will summon 2 Chimera and 2 Ghost
Armor to help her fight you.  This battle's not tough-you can win it just by
taking out the summoned monsters without laying a hand on Sarah.  As long as
you heal from her magic attacks you'll be fine.  You get an Armor of Rage when
you win.  A cutscene will follow and you'll end up in an area of mist, ice, and
horrible slowdown.

Make sure everyone's healed up.  When you get halfway past the screen you'll
trigger another boss fight-the True Water Rune Dragon.  This boss can be very
difficult because of its multiple attacks.  However, with the Pale Gate Rune's
1st level spell, Open Gate, you can take out all the icicles in one shot.  Once
they're gone, you can concentrate on the dragon itself.  If you lost the Pale
Gate Rune or didn't get one, this battle becomes very hard but still winnable.
You'll have to keep your party healed each turn and concentrate on taking out
the icicles one at a time.  The dragon can re-spawn them but when it does it
won't be able to do its primary magic attack.  Just keep hacking away and
it'll go down.  You get a Flowing Rune once you win.  The Flowing Rune's 4th
level spell is Mother Ocean-which will revive characters who've been knocked
out in battles.  There's an indepth strategy to beat this boss in section 9u
in case you have more trouble.

Keep going north to trigger a very extended cutscene involving the 3 main
characters, Lucia, and Jimba.  If Chris is FC, she has an extra scene inside
the giant True Water Rune Seal.  Hugo or Chris will then receive the True 
Water Rune and Caesar says it's time to go back to Lake Castle.  At the Trinity
Site save your game.  Select chapter 5 for any of the 3 main characters-it
doesn't matter who you pick.

Dupa [78/108]
Bazba [79/108]
Shiba [80/108]
Beecham [81/108]
Lilly [82/108]
Reed [83/108]
Samus [84/108]
Jefferson [85/108]*
Rhett [86/108]*
Wilder [87/108]*
Big Viki [88/108]*
Small Viki [89/108]*
Futch [90/108]*
Bright [91/108]*
Sharon [92/108]*
Tuta [93/108]*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4p.  Chapter 5

Sebastian will greet you in a short cutscene.  He will then ask if you want to
rest.  I strongly recommend you pick the 2nd choice so you can roam.  Picking
the first choice will advance the story.  Nash will be unavailable for a while
to your battle party.  Once again, take the time to go around to all the shops
to put new stock in your shops at Lake Castle.  The items of note:

-Alma Kinan's Item Shop now has Killer Runes as regular items.  Le Buque's Item
Stand has Counter Runes and their Rune Shop has Double Strike.  The VdZ Item
Shop has Yellow Scarf.

IMPORTANT:  If Geddoe is your Flame Champion, you'll want to get 5 Fire Sealing
Runes.  These runes negate all fire damage.  The Troll Dragons at Yaza Plain
drop them.  If you got the Hunter Rune, affix it to someone with lots of
attacks like Emily and get the runes.  Alternatively, just put Kidd in for
support and roam around fighting them.  It's not essential to do this, but it
can make Geddoe's battles in ch. 5 easier because it allows him to use all his
Fire attacks without worry of damaging his own party.

After fighting the treasure bosses twice, these were the notable items I got:

-Cyndar Ruins (head all the way to the ice area):  2 Champion's Runes, Earth
Shield, Recipe #17, ?Statue

-Mt. Senai:  Stone of MGC-DEF, Horned Helm, Chain Attack Ring, Recipe #18,
2 ?Figurines

-Mt. Path:  Flame Casque, Rage Rune, Dragon Scale, Earth Shield, ?Painting,
Dream Robe, Recipe #20

-North Cavern:  ?Statue

-Mt. Hei-Tou:  ?Painting

-Flame Champ Hideaway:  Nothing

When you affix the Champion's Rune to someone in your party, all the battles
where you have the option to "Let Go" will no longer appear.  This makes long
hikes through areas with weak enemies such as the North Cavern much quicker.
The Chain Attack Ring and Dragon Scale each boost the wearer's Continual Attack
skill by 1 level.  I generally give both to Hugo.  The Dream Robe can only be
worn by magic users and halves an enemy's ATK rating if the wearer is hit.  Its
defense boost of +83 is the best for all tunics/robes.

The strategy battles will be coming up soon so make sure you level up, equip,
and sharpen weapons for the characters you'll want to use in them.  If you want
to give yourself some leeway, talk to Gordon and buy a Sacrificial Jizo for
anyone on the strategy battle roster you may feel is vulnerable (remember to
use the O button to access your entire group).  Good default runes for your
characters are Killer, Counter, and Haziness.

When you're ready to advance the story, talk to Sebastian in your room and tell
him you are tired.  Everything from here on out happens the same no matter who
is FC.  A cutscene in Harmonia follows.  When you have control of your FC
again, head out to the front entrance where Cecile stands to advance the story.
When the cutscene ends, go back to the main house and you'll have a meeting
about what's happened.  Geddoe will volunteer to take the mission and takes his
original six group.

If Geddoe is FC, I highly recommend you take Jeane with you as support.  Her
Rune Sage ability aids in the speed of your group's spell casting and this will
help a lot, especially if Geddoe's grade in fire magic is only a B+ or A.  The
bad part about this is Jeane won't be at Lake Castle for a while since she's
with Geddoe.  The good part is, Jeane is a mobile rune shop so you can affix or
remove runes anywhere you want-meaning you don't have to affix any Fire Sealing
runes you got right this instant but can wait until later when the major
battles happen.

If Geddoe is not FC, take one of the support people with high healing skill
like Mio, Tuta, or Goro.

Viki will now be unavailable for teleportation so anything you want to do at
Lake Castle you should do now before heading out with Geddoe's team.  If you
like equipping your team with Sacrificial Jizos for major fights, I advise you
to buy them now at Lake Castle.  You'll also want to boost any skills with Juan
and Ernie since you won't get a convenient chance once you get far away from
Lake Castle.  You should also make use of Jefferson's appointments for Geddoe
and his team as well.  Don't take the Flowing Rune you got earlier with this
group-it'll come in handy for something later.

When you're ready to go with Geddoe, head to Plain Amur.  If Chris is your FC
and you want to get a Cyclone Rune, go to Chisha Village first.  Climb the
ladder at the Appraiser shop and talk to the woman up there to get the Rune.
To advance the story, head to the Mt. Path to get to Le Buque.  You'll have to
fight the Twin Head Snake Boss probably but he won't be any trouble.  If you
want to fight him again later in the chapter, loot the entire chest.  Once you
get close to Le Buque, you'll trigger another cutscene.  Keep heading there
until you exit to the World Map.

Go to Le Buque and a cutscene will play out.  Head to the middle of town for
another cutscene.  Go to Iku's house (the one by the inn) next.  Head inside
after Franz goes in there for another conversation.  When you have control of
Geddoe again, climb down the Mantor platform and Stay/Save at the inn.  Exit
Le Buque and go to Mt. Senai.

After the cutscene, save at the blue crystal.  Don't use Geddoe's higher level
spells and do your best to keep Aila/Joker's healing spells.  Make your way to
the very back of the cave where you normally fight the treasure boss.  Before
you exit out of the tunnel to get to that room, make sure all your equipment
is ready (Sacrificial Jizos/Fire Sealing runes) and your health is maximum.
The formation I used:

Queen
Geddoe
Jacques
Aila
Ace
Joker
(Jeane/Tuta for Support)

Once you reach the room, a cutscene will occur and you'll end up in a fight
with Sarah and Luc.  If Geddoe is your FC, skip to the next paragraph.  This
battle isn't hard with the TLR.  Just cast Thunder Storm twice and it'll be
over.  Use Aila/Jacques against Sarah and have Ace do his Double Tusk on Luc.
Heal when you need to and the battle will be over in short order.  Skip past
the next paragraph to continue.

The other monsters aren't really a problem-they're just there to get between
you and Luc/Sarah.  You'll want to take out at least Sarah in the first round.
You can either go for the 4th level spell which is quite slow unless Geddoe
has an A+ in Fire Magic or you can opt for the 3rd level spell, Final Flame,
and use it on Sarah.  Either way, you'll likely have to take at least one magic
attack.  In the first round, use Jacques/Aila against Sarah and have Ace do
Double Tusk on Luc.  Heal yourself in the next round then use Final Flame on
whoever's still standing with Luc/Sarah.  Mop up the rest for the victory.

After the victory you'll get a WindMagic Ring.  A cutscene will follow and
there's no way to stop Luc from what he does.  When you have control of Geddoe
again, heal up your party if they're banged up.  Head to the tunnel and exit
it.  A cutscene will ensue and you'll be plunged into a series of battles.
You can win these with just your melee attacks.  For the first battle, use the
familiar formula of Jacques' Boronda Hawk and the Mercenary A combo with Ace
and Joker then mop up.  Do the same with the second battle and keep your team
healed up if you have Jeane instead of Tuta for support.  A third battle will
ensue and again, the same formula works.

When the third battle's over, you'll be given a dialogue choice.  NEVER choose
the option to leave the townspeople behind-you will lose 7 Stars of Destiny
forever if you do so.  If you want to rest up, pick the second choice ("Return
to the room")-there's no penalty for doing this.  If you want to continue, go
ahead and pick the first choice.  The next fight is a little easier so I just
use Jacques' Boronda Hawk then regular melee attacks with everyone else.  After
this fight, pick the first choice again ("We can't just run away").  The next
fight is a little tougher but nothing you can't handle if you've made it this
far.  When this fight ends, pick the dialogue choice again to NOT leave the
townspeople behind.

A familiar face will then show up to offer help.  When you get a dialogue
choice, pick either one-it won't change anything although if you'd rather
Geddoe not swallow his pride, pick the first option.  A cutscene will follow
with your team.  Head back to Le Buque.  If you're wondering, there's nothing
left storywise to do in Mt. Senai-if you go back to where you fought Luc and
Sarah it's just the treasure boss like normal.

When you get to Le Buque, head into town to get another cutscene.  My only
comment for that scene is that Geddoe is THE MAN.  When it's over, you'll be
back at the Trinity Site and asked to pick Chris' flame next.  Go ahead and
elect to continue and you'll learn that Chris needs to go to Brass Castle.  
The same things that applied to Geddoe apply here-Viki can't teleport you and
you should take care of everything at Lake Castle you want before advancing the
story (including re-arranging Jefferson's appointments).  Take a serviceable
party with you when you leave.

If Chris is not your FC, go to VdZ first to visit the Guild Hall.  Check their
Armor, Rune, and Item Shops so the stock there will now be at Lake Castle.  The
Armor shop has Custom gear which is the best non-treasure boss/Rarity stuff you
can find.

When you're ready for the story to progress, go to Brass Castle.  Head to the
west courtyard and you'll get a cutscene.  Head to the east courtyard and Chris
will be greeted by Yumi, who has come to ask for help.  When asked to select
your party, put in someone who's really good at Water Magic and attach the
Flowing Rune to them (remember that you can access your warehouse and a Rune
Shop here at Brass Castle).  For the rest of your group, put in people who are
strong melee attackers.  I took Chris, Borus, Futch/Bright, big Viki, and
Sharon.  If you didn't take Jeane with you earlier with Geddoe, she's the best
choice as support followed by Mike.  You'll want to make sure that each pair
has healing items in their personal inventories.  If you want to switch out
party members after this, talk to Salome in the Knights' Parlor.

When you want to advance the story, head to Duck Village.  Stay/Save at the inn
there then continue to Kuput Forest.  Take the route you normally do to get to
Alma Kinan.  Once you're about halfway there, a cutscene will occur and you'll
get into a battle with Sarah with 3 Azzodess.  In the first round, have the
person with the Flowing Rune cast Silent Lake.  Send everyone else against the
Azzodess and concentrate on taking them out 1 at a time.  In the second round,
heal with your items if you have to and keep hacking away.  This battle should
not take more than 3 turns.  You get a Drain rune once you win.  Another
cutscene will follow and what happened to Geddoe previously will happen to
Chris.  Again there's no way to prevent this.

You will then switch to Hugo's flame at the Trinity Site.  Pick it to continue.
When you have control of him, go to the front to talk with Cecile.  Before
heading out, put the Dragon Scale and Chain Attack Ring items you got earlier
on Hugo.  You can't go further than Yaza Plain but you can level up out there
if Hugo's still around the mid-40's level (it's not necessary, though).  Once
you're ready to advance the story, just exit Lake Castle and come back.  A
cutscene with a Zexen Knight will occur who tells your group that Brass Castle
has been attacked.

Hugo will decide to form an advance team to help out the Zexens.  The group you
put together doesn't have to be great-just good enough to beat the random
encounters you've already been facing in this chapter.  Putting in one of the
healers for support is a good idea.  No other special preparations are needed.
I took Hugo/Fubar, Hallec, Sgt. Joe, Mua, and Edge with Mio as Support.

To move the story forward, head to the west end of Brass Castle.  After the
brief cutscene, head to the middle of the Castle and Stay/Save at the inn.
Continue to the eastern side of the Castle for 2 consecutive battles with some
Harmonian regulars.  These guys are worth a bunch of skill/exp points but
they're total wimps-you won't have any problems if you just select Auto.  A
cutscene will occur and Salome and Roland will note something odd about these
troops.  You'll take on one more group of these guys and this fight's just as
easy.  You get a Hunter rune as loot for this fight.

When the battles are over, Hugo will go through the same thing Geddoe and
Chris did earlier.  A cutscene will follow this and you'll gain some new
allies.  Caesar will then suggest you go ahead and attack Luc's army outside
of Brass Castle.  The main 5 units I use for attack in this battle are:


Sharon      Leo           Fred          Emily         Nicolas
Borus       Percival      Gau           Fubar         Dupa
Viki        Shiba         Sgt. Joe      Hallec        Mua
Chris       Lucia         Futch         Hugo          Elaine
(Caesar)    (Tuta)        (Yuiri)       (Salome)      (Mio)


Note that Duke's unit already comes in at really strong levels-each member of
his team is great without doing anything to them right now in terms of their
gear or skills (you'll want to do that later, though).  If you got the item,
LionGod Ring, Gau is the only one who can wear them.  It doesn't matter what
you do with the rest of the squad line-up.  Just keep really weak characters in
Reserve all together and don't get into any field battles with any groups
except your best five.  If you're wondering about Geddoe, he'll show up later.

Before picking the first choice to move ahead, ask Caesar to wait with the
third dialogue choice then go to the Brass Castle inn to save.  Come back and
tell him you're ready and the strategy battle will commence.

This strategy battle's not hard-you can afford to be aggressive because you
have plenty of healing available plus some very strong units.  You will also
have 2 Fire Skill and 2 Lightning Skill attacks.  The goal of the battle is to
eliminate Yuber's unit.  As before, soften him up with 2 Fire and 2 Lightning
attacks.  You can't take out his unit until Sasarai shows up-until then Yuber's
HP won't drop below 1/2.  If someone gets attacked by Yuber's unit before
Sasarai appears, just have them retreat.  The rest of the opposition should
not pose a problem.  You should be able to put your teams in very good Cover
positions to make this fight easier.  After Sasarai appears and the color of
his unit turns from black to red, you can finally take out Yuber.  You get a
Flowing Rune as loot for a Major Victory.

When the battle's over, you get a quick chat with Cecile who tells you that
everyone's in the meeting hall.  To advance the story, go there.  Sasarai will
explain Luc's plot and Nash will come in to give you his location.  When Caesar
asks, pick the third choice to ask him to wait.

This is now your last roaming time before the final strategy battle.  If you
still haven't recruited all the non-automatic stars or leveled up your guys,
now's the time to do it.  Viki is available for teleportation again.  If you
go to Iksay, they should have the Gold Hammer in the Item Shop Rarity now.
Give this to Peggi and you can sharpen weapons to their maximum level of 16.
You can also now put Sasarai and Yumi in your battle party-they're 2 of the
best magic users in the game and Sasarai can go up to an S for Earth Magic.
If you have extra Firefly runes, put them on your Tanks like Fred, Mua, Leo,
and Twaikin.

BEFORE you confirm to Caesar that you're ready to start the battle by picking
the first option from the dialogue box, save your game.  This is so if you lose
the battle and have to start over, you can still wander around to level up and
change the formation if you like.  You can have a maximum of 10 units.  To win
the last strategy battle that's next, you'll be using 4 strong attack teams,
your Lightning and Fire Skill characters, and the rest is fodder.  For me, this
is the formation and characters I picked:

Sharon        Emily         Borus          Ace
Viki          Mua           Jacques        Roland
Bright        Fubar         Hallec         Augustine
Chris         Hugo          Geddoe         Futch
(Caesar)      (Salome)      (Apple)        (Joker)

The Lightning Magic Skill units:

------        ------
------        Dupa
------        ------
Sasarai       ------
(Tuta)        (Jeane)

And the all-star fodder teams:

Nicolas       Fred          Leo            Twaikin
Gau           Samus         Ruby           Landis
Reed          Elaine        Franz          Percival
Duke          Thomas        Lilly          Lucia
(Estella)     (Mio)         (Beecham)      (Yuiri)

After you tell Caesar you're ready, Sasarai and Dios will automatically join.
When you head to the front courtyard of the main house, it will trigger a
cutscene and you'll immediately go to the strategy battle.

Now to the overall flow of the battle itself.  The goal of the battle is to
eliminate Yuber's unit.  You cannot do this until you've taken out Sarah's
unit.  You'll be going up against 12 enemy units total at the start.  Luc is
Unit 1 but he'll disappear at the start of the enemy's 3rd turn and is never a
factor.  Along with Sarah and Yuber, 5 enemy units will start on the left side
of the battlefield screen and 4 enemy units will be to the right.  Once you
remove 5 enemy units, Sarah will summon 4 more.  She will do this twice until
she gets exhausted then disappears.  You will be able to move 7 units per turn
and the enemy 6.

My strategy for this battle is to take out Sarah first with your Lightning
Skill attacks and not allowing her to summon more units.  The way to do this is
by not eliminating 5 units at the start.  Once Sarah is gone, I use the Fire
Skill to soften up Yuber then take him out as well.

As far as the enemy goes, units 6, 9, and 12 are of particular interest.  Unit
6 and 12 each have 1 Fire Magic skill attack.  Unit 9 is made up of a Siren
with three Chimeras.  The Siren is behind the Chimeras at the start so whoever
tries to take them out should be a very strong attack unit.  Sarah's unit is
set up just like this.  Yuber is accompanied by 3 Bone Soldiers but he's placed
conveniently at the front.  The enemy units to the right of the field are melee
attackers.  Those to the left rely on Magic except the Harmonian units (4 & 5).
If any of your units gets hit really bad, don't be shy about using your healing
skills.  I usually wait until the characters in a unit are down to 1/2 HP
before healing them.

Here's a diagram of the starting area:


              A       
                \   
                 \  
                  B-----C-----D
                         \
                          \
                         Start


Your first objective is to take circle A with 2 of your attack units.  You will
also want to take both Lightning Skill units and the fodder team with Yuiri in
support to circle A as well.  The reason circle A is important is because once
you take it, it will prompt Sarah to move down toward you if she doesn't do so
early.  You'll want to move your 3rd attack unit to circle B and keep the other
attack unit at the Start circle.  Your other 3 fodder teams should be moved to
circle C.  That's the overall strategy, so here's the detailed process, keeping
in mind the unit formation I mentioned above.

PT = Player Turn, ET = Enemy Turn

PT 1:  Move Chris, Hugo, Geddoe, Sasarai, Dupa, Lilly, and Thomas' units into
       circle C
ET 1:  Will usually move 1-3 units each into circles B and D

PT 2:  Take out the enemy units in circle B with Chris, Hugo, and/or Geddoe's
       units.  After taking out all the enemies in circle B, move as many
       fodder units into circle C as there are enemy units in circle D.  With
       your remaining moves, put Dupa and Sasarai's units into circle B along
       with a fodder team and the 2 attack teams you want to use against Sarah.
       NEVER move Dupa and Sasarai's units into a circle without at least some
       other unit with them
ET 2:  The enemy units in circle D will attack.  Select the fodder units to
       meet them and select Retreat when you get to the field battle.  The
       strategy for now is to keep as many fodder units in circle C as there
       are enemy units in circle D

PT 3:  Keep an attack unit in circle B.  Move any fodder units you need to into
       circle C to match the number of enemy units in circle D.  Futch's unit
       should still be at the Start circle.  Move 2 attack teams, for me this
       is Chris and Hugo, toward circle A, taking out any enemy units you need
       to.  Along with these 2 attack teams, move Dupa, Sasarai, and Lucia's
       units with them
ET 3:  Luc will disappear.  The enemy units in circle D will attack circle C
       again.  Again, just retreat with your fodder units.  If you've taken
       circle A, Sarah will likely be moving toward you by now

PT 4:  Sarah will head toward you either to the right of circle A or to the
       left.  Once you take circle A, move Dupa and Sasarai's units plus the 2
       attack teams toward her side.  There will be 2 Harmonian enemy units,
       numbers 4 and 5, up here as well.  Take out ONLY 1 of these units.  You
       can avoid at least one of them if you take the fodder unit with you (in
       my case Lucia) and retreat them if they're attacked.  Once you're two
       connected circles away from Sarah, hit her with your Lightning skill
       attacks.  If you can get her with 3 of these, it will take out her unit
       completely.  If you have big Viki like I do, you can send this unit
       against Sarah after hitting her with the 2 Lightning spells.  This is
       because Viki will almost always cast Set!, which automatically knocks
       out Sarah if she's been weakened by the Lightning spells.  On a rare
       occasion, Sarah will heal herself.  In that case, just blast her again
       in the next turn with Lightning skills.  If Sarah doesn't go down in
       this turn, remember to move your fodder teams into circle C
ET 4:  Once Sarah's unit is gone, only the monster units to the right of the
       field and Yuber will remain.  Retreat your fodder units one last time
       from circle C if they're attacked

PT 5:  Once Sarah is gone, you can now concentrate on Yuber and company.  If
       she's still there in this turn, just repeat the steps in PT 4 until you
       take her out.  If you've taken her out, withdraw any unit you have in
       circle C into circles B and D.  You should have 1 attack unit in circle
       B plus another at the Start circle.  Move the units that took out Sarah
       toward Yuber
ET 5:  If Sarah's gone, allow the enemy to move into circle C.  You'll notice
       those goobs have wandered into a circle that is now flanked by your 2
       attack units--automatically putting them into Cover position so you can
       smash the enemy in the next turn

PT 6:  Take out the enemy units in circle C with your attack teams.  Once
       they're down, head toward Yuber's team with your healthy attack teams,
       the Fire Skill team, Dupa or Sasarai if they still have a Lightning
       Skill, and a Healing skill team.  When you reach Yuber, soften him up
       with your magic attacks first, then send in the attack team that has
       the best Accuracy and Heavy Damage skills among the characters to finish
       him off

The overall strategy can vary depending on where Yuber moves.  Most of the
time, he'll either stay at the top of the screen or move to the right.  If he
moves with Sarah, this isn't a big deal as long as you brought your fodder
team with you.  Just use them to meet Yuber then Retreat.  Your Lightning and
attack units should be close to Sarah if Yuber gets close to you so you can
take her out before having to confront him directly.  If you're having problems
winning this battle, I provide a little more detail and preparation tips in
section 9y for it.

If one of your characters' HP is reduced to 0, they are NOT one of the unit
commanders, AND they say something after the battle, it means they're dead
permanently.  Unfortunately, they don't say something real useful like, "I just
died and cost you the 108 Stars of Destiny bonus".  Instead, it'll be something
generic.  If this happens, just soft reset and go back to your last save to
start the battle over.  This shouldn't be a problem if you're well-prepared,
though.  After you get a Major Victory, you'll get a Wind Hat for a prize.  To
ensure you'll get the 108 Stars bonus, check the Tablet of Stars after this
battle when you get the chance-it should say you have 108 out of 108 stars and
only Yun and Jimba's names should be in red.  If you meet these 2 requirements,
you'll get the bonus at the end of the game.

A cutscene will follow at the last battle area, the Ceremonial Site.  Your 3
main characters plus Sasarai will then go for a different True Rune.  To get
the True Lightning Rune, you'll face Yuber.  To get the True Water Rune, you'll
face Sarah.  Depending on the Flame Champion, this is how these battles are
fought:

Flame Champion          Will Fight Yuber         Will Fight Sarah
Hugo                    Geddoe                   Chris
Chris                   Geddoe                   Hugo
Geddoe                  Hugo                     Chris

Before you head out to retrieve the True Runes, you'll be asked to choose your
party.  If you take the "default" parties of each character, you will receive
a special scene as they head in to fight Yuber and Sarah.  These default
parties are:

1.  Chris, Borus, Percival, Roland, Salome, Leo, and Louis (Support)
2.  Geddoe, Queen, Jacques, Aila, Joker, and Ace (doesn't matter who's support)
3.  Hugo, Sgt. Joe, Fubar (doesn't matter who else is in party)

You can win all the fights in the Ceremonial Site with these default parties
but you don't _have_ to use them.  If Chris is not FC, you will also see a very
funny scene between her and Lucia before she goes to get the True Water Rune.
You can leave the Ceremonial Site at any time by just walking out or using an
Escape Scroll.  You can switch party members either by talking to Apple at the
Site or going back to Lake Castle to talk to Anne.  You are free to roam and do
anything you want, including fighting the treasure bosses again.  The best
place for experience and skill points is the Ceremonial Site itself with the
random encounters there.  For these last battles, levels around 54 will be
plenty.  General strategies for Yuber and Sarah:

Always save at the blue crystal before heading in-the random encounters can be
tough so be prepared.  Save your spells for the end battle.  Sacrificial Jizos
are good items but only essential for your characters with low HP (such as
Queen and Joker if you take them to face Yuber).  For the team going to fight
Sarah, make sure they have healing items in each pair.  Having a Yellow Scarf
for your magic users is also a very good idea for the fight against Sarah.
Remember to make use of Jefferson's appointments.

For Yuber, he will be accompanied by 3 Skeletons and a HellSteed.  I focus on
taking these guys out first before going after Yuber.  It helps a lot to give
somebody a Thunder Rune in your party with really good skill (Geddoe, Mel, or
Rody) and have them cast Thunder Storm in the first round.  Yuber is dangerous
because of his multiple attacks and high repel rate but he has a tendency to
focus on only one person-if you can keep this person alive with your healing
items/spells, you can win this battle fairly easily with everyone alive.  If
you bring a Tank character with a Firefly Rune, it'll make this fight even
easier.  You get a Reflection Ring and the True Lightning Rune for beating him.

For Sarah, she will be accompanied by 2 HorroBeasts and 2 Azzodess.  Casting
Silent Lake is the key.  Put a Flowing Rune on someone with good water skill,
Yumi, Salome, either Vikis, Rody, or Elaine all qualify, and have them cast
this in the first round.  After that, go for your melee attacks and concentrate
on taking down your enemies one at a time.  Heal with your items after that and
you should be able to hack them down.  You'll get a Flowing Rune plus the True
Water Rune back for winning.

After you win these two battles to reclaim the True Water and Lightning Runes,
you'll get a cutscene with Sasarai and Dios.  Thomas and Cecile will also be
with them if you didn't use them in the battles against Yuber and Sarah.  After
this, your FC will then be asked to go get the True Fire Rune.  Just put
together a serviceable party-you'll be able to switch out before the final
battle.  Head to the end and you'll see a cutscene between Caesar and an old
friend.  When that's over, head to the open door.  Another cutscene will follow
and you'll be asked to put together a party.  Just pick anyone again because
you'll be able to choose again soon.  Enter the final platform to get an
extended cutscene.

You'll be thrown into battle with 3 Guardians but they aren't much trouble.
Another battle with them follows but again it's not a big deal.  After your
conversation is over, your party will ask that you fall back to regroup.  Do
so because you won't be penalized for it.  You can now roam again as well as
put Geddoe, Chris, and Hugo in the same battle party.  To fight the last
battle in the game, you would go back to the platform and tell your party that
you are ready when the dialogue choice pops up.

If you take the default parties mentioned before to this last battle, you will
get a special scene as they exit the Site AFTER the battle.  Therefore, each
main character has 2 optional scenes at the Ceremonial Site depending on
whether or not they are FC.  In addition, if you take Futch or big Viki and
put them in the top slot on the formation screen, they'll say a few words
regarding their past relationships with Luc.  Credit Raikochan from the
gamefaqs message board for the info. on Futch/Viki.

The last battle itself is against a super-charged True Wind Rune bird with
magical orbs that've been powered up by the True Earth, Water, Fire, and
Lightning Runes.  You don't need to take out the orbs to beat it, just the
main body itself but taking out the orbs removes its ability to cast multiple
magic attacks.  The best way to ensure you survive is to build up the Magic
Resistance skill on the characters you take to meet it.  If they can't
naturally go up to a B, don't bother.  You can enhance this skill with Gold
Emblems and Resistance Rings.  Your first priority is to take out the Water
orb.  While the Lightning orb is still around, you can only hit the Water orb
with archer and magic attacks.  Once the Lightning orb is gone, you can have at
it with any attack you please.  If you see the Earth orb cast a spell where
these stone columns fly around and a bright yellow disc with symbols appears on
the ground, don't cast any OFFENSIVE magic-it will be reflected right back at
you.  It goes without saying, but make sure you have the best gear and best
weapons available.  Jeane and Ernie are great choices for Geddoe and Hugo
because they aid in magic casting speed and power, respectively.  Specific
strategies for each FC's "default" party:

Chris-This is the toughest out of the 3 main characters but still very doable.
I've changed a few things about this fight since last time because several
people e-mailed me with specific problems about it.  I recommend training up
Magic Resistance for everyone except Salome.  Equip Salome with any Reflection
Rings you have.  Equip Chris with any Resistance Rings you have (big Viki comes
with it) and Gold Emblems for everyone else that can wear them except Salome.
Put a Water, Shield, and Killer Rune on Salome.  Put a Flowing Rune on Percival
and train up his Holy Dash and Water Magic to their max.  Fury Runes for Borus
and Leo are good choices, as well as Killer.  For Roland, Fury + Great Hawk or
Killer are good.  You'll also want to give Roland Jefferson's appointment that
boosts the Swing skill by 1 grade.  At around level 52, Roland gets 2 attacks
per turn if his Swing is a B+.  The formation I recommend:

Percival
Roland
Borus
Salome
Chris
Leo
(Louis)

Sacrificial Jizos and healing items are a very good idea.  The key to winning
this is pure attrition-just outlast the enemy.  In the first turn, send
Percival and Borus' units up against the Lightning orb and send Chris' unit up
against the Fire orb.  Percival's Holy Dash skill will allow him to drag
Roland up with him.  You want to send everyone up so they'll all be in range
for the Kindness Rain spell.  Heal after each round with Great Blessing,
Kindness Rain, or Kindness Drops from Salome.  Use Percival's Flowing Rune only
if it's really necessary or to use Mother Ocean if someone got knocked out.
Once the Lightning orb gets knocked out, send everyone after the Water orb.
It'll take a few tries because the Water orb will continue to revive the
Lightning orb but eventually you'll take it out.  I had to take out the
Lightning orb 4 times before I could finally get at the Water orb.  If you run
low on healing spells, you'll have the Jizos and healing items to fall back on.
Once the Water orb is gone, it's smooth sailing-just take out the Fire orb then
focus on the True Wind Rune.

Geddoe-Make sure everyone has a Fire Sealing Rune if you intend to use the 4th
level True Fire spell.  I prefer not to so I can fit everyone else with a more
useful rune like Killer or Fury.  The familiar formation I use:

Queen
Geddoe
Jacques
Aila
Ace
Joker
(Jeane)