Genso Suikoden 3 - Strategy Guide (Page 14)

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It's odd that big Viki seems to pop up years later right after the events of 
the previous Suikoden.  That is, in Suikoden I, she teleports away from the
dinner celebration after the Toran Army's victory and doesn't appear until
three years later during Suikoden II's time frame.  In Suikoden III, she says
she was having dinner in the Jowston City-States, which implies she lost
fifteen years between Suikoden II and Suikoden III.  Seeing as how she never
ages, maybe she has a True Rune.

Credit and thanks to ptomasel71086 for providing corrections to who had the
blinking mirror in Suikoden II and a typo for this question.

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11m.  Who is Hugo's father?

In Hugo's chapter 2, after you talk to Luce and have a conversation with Lucia,
picking the second dialogue choice, "I understand mother", will cause Lucia to
mention that Hugo is a fine man like his father.  This is the only reference I
know of in the entire game where Hugo's father is mentioned at all.  According
to Kidd's investigations of Hugo and Lucia, Hugo was born pretty much right
after Lucia came back from the Dunan War 15 years prior to the start of
Suikoden III.

There aren't any clues other than Hugo's hair color as to who the father may
be.  You can reasonably rule out Luca Blight since Lucia didn't join the
Highland side until after his participation in the war was over.  Other than
that, it's anybody's guess.  It's not known if Hugo's father is even still
alive.  Although his father is only mentioned once, keep in mind that Luce's
husband/Lulu's father is also only mentioned one or two times and he's still
very much alive and well.

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11n.  Can Viki teleport me to places I normally can't go?

Not that I've found.  The two places of interest are the middle passage in the
Great Hollow tunnels (the area where you got Twaikin) and the Great Hollow Inn.
The middle passage is relevant to the 6th POV so maybe that's why it's sealed
up.  You can walk past the counter by the innkeeper at the Great Hollow Inn
but he stops you before you can go to the back.  I sat around for an hour or so
just teleporting with Viki but when she messed up, I just ended up at the
entrance of Lake Castle.

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11o.  Who is Nash's "missus"?

According to Blue Moon, he who knows all things Suikoden, it's highly likely
Nash's "missus" is Sierra from Suikoden II.  Nash was the main character of the
two Suikogaiden games released in Japan but never in the US.  The Suikogaiden
games are primarily text with still picture RPG's that told side stories
related to Suikoden II.  You can get full summaries with lots of screen
captures of the Suikogaiden games at suikosource.com.

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11p.  What's the story behind Mike?

This is Kidd's profile of Mike:

P.  A mysterious man with a free spirit.  Sometimes he smiles senselessly, but
    he's a nice guy.
1.  He seems to be connected with an organization.  Is it a good one?  I don't
    know.
2.  I saw him talking with some strange people.  Some scary guys were bowing to
    him.  Maybe he's important.
3.  Watari saw Mike and was surprised for a change.  He said, "That guy..."
    Are they friends?

Mike's summary at the end of the game is:

Departs Lake Castle in the middle of the night with several mystery men, and
never returns.

I've brought Watari along when recruiting Mike and never got anything special.
In the 6th POV, if you talk to Mike, he tells Luc he's an arms salesman named
"Leonard".  Also, a man at the Caleria tavern mentions he played cards with
a detective at the Trade Shop and got creamed.  Mike was not in the previous
two Suikoden games.

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11q.  What are the unwinnable battles in the game?

I'm aware of the following:

-Hugo Chapter 1, Melville v. Guillaume duel
-Thomas Chapter 2, strategy battle where Leo and Percival show up
-Thomas Chapter 2, fight with the 4 Zexen regulars inside Lake Castle
-Hugo Chapter 3, Hugo v. Yuber duel
-Chapter 4, first strategy battle outside Chisha
-Chapter 4, Chris is Flame Champion, strategy battle v. Sarah and Yuber

By unwinnable, I mean you cannot reduce the enemy's HP to 0 or score any type
of Victory or Major Victory.

Credit to MrKO and Emperor Magus from the gamefaqs message board for a
correction they provided about the unwinnable battles.

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11r.  Anything in this game that's incomplete/unfinished?

Suikoden III's lead developer and creator left the game midway through its
development.  How this affected the finished product is unknown.  The items in
the list below are some of the head scratchers for me personally:

-Why does Karaya Village still appear on the World Map after chapter 1?

-Why is Sana not one of the Stars of Destiny?  She's still in the Flame Champ
 Hideaway in chapters 4 and 5 and there's no purpose to that either.

-There's many "continuing dialogues"--stories told by continuing to talk to the
 same generic townspeople from chapter to chapter, such as the Super Pickles
 Knight--but were any of them supposed to be side quests?

-Is there a 108 battles bonus for the infinite battles in Iksay?  In Suikoden
 II, there's an opportunity for infinite battles at the very start of the game.
 If you did 108 of those battles, the color for the opening cinema changed from
 brown and white to color.  It's possible there might also be a bonus for
 Suikoden III.

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11s.  Looking ahead to Suikoden IV and Suikogaiden III

Not much speculation, just a quick recap of some character summaries that give
clues to what may lie ahead.  A full list of the character end summaries can
be found in my Story Scenes/Endings FAQ for those interested.

-If Hugo is FC, he becomes an intermediary between Karaya, Harmonia, and Zexen
-Lucia goes to Dunan to work for Karaya's future
-Lilly goes to Harmonia as a student
-Ernie and Rhett join the Archeology Association
-Augustine goes to Toran Castle
-Duke and company head south, the area of Dunan and Toran
-Apple opens a school in her hometown in Toran
-Albert serves Harmonia but also acts as a strategist for another continent
-Edge heads south to seek an enemy of the Star Dragon Sword
-Hortez VII heads to Harmonia to open a shop
-Mio, Tuta, and Hallec go to Hallec's village to help the sick and wounded
-Sharon receives a gold dragon, probably making her 9th class like Futch in SI


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12.  So why did you choose this play and recruiting order?

Surprisingly, I've gotten a lot of e-mails about this.  As I've replied to each
person, the reasons aren't exactly riveting material, but here they are since
people asked.

The most important reason is that the play order lets you see as many of the
story scenes available in the game as possible.  This ties in, to a certain
extent, with the recruiting order as well.  I have compiled a list of these
story scenes in a separate FAQ that's also available at gamefaqs (check section
3 in that FAQ).  It also allows you to do all the optional duels.  In addition,
Geddoe's chapter 1 is more difficult in terms of the random/boss battles so I
put Chris and Hugo's chapter 1's before his to let the player get their feet
wet, so to speak.  The biggest decision as far as deviating from the "super
duper all story" order I mentioned in section 3c was putting Thomas' story at
the end and putting Geddoe's chapter 3 right after his chapter 2.

I chose to put Thomas's story at the end for several reasons.  First, his story
is entirely optional.  A lot of people will like it, but in the responses to my
other two FAQs on Suikoden III and reading the responses on the message board,
there's a chunk of people out there that _loathe_ Thomas' scenario.  A very
small sample, of course, but relevant enough to me to take this into
consideration.  Therefore, putting it at the end allows the player to get a
good idea of what they're in for.  Plus, there's a nice financial advantage
that can be given to Thomas, which makes his scenario a _lot_ easier in terms
of getting cash to upgrade gear/getting recruits.  Finally, you can recruit a
lot of people in the other three main characters' stories first to ensure that
story events occur less haphazardly.  Some of the key events in Thomas' story
don't seem to trigger unless a certain number of recruits have been acquired.
Doing his story later ensures that this won't be a problem.

As far as doing Geddoe chapter 3 in front of Hugo or Chris, this is mostly due
to getting the Copper Hammer, believe it or not.  The reason this Hammer is
particularly special is that most characters' weapons will get a huge ATK boost
at levels 10-12, which is what the Hammer allows you to do.  The boss battles
in everyone's chapter 3's are especially tough so getting weapons up to level
12 is close to essential.  The Hammer is in Caleria and to get to Caleria you
have to get past the Rock Golem boss.  Geddoe's team by far has the best
weapons, armor, and skills up to that point since they've been together as a
unit for chapters 1-2 plus they've had the opportunity to fight all those
treasure bosses.  Compare this to the possible parties available to Hugo and
Chris at the start of their chapter 3's and it's no contest.  I don't expect
players to go crazy with leveling up so the expectation of Hugo or Chris taking
on that Rock Golem with the parties available to them with level 9 weapons just
didn't strike me as a good idea.  Hence, Geddoe 3 before Chris or Hugo 3.  This
gives the added bonus to Chris and Hugo so that they can have weapons at level
12 at the very start of their chapter 3's when their parties are relatively
weak at first.

As for recruiting, Geddoe's suggested recruits are easy.  Only support
characters because he can't switch out his main party of six.  He actually can
at the start of his chapter 2 but that involves hiking all the way back to
Lake Castle with just a party of himself, Aila, and Ace.  It's also only for
that small time frame.  Edge is the exception since only Geddoe can go to Le
Buque until chapter 4.  With Aila and the great equipment they get from beating
treasure bosses, a support character with Healing isn't really necessary.  The
two support characters that help Geddoe the most are Jeane and Ernie since
Geddoe's team relies on magic a lot (Geddoe, Joker, Aila, and possibly Queen).

For Hugo's recruits, Billy, Belle/Gadget Z, Arthur, and the Saint Loa Knights
are for story reasons--their scenes are a lot different than if you used the
other main characters.  Kidd is not only for Fury Runes, but also so you can
get a !Screw for Belle and the Crab Rice Bowl for Mamie (in case you lost
Hallec's).  Goro is great for Healing which can be handy for Hugo.  Everyone
else is just a matter of convenience.  I imagine a lot of people like to take
out Landis, Emily, Sanae Y, and Wan Fu to "try them out".  Keep in mind that
Chris has 4 team members locked in and so does Hugo for the better part of
their chapter 3's.  Dividing these 4 characters up between Hugo and Chris
allows the player more freedom in trying out all these characters in chapter 3.

For Chris' recruits, Gordon is for laughs and also it's easier than anyone
else.  Watari/Ayame primarily because Chris has the most cash between her and
Thomas.  Nei, Toppo, and Shabon are mainly because of Chris' chance to fight
those infinite battles in Iksay.  Nei especially at higher levels is great as
a magic user/fighter so the opportunity to give her all the skill points she'll
ever need is too good to pass up.  Getting these 5 characters also ensures that
Chris will be able to get Nadir in her chapter 3 regardless of whether or not
you get Fred/Rico early or later.  Estella and Rody are mainly for Rody's
Firefly Rune, which is a huge help if Chris becomes Flame Champion because you
can put it on Leo.  This makes the first few strategy battles in chapter 4 a
lot easier.

And finally, Thomas' recruits.  Mel is flat out the only character you really
need to get for Thomas to win all of his battles.  Having Augustine and Twaikin
helps mostly for the strategy battles.  Kenji, like Mel, comes with a Turtle
Tunic which you can put on Juan to wake him up.  I don't get Watari/Ayame with
Thomas mainly because that 100,000 potch is a lot more useful for getting
Thomas' team better weapons/items.

So there you have it.  Hey, wake up!


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                   Part IV:  Thanks and Version History
                 ----------------------------------------


13.  Acknowledgements

14.  Version History


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13.  Acknowledgements

-Huge thanks to Thanh and Deb for proofreading this document and correcting
 grammar/inconsistencies.  Thanks to Thanh also for the Tablet of Stars section

-Thanks to Blue Moon and suikosource.com for information regarding the Chris
 level 99 trick, where to find Fury runes, Nash's missus, the Circle Rune, the
 Zexen Crest mistranslation, and Suikogaiden

-Credit and thanks to everyone who has e-mailed me to make this Walkthrough
 more accurate/thorough and to share their thoughtful comments about the game

-Thanks to CJayC and gamefaqs for putting up this document

-Thanks to Kao Megura and JL Lee, whose FAQs for FFVII and Suikoden II,
 respectively, inspired me to write this Walkthrough

-Thanks to everyone on the gamefaqs message board for showing your patience in
 helping out others and for all the thoughtful discussion.  This goes out
 especially to (in no particular order) Tatooine Ozzel, Mi Heng, dabodufus,
 demon knight x, Raikochan, Skye Anchorz, Starvenus, Abraxas, Mochan, Emperor
 Magus, TexasAndroid, VermilionX, and everyone else who I may have not seen in
 a while and neglected to mention.  Hope to see you all for Suikoden IV

-Thanks to Konami for making another quality sequel to this series


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14.  Version History

+Version .75 (12/22/02)
 -Added all relevant information for all Table of Contents sections except
  ch. 4 and ch. 5 for Walkthrough

+Version 1.0 (12/26/02)
 -Added all content related to ch. 4 and 5 of Walkthrough
 -Added content for Items section
 -Added credit to Raikochan for info. on Futch/Viki
 -Document was proofread for errors/inconsistencies by Thanh and Deb

+Version 1.05 (1/3/03)
 -Added new/clarified content about recruiting Watari, putting Water Rune on
  Chris, making a choice with the Zexen councilor in Thomas' ch. 2, level
  recommendations for the final battles, and using Chris' default team in the
  final battle
 -Added info. about gametz.com from nihon
 -Added info. related to recruiting, tank characters, and skills in section 2
  per e-mail requests

+Version 1.2 (1/8/03)
 -Added a section for the most often asked e-mail questions with updated/new
  content for related topics
 -Added info. on getting a recruit related to the LUK stat.  Credit to Hitmancf
  for this info.
 -Added locations of treasure bosses in the related section
 -Clarified a recruit option for Chris and Thomas
 -Put Recruit List section in an easier to read format
 -Corrected content related to the names of Fire spells
 -Added several new items in the Items mini-list
 -Added Jefferson's Appointments to Medal Sets section
 -Added alternate resources for Suikoden data, including Ruse & Ryvius' FAQs
  and Blue Moon's suikosource.com web site
 -Added some (belated) thanks to gamefaqs message board, CJayC, and others in
  the acknowledgements section

+Version 1.25 (1/9/03)
 -Added more content on getting Landis, credit and thanks to wen, falcon815,
  and crystalstar for this info.
 -Corrected chapter info. for fighting treasure bosses
 -Added caveat to getting Jefferson, credit Dallas Strimple for this info.
 -Other minor typo corrections

+Version 1.4 (1/11/03)
 -Totally revamped 108 Stars of Destiny section, putting in a new format with
  additional recruiting information and sorting characters by alpha
 -Clarified how to get Gordon with Chris
 -Added a tip to get Watari, credit to Journeyman for this info.
 -Added new information to Items mini-list, sorted it by alpha
 -Specified which characters are Berserkers and Magic Users, adding new info.
  related to this in section 3 and 6
 -Added a question to top e-Mails section asking how to get to chapter 4
 -Added info. on downloading Suikoden II data via DexDrive to section 2a,
  credit and thanks to CDexter who provided the game save

+Version 1.45 (1/13/03)
 -Added two new questions to section 2
 -Some more typo corrections

+Version 1.9 (1/17/03)
 -Changed overall format of document, separating it into four different parts
 -Made separate sections for Boss/Battle strategies, duels, and Ernie's Quiz
  and added the related content
 -Changed format for duels listings, added a new duel
 -Added Script locations for mini-list of items
 -Added Armor Sets info., credit to TexasAndroid for this content
 -Changed Introduction to make document navigation easier
 -Corrected when Hugo can start recruiting, credit to SimUser for this info.
 -Added clarification for Kathy's races in section 2j
 -Added Q&A's for Secrets section
 -Added why this play/recruiting order to Secrets section
 -Added tip for getting money in ch. 4-5, credit to sim st-pierre for this tip
 -More grammar and typo corrections

+Version 2.0 (1/18/03)
 -Added a confirmation on Jefferson and a tip for Thomas chapter 1 from Fate
 -Added clarification for recruiting Sanae Y and Melville
 -Corrected several redundancy errors I missed from re-formatting the document
 -Added a few more comments for a duel
 -Added question on incomplete/unfinished game aspects in Part IV

+Version 2.05 (1/19/03)
 -Final proofread by Deb to correct inconsistencies/grammar errors

+Version 2.08 (1/21/03)
 -Added section on unite attacks
 -Added section on bath combinations, credit to Clara for this info.
 -This new content was added to section 5, the 108 Stars Recruit List
 -Added Balance Rune to mini-list of items

 +Version 2.2 (1/24/03)
 -Added Tablet of Stars section to Recruit List as quick reference for missing
  characters, credit to Thanh
 -Added warehouse capacity info., credit to Dazarath
 -Corrected info. in Secrets section, credit to ptomasel71086
 -Added Looking Ahead query to Secrets section
 -Totally re-wrote guide for last strategy battle due to e-mail requests, put
  in more suggestions and a very detailed process for winning it
 -Re-wrote section 3h on Strategy Battles with more detailed content
 -Added content for Hazy Runes and EarthMagic Ring in mini-list of items
 -Clarified when you can recruit Arthur
 -Corrected the last point in the game when you can recruit
 -Added Blinking Mirror query to section 3 due to e-mails requests
 -Truncated the Acknowledgements section to conserve some space.  Proper credit
  is still given to outside contributors within the main sections and in the
  Version History