Suikoden III Index : Walkthrough/FAQ

Flame Champion unites Grassland / Zexen vs. Luc and the Harmonians

So the fifth and final chapter begins with Sebastian greeting the Flame Champion in their room. Choose to wait and not rest so you can explore. Chapter 5 brings some new treats to the Suikoden III world, including new and improved items and new treasure boss items. In the Cyndar Ruins, at the back where you fought the Water Dragon, is a treasure boss (beefed up Copper Sun for me) and he yields a bunch of great defensive gear and the incredibly useful Champion’s Rune. This rune allows you to not have to fight battles against enemies significantly lower-leveled than you (ie enemies you can “Let Go”).

Alma Kinan item shop sells Killer Runes. You’re probably going to want one of these (and maybe a Counter Rune) for the majority of your war-battle fighters. Build up sufficiently as you’ll have a few tough war battles and other things to do. Talk to Sebastian and rest and you’ll see a cutscene with Nash reporting to Sasarai, while Luc eavesdrops. Luc and Sasarai have a scene and you should head to the entrance of Budehuc when you wish to advance the storyline.

Franz is at the gate and he asks for your help in the meeting room. Geddoe naturally steps up as he knows the Caleria/Le Buque area well. So it’s his army and Franz as a guest, with your choice of support (Tuta or Goro would be advised). Viki can’t teleport you so you’ll have to walk through the Yaza Plains and all the way to Le Buque. A long journey indeed but try to save your HP / MP as you won’t have a chance to replenish.

As you get to Le Buque it’ll be empty, but you’ll eventually learn that you are to go to Mt. Senai. Do so and go to the back of the cave to see the Le Buque citizens in an invisible prison of sorts. Luc and Sarah reveal themselves and join in a battle with some conjured up monsters. Nothing too hard. If Geddoe is your flame champion it’ll be a bit more difficult as his spells aren’t as fast and could hurt your army. I’d concentrate on getting Luc down by using Ace’s Double Tusk rune and heal with Aila’s Shield Rune. If Geddoe has the True Lightning Rune just cast Thunder Storm and that should paralyze Luc and friends. A Wind Magic Rune is your reward for winning.

After the battle, Luc will do something bad to Geddoe. You can’t prevent it. But hey, that’s why you kept that regular Lightning Rune on him this whole time right? Cause you still have that to use, right? As you gain control, talk to the villagers. One of them allows you to “rest” and save. The supply shop owner can help you out as well.

As you make your way out, the first screen will net you with an impossible line of enemies. Ghost Armors and Mirages as far as the eye can see. Fortunately for you, you just rested. And if you have Goro to heal you after each battle, it should prove easy. Just MAKE SURE TO NOT RUN, always stay and protect the villagers. Turning your back at ANY point will result in you missing seven characters and messing up your whole recruit all 108 stars thing that you want to do. Besides, a rested Geddoe’s army could handle these random battles for about ten hours without any support. Eventually you’ll continue to hold out and Duke and company will come to help. Those four will join you and allow you to leave. Return to Le Buque once on the map.

Some scenes inside with the townspeople confronting Franz. Geddoe proves how much of a badass he is by decking one of the ignorant townspeople. When that’s all over it’s time to take control of Chris.

She has the True Water Rune (well, Hugo is my FC so she does) and chooses to go to the Brass Castle. Pick a quality party and head on over there. Actually I went to Vinay Del Zexay to see Armor / Item shops in the Guild Hall. Other than that there wasn’t much else to do except build up levels. At Brass Castle you’ll see Yumi and she’ll beg for help. Chris agrees and forms a party to go over to Alma Kinan.

On the way there, you’ll stop through Kuput Forest. Sarah has been deceiving you this entire time and fights you with three Azzodess’. Fortunately I had a Pale Gate Rune (little Viki) and the first level spell gave each Azzodess the “Combat Stifled” note. Sarah in turn didn’t have the protection to survive Juan and Chris’ onslaught after this and she went down easily. A Drain Rune was acquired, but Sarah then did a bad thing to Chris that was uncontrollable. I’m sure at this point you know what’s coming up next.

Hugo’s flame is next. Go talk to Cecile at the gate, and then after all of that ready yourself with another solid battle. There won’t be a tough boss battle for Hugo though, unlike the other two. As Hugo and friends go to Brass Castle, they’ll notice battling on the east side. When you get there you’ll be thrown into several easy random battles, one of which yields the Hunter Rune. Eventually though Luc and Yuber and Sarah will thwart your army with their manipulated monsters. Luc will take the final (Wind, Earth, Lightning, Water and now Fire) of the five primary runes that he is attempting to acquire, and now will “destroy God”. Allies will come from behind Yuber and the rest of the enemies, and a battle with ensue (at your signal).

Put your army in formation. Again, for these last war battles, they’re more difficult so be prepared with the specific characters that actually fight in these wars. I find I ignore too many of these “central” characters in favor of jokers like Piccolo and Juan who aren’t available in these important times. Really though, if you have a Counter or Killer Rune (especially Killer) you can easy create a formidable army. Save and start the battle.

Okay so it’s Yuber and a bunch of enemies. Be on the offensive, but don’t charge Yuber. Try to isolate the regular enemies, they shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Geddoe will appear in the southeast and should enable a pincer attack of sorts. Shortly afterwards Sasarai appears with Dios, but it seems they are enemies. After a few turns, they’ll join your side and declare that Luc has betrayed Harmonia and king Hikusaak. With Sasarai pulling that off, just use Lightning and Fire runes on Yuber to wear him down, eventually netting you the Major Victory if you killed enough other enemy units. Flowing Rune is your reward for the Major Victory.

Back in the main hall the army is discussing it’s final plans. The Ceremonial Site’s location is unknown, until of course Nash comes in and says he knows. Now you can choose to fight the last army battle here or you can wait. It’s your last chance to do anything before it so I’d make sure you’re strong enough to finish the toughest war battle in Suikoden III (albeit that’s not saying much). Re-arrange your army and also pick up the Golden Hammer at Iksay’s item shop rarities. It should finally be there (50,000 potch too).

Chances are half of your war battle participants (hopefully more) are really quality. The others are probably useless but you have so many units that you can’t control them all in one turn anyway. So, try to put all the “bad” units (Lilly was a bad one for me) aside and make 6 or 7 units that can take anyone. For me, this was Chris, Hugo, Geddoe, Duke, Dupa, Sasarai, and Lucia. The others were okay, but Dupa’s unit with Viki in the back (and a Lightning Rune) often took out enemy groups in ONE TURN. Sasarai has fast-casting water magic as well.

Your enemies for this battle depend on how aggressive you are. If you keep destroying the enemy units, Sarah will make replacements (Zexen Knights, Lizards, Karaya Fighters, etc). After about three or four conjurations, she’ll run out of power and flee from the battle. Note that if you fail to kill all these conjurations you’ll have to fight her instead. Really though, you’re better served just destroying these monsters as they’re nothing more than random battles and you should have the juice (and the heal abilities) to take them out easily. Hell, most of the enemy units have their leaders in the front. A few enemy units can be tough though. The Harmonian enemies seem to have ridiculous attack abilities, as they plowed through my best tank (Twaikin) in no time. Plus they attack twice. Dangerous fights I’d say. Also there is an enemy that has a Siren leader surrounded by three Chimera’s. This is another tough one and it’s advised you pick a tough group to take them out as you’ll have to go through all three chimera’s to reach that Siren (unless you have Viki or a magic user available).

Yuber should be circling around on the east side (with Sarah on the west). I tend to leave him for the end, and make sure to have a lot of Fire/Lightning Rune users near him as a sort of buffer so he doesn’t get too aggressive on you. You can’t kill him until Sarah is out of the picture so you’ll either need to take her out or take out a ton of monster units. When she leaves, head towards Yuber and abuse your Lightning and Fire Runes. You should be able to oust him without even attacking him, but do beware as he can dodge and kill anyone in hand-to-hand combat. You’re better served having Sasarai engage him and cast the level 2 water rune spell for a quick kill. A Wind Hat is your reward for a Major Victory. Be very careful not to lose a unit (and a character, thus losing your bid to get all 108 stars of destiny). Basically, if a unit dies and a supporting character says something, they probably kicked the bucket and you’ll have to restart.

Now you’ll be inside the Ceremonial Site. It’s decided that you are to split into four groups (Geddoe, Chris, Hugo, and Sasarai/Thomas/Cecile). Go figure huh. Well Geddoe starts first and I’d flee and save or whatever else you have left to do. At the tablet of stars, you should have all 108 with two (Jimba and Yun) highlighted in red. You can go fight the treasures bosses for gold, items and experience, but you should have a sufficient amount. Plus, the best leveling-up is to be done at the Ceremonial Site itself.

If you want a special cutscene with each group as you enter the Ceremonial Site, pick their “standard” groups. For example, take Leo, Percival, Borus, Roland and Salome with Chris (Louis in Support). For Geddoe, take Queen, Aila, Joker, Ace, and Jacques (Support doesn’t matter). Finally, for Hugo be sure to take Fubar and Sergeant Joe (Support / other 3 spots don’t matter). It’s not imperative you bring these specific groups and you can even leave and change out of them after the opening scenes. Might as well put the relivent members in and see the extra scenes though. Mid-50’s with level 13 or up weapons should be sufficient enough. Depends on how many treasure bosses you’ve fought; if you want to make sure you’re built up, go through Mt. Senai, Cyndar Ruins, and those types of things one more time.

For reference sake, we have Hugo as the Flame Champion so Geddoe goes after the True Lightning Rune. The only condition where this would change is if Geddoe was the Flame Champion, as Hugo would be going after the True Lightning Rune. Be wary; the battles on the way are the toughest yet, so conserve your magic. Hopefully you’re prepared (sharpened weapons / used Jefferson’s Appointments). Geddoe and Yuber are pretty business-like in their meeting. As for the battle, Yuber calls upon a Hellsteed and three Skeleton’s to offset your party. Take them out first (Thunder Storm with the Thunder Rune is a good way to do that, or Joker’s Pale Gate magic). Aila should be using Great Blessing and Battlefield to heal and berserk your team. Yuber will use Lightning Magic or attack, and when he attacks he can often times take out whomever he chooses. He’s even more dangerous when attacking, as he’ll either parry or counter attack often. For this reason, magic is the most safe option. In my particular case, Yuber took out four of my six characters in counter-attacks alone, but Aila and Queen survived since they both use magic. Killer Runes are important as it’s key to get big hits when you actually do connect on Yuber physically. A Reflection Ring and the True Lightning Rune are your rewards. Just as Geddoe gets ready to cut Yuber down, he flees.

Now it’s time for the True Water Rune. In my case, it’s Chris. I don’t particularly like her knight party but I bring them along anyway (Leo, Percival, Salome, Roland, Boris, Louis in support). These jokers will make an oath to Lady Chris and smash their weapons into the ground. Was this scene worth it? I usually go back and change the characters now, in an attempt to utilize the BEST characters available. So who are these sweet characters I chose instead for Chris? Well, you could do a whole lot worse than little Viki, Ayame, Watari, Twaikin an Estella. Viki and Estella being the solid magic-users with Viki having a Pale Gate/Wizard and Estella having Wizard/Lightning/Rage. Ayame and Watari can do massive amounts of physical damage with Killer Runes, and are ideal for attacking Sarah right away to stifle her spell-casting. Twaikin is a solid tank with a Firefly Rune to attract physical attackers. The monsters along the way, in case you haven’t noticed, drop nice things like Custom Armor. But yeah, that Sarah battle is pretty tough. She comes with two HorroBeasts and two Azzodess’. If you have a Flowing Rune user, Silent Lake will shut Sarah down. Otherwise, I’d go for Sarah and the Azzodess’ and just try to sustain the Beasts attacks. Whatever spell Sarah uses is probably the toughest thing in the battle, so she is of prime concern whether she has monsters in front of her or not. That’s what Watari and Ayame are for. The Horrobeasts are assholes though and have a multiple-attack spell that takes off hundreds to all. Hopefully you have someone to heal either late first turn or early second turn. Sarah has a really powerful water attack (probably a true water rune spell) that wiped out my entire party, causing me to have to start over. Next time I didn’t forget to use Silent Lake and it was a lot easier. Don’t underestimate Sarah’s guardians though, they can take off some damage and obviously you won’t pay enough attention to them. With any luck, you’ll survive this battle of attrition and come away with a Flowing Rune and the True Water Rune.

Afterwards Sarah will be knocked out and Chris reclaims the Water Rune. The scene then shifts to Sasarai/Dios/Thomas/Cecile in that other, uncontrolled route. Evidently someone sneaks up on them as they get close to the True Earth Rune. Now it’s time for the True Fire Rune route. When you set up a party, don’t worry as you’ll be able to change later. In fact, you’ll eventually get to the Fire Rune and be aided by Albert. After acquiring it, the rest of your party will catch up and Caesar will allow you to re-group. This is your final party so you can include Geddoe or Chris or whomever, and you can also leave (I suggest doing this).

Who to bring? Well again, you get special scenes if they are your respective group. So with Hugo, Sergeant Joe and Fubar are musts. Other than that, Watari, Juan and Aila are the other three. Watari has a Killer, Double-Strike and Hazy rune while Juan has a Killer. Meanwhile, Aila acts as another healer with her Shield Rune (and Battle Oath is key for beserking your army). Magic Resistance is a good ability to have, and generally good melee attackers (like Juan and Watari) are most-useful. It goes without saying that these six should have fully-sharpened weapons and the newest armor possible. As you walk up to Luc, some cutscenes will occur and he’ll take you back to the past. Hugo (or whomever) will be battling some Guardians. Three of them actually, and they aren’t tough. Hugo will gain a ridiculous amount of levels from this though (up to the mid-60’s for me). Hugo will then examine the setting he has been transported into (black and white Karaya Village). Another battle occurs. More Luc / Flame Champion stuff. Eventually the Flame Champion will have the option to turn back, which you should and save. Now, it’s time for the final battle.

If you have past Suikoden people (Futch or Viki) they’ll comment on Luc since they know him. Luc will summon the True Wind Incarnate along with the Lightning, Fire, Earth and Water Rune Crystals. You don’t HAVE to kill the crystals but they perform attacks so it’s advised you do so. You can’t attack the Earth or Water rune until the lower runes (Fire and Lightning) are taken out. That said, I’d take out the Lightning Rune first with your melee guys. Again, if you can berserk your melee guys (Watari, Juan, Emily, Fubar, Hugo) then you can do some real damage. Equip the Killer Rune and the Double-Strike and you can punch out a rune in one move if you’re lucky. Double-Strike might be a little risky though. Anyway physical attacks are your best bet as the Earth Rune likes to use a spell (symbolized with a bunch of pillars spinning around) that reflects offensive magic. Sergeant Joe should be using Kindness Drops with his Flowing Rune, while Aila is using Battle Oath to berserk the frontline members. You might lose a few guys if the enemy chooses the right attacks each round, but once you eliminate the runes you should be able to sustain again the Wind Rune Incarnate’s attacks. As you get the killing blow, the True Wind Rune dissolves and your surviving characters gain a ton of EXP.

This walkthrough was meant to get you to the end of the game, so there’s no need for a play-by-play of the ending. Enjoy it. I will say that if you got the 108 Stars, keeping pressing X and at the end you’ll gain access to the sixth and final flame, and a really interesting point of view.

Further Reading:

• Final Fantasy 12 XII Hunt Walkthrough, Mob Hunts Guide
• Final Fantasy IV 4 Dark Knight Cecil Walkthrough FAQ
• Legend of Cao Cao Chapter 4 (Red Path) End of 3Kingdoms
• Rondo of Swords DS Okami Wii Released
• Destiny of an Emperor II 2 Walkthrough FAQ Updates

IMPORTANT SPOILERS BELOW

If you’ve done the two Thomas chapters, great. If not, you won’t get to play them. After you finish Chris, Geddoe and Hugo’s chapter 3, you’ll be able to choose the fourth chapter (no specific character). You’ll learn the truth about the Flame Champion; and some scenes will take place. Eventually, you’ll get to choose who you’d like to have be the Flame Champion between the three main characters.

It’s really up to your personal preference. I’ve went through the game four times (this being the fourth) and I’ve been Hugo, Geddoe, Chris and Hugo in that order. Hugo has a B for Fire Magic, Geddoe has a B+ while Chris has a C. Also let me say that I don’t really like the Fire Rune as it too often hurts your teammates, and with the poor grades of Hugo or Chris I usually refrain from using it. There are Fire Magic Rings to raise that level though. More or less just choose who you’d like to see more of towards the end of the game. You’ll still be using all three but the Flame Champion acts as the hero and you can assume the name you gave at the beginning if you want or you can keep your own.

Hugo seems the least credible to assume the throne (in terms of age/maturity) but is also probably the most likely character to bear the rune. Geddoe is obviously supposed to have the True Lightning Rune, while Chris’ dad had the True Water Rune so it’s fitting she gets that also. Do note that if Geddoe gets the True Fire Rune, Hugo will then receive the True Lightning Rune.

With Hugo being the choice, Sana leads you to the back where the True Fire Rune Incarnation is. Not a very tough fight, as long as you have healing items in Hugo/Geddoe/Chris’ inventory. Geddoe’s True Lightning Rune is a help also. A Dragon Incense is your reward for winning.

Afterwards Hugo attains the rune and the Harmonian Bishop appears with Sarah, Yuber and Albert. You’ll then be prompted to fight them with the first choice, but first know that it is a very difficult fight and that you don’t need to win. Getting off Geddoe’s third-True Lightning Rune spell off is key, as that should nearly kill bishop and Sarah, and should take out the three Chimera’s. Bishop and Sarah will probably cast Shredding Winds and Breath of Ice respectively, so hopefully you can survive that. The old Flame Champion uses his spirit after the battle to stop the bishop from acquiring the True Fire Rune. The teleport opens up and the three parties show up behind their respective leader, and Hugo then wakes up the next day in Chisha.

Outside, the Zexen’s and Grasslanders are arguing outside the village. Meanwhile the Harmonian army is attacking; you’ll get a scene with Hugo and then Chris will mention some things to him, and then you can leave. Go back into the village to talk to Caesar (or save first) and then join the battle. This is unwinnable and you’ll flee to Duck Village after the loss.

The Harmonians are bound to pursue you, so head to the Inn and head to the front of the village. Bunch of scenes to go through, back at the Inn is Caesar and Apple, discussing how the enemy is using mirage units to make their army appear bigger than it actually is. Aila is there also to say that she’s experienced Sarah of the Harmonian’s doing this before. Aila will then join you and you’ll be able to form your party. Sergeant Joe, Fubar, Mua and Landis accompanied Hugo and Aila for me.

Another war battle will start and you’ll have Dupa, Lucia, and a few Duck Clan armies at your disposal. You can’t win so just try to retreat and buy some time; Chris and friends will join eventually and that’ll signal Hugo to attack the magician Sarah. Initially you’ll fight a battle against five Harmonian’s, and then another one. Finally you’ll be fighting Sarah and five more Harmonian’s. Use Battle Oath with Aila and attack Sarah with Fubar/Hugo. You may not be able to reach her and she may get off a Fire or Water Rune spell, but you can always heal.

Yuber saves her with some Skeleton Warriors and they teleport off. Caesar gets you to come back to Brass Castle now where you’ll go through a bunch of Flame Champion scenes. It’ll be decided that Budehuc is the headquarters for you and your allies, so choose your party and head there. Budehuc has some new features, like talking to Koroku for the fifth point of view (nothing really important). There is a comment box as well. Anyway, you’ll get to rename the castle if it’s still Budehuc and Thomas shows the FC to their room (Thomas’ old room). Do what you need to do and leave, where you will meet Jefferson. Give him all the Medals that you have found and then leave to the Great Hollow to advance the story.

As you enter the Great Hollow you’ll see Jimba running towards the Ancient Highway. Follow him and you’ll get an event in the center with the Masked Bishop and his buddies. Keep going through the Ancient Highway afterwards and stop by Duck Village. With Sergeant Joe along, Rhett and Wilder will join you inside in one of the best moments in Suikoden III. In the Tutor/Rune Sage building are two girls who will give you a Thunder Rune and the Silver Hammer. Leave Duck Village and go to the Mountain Path.

Viki will teleport in as you enter. You’ll go through some scenes and if you’ve played the previous (or future) Suikoden’s you’ll recognize her. Allow her to join and choose the first option to go to Lake Castle together. She’ll teleport you and her to Budehuc. Go to Anne and put her and Mio in your party and return back to the Mountain Path to get little Viki. Yes that’s right, Viki and little Viki. From different time periods obviously, but the little one gives you the Blinking Mirror, the Suikoden treasure that allows you warp back to Budehuc by choosing it on the Event Items screen when you’re on the world map. This cuts down in so much annoying transit time (that really lowers Suikoden III’s overall value IMO) and will allow you to go from Caleria to Budehuc without going through 2 hours of gameplay. If only you could have gotten this item earlier.

Now when you go back to Budehuc, Cecile will run up and tell you about how everyone is in the meeting room talking of the events going on. You’ll hear about Jimba and Harmonia, and you’ll have to go to the Ancient Highway (and then the Cyndar Ruins) to advance the story. Before all this you should tie up some loose ends.

With Mio in the party, you can use the Blinking Mirror to go to Chisha. Go downstairs in the bar area, and in one of the rooms there will be Tuta (who couldn’t join you when Mio did back in Iksay). He’ll join and he’s another great support member. I left Melville and Elliott until now. You can get them earlier though, just go to Vinay Del Zexay, in their little alley and they’ll join (if you’ve already recruited Billy at the castle). Alanis is at the Great Hollow and she’ll join when you bring Melville and Elliott.

Caleria is the next place to go to recruit some more characters. Make sure you bring three men, two females, and one child. It can be kind of tricky to determine what sex / age some of the characters. Teenagers (like Hugo) are considered children. Again, you can get Nadir earlier but with a more flexible party in chapter four it can be easier to match up. For reference sake, I had Hugo, Estella, Nei, Nash, Joker and Fred. He’ll look at you and join and then you can visit him at the HQ and watch scripts with him. If you loaded the Suikoden 2 completed data, you can watch some Suikoden 2 scripts. Leave Caleria now and go up the Mountain Path. You won’t have to go too far as Futch will be along the path. Agree to show him to Caleria and Futch and his dragon Bright will bring the party to Caleria. Now you must look for Sharon, a female dragon knight that Futch is looking for. She is yellow and as you walk around Caleria you’ll notice her. Just keep following her and talk to her in that eastern corner. Return to the entrance where Futch will stop her. The three of them will then join you. If you follow the character recruiting process I used (kind of sporadic but I did get them all), that should round up all the optional characters. Don’t worry about the good number of slots that are still blank. Before you go, you should remind yourself of a few things. Bring someone with a Pale Gate Rune (one of the recently-acquired Viki’s should do) as the first level magic will prove invaluable in an upcoming battle. Other than that, just bring a well-built up party. With the Silver Hammer in Duck Village, you can get weapon levels up to 15. You’re probably going to want to do this, and loot some treasure bosses to gain gold if necessary.

Now to the Ancient Highway, where Jimba was running (yep, that was the last storyline point). Go to that center area where Hugo and friends had that confrontation with the Masked Bishop, Sarah, Yuber and Albert. Enter the Ruins of Cyndar and save. Take the left path first and take the first left path. In the northeast corner is the final non-star dog, but remember you have to of recruited the others first. Continuing on, take the straight path as you work your way north. Loot the corpse (Byakko Chain Mail for me) and take the path going northeast out of the screen. Now go southeast first to get Script 5 if you have the Suikoden II data (otherwise it’s random) and return and leave east. Keep going along the path as it goes up and twists south and southeast eventually. At the end of this is another corpse with the Old Book Volume 4. Follow the path out of the screen and take the first right. Follow this path all the way around and ignore the west and east paths. Continue to go straight and you’ll enter the temple-like part of the ruins. Save when you can and you’ll have a battle with Sarah, two Ghost Armors and two Chimera’s. If you saved a lot of the Pale Gate’s first spell, you can use it on Sarah and take out the four monsters in one shot (if you’re lucky which I was). Once the summoned monsters are gone, Sarah gives up. She then runs and you should follow her. Armor of Rage is your reward.

You’ll make your way to the True Water Rune Dragon. A tough battle indeed, and again the more Pale Gate level one spells you have, the better off you are. High-level lightning spells can be a help, and make sure you have someone who can heal. I had Nei and her Jongleur Rune around to use the Song of Madness (increased attack) for my fighters. Really though, if you have a healthy supply of level one pale gate spells you’ll be able to control fight, as the dragon will be too concerned about restoring his defense crystals. A Flowing Rune is your reward.

Continue on, it’s not much longer. Jimba will be there and an extended cut scene will occur. Chris acquires the True Water Rune.

Further Reading:

• Suikoden II 2 recruiting 108 Stars of Destiny list
• Suikoden II 2 Walkthrough Radat Shu Kuskus
• Suikoden Tierkreis Trade Guide Walkthrough FAQ
• Suikoden Tierkreis Recruit 108 Starbearers Guide FAQ
• Complete Suikoden Tierkreis Walkthrough with 108 Stars Guide

Nash and Chris Lightfellow are in Duck Village, where Nash suggests finding a guide. Maximillian Knight Fred and Rico will meet you as soon as you get there, so just pick the first choices to get them to join you. Go to the Tutor and improve Rico’s Water magic and get rid of Nash’s. Personally, I had a Mother Earth laying around (or you can buy a regular Earth upstairs) and gave that to Nash instead, since he can get that up to a B at least. Outside of the Tutor/Rune shop is Rhett and Wilder, who will be your guides if you can find the village chief. He’s the one outside the Trading Post so talk to him and report back to the two guides. They’ll happily join you and you’ll be pleased with the entertainment they provide. Rhett also comes with Fried Ice Cream, Mashed Potatoes, and Butter Cake.

Chisha Village and Caleria open up now. First though I usually go to Lake Castle, stopping at Mt. Hei Tou if I need the potch. Remember, you can’t pass through the center of Brass Castle or into the council guild in her chapter 3. Build up these new five characters at Budehuc and get their weapons to level 12. At Chisha, you’ll meet Yumi and Yun, with Yun being the one able to see the future and knows about your dad. The mantors will attack shortly after you arrive, and you’ll be prompted to switch one of your characters for Yumi (who has the earth rune 4th level to her credit), so you may wish to do that for one of the ducks. The battle against Franz is rather easy though, and you can rest and leave for Duck Village shortly afterwards.

Tune up your magic skills at the Tutor Shop when you get here, then go to the Inn to get Caesar and Apple to come to Chisha. Upon getting there you’ll be in the middle of a Harmonian invasion. Unlike Hugo though you’ll be in a war battle here and you can change your ranks if you’d like. I generally put Fred alone and spread the four optional characters between Nash and Chris. With a little luck you should be able to take out Dios and Sasarai, if you’re aggressive enough that is. The mantors will appear in the back but the Chisha Clan uses smoke to get rid of them. Shortly after Hugo and friends appear and the enemy retreats. An Earth Chain Mail is the gift for a Major Victory.

Talk to the Alma Kinan girls and you’ll then go to Alma Kinan, which is through the Kuput Forest. You’ll go through a magic barrier that Yuber will penetrate. You’ll have to fight him but he’s alone so that’s not too bad. Your rewards are slim as well. After this you’ll be in Alma Kinan.

There are a Bujutsu and Tutor here, so take advantage of both with your new characters. You’ll get some Melon Seeds in the Item Shop from a girl and the duck outside has an Orange Kennel. Go to the elders house to have Chris talk with the Alma Kinan girls. She’ll get upset so take her north through the trail for more scenes. It’ll be night shortly after this and more scenes with Yun being involved in a ritual. The three “destructive forces” will attack you (Masked Bishop, Sarah and Yuber). This is a very, very difficult battle. I’d suggest using Rico’s Kindness Rain on the first turn, as these three will deal some heavy damage. My entire party was wiped out in the first turn a few times. If you can survive that first turn and take out Sarah or the Bishop, you have a chance. Either way, the story ends up the same; Yun completes the sacrifice and the bad people leave.

Go back to the ritual site the next morning. Chris will want to look for the Flame Champion now. Exit Alma Kinan and go through the scenes and then come back. Talk to Rody outside of the Inn, and then the pink-haired lady named Estella inside the Inn. She’ll ask you to search for Gordius (all-male village in Suikoden V), so go north to the ritual area where a little girl will give you an answer regarding Gordius. Return to Estella and she’ll join you with Rody. Estella is one of the best magicians in the game and I’d advise you give her a Lightning Rune or something and build up her Lightning Magic (you’ll have to go to Sana in Chisha to change your party). When you are ready go to the Flame Champion’s Hideaway (usually with Watari and Estella, although Rody or Ayame work too).

Assuming you’ve been here twice, just go to the Azzodess. This time around it’ll be vital to have a Yellow Scarf on Rico and Estella. Remember, the Azzodess takes no damage on Lightning so try to use Estella’s fourth level Rage Rune spell to do some critical damage. When you’re done, go to the yellow dot in the west path in the third screen to get Chris to meet Sana again. She’ll be the first there and it’ll be time for Chapter 4.

Further Reading:

• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Hugo Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Geddoe Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Thomas Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Thomas Chapter 1

So now you’re outside the Great Hollow and have been instructed (if you remember) by Jimba to infiltrate Lake Castle and see what’s going on regarding the Fire Bringer. You can go back through the Ancient Highway but you might as well go to Mt. Hei Tou and kill the Blue Mantix. No important items, just 100,000 potch. Leave and go to Lake Castle now.

Hopefully you picked Geddoe’s chapter 3 before Hugo’s, because then Peggi will have the Copper Hammer and you can sharpen your weapon to 12, a huge help. Just do it for Sergeant and Hugo though; remember, Hugo is generally pretty low on potch, unless you’re a lottery crackhead. Plus the Tinto people will be gone soon. At the castle entrance is that evil councilor who pestered Thomas in his chapters. He’ll say some mean things to you and then go inside to talk to Sebastian. He’ll kick you out so go to Cecile at the gate, and then go back to the castle to see Cecile and Thomas outside. Extended cutscenes about what Thomas and Hugo are going to do. Head to the gate to turn yourself in, but the guard will say it is not you that they want.

Back in front of the castle, Thomas and friends are in despair. Caesar and Apple will cut into the conversation and give you a strategy to get Hugo out and the Zexen’s away from Budehuc. Now leave and come back to trigger three choices with Caesar. Ask him the bottom two and tell him you’re ready. Head to the Inn to see a busy Thomas and then rest. Some more talking in the morning and choose to go when you’re ready.

You won’t actually be involved in the war, but you’ll be on the Yaza Plains while the Zexen army is stationed there, so you’ll have to two battles against the Zexen’s. After you get out of the first area at the Yaza Plains, Caesar and Apple will leave for Duck Village. Take the west exit and go to Mt. Hei Tou for the Blue Mantix. The money is useful for Hugo, and I got a Killer Rune and a ? Figurine.

At the Great Hollow, the Tinto people will leave for money. Brass Castle is your next destination, but first hit the Ancient Highway to see Guillaume running around. He will duel you when you get close enough, and he’s an easy one with Hugo (especially a level 12 weapon Hugo). Suddenly Guillaume’s demeanor will change and he’ll join if you choose the second option. Also, in Brass Castle, you can talk to Arthur (nerdy kid with glasses) and you can go through the passage Hugo had to use earlier. After going through Arthur will join you if you choose to “tell” him.

Follow it through to Duck Village, where you can visit the shops and talk to Kidd in the back. Hortez is around here so you can tell him where Budehuc is. He will then be in Chisha and then Caleria and then back in Duck Village. Tell him where Budehuc is each time and when he comes to Duck Village again, lie to him and he’ll actually make it there this time. Sanae Y. (daughter of Freed and Yoshino) is also in the back of the Inn where she will join if you ask her to. Go to the northwest house to talk to Kidd at the murder scene. Agree to help him and search the room; check the duck, the dresser with the incense, and the propped open window. Kidd then says to go talk to others, and the three people you need to see are Howard in the back of the Inn, the duck in the Trade Shop, and the duck looking at the wheel at the east side of Duck Village. Return to Kidd with the results and the case will finish; suggest Budehuc as his next destination and he’ll join. Kidd will then do investigations on call for both recruited and non-recruited Stars of Destiny.

To advance the storyline, go to the east side of Brass Castle to see Hallec. You’ll have some choices and then Leo and Roland will show up. If you choose the second option (“it’ll be different this time around”) then you will get scolded by the Sergeant and will be in a fight with two Zexen Knights, Roland and Leo. You must win this within a few rounds, but that should be doable as Hallec and Mua join you for this. Roland will mostly use his rune to hit everyone for little damage, while Leo’s attacks will be pretty strong but he’s pretty slow. If you upgraded your weapons to 12 you should be able to take out Roland and Leo with Fubar and Hugo alone in turns 1 and 2. Not a tough fight really but not very rewarding either.

You’ll notice Hallec has a Crab Rice Bowl. Take this to Mamie in the Duck Village Appraisal Shop and she’ll join. Now you’ll probably want to go to Lake Castle before you advance the story, so you can upgrade your abilities/weapons for your new friends. As usual, the Blue Mantix can be taken out if you wish. At the Great Hollow you’ll see Apple with two Lizard Fighters on the first floor. She’ll say Chisha Village is in trouble so go there. Also, a path to Caleria opens up if you’d like to explore a bit more. I’d just head to the Kuput Forest though.

Not sure if this is your first time here or not, but if you have an open slot (Hugo does) you can get Landis. He joins randomly when you are walking around (I generally walk around the second screen. For this particular quest he came within 5 minutes, but I’ve been stuck for hours in the past so if this happens, I know how you feel). Take the east path each time and you’ll be at Chisha in no time.

In Chisha, you’ll have two fights against Harmonian Soldiers and one fight against Mantor Trainors and Mantors. None is hard, and afterwards you get a scene with Chris. When you get control, go downstairs via the Defensive Gear Shop to find Wan Fu. Pay his 3000 potch ticket and he’ll join you. Continue in and talk to Emily, who is slouched down at one of the center tables. She’s very similar to Ronnie of Suikoden I and is one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in Suikoden III (think Juan but a female). Accept her challenge to an arm wrestling match and if your strength beats hers, you’ll win and she’ll join. If you lose, just return when your levels are higher. With Fubar, Hugo, Sergeant, Mua, Hallec and Landis this shouldn’t be a problem for you. Talk to Sana a few times and go to the top of the hill towards the exit to get another scene.

Hugo will duel the Man in Black but cannot win. Afterwards, Hugo gets some words from Sana regarding Hugo’s similarity to the previous Flame Champion. As you leave outside talk to the group and hear out their plan; you are to assume the identity of the Flame Champion to delay the enemy for ally reinforcements. When you go up the hill to do this, they won’t believe you, so Hugo will offer to duel anyone. No one steps up so Sasarai does it.

He should be easy, if you have a level 12 weapon and some armor. Afterwards they’ll flee and Sana will talk to you during the celebration festival. She’ll tell you where the Flame Champion Hideaway is, so go there. This is the end of Hugo’s third chapter though, so make sure you have everything before you go in. The Azzodess (treasure boss) is at the back of the cave once again, but is much tougher for Hugo than she was for Geddoe. Hopefully you have a Yellow Scarf or something to protect from Silence for Sergeant Joe. Not much is unique here this time around, other than a Stone of Evasion and a ton of potch. I was around 50,000 for Hugo so I went back to Lake Castle and upgraded a bunch of weapons, so as to not waste the excess potch. You can hit the yellow switch whenever you’d like to send Hugo to Sana’s location to finish his third chapter.

Further Reading:

• Suikoden V Beginning

Geddoe Chapter 3

Geddoe Chapter 3 begins in Brass Castle. Aila has a new uniform so as to fit in around Zexen areas. When you regain control, dump off the inevitable mass of skill points you acquired at Mt. Senai at the Bujutsu Teacher in the center area (Geddoe can actually go in here now). Aila and Geddoe probably have Freeze available now and this is one of my personal favorite abilities, when built up of course. Stunning enemies is very effective especially in random battles, expediates battle-time tenfold.

Further west in Brass Castle is Percival, and Aila attempts to kill him but she is stopped by Jacques. Aila is learning about stealth. Go through the Zexen Forest (Crab Rice Bowl, save one if you get one) and to Vinal del Zexay (or go ahead and go to the North Cavern and get the treasure boss) to advance the story. You’ll see a scene upon arrival and then go to the Inn for another one. After this you may head on to the North Cavern. Do check out the Rarities in both the Item and Armor Shop though, you might find some nice things.

As you enter the winding room that winds down, you’ll see Duke and his friends above you. They’ll come down and you’ll talk for a while. Geddoe will ask for them to leave but then Duke will request a duel. Take him up on that, and you should not have too much of a problem. Again, if his weapon level is 10 and his defense is upgraded, that’ll be more than sufficient enough to take him down. Afterwards Duke says that this whole plan isn’t Harmonia’s doing but rather the masked bishop’s planning. You probably could have guessed that by now though.

At the end where you usually fight a treasure boss, Salome and Louis are there. You get A LOT of storyline confirmation at this point; most of it are pieces tied together throughout the game that you probably noticed. For example, the Zexen Knights not making sound at the Great Hollow (illusions). Salome then tells you that the Harmonian Regular Army will probably be attacking to take over Grassland, and that he’d like you to help against the Zexen Knights at Budehuc Castle. If you did Master Thomas’ chapter 2 before this, you may know what he’s talking about already. You’ll leave the Cavern after the talk, but going back in will lead you to a new treasure boss – The Stone Golem. He is tougher than his predecessor on the Mountain Path (Rock Golem) but still shouldn’t be able to take you out. He can cast Explosion and will do physical attacks, but nothing that will kill you in one hit and you can always use the Water Rune to replenish yourself. As a reward, you’ll get roughly 100,000 potch, Premier Helm, Premier Casque, Flame Armor, Custom Leather, Ninja Suit, Robe of Mist, Herb Serbs and another ? Statue.

Rest up and go to the Lake Castle. Your timing will be impeccable. If you’ve played Thomas’ chapters before, you’ll remember this. Cecile will defend Thomas and eventually the Zexen Knights Leo and Percival leave Budehuc. You’ll have some time to explore now. If you have an S Statue and you want to take care of an annoying character, go to the second floor of Budehuc and enter the first room on your left (hard to see, it’s the statue room though). Place any of the S statues (Hex Doll S) on the center mount, leave and save. Then head right back in. In the second it took you to leave the room, Billy shows up and is admiring your S Statue. He’ll challenge you to a card game called Guppo. Basically you have an entire deck and so does Billy, but the idea is to get the higher card than him and end up with the most “wins”, more or less. I didn’t have much trouble, just try to conserve your face cards for later and win a lot of the smaller numbered cards. If you lose just reload and do it again, and note that if you recruit Billy with Hugo you’ll get a different scene (since Hugo knows Billy’s kid Melville).

Enough about Billy. Go to the library and you’ll have a scene with Eike. He knows Geddoe from something he read regarding the Zexen/Grassland common-land situation at Budehuc. Anyway, do whatever you need to do and go down the stairs for another scene. Choose “I suppose” to go to bed, otherwise you can look around. At night Joker will come up to Geddoe at the bar, alone. Geddoe will tell of his relation to Jimba (Wyatt Lightfoot) and the Fire Champion. They made their pact regarding the land to make it free from anyone’s control. After this Geddoe shows the True Lightning Rune and unlocks it for you to use. All you need to know is that the level 1 spell is Soaring Bolt (900 damage spread out). Probably the single most powerful attack rune in Suikoden III, or any Suikoden for that matter. Endless high-level Lightning ammunition.

The next day it’s time to go outside as the soldiers are gathering. At the gate you’ll trigger the scene with Thomas fleeing from the councilor and the Zexen Knights. Geddoe and friends will step in and battle a group of 5 Zexen Knights. You may wish to abuse your recently-acquired True Lightning Rune here. Run up to the manor and Thomas and friends will retreat into the house. You’ll then get the scene where Thomas is fighting the impossible group of knights, and Queen throws the flash bomb or whatever. Geddoe rushes in and yet another easy fight. More scenes and the councilor and friends will flee. You’ve already seen all this though, if you did Thomas’ quests. After this you’ll be free to roam around again but when you leave a path to the Flame Champion’s Hideaway appears. This is through Kuput Forest and ultimately where you’ll have to go, but let’s discuss a few things before we end Geddoe’s final chapter.

First of all, if you like Geddoe more than Hugo and Chris, upgrade his fire ability. Otherwise, you’ll be fine with the True Lightning. At the end of everyone’s third chapter, the money is pooled. So, try to keep around 30-40,000 with Geddoe. Usually what I’ll do is if I have a surplus of money I’ll buy a bunch of armor so that I can sell that off in the next chapter, even if I don’t need it now. Either way, there’s no sense in having more than 99,999 since you’ll just lose anything that goes above that if you don’t convert it into armor or whatever. You can go to the Mountain Path, North Cavern, or Mt. Hei Tou if you’d like to fight a boss, but really I don’t see what the point would be. You’re probably fine with abilities and money but if not those are your options. You can get a Copper Hammer from one of the market people hanging around on the west end of town. Unfortunately you’ll have to make the trip all the way back to Lake Castle if you want to utilize this. I suggest you do though, as you have the money to spare I’m sure and building up weapons is the best way to waste it. When you’re ready though, go to the Flame Champion Hideaway.

In the Flame Champion Hideaway, keep taking the right path. At the third screen you’ll see a yellow switch; this is the end of the chapter, so keep going right. Along the way you’ll come across the Old Book volume 1 and 9, both after taking the east fork. Eventually you’ll come to a dead end with a save point and a tough treasure boss. If there was ever a situation to have the Yellow Scarf, this is it. Geddoe (Lightning) and Aila (Shield) are probably the most needy of protection from Silence attacks. This thing isn’t the Blue Mantix, so be rested.

Azzodess is a powerful creature. Fortunately you have the best of the three groups. That Silence attack stated above is used frequently and takes off 100-140 on each character. If you don’t have a Yellow Scarf this is devastating. Geddoe is useless casting spells (Azzodess takes 1 damage on Hammer of Raijin) but you’re better off attacking with him anyway. Battle Oath and Great Blessing are your friend in this battle. If you have your weapons sharpened to level 10 you should be able to Melee the thing in four turns or so. Great Blessing with cure Silence too by the way, so as long as Aila has a Yellow Scarf and enough level 2 magic, you should be unbeatable. A Stone of Power, Kite Rune, Fine Helm, Wind Hat, Fine Armor, ThndrboltLeather, Custom Tunic, Silver White Robe, Fire Magic Ring, and another Statue.

That should just about do it for the Flame Champion Hideaway. If you want to leave and sell some of the stuff you got or do some other tinkering, then do so. Otherwise return to the Flame Champion Hideaway and take the three west paths to teleport Geddoe away from his party. Run straight and you’ll see Chris and Hugo already with Sana of the Chisha Clan. Geddoe’s tale ends here.

Further Reading:

• Suikoden V Dawn Rune
• Suikoden V Raftfleet Dawn Rune
• Suikoden 5 V Walkthrough Updates, Links, other musings

Hugo starts off in Karaya on the World Map. Make your way to Duck Village, where Rhett and Wilder will greet you. Head to the northwest and talk to Lilly Pendragon shortly, and she’ll go off to the Inn. Visit the necessary shops and go see them. Continue with your Fire Bringer talk and accept her proposal to guide her to the Lizard Clan. 2000 potch up front and 2000 when you get there; but don’t hurry there yet.

When you leave Duck Village, a road to the Ancient Highway (leads to Great Hollow) opens up. Ignore it for now and explore your options. You can’t go past the middle of Brass Castle, thus you cannot go to Vinay del Zexay or the North Cavern either. However you can use the Blacksmith in Brass Castle to get your weapons to level 7 and the Armor Shop as well.

After the aforementioned upgrades, the Ancient Highway is your destination. Fight around here for a while and you’ll find a boss-fight; three Terroknights and a Malifaux. This fight alone should bring you in the early 30’s for levels. You’ll want to be around 31 or 32 for this upcoming fight, it’s against the Man in Black. It is three screens west of your initial starting point. For it I had taken the Wind Rune off of Samus and put it on Lilly, and then put an Earth Rune on Samus. Both topped out at B ability for those runes, and they help provide some artificial defense for this beast.

To trigger this tough, optional fight, go to the center area to view a Masked Man, Sarah, Man in Coat, and the Man in Black. You’re hiding behind them and they can’t see you. When asked what to do, if you choose to talk to them you’ll fight them. If you choose the second option you’ll have another choice; if you agree with Lilly, you won’t fight the Man in Black. If you don’t agree with her, you’ll also fight the Man in Black. The other three enemies you see will teleport out of here and it’s time to fight now.

ManinBlack is a devastating attacker. You’ll learn this now and later as well. He also has the Lightning Rune at his disposal. Use the Tinto Attack and melee attack with Hugo and Fubar. The ManinBlack then will most likely attack Fubar and Hugo twice, taking off about half of their total HP. Hopefully your Water Rune for Sergeant Joe is of a decent level (B+ helps) so you can heal Fubar and Hugo each turn that they are attacked, and having that Earth Rune on Samus allowed me to use Clay Guardian. Assuming you leveled up Hugo and Fubar’s accuracy ability, you should be able to endure the ManinBlack in this war of attrition. Towards the end he’ll be in Berserk status, so watch out. It’s also probably not worth your time to attack him with anyone other than Fubar and Hugo, because his evade skill is so high that he’ll dodge you like a crackhead. By defeating him, you get the honor of feeling good and of learning his name. I won’t say it here to avoid the suspense for those who didn’t fight; you’ll learn later anyway. Oh, you’ll gain a level or two and a Gold Emblem as well. Then, Yuber (!) retreats with Sarah.

Advance west and you’ll be out of the tunnel and watching the Zexen’s invade the Great Hollow from above. This is the same scene that Chris was at, where she fought Shiba and then dueled Lucia. You can continue to watch or you can choose the first option to charge down and fight a few Zexens. You’ll have two battles against two Infantry Zexen’s and two Zexen Knights. You’ll then see the scene between Lucia and Chris Lightfellow from an outsider’s perspective, and then Fubar will scream and both armies will leave.

Inside the Great Hollow Luce will run up and you’ll have to tell her the bad news regarding Lulu. Then you’ll talk to Lucia and Sergeant Joe will come up and question you as to where the Tinto group went. Joe joins and then you should head up to the top, near Chief Dupa’s area. Dupa will give the story of the Fire Bringer. Go down and towards the east exit (where Twaikin was/is) and you’ll see Lilly going off about the Fire Bringer still. She claims he’s immortal because he has one of the 27 True Runes (True Fire Rune). Either way, her party goes with you as you leave the Great Hollow. Jimba comes walking in just as you’re exiting towards the World Map. Bring him to Lucia and a few scenes will occur, and then Jimba will ask you to go to Lake Castle and investigate if it has anything to do with the Fire Bringer or not. Lilly’s party is with, so advance all of their skills (finally you can see the Bujutsu Teacher) and armor, along with sharpening their weapons to level 9 if your potch account allows it. Leave for Lake Castle and there will be a scene and that will be it for his second chapter.

Further Reading:

• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 3
• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Geddoe Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Thomas Chapter 2

Chris Chapter 2

Chris starts off with the butler at her home in Vinay del Zexay. Leave and buy a Grape C at Vinay del Zexay and then see Melville and his friends as Alanis departs. Quite dramatic indeed. Not much else to do here so leave towards the gate to see Louis and Borus. You’ll be on your horse and can exit Vinay del Zexay. Do so and a path to the Yaza Plains and Lake Castle opens up. Go through the Zexen Forest to get there and be careful of any tough battles; with only Borus, you should probably be conservative.

When you get there, Thomas will be all apologetic as he thinks you’re there to bust him. Chris will be nice however and from here on out you can recruit members with Chris. Remember though, whoever you recruited with Thomas or Geddoe or Hugo cannot be used in Chris’ party, but you can use their shops, blacksmith, tutor, etc..but go to Brass Castle and talk to Salome when you’re ready to advance the story.

You’ll report the new actions you must take. Before this though, go to your room and talk to Louis and pick the first choice. Later in the evening you’ll explain the details of attacking the Lizard Clan with the rest of the knights. Louis will come in the next morning, drunk from Percival’s pressure. Go to Salome’s room once again and say that you need to plan the formation. Put all of the members in and head to the North Cavern to buld up levels and beat the treasure boss. A Chimera is now there and it’s obviously tougher than the Magician you fought with Thomas. It didn’t do much other than a poison attack to one person or a flying attack to an area. That said, I hate Chris’ knights and think they’re overrated, so dying is a possibility. Percival has the Water Rune though so just use regular attacks and heal when need-be. Post-battle, Chris reaped some nice rewards, in the form of a Mother Earth Rune, Blessed Helm, Guardian Casque, Lightning Leather, Mangosh, Herb Seeds, Script # 3, Old Book Volume 11, and the Medal Set # 5.

Talking to Salome prompts a battle if you choose the second one. The Lizard Clan and the Karaya Clan will participate, with the latter coming in after the former. Shiba was tremendously difficult (strength-wise) as I had built him up earlier in Geddoe’s Chapter 1 (this transfers over). The others are tough but when Borus and Percival launch a joint attack, you should get the upper hand. Until then, be defensive and try to get good position (coverage for your attacks/defenses). An Evasian Ring is your reward.

You’ll have the entire knight group in your party besides Salome now. Go north toward the Great Hollow entrance and you’ll fight six Lizard Fighters twice. Not too tough but Percival does have the Water Rune if you need to use it. Just melee your way through and at the end will be Shiba. He is difficult but nothing your knights and a Water Rune can’t handle. After the battle, Lucia will confront you with Beecham, Bazba and Dupa at her side. If you choose “Stop these foolish accusations!” you’ll get another prompt, and picking “So be it” means you’ll be in a duel with Lucia. She is pretty easy as your attacks will destroy her and her attacks don’t penetrate your armor very well. If you didn’t choose this Salome will speak up for you and you’ll get dialog instead of a duel. Either way the Zexen army will pull out and you’ll be talking to Salome at night about the Harmonians and the council.

The next day, go to the west end of Brass Castle and talk to Salome. You’ll learn that the council is basically manipulating you to justify bringing the Harmonian Forces in. Chris will be furious and will head to Zexen Forest, where she will feel sick and then pass out (around where you met Fred and Rico).

When she wakes up, the entire knight staff will be looking upon her. As you get control, go to the west part of town again to talk to Percival. He will join and you two are to go to Iksay now. You may wish to stop by the Lake Castle and upgrade your skills or add members if you have them, but at Iksay Percival will leave you and then you can wander around. Watari is in between the first two houses on the east part of the village. You won’t be able to see him probably but if you keep pressing X in the area you should trigger a conversation. Pay him 100,000 to get him to join (I say do this with Chris because money is easiest for her to come by). If you don’t have it get him later. At the Inn you can get Mio upstairs if you didn’t get her with Thomas. Also you can get a Pale Gate Rune at the item shop from the little girl, and the Item Shop has a Rose Brooch if you still haven’t got Augustine. Again, most of these things you probably did with Thomas earlier.

At the windmill (back of village) Chris will have a scene where she gazes out into the land and finds some peace and relaxation in her life. Nash (Suikogaiden) will come up to you here and speak for a while. Your choice doesn’t matter as you’ll see a bunch of grasslanders (specifically Shiba and the lizards) running towards Iksay to disrupt the festival. As Chris returns back to the center area, the Lizard and Karaya Clans will be running around in circles (literally). You’ll fight four lizards first with Nash and Chris (and other characters, if applicable). This will be no problem, and then Percival should join. Immediately, two Karayans and two Lizards will fight you.

Return to the windmill at the back of the village again. Shiba and five Lizard Fighters will greet you before this. Probably the toughest battle in Iksay if only for Shiba’s strength. Afterwards, north leads you to Jimba and Dupa at the windmill. Instead, head back and you’ll fight two Karayan’s and two Lizard Fighters. You can do this as long as you like to build up skills/potch/levels/etc. It’s most advantageous for you if you have other recruited characters along to build up; simply building up Chris and Nash (and Percival to a certain extent) is overkill. All three will receive ample time in your party to build up, but of course it never hurts to get ahead and do it early.

After satisfying yourself with the infinite battles, head north to the windmill to confront Dupa and Jimba. Jimba will bring up the name Wyatt Lightfoot (your dad) and Chris will get pissed, and a duel ensues. Nothing too difficult; again, much like the Lucia fight, Chris’ attacks take off a lot and her defense is high, so you won’t lose unless you absolutely cannot do duels. Jimba didn’t hit me once and afterwards the Zexen Knights come to reinforce you and the enemies flee.

Take your party (five total knights) back to Lake Castle and sell off any spare items and train if need be. Also talk to Watari in the basement (enter the door west of Scott’s trade shop) and a scene will occur afterwards with Ayame. It seems they’re in the North Cave (north of Vinay del Zexay). Talk to Sebastian and bring Watari to the end of this cave. First though, build up his skills, weapon and armor. Watari is an excellent in battle fighter, as his swing ability combined with his accuracy and speed is a tremendous asset.

Before you go there I’d take out the Blue Mantix at Mt. Hei Tou. Very easy at this juncture, free potch basically. Sell off what you acquire that isn’t valuable, and then go to the North Cavern. At the end will be Ayame, and you’ll duel her with Watari. Watari’s suspect defense (unless you upgraded that) will be put to the test; Ayame is pretty sneaky with what she does and one wrong move can put you behind the eight-ball. Hopefully you saved before you went here incase she takes you down. Ayame will join afterwards (if you go in and out of this main room, a Chimera will appear along with a treasure. Should be easy if you choose to fight it).

To advance the story, head to the west part of Brass Castle again. Before this you may wish to pick up Barts at Iksay; I think you must do this after the festival burns the town down, and you must have Grape C with you (I’ve been mentioning to buy these at trade shops). Anyway, you’ll rest after you get to Brass Castle and then Salome will talk to you during the night. Chris plans to leave and explore her father’s role in relation to the Fire Champion. While in her room at night, search the bookshelve to find Nash. Eventually you’ll change your costume and leave with Nash, who joins the 108 Stars of Destiny. You’ll be in the underground area that Hugo and Sergeant Joe accessed earlier when running from Leo and Percival. So, just head north and you’ll be out. When Chris and Nash leave, the knights watch from a distance and discuss Chris leaving for the Grasslands.

Further Reading:

• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 3
• Suikoden III Hugo Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Geddoe Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Thomas Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Thomas Chapter 1

Another precious Geddoe chapter. Go to the bar and talk to Aila and Ace to get them to join and then go up the stairs between the Rune Shop and the Item Shop. Geddoe will get some fruit, and then head back to the Inn for some more scenes. Sasarai and the Harmonian Army are on their way to Grassland to suppress the Fire Bringer. Meanwhile your party decides what to do; Geddoe says to go to Le Buque despite everyone else racing to the Grassland area.

Actually though you should go to the Grasslands before you go to Le Buque. Geddoe has the “hardest” of the trinity sight system choices, so being prepared is a must. Now as you make your way to where you fought the Twin-headed Snake, you’ll see a Rock Golem, whom you must fight if you are going to Grassland (but can avoid if you are going to Le Buque). He can be tough and is certainly annoying at the very least with his physical defense. Melee attacks and Geddoe’s Lightning are the way to get it done, but again it’ll take awhile. You can increase your attack by chanting Battle Oath, or upgrade your magic power with Battlefield. Careful of his Explosion fire spell, and getting all your characters close to him is dangerous due to his proximity-attack. Be patient and you’ll have another treasure to raid before you go to Grassland. 10,000 Potch, Stone of Magic, Goss Rune, Blessed Helm/Casque, Blood Armor, Premier Leather, Fine Chainmail, Beautiful Kennel, ? Statue. Many of those are quality so be sure to equip when necessary. Leave the Mountain Path and check out Grassland.

Defeat the Blue Mantix and the Chimera at Mt. Hei Tou and the North Cavern respectively. Neither will yield too much item-wise for Geddoe’s group, but the potch is nice and the ability points are nice. Check out Vinay del Zexay to appraise anything or upgrade armor, and then set off for Le Buque.

The Rock Golem may or may not be there. If he is there let’s hope your runes are replenished. Anyway, at Le Buque… Franz, Ruby and two other pairs of Mantor Trainers/Mantors will await you. Nothing too tough to defeat, just focus on Franz and then Ruby. The masked bishop will walk by now and you can ask him something; doesn’t matter what though.

Enter town to see another Franz scene and then head towards the Trade shop to the east part of town. Aila will see Sarah and chase after her; you can do so too or you can go elsewhere. Iku and Franz will be arguing outside of the house on the north part of town, and after talking to them there will be another scene in the center with the masked bishop telling the Le Buque Mantor Trainers that they can be second class citizens should they prove victorious in the upcoming war. Back west where you were spying on Sarah is Edge and the Star Dragon Sword (from Suikoden 1 and Suikoden II, Viktor had it). Pay him 1000 potch and you can duel him; wasn’t hard for me, he was very defensive and Geddoe is a pretty solid duel character. Afterwards he’ll rescind his offer to give you the sword and just join the 108 Stars of Destiny instead. Iku and Franz will be outside again and you can see another scene after the masked bishop sends off the Harmonian Army after the 2nd-class-citizen guarantee. Inside Iku’s place, you can listen to her or look into the bishop some more. I chose to spy on the bishop, so head past the Armor Shop and towards the ladder. A scene will be triggered with Joker spying on the masked bishop, who is getting rid of the altar protection for some reason. Geddoe finds this strange so talk to Iku at her house again. Iku will join you and take you to Mt. Senai, where the Flame Champion altar is. Before you go you get one more scene with the masked bishop, Sarah, Franz and the rest of the mantor trainers. You can finally leave (or explore the rest of the town freely now).

As far as treasures in Le Buque, there is the Script #4 from a little girl at the Inn. A kid outside of the Inn has the Herb Seeds, and a guy outside of where Franz was arguing has the Arabian Kennel.

On the World Map, Mt. Senai appears. Mt. Senai has some tough monsters but the path isn’t too difficult; just continue north, taking either the left or right passage, whichever isn’t cut off. As you pass a few screens you’ll see an intersection with Sarah and the bishop walking in front of you. Ace will bring up the issue of what will happen should you try something against the bishop and his friends. Note that if you go to the east (where the bishop and Sarah were leaving) you’ll reach a cliff that is a dead end (for now). Instead continue north and when you see an exit to the north, you’ll have a scene and Duke’s group will have caught up to you.

You have some options here. If you choose the last one you won’t fight; if you choose the first one you’ll fight Duke’s group and then the bishop’s group. For the sake of challenge, I’m picking the first one. The battle against Duke isn’t too bad. Be sure to conserve your magic; notably your healing and Lightning magic. You want it for the Bishop. Using the Ace/Joker unite helps start things off and be conservative towards the end; the next battle is immediately afterwards so make sure you are at full strength. Also, be wary of Nicolas‘ ability to block your attacks; lower-level Lightning spells or the Joker/Ace unite will do him in.

Afterwards your party will walk through Duke and his party and confront the bishop and Sarah. Geddoe is very upfront with the bishop regarding the Fire Bringer search. The masked bishop will finally tell you what he’s been up to…or actually he’ll just fight you with Sarah. These two can do some silly things against you. Sarah used Kindness Drops in her first turn but also tends to use Breathe of Ice. She died right away however. The masked bishop on the other hand either uses the Pale Gate Rune or the third-level Wind spell, which will basically kill your entire party. He did this the first turn and only Geddoe survived. The next turn he repeated and I couldn’t do anything. If you’re loaded up on Sacrificial Jizo’s, now is when you put them in your character’s accessory slots. If you don’t win, so be it, the game continues. You do get some nice levels and skills points for winning though. Even if you do win, he uses some magic to hold you back.

Walk back and exit (Escape Scroll does not work). Return immediately and then go to the back of the cave (all the way north, farther north than you were with the Duke and bishop battles). Nemesis the treasure boss is here and he’s hard to see. By the time you see him you’ll be fighting him, so be healed as you cross the bridge. Geddoe’s Lightning Rune helps, but casting Great Blessing and just attacking should do the trick. Use the Water Rune when necessary and he should be gone in a few turns. Your reward? 70,000 potch, Stone of Skill, Script #6 (if Suikoden II data is loaded), Hunter Rune, Custom Casque, Silver Hat, Custom Leather, Custom Tunic, Mangosh, ? Statue.

Head back to the Mountain Path to end the chapter (a scene starts before the treasure boss on the way to Caleria).

Further Reading:

• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 3
• Suikoden III Hugo Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Thomas Chapter 2

Thomas Chapter 2

Just like his first chapter, this is completely optional and doesn’t affect your ability to get any of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Do however choose it if you wish to take Thomas‘ battle a step further to push away the council for good. Before that though you have some free time to do your last exploring with Thomas. Any characters that you missed (Master Thomas Chapter 1) you should probably pick up, although do remember most if not all of them can be recruited by the other characters. Thomas will need some decent characters for his upcoming War and boss battles. Of the potential recruits for Thomas last chapter, Twaikin, Augustine and Mel start off as stalwarts. Augustine will parry nearly everything and has a high defense. Mel starts off fifteen levels ahead of everyone (32), while Twaikin is your typical tank. Kenji, Shabon, Toppo, and Nei can be good if built up as well. In combination with your base characters (Cecilia, Thomas, Juan and Piccolo) you should be okay, assuming you leveled up MOST of them. Fighting the respawning Magician can help build up levels, and that cave is the best for leveling up anyway (Pink Creepers and Banshees get you to 17 or so). Note that Thomas cannot fight the Blue Mantix, as Master Thomas will always flee. Thomas can get Koroku in that same area. More specifically Koroku is to the left of the corpse. Adopt him and he can be a help if built up as well. He also opens up a 5th POV (Point of View) in chapters 4 and 5, where he can talk to the other characters in Budehuc. Also, recruiting Goro (with Muto’s Appraisal ability with) in the north part of the zexen forest nets you a character with an A+ bath skill, helping Thomas’ party immensely.

Iksay village is where to go to advance the story. The councilor in the purple garb is here and he demands you take him to Budehuc. You can say yes or lie and say you don’t know where it is. If you choose the latter you’ll have to “rest” a few times in Thomas’ bed to get the councilor to come to Budehuc himself. This buys you some time to build up and get more recruits. If you’re ready though, bring him there and sadly he’ll say that you must close up shop. No business is to be permitted here as his law means everything because your proof is too old, more or less. After this you refuse to give in; go to your room to talk to Muto and say you’re going to rest. You’ll assure him all is well.

The next day head to the gate and the Zexen councilor will be back with plenty of Zexen reinforcements. Hugo and friends walk up after this as evidently you allowing them to stay at Budehuc means the Zexen’s will take over the castle. Back in front of the castle you’ll be scheming with Hugo, Sergeant Joe and the Lilly Tinto trio. Sebastian will suggest kicking them out but Thomas declines that, so then head down to the Inn when you regain control. Caesar and Apple suggest briefly confronting the Zexen’s to allow Hugo and his group to flee, thus leaving the Zexen’s no reason to take up arms against Budehuc. Before this though you are to build around Budehuc to expand your defenses.

Talk to Cecilia at the gate, as she is creating dummies. Muto, Martha and Piccolo are fixing a wall on the left part of the 1st floor interior, while Sebastian and Eike are going over the paperwork to be sent to Brass Castle with Juan. Go to bed and you’ll talk to Sebastian, and when you wake up go to the courtyard and tell Caesar that you’re ready. Caesar will give you a bundle and you’ll rally the troops.

The conditions for battle are that you stay alive for _x_ turns and that your Ally units dying causes your defeat. Now as far as your units go, it really depends on who you get. It’s random, that’s why it is useful to level up all the characters if you have the time  (not that you need to though). For Thomas’ unit I had Thomas in the back, Piccolo on the right, Twaikin on the left and Mel in front. Pretty dominant as Piccolo’s magic would kill anyone (assuming he didn’t get hit) and Twaikin and Mel were melee beasts. Twaikin basically takes 1-10 damage the entire time. Nei, Toppo and Shabon joined Cecile to make a decent but not quite as effective team.

The Zexen councilor will send one initial team to see what’s going on. When it gets close attack it with your good team; all the Zexen soldiers attacked Twaikin and Piccolo (B+ Lightning) got off the third level Lightning spell to kill them all instantly. The next turn a notice of prosecution will be filed and the councilor will not move for a few turns. I just went ahead and attacked with Thomas, while waiting with Hugo and Lilly’s units. Really, I had no trouble. If Twaikin has a Firefly Rune he is nearly unstoppable in these Zexen / Master Thomas Wars. Meanwhile the enemy won’t be moving at all, so take them all out and send Lilly and Hugo to the far northeast corner when you want to end it. Even if you kill all the enemy units the councilor will be adamant about not “pulling back”. If you trounce them and get a Major Victory, a Counter Ring will be your reward.

The next day you’ll be at your room, and you should see Cecile at the entrance. Leave Budehuc and do what you want, but you can leave and come right back to advance the story. Pervical and Leo will be at the front door of your castle now. They’ll tell you that Councilor Durabum (the purple garb-wearing councilor who has been hounding you recently) is under prosecution by Salome. Leo also tells you that your joint land ownership between Zexen and Grassland is under review. Last, Leo states that as of noon tomorrow you are being removed from your leadership position as Master of Budehuc. Leo leaves and Percival also tells you that Councilor Lowma, your father, disowned you. Go to bed to advance the story.

You won’t be able to sleep, so go out and talk to Eike, Muto, Sebastian, and Cecile at your door. Eventually you will go back to bed, and in the morning head out front to have Leo and Percival escort you home. Instead of that though, Cecile, Sebastian and Muto plead that you not go, and Thomas finally snaps out of it and declares that he will stay as the castle master. Your castle friends surround Leo and he gets flustered, and the two knights will leave without Thomas. Budehuc castle can also be renamed here if you wish, and when you’re ready to advance go to your bed and sleep.

One more short talk at the gates and it’s time for battle. This time you have Juan’s unit and he has Augustine in it. Despite just having those two, this unit is more effective than the Shabon/Nei/Toppo/Cecile regiment. Augustine basically can’t get hit and Juan is no slouch. Meanwhile, Thomas still has that tank with the Firefly (Twaikin), and Piccolo with that Lightning Rune again is ridiculous.

Four enemy units will start off in the same spot, just a little east of Thomas. Move Thomas’ unit east one spot and a few enemy units should attack him in their first turn. Anyway, one of these units is the councilor. After a few turns Leo and Percival will come, and they are really the only trouble you can have here. The other four units were gone at this juncture, so I had Thomas and everyone fully rested for this battle. Unfortunately, no matter how badly you kick Leo or Percival’s ass, they can’t go below half their HP. Although when they get that half taken off, they won’t attack if you choose to continue. A Killer Rune is your reward for a Safe Retreat.

Juan, Sebastian, Muto, Cecile and Piccolo will join you as you make your way back to the manor. The evil councilor Durabum will be hot on your tail despite the fact that your army absolutely slaughtered his. Before any of this, go to the Inn as Sebastian is there (despite the fact that he is in your entourage). He will change your party members, so put Mio in as Support to heal. Likewise, add Augustine, Twaikin or Mel (two out of three). As you run past the Inn four Zexen Knights will fight you. After the battle you’ll gain a few levels (up to 23 probably) although you may have taken some damage from their physical attacks.

Inside your castle, Piccolo has some magic to stop the first two Zexen Marshalls. A group of four then attacks your party, but you can’t win. Just defend and heal if need be, they’re pretty tough and you can not win. Fortunately Geddoe and friends (well, you can’t tell) knock these folks out. The Zexen Councilor Durabum will be back with more Zexen Marshalls however. You can beat them this time and it’s only two of them, so don’t worry. Watch the scences as Leo and Percival take the councilor back to Vinay del Zexay for his prosecution and Thomas finally overcomes the council.

Further Reading:

• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 3
• Suikoden III Hugo Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 2
• Suikoden III Geddoe Chapter 2

Thomas Chapter 1

Before you even start Thomas’ chapter, understand that it is completely optional and doesn’t affect the 108 Stars of Destiny in any way. Several people absolutely despise Thomas’ two chapters. Some people like me think they’re the best part of the entire game. MUTO – enough said right there. Thomas more or less is sent by his dad (one of the shady council members) to “run” Budehuc castle. Not a lot of money runs through this place and Thomas is set up to lose basically.

Upon arrival Cecile will stop you at the gates. Go to the central house, which is to your west and north, roughly. The whole gang of trouble-makers will be here, so get used to this group. You show your seal to prove your authenticity, and then you’re allowed to walk around the next day. Downstairs is Sebastian who will suggest you great all your new friends. Wise choice, so go do so. Eike is upstairs in the library, Muto is in the basement warehouse, Juan is outside but on the west-exterior, while the others (Cecile, Piccolo, and Martha) are in the central area. Talking to Cecile illicits a flashback with your evil councilor dad sending you off in hopes that you utterly fail.

Back in the main house, Sebastian will give you a letter to the knights regarding your authenticity that you must deliver to Brass Castle. Cecile will come along for protection purposes. Thomas and Cecile actually are quite nice when you level them up, but they start at level 1 and are poorly equipped. That said Yaza Plain doesn’t have much to bother you so just follow through to Brass Castle.

Talk to Leo when you get there, and then Roland. You probably won’t have Potch to upgrade anything (unless you put statues in Budehuc Castle with other characters to sell with Thomas, or unless you’re a lottery-crackhead). Upstairs in the tea room is Salome, who is actually very nice about the appointment and even allows Cecile to be head guardsmen. Your work here is done so return back to Budehuc.

Get your rest now and then leave the castle the next day. A lady will be looking for her lost son, Thomas. You and your friends offer to help look for the guy, so check out the broken elevator on the 1st floor, the library on the second floor, and the wrecked ship in the 1st basement floor. Now leave and go to Juan who will know what happened. You must go to Mount Hei-Tou (where the Blue Mantix is, but all the way east instead) and Piccolo, Cecile and Juan will be with. Juan and Piccolo are also underrated in battle, with Piccolo having the effective Lightning Rune and Juan being phenomenal if you give him a Turtle Tunic (or something to cure the Waking Rune that you can’t take off) and build him up.

Go to Mount Hei-Tou now, and it is a bit of a treck so hopefully you have some medicine along. Again, go directly east the entire way through and you’ll see a Boar and the little kid named Thomas. This thing can be tough with the levels you’re at, especially if he doesn’t target Juan. You’ll want him to wake Juan up, which will in the mean time give Piccolo a chance to pull off his best Lightning spells (despite his poor aptitude with Lightning skills). After the boar goes down you’ll have saved Thomas.

Everyone will love you but the next day you won’t know where Sebastian is. Talk to a few of your friends (Cecile, Juan, Muto) and go towards the stairs to find Sebastian depressed over the castle finances. Thomas will gather everyone and discuss options; eventually it is decided that you are to get people to come sell things on your land since it is commonly held between Grassland and Zexen. Unfortunately you don’t have the seal, so go inside your room and look. Eventually you’ll find it and then you’ll have the option to form your party with Sebastian, so do so and put Martha as your Support.

Take your party to Iksay, one of many spots to open up on your map. Talk to Mel outside the Inn and she’ll go to Budehuc if you ask. She’s useful for the upcoming battles with Thomas. Head to the second floor of the Inn now to meet Tuta and Mio. Tuta will go off to aid other villages but Mio joins and she has the Healing Support ability. Gordon at the Item Shop will denounce you for having such lousy partners with you. The girl near him will give you a Pale Gate Rune though. Before you leave, check the Rarities and if at any time you see a Rose Brooch, purchase it. With this you can go to Vinay del Zexay to get Augustine outside of the Armor shop. After this, put only Augustine with Thomas and go to Iksay to get Gorden at the Item Shop to join. Brass Castle shouldn’t have much for you unless you found the ! Screw with Thomas instead of Geddoe. Do buy a Deer Antler for Scott and Waurenhyte outside the left part of Brass Castle, if you didn’t before. They’ll then join.

A trip to the Great Hollow is in order, as Twaikin is digging and will join you after some scenes. Note that he is in the area you were at with Geddoe when you were chasing the intruders. Head back and rest, and the next day Cecile will run in saying she does not know where Eike went. You’ll discuss the matter with your friends and have control again, and if you try to leave Shizu the elevator-installation girl will show up. Her work will take a while so leave to do some more recruiting.

In the Yaza Plains you’ll see Kenji exercising. Choose the second option twice to exercise and to get some water and he’ll go to Budehuc. In the Plain of Amur – North, Kathy has some horses that she needs you to count. It was 16 for me but I think it’s random. When you choose correctly tell her to go to Budehuc, and then one last group to get. At Vinay del Zexay is Shabon being chased by Guillaume, which you may have seen with another character. Talk to Nei north of the market area and then return to the center area, by the council’s guild. Run around for a while and you’ll confront Guillaume who is chasing Shabon again. He’ll duel you and it is not easy. Thomas has a horrible defense unless you spent some money, and even a well-sharpened Thomas-sword won’t do that much damage. What does this mean? Well you won’t have to be flawless but you better be close. An Attack by both of you can be nearly fatal for you; you need all the turns without damage that you can get. When he’s done, Shabon, Nei and Toppo join you.

Whenever you are ready to advance the story (recruited/built up all the characters) go sleep in your room. Shuzu will be done with the elevator by morning and you’ll give it a test run with the main group at Budehuc. You’ll find a suspicious bottom floor that you’ve never seen before, and you’ll then explore it. Go straight and at the fork you’ll split up. Take the right path and look for a path that curves off to the left. It’s hard to see but it’s where you need to go, so take it and you’ll bump into Juan and Piccolo! So it must lead to the same path…join together and head north to Eike’s pad. A nice one too I must say. He’s just been reading the last few weeks and is sorry you came looking for him. Thomas’ chapter will then end, and usually I pick the second one right after.

Further Reading:

• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 3
• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 2

Hugo Chapter 1

You’ll start off seeing Hugo riding around and eventually you’ll be in Karaya. Talk to the villagers when you get the chance; you’ll get some donations of weak items. Jimba advances the story, as he prompts your mother and Luce to come out. Tomorrow you’ll be leaving to Vinay Del Zexay as the Grasslands messenger for the peace treaty. After this conversation, head to the northeastern-most hut to rest.

In the morning you’ll be leaving and will have some options when you get out. Heading to Duck Village first is a smart choice, to check out the shops and potentially the Lottery. Brass Castle and ultimately Vinay del Zexay are your goals so head that way. In Brass Castle, upgrade your weapons to level seven if you can and get some Belt’s of Strength at the Item Shop. In the center area, Lulu will get bumped into by the knights and some talking will ensue. Pick the first option and move on and you’ll be on the left side of the Brass Castle. Quickly re-enter the center area and go to the trainer to hone your skills some more. You can stop at the Rune Mage if you’d like but you probably won’t have too much business there so go to the Zexen Forest.

Not much to do here except pick the herbs and find a Recipe. In fact I’d ignore all of this so that you don’t clutter up Hugo’s inventory; just head through the forest to Vinay del Zexay. Now there is another scene here and lots to do. First, take the left path and go in the gate; this is the Lightfellow house. Give Jimba’s Pendant to the Butler and you can ask for things; if you ask for money he’ll give you 5000 Potch and if you say “Is that all?” he’ll give you another 5000. Kind of shady for a nice Karayan like Hugo but money is money.

You may wish to buy some more Lottery Tickets here. Be sure to walk by the center market area, as you’ll meet Guillaume and Melville. West of here, by the Rune Shop, is Alanis who talks to her friend Elliot about the secret password to the Saint Loa Knights. These kids then run off and into an alley, so follow them and climb the ladders. You’ll be prompted a password at the window so choose “The Three Knights of Zexen”. Inside you’ll end up agreeing to help Melville prove his father was no liar, and in turn prove that Guillaume is a fraud. Meet them at the town gate and go outside now, to your new destination.

Melville and Alanis have a pretty decent Unite actually. Furthermore, this cave is pretty straight-forward. There are rooms that head straight north like the one you start in, and then there are those that wind up and down, where you must be careful not to fall down. At the second of these rooms you’ll see some bandits. They shouldn’t be an issue so continue on and Guillaume will trap the three kids and separate them from Hugo, Lulu and Sergeant. The latter three will have another bandit battle of their hands while Guillaume will duel Melville. Melville can’t win and will usually die in the first turn, but this is enough time for Alanis and Elliot to flip the switch and allow the other three in. After the scene you’ll be out of here, and you can go to Brass Castle or wherever now. If you return to Vinay del Zexay, the Saint Loa Knights will leave you.

Definitely go to Brass Castle though, if for no better reason than to upgrade your physical skills. A tough, optional battle is on the horizon and it’s good to be prepared should you wish to attempt it. Anyway, go to the Inn when you are ready and rest; the next day you go back and deliver the message. When you are back at the council building, they’ll again treat you like shit and make you wait. Just give it to the Zexen messenger though, it’s less hassle. You’ll leave so head back to the Inn.

During the night you’ll be talking about the advantages of Grassland. Hugo will then hear Zexen’s come and they end up waiting outside of the Inn. They’ll go in and attempt to apprehend you but you’ll have fled. Continue westward and you’ll see two orange Zexen’s and a Zexen Knight. The Knight takes off a ton, so be careful. Heal up and continue out of Vinay del Zexay. As you walk up the ramp you’ll get put in a pincer attack with four Zexens; two knights and two orange Zexens. At the Vinay del Zexay exit, Leo and Percival will be waiting for you. You can choose “No Chance!” to fight them, but it is a tough fight. If you choose the other one, Fubar will come in and you can flee. If you chose to fight however….

It is Leo, Pervical and two Zexen Knights. This is a tough battle so hopefully you can get off a Breath of Ice and especially Hugo’s Wind of Sleep. This put everyone but Leo to sleep and then I went to work on Leo for three turns. Once he was wounded, the battle ended and Fubar just saved us. Run through the Zexen Forest and onto the Brass Castle, where a scene will ensue at the center area. Lulu will be busy being stupid and loud, while an insolent Zexen fan will cause Leo to spot your party. I don’t know who I’d rather kill at this point, the Zexen guy or Lulu.

You’ll be dumped in an underground area via the kitchen chimney. Fortunately you’ll be on the Grassland side and can head to Plain Amur. In the distance (on the second screen) you’ll see Karaya Village on fire. Sergeant acts swiftly and you should too; save and unequip all of Lulu’s possessions. By the way, the monsters here have been upgraded and the Dark Bunny has a Screw, if you didn’t get it in Geddoe’s quest (for Gadget Z).

In Karaya you’ll be at the scene that all three of the main characters experienced. As you walk in, Lulu will run off to “protect our families” while Sergeant chases him. You’ll see Chris looking at Jimba’s armor as you walk in. Lulu runs up to her and Chris kills him instinctively. You can duel her here or ask her some questions if you choose “Why!?”, but either way the knights will leave. The three of you that are left bury Lulu and Hugo gets some harsh lessons about war. The chapter ends as you go off to Duck Village.

Further Reading:

• Dynasty Warriors 6 Cao Cao, DW6 Cao Cao musou unlock
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms III 208 AD
• Lunar Silver Star : Myght, Emperor Ghaleon Walkthrough
• Dragon Quest IV 4 DS Ragnar Walkthrough
• Phantasy Star III Generations of Doom released

Chris Chapter 1

Chris’ chapter starts out with her getting much praise from the villagers and the council members of Vinay del Zexay. You’ll have a talk about how you are to be a part of the peace treaty with the Grasslands. When you get control, go into your house and sleep. The next day, you depart with Salome, Borus and Roland. Return to the council area though, and get some Armor and train some skills. Chris general has easy chapters and is loaded financially, not to mention having the Chris-only setup at the guild. There are actually plenty of things to upgrade in terms of armor, so do this.

When you get to Brass Castle, talk to Louis and then go to the east part of the area. You’ll find Dupa who has a message about the peace treaty. Sharpen your weapons if you wish and then rest to see a cutscene of the treaty. Don’t forget in the room of the Bujutsu teacher is a warehouse keeper for your spare items and whatnot.

Anyway, the peace treaty goes fine but immediately afterwards the troops begin to act odd. Turns out the lizards have you surrounded (their leader was killed) and you’re in a war battle now. You must retreat, so move everyone to Chris’ square and then break through to the right in round 2. There is only one Karayan Group so it’s not well fortified. After the battle you’ll be in Karaya Village with the same scene as Hugo and Geddoe. Chris will be amazed by the armor and then accidentally kill Lulu. In leaving you come across several dead Karayan’s in the back of the village which angers Chris. On the way you’ll have a few battles against Karayan’s yourself, but as stated above, Chris has nothing difficult about the battles in this chapter.

Back at Brass Castle, enter the Knight’s room next door to yours. Salome and Borus will be discussing the massacre and Borus will deny taking part in it. You are to return to Vinay del Zexay, so head that way. Before that though you’ll meet Leo and Percival who were chasing a rat (Hugo). Boris will be at the west end of Brass Castle; leave when you are ready.

The Zexen Forest doesn’t provide much other than Rico and Fred once again.In Vinay del Zexay, it’s time to report for the “summons”. When you get there one of the council members brings you to the church area and tells you to wait. For some reason this made me laugh. Chris meanwhile will be having flashbacks of her recent actions and then the council member will tell her it’s time. During the meeting she complains of their use of the Zexen Knights. The council orders her to take her army into the Grasslands and then all the members kiss her ass about taking about Karaya Village and burning it. Chris gets more upset and threatens them to use their own soldiers instead of her knights. She is then forced into a corner to go, so when this is over head home to sleep and end the chapter.

Further Reading:

• Suikoden III Geddoe Chapter 1

Geddoe Chapter 1

Your group starts off in Vinay Del Zexay and you’ll get word that you need to go to the Lizard Clan to investigate this Fire Bringer stuff. When you leave the Inn check out your group. Ace and Joker have a Unite so it’s wise to keep them paired, while Jacques should be in the back row with his long-range weapon. There’s not much to do in Vinay Del Zexay. You have a decent amount of money but your armor is already sufficient. Check out the Blacksmith or get some Lottery Tickets and head out to the Zexen Forest.

Geddoe is served with the “hardest” part of the Trinity Sight System. Chris’ is the easiest while Hugo is in the middle. Anyway, what this means basically is that with Geddoe’s party you’ll have to do some heavy fighting. Fortunately you’re capable of this with your stable party of six through all three chapters.

Nothing hard here although the area boss (Papa Holly) can be pretty tough at this juncture. Next is the Yaza Plains and then the Great Hollow, although you may wish to build up and get your weapons to level 7 or 8 (again, lottery tickets help expediate this). When you’re ready head to the Great Hollow to meet Shiba. He’ll take you in and then follow him up to Chief Zepon’s room. Geddoe seems to have a connection with this particular lizard and he’ll go out and say that you have permission to hang out at the Great Hollow for now.

Go to the west of here and outside the training room is a lizard who has the Old Book Volume 3. A lizard inside the Armor Shop has Grape Seeds for you as well. East of here is another path where three lizards are convening. They say that there is an intruder in the Great Hollow and rush off through the path. Follow them and eventually they’ll fight you. They aren’t too hard and Shiba will step in after the battle. Shiba joins, but head back and train him (he has a lot of default ability points). Return and go through the route until the outside.

Chris and the Zexen Knights are here with some fallen lizards. They challenge you to a fight and it’s a tough one; if Chris uses her attack spell on her Water Rune, you’re in trouble. The Zexen’s have a good attack and good defense so that’s also an issue. Unless you won the lottery and leveled up and sharpened your weapons to level 8, you’ll probably lose this battle. If you win, you get some nice skill points.

After the battle Chris and them will leave in a strange sequence (notice that they don’t make noise when they walk). Head back to Chief Zepon’s area to see what’s going on; during the skirmish against the knights, Zepon will have been murdered. You’ll end up outside of the Great Hollow, where you’re off to the Plain Amur and eventually Karaya Village.

Upon entry you’re greeted by Aila, who attacks you with four Karayan’s. The Karayan’s take off more than her as she attacks long-range. I had trouble with this as I couldn’t get Geddoe’s third lightning spell off without being interrupted, and the Karayan’s mauled my front line. After a few rounds the battle ended and Jimba came to settle things down. Go to the far house and Geddoe will talk with the Karayan’s.

Now you will have control of Joker and Ace. Take them towards the exit and Aila will be getting threats from Sarah, saying to leave the village. Aila chases after her so you two do as well. At the Plain Amur, go to where Aila is (off to the east of the first screen) and then the scene will switch to Geddoe and Jimba. They’ll talk about the murder of Chief Zepon and the overall shadyness of things, and then Jimba will have to leave. Queen comes in to join you.

The scene again switches to Aila, Ace and Joker, with Aila catching up to Sarah. Unfortunately, Albert and Yuber show up so Joker and Ace save Aila and run back. You’ll then see the Karaya Village on fire from a long distance away, so save and start running towards the village. Inside the village, you’ll get an option with Geddoe and Queen. Hopefully you formed them in separate pairs so you can control them separately. If you choose to fight the battle (I have an inkling…) you’ll get in one with Boris and two Zexen’s on horses. Hopefully Queen can dodge the other two Zexen’s, as Boris will do some damage. If you can heal Queen and get a Soaring Bolt off with Geddoe, you should be able to take them out. Queen died but Geddoe lived and gained five levels (up to 29).

Geddoe and Queen will leave unharmed and Ace and the rest will catch up a good distance away. Aila will join the 108 Stars of Destiny and you’ll be off to Caleria; first of all though, put Jacques behind Geddoe and Aila behind Queen. On the world map, a bunch of new places will come out. The Mountain Path in the southeast leads to Caleria, your destination to advance the story. Before that though, there is the Lake Castle / Budehuc and Mt. Hei-Tou. Mt. Hei-Tou is home to the Blue Mantix and some items so let’s check that out.

Upon arrival go east until you get to a save point. North from here is a corpse, which has a Yellow Kennel if searched (watch as Geddoe puts the Yellow Kennel in his pocket). Return to the previous intersection that you skipped and go north now. Left at this intersection for yet another corpse which has Recipe 14. Take the right path twice now and you’ll be at another corpse (Recipe 5), and north of here is the Blue Mantix.

Hopefully you’ve rested although this is one of the easier area-bosses. Use Geddoe’s Soaring Bolt, Aila’s Great Blessing/Battlefield, and Joker’s Water Rune (or Fire Rune if you kept it in). In the treasure box there was 70,000 Potch, Blinking/Wall Rune, Melon Seeds, Old Book Volume 12 and some decent armor. Use an Escape Scroll or walk out and go to the Lake Castle.

Cecile greets you and eventually you meet the rest of the crew, including the leader Thomas. They think you’re there to open up a shop, because it’s “common land” between Zexen and Grassland here. Obviously you’re not but going here opens up the option to choose Thomas next chapter (or any chapter, you just need to do it by the end of everyone’s third chapter or you won’t get to do it at all). Also you can go in the house and see Muto, the warehouse dog. Store any Seeds, Kennels, that sort of thing here. Keep your Old Books out though because the librarian on the second floor will take them. As you leave, again, the flame burns on Thomas’ pedestal, allowing you to choose him. More importantly, Geddoe can now recruit characters. However let it be said that Geddoe always uses the same six characters until chapter four. What does this mean? Just get support characters for Geddoe and leave the in-battle Stars of Destiny to Hugo or Chris who could actually use them in their party.

So go on recruiting now, and Brass Castle is the first stop. Scott and Waurenhyte are on the outside (left side) and require a Deer Antler to recruit. If you have it, cool, talk to them and they’ll join. If not just return when you do. Further inside, go to the Tutor house. Max out Geddoe’s Lightning Magic if you can, and then talk to Ernie in the back. Imply that “Budehuc Castle has rooms…” and she’ll test you with five questions and you must get all five right. If you mess up you can just talk to her again and she asks the same questions. Most of the questions are Suikoden-related while some are just common sense. Once she joins she’ll be the tutor at Budehuc. Before you leave, visit the Rune Shop and talk to jeane. You can either ask her to “come to Budehuc” or “show me your goods”. Resist the temptation and send her packing to Thomas’s crib.

On the right side of the Brass Castle (you have to walk all the way around; you beat up Boris (either choice actually) so you can’t go in the center area here with all the knights being around) is Belle and Gadget Z. I happened to come across a Screw in the Plain Amur via the Dark Bunny so I presented this to her and she joined with Gadget Z. Note that sometimes finding a Screw can take a very, very long time, I happened to get lucky and find it naturally passing by.

Vinay del Zexay has some recruits for you as well. Guillaume will be chasing Shabon when you come in, but don’t go by them (which is near the council). Dominic at the Armor Shop will prompt you to buy a Mole Armor, which is expensive at 37,000 + but is the only thing you need to buy to recruit him. Do so and then just re-sell it (or keep it if you want) and Dominic will open up shop at Budehuc. Proceed to the Great Hollow now. They actually have a Bujutsu teacher here so be sure to do that before you leave. At the Trading Shop, talk to the human and he’ll give you the Iron Hammer. Go to Peggi the blacksmith and he’ll want the hammer, so give it to him. He will happily join you afterwards at Budehuc.

Your party should be pretty good now, with level 8 or 9 weapons and decent skills. Before you get on with things, go back to Mt. Hei Tou and fight the Blue Mantix again. Remember this in other chapters as well; those area bosses re-spawn after a certain amount of time, so check back and get the treasures. This time a Fine Armor, ? Painting, and the Medal Set 3 were procurred. Return to Budehuc one last time to upgrade with Juan and Peggi. Dump off spare items at the vault in basement one (Medal Sets can’t be used until Chapter 4 / 5). I also took this time to get Queen a Wind Rune and train her with it, and the same with Aila and the Fire Rune (for the worthless Earth Rune). Some tough fighting is ahead so try to get your weapons to level 9 before you go. The Mountain Path is where you must go, so save when you get there.

Hopefully you have some room in your inventory; there will be another treasure here. Preserve your magic too, you’ll thank yourself later. Take the northwest path at the first intersection, and then the east path in the next screen. Save and continue on to the Twin Snake. This thing has a Left and Right Head and can cast a deadly spell with all three parts that will take off roughly 100 to each member. If it pulls this off in consecutive turns, watch out. Again, abuse the Lightning Rune and the Shield Rune. Hack away at the Left or Right Head (choose one and gang up on it) to make sure they don’t cast the triple-magic attack. This is a tough fight if the AI is smart. A ? Figurine, ? Statue and the Wing Boots are your unique rewards (Wing Boots might not be unique). Talk to the Caleria-looking guy and go along the path.

In Caleria there will be a short scene and then you can explore. Somebody in town gave me Tomato Seeds. I think it was at the blacksmith, where you can sharpen your weapon to 10 by the way. The Armor Shop has some nice purchases as well. In the Trading Shop you’ll meet Mike who offers you join you if you win 20,000 Potch through his little card game. It’s not too tricky, it’s Blackjack but 21 is 9. You can take up to three cards and whoever is closest to nine wins. Remember though that you can go over (6 + 9 = 15 = 5). Mike can be a pain here but with some luck you should win and get him to join. Afterwards go towards Headquarters, where you can see the Bujutsu teacher and also the warehouse (so that you don’t have to walk all the way to Budehuc). Not much else to do so go to the Inn where you will have a scene with Duke and his buddies. The search of the True Fire Rune is what is about to commence. Shortly after this the scene will fade and you’ll have another choice at the Trinity Sight System.

Further Reading:

• Suikoden III Chris Chapter 1