Suikoden II/Jowy king of Highland

Highland attacks
In the great hall, Shu will congratulate you on your alliance with the Toran republic. However, Apple will tell you that the Highland army is approaching the castle and this time it is the first company, led by Luca Blight himself. Jowy will also be there with his company and reinforcements from Harmonia, so you'll be badly outnumbered. Shu will then suggest you rest. Go to your room. That night you will see Nanami and Pilika outside your room. Talk to Nanami and then go to sleep. You will then witness a scene in which Leon Silverburg will suggest to Luca Blight to first occupy the nearby towns and then attack the castle. Sasarai from Harmonia will also declare himself ready to serve Luca. The next morning Nanami will wake you up and join you. Go to the great hall and Shu will tell you that the Highland Army has appeared in Radat and that Ridley has gone out with his unit to check on the enemy forces. A soldier will then arrive, reporting that Ridley's unit has been surrounded. Shu will order reinforcements. Respond with the second option to start the battle.

Major Battle #8
You won't be able to do much in this battle. Ridley's unit is already surrounded by enemy troops, who will attack him. Luc will recognize Sasarai. Enemy units will attack Ridley, most likely defeating his unit before you can reach him with your troops. Among other things, after a few rounds, if Ridley has not yet been defeated, Luca Blight will also arrive with his unit to lend a hand. When Ridley is captured by enemies, Shu will order a retreat. With a lot of luck, it is possible to save Ridley before he is defeated, but this will not significantly affect the plot.

Back in the great hall, Luc will say that he will personally take care of Sasarai. Luca Blight meanwhile will occupy South Window. Shu will inform you that he has a plan, but he will tell you about it the next day. For now, he'll suggest you rest. Then go to your room. Before you sleep, Tsai will join you and tell you that he needs some tools that he left at his house. He will then ask you to accompany him to the spot when you have the opportunity. That night, Luca Blight will order Ridley to surrender and, faced with his refusal, will have him taken away to await execution.

The next morning, before entering the great hall, put Tsai in the group and head (or be teleported) to Ryube. Go to the forest and reach Tsai's house. Here you will meet his daughter Tomo, who will join you.


 * Tomo recruited

Then go to the great hall and Shu will explain his plan. Since you are badly outnumbered, the only way to win is to surround Luca Blight's unit with an ambush and defeat him. Meanwhile, another group will head to Highland's camp trying to free Ridley. Respond with the second option to start the battle.

Major battle #9
Kiba will act as a decoy and lure the Highland troops to the ambush site. When the time comes, Shu will give the signal and your army will surround the Highland units and Luca Blight. After a few turns, units of Yuber and Sasarai will appear to help Luca, however, on the next turn Luc will chase them away, then retreat. In this battle (which you cannot win), you should focus all your attacks on Luca Blight's unit, ignoring the others. There are two ways to end the fight. The first is to be able to damage Luca Blight's unit. To do this, you should use spells or skills such as Fire Spears, since his unit is extremely strong and in a direct confrontation he will probably have the upper hand. If Luca Blight is injured, he will teleport to safety and damage all your units. At that point, Shu will give the retreat order. If you don’t manage to damage Luca Blight’s unit instead, in the tenth turn Shu will admit failure of the operation and still give the retreat order.

The end of Luca Blight
Go to the ground floor of your castle. Here you will meet Ridley, who was successfully rescued by the other group. He will tell you that he has a message for Shu. Then go back to the great hall. Ridley will deliver the message to Shu, which is from Leon Silverburg and inform him that a raid by Luca Blight on the castle is planned that night (note: if you managed to avoid Ridley's capture, Leon will deliver the message himself). Shu will then suggest to deploy all troops and ambush Luca Blight to finish him off for good. To proceed, you must answer with the second option. However, the battle against Luca Blight is among the most challenging in the game, perhaps even more than the final one. It is therefore advisable to prepare yourself adequately first. In this fight you will have to engage 18 characters, including Viktor, Flik and, of course, the hero. You will therefore do well to train and upgrade the characters you intend to use first. The best place to engage in battles is the Banner pass. By defeating the enemies that are on the spot you will earn many experience points and a lot of money. It is in fact better that all the characters you use in the fight have a level close to 40 and that they are equipped with the best protections you can buy. In particular, make sure that the hero has excellent protection and that his weapon is upgraded to the maximum level that the Kuskus blacksmith can bring it to.

When you are ready, Shu will explain the strategy: after ambushing Luca Blight, a group led by Viktor will attack him first. Then another group will follow, led by Flik and finally, the third group, commanded by the hero himself, will have to finish him off. You will then have to choose the members of each of the three groups. After choosing all party members, Shu will ask you if you are sure. Choose the first option to choose again or the second to start the battle.

Boss Fight – Luca Blight
HP: 6500

That night Luca Blight and his soldiers will fall into the ambush, being attacked by your archers and the first fight, the one with Viktor's group, will begin. In the first battle Luca will be joined by five of his soldiers at the beginning (there will then be three in the second battle, while he will be completely alone in the last one). The soldiers are certainly not a problem, but you should immediately take them out all in one hit with a powerful magical attack, before they can attack you. In the first two battles the goal is to damage Luca Blight as much as possible, it is not essential to win. However, the more you damage him, the fewer hit points he will have in the third and decisive battle. So try to resist as much as possible, so that the third fight is not too difficult. When you've dealt enough damage to him (or your party is defeated), Luca will flee and the next fight will begin. Luca Blight attacks three times per round and his attacks are very powerful. Sometimes, he will use a move that will do massive damage to all characters in the front row. Other times he will use a similar attack which will instead hit the center column (these attacks are fire elemental). Some other times he will attack a single character, hitting him three times. Finally, every now and then, he will use a special attack that will affect the entire group. It is therefore essential to choose for this battle characters with a high physical defense and/or a very high life points value, at least for those in the front row. Luca Blight also has a very high defense, both physical and magical, so rely only on your best attacks to damage him decently. It is also very important to have in each group at least one or two characters equipped with runes capable of healing the party and that many of them possess healing items, or perhaps a Sacrificial Jizo. The longest fight will in any case be the third, that of the group led by the hero. So you should save your best characters for this group. Fortunately, the hero's Bright Shield rune will be extremely useful in this fight, allowing you to heal the whole party many times. Use it constantly.

When you defeat him for the third time, Luca Blight will flee north. Chase him. Along the way you will meet some Highland soldiers who will try to stop you. These are very simple battles, but after each of them, make sure that the hero's HP are always at maximum, healing him as needed. Luca Blight will not go far: he will come to a dead end. Here he will find an amulet in a tree and open it, releasing some fireflies. Unaware of what he has done, Luca Blight will be reached by your group and by the archers of Shu, who will bombard him with arrows.

At this point, Luca Blight will launch his desperate final attack, challenging the hero to a one-on-one duel. Fortunately, after all these battles his life energy will already be at critical levels, but don’t celebrate too early, because Luca's attacks hurt VERY badly and he will always strike first. Either way, if you have followed all the advice given, you should win very easily; it will be enough to perform a Wild Attack (or that Luca fails one) to defeat him. After being defeated, Luca Blight will finally die, laughing satanically and cursing you. Jowy and Leon Silverburg, have just witnessed the scene, from a distance. Apparently, this was also part of Jowy's plans.

You will then return to the castle, where everyone will applaud you, cheering for the victory. At that point however, the hero will pass out, exhausted.

An unespected meeting
Upon the death of Luke Blight, Jowy will be proclaimed King of Highland. The next morning, Nanami will wake you up, telling you that the Highland troops have withdrawn and that you are finally free to walk around Kuskus and South Window. Choose your group and go to South Window first. Right at the entrance to the city, Max will meet you, asking if he can fight with you. Accept and he will join you.


 * Max recruited

Also in South Window, you can meet Annallee, who will be kicked out of the inn. Follow her near the city hall and ask her twice to sing. She will join you.


 * Annallee recruited

In South Window you will also meet Killey. Talk to him about Alex and his interest in the Sindar. Then go back to your castle, and go to Alex's shop. Killey will be there. After attacking Alex he will leave. Return to South Window to meet Killey again, accept his apology and ask him to join you.


 * Killey recruited

Then move to Radat. At the tavern you will meet a trickster posing as you. When he is unmasked, help him and he will join you.


 * Hoi recruited

At this point, you should have recruited at least 80 companions, so if you go to Two River, in the kobold district, talking to Bob he will join you.


 * Bob recruited

Finally go to Kuskus. At the pub you will meet Karen. Talk to her and agree to try to dance. If you can dance according to her directions, you can ask her to join you.


 * Karen recruited

Then go to the port. Here you will meet Culgan, the general of Highland, who has just arrived by boat. Culgan will tell you that Jowy is the new king of Highland and will ask you to accompany him to your castle to discuss the peace treaty. He will then join the convoy. Return to your castle and enter the great hall. Culgan will tell you that King Jowy intends to conclude the peace treaty in Muse and will therefore ask you and Teresa to go there, then he will leave. Teresa will ask you what you intend to do, answer with the first option (you cannot refuse). Chaco and Nanami will join you and Teresa will also join the convoy. You will then find yourself at the port, where you will take the boat to Coronet. Shu, who doesn't trust Highland much, will ask Viktor and Flik to do something else in the meantime. Once in Coronet, head directly to Muse.

Escape from Muse
At the entrance to the city, talk to the guard, he will let you through and tell you that Jowy is waiting for you on Jowston Hill. Then enter the city. Chaco will abandon your party. Go to Jowston Hill and talk to the guard to enter. Once in the meeting room you will meet Jowy and Leon Silverburg. Jowy will ask you how you are, answer him however you want. Teresa will then say that no preparations have been made for the peace treaty. Indeed, you will be locked inside and Jowy will order you to surrender immediately. Answer as you like, at the moment you can’t do much. However, suddenly Viktor will enter, tackling the soldiers, while Pilika will meet Jowy. Viktor will tell you to take the opportunity to escape. Answer as you like, in any case you will be forced to leave and Pilika will stay with Jowy. As you head towards the city gate you will have to fight some soldiers. Once at the door, you will see that Chaco has distracted the soldiers who will then be chased away by Viktor. You will thus be able to escape from Muse.

Return to your castle and enter the great hall. Shu and Apple will be happy about your return. Nanami will be furious with Shu for using Pilika, but he will reply that unfortunately it was necessary.