Suikoden II/Stopping Highland's Advance

Recruiting Shu
Head to Radat, east of South Window. You will be free to explore the village and shop. You'll also notice some recruitable characters, but they won't follow you right now. Go to Shu's house (you won't have a problem finding it). Shu will receive you, then he and Apple will have a discussion. Shu will refuse to join you, claiming that he has now embarked on a career as a trader, and will dismiss you. Then go to the village bar. When you are about to leave, you will meet Shu again and Apple will try again to convince him to join you, but in vain. Answer her however you want the first time, agree with her the second time to speed things up. Exit the bar and go south. Near the appraisal shop you will find Richmond, a private investigator. Talk to him and answer him as you like, then he will make you an offer. You will have to pay him 1.500 potch. To continue in the game, you will be forced to accept. Go back to the inn and talk to the innkeeper to go to sleep. That night Richmond will wake you up and reveal that Shu has an important trade the next day and you can find him at the port. Next day, go to the port east of the village. Here you will meet Shu again, who will finally make a deal with you. He will throw a coin into the river: if you are able to get it back he will join you. Answer as you like. In order to get down to the water however, you'll need to close the dam to the north first. Talk to the man near the shack and ask him to stop the water. He will refuse, but Amada will arrive. Beg him to turn off the water and he will make a deal with you: if you defeat him in a one-on-one duel, he will turn off the water. You will then have to accept.

Defeating him is not difficult, his moves are quite predictable. Just be careful of what he tells you. When you defeat him, Amada will agree to turn off the water, but only for one night. You can then go down to the river to look for the coin. Apple will offer you to return to the inn; answer her as you like, you will help her in any case. After a long scene and some dialogue, you will finally find the coin. Shu will also arrive at the place and will finally agree to join you.


 * Shu recruited

He will ask you how you managed to find the coin, since he had deceived you by throwing a stone into the river. You'll find that it was all Richmond's doing.

Defending the Castle
Go back to the castle. Your companions are waiting for you in the great hall. Shu will also arrive, and explain his strategy to defeat the Highland army. He will also assign you a unit to lead, to directly attack general Solon Jhee. You cannot refuse, so when asked you should accept immediately. You will then go to sleep and the next morning Nanami will wake you up. Head to the great hall and talk to Shu to start the battle.

Major Battle #4
In this battle the game will automatically move all units at the beginning. Then, your unit and another one you have to control will appear directly behind Solon Jhee. Freed Y will also convince all South Window troops to take your side and the real battle will begin. Your objective in this battle is Solon Jhee's unit. However, you should not attack him immediately with your main unit, but use the other. Solon Jhee is indeed much stronger than you and he could easily get the better of your units. If he manages to defeat your main unit it will be game over. Then attack his unit to intimidate him, but don't insist too much. Meanwhile, the automatically controlled units will do the rest. After dealing some damage to the Highland army, Solon Jhee will order a retreat and you will have won the battle.

The New Leader
You will return to the castle and all your companions will cheer you for the victory. Shu will tell you that you should be the new leader of this army. Viktor will then invite you to relax and make an appointment for that evening at the castle tavern, where he will tell you the story of master Genkaku. Then go to bed. That night, Nanami will wake you up, inviting you to go to the tavern to talk to Viktor. Then go to the tavern and Viktor will tell you (if you want) the whole story of master Genkaku and the injustices he suffered. Finished the story, go to bed to sleep.

The next morning, go to the great hall, where Shu will ask you if you have made a decision about becoming the new army leader. Of course you can't refuse, so you accept. Doctor Huan will also arrive and join you.


 * Huan recruited

You will then have to choose a name for your castle. Soon after, Leknaat will appear, who will give you further information about your fate and will give you the stone tablet, on which you can read the names of the characters you have already recruited. She will also assign her disciple Luc to you.


 * Luc recruited

You will then be free to wander around the castle. When you try to leave, you will meet Fitcher, a clumsy character who will ask you if this is North Window. Answer him in the affirmative. He will then ask you about the hero who defeated Solon Jhee. You can choose any of the three options, Fitcher in any case will enter the castle to look for the hero. To continue with the story, you will have to head to the great hall, where you will find him talking to Shu. But first, if you like, there are many characters you can recruit in nearby towns. First of all, you can return to the South Window. At the inn you will meet Hilda and Alex again. Talk to them and they will join you. Also in South Window, you can enlist Adlai if you bring him what he asks for (a Sacrifical Jizo, a Wooden Shield and a Wind Rune).


 * Hilda recruited
 * Alex recruited
 * Adlai recruited

At the port of Kuskus you will meet again Tai Ho and Yam Koo. If you manage to beat Tai Ho in Chinchirochin by winning 5.000 potch from him, they will both join you.


 * Tai Ho recruited
 * Yam Koo recruited

Travel to Radat with Freed Y in the party. Talk to his wife Yoshino, she will join you. You can also recruit Richmond, the detective who just helped you. You will have to challenge him to Head or Tails and to unmask the cheating of him.


 * Yoshino recruited
 * Richmond recruited

Finally, leaving the east exit of Radat, you can return to the ruins of Viktor's fort. Here you will meet Templeton, who will complain that the Highland soldiers didn't let him in and then leave. Go to Toto, where you will meet him again. Talk to him to convince him to join you.


 * Templeton recruited

Finally, return to your castle and enter the great hall.

Reaching Two River
Fitcher will tell you that he is from Two River and that this city is willing to form an alliance with you. You will not be able to refuse the offer, so you accept. However, the only way to reach Two River is by boat. You will therefore have to find someone who can drive a boat.

Return to Radat. You will find Amada in the same place where you met him before. Amada will be willing to take you by boat to Lakewest if you can defeat him in a one-on-one duel. The duel is identical to the previous one and shouldn't cause you too many problems. When you defeat him, Amada will join you.


 * Amada recruited

Then return to the castle and introduce Amada to Shu. Choose your party, then go to your castle port. Here you can get on the boat and reach the village of Lakewest, to the west.

At Lakewest Amada will stay to guard the boat. You can explore the village and go shopping. In one house you will find an old lady, Taki. Talk to her repeatedly until she joins you.


 * Taki recruited

For now, there's nothing else you can do here. From now on, however, you can use the boat and return to the castle whenever you want. You can then return to South Window. You have certainly already noticed Clive, the character you met in Muse, who is on the hunt for the criminal Elza. Tell him you have a boat you can take him to Lakewest and he will join you.


 * Clive recruited

Finally return to Lakewest and exit the village. Two River is a short distance to the west. Note: if you want to do more shopping, you should head to the Kobold village, to the south, in order to use up your savings. In fact, as soon as you enter Two River, you will be robbed.