To continue on to the next chapter of the game, head for the front gates of your Castle.You will meet a member of the Lampdragon Bandits, Koyu, who is desperately looking for Riou to request help to save his brothers.
The scene will switch to the war room where Koyu will tell of strange men who die when you cut them, but show no emotion. Viktor will recognize them as zombies and figures that Neclord must be involved. The group will agree to travel to Tinto to save Koyu's brothers and investigate what is going on. Viktor, Koyu, and Nanami will be required characters. Koyu joins with a Gale Rune attached, of which at this point in the game, you can no longer obtain. You won't be able to remove it until he officially joins, but I'm leaving a note about it here if you are interested. You'll start your journey at the village of Drakemouth, which is south of the Kobold Village, but first make absolutely sure that you have completed all three investigations of Ridley via Richmond. Depending on the choices made, doing investigations on Ridley will no longer be available soon. At Drakemouth Village, assuming you picked up the Calf and Cabbage Seed here back in chapter 10, there is nothing else to do. Exit to the northwest to enter our next dungeon.
The Air Lizard enemies on this mountain path have two rare items to drop. The first of which is the Firefly Rune. You cannot obtain this rune anywhere else in the game but here. Firefly is the opposite of the Skunk Rune you obtained earlier. When attached to a character, they become the target of all enemy single attacks. I, personally, don't care for this rune, but it can have several useful setups. For instance, a character like Humphrey or Miklotov, whom can wear heavy armor, can attach this rune to shield other characters from damage. You could also double this up with a Wall Rune to pretty much make an unpenetrable barrier for physical damage; although that character will only be able to contribute counterattacks for offense.
Air Lizard's also drop the Window Set #2 Castle item. Make sure you pick these up as soon as possible. As I stated earlier on, there is a bug associated with Window Sets that require you to obtain the two that are dropped by enemies before you recruit the character you give them to. The first was back at the Banner Pass, if you forgot or haven't gotten it yet. Also, you will need one of these in your inventory to recruit said character, so go ahead and get this drop now.
Just before reaching the base of the Lampdragon Bandits, there will be a chest containing our second Master Robe. To reiterate, while it is weak compared to later robes in defense, this gem grants resistance to status effects, HP regen +10, and a chance to repel magic at 10%.
You'll run into Gijimu, Koyu's brother, who has burned the Lampdragon's hideout and bridge leading to it in order to stop the advance of the zombies. He will suggest heading for Tinto and forging an alliance with Gustav. Return back down the mountain path and keep proceeding west until you come out in Tigermouth Village.
To the south of where you exit out to Tigermouth from the mountain path, near the well, you can talk to a guy here who will give you a Tomato Seedling for Tony's farm back at the Castle.
Just below that guy, you will find a baby chick wandering around. Pick it up to obtain a Chick you can give Yuzu at the Castle.
In the house nearest the well, you can search one of the bookcases inside to obtain the Old Book Vol. 8. That's all in Tigermouth for the moment. Out on the world map, none of the enemies here are of note, so we can move on. Instead of going to Tinto, let's make a stop at Crom Village to the west.
Inside Crom's item shop, we can buy an outstanding accessory: the Wing Ornament. You may have picked these up at the rare finds back in Two River's winger district, but they are for sale normally now. These have the second-highest defense of any accessory in the game while providing an excellent boost in speed. Both Chaco and Sid should be equipped with these.
In the rare finds here, the Magic Ring accessory will often show up. You should have a couple of these already, but this is your source in the game for this magic-increasing accessory.
With Wakaba in your party, try to enter the inn and you will see her master, Long Chan Chan, come rushing out; trying to dine-n-dash. Follow him to behind the house on the east-side of town and talk to him again and he will test Riou's defenses and then join your party.
L.C. Chan comes equipped with an extremely rare accessory: the Power Ring. There are only two of such in the entire game, and it is the highest strength-increasing accessory you can get, despite its lackluster defense boost. Remove this from him and apply it to another character, if you like.
Lastly in Crom, Tenkou, the window maker, lives in the house to the northeast of the second set of steps. If you have a Window Set in your inventory, he will ask to buy it from you; for nostalgia sake. Absolutely do not sell it to him, instead, ask him to join your party, and he will. At this point, the previously two Window Sets dropped by enemies, will no longer be dropped, so hopefully you picked those up and can take them to Tenkou at your Castle. He can change the visual and color of your dialogue and menu boxes. When you are finished in Crom, make your way back north and into the mining city of Tinto.
At Tinto's item shop, the rare finds here will sometimes contain Skill Rings. They give a fair amount of defense and an excellent +20 increase in tech. This is one of the few places you will find them.
Over at the armorer, the rare finds here contain two rare pieces of equipment. The first being the Wind Hat. This is the best hat in the game that you may have been farming from the Griffins back at the Cave of the Wind. The Taikyoku Wear, while not the best martial-arts type armor like it was in the original Suikoden, is still a very good option at this point. You can get this from the rope-climbing mini-game at your Castle, but other than there, you will only find the Taikyoku Wear at this shop.
Past the shops, you will find two lone houses. The one on the left contains an old gentleman that will hand over a Unicorn Plans #3 Castle item.
The one on the right has a guy who will give you a Dragon Plans #3. Like me, I bet you can't wait to get these things out of your warehouse.
Outside the blacksmith, that can sharpen your weapons to lvl 13, search the cart of minerals to find the second Power Ring. Other than the one that came equipped to L.C. Chan, this is the only other Power Ring in the game. In my opinion, the two Power Rings are best applied to the kobolds, Gengen and Gabocha, due to their inability to equip either the Fire Emblem or Power Gloves.
You'll see a strange character wandering around outside of Gustav's residence. Talk to her and she will mention Jeane. Tell her if she wants Jeane she should come to your Castle and she will join your group and open a scroll-making shop there. You can bring her elemental runes and she will convert them to scrolls your party can use during battle. That's all for Tinto, you can now talk to the soldier to enter the mayor's house.
You will meet the mayor of Tinto, Gustav, inside. Viktor lambastes him for ignoring our army for so long, but since you defeated Luca Blight, and of course, he needs help, he will want to ally with you. Marlowe will then show you to your room for the night.
In the morning, Viktor will wake you to tell that Klaus and Ridley have arrived. Gustav's daughter, Lilly, will run in that Neclord and his zombies have shown up at the entrance of town.
Neclord will taunt Gustav and the citizens of Tinto; letting them know he is wanting to establish his kingdom here in their mountains. Return to Gustav's house afterwards and Jess and Hauser, from Muse City, will enter. Jess will go right after Riou accusing him of being the one who murdered Anabelle that night in Muse. Viktor and Ridley will come to your defense, but there is no convincing Jess. He thinks that those from the State should defend the State and you don't belong here. Talk to Gustav again to prepare for the defense against Neclord.
That night, before talking with Nanami, attempt to sleep in your room and you will get a scene with Leknaat where she will tell you about all of the hearts and lives that depend on you and how Riou and Jowy's destinies are intertwined by the Bright Shield and Black Sword Runes. Foreshadowing your choice to come...
When you talk to Nanami, you have a very hard decision to make. Nanami will want you to run away from the army and live peacefully together; away from war, so you won't have to fight Jowy. You can choose to either run or stay and fight. For the sake of 100% completion, you must choose to run away. I know, it's out of character for Riou, and honestly, it pains me every time I have to choose it, but it's a necessary evil. Other than doing the right thing, there are a few benefits to choosing to fight. Ridley will survive, you will fight a minor boss that you won't if you run away; you also will learn a little backstory on two new characters that will join: Kahn and Sierra. However, there are important benefits in opting to run away. The first being that when Ridley dies, a new Star of Destiny will take his place. This allows you to 100% the Richmond investigations by completing Ridley's beforehand, and then his replacement's once he joins. Second, you get a story scene with Georg Prime; an important character in Suikoden history. Third, Flik will join your party and be usable for the following long dungeon and boss fight that he otherwise would not. And fourth, you will have the option to view a premature ending for the game. For the sake of this 100% completion guide, I will be following the run away route.
When you decide to give up and run, Nanami will write a letter to explain your actions and leave the Blinking Mirror behind for the new leader. Downstairs, you will be confronted by two random members of your party, who will join back up with you. Note, if Tir is one of these characters, he will actually speak for the first time. Out on the world map, Crom Village is our destination.
At Crom, the villagers will round Riou and company up, believing them to be spies, and take them to the mayor there. Koyu will come in and explain how you are the alliance army leader and everyone was worried about you because Tinto had fallen to Neclord and his zombies. Despite feeling bad, Nanami is still determined to escape, but that night Koyu and Marlowe will unintentionally foil your plans to make a run for it.
The next day, Crom will be attacked by zombies. Redeem yourself a little by choosing to defend the village and you will fight several battles with groups of Zombies. Koyu and Marlowe will stay behind to allow Riou and the party to escape to safety. Feel guilty yet? I sure do. Flee over to Tigermouth and you will encounter more of the same: zombies arriving and you have the option to help the citizens defend the village. Riou will eventually use the Bright Shield Rune against the zombies, but will collapse from exhaustion.
Nanami will attempt to carry Riou on her back through the mountain pass. You will have to fight a few battles on the way, with Riou being under the knockdown status and with 1 HP. The battles are easy and if you heal Riou, he will return to the same status for the next battle, so just try to finish them as quickly as you can. You will, again, become surrounded by zombies but a mysterious swordsman will appear and defend you: Georg Prime from Suikoden V (A prequel to the previous Suikodens). He will take you back to his camp and Riou will be able to rest for the night. Talk with Georg the next morning and you can proceed through the rest of the mountain path to Drakemouth.
Riou will once again collapse when you arrive at Drakemouth Village. Nanami, eaten up by guilt, will lament choosing this path. I know I do too. You will also see a scene back at Muse between Jowy and Pilika.
You'll hear a battle underway outside and Nanami will rush out to defend Riou, only to be met by Shu, Apple, and Flik. Shu will offer you a chance to return to your army. If you repeatedly refuse, and then walk out of the village, the game will end with Riou and Nanami living in a cabin far away...However, now is the time to redeem yourself and accept your destiny. Shu will slap Riou for his actions and reveal how Ridley died during the attack on Tinto. Flik will then join your party and you can return to Crom Village to meet back up with your group.
Viktor will nonchalantly greet you back at the mayor of Crom's home and return the Blinking Mirror to its rightful owner. That night, talk to Viktor about the death of Ridley and how only a select few members of the army knew of your running away, and it should be kept that way.
The assault on Neclord is ready the next day. Sierra and Kahn, old adversaries of Neclord, will both join your party, along with Viktor, and your destination is the Tinto Mine to the east of Crom. Make absolutely sure you are prepared for this dungeon. It will be twice as long as any dungeon you have encountered thus far and the monsters can be dangerous. Thunder Amulets, you should be able to buy at your Castle, are recommend for accessories as well as bringing Escape Talismans along with you in case you need to leave to rest or save. You should clean your inventory out as there are many treasure chests and rare drops to be had there too.
Inside the Tinto Mine, let's first take a look at the rare drops. Watch out for the dangerous Neclordia enemies and their lightning magic. They also contain two rare items, the first being: the Master Garb. This is the best all-around armor in the game you will find, for both light and heavy armor characters. It has an excellent +45 defense, but also provides a ridiculous +15 to strength and tech. For this reason, the Master Garb can be preferred to the Windspun Armor you will find later for heavy armor users; depending on the character, of course. This isn't the best place you will find for this drop though, but I am providing it here as it is your first chance to obtain it if you didn't loot Tir of his.
The second item Neclordia carries is the Knight Statue antique. We wary, this is going to take a long time to get, but if you start farming Master Garbs, you should get one eventually. This is, unfortunately, at this point in the game, your best chance of getting the Knight Statue. Note, you will need three of these to see a special bath scene.
Then we have the Power Gloves; dropped by Zombies (The ones with hair, specifically). This could be considered the best accessory in the game, all-around. It provides a +16 defense and +15 to strength. Which makes it slightly weaker in defense than the Goldlet, the highest defense accessory all characters can equip, but preferable to it because of the large strength increase. It will also outclass the Fire Emblem, but I would recommend it over the Power Gloves for characters with high defense but low magic defense due to its reduction in fire damage. Gengen and Gabocha can't use the Power Gloves though, unfortunately. You'll find one of these in a chest later on, but will have to outfit your party with these by hunting Zombies as your source.
Lastly, the Unicombie will drop Fire Sealing Runes. This would have been helpful back for the Luca Blight battle, but is a waste of a rune slot now, in my opinion. It nullifies all fire attacks but leaves you vulnerable to water-based ones. You cannot find these anywhere else but here.
One of the first treasure chests you come across in the Mine will contain a Stone of Mag-Def. This is noteworthy as there are only two of these in the game. There are many chests in this dungeon, but none really hidden, so be vigilant in exploring to find them.
Another chest will contain the afore mentioned Master Garb.
In one large area, you will have to pass under two bridges spanning the cave to find both a Old Book Vol. 9 and Window Set #5 Castle items.
You'll reach an area that has many "ramps" Riou can slide down. Look for a chest containing a Silver Necklace here. This is notable for its rareness, rather than its ability as an accessory. Don't be fooled by its HP recovery claim; it only recovers 1 HP per turn. You will only find one of these; make sure to stash it in your warehouse.
In the same area, and for the same reason, look for the Star Earrings chest. This is the only one of these you will find in the game. It grants a +5HP regen per turn, but its defense is lacking. Look for a Wind Hat and Double-strike Rune in chests around here too.
While not exactly a mind-numbing puzzle, you'll reach an area where Riou needs to push a conveniently-placed crate to make a bridge across a gap.
Shortly after, you will encounter the boss of the Tinto Mine: the Stone Golem. This thing has a lot of HP, but is weak against magic, especially lightning. Cast Protect Mist and/or Guardian Earth and keep healed with Riou and you should have little problem here. Not too long after, you will span a bridge into a new section of the Mine, but it is short and linear with only one chest, and will lead you out into Tinto City.
Neclord is waiting for you in the church at the extreme north of town. You can fight Zombies around town, if you'd like, but these won't drop Power Gloves, if you were curious. You will find Neclord with his hostages: Lilly and Lo Wen, but Koyu and Marlowe will rush in to save them, followed by Riou's group. Kahn will seal Neclord's ability to phase out and Sierra will negate the power of his Blue Moon Rune, leaving only Viktor and the Night Rune to do its part.
The battle with Neclord can be rough depending on which attacks he decides to use. Most of the time, he will just transform into a bat and physically attack a female party member twice in one turn, but he will also unleash some devastating, all-encompassing, magic. Protect Mist and Guardian Earth your party as usual and use Battle Oath to heal for its chance to inflict berserk, hopefully upon Viktor. Kahn will deal big damage with the Resurrection Rune, even with the usually-weak Scolding spell.
Neclord will drop a very rare The Shredding x4 scroll. Due to the fact there is only one Cyclone Rune in the game, this is our only chance to obtain this scroll with 4 uses. Make sure to safely store it in your warehouse when you get a chance.
Viktor will strike the final blow on Neclord, finally putting an end to his life and reign of terror. You will reunite with Gustav, the Lampdragon Bandits, and Jess at the entrance of Tinto. Jess will admit he was wrong about you and extend a hand in friendship, which you should accept. At this point, Sierra, Kahn, Hauser, Jess, Koyu, Marlowe, Gijimu, and Lo Wen have all joined as Stars of Destiny.
