Release Date : 10/31/1998       Genre: Strategy RPG       Number of Players: 1       Platform: PlayStation GAME SUMMARY: Forsena is a magical continent where a mysterious power called Mana emanates from the ground. Since ancient times, people have used this power to summon monsters from another world and use them in battle. However, not everyone is able to use this ability. Only a privileged few are born with this talent; they are called Rune Knights. You are to become the lord of one country, accompanied by some of the Rune Knights. It is up to you to save the continent of Forsena and return peace to the land. TIPS: Once you have won a battle, wounded troops are sent back to main capital of your country. They will be able to battle again after a month’s time rest. Therefore, always remember to send other reinforcements to take their place while they are gone. That way you could fight off any upcoming enemies. If the capital is being invaded, the wounded character will be placed at the next castle with the highest income. Sometimes they are sent back to castle, where the ruler is. Get your country organized by moving your most powerful Rune Knights along with to-be-trained Knights to the castles located at your boundaries. That way you could establish some kind of balance in organizing and using your units. Plan your strategies out and learn the map / mission objectives before going out to battle. Try to control as many castles as possible… that way its easier to launch an attack. Before launching an attack on your enemies, pay particular attention to the status of the troops… this way you will know what you are up against instead of blindly rushing into battle. Attacking unguarded castles results in a nice bonus, and every little thing counts. So try your best at planning attacks. Most of the leader units have large amounts of HP. Use them in the front line and tank all the enemies. Remember defense in the front and support units in the rear. On the battlefield, movement range plays an important role in determining your attack pattern. Flying monsters such as Rocs, Wyverns and White Dragons has a longer movement range compared to heavy type monsters such as Hydras and Dragons. Position the units from heaviest to lightest. Don't overlook the different types of terrain on the battlefield, some types affect movement range. Unicorns will move slowly on mountains or forests [green patches]. Hydras on the other hand can not walk on mountains but moves faster on water. Use units where they are best suited. For example, water based units in the water, remember that they have the ability to regenerate their life due to their Aqua Recovery skill. When surrounded by enemies, use area-based attacks such as Holy Word, Geno-Flame, Geno-Frost to greatly weaken them. Likewise, you would want to place a Bishop in the middle of your group, so that an Area Heal will be used to its full potential. Using your skills to their maximum potential will help you overcome many obstacles. Target your attacks where the enemy is the most vulnerable. Attacking the main forces will cause the other deployments to retreat at times. The higher level the enemy is, the more experience you will receive. Use this to your advantage. Casting spells like Fog is extremely effective against low agile monsters such as Hydras/Dragons/Golems. It’s a good idea to always arrange your units within the Rune Area. The closer the monsters are to the Rune Knight the better. Use your lower level units to deliver the final attack to enemy units. Dealing the final blow will earn you the most experience points. When arranging your units, assign the rear locations to flying units, and the heavy units towards the front. Having at least one Fairy in your group will work wonders. They are the best support magic casters. Spells like React will allow your units to have 2 actions instead of one. Keep this in mind when you are constructing your groups. Use the spell combination of Halo and a Power spell on a unit and have that unit finish off an enemy, you will be surprised with the amount of experience that you gain. The amount of damage done by physical attacks depends on the character's ATK and STR stats. The amount of damage done by magic is dependant on INT stats. The ability to dodge from an attack determined by the unit's AGI. Your characters will gain these bonuses by leveling up but it can be further enhanced if you make use of enchanted items such as weapons like Answeller. Defense Strategies Straight Line Defense This is apparently is the MOST affective strategy in Brigandine. Place those high-based HP monsters such as Dragons on the frontline knights behind the line. Arrange these monsters in a line and they would be able to aid each other. Have Unicorns as support units for Heal, while have the rest do the attacking. V-Shaped Defense This is intended for defense purposes. Have your troops consists of Dragons or Hydras, arranging them in a V-shaped pattern and place Unicorns and Knights in the middle. This will place your enemies in cross-fires using creatures' breath weapons. This technique is more efficient if the enemy sends troops attacking from different directions. While defending Salisbury, always use an inverted V-shaped defense. Golem Defense Golems may be weak due to their poor rate of attack but they are excellent defenders. Use them to protect your mages from harm. This strategy works for knights with low Rune Power. However, it’s sometimes risky. Golems are great for fighting against Rocs as due to their Golem Attributes. They also could be easily cured with a heal spell. Rocs and Centaur Defense This strategy is great. Place Rocs in the front row since they have high amounts of HP and their petrifying ability. Place Centaurs behind the Rocs, they have a long range attack so that they could still attack. Have your party made up of a mage, priest and a scout or archer, place them all towards the rear. Have at least 2 Unicorns at the back. At the battlefield, concentrate your attacks on the Rune Knights. Hit-and-Run For this to work, you need to get a Ninja [note that you must get Shiraha to join you in order to have this unit.] Have units such as Centaurs, Rocs, and a couple of swooping units such as Wyvern. Attack with Centaurs/High Centaurs first to lower the HP of a desired target. Next attack with the swooping units and lastly Rocs. Next send a Ninja with its Shuriken Attack. There are many other possible strategies out there just experiment and try different combinations to discover more ways to win the battles.