Suikoden V Guide to Easy Potch Gains Joshua Walls (The_Masamune) ============== Guide Contents ============== 1. Legal 2. Introduction 3. Easy Battle Money Checklist 4. Prosperity Items 5. Special Potch-Related Character Skills 6. Post-Battle Potch Formula 7. Other Effective Potch-Gaining Methods 1. Legal -------- Suikoden is a trademark of Konami. I take no credit for any part in the creation of this or any other game made by them. This guide is for use solely on Gamefaqs.com, unless otherwise stated by myself. All information contained within was found out by myself through much trial and documentation, unless noted otherwise. If you have any questions, or have any information you would like to see added to the guide, email me at walls_jj@yahoo.com. Please use either Suikoden V or Potch Guide in the subject, so I know it's not spam. No better place to put this, also, so: **Very Minor Suikoden V Spoilers** 2. Introduction --------------- I've created this guide for use by those who are trying to find ways to increase their potch flow in the game. I've compiled some of the easier and more effective methods for acquiring potch, with the main focus centering on the various methods of tweaking potch gained after a battle. 3. Easy Battle Money Checklist ------------------------------ If you don't care about any of the numbers involved in figuring out how much potch you will gain after battle, here you go. This is the ideal party setup in Suikoden V to make the most possible potch from every encounter: - 24 Prosperity Rings (4 equipped on each Active Battle Party member) - 4 Prosperity Equipment Pieces - 1 Prosperity Rune equipped to an ABP member - Egbert in Entourage (S in Potch Finder) - Norma with SS in Potch Finder (either Entourage or ABP) - Roy with S in Thief (ABP) - Raven with SS in Thief (ABP) - Bergen with SS in Treasure Hunt (Entourage or ABP) - Babbage in Entourage (S in Treasure Hunt) - Faylen with S in Treasure Hunt - Any two of: Lorelai, Killey, Zweig, and Faylon (with A in Treasure Hunt) 4. Prosperity Items ------------------- There are 5 different items, as well as one rune, that when equipped have an effect on potch gained in battle. Note that each peice of equipment will increase potch gained by 10%, with the Prosperity Rune boosting potch by 100%, after all other calculations (see Post-Battle Potch Formula for more details). Here are the items and the method with which you can obtain them: Prosperity Hat - Underground Ruins B3 - Eresh recruitment Prosperity Tunic - Underground Ruins B1 - Jeane Recruitment Prosperity Armband - Baska Mines Fenced Area - Escape Route skill needed (make sure to run up against the fence near the Baska Mine entrance) Prosperity Sandals - Eastern end of Yashuna Village - near a wall Prosperity Ring - Hershville Naval Base Item Shop Prosperity Rune - Can only be obtained through Monster drops of Pieces. Evil Toad 1% (Yushuna Caves) Golden Bunny 1% (World Map - Sol-Falena area) Ogre Frog 1% (Waterfall Basin) Dolph 40% (Sun Palace) Childerich 40% (Sun Palace) Giant Snake 1% (Byakuren) -- Prosperity Set locations and Prosperity Rune monster drops credit to blazefeeler's Armor Set Guide and Rune Piece Guide -- A Note on Prosperity Equips: After testing, I have found that duplicate Prosperity Equips WILL stack with one another (aside from the obvious Ring stacking). In other words, you can have as much Prosperity Equipment on as you would like, in an effort to raise the amount of potch you can get. 5. Special Potch-Related Character Skills ----------------------------------------- ---Potch Finder--- There are two characters in the game that come with this handy-dandy skill. One of them is Egbert Aethelbald, and he's the first of the two available for recruitment. The other one is Norma, recruited in Raftfleet after the Coronation Ceremony. Egbert comes into your service with an S ranking in the skill, while Norma's starts out far lower at D. Her skill, however, can eventually reach a ranking of SS after you level it up. Each level up in Potch Finder increases the potch modifier by 10% SS - 60% S - 50% A - 40% B - 30% C - 20% D - 10% The way this skill is factored into the potch gained after battle is thus: After finding out what the base potch will be (explained below), the base is multiplied by the modifier of each party member bearing the Potch Finder skill. It is inserted into the equation as the final modifier before the Prosperity Rune. ---Thief--- This skill can be extremely handy in boosting your potch gains after battle. Unfortunately, it activates on a purely random basis (From all indications I've found through testing. If anybody finds out something that specifically determines the success rate of Thief activating, please share it with me. Credit will be given, of course, after confirmation of validity). Another skill usable by two characters in the game, they are Roy and Raven. Roy's Thief skill maxes at rank S, while Raven will eventually reach rank SS. Just as with Potch Finder, each level increase raises the modifier by 10% SS - 80% S - 70% A - 60% B - 50% C - 40% D - 30% Thief works a little differently than PF does, however: In order for the skill to be used, one must first make a _successful_ attack against an enemy. Assuming Thief is activated with the attack, it will then be factored into the potch equations. The skill affects _only_ the enemy that is attacked, none of the others. If activated, the skill will add a certain amount of potch to the base number. The number is determined by taking the potch normally dropped by the enemy attacked and multiplying it by the percentage modifier. ---Haggle--- Haleth comes with a support skill called Haggle. When he is in the party, items are sold for 10% more than normal, and are bought for 10% less than normal. This is a handy skill to have during late-game when people like to deck out their entire army with the best equipment and items available. Make sure to take advantage of it whenever you can, especially when you're going to go on a large spending spree! 6. Post-Battle Potch Formula ---------------------------- ======================================================================== Note: This is not necessarily the exact programmed code, but what I have figured out on my own through much trial and error. It is, however, highly accurate when worked properly. ======================================================================== To figure out the potch gained after battle, the game uses this formula: Base = A + B + ...(up to however many enemies there are) + A(T) + B(T) + ... (up to however many enemies were attacked and the skill was successfully activated upon) M = Base + (Base x PQ) Final = ([ M + M(PF1) + M(PF2) ])x R **Remember that if a certain part of the equation is not there (ie - Norma does not have maxed PF skill, or Egbert isn't in the party) then you must leave it out when determining the final numbers.** Where: Base = Base amount to be multiplied A-F = Monster base A-F(T) = Amount stolen from monster by the Thief skill PQ = Multiplier for Prosperity equipment; increases by .1 for each Prosperity item equipped on the ABP PF1 = .5 [Potch Finder skill at S (Egbert)] PF2 = .6 [Potch Finder skill at SS (Norma's Max)] R = 2 [Prosperity Rune equipped to one party member] Final = The amount of potch received after battle -------- Example: -------- For the sake of this example, we will assume all possible portions of the setup are included (all equips and the rune, all four specified characters, maxed special skills). You fight in the Lordlake area against 2 Hellhounds and a Red Ulse. Hellhounds give 960 potch each. Red Ulses give 550 potch each. During the fight, Raven strikes one of the Hellhounds, successfully activating the Thief skill. The other enemies are killed by the rest of the party. Your potch gained would go like this: Base = 960 + 960 + 550 + 768 = 3238 (HH1) (HH2) (RU) (Added from HH hit by Raven) M = 3238 + 3238(2.8) = 3238 + 9066 = 12304 Final = [ 12304 + 12304(.5) + 12304(.6) ] x 2 = ( 12304 + 6152 + 7382 ) x 2 = 25838 x 2 = 51676 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Other Effective Potch-Gaining Methods ---------------------------------------- Let it be known that when one is "farming", this refers to mass-gathering of some sort of item, most often by means of fighting certain enemies over and over. In that light, it should be taken for granted that when one is farming, it would be an excellent idea to bring along as many characters with the Treasure Hunt ability as possible. Entourage or ABP doesn't matter, but try to have their skill in TH as high as possible. ---Farming of Runes and Rune Pieces--- Rune Sell Price Enemy ---- ---------- ----- Poison/Venom - 2500 - Spider enemies Crazed - 2500 - Assassin (Beaver Lodge event) Srike-Back - 37500 - Skull Army (Eresh's Dungeon) Double-Edged - 75000 - Bone Soldier (Ruins under Big Hole) Killer - 150000 - Killer Bunny (Big Hole) Piece Sell Price Enemy ----- ---------- ----- Magic Absorb - 4500 - Mummy, Royal Mummy, Unicorn Zombie (Ruins) Boost - 5000 - Gray Ulse, Red Ulse (Withered Forest) Boundary - 7500 - Hellsteed Boss, Royal Mummy (Ruins) Violence - 9000 - Gray/Red Ulse, Hellhound (Withered Forest) Drain - 10000 - Bat enemies, Nariqua (Caves) Magical - 11000 - Malifaux, Millioneye (Ruins), Rock/Stone Golem Steel - 15000 - Magic Shield, Ghost Shield (Sindar Ruins) Equilibrium - 20000 - Mad Condor, Condor Zombie (Hills, Sauronix/Sable) Note: Rune piece Sell Prices are for assembled runes (requires 4 pieces). ---Fishing for ? Pots--- Once you have recruited Subala into the 108 SoD, she offers you the ability to play a fishing minigame. During the minigame, you obviously bring up fish with a pole. More than likely, you'll end up fishing up a bunch of ?pots during each fishing session. Once you exit the game, you can take the pots to an appraiser to see if they're valuable or not. You can then sell the pots in order to make pure profit (meaning money made without any spent). ---Farming Items--- Aside from ? Pots during fishing, there are other ways to find ? items, as well as other items and equipment in different areas of Falena. The locations below are the earliest and/or best places to encounter the enemy, for optimal use. Location Enemy Item Sell Price -------- ----- ---- ---------- Lunas North Woods Salamander Fire Dragon Armor 60000 Forest -LL/Sable Papa Holly Plum Bonsai 9000 Doraat Fortress(1st) Godwin Soldier Q. Knights Painting 25000 Deep Twi. Forest Big Creeper Pine Bonsai 20000 Stormfist (Recapture) Imperial Guard Q. Knights Painting 25000 Ashtwal Mtns. Elite Trooper Thunder God's Armor 66000 *Ashtwal Mtns. Nemesis Windspun Armor 112500 * = Area Miniboss ---Raftfleet War Battle Glitch--- After the war battle in Raftfleet, go straight to the Inn and rest. You will be taken back to the point just before the war battle and go through the whole thing again. This is an easy way to farm Flowing Rune Pieces (and thus Flowing Runes) and Luck Rings relatively early in the game. Thanks for reading, I hope this guide has been able to help you in some form or fashion. Please contact me with any additions or mistakes about the guide at my email listed in the Legal section.