Sengoku Rance:Commander Tips

Summary table
Different troop types with the same stats will work out differently. The troop type bonus for each of the four battle parameters is ranked in the manual from A+ to C.

Note that various costs may be affected by other factors such as items or satisfication bonuses.

Attack formula = base attack of unit + captain's attack * 10

Defence formula = base defence of unit + captain's defence X 8

Magic Attack = base attack of unit + captain's intelligence X 10

Magic Defence = captain's intelligence X 7 (ignores Foot Solider's guard bonus)


 * Max troop size is calculated as follows: $$(4 + Provinces) * 100 * difficulty*ratio$$, where difficulty is 0.5 for normal, 1 for one star, 2 for two stars, and 3 (not 5) for five stars.


 * Recruit cost goes up by 20 when troop size is 500~999. Recruit cost goes up by 40 more (base + 60) when troop size is 1000~?.


 * Mage Spells ignore Foot Soldiers' doubled defense when Guarding (Magic attacks consider the unit's intelligence instead of defense)


 * The attack power of new troops goes down with increased numbers.

Warrior (武士/Bushi)
The Bushi is the classic samurai. They are the masters of swordsmanship, and focus on offensive skills. At low difficulty levels, they are a typical player's main source of damage. However, as they often receive counterattacks from enemy troops they face, their usage becomes severely limited when the enemy greatly outnumber them, as often is the case for higher difficulties.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 力を貯める (Gather strength) - Passive skill, raises damage by 70%. By spending one move, all your future attacks are stronger (unless an enemy tactician removes it).
 * 迂回突撃 (Flank Charge) - Special attack, prevents counterattack. While it costs two moves, it keeps your troops unharmed to perform the next attack.  Especially useful for slow Bushi units (if they weren't going to use up their moves anyways).
 * 手加減攻撃 (Light Attack) - Special attack, chance to capture is increased, 0.2 damage. Any enemy being hit by this attack (even if this isn't the attack that finished them off) have a higher chance to be captured at the end of the battle (you still need to defeat their unit).
 * 武将突撃 (Captain Charge) - Special attack, captain attacks, then unit attacks, cannot be counterattacked. The captain's first hit deals 20 damage plus 3 damage per level of the captain. If the enemy is behind a defensive barrier, it will only block out the captain's initial attack, and not the unit's follow-up attack.  Unfortunately the captain's and the unit's attacks don't reduce guard rating separately.


 * ランス Rance: The main "protagonist" of the game. Initially his passive skill, "Sill" regenerates troops every turn. Also, there are satisfaction bonuses that can increase his moves and stats. Apart from Kentarou, he is the only character who can reach level 99. His Rance attack acts as a captain charge attack in troop battles, and in dungeons deals twice the damage as his normal sword attack. GAME OVER if killed in battle. Seems unusually resistant to assassination attempts.
 * 上杉謙信 Uesugi Kenshin: A very useful unit. Her passive skill Military God's Aura (軍神の威光) results in opponents having one to two less moves in a battle and gives a battle result bonus.  She has Captain's charge as well.
 * 小川健太郎 Ogawa Kentarou: He shares numerous similarities to Rance... For instance, he is the only other character that can acquire level 99.  He is the single best damage-dealer in dungeon battles (when maxed level of course).  Also, after he becomes a demon, he is able to negate a number of attacks from certain dungeon monsters.
 * 徳川家康 Tokugawa Ieyasu: One of the prime dungeon heroes, he has a 1-cost piercing charge-attack that does double the damage of his normal attack. He's also really big and has whiskers.
 * 明石風丸 Akashi Kazemaru: Though weak to begin with, he has great potential. Through completing his events, you can acquire Hibachi as a sub-captain (Passive skill Hibachi grants +50 enemy deaths on attack), as well as +2 to all combat stats. Kazemaru with Hibachi is required for capturing Nogiku from the One-eyed house.


 * His level cap is only at 40. Even with Hibachi upgrade, his stats are less than all 6s and the +50 enemy death is hardly useful. Good for capturing Nogiku and the Hibachi charge in dungeon, but otherwise, is outclass by many other Bushi (Noir, Honda Tadakatsu, Mori Motonari, Shimazu Kazuhisa, and every other one listed here) and arguably by Okita Nozomi, Daidoji Komatsu, Kawanoe,Agireda, or Ouka Toki.
 * 独眼流政宗 One Eyed Masamune: The youkai king with a 70 level cap and all 6 moves. He's got very powerful initial stats, but comes with no special attacks, which maybe a good thing and a bad thing... Good: you can customize his skillset freely. Bad: If you don't have time for upgrading skills, he's less useful. Still, very useful in captain battles due to his high level cap.

Foot Soldier (足軽/Ashigaru)
The Foot Soldier constitutes the main force of most armies. What they lack in quality, they make up in quantity. Foot Soldiers are the the most cost-effective troop to heal and expand, plus they have the fastest growth. Their guard ability allows them to cover other allies while their defense is doubled. Building the Foot Soldier Training School in Mamushi Oil Field lets all foot soldier units of yours grow by 5 soldiers per turn automatically, and 5 soldiers per special visit to the school. The leaders of foot soldier units are spear-wielding Bushi who can also guard their allies in singles/dungeon fights.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 味方ガード (Ally Guard) - Support skill, increases the probability of blocking an attack on an ally of the same row by (int*20)%, defense is doubled. This skill defines the foot soldier's purpose of existence.
 * 味方ガード改 (Ally Guard+) - Support skill, increases the probability of blocking an attack on an ally of the same row by (int*30)%, defense is doubled. An improved version of the previous skill.  A foot soldier with even crappy int stats can become a semi-decent blocker with this skill.
 * 全体ガード (All Guard) - Support skill, increases the probability of blocking an attack on any ally by (int*10)%, defense is doubled. This skill allows you to place only one foot soldier and still have both the front and back rows covered.  Due to the low guard rating of this skill, it is highly recommended to be used with the next skill.
 * 強化初期ガード (Strengthen Initial Guard) - Passive skill, starts battle at 120% row guard rating.
 * 反撃率アップ２ (Counterattack Rate Up 2) - Passive skill, counter attack damage is tripled. Using this skill, combined with a high attack stats, allows the act of guarding to effectively serve as regular attacks.  Enemy Bushi units can easily attack themselves to death.
 * 柴田勝家 Shibata Katsuie: While he's overall quite under par, he's unusually reliable. His stats can be improved through a satisfaction bonus.  In IF routes, he can get Princess Aroma as a sub-captain (gives +1000 troops).
 * 前田利家 Maeda Toshiie: Pretty useless compared to Katsuie to begin with, but if you can be bothered to spend two satisfaction bonuses (make him an actor, then tell him to stop) then he becomes quite decent with 7 Attack, 7 Defence. He also gets an awesome wig in battles.
 * 野菊 Nogiku: The Foot Soldier with the highest starting stats. She's one of the special few with Automatic Recovery.
 * 戦姫/千姫 Senhime: Good all around stats and seems to deal more damage than you would expect from a Footsoldier unit. She also gains affection at the start of each battle she has with Rance once she reaches Love, like Yuzumi. Of course, can be problematic to keep to start with, since you need to keep using her in battles (she doesn't appreciate peace-time).
 * 毛利てる Mori Teru: Eldest of the Mori sisters, one of two units that comes with Ally Guard+, Plunder and Counterattack Rate Up 2. She has a lethal feather duster.
 * 島津ヨシヒサ Shimazu Yoshihisa: Eldest of the Shimazu brothers, one of two units that comes with Ally Guard+, Plunder and Counterattack Rate Up 2. He's a terrifying presence on the battlefield.

Shrine Maiden (巫女/Miko)
As the only units with the ability to heal your troops, Mikos are crucial to every army.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 巫女の舞 (Miko's Dance) - a very useful healing ability, especially when facing opponents that deals heavy damage.
 * 治癒の霧 (Fog of Healing) - only several hero captains have this skill, and for good reason. Heals all troops.
 * 巫女の嵐 (Miko's Storm) - a devastating attack that deals damage based on 10% of opponents' max troop size. In higher starred games, this skill can turn the tide of a battle and soften the opponents to boot!
 * 足利超神 Ashikaga Supergod: Sucks completely (with ZERO in atk,def,int), the only good thing you can get from him is the Emperor Ring. He's also required for Princess Aki's character clear. After that, do fire him, he takes up 4 national power for nothing...
 * 名取 Natori: She has the special skill Miko's Storm 2(巫女の嵐２) which deals damage based on 30% of opponents' max troop size, could be very crucial in a castle siege.
 * 小早川ちぬ Kobayakawa Chinu: The only Miko that has the special skill Poison(毒殺) that deals damage based on 50% of the opponents' current troop size. Her main weakness is that she is abit slow that she might get hit multiple times before she unleashes the attack. To make up for this, she requires two Ninja attacks before her preparation is canceled. Another weakness is that the attack counts as a physical attack, so foot soldiers with guard up will get less damage.

Musketeer (鉄砲/Teppou)
The Musketeer units are the offensively most powerful units, pretty much able to ignore their opponent's defense completely (except foot soldiers in guard mode). Their guns are already loaded when going into battle, and they are often among the first units to strike a deadly blow against their enemies. The downside is most of them are only capable of firing one shot in battle, and even those who can fire multiple shots tend to have a long reloading time for their guns. They are also extremely vulnerable to enemy attacks, so make sure to cover them with a good foot soldier unit. Due to the novelty of muskets, musketeer units are expensive to expand, and grows rather slowly. Building the Musketeer Training School in Tamba lets all musketeer units of yours grow by 3 soldiers per turn automatically (further expanding the training school increases the growth rate to 5 soldiers per turn).

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 引き付け (Get Closer) - Support skill, boosts attack by 50%. This skill takes zero moves, and significantly boosts the attack power.  You'll probably only get one or two shots, might as well make them count as much as possible.
 * 貫通射撃 (Penetration Shot) - Special attack, hits front and back rows, 50% damage. While the net damage you have dealt is the same, the penetration effect means your attack won't be redirected by a foot soldier's guard ability, and will hit who you intend to hit.
 * 柚原柚美 Yuzuhara Yuzumi: The only musketeer unit who has the "射撃＋狙撃 (Shoot + Snipe)" skill which is capable of instant-killing enemies.
 * 島津トシヒサ Shimazu Toshihisa: One of the few musketeer who have 2 moves, he also has incredible stats.
 * 種子島重彦 Tanegashima Shigehiko: The leader of the Tanegashima House, another musketeer with 2 moves, but still by no means as strong as Toshihisa.

Monk (僧兵/Sohei)
Monk is a utility class. They are comparatively cheap to expand, and are completely healed at the beginning of each turn, making them cheap to build into quantities to fight with (many have self-healing too, producing self-sufficient fighters). Most of them are capable of completely removing the guard of enemy foot soldiers, allowing the rest of the party to hit their intended targets. Their normal attack can remove 1 buff from an enemy unit. Finally, certain monks are capable of restoring movement of allies, allowing other party members to pull off more big attacks.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 活動転換 (Convert action) - Support skill, restores one action for ally. This is often combined with powerful skills that use up all flags for repeated fire.  And because of the combination with skills that use up all moves, the upgraded version Convert Action 2 is often more wasteful and less desirable.
 * ガード解除 (Remove Guard) - Special attack, removes all guard status of enemies. The signature monk skill that can greatly change the flow of battle.
 * 妖怪退散(Youkai Exorcism) - Not very special unless you're fighting Youkai troops, where it deals 3x normal damage, though it is considered a ranged front-row only attack (similar to Musketeers' regular attack).
 * 延長戦 (Extend Battle) - Prolongs the battle. Along with the Monk's buff-removing normal hit, this is a counter to the Tactician and their Time advance skill.  Mainly used to allow slow units like Miko or Mages to get some more actions out.  It can also be effective to allow a slow Ying Yang unit to pull off two Shikigami attacks in one battle.
 * 性眼 Seigan: His special attack, "死神の鎌 (Death's Scythe)" reduces all enemy troops by 25% of their maximum, producing devastating damage when the enemy greatly outnumbers your forces.
 * 卑弥呼 Himiko: With 6 moves and 7 speed, she can rapidly remove enemy guards in battles. In dungeons she has six shots of Convert Action to allow allies to use their powerful attacks.
 * 朝倉義景 Asakura Yoshikage: He looks kind of craggly, and his stats are kind of bad, but once you clear him all of your territories' Nation Power will increase by 1.
 * 魔窟堂野武彦: With a 9 in attack and 8 in defense, he can be used as a Bushi who self-heals fully at the beginning of each turn. A well-timed Convert Actions 2 allows an ally to keep fighting after throwing out a major skill.

Tactician (軍師/Gunshi)
If there is a single unit that can turn the tides of an entire battle, here it is. Relatively weak in every respect, their main purpose is to make the rest of your troops exponentially greater. They also counter Tactician-aided enemies by debuffing them, leveling the playing field. In defensive battles, they can strip away the time and make full use of the home-field morale advantage before being overrun. In offensive battles, they can push the morale meter in their side's favor and capture victory even if the entire enemy force is untouched.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 合戦戦術 (Strategy) - The buffing skill. It originally buffs the entire team, and can be upgraded to either have greater effects on all, or buff a single target fully.  Usually the all-buff is more versatile unless your Tactician has many uses and max speed.
 * 状態解除 (Remove Buffs) - Takes All buffs from a certain number of units.
 * 時間経過 (Time Advance) - Used to shorten the length of the battle, thus saving you from additional pain.
 * 戦果ダウン (Battle Result Down) - Boosts the morale meter in your side's favor. If you can't manage to kill your enemies, this is a good alternative to winning in attacks.
 * ウルザ Uruza: She is the sole user of a blowgun, and consequently 精密射撃 (Precision Shot), a skill that attacks all enemies and removes one of their moves (even if they're at one). Her blowgun also amounts to massive damage hits in dungeon battles. Also has a level cap of 75, probably the highest in the game next to Rance and Kentarou. Also starts with the highest stat for tactician though weak skills.
 * 真田透琳 Sanada Dourin: Comes with the passive skill, Fuurinkazan, which grants him all 4 buffs at the start of every battle (Dungeon OR Troop battle). He also starts with Strategy A and Battle Result Down 2.
 * 一休 Ikkyuu: His stats are not that impressive, and his level cap is pathetic, but in battle he is the only one who can use "revarsal or fortune", which inverts the current state of the battle result gauge (can only use thrice in the entire playthrough).
 * 直江愛 Naoe Ai: Comes with second highest stat for tactician. Also starts with Remove Buff B and Strategy B.

Yin-Yang Master (陰陽師/Onmyoji/"Diviner")
With the ability to hit one or all enemy units at once and to create a barrier to protect one or all your troops, the Yin-Yang Master is probably the most versatile troop you can have.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 防御式神 (Defense Shikigami) - A barrier is created, allowing a unit to not get any damage. A captain charge will do damage to your troop, even with this on a troop.  The reason for this is that the first attack by the captain will break the barrier and then the troops will then attack, damaging your troops.  Assassination skills (gale force, assassination, snipe+shoot) will go through the barrier, possibly killing the captain in the process.
 * 全体防御式神 (All-Defense Shikigami) - This skill creates a barrier for all the troops.
 * 式神 (Shikigami) - A spell that hits all troops, ignoring the defense of the troops. This is very useful as damage isn't reduced when a foot soldier has his guard up. The major weakness is that if a ying-yang is slow, it will take a long time before his/her turn is up on top of the fact that it will always take at least one full rotation before he/she unleashes the attack.
 * 鬼を召喚 (Oni Summoning) - An attack that hits one unit. A useful magic attack that ignores defense.
 * 北条早雲 Hojo Soun: He comes with an attack similar to Oni Summoing Plus, but with only 1 action cost instead of 2.
 * お町 Omachi: She is the best ying yang captain that has two skills which can damage all enemy captains in battle. Her first skill doesn't require preparation, while the second one requires two turns preparation to deal higher damage.

Knight (騎士/Kishi)
The Knights of Leazas have the offensive strength comparable to the Japanese Bushi, and the ability to guard their allies. The knights maintain a fit and healthy body making them very cheap to heal also.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 親衛隊突撃 (Royal Guard Charge) - Special attack, when enemy has more troops, deal double damage. Even though knights face counterattack just like bushi, the double-damage dealt can be worth it.
 * レィラ Leila: The only Knight unit in this game... She's gorgeously golden, with a little bit of orange.

Cavalry (騎馬)
Cavalry is perhaps the strongest melee unit in the game, with a base attack of 80, 20 higher than Knight and Bushi while maintaining the same defence. They also have the ability to attack from the backrow (or against opponent's backrow). The downside is that it's attack is treated as melee attack, thus suffers from counterattack. Only Takeda starts with Cavalry (except with 2nd game bonus).

Important Skills:
 * 突進 (Charge-in) - Aside from dealing extra damage, this will remove one move from your target, even if they are at 1.
 * 後衛潰し (Rear Crush) - Double damage to backrow range units. Good way to prevent back support.
 * 追い討ち (Follow-through) - TRIPLE damage if you are currently winning the battle.

Important Captains:
 * 馬場彰炎 Baba Shouen: While his stats are not particular impressive, he starts with Fuurinkazan, which allows him to start with all 4 stat bonus. In addition, he is the only cavalry with the captain's charge. Furthermore, he starts off at level 50 with an impressive cap at 68.
 * 山県昌景 Yamagata Masakage: Very powerful stats with all 8s. Also comes with Fuurinkazan, making his first attack an instant death when fighting against him. Also has battle result 2, while useful if used properly, it is actually the move you want him to use. His downside is the low level cap at 34.