This is a quick guide to help explain to new (and not-so-new) players how the different varieties of characters work, and to help players work out how to handle New Game + situations.

Most characters have restrictions on who they will and will not join - you can use this guide to plan ahead so that you can either New Game+ without having a gamebreaking powerhouse in your party from the start... Or have a party full of them if you want to skip the grind for certain characters' quests (*cough* Lute *cough*).

For information on what the potential parties are for each protagonist, see the 'Protagonists' section. For info on where to find a specific character, check the 'Where to Find Them' section.

Some specific numbers and information explaining how Monsters work are taken from this guide by Zaraktheus[gamefaqs.gamespot.com] for the original release; these may have been adjusted for the re-release. I recommend this guide if you want a more in-depth look at the specifics not touched on here.

This guide will contain mild potential spoilers.

Information marked with (?) is something that I haven't confirmed yet.

If I've missed anything, please post a comment letting me know - I haven't thoroughly explored the roster of available characters for Fuse, so this may fluctuate quite a bit.

Humans gain stats according to three factors: how 'hard' the battle is relative to their current stats, what they do during the fight, and a set of character-specific bonuses. These are fed into a formula for a check for each stat that, when passed, increases the stat by 1.

The number of times you take an action does not weight the averages in that stat's favor; if you cast Awakening on turn one and then spend another 17 turns ineffectually slapping at a monster with your bare hands, the rates will still be split evenly between those for martial arts and those for magic. Values of 0 indicate that there is no chance of that stat increasing.

The following is taken from the Zaraktheus guide linked in the introduction:
Action Growth Factors Chart
by Zaraktheus

Action |TOT|STR|QUI|INT|CON|PSY|VIT|CHA|WP |JP |HP |
Magic | 23 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
Guns | 22 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
Fists | 22 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 |
Sword | 22 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
None* | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |

*: The 'None' values are only applied if a character never takes an action that falls in one of the other categories. If you punch once and then spend the rest of the fight defending, spamming items from the backpack, or firing a bazooka, then you will get the stat growths associated with martial arts.

There are a few take-aways:

• Guns are useful for getting spellcasters quickness and vitality without compromising concentration; swords can do the same for Charisma with Martial Artists.
  
• Since the checks are pass/fail and take the average of all categories, it is better to alternate the action you take in a fight than to alternate actions during the fight (excluding the above cases).
  
• Guns are useful on physical fighters if you want to raise their psychic.
  
• Avoid having humans exclusively use heavy weapons.
  
• Fighters should avoid spellcasting beyond support spells that don't rely on concentration.

Each character also has a specific set of bonuses associated with stat growth rates, although these are fairly minor factors compared to the Action Growth Factors. To save space they won't be listed here; suffice it to say that most of the human protagonists have slightly higher-than-average growth rates than non-protagonists when averaged out. The only notable exception is Lute, who is terrible at everything that isn't Charisma.

Humans are the only characters that can learn gun/sword/martial arts techs; the precise mechanics for sparking sword/fist techs are exceptionally complex and thus outside of this guide's scope. Suffice it to say, any human character can learn any technique, but certain characters have an exceptional degree of of difficulty learning some techs reliably.

Mechs gain stats according to what they are equipped with, and have the fewest restrictions on what and how much they can carry. Because of this, with a Powered Suit and Warlord Armor they can very easily become neigh-indestructable against most enemies. However, with the exception of one event in T260's story (which raises his Intelligence), their baseline stats do not change. Only battles against mech-type enemies can serve to improve their effectiveness via successful program downloads.

Mechs can only learn skills from Mech enemies, in a 1-to-1 fashion - two mech party members can't absorb from the same slain mech. Most of these skills are only really useful against mech enemies, but there are a few key programs that boost their damage output and sustainability substantially. Some mech types can learn unique skills from any absorbed mech, dependent on the mech type of the absorber.
Because of this, and because of how expensive it can be to kit out a mech (assuming you're not abusing New Game+), it's generally advisable to avoid having too many mechs in one party.

Two critical skills to mention are Tiger Program and Dragon Program, which unlock the ultimate standard mech techniques if an Octopus Board is equipped. These are only found in T260's and Red's stories, being absorbed from bosses in those campaign (Fuse can also pick up a copy of Tiger Program during Red's Case).

Because they only really gain anything from fighting mechs, you can 'raise' a mech by putting them in Team 2, and then only breaking that team out for battles against Mech-type enemies.

Mechs can also be a good stop-gap party member if someone in your party isn't pulling their weight, or if you just need someone to fill an empty slot for a chunk of the game.

Monsters absorb abilities from enemy monsters at the end of every battle. As with mechs, only one monster can attempt to absorb an ability from a single monster.
Skills are selected from a list of four unique to each monster. The check starts with the rarest skill, then works its way down - for this reason having a monster's more common skills won't improve your chances of getting the rarer ones.
Human and mech enemies cannot be absorbed from. Monsters killed by Faeblade/Mystic Glove/Mystic Boots cannot be targeted for absorption (including Male and Female Mystic types).

Every Monster party member has an HP value that gets added to the current base for their form. This value is 4 times the number of unique skills that monster has ever absorbed - if you absorb a skill and then forget it, that skill still counts towards this value. For this reason, if you want a monster in your party it is important to nab them as early in the run as you can.

The primary factor dictating a monster's effectiveness is its form - the fact that this seems to change every time a skill is absorbed is part of what makes monsters so hard to figure out, the other reason being that the process is a bit convoluted:
-First, the game checks the monster's set of skills against a set of 'special' forms. If the monster has the skills required for that form, it will change into that form. If it already has that form, then it is ignored and the check continues. For this reason, a monster with the 4 gaze abilities and SphinxRiddle will only ever alternate between the Sphinx and Mariche forms.
-If the first check doesn't result in a change (either because you don't qualify, or because you qualify for one but you're already in it), then a second, more elaborate check is made.
-Starting with the ability just absorbed (and then going down the list from top to bottom) the first instance - of each of the different types of Monster ability (Head, Body, Arm, Leg, Breath, and Magic, indicated by the icon next to the ability) is taken into a list. The game then rolls through the table, starting at a point dictated by the monster's current maximum HP, checking all of the monsters in that tier, and then moving backwards to a previous tier if no match is made. As soon as a match is made, the check ends. If you aren't already the monster selected, you become that monster. Otherwise, you don't change, but the check still ends.

If the above strikes you as aggressively confusing, then you may now understand why most players don't bother with Monsters, and why Riki's story is considered the hardest. Now, consider that in the original version you had no way of knowing which type of ability was in which category.

The simplified take-away is that to keep a monster in a particular form, you should keep a set of 1 to 5 skills associated with it at the top of the character's ability list. If a particular skill has a garbage form associated with it, but you want to keep it anyway (Da-dum, for instance), keep it at the bottom of the monster's skill list with another skill of the same type above it to prevent it from sabotaging their form.

The only other noteworthy thing to mention here is that the Monster form of MagicalHeal is, hands-down, the best healing ability in the game, since it cleanses nearly all status effects, heals a substantial amount, and can be picked up fairly easily and from early in the game. This coupled with monsters tending to have slightly lackluster end-game damage output but access to a number of potent utility skills makes them very useful acting as a support for a party.

Other useful skills include Assist, which is a powerful buff, Acid Breath, which is both a useful debuff skill and combos well, and LifeRain, which is hard to find and costs LP but will heal the entire party for a significant amount.

Mystics are a hybrid of the other three races: Their Charisma, HP, WP and JP increase according to the same rules as Humans. They all have one fixed piece of equipment (usually Mystic Mail, which is unfortunately outclassed by end-game armor), and because they don't need to grind for techs or stats make a fine choice for wielding heavy weaponry, making them sort of like Mechs. Their primary means of improving their stats involves using Faeblade, Mystic Gloves, and Mystic Boots to absorb monsters that give unique stat bonuses, as well as to techs usually used by Monsters.

Faeblade, Mystic Gloves, Mystic Boots, and the abilities they've absorbed don't trigger WP growth - if you want a mystic to gain more WP you have to have them use a standard weapon or punch.

The abilities monsters bestow and the stats they increase are somewhat arbitrary; however, as a general rule stronger monsters tend to lead to better overall stat increases. Which piece of gear you absorb something with does not affect the stat bonuses, only the acquired monster ability.

It is a viable strategy to absorb several monsters that give large intelligence bonuses to fast-track learning spells from magic a given Mystic has the gift for.

The two most important monsters to look out for are Unicorns and Suzaku.
A Unicorn, when absorbed via Faeblade, gives a very balanced set of stat boosts and MagicHeal - while it seems to lack the priority effect that the Monster version gets, it is still a very strong heal + cleanser. The only character who doesn't really benefit from having it is Dr. Nusukan, because his piece of MysticJunk gives him a healing effect with similar potency but zero cost.

A Suzaku will give +20 to every stat except Charisma when absorbed - this makes them the most efficient way of increasing a character's overall stats, and is therefore the best choice for raising the mystic's stats overall. The fact that they grant TitasWave when absorbed via Boots makes it practically a no-brainer.

Because of their access to Magic, MagicHeal, and several other utility abilities, Mystics seem to function best as supports, particularly since they tend to be a lot easier to manage than Monsters.

Mesarthim and Dr. Nusukan are the two best healers in the game, since the former has a multi-target heal that recovers as much as her Max HP, the latter has a similar effect that is single-target but free, and both have Mystic Gear that doesn't prevent them from wearing Power/Spriggan Suits.

Note: 'Temporarily Joins' means that a character leaves the party at some point and does not return. If you can get them back later, they are listed according to whether they come back automatically or have to be re-recruited.
Captain Hamilton

• Humans: Annie, Emilia, Fei-On, Fuse, Gen, Mei-Ling, Roufas, Rouge.
  
• Mechs: T260, Engineer Car.
  
• Monsters: Cotton, Kylin, Riki, Slime, Suzaku, Thunder.
  
• Mystics: Mesarthim*, Silence*, Time Lord.

*: If you want both of them, you have to go to Omble, rescue Silence's Shadow, complete the quest, pick up Time Lord via the normal means, go and grab Mesarthim, then go back and get Silence. (?)

Annie, Doll, Fuse, Rabbit
Asellus, White Rose, Fuse, Roufas, BJ&K

• Humans: Emilia, Fei-On, Liza, Lute, Roufas, Rouge.
  
• Mechs: BJ&K, Engineer Car.
  
• Monsters: Cotton, Kylin, Sei, Suzaku^, Thunder.
  
• Mystics: Mesarthim*, Silence*, Time Lord.

*: If you want both of them, you have to go to Omble, rescue Silence's Shadow, complete the quest, pick up Time Lord via the normal means, go and grab Mesarthim, then go back and get Silence. (?)
^: If you want Suzaku, you have to go to get the Shield Card before recruiting Fuse in Manhattan. If you recruit Fuse first he'll skip the trip to Mosperiberg, which saves time but prevents you from getting the dragons' loot or Suzaku.

Annie, Liza, Roufas

• Humans: Asellus, Fei-on, Fuse, Gen, Lute, Mei-Ling, Rouge.
  
• Mechs: N/A.
  
• Monsters: Cotton, Kylin, Riki, Sei, Suzaku, Thunder.
  
• Mystics: Mesarthim, Silence, Time Lord, White Rose, Zozma

Gen, Riki, Mei-Ling, Leonard

• Humans: Annie, Emilia, Fuse, Lute
  
• Mechs: Engineer Car, PzkmW, ZEKE
  
• Monsters: Cotton, Kylin, Sei, Slime, Suzaku, Thunder
  
• Mystics: N/A

Gen, Lute, T260, Fei-On, Dr. Nusakan, Sei, Annie
Mei-ling

• Humans: Emilia, Fuse
  
• Mechs: Engineer Car
  
• Monsters: Cotton, Kylin, Suzaku, Thunder
  
• Mystics: Mesarthim

Ildon
White Rose

• Humans: Annie, Emilia, Fei-On, Fuse, Gen, Lute, Rouge.
  
• Mechs: N/A
  
• Monsters: Cotton, Kylin, Red Turnip, Sei, Suzaku, Thunder
  
• Mystics: Mesarthim, Rei, Silence, Zozma

Arcane Path: Gen, Fuse, Emilia*
Rune Path: Slime, Annie
*: You don't have to recruit her, but you have to go out of your way not to.

• Humans: Liza (Rune Only), Lute, Mei-Ling, Roufas (Rune Only).
  
• Mechs: T260, Engineer Car.
  
• Monsters: Cotton, Riki, Suzaku (Arcane Only), Thunder.
  
• Mystics: Dr. Nusakan (Rune Only), Mesarthim (Rune Only), Silence.

Fuse is designed around the New Game+ feature, with his story becoming a Case associated with a particular character. These usually involve that protagonist and 1 or 2 central characters joining just before the final boss, but not always.

Cases are prioritized via the order in which you completed the other characters according to your system data (?). If you've cleared the cases for every other protagonist you've already beaten the game with, you're allowed to pick from any of the cases you've already cleared (or let the game pick for you).

Fuse isn't specifically restricted from recruiting anyone except on a Case-by-Case (harr!) basis. Characters listed as 'unavailable' are ones that are normally available but can't be recruited on this particular case.

Note that if you opt to replay a case, when leaving for the Final Boss, you can opt to skip the story beat leading up to the boss fight. If something in the skipped portion would cause a character to join your party, skipping that event will mean that those characters won't join. As far as I know this only affects Asellus.

Lute
Gen
Leonard
Captain Hamilton
PzkmW

Cotton
Doll
Rabbit
Red (Also joins for the other bosses).
BJ&K

Emilia (if you go after her instead of Yaruto @ Trinity Base)
Emilia*
Liza*
Annie*
Roufas*
*: Only if you chase Yaruto instead of Emilia @ Trinity Base)
Ren

Rabbit
T260 (As Type 8; may be dependent on what he finishes his story as).
Gen
Leonard
ZEKE

Dr. Nusukan
Sei
Riki
Fei-On
Mei-Ling

Zozma
Rei
Asellus
White Rose
Ildon
Silence*
Red Turnip*
*: After confirming that you want to go take on Orlouge, if the game asks you 'get this stated?' select 'No', or the event that puts him your party will be skipped.

Blue/Rouge (Follow the voice for Blue, Search for Silence for Rouge)
Dr. Nusakan
Kylin
Time Lord
Ren
Suzaku (if you go for Blue).

NOTE: For Fuse, if the listing notes the character joins at the end of a case, that means that they are inserted into the party immediately before the final boss, and won't be available prior to then.

• Emilia: Joins you during the intro. Talk to her in the Gradius HQ to have her join between missions.
  
• Riki: Joins you when you go to get the Hermit Ring.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically at the end of Emilia's Case. Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: Start the Rune Mastery quest, then talk to her in Koorong as part of the Freedom Rune section.

• Red: Temporarily joins with White Rose during the Cygnus hijacking. Search the passenger cabins to find her and White Rose. She will leave after the event.
  
• Emilia: During the first base infiltration, talk to her immediately after leaving the dance hall. After a battle she and White Rose will join.
  
• Asellus: Automatically in your party.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically at the end of Asellus's Case. Otherwise, find her in the bar in Nelson with White Rose.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Blue: Automatically in your party.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically as part of Blue's Case, (provided you chase him instead of looking for Silence). Otherwise, you can find him in Devin in the Port (may require clearing his case first), provided you haven't grabbed Rouge. Note that he will leave your party if you try to go to the Magic Kingdom (?).
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Red: After quitting the Cygnus, talk to her in the Shingrow port.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically as part of Red's Case. Otherwise, pick her up in the Shingrow Port.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Emilia: Automatically in your party.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically either during Emilia's Case or at the end of it. Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: Asks to join you during the Baccarat portion of the Arcane Quest.

• Riki: Joins automatically during the Tanzer event.
  
• Blue: Unavailable
  
• Fuse: Joins automatically at the end of Riki's case. Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: Joins in Tanzer during the Rune Quest.

• Red: Joins you temporarily during the Cygnus hijacking. After quitting the Cyngus, you can re-recruit him by talking to him in the restaurant in the Manhattan Mall. May also be available earlier via the Arcane quest (?).
  
• Fuse: Automatically in your party.
  
• Everyone Else: Joins you during the Shield Card portion of the Arcane quest.

• T260: Joins your party automatically.
  
• Riki: Talk to him in the pub the first time you come to Scrap. When you try to leave, he'll join your party.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically early in Lute's case, as well as at the end of T260's. Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: Start the Arcane Quest, talk to the skeleton on the lower street market in Koorong, then talk to Gen in the Scrap pub.

• Lute: First, talk to her in the restaurant in Owmi, then take a ship to Nelson. Talk to her on the ship once to add her to your party. Talking to her a second time prompts you to go to Lute's final dungeon.
  
• Fuse: Joins automatically at the end of Lute's case. Otherwise, unavailable.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Red: Once you've quit the Cyngus, talk to Annie to have her lead you to Shuzer's base. Enter it, then leave immediately and return to the restaurant in Koorong. Roufas will give you a choice between Liza and himself. Note that if you take Liza you can get Roufas the regular way.
  
• Emilia: Joins automatically during the opening, and will rejoin during some missions (including the final one). Talk to her in the Gradius HQ to add her to your party between missions.
  
• Blue: During the Rune quest, after you've recruited Roufas (but before getting the Victory rune), enter the restaurant and talk to her.
  
• Fuse: Joins automatically at the end of Emilia's case (if you go after Yaruto). Otherwise, unavailable (?).
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Lute: Automatically in party.
  
• T260: Talk to him in the pub in Scrap before going to the Office. Then, once the attack on the factory begins, enter the building in the bottom right of the outer factory map. Approach the blob to get an ambush to happen; after the fight Lute will join.
  
• Riki: Talk to him in the pub when you first arrive in Scrap.
  
• Fuse: Joins party automatically early on in Lute's Case. Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: Talk to him in the pub in Scrap.

• Red: Unavailable.
  
• Riki: Joins automatically, but cannot be used against the final boss.
  
• Asellus: Unavailable.
  
• Fuse: Unavailable during Riki's case (she doesn't join you, even at the end). Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: Talk to her in the pub in Scrap.

• Red: Automatically in party.
  
• Fuse: Joins at the end of Red's case, pre-changed to Alkaiser. Otherwise, talk to him in the Manhattan Port (may require clearing his case first).
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Fuse: Talk to him in the IRPO lobby. He's unavailable during Emilia's Case, and will join Automatically during Blue's Case.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Lute: Sign up for the Rune Quest, then talk to him in Mu's Tomb in Shrike.
  
• Red: Joins temporarily during the Cygnus hijacking. Search the 1st class cabins to find him. Later, once you've quit the Cyngus, talk to Annie to have her lead you to Shuzer's base. Enter it, then leave immediately and return to the restaurant in Koorong. Roufas will give you a choice between Liza and himself. You can either choose him over Liza, or choose Liza and pick him up later as part of the Rune quest.
  
• Emilia: Joins automatically for a couple of missions, including the final one. To have him between missions, recruit him in Mu's tomb as part of the Rune Quest.
  
• Blue: Siign up for the Rune Quest, then talk to him in Mu's Tomb in Shrike.
  
• Fuse: Joins automatically at the end of Emilia's case. Otherwise, sign up for the Rune Quest, then talk to him in Mu's Tomb in Shrike (?).
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• T260: Unavailable.
  
• Riki: Unavailable.
  
• Blue: Deliberately lose the duel with Rouge. The easiest way to do this is to get Rune and Time Magic, spend Blue down to 1 LP in Facinaturu, then cast Soul Rune until you kill yourself.
  
• Fuse: Joins automatically during Blue's case, provided you search for Silence instead of chasing Blue. Otherwise, recruit him in the port in Luminous, provided you haven't recruited Blue.
  
• Everyone Else: Talk to him in the port of either Devin or Luminous. Note that he will leave your party if you try to go to the Magic Kingdom.

• Red: During the Cygnus hijacking, fight the monster in the room he is normally found in (just south of the room with the guy who pays you), exit the room, then re-enter and talk to him to have him join temporarily. After the hijacking is resolved, come back to this room and talk to him to have him join permanently. Note that you cannot recruit him after quitting the Cygnus.
  
• Fuse: Unavailable during Red's Case. Otherwise, he'll join you with Red in the port in Manhattan.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Emilia: Unavailable.
  
• Asellus: Unavailable.
  
• Everyone Else: Talk to him in the Najikama Factory in Shrike while you have at least one other mech in your party.

• T260: Joins you on returning to his lab after exploring the crashed ship in Shingrow.
  
• Fuse: Joins you during Lute's case, and at the end of T260's case. Otherwise, unavailable.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• T260: After Leonard Joins you, go to the secret shop in the backstreets of Koorong (it's found just before the split between the paths to Shuzer's Base and the Hide Rune) and talk to the owner to have him join you.
  
• Fuse: You can recruit him during Lute's case after Leonard joins you, as above. Otherwise, unavailable.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Red: After leaving the Cygnus, find him in the Garden in the center of Kyo.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically on Red's and T260's Cases. Otherwise, find him the Garden in Kyo.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Red: Unavialable.
  
• T260: Automatically in party.
  
• Emilia: Unavailable.
  
• Asellus: Unavailable.
  
• Fuse: Automatically joins at the end of T260's case. Otherwise, talk to him in the pub in Scrap.
  
• Everyone Else: Talk to him in the pub in Scrap.

• T260: After getting the mouse from Sei's Tomb and seeing the scene where ZEKE is activated, talk to him and say yes twice.
  
• Fuse: During T260's Case, talk to him in Najikama Robotics in Shrike. Otherwise, unavailable.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Fuse: Automatically joins during Red's Case. Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: In the Genetic Research Lab in Shrike, check the bookcase in the library on the 2nd floor to open a secret passage. Follow the path to the staircase; you'll find him on the top floor, after a fight (much easier than the regular ones here).

• Asellus: While you can get him the same way as everyone else can, doing so requires you to fail to trigger the event that allows recruiting Rei. See Mystics section for her, or check below for Kylin.
  
• Blue: Unavailable.
  
• Fuse: Automatically joins you as part of Blue's Case. Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: Complete either the Light or Shadow Quest, and either the Rune or Arcane Quest (doing 3 or all 4 is also acceptable). Then go to Devin, head to the Shrine on the east side of town, talk to the woman in the area at the top of the massive staircase, and then ask about magic, followed by Space Magic. She'll warp you to Kylin's region. After a short maze, talk to Kylin and ask him to join. Note that if you buy Space magic for anyone he won't join you.

• Asellus: After you get banished to the Dark Labyrinth as part of the story, in the final room you'll find him standing by one of the doors. Talk to him, then find the exit. He'll join you during the ensuing scene.
  
• Fuse: After initiating the end of Asellus's Case, you'll get sent to Orlouge's treasure room. Steal some stuff and he'll banish you to the Dark Labrynth. He'll join you as you make your exit. Otherwise, unavailable.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Red: Unavailable.
  
• Riki: In your party automatically.
  
• Asellus: Unavailable.
  
• Fuse: Joins your party automatically at the end of Riki's case. Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: Talk to him in the pub in Scrap.

• Riki: Joins automatically when getting the Warrior Ring.
  
• Fuse: Joins automatically during Riki's Case. Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: Get the three items in Sei's tomb, place them on the pedestals, and then enter Sei's burial chamber; examine the coffin to fight a boss. After winning, choose 'join us'.

• Riki: Unavailable.
  
• Everyone Else: During the Rune Quest, he sneaks into your party after you acquire the Vitality Rune.

• Everyone: Begin the Arcane Quest, go to IRPO and start the Shield Card quest (Fuse has a unique character off to the right instead of the receptionist). On the first screen, fight the single Fairy enemy. Then, run through the rest of the map, avoiding additional encounters, until you reach the area with 3 boars. A snowman should be present on the southern edge of the room. If it spawned on the left edge or didn't appear, simply head back to the fairy and re-fight it to try again. I'm not sure what the specific trigger conditions are, but if you keep it at it long enough the snowman will appear. Talk to it to fight a boss a bit harder than the one for the Shield quest. Once you've won, go back one screen and head through the semi-obscured opening directly to the right. Suzaku should be flying around in the cave you arrive in - approach and talk to him to recruit.

• Everyone: Have Lute in your party, then head to Yorkland. In the main 'town' area (not the swamp or breweries) find him on the hill on the other side of the billionaire's manor. Talk to him to have him join.

• Asellus: Joins automatically after a few fights with Asellus's pursuers.
  
• Fuse: Joins automatically at the end of Asellus's case. Otherwise, unavailable.
  
• Everyone else: Unavailable.

• Everyone: Will not join you if you have Silence (you can still get Silence if she's in your party, though). Recruit Asellus or any Mystic besides Silence, then go to the chamber just past the squid in the basement of Lord's Manor. She'll offer to join you or give you a Sea Stone.
  
• Lute: You have to get Time Lord in order to be able to recruit her.
  
• Red: You have to get Time Lord in order to be able to recruit her.
  
• Emilia: Pick her up after the first infiltration mission using Asellus/White Rose/Zozma.
  
• T260: Unavailable due to a lack of any other Mystics.
  
• Riki: Can recruit her after getting Dr. Nusakan and the Healer's Ring.
  
• Asellus: Joins you automatically during the events in Owmi; can be re-recruited by returning to the chamber just below the squid fight after escaping the Labyrinth.
  
• Blue: Only available if you take the Rune Quest and pick up Dr. Nusakan.
  
• Fuse: On Asellus's Case pick her up after getting Rei; for all others you can just use Asellus and White Rose.

• Riki: Joins automatically as part of getting the Healer Ring from Yorkland.
  
• Blue: Start the Rune quest, then head to his clinic before getting the Hide Rune for the chance to recruit him.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically as part of Riki's Case and Blue's Case. Otherwise, Unavailable.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Asellus: During the opening in Facinaturu, visit Rei's chambers (the tower in the bottom left) with White Rose but not Ildon in your party - to do this, head to Asellus's chambers to have both of them leave, then talk to White Rose in her tower (the tower in the top right). If you fail to trigger this scene with only White Rose in the party, you cannot recruit her. Later, after completing the Dark Labyrinth, talk to the woman at the shrine on top of the hill in Devin.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically during Asellus's Case. Otherwise, unavailable.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• T260: Unavailable.
  
• Riki: Unavailable.
  
• Fuse: Go to Luminous and talk to him in the Shadow Magic shop (no trip to Omble required!).
  
• Everyone Else: You cannot recruit Silence if the protagonist of the scenario has already gotten Light Magic mastery. Talk to the Shadow Magic salesman and get sent to Omble for the Shadow Magic Quest. In the first area, find and talk to Silence's Shadow - it's usually hanging out under the bridge on the left side of the map. Let the shadow join you, complete the quest, and then talk to the man standing in the corner of the Shadow Magic shop.

• T260: Unavailable.
  
• Riki: Unavailable.
  
• Blue: Unavailable.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically during Blue's Case. Otherwise, see below.
  
• Everyone Else: Complete the quests for either Shadow Magic or Light Magic, and for either Rune Magic, Arcane Magic, or both. Go to the woman at the shrine on top of the hill in Devin and ask her about Time Magic. Next, go to Mosperiberg and talk to Virgil. Run through Time Lord's Realm and examine the clock, then exit. Go back to Virgil, who will send you Facinaturu; buy the Sand Vessel from the LP Merchant. Go back to Virgil to return to Time Lord's Realm, use it to restart the clock, and head to the end of the dungeon. Talk to Time Lord and ask him to join you (if you opt to buy Magic instead you won't be able to ask him).

• Red: Temporarily joins with Asellus during the Cygnus hijacking. Search the passenger cabins to find her and Asellus. She will leave after the event.
  
• Emilia: During the first base infiltration, talk to her and/or Asellus immediately after leaving the dance hall. After a battle she and Asellus will join.
  
• Asellus: Automatically joins your party early on, but later leaves for the remainder of the scenario.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically at the end of Asellus's Case. Otherwise, find her in the bar in Nelson with Asellus.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.

• Emilia: During the first base infiltration, recruit White Rose and Asellus (see above for how), then find the soldier hiding out in one of the rooms in the base. Win the battle, then talk to the soldier.
  
• Asellus: Head towards Princess Lion's tower (the one on the bottom-right) while alone - you can either do this as soon as you awaken or after meeting Orlouge and then breaking up the party by returning to your chamber. Talk to the man standing on the bridge for a short scene. Later on, he will join you as part of the cutscene that plays after escaping the Dark Labyrinth.
  
• Fuse: Joins you automatically as part of Asellus's Case. Otherwise, unavailable.
  
• Everyone Else: Unavailable.