Chrono Cross: Who Should You Pick As A Viper Manor Guide?

thegamer.com:

With over 40 characters to meet and recruit, a completionist playthrough of Chrono Cross is a mighty undertaking. Unfortunately, it isn't possible to nab every single character in one playthrough, so New Game+ must be employed.

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One reason for this is the mutual exclusivity of three characters - Nikki, Pierre, and Guile. You have to choose one of these characters to help you with an early-game quest, and only one of them can be chosen per playthrough. Here's how it all goes down and who you should pick for the job.

Early on in the game, you'll be prompted to break into Viper Manor. You need to do this as Serge needs to find out why the Acacia Dragoons want him dead and the manor is where they're stationed. The thing is, there are three characters that you can find in Termina who can get you in, and you can only choose one. They are:

Whichever character you choose will become a permanent member of your party, so this is quite an important choice - especially if you wish to use one of them regularly in battle.

Nikki, Pierre, and Guile are all quite different as Chrono Cross characters go. Here's an overview of each of them, to help you better understand how they'll perform in combat now and for the rest of the game.

Nikki is a Blue Element character who uses guitar picks as his weapon of choice. Overall, he's a bit too average to stand out anywhere, though he seems to be geared towards magic and casting.

He does have a very large Element grid once you've accrued lots of Star Levels, but Irenes and Leena are both Blue Element characters who make far better casters, and Nikki's Strength isn't enough to make him worth using as a physical attacker.

As it stands, N