Event Rank

The Event Rank and Battle Rank are the in-game counter used to determine what features are available in Romancing SaGa and Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song. The quests' availability, available party members to recruit at each pub all depend on the player's ER, while the monster levels depend on the BR. The SNES/WSC version is simplified to only use an Event Rank of sorts.

Rank Updating
In the 16-bit version of Romancing SaGa, the Event Rank is raised with the amount of battles the player enters, regardless of win condition, lose condition or fleeing. The battle counter is normally programmed to go up to 9999.

Meanwhile, with the PS2 version of Romancing SaGa, Event Rank and Battle Rank is only updated with the battles you won, which reward you with Rank Points, capping at 2304.

Initial Counter
Each of the eight protagonists starts with a different amount of battles already fought - or Rank Points obtained, depending on the version - in the beginning of their story, affecting the quests they can access at the start of the game.

SNES/WSC

 * Albert and Sif start with the lowest, at 0. Albert's counter is reset after defeating Siriri Fers in Monsters to the East.


 * Hawke starts with 32.
 * Aisha, Claudia and Barbara with 64.
 * Gray with 48.
 * And lastly, Jamil starts with the highest, at 80.

PS2

 * Aisha starts with 0 RP.
 * Albert with 25 RP.
 * Gray and Jamil with 100 RP.
 * Sif and Claudia with 150 RP.
 * and Hawke and Claudia with 175 RP.

Update Points in the 16-bit version
The Event Rank is updated only in certain points of the game as opposed to being constantly updated as in the PS2 version.

Such locations include:
 * The south exit of Isthmus Keep.
 * Exiting through the warp to the Last Dungeon in the cave east of Isthmus.
 * When reading Rudolf's diary.
 * Exiting the cavern near Crystal Lake after obtaining the Aquamarine.
 * Talking to Ewei.
 * After the battle in the Steppes of Galessa in Aisha's intro.
 * Speaking to Sarakihn - the elder giant - after the first time.
 * Choosing to stop Saruin when talking to Jephtimith.
 * Choosing to pray to Nisa when obtaining the Topaz.
 * Entering Northpoint through the Map.
 * Destroying the Temple of Saruin in Melvir's sewers.
 * Healing the emperor's illness with the Moonstone.
 * Stop the Pirate Invasion in Melvir.
 * Finishing Neville's Request.
 * Obtain the Chalice.
 * Board a ship in Mirsaburg.
 * Defeat two bosses when clearing the monster caves in Valhalland.
 * Gain entry to Knights Dominion by map, through Gato.
 * Gain entry to Knights Dominion by map, through Sif.
 * Decide whether or not to abandon Myriam and/or Galahad as Gray.
 * Recieve Flame Tyrant's request.
 * Defeat a boss that affects the Frontier destruction rank.
 * Battle the Frozen Body.
 * Battle the Gold Dragon S.
 * Battle Butcher.
 * Battle the boss in the Pirates' Hideout.
 * Battle Max - the priest of Saruin - and the Cyclops.
 * Battle a fixed King Revenge encounter.
 * Battle the Water Dragon.
 * Battle Adyllis.
 * Battle Tiny Feather.
 * Battle Flame Tyrant.

Bugs in the 16-bit version
Despite being programmed to run events and quests up until 9999 battles fought, the battle counter caps at 65335, as it is a 16-bit integer. As events only update normally until 9999 battles, updating the Event Rank afterwards will cause the game to malfunction.

Such effects include: The Event Rank also stops incrementing at 32639, effectively causing a hardlock if the Event Rank is ever updated until the battle counter overflows 65335.
 * The Trials of Elore can't be triggered.
 * The Last Dungeon can only be triggered by talking to Death.
 * No party members will appear in the Crystal City pub.
 * People whose appearance is conditional, such as Constance, Farrah and her Mother and what not all stop spawning.
 * Haolahn won't spawn in South Estamir.
 * When boarding a ship in Mirsaburg, the farewell event with Theodore and Raphael will happen.
 * The Four Elemental Lords won't spawn.
 * Kidnapped children will spawn, regardless.

Entering a 65336th battle will cause the battle counter to overflow and reset both it and the Event Rank back to 0, resulting in a sort of unintentional New Game+-type scenario.