My Acrotecher

[Sloshed]

I have read various threads about Acrotechers and how people view them. I am not an experienced PSU player and I haven't played Acrotechers in the beta at all.

I've read about them and I've made my own view about what I would like to do with that type of charecter.

What I would like to do as an acrotecher is a ranged/support hybrid with minimal melee ability.

Using whips to lay down status effects and flinch enemies while tossing out cards to damage and do more status effects.

Buffs and debuffs would also be a focus but I would be unlikley to have even -1- offensive technic.

My playstyle would be to buff myself and then go in using whip and cards while ... switching to madoog + whip to toss debuffs or to rebuff or heal my group.

It would be a very mobile playstyle and focus mostly on buffs/debuffs and laying down status effects with whips... cards used mostly for damage but slightly for the added status effects.

I would be doing this as a CAST for the good ata to hit (and thus do status effects) and since with 50 support I will still do decent resta even with low tp and the buffs (and debuffs I believe) are not effected by tp.

I -know- Newmen can probably do a better job and focus on offensive technics. But I also want cast since Fortegunner, Guntecher, and Protranser all interest me as well and CAST seems a good balance between the 4 types.

Really curious about any insights or advice into the playstyle. Right now my biggest ignorance is concerning whips.

If there was a type that could use a shadoog and whip to good effect I would probably go with that instead.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sloshed on 2007-05-06 10:37 ]</font>

[FUFME]

You asking questions nobody will be able to answer.

This was a BETA game. Nothing is official or set in stone yet during that phase

[Sloshed]

True, just trying to find a good way that I will be able to do that sort of play-style. Guntecher could pull it off slightly... but would probably do better with whip + crossbow than with + cards.

But I like the added support levels and the ability to combo the whip. Not to mention having s rank whip and Cards.

[Soukosa]

What I would like to do as an acrotecher is a ranged/support hybrid with minimal melee ability.

They have mostly S rank melee weapons for a reason >.> If you want ranged and support play a GT.


Using whips to lay down status effects and flinch enemies while tossing out cards to damage and do more status effects.

What do you know? GTs can use whips and cards too.


Buffs and debuffs would also be a focus but I would be unlikley to have even -1- offensive technic.

Lv 30 attack techs and the second highest TP mod in the game and you only use ONE thing that uses that? Wow...


switching to madoog + whip to toss debuffs or to rebuff or heal my group.

You don't use madoogs for support techs. They don't have the PP for such and obviously ST designed it that way for a reason.


I would be doing this as a CAST for the good ata to hit (and thus do status effects)

Casts have the worst TP in the game. The class is oriented toward using offensive techs. Bad. They also lack lv 4 SEs, making them not a heavy SE class.


I -know- Newmen can probably do a better job and focus on offensive technics.

Then why don't you use one and play the class to the fullest?


But I also want cast since Fortegunner, Guntecher, and Protranser all interest me as well and CAST seems a good balance between the 4 types.

You're gonna hybrid between 4 classes? LOL...


If there was a type that could use a shadoog and whip to good effect I would probably go with that instead.

What would be the point of such? They're both SE inflicting weapons.

[Sloshed]

The combo of items I want to use (whip + cards) Acrotechers have both at S, while GTs only have it at A.

I like the aspect of a whip's status effects and I want to bring that out as much as possible. I am not that interested in attack techs... and if I was I would just use a fortetecher instead of acrotecher. The 50 for support techs interests me more than the 30 for guntechs. Aside from the fact that I would have improved usage of the whip and both whip AND cards at S rank.

I know CASTs have the worst TP in the game, but I don't feel like using attack technics anyway. Honestly their lower evp bothers me more (since Acrotechers have such high evp).

Theres more than one way to play a class to its fullest. I want to focus on the whip-side and support technic side of things and steer away from attack technics. Just as I would with a guntecher.

Not a hybrid between 4 classes but the ability to be any of them and do it well.

I like the homing and multi-shot of cards and their mobility. It compliments the closer cquarters of the whip. Use the whip PA to send em flying back a bit and nail them with cards.


Its definitely not a solo type build. But one that seems like it could work quite well if it has decent ata for landing status effects and enough durability to take a hit now and then.

[Shiro_Ryuu]

Question, is it ok to have a madoog w/ buffs if I just wanna cram my buffs into one space of my pallete?

[Kimil]

On 2007-05-06 16:00, Sounomi wrote:


But I also want cast since Fortegunner, Guntecher, and Protranser all interest me as well and CAST seems a good balance between the 4 types.

You're gonna hybrid between 4 classes? LOL...




Hmmm, And Whats wrong with this Sounomi? I play 6 Classes as my Beast Chiyoko, Wartecher, Forterighter, Figunner, Fortegunner, Guntecher, Protranser. ONly problem is PA selection, but I have that down pat now.

[Pillan]

On 2007-05-06 21:26, Shiroryuu wrote:
Question, is it ok to have a madoog w/ buffs if I just wanna cram my buffs into one space of my pallete?


Actually, I really want to know how much less PP we're talking about here. My wands never seem to run out debuffing as a Caseal GT and my Caseal WT buffs with low rank wands anyway. I can't imagine that a 9 star Madoog would have less PP than a 5 star Wand. Not to mention that I'd have the Madoog out at all times with my melee weapon, so it would constantly be recovering while I PA spam.


Though, I admit that Cast really isn't that necessary on aT. They have 140% ATA already, making them only useful with Twin Penetration/Penetrating Hit and possibly any new Handgun/Twin Handgun PAs they release. I'd say Beast would be the best choice for parties and Human would be best for solo.

I’ll agree with Sounomi that GT is a better choice if you want to play ranged with a little support. But, if you want to play support with a little ranged, aT is clearly the best (they have S cards and handguns for a reason too). I disagree with the tech thing, but everyone knows that by now. aT is a better class to solo with attack techs and WT solos better with melee, but, if you’re like me and only play in parties (with close friends when hunting an item), you’ll want to consider what’s the best in that situation.

I guess I’ll just say there’s no real way to fail at aT as long as you’re buffing and debuffing in the party. The stats, weapons, and PA limits say you’ll suck in damage regardless and your only redeeming factor is the level 50 support.


Oh God... I just noticed I wrote TP instead of PP. Fixed now.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Pillan on 2007-05-08 13:56 ]</font>

[Paramedic]

9* Madoog should definitely have more PP than a 5* wand, but if I recall correctly; The regeneration rate is lower. Be it from longer ticks or smaller ticks, I'm not sure. Sounomi should have that information.

[fireant]

I think you would do batter as a Guntecher with the style of combat you want Sloshed

[Sloshed]

The problem with guntecher is that they don't get the second combo for the whip (for throwing enemies back away), they have lower support tech, and they don't have card or whip at S. All things that I would focus on. Granted as a guntecher I would probably use a crossbow instead of cards, and guntechers do have that at S. But overall all things that I want to focus on the Acrotecher does better than the guntecher.

[Ryna]

On 2007-05-06 21:26, Shiroryuu wrote:
Question, is it ok to have a madoog w/ buffs if I just wanna cram my buffs into one space of my pallete?


A 6* Madoog had around 350 PP at +5 grind (I'll have to check my notes later to confirm the number). With a 8 PP regeneration rate, that really isn't good enough to support most high-level buff spells. Your Madoog will be exhausted after a couple of tough rooms. They work best in situations where you are primarily using your right-hand weapon to attack. That will give it enough time to recharge.

[Pillan]

Wow… That’s about half the PP of an equivalent rank YC wand…

Estimating a 9 star’s PP that way, I’d expect it to be somewhere around 400, which really isn’t bad, but it’s less than my expected 600. I wouldn’t really worry about the cost increase of the PA every ten levels since that’s almost perfectly offset by the time increase, but that’s still cutting it pretty close. I’d suggest putting Zodial and Retier on them since they’re the least useful of the four.

Well, worse case scenario I can go back to my current WT pallet. Let’s just hope ST buffs their PP before the final release.

[chibiLegolas]

I don't get it then. To maximize AT's potential, 1st priority is buff/debuffs.
2nd is attack techs (for humans/newmans). And Madoogs don't even have a good amount of PP in them. So tech spamming (either debuff'n or damage techs) isnt' really an option for them with madoogs? (unless you're carry'n a lot of them). It's more ideal on wands?
So the ideal support AT weapon combo is:
wand -debuffs/attack tech
madogg -resta/reverser (cause of the speed you can crank out)?

If they specialize in madoogs and it's only ideal to use with a right handed weapon (possibly melee).....
But didn't ppl already state that melee'n with AT's = fail?
Unless the melee aspect is purely for support?
(SE or knock-up/down, etc.?)

I don't want to be forced/expected to be walking around with nothing but wands + madoogs on my palette. I too find attack techs to be boring, so I'm rely'n on melee or ranged weapons to have "fun" and hopefully be useful for the party as well.

I've played a FOcaseal this long, I can't see how AT's can be worse than that for my cast.

Just have confidence in ppl's play tactics for those who choose "wrong" race/class combos.
We'll try to find a way to make it work.
http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: chibiLegolas on 2007-05-09 12:18 ]</font>

[Pillan]

The Dam-series techniques and the basic techniques (besides Megid) all have low PP costs and you don’t debuff often enough for that to make you run dry. You’ll be fine with a Madoog if you use any of those and you can always switch to a melee weapon while you’re waiting for it to recover (or a wand if you prefer to cast with both hands). It’s just buffing and Resta/Reverser that could be a problem if you’re not using those Madoogs at all time so they won’t get a chance to recover.

As I said earlier, it’s really hard to mess up with aT.

[Ryna]

On 2007-05-09 12:13, chibiLegolas wrote:
I don't get it then. To maximize AT's potential, 1st priority is buff/debuffs.
2nd is attack techs (for humans/newmans). And Madoogs don't even have a good amount of PP in them. So tech spamming (either debuff'n or damage techs) isnt' really an option for them with madoogs? (unless you're carry'n a lot of them). It's more ideal on wands?
So the ideal support AT weapon combo is:
wand -debuffs/attack tech
madogg -resta/reverser (cause of the speed you can crank out)?

If they specialize in madoogs and it's only ideal to use with a right handed weapon (possibly melee).....
But didn't ppl already state that melee'n with AT's = fail?
Unless the melee aspect is purely for support?
(SE or knock-up/down, etc.?)


People should view the Madoog as an off-hand backup weapon for casting techs. It works best when you pair it with an attack cane or strong melee weapon. For a typical mission, you may want to put Resta or some backup attack techs on it.

As far as melee weapons are concerned, Acrotechers will be most effective in using them to finish off an opponent. Weaken the enemy with a couple of tech casts from your Madoog and then kill your opponent with your whip/saber/dagger. This helps to balance PP usage and gives you a flexible fighting style.

On the subject of whips, they are good for inflicting status effects and damaging enemies with a large number of hits points (bosses, etc...). However, whips are fairly slow and leave you wide-open to attack. This becomes even more of a problem since you need to be in the middle of the action to get the best damage out of a whip.

[Ryna]

Here is a rundown of the stats for ungrinded B-Rank Madoogs:

Rarity TP PP
4* 238 313
5* 296 324
6* 354 334


Madoogs with +5 grinds:

Rarity TP PP
4* 366 405
5* 402 416
6* 436 426


As you can see, PP doesn't grow very much while TP increases by a decent amount.

One deficiency that the Acrotecher has is a lack of long-range attacks. This becomes a problem when you are fighting bosses like De Rol Le. He likes to spend most of the fight hovering just outside of handgun range. The only techs that will damage him when he is flying far away are Nosmegid and Noszonde.

[Pillan]

On 2007-05-09 14:37, Ryna wrote:
One deficiency that the Acrotecher has is a lack of long-range attacks. This becomes a problem when you are fighting bosses like De Rol Le. He likes to spend most of the fight hovering just outside of handgun range. The only techs that will damage him when he is flying far away are Nosmegid and Noszonde.


That inspired a few questions: what level was the handgun bullet (bullet PAs gain about .1 m per level) and if it's just outside of handgun range, would it be in card range (cards fire 1 m further than handguns)? Or is it a bit more than just outside?

[Ryna]

On 2007-05-09 17:17, Pillan wrote:
That inspired a few questions: what level was the handgun bullet (bullet PAs gain about .1 m per level) and if it's just outside of handgun range, would it be in card range (cards fire 1 m further than handguns)? Or is it a bit more than just outside?


I believe I was using a level 5 lightning shot at the time. It is hard to tell how much De Rol Le hovered outside the maximum handgun range since I had nothing else to compare against. I never tried cards on him since his armor gives him a high defensive rating.

[Genoa]

On 2007-05-06 16:00, Sounomi wrote:


I would be doing this as a CAST for the good ata to hit (and thus do status effects)

Casts have the worst TP in the game. The class is oriented toward using offensive techs. Bad. They also lack lv 4 SEs, making them not a heavy SE class.
So all their other stats obviously don't make up for the lack of TP huh? To hell with HP/DFP/ATA/ATP >_> the stats of the class help compensate the race.

I -know- Newmen can probably do a better job and focus on offensive technics.

Then why don't you use one and play the class to the fullest?
So doing more damage with the lack of security in defenses is conisdered the fullest extent of the class >_> yeah, no

But I also want cast since Fortegunner, Guntecher, and Protranser all interest me as well and CAST seems a good balance between the 4 types.

You're gonna hybrid between 4 classes? LOL...
ST allowed us to switch classes for a reason, LOL


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: MegamanX on 2007-05-10 00:07 ]</font>

[Akaimizu]

On 2007-05-09 18:08, Ryna wrote:
On 2007-05-09 17:17, Pillan wrote:
That inspired a few questions: what level was the handgun bullet (bullet PAs gain about .1 m per level) and if it's just outside of handgun range, would it be in card range (cards fire 1 m further than handguns)? Or is it a bit more than just outside?


I believe I was using a level 5 lightning shot at the time. It is hard to tell how much De Rol Le hovered outside the maximum handgun range since I had nothing else to compare against. I never tried cards on him since his armor gives him a high defensive rating.



Strange, I haven't fought a Boss that stays outside of Handgun Range. Certainly, sometimes you need to get in closer, but I don't remember anyone I couldn't hit. Twin Handguns, so far, hit everybody from the right distance. Isn't Handgun Range and Twin Handgun Range the same? I haven't fully tested this.

[chibiLegolas]

On 2007-05-10 10:31, Akaimizu wrote:
Strange, I haven't fought a Boss that stays outside of Handgun Range. Certainly, sometimes you need to get in closer, but I don't remember anyone I couldn't hit.


Ah...
Such is the beauty of PSO bosses, and now making a come back. That's what you get from fighting a creature on a moving raft.
http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Guess they wanna emphasize more on the pros of rifles/bows. Sometimes mid range weapons shouldn't cut it. And I'm glad they'd want to mix things up. Especially on bosses. Sure, it's a bytch for the party in general. But who doesn't like a good challenge?

[Ryna]

On 2007-05-10 10:31, Akaimizu wrote:
Strange, I haven't fought a Boss that stays outside of Handgun Range. Certainly, sometimes you need to get in closer, but I don't remember anyone I couldn't hit. Twin Handguns, so far, hit everybody from the right distance. Isn't Handgun Range and Twin Handgun Range the same? I haven't fully tested this.


The Del Rol Le (or whatever he is currently named) fight is fairly unique. You have to fight him from the confines of a small platform that you can slowly move from side-to-side. The boss is fairly mobile and will switch positions often. From the battles I was in, I found it impossible to attack him with techs (Nos techs weren't avaiable to me) unless he was skimming the water right beside the raft. Depending on the position of the boss and raft, handguns and cards won't even come close to hitting him. There were a couple of fights where the boss spent most of the time hovering right in front of the raft. Thus he was in a position to be attacked with medium-range weapons. Of course, there were a few fights where the boss spent most of the fight hanging back launching long-range bomb attacks.

Anyways, I was just mentioning the lack of long range attacks since it can be a problem in certain circumstances.