Mags, Photon Blasts, and the like

[Seth Astra]

I figured I'd post my own little discussion thread here. How would you like to see this stuff implemented? Do you want Partner Machines? Mags? Racial specials as in PSP2? Photon blasts?

Here's my system:

The basics:

A player has not 1 but 2 separate mags, one over each shoulder.
Each has a max level of 100 (200 combined).
They both boost stats as in PSO/Z.
Photon Blasts and such:

One of the mags determines what Photon Blast you use.
The other mag and your race determines what your Racial Special (SUV, Mirage Blast, Nanoblast) you use.
Each race has its own blast (This mostly means that Humans and Newmans wouldn't both use Mirage Blasts).
Certain mags form "pairs". If you have both your PB and RS meter full, and are using a correct "pair" you can perform a combination of your Photon Blast and Racial Special.
Any mags that were previously "double mags" will be split into a left and right version, and will count as a pair.
Support:

Each mag's support effects are determined by type like in PSO. Not nature like in PSZ.
Mags will still perform "passive support," healing and such, as in past games.
Mags will also have "active support" modes. These may involve the mag firing bullets, casting techs, or even somehow becoming a temporary partner (similar to a Partner Machine). These all last a certain amount of time.
Each mag also has a secondary meter. This fills up much faster than the PB meter. When its full, you can make the mag perform a predetermined support ability (some would be active support, some passive).
Mag "pairs" will have the same support abilities for each half. When combined, the support power and/or activatation rate and/or duration (for buffs, debuffs, and active support modes) will increse.
Now, let's see where this goes...

[zandra117]

"Why is the Great Light no longer here?"
If they are following episode 3 as they imply then photon blasts no longer work and mags have alternate abilities, like Rati granting the ability to leap over enemies.

[Tetsaru]

Hmm, having two MAGs at once seems a bit odd to me. If I was going by the ideas I had for races and classes, (http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2586950&postcount=29) perhaps there could be a class all of its own that could use multiple MAGs? Or have a MAG that followed you around that you could customize and boost your stats, as well as act like a Tech/Range-MAG from PSU, AND have a PM-like NPC that attacked enemies freely. It could be a sort of pet-based class in which you could issue orders to your MAG and PM, which I think would be neat, since neither PSO nor PSU had anything of the sort. I still think having a "dual" MAG that looked like a pair of wings or something is fine, but it would have to be a single MAG; being able to use two MAGs at once sounds like some sort of perk that should be given to a unique class of its own, or perhaps earned through a difficult quest.

Also, if you look at the post I linked, you'll see that I mentioned possibly being able to use MAG Photon Blasts and racial abilities in conjunction with each other, and/or with other teammates for more powerful effects. I just think that racial abilities should not require special equipment, but should arise as a part of individual character growth, or again, a perk that can be earned through a quest. For example, at a certain level, a CAST could take a quest in which he/she would have to go through some sort of weapons proficiency test to earn a chip that would be installed into his/her body (NOT a type of item or equipment, just merely "unlocking" something) to summon an SUV weapon. It could also play out as a sort of tutorial to show you how to use it too. Similarly, a Beast that reaches Lv20 could go through a sort of "coming of age" ritual where they have to go on a "spiritual journey" out into the wilderness alone in a remote area with lots of monsters, and in doing so, learn how to use their Nanoblast, possibly getting the tattoo painted on their arm by a Beast clan elder in a cut-scene or something when you successfully complete the quest. I think that'd be cool. :) And in the case of wanting to switch out different abilities, just have a different quest associated with each one, and then be able to choose which one to use through different button presses when your gauge fills up, instead of having to lug around extra inventory items or constantly go back and forth to a stupid makeover shop and paying money every time... To me, it's much more fun and fulfilling to have to EARN something in order to use it, rather than just farm up a lot of money and buy everything, which was a major problem in PSU, with the lack of quest variation and the massive amount of meseta in the in-game economy.