Questions to the Forces (Cards)

[Zipzo]

Hey.

So I really enjoy using cards but there's a few things about the mechanics of the weapon that have me perplexed. It took me a while to get used to the whole casting mechanic of your spells coming from the location of the card but there's just a few things I can't quite get the hang of...

What is the go to emote/action I'm looking for to know exactly when the card is back in my hand? All too often I will think the card is back in my hand and go to cast a spell like resta, only to find that I'm no stuck in a cast for a spell that's going to go off a mile away from me and not save me at all. I've tried many things...and generally the most sure fire way is just waiting an excessive amount of time for the card to disappear (it's not THAT long but yeah it takes a bit). I've tried waiting for the card to be visibly apparent in my hand, but even that doesn't necessarily work all the time. Sometimes it seems almost random like, oh, it cancelled out of thin air and it's in my hand, good. And then another time, it just won't fricken disappear and come back unless I wait. If there are any cancel mechanics I would love to know that, as jumping doesn't seem to do the trick, and Forces don't have a block.

Any insight? I'm trying to master this weapon but having difficulties with this specifically.

Also, as much as I see the potential to essentially range cast on party mates, I find that in giant mob groups it's almost impossible to get it in the right spot, and with players moving around so frequently and you needing to charge...yeah it just doesn't work as easily as it could lol.

[Ryock]

I've noticed this a lot myself actually. Frankly to be honest, I'm not quite sure. What I do to get around it personally is just switch to a rod and use resta, or switch to the rod and then back to the card. It's quicker than waiting around for the card to return to your hand.

[HiOc]

I keep Resta for the rod.

[SoliceTK]

What is the go to emote/action I'm looking for to know exactly when the card is back in my hand?

I wait until I can start running at full speed again, or right after I finish the double tap evade. Those are rough examples but the timing has a sweet spot around there.

[彩音~]

Aim down. Shoot card. Now you can heal yourself

[browser]

I shoot the card straight down really quick to make sure i got it on me.

[UnLucky]

Cards disappear when they collide with the geometry, or after traveling a veeeery long distance. Also you can only have one card out at a time.

I've looked intently, but I can't seem to find any tell from your character when they "catch" the card. You'll pull out a new one, but then still cast from the old one.

It's just a better idea in general to be aiming your cards manually. That way you can get some semblance of use out of Ra Zonde by placing it up high, circle area techs won't whiff above your target's head due to an unexpectedly steep angle, and you'll be able to place support magic straight ahead even if there's a mob in the corner of your vision.

[Dinosaur]

Regarding cards:
- the card lasts around 5 seconds or 4 to 5 spells
- you can manually reset the card to your hand by throwing a card into terrain
- after you throw a card, the next JA timing window is HUGE. This means you can set different distances on the card while having a JA spell ready

When it comes to buffing your party(or parties), buffs should come out directly before battle due to their short duration. It's also easier to land buffs on your team when they're busy fighting because you will naturally stay in a certain area until the fight is over, so you'll have a good idea where everyone is. The radar is very valuable when it comes to this. For the most part, there will be two sets of players in two different ranges. One is the back line with the Rangers and Forces. This is pretty simple to get buffs on because you're right there already. Second is the front line with the Hunters. You can either run up to the front line with these guys yourself and buff them or throw a card at them. If you know what enemy they are attacking, you can throw a card at that enemy and plop a buff there.

[drizzle]

I just switch to a rod to heal. It's quick with the numpad shortcuts.

[Zipzo]

A lot of this advice seems to be slightly controller unfriendly :(, however good to know the collision aspect of card resets.

I can see having resta on a rod. The idea of switching whenever I need to heal sounds irritating if repeated ad nauseum throughout a boss fight though. I've always kept resta on my #1 key and just left triggered to cast it since I can cast through the hot bar no matter what weapon im using (even gun slash).

[moorebounce]

I used to use the Talis exclusively until recently because you could throw them to regen your PP fast and from a distance. I ran into the same problem too. If my mag or a teammate didn't resta me when I gotten to low health I would have to run to a safe place to resta myself.

After watching a video of how this person had their force setup I went to just rods now. I now put GiFoie, RaBarta, GiZonde and GiGrants on my rod(s). After changing to the rod that has the closest enemy's weakness I'll charge and release the attack then run to that enemy and hit them with my rod dealing more damage and restoring my PP. keys 1-5 I put Resta, Shifta, Deband, Anti and Moon Atomizers. Then I put Dimates, Trimates, Photon Blast and telepipes somewhere on 6-0.

It may take me some time to go back to using Talis. Sega needs to make some sort of Talis cancel or something. Talis is great for a force who wants to stay at a distance. You get in trouble when things get close up on you.

[Coatl]

It's just a better idea in general to be aiming your cards manually. That way you can get some semblance of use out of Ra Zonde by placing it up high, circle area techs won't whiff above your target's head due to an unexpectedly steep angle, and you'll be able to place support magic straight ahead even if there's a mob in the corner of your vision.

Except that Razone is an under-powered tech, and takes up too much time and effort for it to be worth it. Best off crasting Zondes and Gizonde for doing the same job, but better.

I've had no trouble going into manual-aim and throwing a card in the middle of a crowd of mobs to cast an AOE, mind you I play on auto-target on gamepad most of the time. Some monsters won't make it so easy for you, and for those it's best to just forgo AOEing them in the first place. It's about knowing your enemy, and acting accordingly.

You shouldn't be chasing your party members with cards while they are mobile to buff or heal them, your PP will most likely be wasted and the time you spent vunerable was for nothing. Do it when they are at least somewhat stationary.

I don't recommend you equipping a rod for resta. The amount healed from some trash rod vs a good tali is just too great. Also, the animation of switching out your weapon takes a bit of time. If you really needed a resta, that short amount of time could have been enough to make it too late.

One more thing people tend to miss out. All classes benefit a great deal from being as close to the enemy as possible. The closer you are to the enemy, the faster you can hit the enemy with cards, causing your PP to be available to you more often.

[Ana-Chan]

I don't recommend you equipping a rod for resta. The amount healed from some trash rod vs a good tali is just too great. Also, the animation of switching out your weapon takes a bit of time. If you really needed a resta, that short amount of time could have been enough to make it too late.

Resta doesn't take the weapon t-atk into account though. So what you get when you cast it via the rod and talis would be the same, regardless of weapon. This is why I always put resta onto the sub pallet and cast it from there.