Mobbing as a RA/HU

[Squal_FFVIII]

I just turned into a RA/HU today and I would like to know how to take on mobs properly.

Keep in mind that this is from a solo perspective.

I have read that RA/HU is good at mobbing, but i'm having a very hard time with it. In SH the mobs quickly close the distance and by the time my cluster bullet comes out it completely misses along with my 20% extra damage from that shooting from far away skill.

I decided to switch to RA because I have gotten a bit bored of HU/FI however so far i'm not that happy with it. Maybe i'm doing it wrong so that's why i'm asking here ^^

Launcher just feels way to slow for mobbing and attacking mobs from a distance as soon as they see me they close the distance quickly.

[Sizustar]

Gravity bomb, then PA of your choice.

[Maninbluejumpsuit]

Cluster is powerful against scripted spawns. Not so much otherwise. I think it still packs enough damage to one shot alot of things without JA maybe.

Additional bullet is still good. You should have gravity bomb.

[Skyly]

With launcher try Gravity Bomb ---> Cosmos Breaker?

[Maninbluejumpsuit]

Have you tried Gravity Bomb ---> Cosmos Breaker?

Forgot to mention cosmos breaker, yes that...

Sphere eraser after grav bomb may be good in theory too, but dont know how efficient it is due to PP bleed.

[Sizustar]

Cluster Bullet, have you tried TPS, and aiming above the enemy head, instead of directly at them?

But that would depends on the enemy you're fighting..

[milranduil]

G-bomb + cosmos for enemies with poorly accessible headshots (or UQ in general), g-bomb + cluster or just cluster early for anything else.

[Squal_FFVIII]

I have gravity bomb but its kinda bad? It doesn't tend to suck all the enemies in. Also, sizustar I am not using the auto aim when I use cluster bullet I go into the "gears of war" mode then I use it.

But if cluster bullet isn't that great for this (aside scripted spawns) what other good launcher PA's do you guys recommend for me?

[Sizustar]

What's your gear, skill tree, and fighting area/enemy type?

[milranduil]

I have gravity bomb but its kinda bad? It doesn't tend to suck all the enemies in. Also, sizustar I am not using the auto aim when I use cluster bullet I go into the "gears of war" mode then I use it.

But if cluster bullet isn't that great for this (aside scripted spawns) what other good launcher PA's do you guys recommend for me?

If you're playing SH/XH, you should just throw the g-bomb in front of you since enemies run at you pretty quick. If you're playing N-VH, mobs pitch a tent at their spawn point so you can cluster to your heart's content.

[Squal_FFVIII]

What's your gear, skill tree, and fighting area/enemy type?

I have a 6 slot red scorpio and a 5 slot hurio sniff and i'm using the 10* foli set 5 slot all with mizer soul including the weapons. I have 170+ PP.

My gear is pretty good. I think it's just me that sucks so that's why I want tips :)

adios ill give that a shot. I been trying to "aim" the gravity bomb at the enemies so when I throw it it misses.

Also, I was doing thundra sh runs. So enemies like the snow wolfs would quickly close the distance and it was very annoying.

As for my skill tree it's a normal maxed out fury stance tree and my RA tree is a full damage tree.

I guess ill post it for you guys, but I think it's pretty good.

http://pso2-skill.pwnedgalaxy.net/skillcalc.php?09dNbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxIm 0jdodBIbjJk0fJksNI2000000doIn0000000jdoboHoIdlbcAf dxJIdxI200000fdo000000lo00000007oIn00000000IbIo000 0008doIb0000008

There ^^ Do note that my RA is not lvl 75 so with the SP that I have now that's the best I can do. I do plan to put one point into bullet keep just so you know.

[TaigaUC]

Some PAs like Divine Launcher can knock enemies down. That should help setup Cluster Bullet.

If you prefer close range (not as effective though), Flame Bullet and Zero Distance can be fun for mobbing.
Works well on some bosses if you have the retain WB skill. Simply WB, switch to Launcher and spam the above two PAs.

Close-range is more effective with Gunner sub and a Launcher with a latent that boosts close range or Flame Bullet damage.
Flame Visit is usually cheap as nuts (~1.5m) because nobody likes it.
AFAIK the other close-range option is Guilty Light, which tends to be more expensive.

I'm not sure if the close-range latents are worth getting over the overall damage-boosting ones like Red Scorpio's though.
They probably aren't.

[milranduil]

If you prefer close range (not as effective though), Flame Bullet and Zero Distance can be fun for mobbing.
More effective with Gunner sub and a Launcher that boosts close range or Flame Bullet damage.
Flame Visit is usually cheap as nuts (~1.5m) because nobody likes it.

X/Hu = 1.1*1.1*1.1*1.1*1.05*1.05 = ~61% damage (JA required, which you should be with something like those PAs)
X/Gu = 1.15*1.15*1.2*1.2 = ~90% damage (close range only, relies on not being hit, requires ramp-up time for High Time and cooldown).

Let's not also forget that 1 cosmos clears mobs without hitting weak point and you can walk away from it blowing up your g-bombed spawn because it stunlocks.

[TaigaUC]

@adios
Thanks. Is that ~59% including Showtime?
Would Zero Range Critical close that 2% difference?

[milranduil]

I forgot about hightime initially, I adjusted.

[TaigaUC]

Thanks again.
How does Cosmos work in relation to distance-based multipliers?
Is it based on the distance you initially shoot, or is it considered close-range based on the explosion hits?

[milranduil]

Thanks again.
How does Cosmos work in relation to distance-based multipliers?

You can fire it off close to, but not on top of, your g-bomb, and then double dodge roll out and get sharp shooter to proc on most of the hits. Sharp shooter actively recalculates your distance for each tick of damage, so you can abuse it like that for cosmos. It's not like standing snipe where whether or not you were standing at the time of release determines the damage of the entire PA.

[Squal_FFVIII]

So I can fire a cosmos at "close range" then "run" away and get the sharp shooter bonus? That sounds pretty cool. Too bad the servers are down and I can't practice this atm.

[milranduil]

So I can fire a cosmos at "close range" then "run" away and get the sharp shooter bonus? That sounds pretty cool.

Yep. Roll LA roll almost gets you to the threshold as soon as you release the PA, so you're almost guaranteed full SS damage unless the cosmos was point blank.

[TaigaUC]

That's so bizarre. Thanks for the info.

[Squal_FFVIII]

So the sequence would be something like this...

gravity bomb>> roll>> attack ja into cosmos then roll backwards attack and roll again. By "roll attack ja" I mean cancel the roll into an attack then ja after it. The new skill.

this will give me the sharp shooter bonus?

[milranduil]

So the sequence would be something like this...

gravity bomb>> roll>> attack ja into cosmos then roll backwards attack and roll again

this will give me the sharp shooter bonus?

Roll LA roll means you dodge roll, lobby action cancel (not attack), dodge roll again. If you aren't used to lobby action canceling this will take some practice for you depending on controller or keyboard.

[Squal_FFVIII]

Ah I understand kinda like quad dashing in TAs. Ever since we got the running speed buff I have stopped dashing in TA's completely and as a whole ('m lazy so that speed increase was awesome to me lolz). Infact I rarely see it now. I guess unless you REALLY wanna try hard then it's fine to do it.


So cosmos is a good pa for launcher any others that are worth using as a bread and butter aside from cosmos and cluster? I know that many pa's got rebalanced but I stopped using ranger a very long time ago. So a lot of the stuff feels different.

[milranduil]

Ah I understand kinda like quad dashing in TAs. Ever since we got the running speed buff I have stopped dashing in TA's completely and as a whole ('m lazy so that speed increase was awesome to me lolz). Infact I rarely see it now. I guess unless you REALLY wanna try hard then it's fine to do it.

Yeah it's the same thing as used in old quad dashing. If you're on KB, roll LA roll is as simple as pressing (for me) shift -> alt -> shift while holding down any direction.

[Yayate]

People here are forgetting Gunslashes.

I'm a RA/BR instead of a RA/HU, but Launcher mobbing scales badly with enemy HP. If it doesn't kill the enemy in one or two hits, you're wasting a lot of time because Launcher is slow. Gravity Bomb lets you set up some good stuff like Cosmos Breaker, but in situations where you can't do that, start learning to use your Gunslash.

Additional Bullet is an extremely powerful PA. The hitbox has the width of a freighter and it prioritizes and autotargets weakspots in it's area of effect. With a good Gunslash, you can do surprisingly great damage with it. There's also a trick to get standing snipe on it by using it multiple times in a row, as fast as you can, but if you need to rely on that for mobbing you're probably better off doing something else.

Aiming Shot is also great. It hits like a truck, a headshot should get you a good... 20k? It's utility has dropped now that Piercing Shell is good, but it still kinda works.

But seriously- Addition Bullet. It hits a range where none of the other essential PAs hit (Divine Launcher has a smaller hitbox and Cluster Bullet goes too far), it hits harder than you'd think (because it autotargets weakspots) and it's damn fast.

Aside from gunslashes, there's Sphere Eraser. Sphere Eraser is very good if the enemies line up for it. It's not very PP efficient, but hey, you're a Ranger, pop your two grenades and you've got nothing to worry about.


X/Hu = 1.1*1.1*1.1*1.1*1.05*1.05 = ~61% damage (JA required, which you should be with something like those PAs)
X/Gu = 1.15*1.15*1.2*1.2 = ~90% damage (close range only, relies on not being hit, requires ramp-up time for High Time and cooldown).

Let's not also forget that 1 cosmos clears mobs without hitting weak point and you can walk away from it blowing up your g-bombed spawn because it stunlocks.

This is very wrong. Those numbers do not account for the fact that you lose out on Sharpshooter, you're also adding High Time which is main class only, and if it weren't, you'd still need to switch to TMGs every time you want to activate it and every time you want One More Time to proc, losing out up-time you could be using for attacking.

Gunner's a bad subclass for Ranger, stick with HU if you want to use your rifle and launcher, or BR if you want to include bows in the mix but lose out on a tremendous amount of mobbing potential.

[milranduil]

People here are forgetting Gunslashes.

I'm a RA/BR instead of a RA/HU, but Launcher mobbing scales badly with enemy HP. If it doesn't kill the enemy in one or two hits, you're wasting a lot of time because Launcher is slow. Gravity Bomb lets you set up some good stuff like Cosmos Breaker, but in situations where you can't do that, start learning to use your Gunslash.

Additional Bullet is an extremely powerful PA. The hitbox has the width of a freighter and it prioritizes and autotargets weakspots in it's area of effect. With a good Gunslash, you can do surprisingly great damage with it. There's also a trick to get standing snipe on it by using it multiple times in a row, as fast as you can, but if you need to rely on that for mobbing you're probably better off doing something else.
Addbullet was mentioned on the first page. Squall seemed to be more interested in how launcher + g-bomb can interact which is why I (and others) elaborated. I mob all the time with gunslash (addbullet + thriller).


Aiming Shot is also great. It hits like a truck, a headshot should get you a good... 20k? It's utility has dropped now that Piercing Shell is good, but it still kinda works.
You be hella weak if your aiming shot is only doing 20k head shot.


Aside from gunslashes, there's Sphere Eraser. Sphere Eraser is very good if the enemies line up for it. It's not very PP efficient, but hey, you're a Ranger, pop your two grenades and you've got nothing to worry about.
Sphere erase is good for like.... nothing. Poor pp efficiency, dps isn't even that high and you have to refill your PP gauge from 0 if whatever mob/boss doesn't get one shot by the time you let go. Let's also not for get the non-trivial start animation, too.


This is very wrong. Those numbers do not account for the fact that you lose out on Sharpshooter, you're also adding High Time which is main class only, and if it weren't, you'd still need to switch to TMGs every time you want to activate it and every time you want One More Time to proc, losing out up-time you could be using for attacking.
I don't need to account for the fact that there is no sharpshooter when the multipliers used were for close range damage. Please read more carefully next time. I was in no way endorsing RaGu; you wouldn't catch me with that class combo if my life depended on it. I was just putting the numbers out there. I forgot hightime/showtime is main class only for the extra damage, so I'm well aware of its inferiority.


BR if you want to include bows in the mix but lose out on a tremendous amount of mobbing potential.
RaBr is only bad at mobbing in specific areas like seabed, white territory, and facility where headshots aren't the easiest. Even then, you should have 10/10 average stance at least on your Br sub-tree with which 1 cosmos still clears mobs without headshots (exceptions being those big mobs in facility, those can go blow chunks as any ranged class combo :wacko:).

[Mattykins]

I never use anything but Cluster and Additional Bullet. Occasionally, I may find a reason to fire a Diffuse Shell off now and again, but it's usually those two, yeah.

But while I'm here, what's this about Piercing Shell being good? I've seen it used here and there and all of my fundamental knowledge tells me that it's a bottom-of-the-barrel trash PA like Grenade Shell.

[Yayate]

Addbullet was mentioned on the first page. Squall seemed to be more interested in how launcher + g-bomb can interact which is why I (and others) elaborated. No one said you should only launcher to mob. I mob all the time with gunslash (addbullet + thriller).

It was mentioned once, by one poster, and completely ignored otherwise. Launcher mobbing is not fantastic above SH. It cannot be understated how important Addbullet is to Ranger mobbing because of how much it provides.


You be hella weak if your aiming shot is only doing 20k head shot.

I use uncharged Aiming Shot to set up addition bullet sometimes. I don't actually know how hard it hits with charge because I never charge it. Regardless, it's worse than Piercing Shell now, especially when you learn to consistently double-hit it.



Sphere erase is good for like.... nothing. Poor pp efficiency, dps isn't even that high and you have to refill your PP gauge from 0 if whatever mob/boss doesn't get one shot by the time you let go. Let's also not for get the non-trivial start animation, too.

PP Efficiency on a Ranger? The class with Tactics Trap? Your priorities are skewered. In Ultimate or XH you can nuke a spawn and instantly refill your PP by tossing a single grenade. You have a nigh-infinite source of PP if there's more than five enemies around.

The start-up is a problem, yes, but you're highly overestimating how much this impedes its uses. In Ultimate or XH- the difficulties where you're using it, because otherwise Divine Launcher and Cluster Bullet suffice in emptying a room- the enemies aren't going to be dead before you finish the animation and you can do a massive amount of damage very quickly to a surprisingly large group. The corridors that certain maps have cluster the enemies up perfectly


I don't need to account for the fact that there is no sharpshooter when the multipliers used were for close range damage. Please read more carefully next time. I was in no way endorsing RaGu; you wouldn't catch me with that class combo if my life depended on it. I was just putting the numbers out there. I forgot hightime/showtime is main class only for the extra damage, so I'm well aware of its inferiority.

You were comparing a Hunter's bonuses (61%) to a Gunner's close range bonuses. Not only are Gunner's bonuses lower than you stated because High Time is main class only, Hunter doesn't contradict Sharpshooter, meaning they get an extra 20% if you happen to not stand point blank that completely contradicts the Gunner's main source of multipliers. It's misrepresentating how much better RAHU is at every single task compared to RAGU outside of abusing Chain (which GURA is better at, anyway)

I mean, if you know it's worse, why are you even bringing it up? Isn't that being extremely unhelpful to someone that wants to learn and might not know that RAGU doesn't function very well? :)



I never use anything but Cluster and Additional Bullet. Occasionally, I may find a reason to fire a Diffuse Shell off now and again, but it's usually those two, yeah.

But while I'm here, what's this about Piercing Shell being good? I've seen it used here and there and all of my fundamental knowledge tells me that it's a bottom-of-the-barrel trash PA like Grenade Shell.


It, and other piercing projectiles like Penetrating Arrow, have the particular quality that good spacing and aim lets it hit twice on one enemy by hitting two hitboxes simultaneously (or by staying in a single large hitbox for long enough). Along with the low PP cost, it's very decent to just spam. Enemies that move erratically can also trigger it, and you'll get a crazy amount of double hits when enemies are stuck in a gravity bomb.

It's not very amazing and it's rarely useful for mobbing, but unlike it's explosive brother it can deal good damage when the situation lines up.

[Mattykins]

One of the things I love about Ranger is that all of the PAs it needs to be good are comparatively cheap PP-wise. Sphere Eraser is flashy, but it kinda goes against that notion.

[milranduil]

PP Efficiency on a Ranger? The class with Tactics Trap? Your priorities are skewered. In Ultimate or XH you can nuke a spawn and instantly refill your PP by tossing a single grenade. You have a nigh-infinite source of PP if there's more than five enemies around.

The start-up is a problem, yes, but you're highly overestimating how much this impedes its uses. In Ultimate or XH- the difficulties where you're using it, because otherwise Divine Launcher and Cluster Bullet suffice in emptying a room- the enemies aren't going to be dead before you finish the animation and you can do a massive amount of damage very quickly to a surprisingly large group. The corridors that certain maps have cluster the enemies up perfectly.
You realize gravity bomb has a 15s cool down right? What do you do after a Sphere -> bomb -> sphere rotation? Recover PP with launcher? There is a reason cosmos spam is way better... you get a lot more damage/PP and maintain a reasonable amount of PP consistently using g-bomb when it's up. Start-up is one of the biggest issues considering everything moves quickly in XH/UQ and you'll miss if mobs aren't aggro'd to something else. You're also highly overhyping the width of the beam... it isn't that big at all. Let's also keep in mind two things: 1) cosmos stunlocks enemies being hit which is very useful for the entire MPA because it means other players can just deal damage to them without worry of parrying/stepping/etc, 2) sphere locks you in place for the duration of the animation. I don't know about you but I don't like using all my mates before I'm even at 250/X points in UQ just because a PA locks me in place.


You were comparing a Hunter's bonuses (61%) to a Gunner's close range bonuses. Not only are Gunner's bonuses lower than you stated because High Time is main class only, Hunter doesn't contradict Sharpshooter, meaning they get an extra 20% if you happen to not stand point blank that completely contradicts the Gunner's main source of multipliers. It's misrepresentating how much better RAHU is at every single task compared to RAGU outside of abusing Chain (which GURA is better at, anyway)

I mean, if you know it's worse, why are you even bringing it up? Isn't that being extremely unhelpful to someone that wants to learn and might not know that RAGU doesn't function very well? :)
I had originally stated 61% vs 59%. I said I forgot its main class already, no need to be pointlessly redundant. However, I do feel the need to be redundant here since you're ignoring half of what's been said in the thread (or more).

The multipliers were being stated for best cosmos damage, not for the best Ranger sub.

I didn't even bring up Gu sub, Taiga did, again, regarding close-range launcher PAs.

Don't bother responding if you lack the ability to read the surrounding context of a conversation.

[Yayate]

One of the things I love about Ranger is that all of the PAs it needs to be good are comparatively cheap PP-wise. Sphere Eraser is flashy, but it kinda goes against that notion.

Well, what else are you going to use that 150+ PP for with how easy it is to regenerate?

You get 20% per grenade and you have two grenades with a tiny amount of cooldown, hitting one or two enemies with either one will put you well in the range of using your actual all-around PAs again. PP management isn't very difficult as a Ranger, so it's hard to call PP inefficiency a waste if it saves time.

Of course, you have to do a decent job on headshotting with Sphere Eraser to make it worthwhile, but that's every Ranger PA for you.


You realize gravity bomb has a 15s cool down right? What do you do after a Sphere -> bomb -> sphere rotation? Recover PP with launcher? There is a reason cosmos spam is way better... you get a lot more damage/PP and maintain a reasonable amount of PP consistently using g-bomb when it's up. Start-up is one of the biggest issues considering everything moves quickly in XH/UQ and you'll miss if mobs aren't aggro'd to something else. You're also highly overhyping the width of the beam... it isn't that big at all. Let's also keep in mind two things: 1) cosmos stunlocks enemies being hit which is very useful for the entire MPA because it means other players can just deal damage to them without worry of parrying/stepping/etc, 2) sphere locks you in place for the duration of the animation. I don't know about you but I don't like using all my mates before I'm even at 250/X points in UQ just because a PA locks me in place.

You're overrating the advantage that stunlocking enemies gives, considering that everything you'll want to stunlock has superarmour anyway. It's still very useful, but that alone doesn't make Cosmos Breaker the most amazing thing.

I'm not sure why you're getting hit all that much while using Sphere Eraser when it has a comfortable range for you to abuse. You're playing a ranged class, after all. No need to be at the frontlines, that's where the melee classes go. I mean, these are not difficulties meant to be solo'd, so the mobs will be aggro'd on someone or something else, probably the guy that spawned them in the first place. The 'locking you in place' thing is only a problem if you position yourself badly or if you're playing solo, but if you're playing solo, both Cosmos Breaker and Sphere Eraser are less than fantastic.

On that note, Sphere Eraser gives plenty of hitstun too- and no, I'm not overrating the width. Try firing it down one of Ultimate's corridors. If the mobs are closing in on someone (and even if they aren't) you'll be able to hit a very decent amount of them with very reasonable damage at no risk to yourself.

Cosmos Breaker does let you play more aggressively, though, and it allows you to follow up faster if the enemy spawn wasn't already by the time you finish up Sphere Eraser.

Oh, and to add, Gravity Bomb and Sphere Eraser go together very well, too, since it lets you consistently headshot pretty much everything caught.


I had originally stated 61% vs 59%. I said I forgot its main class already, no need to be pointlessly redundant. However, I do feel the need to be redundant here since you're ignoring half of what's been said in the thread (or more).

The multipliers were being stated for best cosmos damage, not for the best Ranger sub.

I didn't even bring up Gu sub, Taiga did, again, regarding close-range launcher PAs.

Don't bother responding if you lack the ability to read the surrounding context of a conversation.


I mean, you said yourself that rolling backwards twice gives you the multipliers on Sharpshooter for each hit after you cross the sharpshooter threshold. If we say that leads to say, half of the ticks getting more damage, that's still plenty more damage that a RAHU has that a RAGU can't get by virtue of their class skills contradicting.

Should I have elaborated on that? If my posts seemed misleading, I apologize. I was assuming we were going with putting distance between you and your opponent to maximize Cosmos Breaker damage, since you specified that and all.

Regardless, lets not get distracted by this argument on semantics. OP wanted some advice on mobbing, after all.

[milranduil]

The only mobs in UQ that can't get stunlocked by cosmos are mammoths. I'd say that's pretty useful.

You ignored my sphere -> gravity -> sphere question.

Assuming you g-bombed a group 1 meter in front of you and you cosmos that spot followed by roll LA roll, 12-15 of the total 15 hits will get sharp shooter. I also noted this after several posts after I talked about the specific multipliers themselves as an anecdote, not as a point for RaHu vs. RaGu.

As I tell my students nearly everyday, re-read the question(s) (or in this case, post(s)).

[Squal_FFVIII]

Just for the record and to have a baseline how much damage should I be doing with my cluster bullet on NON weak spots with no buffs other than my shifta drink and a normal attack ja with standing snipe?

Right now I seem to be at around 14K on NON weak spots. That's def not enough to one shot mobs in SH.

[RadiantLegend]

Mixture of add bullet + divine launcher + cluster bullet + cosmos(headless mobs)
Lately I've been using zero distance if I'm too close for cluster.

[Squal_FFVIII]

Thanks for the tips guys i've gotten a lil better at it now.

Do you guys have any tips for lets say the hotokan area? It's kinda hard to hit their heads. Specially all the "giant" type monsters.

Also a note on AB. I know that this PA is good for mobbing I used to use it a lot in the VH days however, for this ranger build I want to focus strictly on Rifle and Launcher. I feel that launcher is better for mobbing over all than AB.

Also some boss tips would be nice aswell (the hotokan area boss)

[Valimer]

I never use anything but Cluster and Additional Bullet. Occasionally, I may find a reason to fire a Diffuse Shell off now and again, but it's usually those two, yeah.

But while I'm here, what's this about Piercing Shell being good? I've seen it used here and there and all of my fundamental knowledge tells me that it's a bottom-of-the-barrel trash PA like Grenade Shell.

Piercing Shell is my main PA for rifle. Grav bomb --> piercing shell. It only cost 20 PP and it does a good amount of damage and obviously it pierces so it hits all the enemies in the grav bomb and can hit some enemies twice. It's m main mobbing strat when I'm using rifle. Plus, you are still mobile when using piercing shell.

Tbh I only use like 3 Rifle PA's (I've been ranger for 2 years now).

[Valimer]

Thanks for the tips guys i've gotten a lil better at it now.

Do you guys have any tips for lets say the hotokan area? It's kinda hard to hit their heads. Specially all the "giant" type monsters.

Also a note on AB. I know that this PA is good for mobbing I used to use it a lot in the VH days however, for this ranger build I want to focus strictly on Rifle and Launcher. I feel that launcher is better for mobbing over all than AB.

Also some boss tips would be nice aswell (the hotokan area boss)

Just youtube "Ranger" + BossOfChoice and you will get tons of great examples.

[Shunx]

Thanks for the tips guys i've gotten a lil better at it now.

Do you guys have any tips for lets say the hotokan area? It's kinda hard to hit their heads. Specially all the "giant" type monsters.

Also a note on AB. I know that this PA is good for mobbing I used to use it a lot in the VH days however, for this ranger build I want to focus strictly on Rifle and Launcher. I feel that launcher is better for mobbing over all than AB.

Also some boss tips would be nice aswell (the hotokan area boss)

The titans were a tough one for me as because it was literally impossible to aim for their weakspot(Heads)

You three choices from Easiest to more annoying are:

1. Stay on roof tops and aim for their heads, when they fall, go down and use Disperse shot(? That one rifle shotgun PA). It takes about two hits, maybe less then they die

2. Shoot their thighs causing them to kneel(Like when fighting Gigur, Breaking his feet will cause him to kneel to get to his weak point)

3. Z targeting

[Great Pan]

Diffused Shell is still good if you asked me. Then again, Cosmos Breaker is better.

[Superia]

Thanks for the tips guys i've gotten a lil better at it now.

Do you guys have any tips for lets say the hotokan area? It's kinda hard to hit their heads. Specially all the "giant" type monsters.

Also a note on AB. I know that this PA is good for mobbing I used to use it a lot in the VH days however, for this ranger build I want to focus strictly on Rifle and Launcher. I feel that launcher is better for mobbing over all than AB.

Also some boss tips would be nice aswell (the hotokan area boss)

Rocket/Log Wielding Bipedal Titans

For a rifle, use TPS and Impact Slider or Homing Emission if you are used to it. For launcher, aiming above their heads with Cluster Bullet usually lays them down quickly, after which you can use whatever.

Floating Drum Titans

Ahh..

Well, you can try hitting them with Satellite Cannon or spam PAs at their heads. Remember that their red core is not a weak spot. In my opinion, this enemy is probably the most broken and annoying mob in the game, due to having ridiculous health, ridiculous size, high range, inaccessible weak spots and some kind of rule where no fewer than nine may spawn at once.


Also someone mentioned using the grenades for PP regen. The flash grenade is fine for this and will be sufficient in situations with many mobs, but there are many kinds of mobs that the gravity grenade is unable to proc Tactics Trap on for some reason, mostly newer enemies.

[Sp-24]

Also someone mentioned using the grenades for PP regen. The flash grenade is fine for this and will be sufficient in situations with many mobs, but there are many kinds of mobs that the gravity grenade is unable to proc Tactics Trap on for some reason, mostly newer enemies.
Tactics Trap procs when a trap damages an enemy. Since Gravity Bomb only deals damage in the first second or so, and in a very small area around the center, it's pretty much unusable against enemies that can't be pulled or are too big. I think it's possible to hit one of the fat titans with GB with careful aim, but that's only 20% of your PP.

[Kondibon]

Since Gravity Bomb only deals damage in the first second or so, and in a very small area around the center, it's pretty much unusable against enemies that can't be pulled or are too big. That's not quite how it works. You're right about the damage but even if an enemy can be sucked in then the damaging part can still miss them because it's smaller than the suction AoE. Gravity bomb is still useful for PP regen, you just have to keep in mind that the AoE on the damage is smaller than the stun grenade's.

That said, if you're getting tactics trap don't only get gravity bomb, it might work, but stun grenades are way better for it anyway.

[KazukiQZ]

^Yup, Tactics Trap's best partner is Stun Grenade, it even work on boss(es). On mobs, it's instant PP bar refill if it hit 5 mobs or more.

[Yayate]

The only mobs in UQ that can't get stunlocked by cosmos are mammoths. I'd say that's pretty useful.

You ignored my sphere -> gravity -> sphere question.

Assuming you g-bombed a group 1 meter in front of you and you cosmos that spot followed by roll LA roll, 12-15 of the total 15 hits will get sharp shooter. I also noted this after several posts after I talked about the specific multipliers themselves as an anecdote, not as a point for RaHu vs. RaGu.

As I tell my students nearly everyday, re-read the question(s) (or in this case, post(s)).

I meant more on the lines of 'you can't stunlock bosses with it'. It's nice to stunlock mobs, yes, but the mobs in Ultimate only become extremely dangerous when there's a boss around to spread your attention, plus there's the fact that bloomed corruptions in Ultimate give mobs super-armour anyway.

In the end, though, it doesn't matter why you brought it up later. You still brought yo a multiplier that you yourself didn't include in your Cosmos Breaker/RAGU and RAHU comparison that leaves your numbers very wrong.

I also didn't ignore your question, I mentioned the fact that you have a second grenade right above where I quoted you so it felt redundant to repeat it, especially because Gravity Bomb isn't all that amazing for regenerating PP compared to Stun Grenade because of the much smaller AoE. I mean, maybe you should reread my posts instead? :) You're getting awfully worked up and angry about plain discussion.

And if I have to clarify more over that, of course, I wouldn't use Sphere Eraser if both of my grenades are on very recent cooldown, but that's just managing your cooldowns properly. But again, this is veering horribly off topic, so if you want to continue this little discussion it'd be better to bring it to PMs to not get in the OP's way.


Thanks for the tips guys i've gotten a lil better at it now.

Do you guys have any tips for lets say the hotokan area? It's kinda hard to hit their heads. Specially all the "giant" type monsters.

Also a note on AB. I know that this PA is good for mobbing I used to use it a lot in the VH days however, for this ranger build I want to focus strictly on Rifle and Launcher. I feel that launcher is better for mobbing over all than AB.

Also some boss tips would be nice aswell (the hotokan area boss)

Gigur is designed to rob you of your multipliers. It depends on what you want to do, if you want a full break to maximize the chance of his units dropping, you're going to be there for a while. You can take pot-shots from afar with Piercing Shell on a weakbulleted limb (it almost always double-hits on Gigur, so it does more damage than you'd think), along with the two Slider PAs to approach/retreat while still doing good damage. They're actually very powerful but a lot of people seem to ignore them in favour of other PAs. Break his head a stage every time he kneels, then destroy his core and murder him with headshots, it should only take a few attacks because he won't have much HP left. Keep in mind that his horn and head have different hitboxes, so attempting to break the horn with Piercing Shell might end with him dying because you're hitting his face too much, so use something else.

Do NOT bring any sort of support characters along with you when fighting him, by the way. Every other character in the fight will drastically lower the amount of time he's frozen for any of his attacks. This is the case for all bosses, but it's definitely most noticeable for Gigur (and Bal Rodos, for that matter).

As for fighting him without going for a full break... Well, I never do that, but try to lure him to the little roofs you can stand on on the sides of the arenas. Keep dodging until he starts using a freezing move, then just Satcan him in the face. That should work just fine. Do it twice and you have a dead Gigur.

The people above me have handled mobs well enough, so I have nothing to add there.

[Squal_FFVIII]

Hey guys, i've ran into a new an annoying problem that not only affects me but my whole MPA aswell. How the hell do you WB Appos Dorios belly? I mean once he is down when the 4 towers are broken.

I tried everything. I tried manual aim, auto aim, jumping and trying to manual aim the WB at his belly nothing worked. Everytime I tried to WB him it resulted in the WB landing on his backside and thats the side that no one attacks.

Now I know its possible to WB his belly after the 4 towers are broken. Ive seen it plenty of times.

I would like to know how to properly apply WB on his belly to help myself and my MPA.

I bet they were like "damn this RA sucks! doesn't know how to use WB!" >.<

[Ordy]

Apos belly hitbox acts like Zeshrayda red core, when the boss is lying on the back.

Because of terribly designed hitboxes, you have to make sure the WB hits the core area. When the boss is stunned, go jump and position yourself close to the red belly, jump and fire your WB mid-air.

I WB mid-air to make sure I don't fail and WB the body, which would piss me off because I start charging sat cannon at the WB JA.

See, the picture here, everything under the red line would WB the body:

http://puu.sh/h0eLo/c206f5e00a.jpg

[Squal_FFVIII]

Wow thank you for the detailed explination. Though I haven't tested this out I will when I fight him again.

Judging from the picture, I have to go around to the side where his "head" lies and jump from there and then fire the WB in mid air?

Also, when you jump do you have the normal aiming mode or do you jump while in the "gears of war" aiming style?

In two of the MPA's that I was in I was the only RA so when I messed up everyone knew I was the scrub RA messing up >.< lol

[Shunx]

Wow thank you for the detailed explination. Though I haven't tested this out I will when I fight him again.

Judging from the picture, I have to go around to the side where his "head" lies and jump from there and then fire the WB in mid air?

Also, when you jump do you have the normal aiming mode or do you jump while in the "gears of war" aiming style?

In two of the MPA's that I was in I was the only RA so when I messed up everyone knew I was the scrub RA messing up >.< lol

When he's on his back, his head and shoulder pads serves as platforms

It's much easier to use Z Targetting to safely get the bullet in since he has his arms flailing around the place(I've had instances where I would WB or Chain Trig his hands and not his core ; ; )

[Squal_FFVIII]

When you say "z" targetting i'm assuming that's what I refer to as "gears of war" aiming style? =P

A little off topic. Aiming that way with the rifle and running while shooting looks very gears of warish :D The first time I played pso2 during the close beta test and I tested Ranger out I was like "oh cool gears of war :O"

[Korazenn]

When you say "z" targetting i'm assuming that's what I refer to as "gears of war" aiming style? =P

It's a reference from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time back on the Nintendo 64. Anything involving lock-on in a game nowadays comes from that. :P

Edit: Wow...this makes me truly realize how old I am...or feel. One of the two. Gosh, is it really that old a game that people don't know what Z Targeting is anymore? xD

[Sp-24]

I'm pretty sure it's called Z-targeting because you press Z to activate it. Like how it's "Shift Action" and "WASD movement".

[Shunx]

I'm pretty sure it's called Z-targeting because you press Z to activate it. Like how it's "Shift Action" and "WASD movement".

Actually that's really the reason it's called Z Targetting.

Cause in Zelda OoT you used the Z button to target/Lock on

[Sp-24]

I was thinking of a slightly more recent game that more people here have played.

http://i.imgur.com/fiZ8bFu.png

[Kurome]

What u guys think about this build? Ra/Hu (playing as female cast): http://pso2-skill.pwnedgalaxy.net/skillcalc.php?10dSbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxIm 0jdodBIbjJ2lNDnjJksNI20000006doIn0000000jeoboHoIdl bcAfdxJIekI200000fdo0000000Io00000007oIn00000000Ib Io0000000jdoIb0000000j only considering dive roll and weak hit blast bonus. Some ppl said that it is not worth putting points, some that 1 point is enough.

I have also question about mag, go pure R-ATK or better balanced?

[Dephinix]

Pure R Atk Mag, and 2 points should be more than fine for dive roll. 1 is actually plenty, but the .09 is nice when you're lazy. 1 point in weak hit blast if any. 1.3 for pb is overkill already.

[Kurome]

I mean how should I feed him, (started game some time ago) should I feed him with items that has a pistol on the icon then? And what about the yellow icon items?

Hm, is it better now? http://pso2-skill.pwnedgalaxy.net/skillcalc.php?10dSbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxIm 0jdodBIbjJ2lNDnjJksNI20000006doIn0000000jdOboHoIdl bcAfqxJIdKI200000fdo0000000Io00000007oIn00000000Ib Io0000000jdoIb0000000j

EDIT. or http://pso2-skill.pwnedgalaxy.net/skillcalc.php?10dSbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxImbxIm 0jdodBIbjJ2lNDnjJksNI20000006doIn0000000jdOboaoIdl bcAfdxJIdKI200000fdo0000000Io00000007oIn00000000Ib Io0000000jdoIb0000000j with more R-ATK from [shooting up1] and then pb 1x. or should I max shooting up?


EDIT2. What is the benefit for a ranger with Dive Roll Advance? or is it better for gunner?

and what about the hunter tree?