Episode 4: REBORN

[jooozek]

the update page is officially live - http://pso2.jp/players/update/20160127/
they released all the videos


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIGOiJmsgPY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIGOiJmsgPY


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYeq8-fJ4no"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYeq8-fJ4no


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1-wnk2Qopk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1-wnk2Qopk


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAJi9SGNhr0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAJi9SGNhr0

[Ezodagrom]

About time we get enemies that are weak to just wind.

http://i.imgur.com/kJdvyhu.jpg

[wefwq]

Light deprecated soon? :(
Why are they don't weak to light when they're phantom? are they going to release a vacuum cleaner weapon with latent that increase damage towards phantom enemies, next?

Edit: well that slight touch to game interface looks kinda neat, though it's just a minor detail, i hope that they make certain element won't take like 1/4 of the screen anymore.
I'm actually more excited about the game interface change rather than the new class...

[Cyber Meteor]

About time we get enemies that are weak to just wind.

http://i.imgur.com/kJdvyhu.jpg

Oh man, this is great!! I love using Wind techs, and it's my most used element even in UQ :D

[Vatallus]

You don't know the pain phantoms go through each time the wind blows them away when they are just trying to reach the ghost toilet in a hurry.

[SilkaN]

In the trailer it looked like these new enemies only have one attackable weakspot... or maybe my eyes fooled me.

[sparab]

About time we get enemies that are weak to just wind.


Turns out each enemy has a different weakness

[Naska]

Seem like we can switch pet like switching weapon too. So the baton is just for show then. Instead of getting rare weapon, it'll be getting rare eggs.

[wefwq]

Seem like we can switch pet like switching weapon too. So the baton is just for show then. Instead of getting rare weapon, it'll be getting rare eggs.
Probably the baton itself are tied to the pets, god i just hope we don't have to grind the baton AND our pets.
But well it just kinda make me confused, how do we suppose to put affix on summoner, eh?
Or even, are we able to put affix on it at all? considering that pet stat management are a thing.

[Dycize]

Pets not only have their own element (as can be seen with a fire 10 wanda), but their own personal skill(s) with levels. Wanda can be seen with こんじょうlv1 (guts ability, probably an ability to make it last longer).
Yeah, different element pets with different skills? Oh this is going to be magical isn't it.
Now just for you! 3 pets, 6 elements each! 18 pets to grind and manage for perfect efficiency :^)!

[Totori]

Looks more like you can equip the Baton as a weapon, but instead of the attack button it's just the pet's call button?

[KLMS1]

The intuitive assumption would be that the baton serves as a buff or provides the baseline attack stat for the pet that does the actual fighting. Probably governs tech use too?

[Rupikachu]

I just realised, the pet-shop is next to dudu. What happens with the tekker?

[jooozek]

that's the weapon shop left to the item lab, dudu would be next to it to the right, and then the tekker right from dudu
edit: nevermind, i just noticed what you meant
maybe the tekker handles both egg tekking and normal items tekking
edit2: the first option seems to say item <moonrunes>, second is egg <moonrunes> so i guess that's how it is :wacko:

[Kondibon]

Still looking forward to casts being able to have different proportions in fleshy outfits and changing head styles outside of the este so I can make a shota cast who turns into a giant robot.

[Dark Emerald EXE]

So......did we go back in time or something?

Highly doubt the current timeline is before 2028 lol

[Kondibon]

So......did we go back in time or something?

Highly doubt the current timeline is before 2028 lolProbably, who knows, I know Maenara quit because she didn't want to wait and find out. :wacko:

[KLMS1]

Still looking forward to casts being able to have different proportions in fleshy outfits and changing head styles outside of the este so I can make a shota cast who turns into a giant robot.

IIRC Ep 4 changes included the ability to register particular outfit setups as sets and change into them away from the Este, so you'll be getting half of that at least.

[Sizustar]

Light deprecated soon? :(
Why are they don't weak to light when they're phantom? are they going to release a vacuum cleaner weapon with latent that increase damage towards phantom enemies, next?

Edit: well that slight touch to game interface looks kinda neat, though it's just a minor detail, i hope that they make certain element won't take like 1/4 of the screen anymore.
I'm actually more excited about the game interface change rather than the new class...

Because they aren't darker,, but phantom, a new race/type of enemy that might or most likely not related to d-ark.

[milranduil]

Oh man, this is great!! I love using Wind techs, and it's my most used element even in UQ :D

'.' ...

[Kondibon]

IIRC Ep 4 changes included the ability to register particular outfit setups as sets and change into them away from the Este, so you'll be getting half of that at least.I know. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to change them individually too though.

[Anduril]

So......did we go back in time or something?

Highly doubt the current timeline is before 2028 lol
It's most likely like Star Wars, "A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away..." ie. The Photoners are from a different part of the universe/galaxy and developed advanced technology far before Earth's culture developed. So, AP241 is the same year as 2028CE.

[Dark Emerald EXE]

It's most likely like Star Wars, "A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away..." ie. The Photoners are from a different part of the universe/galaxy and developed advanced technology far before Earth's culture developed. So, AP431 is the same year as 2028CE.

That confused me.....yet...checks out....lol I'm ok with that.

Also.....i was wondering when Sega would attempt to make Wind relevant.

[Zyrusticae]

Still the most important thing here is the BUTT SLIDER!

http://i.imgur.com/o2YogMk.jpg

Which doubles as a WAIST SLIDER!

http://i.imgur.com/jYazV1i.jpg

Thus fixing the single most glaring omission of the original character creator.

Typical SEGA, fixing things that should never have needed to be fixed in the first place, but hey, I'll take what I can get!

[Kondibon]

It's most likely like Star Wars, "A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away..." ie. The Photoners are from a different part of the universe/galaxy and developed advanced technology far before Earth's culture developed. So, AP241 is the same year as 2028CE.Or it could be... yaknow... time travel, considering how important that's been to the plot so far.

[Dark Emerald EXE]

PSO2.....giving the idea of space and time the bird since 2012.....

[Anduril]

Or it could be... yaknow... time travel, considering how important that's been to the plot so far.
The only way I can see this being time traveling to the far past is if we assume that the Photoners are actually Earthlings (or descendants of), and that the Phantoms taking over the world is what made them leave the planet, which led to them eventually finding Xion.

[Rayden]

Turns out each enemy has a different weakness

Source? Or is that just a guess?

[KLMS1]

Or it could be... yaknow... time travel, considering how important that's been to the plot so far.

Was under the impression they haul an entire ship to the Local Interstellar Cloud region, if not actually into the Solar System proper. Plus Xiao seemed to have to work hard just to temporarily shunt the MC back a mere decade or thereabouts so that level of timey-wimey shenanigans seems like it'd be a bit beyond him.


The only way I can see this being time traveling to the far past is if we assume that the Photoners are actually Earthlings (or descendants of), and that the Phantoms taking over the world is what made them leave the planet, which led to them eventually finding Xion.

I prefer going with the idea the Photoners were those Ancient Astronauts the UFO wonks keep babbling about, just for the lulz. :v

[Xaelouse]

Pets not only have their own element (as can be seen with a fire 10 wanda), but their own personal skill(s) with levels. Wanda can be seen with こんじょうlv1 (guts ability, probably an ability to make it last longer).
Yeah, different element pets with different skills? Oh this is going to be magical isn't it.
Now just for you! 3 pets, 6 elements each! 18 pets to grind and manage for perfect efficiency :^)!

that's assuming pet element weak hit is strong enough to be worth it..

[Dycize]

Considering how much fuss we can make over maxing a weapon's element, it's likely to play a certain role in pet raising even if PEWH is weak (it'd have to be, what, +5% damage to be "weak" and even then.)
Speaking of I made a post over at the summoner thread for some scrummy analysis of the screenshots (which actually contains info on how element grinding will work for pets, get ready for pancakes).

[Kondibon]

The only way I can see this being time traveling to the far past is if we assume that the Photoners are actually Earthlings (or descendants of), and that the Phantoms taking over the world is what made them leave the planet, which led to them eventually finding Xion.It's not like that's far fetched...


Plus Xiao seemed to have to work hard just to temporarily shunt the MC back a mere decade or thereabouts so that level of timey-wimey shenanigans seems like it'd be a bit beyond him.So are we just going to ignore that one time he brought a whole replacement mothership with him? ._.

Wasn't the reason he didn't want you there long because he didn't want to screw things up too much? In fact I'm pretty sure that's the ONLY reason you could never stay long, you were supposed to fix a thing then leave most of the time, not stay there, there hasn't been a reason to. Don't forget all the cutscene tablets involving young Xeno either, I doubt we went back every time just to see him.

[Eternal255]

Fingers crossed my double cannon doesnt become obsolete quickly. Took me forever getting one (not to mention my other rares).

I hope they have some way of keeping them up-to-date, or even just using them as camo eventually (doubt it)

[Zyrusticae]

even just using them as camo eventually (doubt it)
This one just annoys the hell out of me after DDON added the ability to use anything to override the appearance of other items (class restrictions aside). No need to mess around with specific items or anything.

I know they want to sell camos, but they could do that and let us convert existing items to camos instead of this BS where we have tons of weapon models that still will never be used (even moreso after they added crafting potentials which mean that you'd have to be a dumbass to craft a non-red weapon).

Baffling decision after baffling decision...

[Anduril]

It's not like that's far fetched...

So are we just going to ignore that one time he brought a whole replacement mothership with him? ._.

Wasn't the reason he didn't want you there long because he didn't want to screw things up too much? In fact I'm pretty sure that's the ONLY reason you could never stay long, you were supposed to fix a thing then leave most of the time, not stay there, there hasn't been a reason to. Don't forget all the cutscene tablets involving young Xeno either, I doubt we went back every time just to see him.
True, but from what I recall, the new Mothership is Xiao, just as the old Mothership was Xion, so it's not so much that he brought a ship with him as it is he brought himself out of hiding. Plus, it seems that Xiao has pretty much removed himself from active duty in the two year time gap between Ep3 and Ep4, so I would expect time travel to play less of a part in things. But honestly, it's just a matter of wait-and-see.

[KLMS1]

So are we just going to ignore that one time he brought a whole replacement mothership with him? ._.

Never quite understood where exactly the new Mothership and Xiao with it came from, someone mentioned the setup was basically that Xion somehow brought over another version of herself from a parallel timeline. Note, however, that whatever it was it involved two planetminds instead of one, and Xion was apparently a lot better at this stuff than Xiao is.

Also was done some time ago already (Xiao somehow bound himself to Sara to keep her alive back when Huey and Maria terminated that research with extreme prejudice), and apparently did not involve actual time travel as such.


Wasn't the reason he didn't want you there long because he didn't want to screw things up too much? In fact I'm pretty sure that's the ONLY reason you could never stay long, you were supposed to fix a thing then leave most of the time, not stay there, there hasn't been a reason to. Don't forget all the cutscene tablets involving young Xeno either, I doubt we went back every time just to see him.

We have no idea how exactly the planetminds actually *do* this whole thing you know. (I like to think all the random-stuff gathering and sundry you do between the gold nodes are laying preliminary groundwork and "priming" the causal chain for whatever it is the planetminds want to achieve.) Point is Xiao seemed to find that "investigation" rather more challenging and complicated than the others, which tended to involve timeframes to the tune of weeks or so tops.

Plus given that you meet old!Matoi multiple separate times on different *planets* it's kind of obvious you're successively ingressed into several separate points of the timeline. Young!Xeno is really just a random side encounter in the process.


Point being that the actual timey-wimey shenanigans before involved short forays to points located fairly close in both time and actual physical space (you take the usual transport shuttle, after all). The Earth trip is apparently on the order of magnitude of an entire ARKS ship making something like a two-year trip just to reach the zone of operations and staying there for an extended period...

[NoobSpectre]

Just maxed this summoner thing to cap and get class bonus and be done with it.

Which reminds me, what will happen if cap 80 comes out? 75 bonus still viable? Or *poof* "Your class has not yet capped, SAGE the loving gawd will take it away until you grind there then we give it back, lelel" option?

[LonelyGaruga]

Technically speaking, the level cap bonus is not a level cap bonus at all, it is a bonus from the title for reaching level 75. The two are just synonymous right now. A level cap increase will not affect it.

[Chris_Chocobo]

No Episode 4 wallpaper on the web :(

[Renvalt]

Y'know, watching the trailer for the new Earth area reminded me of House of the Dead - specifically that two-pronged tower shown near the beginning (Goldman Building). Inb4 Magician Type-0 or Emperor Type α ends up being our cameo boss for this Episode (I'm placing my bets on it being the latter due to some of the Phantom type enemies in the area acting like HotD's zombies).

The Phantom enemies seem to have markings from both the Ruins and the Mothership in them, but they reek of a blue hue that is seen often in Amduscia. Plus there's also that bigass blue structure in the sky that you see at about 0:44 - maybe it's my lack of knowledge on Tokyo as a whole, but does real-world Japan have that structure (or is it even in the works to be made)? Seems like it'd have a big connection to the outbreak of Phantoms in the area.

Finally, it seems like Ciela's also going to be our fourth field operator as well? Wonder if Briggita/Melitta/Hilda/Henrietta got fired, or if they're still working and Xiao hired a fifth to spice things up (inb4 Operator Spice Gir-*shot*).

My opinions on this new area have definitely changed for what it's worth (and if only because Al is starting to seem like Xiao just got his hair bleached and underwent voice change therapy to run away from his job, the little shit).

[femme fatale]

"butt slider" isn't actually a butt slider but a waist slider...
https://i.imgur.com/g1ZNRja.gif

[Nyansan]

"butt slider" isn't actually a butt slider but a waist slider...

eh, kinda ok for me anyway since one of the glaring problems when making plump female characters is that only the hips are big but the waist is thin/flat (*´д`）；

[Zyrusticae]

It's a hips/waist/butt general region slider.

It definitely affects the butt as you can see around 1:19 when they mess around with the left and right nibs. Might not be as big as you wanted, maybe, but that could just be because of the overall body weight of that character.

[Dnd]

About time we get enemies that are weak to just wind.

http://i.imgur.com/kJdvyhu.jpg

Yay lv75 free field mobs still

sega really >_>

[Eternal255]

Yay lv75 free field mobs still

sega really >_>

I'm cool with it. Still have 3 more classes to get to 75 on my main >.>

[ShinMaruku]

"butt slider" isn't actually a butt slider but a waist slider...
https://i.imgur.com/g1ZNRja.gif

https://giant.gfycat.com/EnchantingLazyGecko.gif

[Alenoir]

Y'know, watching the trailer for the new Earth area reminded me of House of the Dead - specifically that two-pronged tower shown near the beginning (Goldman Building).

So far these are the tags Japanese have given to the episode 4 trailer on Nico:

- Arks ga Gotoku (http://ryu-ga-gotoku.com/)
- Arks Rider Den-O (http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/den-o/)
- 7th Darker 2028 (http://dragon2020.sega.jp/)
- Shin PSO2 Tensei (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Megami_Tensei)

[N__]

Y'know, watching the trailer for the new Earth area reminded me of House of the Dead - specifically that two-pronged tower shown near the beginning (Goldman Building). Inb4 Magician Type-0 or Emperor Type α ends up being our cameo boss for this Episode (I'm placing my bets on it being the latter due to some of the Phantom type enemies in the area acting like HotD's zombies).

The Phantom enemies seem to have markings from both the Ruins and the Mothership in them, but they reek of a blue hue that is seen often in Amduscia. Plus there's also that bigass blue structure in the sky that you see at about 0:44 - maybe it's my lack of knowledge on Tokyo as a whole, but does real-world Japan have that structure (or is it even in the works to be made)? Seems like it'd have a big connection to the outbreak of Phantoms in the area.

Finally, it seems like Ciela's also going to be our fourth field operator as well? Wonder if Briggita/Melitta/Hilda/Henrietta got fired, or if they're still working and Xiao hired a fifth to spice things up (inb4 Operator Spice Gir-*shot*).

My opinions on this new area have definitely changed for what it's worth (and if only because Al is starting to seem like Xiao just got his hair bleached and underwent voice change therapy to run away from his job, the little shit).
The most similar structure to 0:44 that Tokyo has is the Tokyo sky tree.
As for the rest buildings are as it is in real life, Ginza, Tokyo g-man building in Shinjuku, the Tokyo station...

[Renvalt]

The most similar structure to 0:44 that Tokyo has is the Tokyo sky tree.
As for the rest buildings are as it is in real life, Ginza, Tokyo g-man building in Shinjuku, the Tokyo station...

I just looked up the Sky Tree Building on Google, and... yeah. Something's def up with it. The tower shouldn't be sprouting spikes like that.

Whatever's responsible for the Phantom menace (pun not intended), that tower looks like it'd have the source for it.

... So it seems like we're fighting in Shinjuku? How far would you think that places Tokyo - and with it, the Sky Tree?

[N__]

Shinjuku is a ward mainly known for being filled with g-man buildings but Ginza district which is in Chuo, is another ward, so the game is in Tokyo city in general.

[Renvalt]

So far these are the tags Japanese have given to the episode 4 trailer on Nico:

- Arks ga Gotoku (http://ryu-ga-gotoku.com/)
- Arks Rider Den-O (http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/den-o/)
- 7th Darker 2028 (http://dragon2020.sega.jp/)
- Shin PSO2 Tensei (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Megami_Tensei)

The first three I'm not familiar enough with to say if they're correct in those comparisons, and I can't see the fourth actually being a thing (no Goetics/Seraphim/Lesser Beasts means there ain't enough SMT in that place to say that it's SMT).

Also, perhaps it's just me wishing for a cameo fight of Magician Type-0 (complete with every move he's ever used) in a game that isn't its own damn series (as well as acknowledgement of the series at all from current gen SEGA), but I looked at those buildings again and realized "okay wait, that's not actually Goldman Building - his place is flat topped, that building has two-pronged juts at the top".

In short, forgive a fool his blind assumptions because he got drunk on based nostalgia.


Shinjuku is a ward mainly known for being filled with g-man buildings but Ginza district which is in Chuo, is another ward, so the game is in Tokyo city in general.

Wait, so all our excurisons are taking place within Tokyo as a whole, but the areas are based off its districts?

So Shinjuku, then Ginza, then...? I need to do more research on Tokyo proper - I didn't realize the city was split like that (not to mention that I thought Shinjuku/Shibuya/Ginza/etc. were all individual cities in Japan or something - shows how little I know and how weeb I am).

[SPOILER-BOX]If only people weren't saying such bad things about Japan as a whole (particularly their ageist culture and xenophobia, among other things) and trying to keep me in America, I would make a more earnest effort to delve deeper into the country's whole history/culture. As it stands, though, the bad things I've heard about the place are making me rather hesitant.[/SPOILER-BOX]

But yeah, this is definitely making me a bit more interested in what they'll pull for EP4.

[NoobSpectre]

Okay, maybe we know that shooting the zombie or mutants in the head is the weakpoint (ranger headshot bonus if not all anyway).

But tanks and helis and that train hydra (that reminds me of WC3 hydra reskin to a train anyway), hmm... any idea where is the weakpoint?

lv75 eh, time for XH it seems, unless SH scaled to 80 now (for AQ at least, like Free exploration 65 to old AQSH 70).

[Renvalt]

Okay, maybe we know that shooting the zombie or mutants in the head is the weakpoint (ranger headshot bonus if not all anyway).

But tanks and helis and that train hydra (that reminds me of WC3 hydra reskin to a train anyway), hmm... any idea where is the weakpoint?

lv75 eh, time for XH it seems, unless SH scaled to 80 now (for AQ at least, like Free exploration 65 to old AQSH 70).

Quite possible that they're on the highest possible difficulty - the game always caps Normal at 30 for every area past Skyscape (I think it's 40 for Hard Mode, 50 for VH, and then SH goes to cap, while XH goes beyond that IIRC).

I'm actually wondering if the Story Board update is going to revamp the SQs to always have the enemies match your current level (would be rather funny doing EP1 with the levels scaled to 75). As of right now only EP3 has a large sliding scale (though it ends at 60, which I felt was BS).

[KLMS1]

So Shinjuku, then Ginza, then...? I need to do more research on Tokyo proper - I didn't realize the city was split like that (not to mention that I thought Shinjuku/Shibuya/Ginza/etc. were all individual cities in Japan or something - shows how little I know and how weeb I am).

Well they sort of are (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo#Geography_and_administrative_divisions). Conurbations can be rather headache-inducing in these regards.


[SPOILER-BOX]If only people weren't saying such bad things about Japan as a whole (particularly their ageist culture and xenophobia, among other things) and trying to keep me in America, I would make a more earnest effort to delve deeper into the country's whole history/culture. As it stands, though, the bad things I've heard about the place are making me rather hesitant.[/SPOILER-BOX]

Eh. Not seeing why any of that should keep you from reading up about the place. Or travel there should the opportunity present itself - seemed "nice enough to visit but don't think I'd want to live there".

[KazukiQZ]

@Renvalt

Latest chapters (EP3-7 and 3-8, don't remember the previous ones) has lv70 as level cap for mob.

[KLMS1]

3-7 is listed as 1-65 at the counter at least, though. The earlier Ep 3 storyquests read 1-60...

[Rakurai]

But tanks and helis and that train hydra (that reminds me of WC3 hydra reskin to a train anyway), hmm... any idea where is the weakpoint?

For the larger phantoms, there's a glowing glyph that serves as a weak point.

It's most noticeable on the T-Rex during its laser attack, but it also appears to be located on the back of the tanks and the underside of the helicopters. The one on Gidoran shows up temporarily after it uses some of its attacks.

I'm kind of curious as to how boosted enemies are going to be handled for phantoms, though, assuming they even have them to begin with. The Earth doesn't seem to have any Darker presence whatsoever, so having infection cores there seems unlikely.

[KLMS1]

No reason they couldn't have something directly analogous though.