what's the best way to get gear?

title says it all (i think)

it's known fact that unless you get a good run, gear from item drops (more specifically GOOD gear) can be hard to find unless you're after something specific (i know that from experience given the number of times i did lightning beasts and grove of fanatics online trying to get a new double saber cause i was SICK of looking at the pretty baton)

i have thankfully discovered that i can start getting claws, twin claws and double sabers in chapter 7

neway i'm curious to know how other players go about getting gear.

do you guys rely solely on item drops? or do u go shopping when u have the cash.

i'm asking because i'm thinking of taking a new approach to playing this game in the future.

to that end i'm trying to decide how to proceed in the muture.

my original playstyle had been to start as the hunter and go thru to chapter 3 then do 3 free missions as each class and swap over to the ranger for the chapter 3 story mission.

from there it was a case of switching back and fourth to max out the 3 base classes before working on the acromaster and fight master (with a little work on the masterforce to develop technics)

but in the future i'm thinking of doing 2 things.

1- starting from the ranger and doing 1 or 2 free missions online at the start to get some money for gear

2- cutting back on the free missions to level up a little slower (more specifically i'll be cutting back on repetitive lower level missions like the rank b plains overlord) the result there will be that i'll be at a slightly lower and more controlled level than i am right now in chapter 7 (level 63 btw)

because of that i'm going to have to be a little more focused in my shopping.

until now i've just been buying whatever strikes my fancy and comparing it to what i have and trying to maintain a balance in terms of different elements on my gear, altho i know myself that in the story mission of the last chapter my gear needs to be light elemental across the board to maximize combat effectiveness against the SEED in the hive

so. is my plan to rely more on shopping than drops a good one? or am i just blowing smoke up my ass again?

Do you trust your luck? :P

Which version of the portable series are we talking about psp or psp2?

PSP1 spoon feeds you with rare boost as you acquire titles.

PSP2 removed this feature making you spend countless hours hunting for a certain rare. A recommendation I hear often is to just focus on one rare that'll help your character the most.