How to play Ranger effectively?

[Zipzo]

Oi.

So I picked Ranger. As much as I was unsure of the selection I made I'm going to stick with it, and it has been interesting thus far, my problem is that I have close to 0 past experience in being a Ranger of any form. I was never a Ranger class in PSU, or even PSO for that matter so I'm still getting used to the guns thing. I'm level 28 now and I feel like I've been totally cheesing my way through story mode.

I'm trying to figure out what the Absolute most effective style of play is for Ranger in both Solo and grouping. I'm not a pretty snowflake it doesn't bother me to run cookie cutter techniques and run the pallette that is sort of recommended for high tier runs and skilled class play.

I found a pretty helpful topic a couple pages back but it sort of devolved in to two people arguing about shotguns or something.

So, in short...

What are the most effective weapons for a Ranger, why, and what PA's should I be using to get the most out of my ranger in all forms of play in terms of both damage and my [given] support role?

[blazingsonic]

Well from I learned using guns, Chain up and end with a Charged shot.

[TheAstarion]

Twin Handguns (esp. Yohmei ones with hit or saver bullets) are great for building chains. They do little damage, but that's not the point of a chain. I'd never leave home without twinguns to help me out in this regard.

As a human you're pretty rounded in everything as you probably know, but with the added bonus of humans now having the best physical & menal defenses. So don't be afraid to be slightly closer to an enemy than most other rangers feel comfortable with. Somethingsomething Tenkai-Zan, the new single dagger move available from Melton's trade-in shop as soon as it's available, is a fun and mobile PA that's admittedly not great for damage, but it can get you out of range of things that are closing in on you. It's a Sonic the Hedgehog move in that respect.

My RAnewearl uses a wand as her right handed weapon most of the time because of newmans' dominant TP. However, human isn't far behind at all. I pair this up with a crossbow, for which the charge shot 2 is like a portable penetrating splash damage shotgun, or a card, notable for only having three bullets at PA levels 21-30, making it basically ranger-exclusive in terms of usefulness.

My formula: Twinguns until the chain hits around 15-20 or so, then switch to card & wand, fire a couple of normal card shots while strafing, power up a charge shot to rank 2, release, switch to the wand, do the Triangle-tech (Grants is usually a good option) while the card homes in, making the most of the combo finisher on two fronts.

As a human you may wish to invest in a couple of levels cross-class (Hunter, Vanguard) to get a cheap ATP and PP boost, respectively.

This works best solo when you have control over when a chain ends, but in a group it isn't too bad either if people aren't all grenade charging cyclone dancing scatterhappy combo breakers. In parties, your wand can have Resta on square, putting you even more firmly in a support role.

[Hrith]

That piece of advice would not work much if the Ranger is a cast, don't know about human, though.
I barely use twin handguns, myself, I find single handguns do a better job at building chains and doing damage.

Rifles are also a must-have in your palette, great power, fast charge, long range.

With fast-charging weapons, you usually have time for two charged attacks before the chain combo fades, bear that in mind.

Since we're talking Ranger, I have a question.

Do shotguns simply suck in this game?

[Shakuri]

Shotguns are great, with 21+ bullets, a decent powered Shotgun and a decent chain. Against Single targets its damage is excellent.

[reala728]

playing through story mode in general is pretty hard since enemy levels follow yours. anyways its totally up to you. personally i only like to use rifles and twin handguns but thats by no means the most effective. its all about what your comfortable with

[DarkPhoton]

Im a ranger, I have been since the original phantasy star. and all he advice here is pretty solid.

As far as PA's go, your going to want something that hits a group. I recomend for melee using double sabers with tornado dance. As a back up i also tote around twin claws.

Bullets on the other hand. With twin guns I don't use any. Just dance around the target and build up a high chain then end it with a level 2 charge shot. Rifles I tend to equip power shoot, Mostly cause they already have damn good accuracy and if your using one, its to pick off enemies at a distance. Grenade launchers are also very effective when fighting a large group. Shotguns I only really find useful when I'm fighting something small with low HP, Because of the lack of moving while you fire and the horrible cooldown time between shots. I do like the shotgun style range mags however, Those are great when you have to get close for some melee.

But for the most part, as a ranger you just want to keep a distance between you and the enemy and fire away. Build chains and charge shot.

Have fun playing a ranger. They are my all time favorite class.

[FarenKar]

I'm a fairly well rounded player, but rangers have always been my favorite class to play, as well. I've only recently started up with PsP2, and to be perfectly honest, the changes they made to guns and the PP system really fubar'ed my strategies. XP

In PsP, my ranger strategy as to exploit elemental weakness, switching the shot type for the weapon as the situation called for it, mostly preferring to use rifles or twin handguns. With the ability to use photon charges, and to have multiple weapons (usually of the same type) on the palette, I could flip between guns and recharge whewn combat lapsed, always pressing the elemental advantage with the guns.

In PsP2, I can obviously no longer do this. XP

What I have learned, though (lvl 28 cast ranger), seems to be carrying me fairly well. I decided to stick to my proverbial guns, using mostly twin handguns and rifles, and try to keep at least 2 of each on the palette, to balance out elemental affinity a little more. Rifles are excellent at range, of course, and are quite efficient when fighting melee opponents who can't close very quickly. When things get up close and personal (I tend to do most open missions solo, just out of habit,) that's when the twin handguns come into play. I've seen and read the arguments for single handgun against twin, but I feel it really is a matter of preference, for the ability to block has saved my butt more than once. I tend to pour a lot of money into upgrades in this game, and most general monsters in the missions I come across can be dealt with by a charge 2 shot with the twin handguns, or a few extra shots after if it doesn't.

In short, there are a handful of different ways to run an effective ranger, all depending really on preference. If you're playing a human, especially with the boosted defense in PsP2, don't be too afraid of getting up glose with more mobile guns. (Also, that ability that reduced the PP cost of dodging is a godsend. XD )

[reala728]

I'm a fairly well rounded player, but rangers have always been my favorite class to play, as well. I've only recently started up with PsP2, and to be perfectly honest, the changes they made to guns and the PP system really fubar'ed my strategies. XP

In PsP, my ranger strategy as to exploit elemental weakness, switching the shot type for the weapon as the situation called for it, mostly preferring to use rifles or twin handguns. With the ability to use photon charges, and to have multiple weapons (usually of the same type) on the palette, I could flip between guns and recharge whewn combat lapsed, always pressing the elemental advantage with the guns.

In PsP2, I can obviously no longer do this. XP

What I have learned, though (lvl 28 cast ranger), seems to be carrying me fairly well. I decided to stick to my proverbial guns, using mostly twin handguns and rifles, and try to keep at least 2 of each on the palette, to balance out elemental affinity a little more. Rifles are excellent at range, of course, and are quite efficient when fighting melee opponents who can't close very quickly. When things get up close and personal (I tend to do most open missions solo, just out of habit,) that's when the twin handguns come into play. I've seen and read the arguments for single handgun against twin, but I feel it really is a matter of preference, for the ability to block has saved my butt more than once. I tend to pour a lot of money into upgrades in this game, and most general monsters in the missions I come across can be dealt with by a charge 2 shot with the twin handguns, or a few extra shots after if it doesn't.

In short, there are a handful of different ways to run an effective ranger, all depending really on preference. If you're playing a human, especially with the boosted defense in PsP2, don't be too afraid of getting up glose with more mobile guns. (Also, that ability that reduced the PP cost of dodging is a godsend. XD )

care to elaborate on the bold?
im interested in the ranger class but one handed weapons seem so pointless to me since they equip with the left hand and you cant put a shield or mag in the right. whenever i try out one handed combinations for rangers i end up using the right hand only for opening crates

[FarenKar]

care to elaborate on the bold?
im interested in the ranger class but one handed weapons seem so pointless to me since they equip with the left hand and you cant put a shield or mag in the right. whenever i try out one handed combinations for rangers i end up using the right hand only for opening crates

I posted this not long after reading a thread on said debate. I personally don't find an advantage of the single handgun over twin; twin handguns are essentially my primary weapon in PsP2.

I do also carry around a sword n' shield combo with my ranger for those times I run out of PP and need to not get toasted when waiting for my energy to recharge. (That, and a cast with a shield looks pretty cool. XD )

I think I'm gonna pick up a grenade launcher pretty quick. I generally had one around in PsP1, but that was when we didn't have shared PP and I could mess with them as I liked; I'll probably post back after I see how that goes.