Which Character Types did you choose?

[PlinderD]

Easier not better.

All bosses have patterns that are mostly easy to abuse. Reyburn and C&M are probably the somewhat exception. Since Reyburn does damage while he's walking around and his tail swipe can come out almost instantly. Although as far as Rangers are concerned, that only matters for Triple Shot Spam, Earth Bullet, Cool Style, and Mine Sneak... any maybe that Bazooka PA but... honestly... Bazookas...

Or a Ranger that tries to do OE with a Hocho.

C&M is a problem because getting the most damage out of Chaos means following him around (against short range attacks) And that means exposing the character to damage.

But the rest of the bosses? All of their patterns are really easy to abuse. Octo Diablo is even easier for Rangers because it's easier to hit the weakspot of Tentacles of the second phase with a ranged weapon, Hunter can only deal overwhelming damage to tentacles after the twin "drill" attack.

Humilias's only real threat is his Panel attack which can deal Ice. But Ice/Protect solves that. Mother Trinity has a safe spot. Her attacks have huge cooldowns and animations. The Rook Piece is just absolutely pathetic. Dark Falz's only real danger is during the 2nd "phase" of the battle when he starts swimming around the stage. But the simple fact that he generates extra targets is just him asking players to kill him faster.

I've seen bosses with even far more ridiculous patterns in other Action games. And players can get through those without reducing the damage of bosses.

RAmars are easier. That's all they are. If the player doesn't want to exert the effort that comes naturally in games that have similar gameplay, then go right ahead and use a RAmar.

[DoctorShanks]

In my book, easier means the same thing as better. With or without Compress, Jellen and Zalure are no chore and last a very long time. If you do make a stupid mistake, and I'm sure you and I both do (especially at Humilias and C&M), you might just live with a bit of HP.

Humilias doesn't really use his panel attack if you hit him hard and fast enough. You can easily strike both of his legs using Earth Bullet and inflict enough damage as long as you're using Celeb.

Or a Ranger that tries to do OE with a Hocho.

Don't be silly... you might as well have made a hunter. I lol at Rangers that have to sink this low.

RAmars are easier. That's all they are. If the player doesn't want to exert the effort that comes naturally in games that have similar gameplay, then go right ahead and use a RAmar.

See the first sentence. I'm sure anyone playing offline will take this offer.

Anyway, I didn't mean to derail the thread. Are you going to be playing online or offline OP?

[PlinderD]

In your book. Here's the thing, even if I don't adapt a playstyle where I play at the best of my ability it doesn't mean that the RAcast stops being the best Ranger due to having the best output. All that means is that I can't play the RAcast to its true potential.

On the other hand when a player finally grows out of his comfort zone the RAmar stops being the best ranger because "how easy" something is played suddenly doesn't matter anymore. What does not change is that the RAmar is still the easiest Ranger.

Without any specific playstyle, the RAcast is the best. The only time the RAmar is better is if the player wants an easier Ranger to play.

And stupid mistakes are what Scape Dolls are for. Or Trimates. Or Dimates. Or Monomates.

Oh and that bit about damaging Humilias enough. Sure. Except here's the thing. Humilias moves around. He even has a back dash which puts him way out of range. And he can activate the panel attack almost instantly. Ice/Protect solves that.

As for the Hocho's OE it has decent damage that can outdamage lots of guns and their PA's. Especially considering Valley is a beginner map, so using a Hocho on Reyburn is a very real situation. And I can see how a Ranger who's optimizing their damage use a Hocho as a starter weapon for SH. It's certainly not a top class end game ultimate weapon. But not everyone starts SH with a Lavantein or Frigiand.

Some people have to actually farm for the stuff they use in SH. And given what drops in Hard Mode. Hocho can easily be considered a top class starter weapon because of OE.

And frankly, I don't see how saying the RAmar is the easiest solo Ranger and the RAcast is the best solo Ranger is not more accurate. I'd even add that the RAmar is much, much easier to play than the RAcast.

It leads to less misconceptions. Because anyone who isn't scared of taking damage would certainly appreciate the RAcast's ability to not have to waste time casting debuffs and deal better damage from the get go.

On the other hand saying RAmar is the best wouldn't be true for that type of player. But the RAmar being easier Ranger to play holds true for all types of players.

[Nymeria]

XD
Thanks you guys for being super helpful. This is more advice and debating than I expected to get with my first thread.

@PlinderD
I found the procession of characters you tried out to be a very interesting read. I've been suspecting that I'll probably enjoy Techs and it seems you did.

One thing that I'm curious about: If you delete a character to replace it with a new one, is there a way to keep the best weapons/armor/etc that you found with that character before you delete it? I vaguely think I remember reading somewhere that you can share items between your characters but I can't find that page anymore. Is this true, and is there a limit to what you can share/keep?

Also, thanks for mentioning that bit about the bosses, and how certain character types fare against those. Good to know this stuff.


@DoctorShanks
Tech spamming... I definitely have to try jumping into messing around with Techs. I'm getting really curious about the FOmarl character, and I want to make one myself. In what areas did you find that she was outclassed by the males specifically? Also, nub question here but what are Grants exactly, and how did you personally utilize them to your advantage in this circumstance? I can go look up Grants, so if you don't want to answer that part I'll understand..

I'm liking the idea of choosing a FOmarl, for looks (red dress ftw), buffing/healing/supporting the team, and being able to throw around strong spells and/or decent attacks. I'm not entirely sure if she can be played well with a mix of support/offense, but that would be ideal. I like to take care of my teammates. (I mostly have experience with this - as I mentioned before - from playing Monster Hunter games with random people and friends online. It has similar boss battle situations to what I've seen in PS0 so far, and I enjoy scarfing down Lifepowders to help keep the team healthy, or buffing them with a good Hunting Horn.)

Thank you as well for the analysis on character types that you wrote. It's very appreciated! ~♥

Don't worry about the debate derailing the thread, it stays on topic a good amount by continuing to be based on Character Types and their strengths and weaknesses. :3

Are you going to be playing online or offline OP?

I'm hoping to play both.
The main reason I found out about PS0 is because I was looking for another fun game to play on my long Train commutes to and from work. I've played my portable Monster Hunter games and Dragon Quest 9 to death at this point and wanted something with elements of both and maybe a new twist. PS0 fit, with Reyburn even resembling something between a Monoblos and a Rathalos battle a little... and I love the RNG map exploring and level grinding and weapon creating. I'll definitely be playing this solo on the Train a lot... but I'm hoping that I'll be able to connect online from home sometimes as well (if my internet connection and wifi router security permits). If not at home, maybe I can find a wifi hotspot somewhere.

Being able to solo the whole game is good, and it's helpful to know which characters might be easier to do this or more challenging. I'm pretty stubborn either way so I'm sure I'll make progress. X'D

@ALL
I'd love to join any of you online if I can get that working. I'll know shortly after Christmas. ^_^

[DoctorShanks]

Grants is the name of the Light spell in this game.

There are 7 areas: Gurhacia, Ozette, Rioh, Paru, Makara, Arca, and Shrine

I was able to utilize Celeb Magical Sign at Gurhacia and Paru. I was able to greatly utilize Grants at Makara (Along with Megid for the Purple Batts), Shrine (Entirity of part 2), and to a lesser extent, Arca (In conjunction with Zonde to hit everything for decent damage). The FOnewm can do Arca better, and both males do a better job and spamming Foie at Rioh, and spamming Foie/Zonde at Ozette. Those areas are crazy simple anyway, so all in all I'm glad I made a FOmarl. No regrets as I have found unique-ish uses for her at 5 of the 7 areas.

[PlinderD]

There's a Joint Trunk which can hold 100 items. And Meseta.

All Forces play the same way. The only difference really is that in certain cases one Force will do more damage than the rest. But essentially what strategy works best for one Force applies to the other three.

As for online, the Force's Shifta (Damage Buff) is by far one of the most essential things to an efficient run. It outclasses the Hunter's version of it, and Rangers and Cast Hunters don't have it. Zalure is another nice thing to have, but sparingly used. The reason here is that Forces can output a ridiculous amount of damage. They can easily match Hunters if not surpass them in a lot of occasions.

So the bonus damage from Zalure would have probably matched if not be less than the damage that Force would have done had he attacked instead of debuffed enemies.

The main drawback of Forces, that they rely a lot on PP (MP) is toned down by the fact that there are other characters who deal a decent amount of damage.

As far as buffing and healing goes, just get a feel of your party. The people I regularly ran with didn't need me to use the defense debuff or the enemy attack debuff at all. I only healed them inbetween battles. Since there are items in this game which restore 30, 60, 100% of a characters HP and are used instantly. I played with a JP player that played a HUcast who used items before I could heal him. And I remember playing with other people who simply refused to use items, and were spamming me for heals.

So yeah, just know your party. Shifta will always be welcome. The rest... well sometimes the best way to help your party is to just kill the stuff that's trying to kill them.

[DoctorShanks]

As my Force, I run Resta, Shifta, Zalure, and Jellen at all costs. The other two depend on what area you're playing at. All of the supportive Forces I've played with were the best forces I've played with.

[PlinderD]

Seeing as your own playstyle revolves around that, obviously a Force that accentuates it would be better.

The people I played with were fully capable of tackling enemies on their own. I could literally see enemies already dropping dead by the time I finish debuffing.

By the time Resta is charged, their HP is already full from them using their own items.

Not everyone is dependant on a Force to heal them. Nor is everyone dependant on the damage reduction of Jellen. Zalure might be handy but the fact that Forces can unleash a spell in roughly the time it takes to cast it makes it an inferior option to just killing enemies at times.

So yeah, in the end, knowing your party members is the best way to go. A supportive Force in a party of efficient well built and well played characters is just a step above a waste of a party slot. On the other hand an all out offensive Force would be detrimental to a party that isn't that well built or played.

[DoctorShanks]

I normally use Zalure for the fact that I spend less PP plowing through rooms, and I use Jellen because I'm more reliant on the acuracy drop rather than the attack drop. I usually get Zalure and Jellen up before any of my party members can even attack so I'm sure I'm not wasting time.

[PlinderD]

Other Forces can use Fluids to combat PP use.
Other players use Items to supplement manually dodging through rolling or positioning to combat damage

People can have charged Bite Stamp or even Serpent Air on their Celeb 4 Hadan Bite and will already be in range of an enemy. Of all the high end PA's only Over End will probably be the one that'll still be charging once all debuffs are used, but a properly built Over End (Shifta 11-15 + Celeb 3 with Element Boost and an ATP build) makes ridiculously short work of most mobs. Without Zalure.

And before you bring up bosses, they can be brought down in a minute or two without Zalure or even Flozir 3+ without Jellen or Resta.

The damage done by enemies in this game isn't as overwhelming as you make it out to be. Nor are their HP totals. And neither is the potential for damage of players, especially in a party of well built and equipped character. And healing items are useful. For all characters. Forces included.

If the people you play with refuse to use items because there's a Force in the party. Sure, use Resta and Jellen and Deband.

But that doesn't change how Monomates, Dimates and Trimates can be used long before Resta is charged up. Or how even Forces can stay in the front lines spamming Magical Sign without Deband on them or Jellen on enemies or someone else casting Resta and still not die.

Again Forces should custom tailor their support spells to the party performance. If you only play with one type of players who will never ever change their playstyle, go right ahead and stick to being a supportive Force.

But even with my limited capability to go online, I've encounted a varied selection of players on Freeplay who work better with different Force playstyles.