FO Skill "Photon Flare & Photon Flare Advance"

[SakuRei]

As the title says, since I followed the old guide for Force Skill tree on this link thread from the guides section: http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205010

Since I maxed out the important ones listed on the link above I have no idea where to put the other ones left, then I saw the Photon Flare and Photon Flare Advance and says in its description that it gives +? T-ATK with the sacrifice of ?% of your health plus additional +? T-ATK depending on level.

And again another survey questionnaire/s:

1.) Is this skill good to get for Force Users? (Any Race, main and sub class-wise will do.) Yes or No? & Why or Why not?

2.) When using this skill it will sacrifice a % of my HP. If I use Resta or mates to heal up my health, will the buff cancel itself or it will not stack if my HP is full even if the buff is activated?

3.) Should I just pick the Boosts (Freeze, Burn, Shock Boosts) and max those out instead of maxing Photon Flare and Photon Flare Advance?

4.) Should I just put all of the remaining Skill Points to Increase PP and just forget about the Boosts and Photon Flare & Photon Flare Advance? Yes or No? & Why or Why not?

[Dextro]

1) No
2) No
3) No
4) No

Why are all your options skills that are outright awful and the guide tells you to avoid? You said you're following it, right? Then finish following it; it's not outdated.
A lot of men died to bring you that guide, don't make their sacrifice in vain.

The +tatk boost pales in comparison to the percentage & mastery boosts when it comes to calculating damage. And to add to that, photon flare only has a 30sec duration and a ridiculous cooldown timer, so there's no reason to choose it over the skills that add more damage and are active 100% of the time instead (with no hp detriment).

[AgemFrostMage]

I don't really like photon flare, but needed it for my ice tree. I have three force trees and photon flare is an unnecessary sink. Though I am trying to get my freeze boost up to 5 because of the extra utility. If rabarta (or whatever the spell in front is) hits six enemies in front of you three times, that extra 5% really adds up. I also have level 2 freeze keep, works decently enough.

Mostly useful for soloing though, in groups everything dies before I set up certain things with sazan and hit their weak spots when grounded (fire tree strategy usually for city against al ahdas and breehadas.)

[Dextro]

I don't really like photon flare, but needed it for my ice tree. I have three force trees and photon flare is an unnecessary sink. Though I am trying to get my freeze boost up to 5 because of the extra utility. If rabarta (or whatever the spell in front is) hits six enemies in front of you three times, that extra 5% really adds up. I also have level 2 freeze keep, works decently enough.

Mostly useful for soloing though, in groups everything dies before I set up certain things with sazan and hit their weak spots when grounded (fire tree strategy usually for city against al ahdas and breehadas.)

Don't do it.
The status boosts aren't additive; that +5% won't turn a 17% freeze chance into a 22% freeze chance, in fact it'll barely turn it into an 18% freeze chance.

[milranduil]

lol photon flare...........

[Neferpitou]

I think it's a fun skill, not viable but still fun.

You can use it for Poison/Freeze ignition builds and it does wonders.

[cheapgunner]

Photon flare should of worked like fury stance, 60 sec active and 60 sec cooldown. Not sure what Sega was thinking. As it is now, not really that great right now.

[UnLucky]

I've got an updated version of the builds guide here, but it's mostly the same for Force. The only good new skill they got was Freeze Keep, but you're forced to take a bunch of bad skills to get it.

Dextro is exactly right, but to go into more detail:

1. No. PF is not enough of a boost for too short of a time with a harsh penalty. PF is not good at low levels because you could simply fill up the T-Atk skills to give you more overall and count towards equipment requirements. But don't do that, because there are stronger skills to get than those, even at low levels. PF is not good at end game because that 200 T-Atk is roughly 10% of your total, which you can easily get from a Tech Advance or Elemental Mastery skill which works all the time without penalty.

2. The way this skill works, and a few other similar mechanics like the Injury status effect, is that your maximum health temporarily drops down. A chunk of your HP bar turns red and cannot be healed. At the end of the skill's duration, your HP will be returned if you didn't take any damage nor had any incoming heals (even if you didn't actually gain any HP as a result of the healing).

3. No, as Dextro said these are multiplicative. That means a 10% status boost turns a 20% chance into a 22% chance. It's simply not worth 10 SP.

4. No, 10 PP isn't worth 10 SP. Half of a single cast from a full bar doesn't help as much as more damage, especially when you have so much PP regen available to you. Definitely try to get more PP from your equipment and affixes, but not from your skill tree.

[Omega-z]

The only semi-ok use for PF is on a TE/FO that wants to focus a freeze wand melee build with it. Even then your better off going HU/FI/BR for melee and/or full Tech casting on a standard FO build as a TE/FO.

[SakuRei]

Why are all your options skills that are outright awful and the guide tells you to avoid? You said you're following it, right? Then finish following it; it's not outdated.
A lot of men died to bring you that guide, don't make their sacrifice in vain.

@Dextro How many greens (must have skills) listed on the force skill tree? As I've said I'VE GOT ALL OF THE RECOMMENDED/NEEDED A.K.A THE GREEN ONES THAT ARE LISTED ON THE FORCE SKILL TREE ONES ALREADY AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO PUT THE REST OF THE POINTS. I just asked for a simple damn survey to know about Photon Flare and I suddenly get this reply, seriously wtf is your problem.

Aside from this damn reply above...

Spoiler!

I don't really like photon flare, but needed it for my ice tree. I have three force trees and photon flare is an unnecessary sink. Though I am trying to get my freeze boost up to 5 because of the extra utility. If rabarta (or whatever the spell in front is) hits six enemies in front of you three times, that extra 5% really adds up. I also have level 2 freeze keep, works decently enough.

Mostly useful for soloing though, in groups everything dies before I set up certain things with sazan and hit their weak spots when grounded (fire tree strategy usually for city against al ahdas and breehadas.)

I think it's a fun skill, not viable but still fun.

You can use it for Poison/Freeze ignition builds and it does wonders.

Photon flare should of worked like fury stance, 60 sec active and 60 sec cooldown. Not sure what Sega was thinking. As it is now, not really that great right now.

I've got an updated version of the builds guide here, but it's mostly the same for Force. The only good new skill they got was Freeze Keep, but you're forced to take a bunch of bad skills to get it.

Dextro is exactly right, but to go into more detail:

1. No. PF is not enough of a boost for too short of a time with a harsh penalty. PF is not good at low levels because you could simply fill up the T-Atk skills to give you more overall and count towards equipment requirements. But don't do that, because there are stronger skills to get than those, even at low levels. PF is not good at end game because that 200 T-Atk is roughly 10% of your total, which you can easily get from a Tech Advance or Elemental Mastery skill which works all the time without penalty.

2. The way this skill works, and a few other similar mechanics like the Injury status effect, is that your maximum health temporarily drops down. A chunk of your HP bar turns red and cannot be healed. At the end of the skill's duration, your HP will be returned if you didn't take any damage nor had any incoming heals (even if you didn't actually gain any HP as a result of the healing).

3. No, as Dextro said these are multiplicative. That means a 10% status boost turns a 20% chance into a 22% chance. It's simply not worth 10 SP.

4. No, 10 PP isn't worth 10 SP. Half of a single cast from a full bar doesn't help as much as more damage, especially when you have so much PP regen available to you. Definitely try to get more PP from your equipment and affixes, but not from your skill tree.

Guess it's not recommended eh... Wonder what to put on the rest skill points...