New player looking for advice (lengthy post)

[SociableTyrannosaur]

Without turning this into a fight, it's one thing to tell them "that spoon isn't the most effective weapon. if you want to be the most efficient, use a gun" it's another to say "don't bother with the spoon, the spoon is dumb" better to teach them to turn the spoon into a shiv...or better yet ask them why they want the spoon to begin with.

On the other hand: telling someone it doesn't matter the group will carry them is an awful way to help and only contributes to the reason people avoid PUGs whenever they can.

edit: Striker, there's a notable difference between a Hu/Te trying to cast spells and a Te/Hu trying to melee. I guarantee you a group of 12 Hu/Tes in that first scenario may as well be flinging bags of poo while the Te/Hus at least have sticks. Similarly a group of Bow Br/Hus are going to be much less effective than katana Br/Hus. You don't tell people it doesn't matter what they do and expect the few people who know what they're doing to do all the work. You want everyone to know what they're doing and make sure the people who pick a certain class combination know its strengths and weaknesses so they can decide if that's really want they want to do.

[Ratazana]

Sure, if you only have spoons, but guns are readily available!

It's fine if he is surrounded by same minded people or alone but bringing a knife to a gunfight without the ninja skills to back it up is just embarrassing.

[Kondibon]

Sure, if you only have spoons, but guns are readily available!

It's fine if he is surrounded by same minded people or alone but bringing a knife to a gunfight without the ninja skills to back it up is just embarrassing.

The best thing is to be constructive and help the person understand. Don't just tell them not to do something, go into details why, especially if they asked (which he did). Tell people how to make the most of what they're doing but also make sure to let them know what they're getting into. It's important that people know WHY something is bad and WHY something is good so that they can use that information to make intelligent decisions on their own. Also, at the end of the day it's best to just let them do what they want at early levels regardless of how bad it is because that's the best way to understand it.

[Ratazana]

Well, he did say he was "dead set" on his goal. Going into details of how to set those goals is nothing but brain masturbation.

It won't help one bit when he is out there in the wild with people resenting his very presence.

[Crystal_Shard]

1) TE is generally inferior to FO in terms of casting power, and a major reason to get FO is because of PP Charge Revival, which allows you to recover PP while charging any of your tech, so if you want to cast techs more, you can keep on using HU/FO.

On the other hand, if you really want to use TE, making a quick switch from HU/TE to TE/HU means that you get full access to all wands, while still being able to use many of the decent HU all class weapons (there are very few good all class wands unfortunately). Zondeel + Wand Gear smacking is one of the best mobbing tools available, simply because damage caused from the wand gear explosions is cumulative, multiplied by the number of enemies being hit simultaneously. Getting a good wand is key to getting the most out of wand gear.

If you still are set on HU/TE (because of a specific weapon you really must use on the HU side) then the best I can suggest is to experiment with the skill calculator to find the most optimal skills that you should use.

2) You should be able to get a decent amount of the Fury Tree along with Iron Will and Never Give Up, but bear in mind that you won't max certain things. You simply have to choose wisely what skills to sacrifice on the various trees. Do check out the skill calculator, the build thread, and Arksenth's thread on melee TE for some good advice.

3) Already explained below.

4) Play for fun, but at the same time, don't gimp yourself purposely. It's not a nice feeling to see everyone destroying mobs and dashing ahead of you, while you're struggling away with a handful of mobs. :3

5) Crafting essentially changes your weapon into a skin with preset stats. The only reason to craft would be if you want to preserve a specific weapon skin you love, but still deal decent damage. Don't do crafting unless you really must have a weaker weapon as your main, and/or if you want to multiclass a particular weapon. It's basically all just aesthetics.

6) No real difference aside from cost.

7) I semi-regularly purchase AC for premium. The main reason to get premium is for 10* and 11* trading, being able to get into crowded blocks better, much more FUN points, the MyRoom, the MyShop; in other words, there's a whole host of perks you can get from getting premium. Doing scratch is harder to justify, but you can get lucky and make lots of meseta from one lucky scratch (or save meseta, if you get that one cosmetic item you really wanted) - you just have to remember that it's basically gambling for virtual items and decide if you're willing to go ahead with it or not.

Another optional purchase is the box sets that Sega releases periodically. Buying the box sets is mainly for getting the unique item codes that come with it (and if you use a Vita, for the ability to use less mem card space for the game), but you can still get those via the player shops, for a premium in meseta of course. It's just easier to buy the box set for a guarantee that you'll get all the code items.

[Kondibon]

Well, he did say he was "dead set" on his goal. Going into details of how to set those goals is nothing but brain masturbation.

It won't help one bit when he is out there in the wild with people resenting his very presence.

And you not explaining why it isn't very good isn't going to change his mind.
You said yourself it's fine if he's with like minded people. He can always switch to a more efficient class combo when he's doing big group content like TD. I don't see why that somehow prevents you from being constructive instead of just going "no don't do it". At LEAST explain why, you don't even have to go in depth.

Actually no, forget all that. Just be less abrasive and more constructive, that's all.

[UnLucky]

Fo/Te is underpowered for an entirely different reason than Hu/Te.

Fo/Fi, Fo/Br, Fo/Te, Te/Fo, Te/Fi, Te/Br, doesn't matter even if that combo maximizes certain elemental damage. Main tech casting, which was never a bad idea, is currently subpar in the latest revision of the game.

Hu/Ra, Te/Gu, Fi/Br, Ra/Fo, and such were always bad ideas because the two classes don't synergize as well as other class combinations.

And it's a completely different thing to suggest a new player who is just starting to roll another class than someone who has been level capped for months.

[Mike]

If you disagree with a build or the way someone is planning on running their character, don't insult them. Explain why. To echo what has already been said:

Be less abrasive and more constructive.

[Ratazana]

Excuse me, I got a bit carried away. I didn't insult the OP though!

I guess I'm the only one that thinks telling someone to do something constructive ingame is better than teaching him how to do something abarasive ingame.

Alrite, let me explain. OP, do you want to play marathon star online two barely touching the mobs (bosses included) before they melt around you? Do you believe than your personal fun has priority over the team goals? You don't care being carried around? Do you want to play to whine? If yes to, do anything you want. Hu/Te, anything, it doesn't matter. Skill points, gear, nothing matters really.

Do you want to kill the mobs yourself? Do you share the team goals? Do you think the team takes priority over personal wishes? Do you want to contribute to the team? Would you hate being looked down as a leech? Do you want to play to win? If yes, just roll a br.

[Xaelouse]

hu/te isn't even that bad though, granted you're abusing zondeel and not getting killed from it