Returning player questions

[lnvisible]

Hello, I haven't been around in quite some time but I got a new PC and figured I'd check in on PSO2. I haven't been around since the Magatsu release, anyone want to give me a general summary of what's changed if any since I've been gone? A friend who stayed around a bit longer than me said something about 13* being required for a lot of new things or something along those lines? Also, have there been any class rebalances and how have they effected things (I played pretty much everything though I never did finish getting bouncer to 75)? Also, I heard costumes now come in parts similar to cast parts instead of a full one-piece set like before, can anyone explain a bit about that?

[Altiea]

Hello, I haven't been around in quite some time but I got a new PC and figured I'd check in on PSO2. I haven't been around since the Magatsu release, anyone want to give me a general summary of what's changed if any since I've been gone? A friend who stayed around a bit longer than me said something about 13* being required for a lot of new things or something along those lines? Also, have there been any class rebalances and how have they effected things (I played pretty much everything though I never did finish getting bouncer to 75)? Also, I heard costumes now come in parts similar to cast parts instead of a full one-piece set like before, can anyone explain a bit about that?

For the Costumes:

We now have Layerwear. Layerwear is Costumes separated into three parts: an Outerwear (same as a Costume), a Basewear (a Ticket, can't be color changed), and an Innerwear (Also a Ticket, can't be color changed). You can mix and match sets, although the given Layerwear doesn't give us a lot of mixing room.

[Kondibon]

From what I heard, XH is balanced around mid/high tier 12*s or something (based on my experiences playing this seems to be true). That said, there's been a lot more easily accessible 13*s and the new NT grinding system makes them less than mind flayingly painful to grind. Heck I'm pretty sure most NT 13*s are stronger at lvl 1 latent than anything that isn't a good nox weapon.

EDIT: and yes, there have been class adjustments, through the skill trees, PA crafting, and the new Skill ring system. It's a lot to go over though and the servers just came up so I wanna play! :U

[lnvisible]

To add on to this, it seems like gearing has changed a ton since I've been gone. I've been reading about "Austere" equips? I don't really remember too much about what I had but I believe I have the zieg units and an assortment of 11/12* weapons (never did get a 13* drop). How does this measure up to the average equipment nowadays?

[Altiea]

To add on to this, it seems like gearing has changed a ton since I've been gone. I've been reading about "Austere" equips? I don't really remember too much about what I had but I believe I have the zieg units and an assortment of 11/12* weapons (never did get a 13* drop). How does this measure up to the average equipment nowadays?

At the very, very end, when all you care about is better gear, 11s are largely Excube fodder. 12s are still passable for being decent in MPAs. Nicer gear is immediately available through the Collect File system; with it, you can farm enemies to fill up a bunch of gauges on a Sheet. When you fill all of the gauges, you can collect a free 13*.

The "Austere" you've been hearing about is the cream of the crop 13*; it has higher base ATK than any of the other weapons in the game (except for the Launcher, which is beaten by the Yasminkov Launcher that came out yesterday by 4 R-ATK). It takes a very long time to grind for, though.