Étoile Class Discussion

[ArcaneTechs]

About Étoile

Spoiler!

--A class with a variety of evolved guarding actions and innovative party support skills.
--They, however, are not able to use Technics.
--Each weapon type has unique guard-related weapon actions.

CLASS REVEAL TRAILER: https://twitter.com/makap0/status/1162654684248567809

Class Revealed: August 17th, 2019
Class Released: December 18th, 2019

Weapon Gameplay

Spoiler!

This video also has a pretty nifty starter tutorial for how the class plays and it's skills. Recommend sitting through it if you're new to the class or need a refresh course.


Double Saber Tidbits

Spoiler!

--Double Saber Gear

Gear is gained by attacking enemies.
Gear is consumed upon being hit, reducing the damage received.

--Enhance Attack (Long Press Normal Attack with Gear)

Powerful Attacks that consume Gear

--Weapon Action: Deflect

Guard while moving in any direction.
While guarding, you can perform an approach attack.
This can be repeated, and the weapon action will attack with the same performance.
The next Weapon Action will be strengthened upon a successful Guard.

Dual Blade Tidbits

Spoiler!

--Dual Blade Gear

Gear is gained by attacking enemies.
Gear can be consumed to perform Special Attacks

--Weapon Action: Parry

Activate at any time to parry an enemy attack

--Step Edge (Weapon Action during Step)

Hurls an [Edge] and performs a long-range attack.
Doing a Weapon Action during Step Edge, consumes gear, and performs a special attack that mows down the surroundings.
Performing a Weapon Action again, consumes gear, and performs another special attack that cuts widely in front of the player.

--Edge from Photon Arts

An [Edge] is an additional attack that occurs with Photon Arts.
Edges can track onto on enemy or attack a wide area.

Wand Tidbits

Spoiler!

--Wand Gear

Gear accumulates when attacking enemies, moving, or Just Guarding
When Gear is accumulated, you can perform Special Attacks

--Focus PA

Focus PAs can be activated by using the Weapon Action at a certain time during the PA.
Focus reduces the PA’s area of attack, but lets you focus on attacking a single enemy.

--Weapon Action: Protect

Hold to consume Gear and extend Just Guard duration
The Weapon Action can be charged to perform attacks
Charge 1: Perform a Long-Distance Attack while moving
Charge 2/3 with 1 Gear or more: Perform Special Attacks according to the amount of Gear consumed

Class Balance Updates

Spoiler!

6/10/20

Dual Blade Gear Accumulation Amount: 1.2x

Dual Blade Normal Attack
-PP Recovery Amount: 1.5x
-Added Mobility

Radiant Sting
-Reduced PP Consumption
-Improved mobility when not locked on

Particle Flow
-Reduced PP Consumption and Reduced Power (25 -> 18 PP)
-Power Distribution Adjusted (1711 -> 1511 )
-Hitstop relaxed (hitstop is 1 frame, PA is a total of 74 frames)

Light Wave
-Improved Mobility
-Extended Distance
-Expanded Attack Range
(Edge Receives No Changes)

Dual Blade Parry
-Extended Invincibility upon activation

Skill Tree Recommendations

Spoiler!

Recommended builds to use, of course swap things wherever you feel you want them.

Versatile

http://arks-layer.com/skillsim/skill...BdBdBIo000000f

I had a few builds that were here but deleted as over time this week it seems Flat Attack isn't nearly a "trap" skill as people have put it but Hp Restorate Skill is hit or miss. You have to JA to get the 50% Crit and Flat Atk Bonus helps you retain your damage overall during a quest if you miss a JA window (or mis-time it) so it's still a must to get to sustain your DPS because no one is going to 100% JA every run they do.

4/26/20
While we had the Lv95 for some time now and we got some extra SP, the only thing I adjusted on the Skill Tree I posted above (since I did use that build and now use a slightly adjusted one) was remove all but 1 SP in Et Hp Restorate and filled the 8 extra SP into All Atk Up (40 extra atk, essentially 1% dmg increase). It's also come to some light that DS Step Slide is kinda useless, it's not very fast compared to normal running and Wand/Katana speed traveling that all it offers is a unique animation. Unless theres something I'm not seeing (aside me knowing that I almost never use this) then it's something you can drop and throw that 1 whole SP into something else

Lv95 Build
http://arks-layer.com/skillsim/skill...dBdBIoc000000I

Weapon Meta

Spoiler!

Enough time has gone by and the weapon meta has seem to be set in stone until some balance updates happen to the class (5/3/20)
DB buff came, didn't really change it up a whole lot (6/10/20)

Wand > DS > DB's

Dual Blades

A) Very good for Multi-Bossing (i.e. Elder Arms) but performs okayish on mobbing. Until Et DBs gets a power balance of sorts, it is still lacking behind the other 2 weapons, albeit almost on the same level as DS but still below Wand.

Double Saber

A) Excellent in single bossing, counter and Double Saber Skip Arts is a must along with DS Gear use while holding Normal Attack key for quick dmg/pp regain. Some skill may be required to mutli boss with this weapon, not really recommended though.

Wand

A) If you can manage it's PP use correctly you can easily out dmg the other 2 weapons, excels in mobbing and can be very lethal in bossing. Liberate Wand S5 (Calming Shockwave) completely makes it's PP recovery management a thing of the past (whether you have S6: Wise Skill or not, it's still suggested you grab this SSA).

Recommended Gear

Spoiler!

Weapon

1. Cras
2. Stil
3. Ayer
4. Atra Ex+. Austere NT+. LS+, Million/Clissa
5. Liberate, the rest of the other 15*s

New and returning players should work on Stil/Pyras series by running Divide Quest or any 15* weapon campaign going on. Starter weapons: Dim series. Alternatively, if you run Primordial Darkness enough, you can exchange for an Ayer weapon (cap is at +30) from Zieg instead.

Units
Lightstream still holds up, unless you want to make the jump for S6-8 SSA's, you can but you probably won't see much of a difference in terms of unit to unit comparisons, the SSA's atm are really the only things that will make a major difference.

New players can either make full Schvelle or work toward Liberate. Can also opt to just have a Novel Leg since its basically the 13* version of Izane series and add w/e Rear or Arm unit of choice

SSA's
DO NOT use any sort of Lifesteal/Hp recovery SSA's as the skill "Damage Balancer" significantly reduces any of the healing to 1Hp per tick. You will need to learn to adapt without these

S1's
Augment Intent
Offensive Intent
Skilled Strike
Strike Boost (if you spec'd T atk on to your Wand, use Tech Boost)

S2's
Offensive Intent
Skilled Strike (1 or 2)

S3's
Offensive Intent
Skilled Strike (1 or 2)

S4's
Raising Pursuit
Colossal Radiance
Mysterious Strike
--(only use MS if you have at least over 100% crit, otherwise you're doing 6% dmg 50% of the time from this, you want consistency)

S5's
Mysterious Intent (DS & DB's)
Calming Shockwave (Wand)

Mag Build
Works like Hero Mag, in example:

Your Mag:
0 S atk
0 R atk
200 T atk

Your Mag with Et Mag Skill:

200 S atk
200 R atk
200 T atk

Ring Wise
Recommended if not Mandatory that you grab these 2 rings to increase QoL
L/Mate Lovers
L/Atomizer Lovers

These are utility which I recommend you keep one of these L/Rings with the atk (20) on it or if you want the Defense (20) instead
L/Jumping Dodge
L/Mag Excite
L/Party of Toughness

L/Easy Full Connect
-It's an alright ring, not something you need unless you want it. It's more on the lines of needing to set up with it and not just halting your DPS once the gauge is half full and using it right away because the charge up time takes awhile and during that time you could have already done more damage than what you're about to unleash. A good example of using this is during the intro animation of Persona on his main Phase when the camera is focused on him and you see everyone else setting up their attacks, thats when you learn to time the charge and release when he's able to be hit. Figure out your setups and the ring will come in handy otherwise don't bother with the ring (especially since Dual Blades are the worst of the 3 atm still)

R/C Strike S (theres a compound Ring now that adds all S/R/T atk into one ring, no it does not stack, remains 20% Crit + 3% Crit Dmg)
R/Quick Mate (if for some reason you want more added on top of Mate Lovers, grab this)
R/Tech Arts JAPPS (I didn't make up the name but if you want to save even more PP during different PA combo's, grab this)
R/Et Effort Symbol Ring (1% dmg increase, 10% Crit Rate increase, 3% Dmg Reduction. It's an okay ring but wouldn't drop C Strike ring for it)

DPS Rotations/Charts, High Level Play Videos

Spoiler!

Heres the Data Charts for PA's etc (courtesy of Reilet). I'll update the charts if need be

Spoiler!

Double Saber


Dual Blades


Wand

--Weapon Mechanics 101
Here is a VERY helpful video for learning each of the weapon mechanics that'll improve your level of play, shows very good details that ties into the DPS charts above:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY7Rt0gskIQ


I haven't seen much on DPP PA combo's but for the time being here are some you can spam, you can also use the charts above as reference.

---Dual Blade
Vertical Flow or Radiant Sting -> Distortion Pierce 3x
Vertical Flow or Radiant Sting -> Light Wave 3x

---Double Saber
Absolute Quasar (hold direction for first half of PA into) -> Saber Destruction 2/3x -> Charged Normal (can add Celestial Collide at the end)
Absolute Quasar (hold direction for first half of PA into) -> Saber Destruction 2/3x -> Celestial Collide
After Celestial Collide (or for distance targeting), use Shooting Star.

You can stay in a neutral position if you don't want the first half of Absolute Quasar and then going into these combo's if you want. You can also hold a direction for repositioning with Saber Destruction if need be too. Remember to DS Counter for free PP/Dmg and use Charged Normals

---Wand
Prism Circular (normal PA or Focus) -> Luminous Flare 3x (can do either the normal PA or its Focus variant, be mindful of PP consumption)
Black Hole Rupture -> Luminous Flare ?x (more of a mobbing combo, use LF as needed. Can use Focus BHR into LF on stationary mob/bosses)

--------------------
Solo PD play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMeez7CiTnQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTcb5p0ole0
https://youtu.be/6Trv4g-Bqg8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cprsHAyx2iM - DS only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76EBkdfDCCU - DB only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p0VO0nJlt8 - Wand only

Mother/Deus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmFSop-E1ug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEyeRKNruWw - DS only

Phanatical Phantoms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tnwcVksAP0

Endless Quest Play - Forever Etoile 106mill Pts


Infiltration UQ play

Common Questions

Spoiler!

1. Does Damage Balancer effect any sort of Hp recovery outside Mates and Et Hp Restore?

A) Yes, any sort of Lifesteal or Hp Recov Ring or SSA will only recover 1Hp per tick

2. So for Et Wand affixes, S or T atk?

A) You can spec into w/e the highest stat is on the Wand (either S or T atk), just make sure you're also accounting for affixes before you do so. If you are sharing that Wand with Techer, spec into T atk then. The skill called "Wand Special Ability Plus" will take into account on w/e highest stat (S or T) is and applies it.

3. Does Around Mate Up only increase the power of Mates/Atomizers of everyone around you or does it apply to you as well?

A) This skill also applies to you

4. Do I have to rotate different PA's after proc'ing Tech Art Bonuses condition or can I do one PA then spam a different one 3 times?

A) Yes, you can spam the same PA 3 times after the proc

5. Which weapon is best for bossing and which for mobbing?

A) DB/DS primarily for bossing and some mobbing, Wand is VERY good for mobbing and bossing but PP management is pretty heavy.

6. How long do you need to stand still for Standing Massive?

A) Around the same time as Standing Snipe, I also believe this works in the air too (at least from what I've seen)

7. With maxed Flat Bonus, is JA Critical the only disadvantage from missing JA?

A) You will also be missing out on ET JA Bonus (15% dmg)

8. Any way to avoid parry causing you to not get a JA window at the end of the PA? I.e. whenever I use it I can't get a JA from the current PA

A) You need to time your parry's, do not spam it otherwise it'll cause you to miss it.

9. Does maxed Tech Arts Count Bonus cut PP for the next 3 PAs different from the first as well as raise the damage?

A) Yes to both

10. Is there any point in Wand F Dash?

A) It boosts your movement speed for a short period of time during/after a Focus PA, it's pretty helpful for positioning.

11. Maxed Same Arts PP Save would cut pp cost by 80% if used 16 times?

A) Yes but only recommended you put 3pts max if you're maining Et, subclass wise, add desired amount.

ALL INFORMATION IS BORROWED from Bumped, Swiki, the PSO2 Community and posted here for ease of access. I give my thanks to the people working hard on translating and updating the information we use on a daily basis to help ease our life while playing PSO2 and being able to enjoy the game today and forward into the future. Consider visiting them for more information that may or may not be here or for your general update information for the game:

http://www.bumped.org/psublog/

https://pso2.swiki.jp/

If any of the video links are broken (either because Youtube took them down or the Twitter post was deleted) please let me know either by DM or posting here in the thread so I can try and find a replacement asap. Thanks