MAGs start out as a little drone that floats over your characters shoulder. They will help your character out more than you'll ever know. Everyone has a MAG and you should take care of yours.

They add important stat bonuses to your character. As you take damage their photon blast gauge fills (see upper left corner of screen). Your gauge will also fill as you deal damage. Special Photon Blasts can then be used which your MAG has learned through evolution.

Your MAG will evolve as it gains levels. The way it evolves depends on what you have fed it. There are three major levels of MAG evolution. These evolutions take place at level 10, 35 and 50. When you complete a major evolution, you will gain a photon blast. There are particular photon blasts awarded for evolving your MAG into specific forms.

Your MAG will start out as a shape which you cannot change. I believe this form is the same for all characters and section ID's. At level 10 your MAG will take a unique appearance to your character type. You will get a different looking MAG for Force, Hunter, and Ranger. At level 35 your mag has the ability to evolve into 3 different forms. This depends on which major stat is highest.

At level 50 your MAG's evolution is based on the relation of the major stats to each other. There are up to six different combinations, but a couple combinations can yield the same results. Your MAG can change shape during the second or third level. Every five to ten levels your MAG is able to change if one of the factors of the evolution has changed.

The major stats are power (POW), dexterity (DEX), and mind (MIND).

Your MAG will get hungry three to five minutes since its last feeding or since your game began.

Consult these guides to see how certain items affect different MAGs.

Ver 1 and 2 (DC & PC) Feeding Charts
EP 1 and 2 (GC & XBox) Feeding Charts

You feed your MAG and colored bars grow and shrink. Fun to watch, but here's what it means.

First, there are stat boosters and MAG boosters.
Your MAG gets personal bonuses with SYNC and IQ.
These stats keep your MAG happy and allow it to
give you bonuses at special times:

1) Entering boss fight
      MAG will cast deband and shifta on your character.
2) Fully charging Photon Blast
      MAG will grant you invincibility for a limited time.
3) Nearing death
      MAG will cast deband and shifta on your character.
      MAG will restore hit points.
4) Dying
      MAG will bring you back to life.

These stats are REALLY hard to manage while raising your MAG. My suggestion would be to worry about these when you've already fully raised your MAG. The higher your SYNC is, the faster your photon blast gauge will fill. The higher your IQ is, the more likely a bonus will be to appear, and it will make the bonus last longer. SYNC will max at 120% IQ will max at 200

The most important stats for a MAG are the bonuses give to you:
DEF raises your defense, each level of defense translates to one defense point towards your base defense power (DFP)
POW raises your attacking power, each level translates to two points towards your base attacking power (ATP)
DEX raises your accuracy, each level translates to half a point towards your base attack accuracy (ATA)
MIND raises your magic, each level translates to two points towards your base (MST)

NOTE: Raising MIND will do nothing for an android since they can't learn magic.

When a particular stat reaches 100 points, it will gain a level. You only get bonuses based on full levels and not points.

Every time a stat gains a level, it adds to your MAG's level. Your MAG has a maximum level of 200. This means you better pump up a MAG stat while you can.
Example:
You will max out after having these stats:
20 DEF / 125 POW / 30 DEX / 25 MIND
If you wanted to give your MAG more of one stat and you're at 200, TOO BAD.

Feeding your MAG an item that lowers the points of a certain stat, will only delete the points on that level. You cannot undo a level.

One of the most common questions I see on the gamefaqs message boards are, "What should I feed my MAG if I'm a (character type here)."

Example 1
So you're a ranger and you want your shots to be more accurate and be more damaging; pump up the POW and DEX.

Example 2
Force character? Pump up DEF for some much needed protection.

Either your can add to your characters strengths or work on some of their weaknesses. It's up to you.

There are also some mag guides you will want to check out such as the Vulpes' Single Stats Mag Guide, Vulpes' Mag Guide or Phalanx's Mag Guide.

Mmm...Photon...;erm, heh. Photon Blasts are cool. They do A LOT of damage and can really help you out in a tough spot...assuming it's fully charged.

A MAG can only learn three photon blasts so be careful not evolve it into something with a lame blast. If your MAG evolves a fourth or fifth time, you will not get that MAGs photon blast. You are stuck with the first three you learn.

Check the Mag Gallery to see what photon blasts each mag gets and read up Vulpes' Photon Blast Guide.

Here's the list of which MAG learns what:

Only certain characters will get specific MAGs. So, like Pokemon, you would have to trade in order to get some MAGs. You must be of a certain character type (hunter, ranger, force) and a specific section i.d.

Having your MAG evolve depends on a number of different factors. Normal MAGs will evolve based on level and alignment of stat boosters.

The three stat boosters used in all general MAG evolution are POW, DEX, and MIND.

Section IDs:
Your Section ID is located under your character type when you hit start. There are two groups of Section IDs who get the same MAGs per character type.

Section IDs / Type A:
VIRIDIA, SKYLY, PURPLENUM, REDRIA, YELLOWBOZE
Section IDs / Type B:
GREENILE, BLUEFULL, PINKAL, ORANE, WHITILL

Check the Mag Gallery to see the details.

Well, right now they're really aren't any... But here's the first of many hopefully, - Sync Trick
When you continue your game you MAG will start out with 5% less SYNC than when you quit. To keep This from happening, store your MAG with the bank lady.
* Yeah, I know, big whoop.

- Getting Another MAG
So you've lost your MAG? Or you just want a new one? Well look no further than high level boxes! Yes, you can find an extra MAG in a box. I found one in the mines on normal.
* With extra MAG(s) in your inventory, you can raise more than one at a time for different purposes

Below I've listed the answers to some questions which I think everyone can learn from.

Question: "If my MAG evolves into a form whose photon blast is the same as the previous form, can my MAG still learn a third photon blast?"
Example: I'm a Ranger and my Mitra learned the photon blast Pilla. I then had my MAG evolve into Bhirava which also learns Pilla. Can it still learn a third blast?
Answer: Your MAG can still learn a third blast, but not if it stays as Bhirava. You must change it from Bhirava into another MAG by switching the stat alignment before your MAG can no longer evolve.

Question: "I've noticed that there are force evolutions that are obtained when the DEF level is above 50. If I were trying to learn a photon blast from that particular MAG, how could that be accomplished?"
Explanation: If the DEF level is 45 or above, your MAG is definitely past level 50. It has already changed into it's third form and could have learned three photon blasts.
Answer: If you make your third MAG evolution into a MAG with the same blast as the second, then you will still have a space for that third blast.

List of people who helped make this FAQ possible:

Typist

Marc Jahn / nozedive / noZedive13 / RAcast / Redria
[email protected] / AIM: nozedive13

Japanese Websites

Phantasy Star Online, Star Light
http://www.stream.gr.jp/pso/
Phantasy Star Online, Jazz
http://www.jeha.org/pso/

Translators + Contributors

Tracy Baran / Mazoku
SonRomy
Confucious
Jared Oritz / Acid_Rain
Joseph A. Zupko
Toshiro
Sherwin Tam
Ken Chiu / hylozoist
Adam Anderson
Ken Chiu
Joe Navratil