SolomonGrundy
Jun 6, 2007, 03:01 AM
A Guide to playing a female (or male) newman Wartecher
Forward: this guide is not meant to be the absolute word on how to play the game, or how to be l33t/pwnz0rz. It is simply a guide should help players who are considering the WarTecher class as a main or side class, including recommendations for techs, melee weapons, and firearms. It also assumes you know the location of quests, general mission rewards, and ‘where things are’ in the game. Apologies in advance to those who do not.
Prologue: Wartecher is not a cheap class, spells are expensive, grinding wands (or buying ground wands) is expensive, and making sure you update you weapons regularly, as you hit ATP, and ATA milestones will suck the life out of most bank accounts. If this is your first character, I recommend FiGunner, or have a wealthy friend. If it is not, please proceed http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif
In the Beginning:
Newmans start out as a force, and if WarTecher (WT) is your goal, you do not want to switch to hunter – go force first. Those of you considering WT as a side class to ForteTecher (fT), may already have the required levels of Force. Even if you are not a fT, it may be wise to go to Force 10 before switching to hunter, while it is inexpensive to change classes at low level, and this will give you time to level up some spells that are...sluggish.
If you have some $$$ set aside, go to player shops and pick up a 2* or 3* dark armor – even if you cannot equip it at level 1, by level 5-7 you will be able to, and that’s only a few runs in “Unsafe Passage.” I believe I started with “Rabol Ridla” (10 DFP req).
Don’t worry about the lack of a head slot; as a Force leveling quickly, you will have plenty of Technique Power (TP). The body slot will be more effective.
Let’s talk techniques: There will be a larger tech section later on in the guide, here I am only recommending a few techs to pick up when you are first starting out. Also, I recommend NOT purchasing more than one rod. If your intent is to go Wartecher, you should get used to the PP limitations, casting times, and space limitations of having wands on your palette.
My suggestions for early techs are the following: Diga, Dambarta, Deband, Retrier, Resta and the debuff of you choice (I recommend Zalure, as it is the most party friendly). You may get reverser… I didn’t, as antimates are cheap, and a few Sols for emergencies should be enough to get by, but I understand why people do. Also, you start with Foie.
Diga, Dambarta and Foie are going to be your bread and butter for damage for a LOT of the game. Dambarta is so good it’s broken – even if you hate it’s range, and the way it looks at first, get it to level 11+ and the difference is amazing. Getting techs to 11+ before you judge them is good general advice as well.
Finally, don’t worry about a bow at first, you don’t have the ATA/ATP to equip anything meaningful until level 15-20, and right about then you will be close to switching to hunter. And speaking of hunter…
Regardless of whether you are using WT as a side class of main, you will be switching to hunter for a short two levels. Enjoy the ATP, because it’s the highest you’ll have for 10 levels or so, when you make the switch over to WT. I’ll be going into a longer weapons section later, so here I’ll just touch on what to do/pick up as a low level hunter. First off, don’t switch to hunter until you can equip “Partisan” the 4* GRM spear and/or “Wire Gloves” the 4* fists. This occurs at level 23 as a Female, and level 21 as a male. Also synth/buy a decent % ice, light, fire and dark C rank 3* yohemi daggers, and the 5* GRM saber, durandal, in earth, and ice (NPC). Ice, light, earth Wire Gloves work well also.
Your goal for these short hunter levels is to get several photon arts to level 11+: Dus Duggas, Bogga Danga, Rising Strike, and Buten Shuren-zan. Gravity strike and Bogga Zubba are other good PAs to know, but you are only hunter for a short while, it is better to have fewer, higher level PAs, than many low level ones. Remember that damage and accuracy increase with leveling, as a newman ATP/ATP are very dear to you.
Armor wise, you’ll be using Zeetline. You will not have the DFP to equip rabol welda, another good hunter armor, so zeetline is where you will start, and elemental onces in the 20-24% range can be had on the cheap. If you have one lying around, a gigaline (42 DFP req), can be equipped by females at level 23/hunter1, males 25/hunter1.
Early Wartecher:
Generally, this class can be achieved by level 25, but at this level, you will not be able to equip many of the 4* weapons you used as a hunter! 0_o I recommend waiting until level 31 as a female, 29 as a male, which gives you that magic 164 ATP so you can continue to use those GRM weapons you’ve grown so fond of.
At this point, you now have enough ATA to equip a bow. But don’t bother getting anything other than a well ground 3* Compadri. In a few levels, you’ll have enough ATA to equip one of the Force/WT/fT uber weapons, the Alteric – a bow with high ATP, and low equipping requirements. This happens by level 33 for female, and 31 for a male.
You can forget about cards, and claws for a good long while – they are only available as A rank weapons, and you will not the ATA, or ATP for a loooong time. You CAN equip wands again, so I suggest adding at least 3 to your palette, and I’m sure you missed the tech damage, especially from any melee resistant enemies you might have come across (*coff* polhavora *coff*). You should also pick up shifta, and zodial, since you are using weapons now too.
It is also the time to consider joining a ‘buff party.’ - since you only have to get 11+ for the duration/power increase, and it can be difficult to keep a party buffed when they run out every 2 minutes (literally), it is worth the time investment to join one, and to be honest, it only takes about 20 mins per technique.
And now we should get into the section on spells and weapons, which I promised earlier.
MELEE WEAPONS
Wartechers can use Spears, Fists, Twin Sabers, Twin claws and Twin daggers as two handed weapons, and saber, dagger, and claw as 1 handed weapons. As a newman, WT, however, you are disadvantaged in ATP pretty severely, especially early. I don’t think it is a wise idea for a newman WT to use twin daggers…ever. Sure they are one of the classes’ two S rank weapons, but twin dagger’s low ATP, coupled with newman’s low ATP, means that you just won’t be hitting hard enough to do meaningful damage.
Note GRMs low equipping requirements, decent PP, and wide availability make then excellent choices as weapons for a newman WT for spears (6* and under), fists (6* and under), and sabers (all the way to 9*). Also, consider NPC store weapons with elements already on them – and example of this is the GRM Durandal, which comes with 26% ice, and is a pretty formidable weapon with +5 grind or so. Jitseen, the 7* saber, has a mouth watering 487 ATP, and can be equipped very early on.
A quick compare of the other two handed weapons @ 7* to help you make some choices about weapon selection. This is important, as you will only have *1* slot for a 2 handed weapon:
Gudda Breba (7* fists)
Requirement: 325
ATA: 287
ATP: 310
PP: 275
Mugungri (7* spear)
Requirement: 325
ATA: 253
ATP: 553
PP: 340
Death’s Dancers (7* twin swords)
Requirement: 286
ATA:219
ATP: 276
PP: 306
Ryo-Misaki (7* claws)
Requirement: 336
ATA: 202
ATP: 316
PP: 326
Two things should become clear: 1) Spears rule the roost for ATP, and PP, they will be your eventual bead and butter for melee damage 2) The rest are tradeoffs for ATP, PP and ATA. Luckily 4-6*, fists, twin swords, and spears come in many different makers, including kubara, so you have some good choices available. Consider too, the accuracy and damage modifiers of your photon arts. 5% of your total ATA/ATP (character+ weapon), can easily make up for a lower stat in a weapon type.
Finally, a few key ATP/ATA milestones, that will help you in equipping valuable weapons
ATA
Alteric, 83 ATA: Female 33/WT1, Male 31/WT1
Ulteri, 142 ATA: Female 58/WT7, Male 56/WT7
Kikami, 115 ATA: Female 46/WT5, Male 43 WT/5
Ageha-Kikami, 132 ATA: Female 54/WT6, Male 53/WT5
There are the ranged weapons you’ll most likely be seeking. Once you get the Alteric, especially one ground to +5/+7, there really is no point to getting anything other than an Ulteri, or it you are feverish about ATA, a WELL ground Hanmateric. Ageha-kikami has a set bonus with Ageha-senba, which increase the weapons ATA, and ATP by 25% making this a great ranged alternative to a bow, and with the notable side benefit of not taking up a full slot on your palette, like a bow does.
ATP (in increasing requirement order)
GRM 5* saber, 26% ice, 148 ATP:
Female 27/WT1, Male 26/WT1
GRM 4* spear, knuckles, 164 ATP:
Female 31/WT1, Male 29/WT1
Yohemi 5* single dagger, 31% fire, 178 ATP:
Female 35/WT2, Male 33/WT2
GRM 7* saber, 191 ATP:
Female 35/WT3, Male 33/WT3
GRM 5* dual swords, 22% ice, 221 ATP:
Female 39/WT3, Male 37/WT3
Yohemi 7* single dagger, 230 ATP:
Female 43/WT4, Male 41/WT4
GRM 8* saber 29% ice, 243 ATP:
Female 44/WT5, Male 43/WT4
Yohemi 5* spear, 28% fire, 244 ATP:
Female 45/WT5, Male 43/WT4
Tenora 5* spear, 24% electric, 252 ATP:
Female 47/WT5, Male 45/WT4
GRM 6* spear, knuckles, 266 ATP:
Female 49/WT5, Male 46/WT5
GRM 7* dual swords, 286 ATP:
Female 52/WT6, Male 50/WT6
Tenora 6* knuckles, 23% light, 289 ATP:
Female 53/WT6, Male 50/WT6
Tenora 7* spear, 325 ATP:
Female 57/WT8, Male 55/WT7
Note that I have included a LOT of weapons with store elemental percents here, this is because there is little risk, and great ATP/PP returns, getting weapons to a high or medium grind (+5 to +10). I have also included some “popular” weapons – twin swords for example, because a large number of people synth these, and it’s your chance to pick up a medium to high elemental % on the cheap. I did NOT include weapons which you would able to equip at lower level than 25/WT1 as a female.
As you can see, the male’s slight adjustment in ATP makes a decent difference in how soon they can equip the weapons that make a real difference in damage.
Also, and I’ll say this again in the tech section: If an enemy is resistant to a type of damage, Wartecher is NOT the type of class to plow through that resistance, even with the classes hardest hitting weapons. For instance, the Neudiz olgohmons are tech resistant. Fortetechers just load up the Gi/Ra Foie and plow right over them – that’s how hard they hit. Fortefighters attack Polhavara’s with multi-hit melee weapons, because they have the ATP (and PP reduction) to do so. Don’t try this as a WT. Even beast WT will be better off dropping a 500 damage Diga, then using up significant PP unloading with a Spear, or Knuckle PA.
TECHS
This may very well be the part most of you have been waiting for, the section with techs – what to use, what not to use. Let’s start out talking a little about wands. The great news for newmans is this: by level 31/32 you will be able to use the strongest wands the WT class is able to equip: Majimra (292 TP required). A decently ground (+3) Majimra, had 560 TP, and 858 PP. Now if you have millions and millions to burn, go forth and grab a satchel full of these, and blast away to your hearts conent. For those of us who have *some* level of budget, I present the following options:
Baton +8 to +10: these GRM wands actually have more PP than the corresponding yohemi 3* wands all the way to +9! With the abundance of par wood (in player shops for as little as 50 meseta), you can synth an almost limitless amount of them, and it is easy to get many to +6, several to +7, a few to +8, and save a batch of +10 grinders to get a few to +10. The recharge cost is next to nothing, and they great for casting buffs. Cheap.
W’gacros +7 to +10: though they have poor pp, the attack power on a +7 W’gacros is higher than a Lidra (the 8*) wand! If you are on a budget, you can buy these wands in player shops, or even find them in missions (level 50 Zoona, and Drua Gorha). I believe the Firebreak Moatoob mission on B contains level 50 Zoona, so milk this while you can.
Alternately, someone may be selling a W’gacros already ground. If you can find one at +7 or above, you might consider paying 80K-ish for one, or simply synth your own.
Cometarac: A Kubara special. With a 78% synth success rate, and the board is a ‘mere’ 55K, these wands have 1009 PP at +3. They are the ultimate buff wand. If you can get one to +5 and up, they start to have enough TP to do some real damage as well.
Cometara: The 7* Yohemi wand. Fully serviceable (but kinda ugly looking if you ask me). Damage wise, I’d be more likely to get frugal, synth/buy the w’gacros, and pop a photon charge every so often, but I would use them for healing, or as a back up wand. Ultimately I think many folks move on to…
Lidra: Here’s the thing, since Lidra’s can be bought in the NPC shops for 165K, player shops can’t really sell them for more, and expect to move any inventory. You can often pick on up for 150K…or less! That means you can buy 2 Lidra for every 1 Majimra you are considering.
My advice for those with any kind of real budget: Buy 1 majimra – you know you want to. Grind it once, and savor it on your palette. Never buy another. The 300K you would spend buys 600 Photon charges, AND when you consider it costs 200-ish to recharge a fully depleted majimra, it just makes good sense to spend that money elsewhere. Next, buy a pair of Lidra’s - 3 if you can swing it. Grind ‘em a few times. Up to 4 if you’ve got the stones for it. You can use them all on you palette, or keep 1 as a back up. Then get some comerta, and grind it at least to 4. I use it as my healing wand, and it works wonderfully. Finally, grab a handful of the cometerac boards. Like 6. You will probably get 4 or 5 out of synthing, and you are grinding them up to 3. Even if you only get 4 from syth, and one breaks in the grind, you now have unlimited access to PP, and in a pinch, you can use this wand for some damage.
Okay, enough about buying wands, lets talk about palette. Palette management will probably be your biggest issue until AoI hits – and then the situation only gets more complex, not easier. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif Here’s the situation: there are 4 buffs, resta, and reverser. That’s 3 slots on your palette, and you have not even gotten anything that does damage! The beauty of Wartecher is in the versatility, but there ARE some space issues. Parties will expect you to cast *some* buffs, so you’ve got some real choices to make.
Here are my recommendations. If you are the only techer in a part (hey, it happens), load up shifta, zodial, and retrier. They will have to live without deband. On the plus side your resta has good range, and heals well, and people have ‘mates. If you are in a party with a force, or a fortetecher, you can put as few, or as many buffs on a wand as you want. You will only be buffing if they run out during combat, so if you just want to run with retrier, and shifta, that’s fine. When you are soloing, you can chose which buffs to use on yourself, depending on the area.
My palette set up is usually:
Two handed weapon or bow
<card>, wand (attack spellx2)
empty, wand (attack spellx2)
pistol, wand (buffs x2)
<card>, wand (resta, retrier)
empty, 1 handed weapon
Example (rainbow beast)
Fire Spear
Ice card, barta/dambarta
empty, jellen/foie
pistol, (shifta, zodial)
Light card, (resta, retrier)
empty, Fire dagger
I keep 2 slots empty, and there IS a method to my madness. If a photon charge is used on a left hand, right hand combo, it gives half PP to each weapon (totally stupid, but there it is). If the slot is empty, this does not occur.
On the subject of reverser: I don’t have it. It’s a great spell, and useful, but most of the effects that it can cure, a resta will cover, or your teammate can eat an antimate. I do carry Sol Atomizers on my left hand palette, for emergencies, but I’ve yet to go on a mission where I use more than 3.
Elemental wands: Dooo eet! Fortetechers use rods, and with 4 slots, I can understand not wanting all your spells to be of a single element. Their TP is so high; the extra damage is not worth the loss of versatility, since ALL four need to match. For a wand, it is worth it. This will also help you locate the right wand faster on your palette (get the RED one idiot!). With the proper elemental wand, a sori / force (or for who like photon charges, a Sori Tech / Charge), you can come darn near the damage output of a fT who uses a Har / Quick and non elemental rods. You’ll never beat it (and probably shouldn’t given the other advantages to being a WT), but it’s nice to see the raised eyebrow of a fT, when the tough little nugget standing next to him/her deals nearly as much damage.
Speaking of damage – what should you use to deal some? Let’s talk techs.
First things First: I already recommended Diga, and you start with Foie. These techs outperform in terms of damage (that is, thier damage modifier is VERY large when compared to other techs in the same category). Simply put, Diga is often the most damaging thing you have, and it’s only 12 pp, and silences at SE3 to boot (at 11+). It almost levels itself to 20. Foie is nearly as strong, and sets things on fire at SE3 (at 11+).
Now, one important thing to note is that WTs don’t get access to Status Effect level 4. They only get 3, and only through techs. Therefore, it behooves you, to pick up all the techs that have SE3, and give them a shot. Besides Foie and Diga, there is only 1 family of techs that give SE3 and that is the Dam-series. You’ve already got Dambarta, and if it’s at 11+ you already love it, but let me recommend damdiga, and damfoie as well. Oddly, dammegid is only SE2. I’m not saying don’t get it, I’m just saying wtf, SEGA?
Damdiga has knock back, and poison (which is the worst of the DoTs, but I’ll take what I can get). This tech wreaks havoc on go varhas when they attack en masse. Give them the slip when they come at you, then wave the damdiga around. The damage really piles up. Damfoie has no knock back, but SE3 fire is a powerful DoT. It ‘ticks’ damage every 2 seconds, at 4%, as compared to viruses 5% every four seconds. It’s worth noting that damdiga and damfoie are also significantly cheaper than damarta 9pp vs 12pp. It adds up.
I am also going to recommend Ra-series spells. I’ll let you decide which ones fit best. They have a faster casting time, and are cheaper per cast. Many Fortetechers prefer gi-series spells – and for them it makes perfect sense. The higher pp cost is less material, and the 6 target, 21+ SE3 is enough to make these Gi spells worth it. For Wartechers, with no pp reduction, no 21+ and lower TP, RA spells are a better fit. Consider Rafoie 20 vs Gifoie:
Rafoie 20 is 150% damage, and 20 pp (for a WT)
Gifoie 30 is 140% damage and 32 pp (fT)
Add in the 4% elemental bonus for using an elemental wand and faster casting time and holy cripes, I’m competing with a fT for tech damage! http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
Just to state the obvious: it’s not a competition - no one expects WTs to deal damage on par with fTs, that’s not what this class is about. A fT with an elemental rod, using the same tech as a WT, will embarrass the WT damage wise. But you should understand what Wartecher is capable of, and it’s a lot.
Let’s talk about ultimate photon arts, or rather: why not to get them...except maybe 1.
Noszonde: This is one of the two big disappointments for the WT. SE3 Shock, hits ariel enemies, and a drool-a-liscious damage modifier. To bad it’s pp cost is INSANE. 48pp at level 1-10, 60(!!) at level 11-20. it would have to hit every enemy on the screen…twice to pay for it’s cost.
Nosdiga: Stun is possibly the best SE, and when I say possibly I mean definitely. Opponents don’t move, cast techs, and unlike ice, it cannot be broken. If I was playing a fT, I would never use anything but this on a +10 Granarodoc with photon charges. It’s damage is better than Diga at level 21+ (you remember Diga, the most damaging tech in your arsenal?) Sadly, it’s PP cost is prohibitive, jumping from expensive at 25 pp, level 1-10, to 45 at 11-20. At 36 pp(fT reduction), this spell is worth it. At 45, with lower pp reserves, it is not. More’s the pity.
Nosmegid: a) This tech’s increase in damage is based off your HP being low, something that resta-type classes don’t do a whole lot of. b) it only hits (at most) 2 targets. c) It’s so expensive, that pp costs aren’t even listed for WTs on the PSU-pedia. Not missed at all.
Giresta: I don’t even understand the popularity of this spell with fTs - perhaps they will enlighten me. A Moon Atomizer X is instant, costs no PP, and restores full HP. Seriously, 150 pp for revive, uber heal, and short term hp recovery? They should pay ME 90 PA frags for using this tech. On the plus side it levels quickly. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif
And…
Megiverse: I took a chance on this spell, after watching Golormo’s attack pattern, and being annoyed by it. SEGA tied so hard to make this tech bad, and couldn’t. The damage modifier is not great, the HP drain is not super handy (since this tech usually ends with you being whalloped), and the cost starts high, and it levels…so…slowly. So why is it good? The answer lies in the techs area of effect, and the recurring damage. Area of effect is huge – larger than gi-type spells. And generally, techs have a casting animation before they go off. Dam-techs, and megiverse are just press and hold. Finally, the cost of megiverse gets MORE reasonable as it jumps in level. Consider Gibarta, which goes from 20 pp to 30 pp from 10 to 11. Megiverse starts at 24, but only moves to 30 when it levels to 11. I highly recommend this tech.
Last thought on techs (I said I’d mention it again): If an enemy is resistant to a type of damage, Wartecher is NOT the type of class to plow through that resistance, even with the classes hardest hitting weapons. Going back to the Olgohmon example (they are tech resistant). I brought a level 45/WT5 female newman to a B rank forested islands mission. I loaded Rafoie, and Foie on my strongest wand, and went to work. The techs did half damage, but cost me full PP. Net result, wand got drained of PP fast, and enemies snickered up their sleeves at me. Bastards. Thankfully, I *also* brought a +5 Halbenatta, which comes with 28% fire, and a gross of TP. Using a combo of normal strikes and Dus Duggas, I was able to take down the next group of enemies quickly, and used the pp savings to foie the Kamatoze, who was ALSO snickering (cheeky monkey).
High level play:
UPDATE (7/13) - Level 65 is no where near the current cap of 90, but it is sufficiently high level to come in to your own. Here are some more observations: When it comes to melee damage, if you give your best elemental % weapons to your WT, you are not going to a big difference in damage between you, and a Figunner. On the tech side, there is about a 250 pt difference in damage between you, and your fellow fT, when using the same tech. Not a big deal at all for a tech like Diga (1000 vs 1250 - who cares?). Pretty significant on a tech like damabarta, where you do 450, and they do 700. on the flip side, WTs, evne newman WTs, are tanks. I stand in the middle of S2 Volfu, and punish them with gidiga, and only get hit for 150. (and that's with a 'common' 30% lightning ageha senba).
MST is usably high: with 38% dark ageha-senaba, a sta/force (+30 MST), and retrier, a female newman takes zero damage from level 60 deljabans. This is where I spend most of my time - burning deljabans with damfoie, taking 10-12 points of damage per hit from jellened deljaban's/sendellains, and cruising though the missions, solo, in 25 mins.
The one downside seems to be ranged damage. True, you can hit for 325 with your bow (aligned element), or 170x2 with cards, but a fortefighter with a pistol can do the same, an no one is calling fF ranged damage 'useful'
ARMOR:
It’s a funny thing, but armor selection for a WarTecher, like weapon selection, is not as straight forward as some other classes. In this section, I’ll be making recommendations for armor up to 7*. High level armor is really for the very wealthy, and people who know this game, know that % on armor >> defensive Stats. There will be some honorable mentions for 8*+ armor
For a newman WT, here is the order in which I rate slots, and a quick rationale as to why:
Head: let’s face it, you didn’t become a newman WT for the ATP, you wanted to be able to bring it with techs, and regardless of whether you use a Me /Quick, Gi / Magic or Sori Tech / Charge it’s the head slot you don’t want to give up.
Body: Mega Rainbow, or Tero / Guard or even Tero / Legs. These three units really give WT that extra something that tank the class out, and if you look at WT stats, this class favors defense over offense. Play to your strengths.
Arm: You are under ATP’d. If you plan to run heavier melee in an area, the 50 ATP from a Mega / Power is good start.
Extra: you don’t have an SUV, and you DO have reverser. Sure it is awful to take the occasional megids in the face, and die, but the 2-3 extra endurance you get from slot items is little safeguard against this.
For low level play, your choice is relatively simple: 3* GRM buster line comes with every slot but extra, and extra your most expendable slot…but relatively quickly, you will have some tough choices to make.
Ageha-senba, though missing the Arm Slot, is an excellent armor for a WT, as it can be mass synthed, and is popular enough that you can pick 20-24% up in shops for every element for under 25K per. The equipping requirement (20 DFP) can be achieved before level 15, even for a male newman. Also, as I mentioned earlier, this armor forms a set with one of your best ranged weapons: Ageha-kikami. The ATP boost for this set is greater than a mega / power, and you get an ATA bump as well.
I might also mention, that this is an ideal armor for S rank Hive, Seed Awakened, Unsafe Passage, and Fight for Food. The prevalence of megids here – undodge-ably so, means you’ll want to beef up your END stat. Note that I do not recommend Rabol Tero for these runs
Gi-senba is 28% ice, and matches slots with Ageha-senba, it good for those deft enough to do armor swapping on the fly. The 28% (and your MST) is enough to take the bite out of anything non-buffed, and renders Kamatoze, and regular Gohmons completely ineffective. The equipping requirement it 28 DFP, which you will have even as a male WT, by level 20/WT1.
Te-Senba is your go-to light armor (it comes with 27%). If you are running Holy Ground, or Sleeping warriors (where the only real threats are the Golormos), this store armor has the Head, Arm, and Body. Note there are no status effects in Sleeping warriors, so END is pretty useless there anyway.
Rabol-Danga: For any area you decide to heavy melee in, but still want to keep head slots. It's awful armor, but at least gives +15ATP, and +4 ATA
Your endgame armor, if you find A rank units is either Nafri-senba (no, not for the set bonus with 2* daggers http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif ) or Ga-Senba, depending on whether you are going heavy tech, or heavy melee. I’m inclined to go with Nafri-Senba in every area of the game but the all-dark areas, where I would favor high % dark Ga-senba. Ga-senba also makes a set with Ga-Misaki, the 8* (34% dark!) single claw. Single Claws are excellent weapons, so if you happen to get a good % light Ga-senba, this could be a great Holy Ground armor!
Honorable mentions:
Rabol Gant, makes a set with Gudda Gant, and fists are excellent WT weapons. Good luck synthing it :-/
Sori-senba: 4 slots, and if you synth your own, the ice % will surely improve
Rabol Rappy: 4 slots, light-type, A rank. Good luck finding one, but if you do, win!
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: SolomonGrundy on 2007-07-13 11:11 ]</font>
Forward: this guide is not meant to be the absolute word on how to play the game, or how to be l33t/pwnz0rz. It is simply a guide should help players who are considering the WarTecher class as a main or side class, including recommendations for techs, melee weapons, and firearms. It also assumes you know the location of quests, general mission rewards, and ‘where things are’ in the game. Apologies in advance to those who do not.
Prologue: Wartecher is not a cheap class, spells are expensive, grinding wands (or buying ground wands) is expensive, and making sure you update you weapons regularly, as you hit ATP, and ATA milestones will suck the life out of most bank accounts. If this is your first character, I recommend FiGunner, or have a wealthy friend. If it is not, please proceed http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif
In the Beginning:
Newmans start out as a force, and if WarTecher (WT) is your goal, you do not want to switch to hunter – go force first. Those of you considering WT as a side class to ForteTecher (fT), may already have the required levels of Force. Even if you are not a fT, it may be wise to go to Force 10 before switching to hunter, while it is inexpensive to change classes at low level, and this will give you time to level up some spells that are...sluggish.
If you have some $$$ set aside, go to player shops and pick up a 2* or 3* dark armor – even if you cannot equip it at level 1, by level 5-7 you will be able to, and that’s only a few runs in “Unsafe Passage.” I believe I started with “Rabol Ridla” (10 DFP req).
Don’t worry about the lack of a head slot; as a Force leveling quickly, you will have plenty of Technique Power (TP). The body slot will be more effective.
Let’s talk techniques: There will be a larger tech section later on in the guide, here I am only recommending a few techs to pick up when you are first starting out. Also, I recommend NOT purchasing more than one rod. If your intent is to go Wartecher, you should get used to the PP limitations, casting times, and space limitations of having wands on your palette.
My suggestions for early techs are the following: Diga, Dambarta, Deband, Retrier, Resta and the debuff of you choice (I recommend Zalure, as it is the most party friendly). You may get reverser… I didn’t, as antimates are cheap, and a few Sols for emergencies should be enough to get by, but I understand why people do. Also, you start with Foie.
Diga, Dambarta and Foie are going to be your bread and butter for damage for a LOT of the game. Dambarta is so good it’s broken – even if you hate it’s range, and the way it looks at first, get it to level 11+ and the difference is amazing. Getting techs to 11+ before you judge them is good general advice as well.
Finally, don’t worry about a bow at first, you don’t have the ATA/ATP to equip anything meaningful until level 15-20, and right about then you will be close to switching to hunter. And speaking of hunter…
Regardless of whether you are using WT as a side class of main, you will be switching to hunter for a short two levels. Enjoy the ATP, because it’s the highest you’ll have for 10 levels or so, when you make the switch over to WT. I’ll be going into a longer weapons section later, so here I’ll just touch on what to do/pick up as a low level hunter. First off, don’t switch to hunter until you can equip “Partisan” the 4* GRM spear and/or “Wire Gloves” the 4* fists. This occurs at level 23 as a Female, and level 21 as a male. Also synth/buy a decent % ice, light, fire and dark C rank 3* yohemi daggers, and the 5* GRM saber, durandal, in earth, and ice (NPC). Ice, light, earth Wire Gloves work well also.
Your goal for these short hunter levels is to get several photon arts to level 11+: Dus Duggas, Bogga Danga, Rising Strike, and Buten Shuren-zan. Gravity strike and Bogga Zubba are other good PAs to know, but you are only hunter for a short while, it is better to have fewer, higher level PAs, than many low level ones. Remember that damage and accuracy increase with leveling, as a newman ATP/ATP are very dear to you.
Armor wise, you’ll be using Zeetline. You will not have the DFP to equip rabol welda, another good hunter armor, so zeetline is where you will start, and elemental onces in the 20-24% range can be had on the cheap. If you have one lying around, a gigaline (42 DFP req), can be equipped by females at level 23/hunter1, males 25/hunter1.
Early Wartecher:
Generally, this class can be achieved by level 25, but at this level, you will not be able to equip many of the 4* weapons you used as a hunter! 0_o I recommend waiting until level 31 as a female, 29 as a male, which gives you that magic 164 ATP so you can continue to use those GRM weapons you’ve grown so fond of.
At this point, you now have enough ATA to equip a bow. But don’t bother getting anything other than a well ground 3* Compadri. In a few levels, you’ll have enough ATA to equip one of the Force/WT/fT uber weapons, the Alteric – a bow with high ATP, and low equipping requirements. This happens by level 33 for female, and 31 for a male.
You can forget about cards, and claws for a good long while – they are only available as A rank weapons, and you will not the ATA, or ATP for a loooong time. You CAN equip wands again, so I suggest adding at least 3 to your palette, and I’m sure you missed the tech damage, especially from any melee resistant enemies you might have come across (*coff* polhavora *coff*). You should also pick up shifta, and zodial, since you are using weapons now too.
It is also the time to consider joining a ‘buff party.’ - since you only have to get 11+ for the duration/power increase, and it can be difficult to keep a party buffed when they run out every 2 minutes (literally), it is worth the time investment to join one, and to be honest, it only takes about 20 mins per technique.
And now we should get into the section on spells and weapons, which I promised earlier.
MELEE WEAPONS
Wartechers can use Spears, Fists, Twin Sabers, Twin claws and Twin daggers as two handed weapons, and saber, dagger, and claw as 1 handed weapons. As a newman, WT, however, you are disadvantaged in ATP pretty severely, especially early. I don’t think it is a wise idea for a newman WT to use twin daggers…ever. Sure they are one of the classes’ two S rank weapons, but twin dagger’s low ATP, coupled with newman’s low ATP, means that you just won’t be hitting hard enough to do meaningful damage.
Note GRMs low equipping requirements, decent PP, and wide availability make then excellent choices as weapons for a newman WT for spears (6* and under), fists (6* and under), and sabers (all the way to 9*). Also, consider NPC store weapons with elements already on them – and example of this is the GRM Durandal, which comes with 26% ice, and is a pretty formidable weapon with +5 grind or so. Jitseen, the 7* saber, has a mouth watering 487 ATP, and can be equipped very early on.
A quick compare of the other two handed weapons @ 7* to help you make some choices about weapon selection. This is important, as you will only have *1* slot for a 2 handed weapon:
Gudda Breba (7* fists)
Requirement: 325
ATA: 287
ATP: 310
PP: 275
Mugungri (7* spear)
Requirement: 325
ATA: 253
ATP: 553
PP: 340
Death’s Dancers (7* twin swords)
Requirement: 286
ATA:219
ATP: 276
PP: 306
Ryo-Misaki (7* claws)
Requirement: 336
ATA: 202
ATP: 316
PP: 326
Two things should become clear: 1) Spears rule the roost for ATP, and PP, they will be your eventual bead and butter for melee damage 2) The rest are tradeoffs for ATP, PP and ATA. Luckily 4-6*, fists, twin swords, and spears come in many different makers, including kubara, so you have some good choices available. Consider too, the accuracy and damage modifiers of your photon arts. 5% of your total ATA/ATP (character+ weapon), can easily make up for a lower stat in a weapon type.
Finally, a few key ATP/ATA milestones, that will help you in equipping valuable weapons
ATA
Alteric, 83 ATA: Female 33/WT1, Male 31/WT1
Ulteri, 142 ATA: Female 58/WT7, Male 56/WT7
Kikami, 115 ATA: Female 46/WT5, Male 43 WT/5
Ageha-Kikami, 132 ATA: Female 54/WT6, Male 53/WT5
There are the ranged weapons you’ll most likely be seeking. Once you get the Alteric, especially one ground to +5/+7, there really is no point to getting anything other than an Ulteri, or it you are feverish about ATA, a WELL ground Hanmateric. Ageha-kikami has a set bonus with Ageha-senba, which increase the weapons ATA, and ATP by 25% making this a great ranged alternative to a bow, and with the notable side benefit of not taking up a full slot on your palette, like a bow does.
ATP (in increasing requirement order)
GRM 5* saber, 26% ice, 148 ATP:
Female 27/WT1, Male 26/WT1
GRM 4* spear, knuckles, 164 ATP:
Female 31/WT1, Male 29/WT1
Yohemi 5* single dagger, 31% fire, 178 ATP:
Female 35/WT2, Male 33/WT2
GRM 7* saber, 191 ATP:
Female 35/WT3, Male 33/WT3
GRM 5* dual swords, 22% ice, 221 ATP:
Female 39/WT3, Male 37/WT3
Yohemi 7* single dagger, 230 ATP:
Female 43/WT4, Male 41/WT4
GRM 8* saber 29% ice, 243 ATP:
Female 44/WT5, Male 43/WT4
Yohemi 5* spear, 28% fire, 244 ATP:
Female 45/WT5, Male 43/WT4
Tenora 5* spear, 24% electric, 252 ATP:
Female 47/WT5, Male 45/WT4
GRM 6* spear, knuckles, 266 ATP:
Female 49/WT5, Male 46/WT5
GRM 7* dual swords, 286 ATP:
Female 52/WT6, Male 50/WT6
Tenora 6* knuckles, 23% light, 289 ATP:
Female 53/WT6, Male 50/WT6
Tenora 7* spear, 325 ATP:
Female 57/WT8, Male 55/WT7
Note that I have included a LOT of weapons with store elemental percents here, this is because there is little risk, and great ATP/PP returns, getting weapons to a high or medium grind (+5 to +10). I have also included some “popular” weapons – twin swords for example, because a large number of people synth these, and it’s your chance to pick up a medium to high elemental % on the cheap. I did NOT include weapons which you would able to equip at lower level than 25/WT1 as a female.
As you can see, the male’s slight adjustment in ATP makes a decent difference in how soon they can equip the weapons that make a real difference in damage.
Also, and I’ll say this again in the tech section: If an enemy is resistant to a type of damage, Wartecher is NOT the type of class to plow through that resistance, even with the classes hardest hitting weapons. For instance, the Neudiz olgohmons are tech resistant. Fortetechers just load up the Gi/Ra Foie and plow right over them – that’s how hard they hit. Fortefighters attack Polhavara’s with multi-hit melee weapons, because they have the ATP (and PP reduction) to do so. Don’t try this as a WT. Even beast WT will be better off dropping a 500 damage Diga, then using up significant PP unloading with a Spear, or Knuckle PA.
TECHS
This may very well be the part most of you have been waiting for, the section with techs – what to use, what not to use. Let’s start out talking a little about wands. The great news for newmans is this: by level 31/32 you will be able to use the strongest wands the WT class is able to equip: Majimra (292 TP required). A decently ground (+3) Majimra, had 560 TP, and 858 PP. Now if you have millions and millions to burn, go forth and grab a satchel full of these, and blast away to your hearts conent. For those of us who have *some* level of budget, I present the following options:
Baton +8 to +10: these GRM wands actually have more PP than the corresponding yohemi 3* wands all the way to +9! With the abundance of par wood (in player shops for as little as 50 meseta), you can synth an almost limitless amount of them, and it is easy to get many to +6, several to +7, a few to +8, and save a batch of +10 grinders to get a few to +10. The recharge cost is next to nothing, and they great for casting buffs. Cheap.
W’gacros +7 to +10: though they have poor pp, the attack power on a +7 W’gacros is higher than a Lidra (the 8*) wand! If you are on a budget, you can buy these wands in player shops, or even find them in missions (level 50 Zoona, and Drua Gorha). I believe the Firebreak Moatoob mission on B contains level 50 Zoona, so milk this while you can.
Alternately, someone may be selling a W’gacros already ground. If you can find one at +7 or above, you might consider paying 80K-ish for one, or simply synth your own.
Cometarac: A Kubara special. With a 78% synth success rate, and the board is a ‘mere’ 55K, these wands have 1009 PP at +3. They are the ultimate buff wand. If you can get one to +5 and up, they start to have enough TP to do some real damage as well.
Cometara: The 7* Yohemi wand. Fully serviceable (but kinda ugly looking if you ask me). Damage wise, I’d be more likely to get frugal, synth/buy the w’gacros, and pop a photon charge every so often, but I would use them for healing, or as a back up wand. Ultimately I think many folks move on to…
Lidra: Here’s the thing, since Lidra’s can be bought in the NPC shops for 165K, player shops can’t really sell them for more, and expect to move any inventory. You can often pick on up for 150K…or less! That means you can buy 2 Lidra for every 1 Majimra you are considering.
My advice for those with any kind of real budget: Buy 1 majimra – you know you want to. Grind it once, and savor it on your palette. Never buy another. The 300K you would spend buys 600 Photon charges, AND when you consider it costs 200-ish to recharge a fully depleted majimra, it just makes good sense to spend that money elsewhere. Next, buy a pair of Lidra’s - 3 if you can swing it. Grind ‘em a few times. Up to 4 if you’ve got the stones for it. You can use them all on you palette, or keep 1 as a back up. Then get some comerta, and grind it at least to 4. I use it as my healing wand, and it works wonderfully. Finally, grab a handful of the cometerac boards. Like 6. You will probably get 4 or 5 out of synthing, and you are grinding them up to 3. Even if you only get 4 from syth, and one breaks in the grind, you now have unlimited access to PP, and in a pinch, you can use this wand for some damage.
Okay, enough about buying wands, lets talk about palette. Palette management will probably be your biggest issue until AoI hits – and then the situation only gets more complex, not easier. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif Here’s the situation: there are 4 buffs, resta, and reverser. That’s 3 slots on your palette, and you have not even gotten anything that does damage! The beauty of Wartecher is in the versatility, but there ARE some space issues. Parties will expect you to cast *some* buffs, so you’ve got some real choices to make.
Here are my recommendations. If you are the only techer in a part (hey, it happens), load up shifta, zodial, and retrier. They will have to live without deband. On the plus side your resta has good range, and heals well, and people have ‘mates. If you are in a party with a force, or a fortetecher, you can put as few, or as many buffs on a wand as you want. You will only be buffing if they run out during combat, so if you just want to run with retrier, and shifta, that’s fine. When you are soloing, you can chose which buffs to use on yourself, depending on the area.
My palette set up is usually:
Two handed weapon or bow
<card>, wand (attack spellx2)
empty, wand (attack spellx2)
pistol, wand (buffs x2)
<card>, wand (resta, retrier)
empty, 1 handed weapon
Example (rainbow beast)
Fire Spear
Ice card, barta/dambarta
empty, jellen/foie
pistol, (shifta, zodial)
Light card, (resta, retrier)
empty, Fire dagger
I keep 2 slots empty, and there IS a method to my madness. If a photon charge is used on a left hand, right hand combo, it gives half PP to each weapon (totally stupid, but there it is). If the slot is empty, this does not occur.
On the subject of reverser: I don’t have it. It’s a great spell, and useful, but most of the effects that it can cure, a resta will cover, or your teammate can eat an antimate. I do carry Sol Atomizers on my left hand palette, for emergencies, but I’ve yet to go on a mission where I use more than 3.
Elemental wands: Dooo eet! Fortetechers use rods, and with 4 slots, I can understand not wanting all your spells to be of a single element. Their TP is so high; the extra damage is not worth the loss of versatility, since ALL four need to match. For a wand, it is worth it. This will also help you locate the right wand faster on your palette (get the RED one idiot!). With the proper elemental wand, a sori / force (or for who like photon charges, a Sori Tech / Charge), you can come darn near the damage output of a fT who uses a Har / Quick and non elemental rods. You’ll never beat it (and probably shouldn’t given the other advantages to being a WT), but it’s nice to see the raised eyebrow of a fT, when the tough little nugget standing next to him/her deals nearly as much damage.
Speaking of damage – what should you use to deal some? Let’s talk techs.
First things First: I already recommended Diga, and you start with Foie. These techs outperform in terms of damage (that is, thier damage modifier is VERY large when compared to other techs in the same category). Simply put, Diga is often the most damaging thing you have, and it’s only 12 pp, and silences at SE3 to boot (at 11+). It almost levels itself to 20. Foie is nearly as strong, and sets things on fire at SE3 (at 11+).
Now, one important thing to note is that WTs don’t get access to Status Effect level 4. They only get 3, and only through techs. Therefore, it behooves you, to pick up all the techs that have SE3, and give them a shot. Besides Foie and Diga, there is only 1 family of techs that give SE3 and that is the Dam-series. You’ve already got Dambarta, and if it’s at 11+ you already love it, but let me recommend damdiga, and damfoie as well. Oddly, dammegid is only SE2. I’m not saying don’t get it, I’m just saying wtf, SEGA?
Damdiga has knock back, and poison (which is the worst of the DoTs, but I’ll take what I can get). This tech wreaks havoc on go varhas when they attack en masse. Give them the slip when they come at you, then wave the damdiga around. The damage really piles up. Damfoie has no knock back, but SE3 fire is a powerful DoT. It ‘ticks’ damage every 2 seconds, at 4%, as compared to viruses 5% every four seconds. It’s worth noting that damdiga and damfoie are also significantly cheaper than damarta 9pp vs 12pp. It adds up.
I am also going to recommend Ra-series spells. I’ll let you decide which ones fit best. They have a faster casting time, and are cheaper per cast. Many Fortetechers prefer gi-series spells – and for them it makes perfect sense. The higher pp cost is less material, and the 6 target, 21+ SE3 is enough to make these Gi spells worth it. For Wartechers, with no pp reduction, no 21+ and lower TP, RA spells are a better fit. Consider Rafoie 20 vs Gifoie:
Rafoie 20 is 150% damage, and 20 pp (for a WT)
Gifoie 30 is 140% damage and 32 pp (fT)
Add in the 4% elemental bonus for using an elemental wand and faster casting time and holy cripes, I’m competing with a fT for tech damage! http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
Just to state the obvious: it’s not a competition - no one expects WTs to deal damage on par with fTs, that’s not what this class is about. A fT with an elemental rod, using the same tech as a WT, will embarrass the WT damage wise. But you should understand what Wartecher is capable of, and it’s a lot.
Let’s talk about ultimate photon arts, or rather: why not to get them...except maybe 1.
Noszonde: This is one of the two big disappointments for the WT. SE3 Shock, hits ariel enemies, and a drool-a-liscious damage modifier. To bad it’s pp cost is INSANE. 48pp at level 1-10, 60(!!) at level 11-20. it would have to hit every enemy on the screen…twice to pay for it’s cost.
Nosdiga: Stun is possibly the best SE, and when I say possibly I mean definitely. Opponents don’t move, cast techs, and unlike ice, it cannot be broken. If I was playing a fT, I would never use anything but this on a +10 Granarodoc with photon charges. It’s damage is better than Diga at level 21+ (you remember Diga, the most damaging tech in your arsenal?) Sadly, it’s PP cost is prohibitive, jumping from expensive at 25 pp, level 1-10, to 45 at 11-20. At 36 pp(fT reduction), this spell is worth it. At 45, with lower pp reserves, it is not. More’s the pity.
Nosmegid: a) This tech’s increase in damage is based off your HP being low, something that resta-type classes don’t do a whole lot of. b) it only hits (at most) 2 targets. c) It’s so expensive, that pp costs aren’t even listed for WTs on the PSU-pedia. Not missed at all.
Giresta: I don’t even understand the popularity of this spell with fTs - perhaps they will enlighten me. A Moon Atomizer X is instant, costs no PP, and restores full HP. Seriously, 150 pp for revive, uber heal, and short term hp recovery? They should pay ME 90 PA frags for using this tech. On the plus side it levels quickly. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif
And…
Megiverse: I took a chance on this spell, after watching Golormo’s attack pattern, and being annoyed by it. SEGA tied so hard to make this tech bad, and couldn’t. The damage modifier is not great, the HP drain is not super handy (since this tech usually ends with you being whalloped), and the cost starts high, and it levels…so…slowly. So why is it good? The answer lies in the techs area of effect, and the recurring damage. Area of effect is huge – larger than gi-type spells. And generally, techs have a casting animation before they go off. Dam-techs, and megiverse are just press and hold. Finally, the cost of megiverse gets MORE reasonable as it jumps in level. Consider Gibarta, which goes from 20 pp to 30 pp from 10 to 11. Megiverse starts at 24, but only moves to 30 when it levels to 11. I highly recommend this tech.
Last thought on techs (I said I’d mention it again): If an enemy is resistant to a type of damage, Wartecher is NOT the type of class to plow through that resistance, even with the classes hardest hitting weapons. Going back to the Olgohmon example (they are tech resistant). I brought a level 45/WT5 female newman to a B rank forested islands mission. I loaded Rafoie, and Foie on my strongest wand, and went to work. The techs did half damage, but cost me full PP. Net result, wand got drained of PP fast, and enemies snickered up their sleeves at me. Bastards. Thankfully, I *also* brought a +5 Halbenatta, which comes with 28% fire, and a gross of TP. Using a combo of normal strikes and Dus Duggas, I was able to take down the next group of enemies quickly, and used the pp savings to foie the Kamatoze, who was ALSO snickering (cheeky monkey).
High level play:
UPDATE (7/13) - Level 65 is no where near the current cap of 90, but it is sufficiently high level to come in to your own. Here are some more observations: When it comes to melee damage, if you give your best elemental % weapons to your WT, you are not going to a big difference in damage between you, and a Figunner. On the tech side, there is about a 250 pt difference in damage between you, and your fellow fT, when using the same tech. Not a big deal at all for a tech like Diga (1000 vs 1250 - who cares?). Pretty significant on a tech like damabarta, where you do 450, and they do 700. on the flip side, WTs, evne newman WTs, are tanks. I stand in the middle of S2 Volfu, and punish them with gidiga, and only get hit for 150. (and that's with a 'common' 30% lightning ageha senba).
MST is usably high: with 38% dark ageha-senaba, a sta/force (+30 MST), and retrier, a female newman takes zero damage from level 60 deljabans. This is where I spend most of my time - burning deljabans with damfoie, taking 10-12 points of damage per hit from jellened deljaban's/sendellains, and cruising though the missions, solo, in 25 mins.
The one downside seems to be ranged damage. True, you can hit for 325 with your bow (aligned element), or 170x2 with cards, but a fortefighter with a pistol can do the same, an no one is calling fF ranged damage 'useful'
ARMOR:
It’s a funny thing, but armor selection for a WarTecher, like weapon selection, is not as straight forward as some other classes. In this section, I’ll be making recommendations for armor up to 7*. High level armor is really for the very wealthy, and people who know this game, know that % on armor >> defensive Stats. There will be some honorable mentions for 8*+ armor
For a newman WT, here is the order in which I rate slots, and a quick rationale as to why:
Head: let’s face it, you didn’t become a newman WT for the ATP, you wanted to be able to bring it with techs, and regardless of whether you use a Me /Quick, Gi / Magic or Sori Tech / Charge it’s the head slot you don’t want to give up.
Body: Mega Rainbow, or Tero / Guard or even Tero / Legs. These three units really give WT that extra something that tank the class out, and if you look at WT stats, this class favors defense over offense. Play to your strengths.
Arm: You are under ATP’d. If you plan to run heavier melee in an area, the 50 ATP from a Mega / Power is good start.
Extra: you don’t have an SUV, and you DO have reverser. Sure it is awful to take the occasional megids in the face, and die, but the 2-3 extra endurance you get from slot items is little safeguard against this.
For low level play, your choice is relatively simple: 3* GRM buster line comes with every slot but extra, and extra your most expendable slot…but relatively quickly, you will have some tough choices to make.
Ageha-senba, though missing the Arm Slot, is an excellent armor for a WT, as it can be mass synthed, and is popular enough that you can pick 20-24% up in shops for every element for under 25K per. The equipping requirement (20 DFP) can be achieved before level 15, even for a male newman. Also, as I mentioned earlier, this armor forms a set with one of your best ranged weapons: Ageha-kikami. The ATP boost for this set is greater than a mega / power, and you get an ATA bump as well.
I might also mention, that this is an ideal armor for S rank Hive, Seed Awakened, Unsafe Passage, and Fight for Food. The prevalence of megids here – undodge-ably so, means you’ll want to beef up your END stat. Note that I do not recommend Rabol Tero for these runs
Gi-senba is 28% ice, and matches slots with Ageha-senba, it good for those deft enough to do armor swapping on the fly. The 28% (and your MST) is enough to take the bite out of anything non-buffed, and renders Kamatoze, and regular Gohmons completely ineffective. The equipping requirement it 28 DFP, which you will have even as a male WT, by level 20/WT1.
Te-Senba is your go-to light armor (it comes with 27%). If you are running Holy Ground, or Sleeping warriors (where the only real threats are the Golormos), this store armor has the Head, Arm, and Body. Note there are no status effects in Sleeping warriors, so END is pretty useless there anyway.
Rabol-Danga: For any area you decide to heavy melee in, but still want to keep head slots. It's awful armor, but at least gives +15ATP, and +4 ATA
Your endgame armor, if you find A rank units is either Nafri-senba (no, not for the set bonus with 2* daggers http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif ) or Ga-Senba, depending on whether you are going heavy tech, or heavy melee. I’m inclined to go with Nafri-Senba in every area of the game but the all-dark areas, where I would favor high % dark Ga-senba. Ga-senba also makes a set with Ga-Misaki, the 8* (34% dark!) single claw. Single Claws are excellent weapons, so if you happen to get a good % light Ga-senba, this could be a great Holy Ground armor!
Honorable mentions:
Rabol Gant, makes a set with Gudda Gant, and fists are excellent WT weapons. Good luck synthing it :-/
Sori-senba: 4 slots, and if you synth your own, the ice % will surely improve
Rabol Rappy: 4 slots, light-type, A rank. Good luck finding one, but if you do, win!
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: SolomonGrundy on 2007-07-13 11:11 ]</font>