Soloing/PP - newb questions

[robinhood]

I'm a newb and need help; I'm a Cast 58/5 Fortefighter, and need tips on how to solo better. Right now I pretty much spam Majarra (need a few more fragments to get Jabroga) but am never able to complete my combo; I'll either get knocked out of it or get frozen and am smacked to death or something. And I run out of Mates really quickly, more quickly than what seems normal.

And it's not that I WANT to solo; it's more just the fact that I can't. My Newman Fortetecher friend solos better than me and I don't understand why.

I also run out of PP very quickly, especially when soloing. Am I supposed to carry like 10 weapons of each or something? Or bring tons of photon charges?

Any help is appreciated; thanks.

[Kryslin]

To help save on the PP, do a series of normal attacks, cut loose with the your PA a couple of times, go back to normal attacks to build up a charge, and repeat. Really, the only time you need to carry multiples is when you're levelling PA's.

Tp help with the taking a status effect and getting smacked around, get yourself some delette lines, and an A Rank SUV (available from GRM and NPC stores).. Add a unit to boost defence, and a skill/save unit (to cut down on PP usage), and you should be able to solo most missions decently.

Hope this helps,
Steve

[Genoa]

As Fortefighter, you shouldn't be running out of PP THAT fast... but Photon Charges are a must to have at all times.

Not sure how you would have problems when you have Majarra :p
Jabroga will help for certain situations
Try to invest in higher elemental % weapons, even if it's a weaker weapon (i.e., going from 10 star S-rank spear to 9 star A-rank spear), if the elemental difference is like, 8% or higher, you're going to do more damage.

With Majarra, you can play it safe if you do the first part somewhat more strategically...
Like, if you have to, try to lance around the group of enemies, but still close enough to hit a few, then turn around quickly to face the group for the second part (most important part).
Then when you land, you can usually land that last hit for crowd control.
Just be sure you're using JA with that second part.
The regular attack for a spear is a quick fast thrust, so if you start with that, you can even JA the first part of Majarra quickly.
You just have to know when to time your PA's as a Fighter

If you're really having problems with PP, try investing in a Giga or Cati / Skill save.
You should also invest in Resist units (primarily Freeze/Sleep)

What kind of equipment do you normally use anyway?

[TheUpstreamer]

Spears drain out of PP really fast and it's really annoying. You could try to use some more PP friendly weapons such as twin claws, single daggers, and twin sabers.

Getting knocked out of your moves as a FF is pretty natural. One way to combat it is to get some 30%+ elemental armor of the oposite element. THe problem is is that you are a cast so you prolly want to use paradi which requires S rank armor and that can get costly. However, by getting a higher %, you take less damage and if you take very little, you won't stagger. It's not very reliable, but it's definitely a way.

Your FT friend solos better because techers are really good at surviving. With giresta, regular resta, buffs, elemental armor, a much better HP (thank it used to be), good evasion, and very high MST, newman techers don't die all to much unless they get one hit'd.

[robinhood]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

So I should be swapping armors to the opposite of X element each time I enter an area of X element?

Also, did I make a bad choice being Cast Fortefighter then? I was thinking about Beast but SUVs seem really useful. I don't think I can afford multiple S-rank armos with different element %'s =P

[TheUpstreamer]

Whoops, I meant to say same element. =x

Nope casts are just fine. If you're having fun, then horrible MST can be overlooked.

EDIT: wanted to add that if you can't afford a bunch of S ranks, then go for the A ranks until you can afford them S's. You won't have paradi, but Sturm and Grom are pretty good SUV's as well.

[Genoa]

MST isn't a very crucial statistic in this game, nor is ATA unfortunately...

I overlooked that you were a CAST. Paradi would make soloing extremely easy.
Beast Nanoblast USED to put CAST SUV's to shame, but SUVs have progressively gotten better due to the release of A-rank versions of the original B-rank versions, but the overkill for SUV>Nanoblast came with the release of Paradi.
I have a beast and CAST both at lvl.140+, and I can say from a good amount of playing experience... (despite how much I hate to admit it)... Paradi > Nanoblast :/

Just try to shoot for a cheap S-rank armor with an Extra slot :/

[robinhood]

What about that Beasts get an extra bonus to stats for being a Fortefighter? I'm kinda sad I don't have that bonus as a cast lol.

[TheUpstreamer]

I'm pretty sure it's a 3% bonus. It's really small so I wouldn't worry about it.

[robinhood]

So the extra HP/ATP and Fortefighter stat% boost of a Beast doesn't amount to how useful Paradi is?

[darkante]

Paradi Cataract = Really cheap attack doing massive amount of damage

That´s how it´s reasoned.
Otherwise, the Cast and Beast is pretty equal in status.

[desturel]

If you are running out of PP too quickly using Majarra, you should use a back up PA for certain circumstances.

Bogga Zubba for the Knuckles is very cost effective and a safe PA to use once you know how to use it. Plus just attack on regular attack restores about 30 PP for a full combo on the knuckles IIRC. They are fast to recharge through normal attacks unlike the spear and Zubba knocks creatures up instead of blowing them away like the last part of Majarra so you don't have to worry about chasing down individual enemies. You can just turn around and fire off another blow.

Zubba has the advantage while soloing of:

1) Being much more cost effective.
2) Keeping a pack of aggressive enemies on their backs (Ubakrada, Fire Olgohmon, annoying Fire Bal Soza, Kakwane, etc)
3) Having a very high accuracy, especially when max level.
4) It's cheap to buy (meseta instead of PA frags).

It has the disadvantage of:

1) You won't look as cool as all of the people doing Majarra.
2) It doesn't do as much damage as Majarra's second part.
3) It's a one step PA for people who hate single step PAs. You have the full combo at level 1.
4) It takes a bit of adjusting your play style to use it (it has a small charge up time at the beginning and has less range than Majarra by a good amount).
5) Weapon selection. Gudda Gant are pretty much it for cheap fists as a cast. Skela are ice only. Hon is beast only. Iggac is Bruce's Dungeon S only. The drill knuckles will be a great alternative once they are released.

Once you learn when to use Zubba and when to use Majarra, your consumption of dimates should drop dramatically as Zubba keeps things from hitting you.

Oh and the comment about "My Newman Fortetecher friend solos better than me and I don't understand why."

At lower levels, fortetechers have more single hit power than fighters. Don't worry, your friend will realize that the games balance is not set towards techers once you both level your PAs to max. Just keep fighting to good fight and you'll be clearing out spawns before he even gets a chance to tag anything and laughing manically as you scatter all of the enemies around the board will a well timed Tornado Dance into Jabroga combo.

[SabZero]

Make sure you're not using a unit that increases the PP spending (it'll say PP usage down, confusingly).

[robinhood]

Thanks for the replies everyone they were really helpful. A couple more things.

1. Did I for sure did not make a bad choice as a Cast Fortefighter? I looked up PSO-world stats and by end game 150/20 Beast FF's have about 400 more HP and almost 250 more ATP. Isn't that quite a noticeable difference in both survivability and how much damage they output?

2. I was thinking of playing Protranser. Would this make things even harder? Should I just stick with Fortefighter for now?

[Darius_Drake]

Thanks for the replies everyone they were really helpful. A couple more things.

1. Did I for sure did not make a bad choice as a Cast Fortefighter? I looked up PSO-world stats and by end game 150/20 Beast FF's have about 400 more HP and almost 250 more ATP. Isn't that quite a noticeable difference in both survivability and how much damage they output?

2. I was thinking of playing Protranser. Would this make things even harder? Should I just stick with Fortefighter for now?

1. Actually that is not as big a difference as you think in survivability. Factor in the added accuracy and the Paradi and it is a pretty even trade-off.

2. It depends on which class you like better. If you find FF fun stick with that, but in my honest opinion even if you wanted to try protranser I would level up a bit more before switching. It can be hard to survive as a low level protranser. That could be just my experience though.

[robinhood]

I hear that ATA becomes redundant eventually due to diminishing returns.

And how much more damage would a Beast FF hit for though? Compared to a Cast FF? Sorry to keep bugging you guys.

[TheUpstreamer]

Comparison is the source of unhappiness.

You should really do yourself a favor and just play. Casts and Beasts have close ATP so it really doesn't matter. If you keep comparing everything down to the last point, this game will feel more like a job than a game. Stats really aren't just everything.

[robinhood]

Alright thanks for the advice everyone.

[shookems]

if youre worried about not having good % s rank armor you can always just wear a rank armor until your SUV is charged then switch it with a s rank armor and use paradi.

Cast is an awesome race for protranser in case you were still thinking about it, one of the main reasons being EX traps are great for charging SUVs. If you do want to switch I would recommend you at least wait until level 100 to do so though. Not a big deal in reality, especially because you can level the best pa's for a protranser while playing fortefighter and the survivability at mid levels is better for a fF.

[kejen]

What does your pallet look like right now?