Curious about Photon Arts...

[SilverFoxR]

Hey all!

I was sitting around one day and I was wondering to myself which Photon Art is more useful per weapon type... say for example, if you have a weapon with 3 possible PAs, which one would you want to have if you could choose?

When I was going through normal mode, I had Silvaria's Spear with Speed Rain attatched, but later upgraded to a Dragon's Fang which had Spear Ride. I used the Dragon's Fang, since it was far more powerful, but I've also noticed that when I used Speed Rain in different situations (especially on certain bosses), Speed Rain was a devestator.

I'd like to hear from people more experienced than I... for each weapon, which Photon Arts do you prefer and why?

Personally, for Double Sabers, I've been somehow getting some nice luck with Tornado Dance. In fact, my first Hard Mode battle with Dark Falz using my trusty Chrono Scythe ended up with me completely dominating him by mainly dodging his attacks while powering up the move, then shooting through his abdomen, striking each point of his body 3-4 times. The fight was a cakewalk, mainly because I ripped through him, but he couldn't catch me.

Anyways, it's all up for discussion =3

[Arcanas]

Well, since I like to use swords exclusively, it's a toss up between Dynamo Spin and Over End.

Dynamo Spin is a circular spinning attack, similar to Link's spin attack, which is good when you're surrounded, or if a boss has multiple attackable parts.

Over End is an over powering linear attack that is being strongly debated in another thread, lol. I tend to use Over End during boss fights only, since it's a fairly expensive PA, and makes sense to use during boss fights, since most bosses are quite big and have multiple attackable parts, like Reyburn, Humilias, Chaos and Mobius, and Mother Trinity/Dark Falz.

If you look at the numbers though, OE would beat out DS all the way, but numbers only tell you so much. I think it depends on the situation, your style of play, and what you feel like.

I would experiment with all possible PA's, and find one that you like, and is suitable for the many possible situations you may encounter

[leviayurashyguy]

well PA's are all over the place since they can be ranked by overall damage, execution, charge time, pp cost, range, AoE, accuracy, etc, but there are also clear cut losers liek Say Good-bye.

when it comes to choosing PA's, its about your own preference. Million Rave has higher damage than Tornado Dance, but if you liek to "PSYCHO CRUSHA" or "I AM THE THUNDER GOD" then you will obviously prefer tornado dance over million rave

for example, i liek Cross Rave on the saber cuz its quick and cheap, but Zeta Cutlass does more damage, hits more targets, and has wider AoE

[johnwolf]

i use daggers but i like Double sabers too. my pa for daggers are Huge Cross because it dose the most damage and if you do it right you can hit a large target (e.g. Arkzein) more than 3 times (6 times for me). Double sabers are a mix between Tornado Dance and the matrix style Cyclone Run. I some times experiment with mechs but i don't know what PA is better. though i like Cool Style a lot.

[Flashrogers]

As Arcanas stated before, it depends on the situation when it comes to PA's but it doesn't mean we can't have our favourites right? :)
For daggers I like Reverse kill because it gives me a decent four hit ranged attack that affects a wide radius in front of me. For 2 swords I'm somewhat caught between Tornado dance and Million Rave. Tornado dance is good for agressive unstoppable charges on enemies like Arkziens (And their cheap A** missiles), whereas Million rave is good for slugging three solid hits when you're surrounded or flanked. For the mech guns I like spinning death because it is essentially a combination of acro step and cool style. You start with several shots straight ahead like acro step, followed by a series of spinning shots like cool style. For gunblades, the PA's are pretty good for their own situations. My favourite is Impact Zero however, if only because it not only looks cool, but because it is connected (I think...) to the name of the game (Plus it looks awesome when used by a HUcast wearing a Hagal. It makes me want to shout "GUNDAM!"). As for swords I'm also caught between Over End and Dynamo Spin. While over end has a high pp cost, its slugging power is incredible. Even with a HUnewm, who typically has a low-ish ATP, the power is still impressive. Dynamo spin is good for when you're surrounded, good power and many hits, good for surviving after being circled by a number of Hildegigas' and their kin on SH. I could continue on to other weapons and their PAs but this post is getting too long... :D

[Arcanas]

As Arcanas stated before, it depends on the situation when it comes to PA's but it doesn't mean we can't have our favourites right? :)


Very true. When I first got a sword that had Dynamo Spin on it, I ended up shouting "Spin Attack!" a few time...

I need to try out this Impact Zero on my Cast...I just don't have a gunblade that has Impact Zero that my HUcast can use at the moment...

[ARChan]

Impact Zero is a PA that prioritizes on flinch ability and keeping a distance from bunching enemies in front of you over everything else. Still, I'd prefer Earth Bullet over that because of its balanced priorities. However, since I like being flashy, I use my 50% Accuracy-adjusted Lv 3 StunNaglering with Bullet Dance. Bullet Dance prioritizes on the element taking place.

[Kirukia]

I absolutely love bright sign. It hits in a nice radius and paralyzes for a pretty long time.
I think force ride and air ride are nice PAs too.
I think bite stamp is nice too.

[Arcanas]

Impact Zero is a PA that prioritizes on flinch ability and keeping a distance from bunching enemies in front of you over everything else. Still, I'd prefer Earth Bullet over that because of its balanced priorities. However, since I like being flashy, I use my 50% Accuracy-adjusted Lv 3 StunNaglering with Bullet Dance. Bullet Dance prioritizes on the element taking place.
Lol. yeah, I saw you do that move a couple of times the other night.

Kirukia: Yeah, after using Bite Stamp on my Hadan, I've found it's awesome. Fairly decent PP cost, decent range, and a great AOE

[The_Pup]

Over End spam for bosses.

Shields would be Bull Rush for general use because it charges faster than OE and you can charge it while being near invincible (from enemies at your front, even attacks coming from behind are negated as long as you are facing the enemy that sent it) and release it on enemies between attacks. Use it on Mothers in ET when NPCs don't have enough for at least a 3-way.

For lasers, I like Bio-Panic (fast, damaging). Mechguns, Cool Style (as it's pretty decent for laying down status effect on everything).

[HeartBreak301]

Earth Bullet on gunblades, a great PA thats good for just about every situation. Pretty fast charge, 20 PP to use it and it works great on mobs and bosses.

[Arrow]

one thing i'm absolutely curious about... the special "critical hit" of PA when ya time em right (or something like that) ya know what i'm talkin about right? the strange sparks that apear for each hit a PA does on the target (happens with even Techniques)

other than that...
Force ride or Zeta Cutlass - Sabers
Tornado Dance or Million Rave - Double Sabers
Earth Bullet and Impact Zero - Gun blades
Hollow snipe or Mine sneak - Rifles

Most of the good PA I see in the weapons I use most xP

[Parasite159]

critical strikes can happen on any attacks but are more obvious during PA's because they are affected by chains, the higher your chain the greater the chance of a critical strike and the higher the damage.

[The_Pup]

I was playing around a bit with other PAs since I got weapons with %s that made them worth using... OE only for Mothers in tower and a couple of the bosses. It became even more useless....

Cool Style and Wipe Out are vicious (see disgustingly damaging) PAs against Reyburn (risky, have to be standing off to the side of his head), Diabolo and Falz (though CS provides a little protection against dark balz and supplemental damage against tentacles), against Chaos and Mobius, it's less amazing but still useful.

[Arrow]

critical strikes can happen on any attacks but are more obvious during PA's because they are affected by chains, the higher your chain the greater the chance of a critical strike and the higher the damage.

so the critical hit (blue flowing spark) and the PA critical hit (spikey spark) is the same idea just that PA crit. is based on chain hits...

....so is normal crit. is based on the % of the weapon for the "element" (or w/e it's called)?
(if it's in the guide i didn't see it..)

[Joustin]

so the critical hit (blue flowing spark) and the PA critical hit (spikey spark) is the same idea just that PA crit. is based on chain hits...

....so is normal crit. is based on the % of the weapon for the "element" (or w/e it's called)?
(if it's in the guide i didn't see it..)

I haven't found anything about normal critical strikes & what dictates their proc.

However, i have gut feeling that its based on ATA in some way. I say that cuz when I leveled my my RaCast I saw more crits then with any non-ranger toon I played. I also think its ATA based cuz otherwise ATA is the only stat that would never be stacked due to no additional benefit.

As of right now based on conventional wisdom once you have enough ATA to hit everything /wo missing, there's no point in raising it further. I could be totally wrong and maybe its a fixed amount on certain weapons. As of right now who knows. I just know, like you do, we get normal crits here and there and no one knows why.

Sorry to go off topic here, but it kills me that very little is ever discussed about critical hits.