Battle mage

[o.w.w.a.y. I phantom]

How have they worked out for you? I was thinking about making one but I don't want to until I hear from someone else about them

[Kenbog]

hmm... I don't think its a good idea.
If you see at the max atp of all FO classes, FOmar:1002 FOmarl: 872 FOnewm: 814 and FOnewearl: 583 a level 90 HUnewearl could have more atp then this :d

Anyhow go for a max stats plan and you could be any kind of FO you want :p

Don't get me wrong it could be fun using canes, rods and sticks as melee weapons and finaly using cards but ya it would slow things down allot.

[LynxSarnage]

Its actually quite fun but you definitely need a human, preferably a FOmar, if you want to run a battle mage. I use a FOmarl myself and with the right equipment you can dish out some good damage. A good pair of high hit mechs, Justice are nice as are charge vulcans, possible a Vivienne for FOmarls or you could go for a Crimson Coat/Red Saber combo. De Rol Le shield is good for the Def boost too.

One thing you will need is high level support spells. On Ult you really want very high 20s, preferably lv30 if you can find them. So long as you boost yourself up and cast J/Z all over you can easily do some good damage.

On Ep1 they work really well, Ep2 not so good and Ep4....well thats where I switched back to a magic user and got myself a V801. It is fun...but it is a lot slower to level as a battle mage when compared to a tech mage.

[Rika-chan]

Ugh.

Charge vulcans are'nt bad I guess, but they're really overrated ;>>.

Never liked the delay thingy on mech guns, and I'm pretty sure it can't out damage LK-38 by much...but I don't want to get into an argument so I'll just shut up.

[TrueChaos]

i'm with Koha-Chan, Charge Vuls aren't as good as they're made out to be and the delay is too long. on GC it was Red Handgun all the way, on BB it was Master Raven/Last Swan

[HeartBreak301]

If you want to melee things, it's better to take a hunter with a side of techs than a force with a side of melee.
That's just my opinion though. Also GC or BB?

[Genoa]

Anyone can utilize ATP. You can battle mage with a FOnewearl.
Why?
1. Lv.30 Jellen/Zalure/Shifta/Deband
2. Because there's a million OP as hell weapons available, yes, even for a FOnewearl.

Problem?
Usually require weapons with more Hit% due to low accuracy, most ESPECIALLY FOmar/FOmarl.

BlueBurst it's especially easier to utilize battle-mage to OP potential.

[HeartBreak301]

FOnewearls are terrible for melee, they don't have enough ATP to equip an Excalibur, their ATP is too low to make very good use of Vivienne and they're not male so they can't use Asteron Belt. The only things a FOnewearl should be equipping other than casting items is Slicer of Fanatic and Bringer's Rifle for Demon's.

[V.A.P]

How have they worked out for you? I was thinking about making one but I don't want to until I hear from someone else about them

Listen to what your heart is telling you to do!

~Melee FOnewearl~ (http://www.pso-world.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=2262) GOGOGO!!

[Genoa]

FOnewearls are terrible for melee, they don't have enough ATP to equip an Excalibur, their ATP is too low to make very good use of Vivienne and they're not male so they can't use Asteron Belt. The only things a FOnewearl should be equipping other than casting items is Slicer of Fanatic and Bringer's Rifle for Demon's.

Excalibur is one of a million OP weapons, and I actually rarely use it on any toon to be honest.

They can use Vivienne quite well. What you're doing is comparing it to how other classes use it. Then obviously it would appear IN COMPARISON that their "ATP is too low to make very good use of Vivienne". But Lv.30 Shifta and Lv.30 Zalure make for a ridiculously huge difference in damage. RIDICULOUSLY HUGE, like stupid WTFCRAZY difference.

Asteron Belt? Principal's Gift Parasol. So convenient for my extra S/D/R/A range too.
Rainbow Baton is pretty boss too.
Holy Ray and L&K38 Combat is amazing
Even a Last Swan works.

Best part of utilizing ATP weapons with your Force is because you're still obviously a Force and can exercise your Techniques spontaneously with your Weapon usage.
Meaning, no shit you might not have the same whoopass as a Hunter or Ranger using ATP-based weaponry, but you can just as easily start nuking the hell out of everything while keeping Buffs/Debuffs in check.
This isn't PSU, you don't have to SWITCH WEAPONS to use Techniques.
While you hold out your flashy gatling gun you can blast the floor with ice, Phantasty Star Online is cool like that.

And don't lie, you don't REALLY want to walk in a room and feel obligated to only spam the same 1-3 techniques over and over and over and over and over and eat Fluids like crazy.
Have some fun and smack mobs over the head
Shoot somebody with a gatling
Spin that double saber like you just watched Starwars.
Blow shit up with your techniques while you're at it.

No class is limited to exercising good use of ATP-weapons.
However, note there's classes that ARE limited in exercising good Technique usage.
As a Force, the only thing you really can't do is lay a Trap. (Unless it's Battlemode of course... then go for it)

Don't talk crap about Battle-mages unless you have played every Force through Ultimate and tried it.
I have had all Force classes (from GC and even BB) to at least Lv.140-180 and I have a wtfton of ATP-based weapons as well as MST-based weapons with them at their disposal, and they can ALL use them efficiently even on Ultimate. And no, I don't mean Ultimate Forest. I spam shit in Ruins, Seabed, and Subterranean Desert.

[HeartBreak301]

Not really talking crap about them so much as stating the obvious fact that they're the worst melee class in the game. If you're going to make a melee FO you're much better off making a FOmarl or FOmar, hell even FOnewm is pretty ok since he can at least use an Excalibur. And not very many melee weapons that FOs can use are OP, Excalibur and Slicer of Fanatic are the only two that come to mind, and since they're FOs they're not even at an OP level since their ATP sucks compared to other classes that can use them as well.

If you want to make and play a melee FOnewearl, be my guest. I'm just stating that there are much better options for a melee FO.

[Genoa]

K well that clearly tells me you don't have a FOnewearl over 100+ that can use ATP weapons efficiently, or anything other than an Excalibur by the way you hype that overrated, berserk-infested saber.
I'm ATP capped and I still have around 1500+ MST and 186 ATA...so I can easily use any weapon available to FOnewearl.
You're still looking so heavily on the weapons.
Shifta/Zalure is basically win no matter how shit your ATP originally is.

By the way, FOmar/FOmarl ATA is pretty bad. 163 on FOmar and 170 on FOmarl.
FOnewearl at least gets 186. And yes, even 16-23 ATA makes a difference.
You probably still need good Hit % weapons regardless just because anything under 190+ in Ultimate end-game zones are rough evasion.

What is a seksi FOnewearl?
V101
V502
V801 // Cure/Shock <--- depends on the mob situation
Smartlink
Resta Merge (when grouped, otherwise you can use an Atk-tech Merge)

Your mag (generally invincibility-inducing mags, but if you care more about it's appearance, go for it) stats have to balance your material growth, but you'll want a good amount of Dex/Mind/Pow, more reliant on Dex most likely and Mind Mats.

Weapons:
Obviously you need your forcy stuff too. Weapons that boost technique abilities are the ONLY weapons worth wasting your small 30 item inventory.
If it doesn't increase technique dmg or support technique range... leave it in the bank.
ATP-based weapons are heavily dependent on Hit% and their special ability (and obviously if they actually pack any decent base ATP/ATA to begin with).

Vivienne is an exceptional Double Saber for single-target melee DMG. It can also steal TP back

Holy Ray is a great rifle, pretty easy to farm. Has a good paralyze chance. I've collected quite a few and have a 40% hit one, very accurate.

Last Swan // L&K38 Combat are lolololol OP
Last Swan is a handgun that fires like a Mechgun. So it has handgun animation speed and stance but fires three bullets per hit like mechgun, without the long Mechgun cooldown after 3rd shot.
L&K38 Combat... if you're on a specific private server, fires 5 per hit. Totaling at 15 hits a combo... <____> +25 grinder on that gun too. (extra +50 ATP)

IF you can't get those, of course Charge Vulcans 50%+ all the way.

Any of those fancy Parasol partisans are handy.

Bringer's Rifle and Slicer of Fanatic are obviously good weapons due to their Unreduced Demon special (cuts target HP to 1/4)

The largest issue faced with making a successful melee FOnewearl is acquiring the weapons AND getting hit%.
Leveling a character up and getting the appropriate mag/material stat ratio is not hard. FOnewearl ATP is exceptionally easy to cap, you just really only put effort into ATA and keeping good MST up.
Units, merges, and gear, like ANY class, is the hard part.

But a FOnewearl cannot get away with using shitty ATP-weapons. You'll have to spam away with Techs.
Personally, my main, HUcaseal, found the vast majority of my gear/materials/tech disks and I simply passed them onto my other characters and created super Forces.

ANYONE can melee given the right equipment.
FOmar is of the highest damage output but suffers from the lowest ATA in the game.

FOmarl has high dmg output but suffers from some atk animations being slightly... goofier? and some to be very sluggish and sloppy. Her accuracy isn't anything to write home about either.

FOnewm is actually really good because he still pushes up to 814 ATP and a semi-decent 180 ATA. And he's obviously the most powerful AoE tech-spamming Force on top of that.
He has the absolute lowest ATA growth (by leveling) so he needs a bigger push to hit his cap, causing other stats to be lower due to the excessive help towards ATA.

FOnewearl has only 583 ATP and a semi-decent ATA cap of 186.
The ATP is ridiculously easy to cap, you might even do it accidentally as you progress in level.
Her MST growth and cap is obviously very high, so you only need to push ATA and pour the rest into MST. You barely have to mess around with ATP.

To o.w.w.a.y. I phantom, yes, Battle-mages are very successful. Force is the most versatile class, given the potentially to smash shit, shoot shit, or blow shit up while fully supporting yourself or a team of others.

PSO is not a hard game in the least bit, at least not with the end-game gear selection available to everyone.
Some people are just making this sound way to difficult.

A Force is probably the most difficult to start off, usually easier to start as a Ranger or Hunter and hand stuff down to a new Force.

My overall point,
This game is so easy when you're geared up that even a FOnewearl can melee her ass to victory and make it look fun instead of a challenge.

Or you can make a cookie-cutter force and only spam techniques with the occasional use of a special weapon's ability and justify the reasons with "If you want to melee, make a hunter".

[HeartBreak301]

I'm playing a 179 FOnewearl right now.
http://i.imgur.com/5kVMf.png

And I don't even really know what to say in response to that post, it pretty much just fried my brain. So I guess I'll just say that I'll keep on using my Psycho Wand and blowing any melee FOnewearl out of the water when it comes to power comparisons.

Like I said, before, if you want to play a Melee FOnewearl, be my guest, I'm not going to stop you. I'm simply stating that a Melee FOnewearl is the WORST choice out of ALL characters for melee.

Also, if you really think the 30 S/Z gives that big of a damage boost, a RAcaseal with no buffs or Zalure will still be hitting harder with a Vivienne than a FOnewearl will.

Done with this thread now.

I guess I have one thing left to add, I read "K well that clearly tells me you don't have a FOnewearl over 100+ that can use ATP weapons efficiently" again and you're absolutely right. It's mainly because NO FOnewearl level 100+ can use ATP weapons efficiently.

[Genoa]

I'm playing a 179 FOnewearl right now.
And I don't even really know what to say in response to that post, it pretty much just fried my brain. So I guess I'll just say that I'll keep on using my Psycho Wand and blowing any melee FOnewearl out of the water when it comes to power comparisons.

Like I said, before, if you want to play a Melee FOnewearl, be my guest, I'm not going to stop you. I'm simply stating that a Melee FOnewearl is the WORST choice out of ALL characters for melee.

Also, if you really think the 30 S/Z gives that big of a damage boost, a RAcaseal with no buffs or Zalure will still be hitting harder with a Vivienne than a FOnewearl will.

Done with this thread now.

I guess I have one thing left to add, I read "K well that clearly tells me you don't have a FOnewearl over 100+ that can use ATP weapons efficiently" again and you're absolutely right. It's mainly because NO FOnewearl level 100+ can use ATP weapons efficiently.
179 and you can't vouch? Wow...
I mean I guess if you haven't done it you haven't done it...
But I'd think if you got all the way to 179 you'd have at least tried it once.
Oh well,
And oh...
RAcaseal doesn't hit harder unbuffed when FOnewearl is buffed and enemy is debuffed.
You can try that one yourself though

EDIT: also, it wasn't a comparison to Power for FOnewearl given ATP vs. Tech spam. That is an obvious answer.
If you didn't blow shit up faster with Psycho full MST vs. a FOnewearl using ATP-weapons then somethings wrong with your Rafoie button.
The point was the game is so easy even a FOnewearl can EASILY melee given the equipment and support techniques.
I've had harder tic-tac-toe matches

[HeartBreak301]

I haven't done it because I've played with people who have and it made my skin crawl. I tried to repress those memories but they haunt me to this day.

Ok, now I'm done because I'm going to sleep.

[Kyerea]

There's no such thing as an efficient or "decent" melee FOnewearl. In fact, FOneys are only good for two things: a.) making me a S/D sandwich and b.) being a FOrce.

My FOney also says hi Hex.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2mnkawp.jpg

If you want to melee with a character, pick the HUcast and grab a Vjaya for obvious reasons.

http://i53.tinypic.com/1judtl.jpg

[Genoa]

what a narrow-minded, stereotypical response. Way to only play easymode on a retardedly easy game. Hope you feel pro swinging your Vjaya around like 99% of Hucasts

[Kyerea]

A narrow-minded and stereotypical response on these forums regarding PSO:BB would involve posting incorrect or outright fallacies of information for characters, builds and tactics they know nothing about. For your information, most HUcast players don't care to use the 40-Hit Vjaya that can be acquired (for free mind you) in Gov't Quest 6-5 as a reward with a HU host. So 1.) I'm using a weapon there that can be acquired for free, 2.) Yes I have a high-stat HUcast with ubers, but the most powerful HU weapon in the game is still a weapon anyone can acquire for their HU and 3.) it shows that unless you are pulling off large, and I iterate, VERY LARGE numbers with a melee-oriented character. You cannot equal HUs in that regard, so stop pretending your melee FOney is useful. Or really any melee-FO for that matter.

In fact, badly equipped HUs are still worse in comparison to a badly equipped RA. In terms of dps, acquiring ubers for and ease of play/transition (HUs have some of the most expensive and specific gear in the game, not mentioning needing Hit on almost all of those ubers, spare the BKB/DC, for any of the HU classes).

Oh, and that picture was taken in Ultimate btw.

["En"]

Let's not kid ourselves. FOnewearl can melee like a HUcast can pretend to be a force with S-Red's Blades and a Dragon's Claw. Ironically, the ATP boost a HUcast gets from the Shifta supplied by S-Red's Blades isn't far off from what FOnewearl is going to get out of her own Lv30 Shifta. Shifta doesn't supply a flat value; it's percent-based. As such, a percentage of 1639 ATP is going to have a greater impact than a percentage of 583 ATP, regardless of what weapons FOnewearl might have in her arsenal. As Kyerea said, FOnewearls are better suited to making Shifta/Deband sandwiches. And trust me; the rest of the party loves her cooking. Why put that talent to waste?

Zalure may as well not be an argument, due to the existence of the S-Rank Zalure (Lv21) special.

I've always had deep respect for Battle Forces, but people need to accept the fact that they are, in fact, Forces. Not Hunters. They can successfully go the melee route if they so desired, but they will never (check: NEVER) be able to compete with what the Hunters and Rangers can do.

Possible? Yes. Efficient? No. I'd recommend Battle FOmar/FOmarl/FOnewm for those who want a change of pace. Each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages. Battle FOnewearl, on the other hand, is an "honour" reserved solely for the most asinine hipsters.

[Kyerea]

I concur, FOmar and FOmarl are quite possibly the only FO classes that could pull off a sub-par melee dps in single-player whether it is GC or BB PSO. Though I reiterate that last clause, being "sub-par". In no way is a "melee" FO used as a HU, a good player uses it to support the other players by attacking enemies out of the way of the general party's vicinity, if the FO in question has nothing else to do productivity-wise or is defending himself/herself.

[16085k]

I spam shit

sounds about right

[Genoa]

are we talking about the same thing? I'm talking about pso. It's a pretty easy game where even 4 Casts can join a group and dominate anything without any support class. Seriously, you are making this sound like a game where you actually have to put a valiant effort into classifying and diversifying specific character classes and set appropriate roles to ensure victory. lol, gtfo with your elitism

EDIT: You can have your S/D, your R/A, and there will still be J/Z all the time. Why the hell do you care if your Force isn't only nuking shit 24/7? You're still going to kill everything almost instantly anyways with a couple HU/RA in a party. As long as you're getting your heals and buffs and enemies are getting debuffed, why can't the force do whatever the hell else it wants in between?

Stop making it sound like this game takes proper teamwork!
You take your buffs and heals and stfu
If a force wants to melee for fun get over it as long as they're still supporting the group.

The elitism in this thread is literally wtfoverthetopridiculous
Get over yourselves
;__;
Try playing for fun rather than how fast can you clear quest.

[LynxSarnage]

Wow, didn't this topic start out with a question on whether a melee force was possible and/or fun?

I'd say yes to both. The efficiency is of doing so is of course debatable but I've had plenty of fun with melee forces in the past. Its a good way to concerse meseta if you are a poor force (although once you reach ult this shouldn't be a problem) and it adds a pinch of nutmeg to the otherwise bog standard rice pudding of force nuking. XD

Of course a HUcast is going to out damage you, but then that class is generally like using a hedge trimmer on your house plants. If you play PSO the way Sega intended, ie; hunter melee whore, rangers needle spam and force tech nuke, then the game becomes easy and straight forwards.

Its only when you go off track that things get a little more tricky, and melee forcing is one way of doing this. Once you've been playing the game for a while the relentless grind of PSO starts to grate a bit and I'd much rather do something fun and different to add a little excitement. I sometimes set myself dumb tasks like clearing a certain boss using only a Durandal or something. XD God it can get intense at times.

But yes, in closing I'd say this. Any force class can melee. Any force class can be fun when you melee. You aren't going to do as well as a HUcast bomb...but frankly if you're rolling on the floor laughing as a Del Lily megid spams you for the 12th time that morning...or nearly snapping your controller in two as Falzy dodges your saber swings again....who cares?

XD

[Zynetic]

Try playing for fun rather than how fast you can clear a quest.
Newsflash: Fun is subjective to each and every person.

The definition of fun is not to purposely play bad, it is enjoyment and amusement, and (this might come as a shock to you) not everyone enjoys themselves playing a game slowly like you might do.

Now, onto the topic at hand.
You are suggesting that a FOnewearl can melee very well.
Okay, she can melee.
It might be fun for you.

However, she can't do it very well.

I have had two FOnewearls past the 195 mark, a 200 FOnewm and a FOmarl at about roughly 140 or so. I have tried melee on every single one, with the best equipment possible for them.

When I played my FOmarl and FOnewm, it was decent, and quite fun, as I could kill an enemy or two that others didn't have their attention on. However, when I gave my FOmarl equipment to my FOnewearl, which consists of:

Two Viviennes, fully sphered with hit.
A Diska of Braveman, sphered with Thirteen.
A 54H Principal's Gift Parasol.
A Rambling May sphered in N/M/D.
Charge Gatlings with 50Hit

I was sorely disappointed. The damage that she output was very, very low, and added to this, she missed far too much as specials had to be used to do any realistic (if her damage can be considered realistic) damage.

This is not my idea of fun. Taking minutes on one spawn of enemies because a FOnewearl's damage output is so low is not how I want to spend my time on PSO. I want to kill things. I want to do it at a decent pace, and get this: So do the majority of people.

Why do you think people hunt things? Why do you think people level up? To kill things faster than they could before. They might not want to take it to the level of Time Attacking, but they, for sure, don't want to do it slowly. This is what people might regard fun as on PSO, you might not, but that doesn't mean anyone else is automatically wrong.

Maybe some people do want to take it slowly. That's fine and dandy. But whatever you do, don't go around posting that tactics such as a melee FOnewearl are efficient and just as good as playing any other character, because guess what; they're not, not matter how much you try to delude yourself.

---

OP: Melee FO is a fine character if you pick FOmarl or FOnewm (I do not recommend FOmar, he misses brick walls with his amazing ATA if you try to output decent damage with him (specials and the like)). With weapons such as Vivienne, Master Raven/Last Swan, 50H Charge/Vises (I don't find Excalibur that useful) and Demon's usage for higher HP enemies (Slicer of Fanatic / Bringer's Rifle), these characters can be useful in most parties where some enemies to the side are left to live temporarily.

No matter what FO you pick, you will want to fill all roles though; that is support, melee (if FOnewearl, just use Demon's / Simple Techs) and nuking (nuking is for solo play mostly, but Gifoie can be useful in Forest, Caves, Mines and Episode 4). Support must always take top priority in parties, but if you are playing by yourself, feel free to do whatever you like.

[Biolizard13]

FOmar and my LK38/Excalibur<3
FTD helps me look bawss too, I just have good set of slots, and a nice mag.
I absolutly love being Battle Force, mainly because I suck at tech bombing, but I feel that I'm great with Support, but at the same time I also am great at Melee/Ranged.