New player, tips etc on playing?

[RirirNz]

Uh. Basically started playing PSZ few days ago after a work mate suggested it. So far I LOVE IT. I honestly have no idea how ive never played any other phantasty star games.
Anyways.
Just been attempting online play. And was just seeing how many people actually play.
So far. Not a single matchmaking success.

So yeah. Instead of waiting impatiently to find a match. Thought id find a decent forum and post something.

Oh and any tips etc on playing would be muchly appriciated

[Crazyleo]

One tip I can give you is this:

Before even attempting to play online; clear the story first.

This way; you'll have access to Hard Difficulty when playing online; plus you'll have access to every area.

[Knifedera]

I'm New Also XD I'll Gladly Play With You :3

[Atbar]

One tip I can give you is this:

Before even attempting to play online; clear the story first.

This way; you'll have access to Hard Difficulty when playing online; plus you'll have access to every area.

It would even be better if you get your character to level 60 (when SH opens online). I've been in a PSZ group on PSO-World and I recall "SH only" attitude was pretty strong among a lot of players.

[sml_psZ]

send me a pm whenever you'd like to play, I have a character in every difficulty at the moment

[RLbitClassica]

Yeah, good luck with match-making. Even if there are people out there waiting to play, I don't trust the Big N to find em' for you. Nintendo still hasn't perfected their online service, even today. You'll find that the majority of the regular players all gather together here, not that there's many left. Unfortunately, I cannot count myself among them(DS is not compatible with router). Which is a real shame, because I just started a new character.

[Atbar]

It's good to see you again, Classica. Yeah, I retired for good from PSZ like around March of last year. Running a group for it when Windancer was out sick did contribute to that (I admit in retrospect, I was a somewhat of a shoddy leader with some of the stupid things I've done ^^; ) alongside the game finally got boring to me after like what? 1000 or 2000 hours? Up until last March, I played it off and on since I bought it off Amazon in December 2009. Sadly though, I haven't gotten into any other Phantasy Star games since Zero. That might change in the future.

[Gown]

It would even be better if you get your character to level 60 (when SH opens online). I've been in a PSZ group on PSO-World and I recall "SH only" attitude was pretty strong among a lot of players.
I think that was a common misunderstanding with revival group! The charts made it seem like just having a character in SH meant that we only wanted to play SH.
There are a lot of us who were just happy to play/goof around in ANY difficulty N,H,SH etc!

I'd team up with you whenever you'd like RirirNz! Maybe a few of us can get a game going! :-o

You may also want to try dis: http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197069
WHAT'S IN THIS FORUM EASTER EGG?
das chato

[Atbar]

^You must be referring to Dr. Shanks's Revival 2 group. I think he's done a better job at integrating players of all levels. I was the leader of the first PSZ Revival group for the last three or so months it was around before it got deleted when Windancer was out sick. I recall people who weren't on SH didn't feel as welcome and left sooner. I also remember a member openly complained about how everyone had "SH only" attitude.

[Gown]

I think casual groups have a better chance at carrying on the flame.
I'm still concerned that the japanese PSZ IRC group was never included here. God knows if they're still active. All those kids like me who were without wifi too :(

[Knifedera]

Message Me People! I'm New Also, And Love To play Online xp

[Atbar]

I think casual groups have a better chance at carrying on the flame.
I'm still concerned that the japanese PSZ IRC group was never included here. God knows if they're still active. All those kids like me who were without wifi too :(

I got nothing to add. I had my fun with PSZ and I wish those looking for others to play with online with the game being as old as it is now the best of luck.

[Gown]

And yet PSOBB is even older!

[Atbar]

And yet PSOBB is even older!

Meh.

.

[BERNIE_ORAN]

So what's the best ranger to start out as for a new player to PSZ? I've heard RAmar is rather balanced, but people seem to have mixed opinions on rangers.

FYI, i've put hunderds of hours into both PSO and PSU, so though PSZ is a different game, I have experience in the mechanics it shares with those titles.

[Atbar]

Cast rangers in my experience.

[Knifedera]

So what's the best ranger to start out as for a new player to PSZ? I've heard RAmar is rather balanced, but people seem to have mixed opinions on rangers.
I'd Say Racaseal... If She's Anything In This Game Like She Is In Blue Burst And Episodes 1 & 2. I Have Never Used A Ranger OR A Force In PSZ, As All 3 Of My Characters Are Hunters :3

[Rekku]

The entire Ranger class is terrible in Zero; I mean, accuracy isn't an issue post game, and they have significantly lower ATP than Hunters. Once HUs patch up their hit, they are better than RAs in just about every way. Hell, they can even use a few good RA weapons. So all RAs get are the strongest of the Bazookas and Laser Cannons and stuff - which suck compared to HU and FO weapons.

If you must be a Ranger, all four are viable: CASTs have more raw power, but Humans can Resta/Shifta/Jellen/Zalure, so pick what suits your playing style (being able to heal would be good for players who are a little more careless).

[Atbar]

Rangers are more of a challenge to play, though that didn't stop people from playing them. They work well online being paired with one other force or hunter in a run. Offline, you may want to put up with the NPCS for meatshields and supplement your damage output.

[Norco]

I do not play much anymore however if I see fit that I have some time over I might pop in. Anyway here are some overall tips I can give.

1. Focus materials on one stat, preferably Power or Mind depend on what class you have.
- Reason the buff Shifta which increase your Power and Mind scale according to your characters base stats.

Example: We have two HUcasts with the exact same amount of Power. HUcast A have 80 Power Materials. HUcast B have 55 Power Materials and a Divine/Power equipped (+25 Power). They both have the same Total Power, however when Shifta is cast on them the one which have more base Power will get more Power from the buff.


2. If you are a none cast, then as soon as you enter an area use a Trap Vision. Unlike PSO where Trap Vision only works for one room. Trap Vision in PSZ work until you visit town again, so if you are good enough you will use Trap Vision once and it will last through the entire area because you did not have to visit town. To summarize this.
- Use Trap Vision when you enter an area
- Reuse after visiting the town

3. The npc meat shields. Now these might seem rather useless at first however they are actually of some use. If they are about to die, let them die. Just focus on killing the monsters and avoiding attacks. As soon as you enter a new room the dead NPCs get ressed anyway.
- They can stand there and take damage while you charge up a Photon Art.
- They can build up a combo which will make your Photon Art stronger, even just 1 combo helps.
- They can sometime heal, this happens more often if you switch to the command "safety first".
- If they get full Photon Blast charge then they can chain their Photon Blast with yours making your Photon Blast even better.

4. Weakness and Resistance. Now I am not talking about the resistance you have, infact you can pretty much ignore that all together really. I am talking about what the monsters have. Lets say you enter the Valley, here monsters are weak vs melee and strong vs ranged. However if you enter Wetlands the tables are turned, here monsters are weak vs ranged and strong vs melee. To summarize, here is a list..

Hunter / Ranger
- Gurhacia Valley: Use a Melee Weapon
- Ozette Wetlands: Use a Ranged Weapon
- Rioh Sowfield: Use a Ranged Weapon. Melee weapons can be used here too, but they aren't as strong.
- Oblivion City Paru: Use a Melee Weapon
- Makara Ruins: Use a Ranged Weapon.
- Arca Plant: Use either Melee or Ranged weapons with a decent Machine stat. Ranged weapons will leave you helpless against Arkzeins though.
- Dark Shrine: Use either Melee or Ranged weapons with a decent Dark stat. Like Arca, some enemies have a bit more ranged resistance.

Force
- Gurhacia Valley: Everything appears to be weak to Barta. You can also use Zonde for precision. (unsure about this one)
- Ozette Wetlands: Everything is weak to Foie. You can use Zonde to hit the frogs easier.
- Rioh Snowfield: Everything is damaged hard by Foie.
- Paru: Perfect coverage is obtained with Foie and Zonde
- Makara Ruins: Perfect coverage is obtained with Grants and Megid. The Rohjades are weaker to Barta, and both Batts can be hit with Zonde.
- Arca Plant: Prefect Coverage can be obtained with Grants/Zonde, Foie/Zonde, Zonde/Megid
- Dark Shrine: Megid for the first half, Grants for the second half.

5. Third Sister quest. (http://www.pso-world.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=2611) Listen up, this is REALLY IMPORTANT! Now in certain areas if you are really lucky you can find the bakery. In here if you talk to the NPCs here you can get a quest. If you do this quest, DO IT ON HARD. There is a very important reason for this. Once you finish all quests on hard you get a Title called "World Protector" as a reward for getting this title you get an item called "Compress PA". This is hands down one of the most useful items in the game and you only get one per game, not character but per game! Anyway once you do this quest the quest disappears from the quest counter and then you have to find the bakery again in order to do it. So once again, if you get this quest finish it on hard!
- Bakery is rare
- It does not matter what difficulty you FOUND the cake shop, you can choose to play the quest on any difficulty
- Quest disappears after doing it, any difficulty
- Do it on hard in order to faster get the title "World Protector"

Now these are a few things I think of. To refresh my memory on what weapons / techniques are effective where I looked at DoctorShanks wonderful guide called "How to Maximize Your Damage" (http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194709). Which I highly recommend checking out, he covers all you need to know in order to deal a lot of damage. Also if you are curious on how other people play certain classes I recommend checking out the thread called "Palette and Unit setups" ("http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191523). Keep in mind that some of those qouted on the first page might have been updated. Mine on page 2 have undergone a few changes for example.

Anyway hope these tips help, if you have any other questions just ask.