how much ATA is enough? (and other crazy questions)

[jspacemunkey]

1. how much ATA is enough for a HUcast? a HUnewearl? recently i was playing with my HUcaseal in PW2 and getting myself killed due to overzealous ul gibbons shocking me. i decided to take out my god/arm and switch in a cure/shock thinking that this would have a major impact on my ability to hit. it didn't (her ATA dropped to 231). so i'm wondering, as my HUcast's ATA is almost 231 and my HUnewearl's is slightly higher, how much ATA is enough? it seems that 230 pretty much takes care of even the ep2 mini-bosses. is there really a point to having a lot more?

1a. sort of a tangent to the preceding question... i have three lavis cannons i piped last summer, percents being (0/0/0/0), (20/0/0/20) and (0/40/0/15). i've not taken the time to hunt down the syncestas i need for a lavis set because i wanted to try to pipe a lavis cannon with hit. (actually, two cannons with hit, one for the lavis blade and the other for the double cannon.) i know that such an endeavour would require an enormous commitment on my part, but now i'm wondering whether it's necessary. if 230+ ATA is perfect for a HU, then do I need to bother with hit on my lavis set? should i go ahead and get the syncestas i need? (note that the double cannon would go to my Hunewearl.)

2. i have been, for the past week, playing PW4 to find a yamigarasu. i kill only the ill gill that appears at the beginning of the quest as i cannot solo past the dual meri room (the one where there are two of 'em right outside the entrance). i've killed around 450-500 ill gills by my count, but i'm beginning to wonder if this isn't the right way to approach this. any thoughts/recommendations? (and don't suggest gathering a team to help me search... i know no one online.)

3. in anticipation that ma1 v2 and ma2 v2 will be out for xbox in a couple months, i'm wondering whether a photon sphere can be used to add percent to a weapon when the difference between the weapon's current percent and 100 is less than thirty. in other words, can i use a photon sphere to max a photon percent if that percent is greater than 70? or am i screwed and stuck with using photon drops if such a thing occurs?

4. i want yasha. badly. i'm planning to begin making temple runs online with my skyly this weekend, but i'm wondering whether it's nuts to even bother in terms of time and effort. purportedly, ma1 is the best place to search for indi belras, but obviously xbox does not have access to that quest. how easy is it to reach the belras in ma1? do they appear in one room in several waves? is it worthwhile, in terms of reaching them, to wait until xbox has access to this quest to begin my search?

i think that does it for now. as always, help is greatly appreciated. i'm only asking for recommendations so don't feel as though you have to provide the one and only answer.

now i'm off to kill more ill gills...

EDIT: it occurs to me after posting this that the first question isn't really item-related, so maybe it belongs elsewhere. however, i posted it in this forum because the rest of the post is item related. if it ends up getting moved, i apologize in advance for the inconvenience. should have thought a little harder before i posted.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jspacemunkey on 2005-02-19 07:53 ]</font>

[Hrith]

On 2005-02-19 07:47, jspacemunkey wrote:
It seems that 230 pretty much takes care of even the ep2 mini-bosses.Minibosses have relatively low EVP.


Is there really a point to having a lot more?More, yes; a lot more, not really.


If 230+ ATA is perfect for a HU230 is far from perfect, my HUnewearl has over 300 with Sange & Yasha, and still misses once in a while when using weak/hard/hard combo.
230 is 'good' on melee weapons, but might not be enough for some areas, and depending on the weapon you use.
Watch out for Ill Gill, Zol Gibbon and Deldepth, they have insane EVP.

But no, do not bother to find a lavis with hit%, it's not worth the effort at all.


I have been, for the past week, playing PW4 to find a yamigarasu. Any thoughts/recommendations?WT, easy to solo, 8 Ill Gills.


Can i use a photon sphere to max a photon percent if that percent is greater than 70?
No.


I want Yasha. I'm wondering whether it's nuts to even bother in terms of time and effort.It is, just get an Asuka.


How easy is it to reach the belras in ma1?Easy to reach, in 3 different rooms for a total of 6 waves, takes less than 10 minutes at high levels.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Kef on 2005-02-19 08:00 ]</font>

[jspacemunkey]

thanks, kef, both for your reply and for reading my ridiculously verbose post.

couple things:

i know that asuka is a decent alternative to s&y, but i'd like the extra atp (plus the special) that the latter provides. also, asuka looks lame imo. but i am very glad to hear that ma1 is quick. i may hold off on my search until it becomes apparent that ma1 will (or will not) be released on xbox.

what would you recommend i shoot for in terms of ATA for my HUnewearl and HUcast? 240-250? i play a lot of offline, and i find that i have little trouble there, period. online is a different story, so i guess that's where i'm most concerned. (EDIT: i do understand your point about mele ATA being dependent on the situation you're mele-ing in... i guess i'm just looking for a balkpark estimate.)

lastly, is there a strategy you can recommend for dealing with meris? i'd considered soloing ET or WT for my yami, but when i encounter a meri my HUcast tends to get death breathed before he can even get a hit in. i'm sure more practice will help, but should i be equipping some devil/resists at the expense of my god/powers? or switch from my kasami bracer to a shield of delsaber? will those items even make a difference?

edit: reading through the WT walkthrough i noticed that my photon sphere question is answered there. i've read that information a zillion times and somehow never retained that last bullet point. i feel foolish.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jspacemunkey on 2005-02-19 08:42 ]</font>

[Hrith]

On 2005-02-19 08:20, jspacemunkey wrote:
Also, asuka looks lame, imo.heh, and I was about to advise using S-Rank Swords, lol.


What would you recommend I shoot for in terms of ATA for my HUnewearl and HUcast? 240-250?Depends on the area, 250 is enough for any place, really.

And yeah, 230 is enough for offline.
I never refer to offline, unless mentioned.


I do understand your point about mele ATA being dependent on the situation you're mele-ing in...I was also refering to weapon types, 230 is enough on a saber, sword, dagger, etc. but definitely not on a handgun, for instance.


Lastly, is there a strategy you can recommend for dealing with Meris?I do not recommend soloing WT with a bot =/
Use another char that has Yami as a drop (Yellowboze has better odds ah hit, while Whitill has 2 monsters that drop Yami in WT -- 6 Sinow Zele and 8 Ill Gill, both at 1/901).
Viridia is also a lot easier if you have one.

Back to the Meris, either you're a RA with Frozen Shooter, and you laugh at them; or you're a HUmar/HUnewearl with Holy Ray, and can keep a safe distance.

FOmar and FOmarl can also solo WT pretty well, they have respectively 2 and 3 rifles at their disposal, but Holy Ray is the best overall choice really.

Holy Ray's sepcial is Seize, and Mericarol (not Merikle and Mericus) has low ESP, you can paralyse it very easily.

Staying behind a fence will prevent Meris from hitting you (the ball they spit won't reach you).
As a general rule, use walls a lot in WT, hugging the left wall can prevent Meris, Gibbles and Delbiter from reaching you in many situations.

If you have to use a bot, abuse Freeze Traps on Meris/Gibbles, and Confuse Traps on Ill Gills.
Confused Ill Gills can one-hit kill any monster.

If you do not have a Zalure S-Rank weapon for Epsilon, you have 2 options:
-keep Mylla and Youlla for it.
-bring a weapon with either Devil's or Demon's.

No equipment can save you from Meri's ranged attack.
Just boost DFP (EVP is useless), that will prevent bad surprises from an Ill Gill charge or a Gibbles' punch.

The best thing to do about WT is to learn the spawns, then it's a lot easier.

Note that if you use Whitill, you need two people to reach 4 of the 6 Sinow Zeles)

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Kef on 2005-02-19 08:42 ]</font>

[Fanta]

250 ATP is hardly enough.
Sorry, I havent read all the posts cos there so long but...with my Musashi equiped i have about 900+...=)
Low ATP is not very good for a Hunter as you want hit very often and thats bad...=)

Keep training...

[jspacemunkey]

fanta - 250 atp is pathetic, i agree. i'm talking about ata. currently my HUcast uses s-red's blade, and with s/d active his atp is 1901. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

kef - didn't mean to cut you off on the s-rank swords. i do want a pair, but i like the look of s&y better. in the end, having s&y is something i would be very proud of. any other twin sword? eh, not so much.

i just attempted a run through WT solo with my bot. he did very well up until floor 3. there are two mericarols there and they beat him down several times. i'm starting a new run so that i can kill the recobox that spawns the second del lily first. that way i'll only have the meris to deal with when i kill the last recobox. anyway, if i can get this down i'll be very happy. just about every enemy in WT drops a weapon i want. delbiter, sinow zele, ill gill, mericus, merikle, gi gue (yeah, right). i'm going to keep at it and see if i can make it work. thank again for all the advice!

[Fanta]

oh ATA I see...sorry, I have about 200 ATA but dont really need it. I use a Varista dn never miss, but when I get it online I am going to try and get Red Handgun with some friends (cant do it myself because I dont have the right ID)

Other sword pairs?? - Sange Yasha...there mint...=)
Want them...=P

[Nai_Calus]

Is it just me, or do Merikles have insane or at least better EVP than the other minibosses? Zero can hit Mericarols fine, he barely ever misses Mericus, but Merikles are as hard to hit as Ill Gills for him. O_o; Note that this is, obviously, with a Holy Ray.

Not that I solo Tower except that one time in ET where I swore that I'd never do it again, especially since REDRIA has such generally underwhelming drops(Yeah, Tripolic, but WT is better and no way in shit Zero would EVER get past Seabed before I went crazy. XP) there...

'Enough' ATA depends on the area and what % of misses you're willing to tolerate. For example, 208 will get you through a very large portion of the game just fine without too many misses, but for some people any misses at all are unacceptable. >_>

For a HU, however, 240 should be ridiculously easy to get and maintain, and serve nicely for just about anywhere.

[Sitka]

jpspacemunkey:

I'm sorry. I've been so busy with Ep 2 c-mode I've neglected taking you through some runs. If we can get Cahill and PhoenixRage on at the same time, I'll take all four of you through challenge. If you're willing to be patient and learn the maps/spawns, we'll get you some s-ranks.

Last weekend, in an obsessive attempt to finish off Sitka Blue D, we did a total of about 12 PW4 runs. We ended up with 4 yamigarusu drops and I was fortunate enough to get the best one with percents. That makes about six yami drops with my Skyly.

I would be happy to walk you through ET, WT, RT or PW4 and show you how to solo most of those quests. ET is fairly easy, WT is a little harder, RT is pretty easy up until Gal Gryphon and PW4, in my opinion, needs a good team to finish well.

Alternatives to your S&Y hunt might include s-rank sword, s-rank partisan or the s-rank twin. They're all very fine weapons and you'll probably get them before you get your S&Y. Another great weapon you might consider would be the Black King Bar - Monkey King Bar isn't difficult on the right id and you can trade in some PDs for the Blue Black Stone. Mine is 0/0/0/0 and it is still an incredible weapon.

I'll look for you online and send you an invite.

[jspacemunkey]

ian -- i've noticed the exact same thing about merikle. i'm using a red handgun with high a. beast to supplement my melee attack and i just encountered a random merikle spawn in 9f. the damn thing would not take damage. (this being due to my suck-ass ATA) mericus, mericarol, they are not difficult to hit. merikle, he is a bastard. and actually, i ended up in the same situation the first time i hit ET and WT. i used my redria, an RAcaseal, then my most powerful character. things did not go well. it took me hours to get into the control tower and then i discovered she could not damage ill gills at all. kinda turned me off to the whole online thing for a bit.

overall, xom is having a very good time in WT (thanks in great part to kef's good advice). gets killed now and then, but i've nailed a couple perfect runs in forty five minutes. i just picked up soul banish actually, which is cool.

sitka -- not a problem. i just don't want to end up being a pest. example: there's a guy on my friends list who invites me to play halo 2 about every ten minutes. no matter how many times i decline, he doesn't seem to get the hint. i don't want to be that guy. anyway, i'll be on most of tonight and tomorrow night as well so anytime in there is cool if you're free. the only s-ranks i want in ep1 are the rifle and twin. after that i'd be very happy to help you out in ep2 with developing a TA strategy if you still need people. i'd like the s-rank katana, needle, swords and j-cutter so i'm going to need to spend time in ep2 cmode either way.

in terms of the yasha...i'm dead set on getting it. it'll take an eternity, for sure, but i'll pick up lots of stuff i need along the way. (luck and hp mats, grinders, photon drops.) in the end, it'll be a much better weapon for my HUcast, plus i can customize the percents by piping a decent sange.

btw... six yamis? i hate you so very, very much.

[Hrith]

On 2005-02-19 17:10, Ian-KunX wrote:
For a HU, however, 240 should be ridiculously easy to get and maintain, and serve nicely for just about anywhere.
I just did PW#2 with Kefka, had a partisan equipped, total ATA was 286: first attack of a weak/weak/hard combo missed 50% of the time on Ul/Zol Gibbons; 10% to 20% of the time on other monsters.

[Nai_Calus]

Then you suck ass. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif Zero does just fine on pretty much everything there except Gibbons, and fucking RAs have trouble with the bloody Gibbons. XP Note that I did say 'most' areas/situations. XP