FOnewearl's Role

[Notos]

I'm trying to play ep1 cmode with my FOnewearl, but I'm getting more and more confused as I play more. People keep telling me conflicting things to do. Some want me to only support, some want me to only kill stuff. Some want me to get boxes, some want me to ignore boxes. Why can't people make up their mind? What am I suppose to do?

I already know how damage cancel works, TP management and tech weakness, so no need to tell me about them. Also, no need to tell me FO should give all mates and anti (except in caves) to HU. Anyway, here's what I figured out so far. Does it sound good or not?

C1 - Kill stuff. Break box until you find barta.
C2 - Kill nano then yellow shark then everything else. Ignore slimes. (I don't think there are slimes in C2.)
C3 - See C2.
C4 - Pray for gifoie disk. Kill stuff like C2 except you now need to foie pan arms. Shifta and zalure (if found) on boss.
C5 - Kill stuff starting with flying canabin then sinow (even if they're already engaged) then everything else. Shifta HUcast until they can kill gillchic with 1 combo.
C6 - Pray for gizonde disk. Kill stuff like in C5 but get away from garanz. Shifta right before boss and remember to shifta again right after all pillars are dead.
C7 - Keep shifta up and kill stuff. Start with delsaber then everything else. Leave bringer and belra alone. Forget you have resta unless you got hit by rafoie and don't want to die soon. (I don't remember if there are sorcerer and bringer in C7.)
C8 - Same as C7.
C9 - Collect 4 shields. Same as C7 but remember to zalure Falz then attack it. Also remember to use a combination of 3 HP mats or HP units.

[Sitka]

Much depends on who you are playing with.

If you are doing TA, the Fonewearl may well be expected to be a killing machine, taking scapes from the other players and TP dying as needed to keep killing things - I've played with some excellent forces doing just that. With few exceptions, most boxes are ignored.

On the other hand, for non-TA games, getting the box drops and keeping the rest of the team supported can be essential for getting new players through.

There is also a big difference in force playing when comparing ep 1 challenge to ep 2 challenge - I much prefer attacking fonewearls in ep 2 challenge and in particular, multiple force games.

Try using your hucaseal or hucast with Shigecki playing Fonewearl - I believe he plays an excellent force for both support and for TA.

[Shigecki]

Notos has been playing fo with us on ta runs. I feel you are doing a great job, just remember to die early and save fluids for later part of run. Playing a Fo on TA runs is difficult at first. There are things you don't do that you would be doing on a simple cmode run, and because of this you may feel like you are messing up. But you are doing a great job.

As far as everything else goes, I don't feel there is a need to get boxes in c1. There are a few exceptions, such as waiting for doors to be opened. C1 has everything to do with the map and not much to do with weps. If you have a great map and no barta, simply die to try again to find barta again. No need to waist time on boxes.

Besides that, everything looks right for running TA.

And thanks Sitka for the nice words, but I did do a slight TA run as a fo, and I'm a bit rusty right now. Hopefully I'll get it back by tomorrow. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif Ep2 starts then, and hopefully I'll see you ready for that.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Shigecki on 2005-12-07 13:25 ]</font>

[Curalkin]

There are three key things when TAing with a force. First, is to know your team. Sitka, Mero, and Shigecki know exactly what I am talking about in this regard. I still think that our ep2c3 strategy is the best. Everybody needs to play their role and do it well. I was the force in that group, and they relied on me to do my job as I relied on them to do theirs. I do miss ep2 c-mode because I was all about the killing first and then throwing a little support. I was on the Gryphon with spells like white on rice. Second, you need to micro-manage your magic. As you go through, you will know how much magic that you should have used at certain points in the challenge. This includes scapes as well, and another important skill is to gauge how much extra magic you have when you make graves as that it is always random. Last and the most important, you have to know how to play a force. Position when casting is key, and my advice is to play on normal to practice dodging enemies up close just using spells. People seem to think that forces just sit back and fire. People who have played with me know that it doesn't work with me. I like to be in the middle of it all with the hunters. This works because you are there to give healing and support, and you get better killing efficiency especially when fighting bosses. I was never one for the non-legit & legit battle because I respected good play and good respect for other players. Our TA team had two legit players (Sitka and Shigecki) and two non-legit players (Mero and myself) so that has to count for something. Good luck with your force play, and there is no other person I would rather have with me co-force with me than Shigecki so you can't be too bad. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Notos]

OK, not going to get boxes in c1 unless I have nothing else to do.

Right now, I'm trying to improve a bit more. There are people willing to do normal cmode runs for s rank. (Just look at people selling them on official forums.) But you don't improve playing in those games. Even when I first played cmode, I never saw getting less than 7 hours being too hard. My first goal was to get less than 5 hours which I thought was very reasonable for new players.

I agree with Curalkin that you have to know your team. Just last night, I was in a non-TA c2 game. It was decided that I should still kill nano in that game. Sounds easy, right? I see a nano, I run to it and barta it to death. But no, it wasn't so easy. The HUmar in the team decided to poke the nano with hard attack while I was in the middle of barta'ing it. Damage cancel was the least of my worries because hard attack pushed the nano away from my barta and I ended up eating nano laser. I didn't expect to have to use mates or doll. But I lost a doll and had to use a mate because I ate nano laser 3 times from the same scenario.

Ep2 cmode is already out. So it's time for me to learn how to play all over again since I have almost no experience with ep2. I'm hoping to get through it at least once as hucaseal and once as hucast so I'll know what the HU's are going through when I play FO.

[Delfi]

Notos from what i can gather from what i have read you seem to be a great cmode Fo. If some1 on your team is causing you problems - stamp them and tell them not to hit things and explain the reasons why. Not only will this make you happier and more able to do what you do best but also it will i hope learn the other players about things they probably dont know about like damage cancel.

[SLON]

People will always come up with conflicting advice when you are playing the Force. Example - in a TA C7 game, I was told by a JP Hucast not to use Resta. The very next C7 game, another JP player told me that I had to Resta!!
My advice is, if you are playing with the same team, get used to what your team mates expect from you, and use that method. However, be prepared to play a different role if you are playing with others.
In your Nano Dragon example, the game was not TA, so the onus was not on you to kill things asap. Once the Humar started DMCing me, I would have stopped attacking, and headed for the door. Sometimes good Hu players will attack nano dragons at the same time as you - if they are causing more damage than your barta, then I would let them get on with it; if the dragon gets airborne you can resume tech attacks.
As far as your methods in C1-C9 that you mentioned in the beginning, I would recommend the following:
C1 - break boxes only if there are no monsters unengaged.
C2 - No slimes in C2
C3 - Go mad with techs until team mates find a decent weapon or two. Use shifta with discretion.
Let droids deal with slimes, but remember they don't have many damage traps at low level, so be prepared to foie.
C4 - I keep shifta up in c4 and all further stages. You should have plenty of scapes now, TP shortage should not be a problem unless you have a bad map.
C5 - Don't DMC Hus attacking Sinows - you can join in if they are struggling, otherwise leave them to get on with it. Fonewearl has nothing to fear from a sinow 1 on 1 - kill Beats with 2 foie 2 zonde; easy.
C6 - nuff said.
C7 - You can help with Belras. Zalure if Hus are attacking them, or zonde if they aren't.
C8 - no comments
C9 - Use resta, but don't go over the top. Don't worry about your hitpoints; you either find hp mats or you don't. If your hit points are low, you will need to save maybe 3 or 4 scapes; only heaven punishment should kill you. To avoid the Rafoie and Rabarta (most of the time!), stand slightly behind the jaws of the lowered head (with DF behind you), facing your team mates.
On second form, I would not bother attacking unless you are there first - 3 other players should be doing enough damage, and you might be causing dmc. Move away sideways when DF prepares to launch Rafoie/Rabarta.

[Notos]

OK, I'll keep asking people what they expect me to do when playing. I'll also try your suggestions when I get a chance. Unfortunately, it's double EXP event on BB right now so not many people want to do cmode. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif

[rena-ko]

all in all, to have a good athmosphere in the game, just follow the way the others are used to. it wont hurt to ask beforehand or at least explain what kind of style you play.

other than that...
TA -> attacking and TP-dying
clear -> supporting, killing the annoying stuff

in ep2 there are 1-3 worked out plans for each stages which you'll have to follow to succeed. most of the time, the fonl is the trumpcard for the bosses and has to be protected during the run. take out tough enemies and from 2c4 upwards keep the resta going.