Episode II... Let the new pain begin!

[DB]

Just thought i'd open this up for peoples comments on episode II, and the many pains in the ass it has in store for them. And of course anyone else. I had some trouble beating the gryphon the first time... That damn stomp attack, seems like there's no way for a hunter to ge away from it quickly enough, and do some real damage. As for the sea lab place. Well, those giant robots do enough friggin' damage. Other than that, there are enough traps in the VR missions to even piss off regular players. So, i'm looking at Episode II, and you know what I see? Anti-Newbie land. Definitly not a place to start out, if you're a beginner, to the PSO genre. Still haven't been all the way through the under water lab. Anyone want to tell me what's waiting in store? And how to deal with it?

[rena-ko]

um... deja-vu?
hadn't you posted this somewhere else, like, 2 months back or so?

[DB]

Um' let's see, considering I wasn't on two months ago, NO. And also, take in the fact, PSO GC wasn't released until last week... And i've only owned it for three days now. So, your assumption, well, impossible. In all ways.

[Kayumi]

I remember reading, back before it came out over here, in one of the interviews about the game with the developers, that same kind of complaint about the difficulty level of Episode II. The developer just kinda laughed and asked if the interviewer had tried to start off immediately with the new levels, and said something about how they recommend playing Episode I until at least the caves before taking a whirl at Episode II.

If you think the Sinows do damage, wait'll you see your first Delbiter. The Deldepths are kinda irritating too but I'm using a RAmarl so I don't know how bad they'd be to a Hunter. Personally, though I'm not all that thrilled with the first two areas of Episode II, the new stuff has more than made up for the slow start, at least for me.

And...just to be nitpicky, PSO GC has been out for a while in Japan, hasn't it?

[Metal_Gear]

I hate Sinow Zoas and Zeles. If there are two of them and one freezes me, then it just takes two swings from each for me to die. And I have 400 HP. And they almost always do the two swing attack after freezing me. Very aggravating.

[Lman90245]

Get ready for Olga Flow pal ;p

[Brundidge]

Yeah I had a little bit of problems going through Ep.2 with my RaMar for the first time. I'll admit the new scenery is pretty tight but getting hit by traps like about 1-3 each room pisses me off LOL. The boss at the end of VR Spaceship I've never seen before but judging by the animation it fought like the dragon. Well little bit I didn't expect the floor to rise up like that and the 2nd mirror image of the damn dragon (damn that scare me when I saw that. I thought it'd be impossible for me to beat LOL).

We could just say it'll be a new learning experience for new and old players of PSO...(damn sinow beril scaring the pants off of me for my first encounter with it)

[Parn]

Whereas Episode I was hunter-heaven where monsters would line up to die against your sword/partisan, Episode II is hunter's-bane. Let's go through it, shall we?

Maritas - When hit enough, will use a poison attack that hits anything in melee range that does big damage, AND poisons them.

Maricarol - Charges up and then releases a noxious gas that instantly kills anyone in melee range.

Sinow Berrill - Nothing much to say here, other than they only teleport if they get hit several times in melee range. If you are a ranger, you can snipe over and over and the Sinow will continue walking forward, stupidly.

Sinow Pidgel - Seems to enjoy disarming you on a consistent basis, EVEN IF YOU ARE INVINCIBLE. This tends to be annoying when you are NOT a ranger capable of sniping from across the room.

Gibbles - Will tear the SNOT out of melee players if you don't be careful. Capable of blocking, you guessed it... melee attacks.

Gi Gue - Pain in the ass chasing him around at times. Not to mention, it'll cast Jellen/Zalure on you occasionally if you are in, guess what? Melee range. =P

Sinow Zoa - Similar to Sinow Berrill, except Gibarta (Rabarta in ultimate) instead of Gifoie.

Sinow Zele - Similar to Sinow Pidgel, except throw in Gibarta (Rabarta in ultimate) and an ability to cast Jellen/Zalure on... melee characters.

Morfos - Threatening to all with those damn lasers, but likes to keep his barrier up and then strike the melee character with its tentacles.

Delbiter - Has a wide attack arc, and if you beat up on it enough from behind if you are avoiding its melee attack (which is the smart thing to do), it charges up, causing confusion. In ultimate, this is confusion/jellen/zalure/paralysis/MEGID GAS. Woohoo!

Episode II is set up to give hunters hell. =P

[Polenicus]

Well, to be on the safe side I decided to beat Episode I on Normal before taking a shot at Episode II. It made things a LOT easier, but things were STILL tougher in spots than I expected.

VR Temple died a quick death. However, I was just lucky I carried so many Antiparalysis items with me (They were supposed to be MAG food). Since when did Poison Lillies get so annoying? Was also a bit confusing that the power levels of the various baddies were thoroughly shuffled... Dimenians were almost as weak as Rappies, and Grass Assassins were stronger than normal.

VR Spaceship was fun, but here I was expecting a Vol Opt type battle, and... a dragon? Not just that, but a DIGITAL dragon?

I was fighting a DIGIMON!! ARRRGH!!!

Well, he died after a fairly long battle. The mirror dragon kinda spooked me at first, and he burned a scape by freezing them, then continuing to hit me until I died. But I had the scape to burn and he didn't so nyah!

The island as just gorgeous... wide open levels that didn't feel like Episode I's walled-in Forest, with lots of nooks and crannies to explore. And sub-bosses!

The cloaking robots freaked me out when I first encountered them, because I had NO clue what they were, only that something was hitting me, and my vision was all distorted. Otherwise nothing really worried me. Getting the bits and pieces of Flowen's story was cool, and it looks like the connection between PSO and the other Phantasy Star games will be solidified.

Then on to the Griffon!

Owww...

I was level 37 and he dropped me with that stomp attack. That's just WRONG for a Normal-level boss! I was kinda curious what would happen if I let those little twisters of his catch me, but after burning my last scape I wasn't going to stick around to find out! After beating on him a while he eventually went down.

Episode II seems like it's stepped in-between the difficulty ratings for Episode I. You play through normal on Episode I, and Episode II will still be a challenge, without being QUITE as hard as Episode I on Hard, and so on.

I haven't been any further yet, will report back as I know more.

[SuzukaCC]

My friend and I were playing split screen vr space ship at lv 15 each. We got crushed by that dragon... but I look forward to the jungle/beach thingy stage. And what excactly do the sub bosses battle look like. Do you teleport into a room like a boss or do they just appear like normal enemies.

[Symphony]

The sub-bosses just appear like normal enemies.

Episode 2, if anything is awesome looking. I was kinda sad the part I was most looking foward to(Beach) was a little too short. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif

[raltga01]

Yeah, screw that griffon. [I'm assuming that's the mountain area boss] I was on normal with 4 people all over level 15 and it took us like 2 hours to defeat it. Well, some of the guys with me were newbs and I was a force so I couldn't really do it all by myself. But still. That was one huge pain in the ass. I haven't beat Ep.II on normal yet, but I'd bet that rare drops are pretty good in Ep. II on hard / v.hard mode . . . anyone with any info on this?

[ThresholdRPG]

The real problem with EP 2 is that it makes use of game design FLAWS as a method of "increasing difficulty."

The narrow, twisting passages and many columns cause problems due to PSO's terrible camera control and horrible auto targeting.

These are problems that we PSO fans generally ignore because we love the game. But from what I have seen of EP 2 (admittedly only the VR Temple and VR Spaceship), the level designers clearly thought it would be a good idea to punish players by accentuating the problems in the camera and targetting.

[Maelkith]

once you get to know the enemies in the areas, you will equip the proper units to prepare for them. but until you aquire said units (blizzard, flame, ect.) it will be quite frustrating. but if you are having a bad time beating your level in ruins, you can aquire slightly better weapons in ep2 provided you can get past the griffon.
ep2 was intended to frustrate and give a more complete sense of accomplishment when you beat it. episode 2 is kinda cheap like 8 star difficulty on street fighter 2 turbo lol.

[MPLe]

episode 2 is kinda cheap like 8 star difficulty on street fighter 2 turbo lol.

Nah... it's just as cheap as reg. SF2 on 8 stars... except you don't get any reward for passing it without dying (i.e. Chun Li's Victory Cry). http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[DB]

I killed th gryphon, in a drawn out battle, me with my SOul Eater, and such. I got another question... SInce when did KIREEK use a Soul Banish in hard mode? And if you do the quests, can you get Soul Banish instead? And as for Episode 1, well, I crushed it with ease, as usual. But, I still haven't went all the way throught the sea lab. And i'm lvl 40! Crazy. I think i'll kill hard mode really quick, before I finish of Episode 2. Hardmode, is about a joke, with a Delsabers Buster, or the trusty, rusty Soul Eater.

[Kayumi]

Hard mode was a joke with a Varista. Heck, Hard mode was just a joke. It's REALLY easy anymore...was it always that simple?

[DB]

Hard mode used to be tough. When all you had was a buster, or a pallasch. Then it was kinda tough. But, I always go and get my SoulEater, every time now. I use the thing all the way to V-Hard usually. Or, I get out my trusty DB's saber, and use the charge attack. With percents, in the DC version.1. I could do like 1232 damage, with all the armor and the saber. I thought it was cool, cept' for the fact it eats TP like mad. Besides that, what's better than killing a delsaber in one hit?

[Maelkith]

i used to rush through hard mode as a hucast but now hard ruins is tougher for us mate users. before i had varistas, dbsabers and dragon slayers to help. but those things as well as plain old rayguns and gladius' are non existent in hard. I am level 51 on vhard ruins and havent even seen a caliber yet.

[Kayumi]

I got a varista in the Hard forest. They exist all right.

[DB]

Ok, I got to V-Hard Mines... I haven't even touched hard mode, of Episode 2, offline yet. I got Musashi off the Dragon in hard mode, the second time I faced him. In V-hard, I found a Varista in a box, in the caves. As for Olga Flow, what a bunch of BS. I'm lvl 42 now. He still kills me in one hit, with his ultimate thing... And I still can't believe this... What in the hell, can I do, alone, to this guy?

[Kayumi]

I just whupped Flow's arse in Normal. Level 46, he wasn't tough at all. I died once, when I'd gone in without a scape doll just to see how bad he'd be, and then once I'd returned with scape dolls, I managed to whup him without taking enough damage to have to use one. Nowhere near as bad as good ol' Falzy.

[DB]

I can't kill those little things fast enough. His special attack, kills me in one hit. Lvl 42, every time... And I got no scapes... How am I gonna do this?

[Kayumi]

Do some Hard forest runs. Every time you kill the dragon you get 2000 experience. You can also find scape dolls there. That'll let you level up and find some good stuff, and then once you're confident, go after him again.

[DB]

I dunno. I think i'm just gonna run around on V-hard for awhile. Waste some time... Hell, I shouldn't even be in V-hard. I just hit lvl 43. Sheesh... And i'm in the mines... Tearing em' up with the Soul Eater... Wow... Falz is so gonna kill me... And my confidence, against Olga Flow, is at an all time low... I think i'll just wait till' I can beat V-Hard Falz... =/

[Atax]

Ogla Flow's ultimate attack effects you depending on how close you are to him, if you're under him when he does the attack, prepare to say goodnight to your char.

Always best to take on Flow with a long range weapon, atempting to use melees on him is just plain stupid.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Atax on 2002-11-14 02:00 ]</font>

[DB]

Thanks for the info... But, I really want to take him down with my saber, for old times sake... Just looks like i'll have to take out those flying things with the varista constantly... And hope to survive his Divine Blade attack, as I dub it. As for the mini-bosses... The flower is just plain cheap as always for a hunter. And that confusion thing, when I tried to use a gun on it, really, really, pissed me off. And the sub-monkey boss, really likes to land on my head... o_O; The bee thing, is about a joke... Like Vol Opt, only more of a pansy. And, I kinda dislike being disarmed by those one sinows, in the central area? That kinda sucks... Swinging my Musashis, then bam... Fist... And as for the monkeys that can freeze you... When they jump back, they're going to use their attack... Side step as quickly as possible.... Unless your sidestepping into another ice breathing monkey... Then your just screwed...

[Atwight014]

I was on episode 2 (on hard) and I got through the ruins pretty fast and made it through the spaceship... until I met that gol dragon. Is there any way to prevent my total ownage by him? I keep reading about the 'mirror' thing but I don't think I ever damage him enough (after 11 deaths)to see it. I'm lvl 37 and I'd stay in the corners, let him phase-walk to me, then I'd shoot. The jump wave never hits, his breath goes barely right over me and I'm blasting away the entire time. Then he does the spin thing. If the spin thing is ice, I'm dead if I get hit once (frozen, and inevitably nailed two more times.) So after two or three spins he always knocks me out.

Any suggestions for a RAmarl?

[DB]

Easy... Get out of the frost as quickly as possible... Eithier shake your stick like mad, or carry alot of Sol Atomizers, and use them right when you get frozen, then heal up. When you are frozen, your defense rateing drops, like majorly. When frozen, your Def drops so much, it's like you just unequipped your armor and shield. That means, the next attacks, do alot more damage... Get out of the ice, resta or use a mate, immidietly. And try to dodge the rest of the ice spin as best you can. If you get hit again, just re-do the tactic. You should come out alive.

[Kayumi]

Level up http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

Or get a few Resist/Blizzard units equipped before you face him. Stay back from him when he lands--heck, stay back from him period--and shoot like crazy. When he does split, focus on one copy and don't get between them.

But I'd recommend levelling a bit, too. Never hurts.

[SuzukaCC]

::lv up song:: I beat that stupid dragon... well ok seems that you guys have already beat the game SO! now I'm stuck in this cursed jungle/coast/mountain place...::sigh;: why do the monsters have to cast ice attack? that's just wrong. Well I found some Photon Drops but I duno what they do.