(Update) Class chosen, need Mag advice

[Indignation211]

==UPDATE==
Thanks for the input so far.

So I have decided on going melee with Hunter/Fighter, using this build I found on this thread.

So now the last big decision I need to make is how to raise my Mag. The obvious choice is a pure 150 S-ATK Delphinus. Alternatively, I am considering getting Libra as my initial second evolution for Increase Stats H instead of Invincibility A. In my experience from PSO1 getting Invincibility from filling the PB gauge rarely had any meaningful benefit, even more so since I rarely used PBs making the effect occur less often. Getting ATK and DEF buffs at the beginning of Emergency Trial seems more appealing to me personally. The final stats of this Mag would be 99 S-ATK, 50 ABL, 1 T-DEF.

However, having the stats necessary to equip my best possible weapons takes priority over support abilities. Unfortunately I don't know what stats are required to equip those:/ As a female Cast, at 60Hu/60Fi with the above skill trees I would have 651 S-ATK and 404 ABL. The 50 ABL Mag would raise this to 750 S-ATK and 454 ABL, while the pure 150 S-ATK Mag would give me 801 S-ATK and 404 ABL.

So would the 99 S-ATK 50 ABL Mag be sufficient to equip my best weapons, or do I need to go for the pure 150 S-ATK Mag and sacrifice Increase Stats H?

==ORIGINAL POST==
So i'm new to PSO2 and i've tried out each of the three basic classes with my female Cast character to get a feel for which suits my style the best. Problem is... im having trouble figuring out what my favorite style IS.

First I played Hunter. I've always preferred melee combat and I loved the raw damage output of the Hunter. But then I encountered these lovely things called "weak points". When I see a weak point, I have this insatiable urge to run up to it and whack it with all i've got. Problem is, 90% of the time the weak point is out of my reach and I end up hitting a boss' legs for minimal damage while a Ranger sends rocket after rocket right into the weak point for wrecking damage.

So I decided to give Ranger a test drive. After all im playing a female Cast which has the highest R-ATK in the game. Plus I was interested in TPS mode. But I was immediately turned off by how much longer it took me to kill normal mobs. The DPS was far lower than Hunter's.

Force... use PP to deal crap damage... no thank you... moving on.

Anyway, after giving all three basic classes a chance I started doing some research here on this forum. I eventually found this thread which gave me a better idea of how each class is supposed to be played. Basically what I gathered was that:

a) Hunter is good for raw damage output, but suffers from mobility issues
b) Ranger is good for hitting (and making) weak points, but has less overall DPS
c) Ranger/Hunter can do both with the weaknesses of neither... but you must spend AC on a second Hunter tree and a second Mag, or have a hard time leveling Hunter.
d) Gunner/Ranger can do most of what Ranger/Hunter can with less hassle.

At this point i'm not even sure what im trying to ask here. I guess any helpful input would be appreciated.

[UnLucky]

Pretty much spot on. Hunter has some really good damage and decent area skills, but low range and move no faster than anyone else (yes, you can dash repeatedly, but so can anyone else). All of their damage skills (not weapon gears) boost both Ranged and Striking Damage, Fury Combo boosts all damage.
-Fighter has access to different weapons and the only other damage boosts useful to a Hunter, but there are a lot of conditions attached. They also aren't as high as Hunter's alone, especially for Ranged or Tech classes since Chase Advance is only for Striking. The stances are for all damage.

-Ranger has great damage on weak points, but not so good otherwise. Fortunately, any enemy with a face has at least one weak point. Any enemy with an infection seed has at least one weak point. Any enemy with a glowing weak point, wehehell... And the tough stuff (or anything at all really) can be shot with a Weak Bullet to take triple damage. Stacks with normal weak points. Their skills affect only Ranged damage (WB affects all damage)
-Gunner gets a worse Weak Bullet, weaker damage skills with harsher conditions, and next to no area attacks. They do get a sweet dodge, though. Their skills affect only Ranged damage (Chain Trigger affects all damage).

-Force can do a lot of damage... in one element. They can do good damage by splitting into two, but definitely not three. They make up for that with the lowest cost attacks in the game, as well as the longest range and the widest area coverage (sometimes both in one tech).
-Techer makes casting technics even cheaper, has a handful of decent supporting abilities, but not much in the way of damage other than separate elements to focus in (splitting their damage even further). Also, wands are straight up inferior to rods as a casting weapon. Both Force and Techer only improve Tech damage.

---

If you start as a Hunter, you can go for a pure DPS build, unlock Fighter at lv30, get that to lv5 just for Step Attack, then level up your Hunter to lv60 without Just Guard.

Or if you start as a Ranger, you can max out the Weak Hit Advances while going for a slightly different DPS build, then any time you're leveling Hunter, take out your gunslash and shoot weak points with that. You will want one anyway as a main Ranger, and any class can equip them if they meet the stat requirements. They'll still do crazy damage since you'll have a Ranger subclass.

[AgemFrostMage]

What I like is no need to settle =) Other games lock you into a class but here it's the best of both worlds: A committed class and subclass, but not too open-ended so classes stay meaningful.

I play force mostly but am working on force, techer, and hunter to 50, then after that will level a fighter (with 20% of a level 50 techer's stats and their abilities and talents, including extra T-ATK, some light technique boost, and a little resta boost for healing he he) since it sounds like a really fun class with double daggers and fast aerial attacks. Some strengths and weaknesses:

1.Force/techer: only useful if charging attacks, and if you're charging you still spend PP but don't get the damage you want out of it. And charging makes you walk slower, making you easier to hit and not everything is going to be in your field of vision. Maybe include charge movement speed improvement in a talent tree in a future patch for balance? As things are now fire and lightning are where it's at, and a problem with balance when people swing safoie at fire resistant mobs in volcano, should make Sega think about balancing.

2.Hunter: has no bad choices, wired lance is a favorite of mine and gunslash you can chain slash rave with additional bullet for great damage and control. I must warn that additional bullet is an expensive skill, but save for at least level 9, but don't bother with 10 as it's too expensive and the gain likely isn't worth the price. Sword has great range and the surfing ability is good, but is slower and easier to interrupt. Partisan will be your best friend for many boss battles as it's fast. Considering how fast bosses like Vol Dragon like to twist and turn every damage tick counts so it might be too late with sword.

The best class to start with is a force since you can move about while using resta and it ticks relatively fast whereas consuming a mate (pronounced like yerba mate, not checkmate) roots you, and some bosses like the tundra exploration ones love to stick to you and give little breathing room.

You may like to follow the guide exactly and do green squares first (I'm doing that now with techer), but I started off filling the entire T-ATK first line. My reasoning was:

1.T-ATK cuts across all elements whereas elements are just special to that one spellset.

2.Subclasses get talent bonuses so they'd get the T-ATK from it for healing.

3.Base T-ATK is a barrier to equipping certain weapons, so I can equip better weapons earlier.

Then, I split between ice (deep too =( ) and fire. I then learned that ice is too weak and reset my talent tree, then put most into fire and some into lightning (I now have 8 points in lightning damage increase tree and am just finishing up the charged technique damage branch).

I did ice because the volcano planet is a pain, and freeze is great crowd control. However, actually hitting anything with ice is a chore except for gibarta, and even that is inferior to gigrantz overall since darkers are everywhere and with points in the light tree is stronger for me anyway.

[Saffran]

Who said anything about settling for one class or one class combo?
Level up ALL classes! What do you think this is, daycare? You're an ARKS member!

[UnLucky]

The problem with raising multiple classes on one character is you only get one mag and one skill tree unless you pay real money.

It can be the difference between wearing the best gear or not. Or one skill tree is great for one sub class, but not another (like Fighter).

[schnee4]

Thread gave me cancer

Hunters and fighters are the most mobile class, and the best classes atm.
Gu, ra, fo, te are all garbage weak but gu will be fixed next week.

Weak bullet isn't as effective because hu have perma double dmg

[jooozek]

right, enjoy your mobility
im sure it helps you see stuff die right before your eyes
i mean, damn, you can get closer to see more detail on the dying enemy

[Z-0]

only bad melees can't hit things, get better

[jooozek]

only bad melees can't hit things, get better

are you talking about TAs aka shit that doesnt matter TM?
because that would be true, of course no one will touch the spawn designated for you

[Z-0]

believe it or not, no

because idk what game you're playing, but most spawns in this game spawn close to you, not 5 miles in front of you.