New to PSO2, any advice?

[Daemon Gildas]

So, I finally managed to defeat the dreaded "capcha boss", and I'm updating PSO2 as we speak, hopefully I'll be ready to play by this afternoon! I've already got the "PSO Tweaker" installed, as well, but perhaps you guys have some other advice?

Also, I was curious how appearance-customization is handled? Are there any particularly cool PSO-themed outfits to get, or just kinda what you get from the start? For that matter, any cool Sonic-themed items or weapons?

Anyways, super excited to finally get to try PSO2 out!

[Ezodagrom]

So, I finally managed to defeat the dreaded "capcha boss", and I'm updating PSO2 as we speak, hopefully I'll be ready to play by this afternoon! I've already got the "PSO Tweaker" installed, as well, but perhaps you guys have some other advice?

Also, I was curious how appearance-customization is handled? Are there any particularly cool PSO-themed outfits to get, or just kinda what you get from the start? For that matter, any cool Sonic-themed items or weapons?

Anyways, super excited to finally get to try PSO2 out!

For a new player, this website can be rather helpful.
It's not always up to date, but it has a list of weapons, outfits, and several other things.
http://pso2.cirnopedia.info/

One advice I can give about unlocking new areas, pay attention to an NPC named Koffie in the lobby, she gives client orders that unlock new areas and certain features (it's through her that you can get a mag, access to subclass, 6 weapon slots).

[infiniteeverlasting]

Pso2 is (sadly) 70% dress up because of their excessive abundance in costume choices, you can basically look like anything you want at this point (it's also because costumes are so easily accessible in pso2 even without premium) Bust most choose to be a Lolita in this game.

As for the English community, the biggest one is on ship 2, to the point that it's now basically 90% English players on that ship, the jpn players had a mass diaspora due to the eng player take over on that ship.

[DJcooltrainer]

This is the advice I give any new player:
-Plan out your skill tree and mag builds before you start. It costs real-life money to reset your skill trees or buy a new mag. If you plan carefully, you can avoid having to pay money later on down the road.
-Don't go for unconventional skill builds, especially as a new player. As appealing as they may be, they're usually pretty trash and end up holding your party back during the more difficult EQ's.
-Learn how affixing works early on. I see a lot of people in the 60's with terrible equips. There's really no reason to not have at least halfway decent equipment by then, even if its not the best.
-Do your matter boards, story quests and ark-road stuff early on. It's pain in the ass to catch up later, as I'm finding out...
-Participate in any and every EQ you can. They're great for experience and drops.
-Stay in a lower difficulty if you can't yet handle a newly unlocked one.
-And above all... have fun.

[Vetur]

There are Sonic items, mostly furniture and music cds, but also masks. I like getting the Eggman mask on my characters for the laugh. There's a knuckle called Sonic Knuckle, but I don't know if that's Sonic-related or not.

As for the ships, well there's a little bit of English players everywhere, but most are on ship 2... but from what I hear, there's so many that you might become disappointed if you don't like seeing your fellow English-speakers being rude in public...
In which case, you might prefer to join a ship where English players are more discreet(like 9, where we speak in team/party chat 99% of the time), but it will be harder to find English-speaking parties besides teammates and active friends. If you have friends playing, I suggest joining whatever they are on.

[Vintasticvin]

There are Sonic items, mostly furniture and music cds, but also masks. I like getting the Eggman mask on my characters for the laugh. There's a knuckle called Sonic Knuckle, but I don't know if that's Sonic-related or not.

As for the ships, well there's a little bit of English players everywhere, but most are on ship 2... but from what I hear, there's so many that you might become disappointed if you don't like seeing your fellow English-speakers being rude in public...
In which case, you might prefer to join a ship where English players are more discreet(like 9, where we speak in team/party chat 99% of the time), but it will be harder to find English-speaking parties. If you have friends playing, I suggest joining whatever they are on.

Yes the sonic knuckle (Knuckles' fist are Sonic related)

As for tips do your koffie unlocks, decide what you want as your playstyle is, fix mag and skill trees accordingly for now spend your money buying weapon and unit upgrades.

EDIT: IF you run falz clear up your bags and carry only equips of choice, mates, and atomizers then rush to the boss portal cause they wait for no one! If you have any usable discs consume them quickly even if you don't have the weapon it goes with.

[DJcooltrainer]

As for the ships, well there's a little bit of English players everywhere, but most are on ship 2... but from what I hear, there's so many that you might become disappointed if you don't like seeing your fellow English-speakers being rude in public...
In which case, you might prefer to join a ship where English players are more discreet(like 9, where we speak in team/party chat 99% of the time), but it will be harder to find English-speaking parties besides teammates and active friends. If you have friends playing, I suggest joining whatever they are on.

The annoying people in Ship 2 are just a very vocal minority. Even though people love to hate on B20, look at the lobby sometime. There might be 30-50 English named players chillin in the lobby, and maybe 4-5 actually chatting or spamming offensive SA's. They don't represent the majority of the English speaking community on Ship 2 by a long shot. In fact, I see a lot of constructive conversation going on there as well.

So, take it with a grain of salt. Don't let a few loud assholes ruin the whole group for you. I'm quite happy on Ship 2, personally.

[Arksenth]

Be really careful about your mag and skill tree. Seriously, this is the biggest mistake that most newbies make starting out, myself included. If you don't want to shell out big bucks in the future, do your research ahead of time and plan out something that'll carry you throughout the entire game.

[Skyly HUmar]

Get out before it's too late.

But in all seriousness, 90% of the game is just looking good, 10% is gameplay, listen to arksenth and you will have the 10% down.

[Daemon Gildas]

Well, I *do* like looking good :P As for the Sonic Knuckles, are those a rare-drop, or event-based? Or for that matter, they're not retired or anything, are they?

I generally prefer to play a pure melee, though survivability is important to me. My download still isn't finished, so I'm still not quite sure what to expect, as far as "how I want to build a character". I know in PSO, I loved playing a HUcast and melee-oriented FOmar (very difficult, but SO much fun!), so what would those character benefit from?

Also, anything I should know regarding Race choice? I'm pretty evenly torn between all three (or is it four now?), so if there's any gameplay distinctions, that might be enough to sway me. And on that note, is there a way to customize your appearance later on? Or should I just make sure I take my sweet time creating them, until they're "perfect"?

EDIT: I almost forgot; are there "Section ID's" or anything like that I should be aware of, when creating a character?