[Rant] 3 things I want to change in PSO2

[musicmf]

1st point: Sub classess, there is no 'viable' unique build!
Everyone subs Hunter for +85% ~70% damage. There is nothing unique about Gu/Hu, it's just Gunner + 70% dmg. Where is the identity of Hu in that build?

Solution:Make every skill tree provide the same FLAT damage bonuses, but differ in unique skills. Like Force PP Revival, Techer PP Restorate, Ranger Weak Bullet, Gunner Attack Restorate... etc I want all builds to be viable, so people can customize things to their preference and not because it gives the most damage

IMO subclasses should have a reduced effect (IDK, 50% penalty on their class skills) for subbing them, while so the main class skills are more important than the Subclass. Similar to how your character only gets 20% stats from the subclass. This way there is actually a difference between HU/BR and BR/HU with a Bio Katana.
Further tweaking can be done on a per-skill basis. Example; "Weak Bullet increases damage by 3x for duration. If Ranger is subbed, damage is increased by 2x instead."

Then nerf Fury Stance a bit, to make it more in line with the buffs other classes give. (FI 44/69% All, BR 33% All, RA 88% R-ATK) Probably make it ~50% when maxed tree, but make all 4 Fury Stance skills give "Take X% More Damage" so the defense penalty is higher.
Also, make JA Up lower non-JA damage by X% as well, to make a penalty for missing a JA. (Like how FI Stances have penalties)
After that, buff up GU (32% R-ATK / FO 33% Magic/TE 20% Element Weakness) a bit to give them a reason to sub. They are too specific, with too low modifiers, with too many skill points invested compared to HU/FI/BR/RA.

After doing this; just adjust the class weapons. Move Assault Rifle to Ranger Only, and Talis to Force Only. Give GU and TE new weapons. (Perhaps FO/BR too, so all classes can have at least 3 unique weapons)
After that, make it so Subclasses can use their weapons. Get rid of this all/multiclass weapon shit. Just make it so you can use main/sub weapons. This way you can play any class as a sub and use their best weapons still, allowing for more variety in the method in which you attack.
Then we can possibly get new weapons (Slicer?) to play around with. And I think TE weapons should have PAs

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I also agree that faster attacking, with smaller damage would make the fights more interesting. (Just also increase FO/TE's casting speed if monsters were hyper aggressive >_<)

The simplification of Defense would also be nice, but if this and the bosses getting weaker both happened... it would be excessive IMO.

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And I think Gigawut's idea is a brilliant step in the right decision to balance out FO/TE. It also supports the subclass variety suggestion.
Of course, things need refinement (Otherwise people will just SaFoie with HU sub and such), but it's definitely a neat notion.

[Macman]

Here's how you fix defense:

Make S/R/T-Defense actually goddamn matter
Right now people invest in HP instead since it covers all 3 bases and synergizes with certain skills. All that anyone even cares about is HP and unit's built-in (striking) resistances.
If you make the defense stats have a more dramatic effect, it might be more efficient to actually invest in a bit of defense affixes instead of just stacking stamina on everything.

After that, all you have to worry about is the fact S-Def is used way way more often than R or T-Def, but that's more the fault of monster designers.

[UnLucky]

I don't think there is a need for "you're not right in your mind if you pick defense tree" thing. Its a sort of play style, really. Just as people enjoy watching them-self do bigger numbers, there are those who enjoy watching taking smaller numbers of damage. But naturally, people more often than not have an ego that's all about the bigger, harder and faster. Its a pick of either lots of damage, or being resilient. And people will always prefer damage, always, and is the same reason in games with the "holy trinity" that tanks are in low supply. Being a meat-shield ain't considered fun to a vast majority. Only time people would branch into Defense if they have the option, is if it became glaringly OP or a possible requirement for progress. Even if Fury were slammed down to do half the power it does now, I fully doubt people would opt for Defense, regardless, for reasons mentioned.

Man, I loved duoing group instances with a tank buddy of mine with myself going support. Obviously it would take longer, but we would reap all the profits without rolling against anyone else.

And we were by far the most threatening in team arena PVP. No joke everyone on the server was trying to get on our side because we win the vast majority of battles. But not due to our damage, far from it. I'd be one of the few people actually helping my own team members with heals, status cleansing, or popping defensive cooldowns on someone other than myself, while my friend would actively pull people off of stunned team members. The rest of the group could be drooling casuals but they'd outlast the other side by attrition.

I'm not even exaggerating when I say at one point he alone ran into the enemy spawn point where every single one of them was camping and I single handedly kept him alive for the entire fight until we won.

PSO2 isn't like that at all, though.

[9898]

Here's how you fix defense:

Make S/R/T-Defense actually goddamn matter
Right now people invest in HP instead since it covers all 3 bases and synergizes with certain skills. All that anyone even cares about is HP and unit's built-in (striking) resistances.
If you make the defense stats have a more dramatic effect, it might be more efficient to actually invest in a bit of defense affixes instead of just stacking stamina on everything.

After that, all you have to worry about is the fact S-Def is used way way more often than R or T-Def, but that's more the fault of monster designers.

you're acting like the game needs to be fixed: the nature of the game is rushdown, and defense isn't really an integral part to that. within the paradigm of rushdown centric games pso2 isn't the pinnacle of complexity but they can certainly expand on offensive/aggresive options and make more strategies relevant.

defense is a tertiary mechanic to the real meat of the game. why have them focus on thsi mechanic when they can further the content that helps you acquire gear quicker and reach endgame?

[Chdata]

How to fix defense: Make it an addition, instead of a trade-off.

Honestly I wish they would make speed running a boss take a minimum of like 5-10 minutes, but increase their rare drop rates by a lot. Not only would you actually have to learn how to dodge the boss and survive against it, but it'd also feel much more rewarding.

[Remz69]

How to fix defense: Make it an addition, instead of a trade-off.

Honestly I wish they would make speed running a boss take a minimum of like 5-10 minutes, but increase their rare drop rates by a lot. Not only would you actually have to learn how to dodge the boss and survive against it, but it'd also feel much more rewarding.

they'd have to change more than the drop rates if they wanted fights which last for 5-10mins

no way i'm fighting a ragne for 10mins without falling asleep and no way i even bother with a cougar or Hunar that would take 20mins because i spend more time running/dodging than fighting

[Vetur]

I definitely agree with the first one.
If every subclass gave the same damage boosts(not just one type), I would totally want Force or Techer as all of my characters' subs, for Resta/Anti/PP skills mostly.

I don't really see a problem with regular boss fights, but I agree that they should hurt less in Falz at least, for the same reason you described with Falz... there's just no escape once you get stuck in that repetitive smashing attack.
If they at least made it so their attacks didn't one-hit KO everyone who isn't on lv 10 guard stance or trap us into inevitable death that cannot be escaped, that'd be nice.

[Lego]

I am doing kinda defensive armor build but that shit still expensive EX soul same prices as Mizer Soul.

[9898]

How to fix defense: Make it an addition, instead of a trade-off.

Honestly I wish they would make speed running a boss take a minimum of like 5-10 minutes, but increase their rare drop rates by a lot. Not only would you actually have to learn how to dodge the boss and survive against it, but it'd also feel much more rewarding.

the monster behavior (and their attacks) in this game isn't nuanced (something like monster hunter does this better) enough to warrant a consistency over time grind. also environmental awareness (unlike in mh) is pretty much a non issue during boss fights so this doesn't help on the depth side. it's okay for the game to be about speed, really.

tl;dr reductio ad absurdum edition: fighting rappies for 10 minutes isn't very fun.

[gigawuts]

tl;dr reductio ad absurdum edition: fighting rappies for 10 minutes isn't very fun.

This

That said, if Hunter was designed so even a max fury build left enough sp for all gears + 1 tank skill (automate, iron will, or flash guard) I think the class and game would benefit. Also, if things didn't 1-2shot you regardless of your build, flinch was less ridiculous (on both enemies and players), there was invuln when being juggled because losing control is bullshit, and enemies had more hp so they could make it to my third swing in Over End things would be pretty nice.

The only reason to tank right now is to not get flinchkilled while soloing. That's it, really. As said, it should be supplemental and not an alternative. Tanking better should be an alternative, sure, but not being slightly more resilient. Not everyone plays 12/12 MPAs all the time, nor does everyone play at max level all the time. Not everyone plays well, or with great gear either. The game can and should accommodate players in the middle, as just a matter of good design.

Monster Hunter got a lot of things right, and I'd like to see some of that in this game, but this obviously isn't Monster Hunter so it shouldn't even try to be 1:1.

Most enemies just spam the same 3 stupid moves over and over, moves that tend to hit too hard for how frequently and endlessly they're spammed (cyclo swings, marmo snowballs, etc.). What I liked about super hard was most bosses got easier for me because they didn't amp up the damage as much like they did from normal to hard and from hard to very hard. Quartz charges didn't hit me for 1.4x my health like they used to, and of the hundreds of quartzes I've killed I've only seen the quad horn in super hard two times. Some moves still hurt sure, but they aren't that obscenely ridiculous, which made the game more fun for me. Do that to certain trash mobs too please.

And give sword hyper armor during normals and charging animations. Please. For real. Or partisans or wired lances, just one option to use when you're taking a beating. And fix wired lance PAs glitching if the enemy dies during it. This is 2014, let's get some fucking QA going here. You can't randomly make this PA keep dealing damage but that PA stops dealing damage if the grapple target dies. Holy shit Sega get a grip these PAs have been in the game since the alpha you have to know about this by now.