FOcast Balancing

[Kimil Adrayne]

Maybe they'll replace beast wartechers.

But I don't want to play as a tin-can.

[NoiseHERO]

But I don't want to play as a tin-can.

Pretend it's a nintendo wi- wait bad example

Pretend its a console you actually like playing and NOT a tin can!

But no really, I mean stats and play style...

I also like how the cast description in no way hints at their stats or abilities... "They are artificial life" Unless it means they do a good job at being the robot version of everything including techs. But that'd just kill the point of Human being balanced and increase reasons for CAST supremacy.

The last thing I can really think of... Is Accuracy having a strong use in TECHs.

[Allison_W]

I dont really see the need of getting rid of them. On the PSO system, each different race/sex combination was an entirely different class. If they follow that pattern, there's no issue.


The ISSUE came about when PSU followed suit with the gender differences, but then gave each sex/race combo nothing unique. A female newman/beast/cast/human had absolutely nothing different about them, aside from stats.

In PSO, Hunewearl, Ramarl, Hucaseal, Racaseal, Fomarl, and Fonewearl were all very, very different characters. Some had unique animations to the entire game, some had skills and bonuses no other class had.

Uh, I don't know if you noticed, but different roles by sex is a bad thing.

[Kimil Adrayne]

Uh, I don't know if you noticed, but different roles by sex is a bad thing.

Gender equality? In my PSO2? No thanks.

Keep them Stag Cutlery male-only, and FOmarls being best with Resta.

Seriously though, I don't view gender differences in this kind of game as being a bad thing, it keeps everything diverse. Give FOcaseals Buffs and melee/guns as staples, and give the FOcasts Debuffs and melee/guns.

[Angelo]

Gender equality? In my PSO2? No thanks.

Seconded.

[Malachite]

But I don't want to play as a tin-can.

But tin cans > furries.

[Kent]

This is a pretty good lineup. To avoid the cast supremacy everyone suspects will happen, you have to nerf the cast mages. obviously they will have the weakest magic, but is it fair to make them pretty useless as forces themselves.? Will there atp and dfp be enough to sustain them in a solo party? And if that is the case, how close will they be to the ranger and hunter classes.
what exactly would be the point of being a FoCast if you are weaker than everyone around? Just for Shifta and Resta?

Ever played a FOmarl?

They're not built for technique damage. In fact, they're the weakest out of all of the Forces in PSO when it comes to it, not just due to the fact that they have the lowest MST out of all of them, but they only get a single offensive technique bonus: +50% to Grants, a single-target technique that's slow to put out its damage, and is only really useful against a relatively small portion of the game's enemies in the first place. Needless to say, people didn't really play FOmarls hoping for technique damage.

They did, however, get range bonuses to Shifta, Deband, Anti and Resta. People played them as almost purely support-oriented characters, who relied on weapons for the majority of their damage. I would say that having someone dedicated to this role is quite nice in a group, and can work out very well. If we can expect stat growth to be similar to how Androids have been in the past (obviously barring the complete lack of MST this time around), then they could end up being a very similar playstyle.

Considering that it's happened before, one could presume it's entirely possible that Android Forces will play most-similarly to FOmarls of yore; likewise, Human Forces may play more like FOmars did, and Newman Forces may get simply amalgamated into something that resembles a cross between their proficiencies in the past. It would make sense, I think.

This is, of course, assuming that they don't do the gender-based thing this time around - which was really done out of necessity for diversity in PSO, but could be solved here. It's still entirely possible (and I would say likely, given the past design decisions behind the series and its abominable spin-offs) that they're still be at least some statistical differences.

[Zipzo]

Ever played a FOmarl?

They're not built for technique damage. In fact, they're the weakest out of all of the Forces in PSO when it comes to it, not just due to the fact that they have the lowest MST out of all of them, but they only get a single offensive technique bonus: +50% to Grants, a single-target technique that's slow to put out its damage, and is only really useful against a relatively small portion of the game's enemies in the first place. Needless to say, people didn't really play FOmarls hoping for technique damage.

They did, however, get range bonuses to Shifta, Deband, Anti and Resta. People played them as almost purely support-oriented characters, who relied on weapons for the majority of their damage. I would say that having someone dedicated to this role is quite nice in a group, and can work out very well. If we can expect stat growth to be similar to how Androids have been in the past (obviously barring the complete lack of MST this time around), then they could end up being a very similar playstyle.

Considering that it's happened before, one could presume it's entirely possible that Android Forces will play most-similarly to FOmarls of yore; likewise, Human Forces may play more like FOmars did, and Newman Forces may get simply amalgamated into something that resembles a cross between their proficiencies in the past. It would make sense, I think.

This is, of course, assuming that they don't do the gender-based thing this time around - which was really done out of necessity for diversity in PSO, but could be solved here. It's still entirely possible (and I would say likely, given the past design decisions behind the series and its abominable spin-offs) that they're still be at least some statistical differences.

I am rolling a FOmarl in complete anticipation of going the "Wartecher" route in this game

[Angelo]

FOmarl was not terribly powerful in teching, and not terribly strong in melee, but they had so much utility that if I had to choose one FO to team with it would be a FOmarl. They are a perfect example of the idea of 'utility over hard numbers' that I hope PSO2 adopts further.

I hope this game moves more towards utility and collective teamwork and away from individual min-maxing to support soloing.

Just my personal two-cents here though, I think complementary gameplay is what these online games are all about. This is why I'm crossing my fingers for server-side enemy syncing; can't wait to play the team bodyguard/tank.

[Kimil Adrayne]

But tin cans > furries.

That's opinion, not fact. For my stance on it, please see the sig pic.

Damn I miss that character, its sad.