I'm happy to hear that they're looking at the flow and balance of the game and seeing where they can make it go smoother.

@Nilok

Pfft, I see them alternatively buffing everyone to their level haha.

Though if any changes come to the skill tree I do hope they will throw out free resets.

Yeah thing is forces are almost as powerful as rangers and I actually think hunters are really good, but you have to really be able to maximize their abilities to switch from defensive to offensive so quickly. What holds a lot of hunters back is they aren't able to dodge and attack in the same motion and are more comfortable running away and re-engaging. The result is that dps is reduced drastically while forces and rangers hang back and firebomb the crap out of everything

I'm surprised they're so readily investigating balance issues before people really play the game under its current build. IMO hunters are probably the more advanced class this time around seeing as you have to really explore your skill trees and apply more involved techniques than spam JA rafoie(don't give me that look, I main force).

Let me put it this way: I was playing as a lvl 40 FO with 3 lvl 35-40 HUs in the free forest area. when it came time to fight the 3 rockbears, I killed 2 on my own before the hunters could kill 1. all I did was jump and JA Foie on the rockbear's horn. However when I play HU, I kill mini bosses faster than my FO friend who's higher level, but I do it by learning patterns and dodging through attacks, using the step attack skill to continue attacking uninterrupted. Can you tell I play a lot of MH?

Anyway point is I think it's too early to start thinking about rebalancing. People haven't played enough to be able to judge that sort of thing. Fighting games are running into that same problem where people don't even learn everything they can do and already they're complaining that something is overpowered or a character is weak. if they gave the game another few months though a lot of those complaints would end up being forgotten or laughed at as a character's real potential became apparent.

@Nilok

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUaPy56J3D8
RANGER OP with no skill.

You also don't even know what they're rebalancing. Could be quests or missions.

@Anon

100% damage, 4 bullets. The only thing that really needs to be changed on Rangers is weak bullet. Just ever so slightly.

@-Z-

Lol at "minmaxing". That term is so misused around the net, but anyways:

1) No, in that video he doesn't have crazy R-atk abilities, only a single shoot3. (I have a soul and power3 for 60S-atk on my partisan)

2) He definately has NOT the right element. In fact if there was a WRONG element for "snow fangs" it would be the one he is using (ice).

3) "Rare shooty unit" doesn't give any offensive stat, just the shoot3 on them. (I have vol/gwana souls in all my 3 units btw)

4) L10 PA's, c'mon who doesn't use them at lvl 40?

5) And no, that is not possible to achieve with a HUnter with practical S-atk values (maybe with 2k, who knows?). If you get near the "fang" to attack, it will pounce or mangle, forcing us to dodge/block, because taking the pounce damage, even being 1 (if you're a "tanky" HU), will take u down.

I'm not sure if the Sword gear increase the sonic arrow range too much, but anyway, the poor hunter would need to build that gauge before using it, and that take sometime with the banther pouncing and jumping like crazy when u get in the maximum range possible to attack.

P.S. My S-atk hovers around 1400 and I have JA 1/2 and fury stance maxed. So now what? Should change to a sword, which will hit for 6k each sonic arrow at most? Oh yeah, the arrow only hits for 6k after the gauge is full, so I'll have to spend probably 2 mins dancing with dem fangs before using it effectively.

Raging about stats and balancing in a PVE game? Go back to whence you came, fiends.

anon 8/4/12 9:34AM, your effort to mock the pointing out that people DO in fact twink their asses off in online games doesn't really help you. building a balanced character isn't rewarded, after all.

and who said "crazy" abilities? I stated the abilities are in favor of shooting. as for the arguement with the units, y'all sure? because I know various melee-flavored units have a habit of adding HP even without any HP-boosting abilities on them, so bonuses to R-ATK on a set of rares would be no suprise. element? well, I concede to having a kanji reading failure. once in a while I -do- forget them, it's not like I'm fluent. "snow fangs"? y'all mixing boss version names and using "u" in place of "you" like you're text messaging and can't fit in complete words, and I'm to take you 100% seriously as you argue with a post made while half asleep at nearly 4am after accidentally losing the more carefully written post? and the point of mentioning PAs at level 10 is that obviously they're gonna do more damage than anything less.

and if you ARE indeed right about it being impossible to keep up as a hunter then it simply proves hunters need a buff, which I've felt for a while. however, I'm very much tired of people's response to anyone's success in MMOs being OMG I CAN'T DO THAT SO THAT GUY NEEDS TO BE NERFED! and the sad thing is that if hunters get buffed to compensate then people will probably scream they need to be nerfed, probably yourself included.

complaining about a class whose skill tree screams at you "HIT IT'S WEAKSPOT FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE!" doing so… ay-yay-yay.

but ultimately I'm with anon 8/4/12 11:21AM. tantrumming about stats and 'balance" in a PvE game, sounds like time to go back whence you came. probably to some PVP hellhole.

Don't see why people are complaining about Koffee's timed quests. Most of them are easily soloable as is, and the ones that aren't you can just harass a lobby for a group and zerg it. As for that Ranger video, there's two things I take away from it, that 1: that person's using the best available RA gear, all max grinds, with a build that emphasizes Weak Point damage, so they're gonna have some top end hits, and 2: regardless of what they have as gear and talents, RAs can expect a pretty heavy adjustment to Weak Bullet, and likely a few other skills, simply because getting to the level in that video is not all that hard to do, aside from the +10 grinds and the right item affixes.

Nope, the real issue is we don't know how many enemies we have to kill to get S rank. It is annoying. Just give us an "active kill counter" or "percentage of area clear" meter.

If I knew how many I had to kill before rushing to the end, It would take me but 5 minutes to DESTROY any level besides time attack.

I not even sure where the arguing comes from. RA is easily OP if you base the ruling solely on an effort to damage ratio. All I'm saying is the game is too early on in teh development of the metagame to know what's really op. I just think SEGA should wait before the start rebalancing things

@-Z-:

If they do decide on PvP, then Deathmatch shouldn't simply end once the enemy/enemy team has been killed off once. It should be more a point system – and there should be more emphasis on modes that don't involve killcount.

But for PvP enthusiasts, it's not about what you do in PvP – it's who you kill. So PvP is definitely bait for sourpusses and CoD fegs.

If we're gonna talk about Rangers, then I'd say boost Rifle damage very slightly to at least be acceptable before Launchers. I know Launchers are powerful, so bring their power just a smidgen (like, where it wouldn't make too much of a difference). That way, at the very least Launcher isn't the end-all-be-all weapon type of Rangers (because I hate classes that are given so many options, but one of them is clearly favored over the others).

As for the Force being stronger than Ranger, they're that way for a reason – Offensive Forces are SUPPOSED to be strong. However, they're also glass cannons. Not to mention that even if you do so much with a Rafoie or Gigrants, it's based on internal ammo (which you can buff, but even that can run out). Once you're out of juice, you need to run or fight to recharge – making you vulnerable for that one period of time that you have no PP.

Rangers on the other hand, have distance and unlimited attacks on their side, but have weaker hits (despite having many) – it's one of the burdens of the lighter offense classes.

Hunters CAN deal lots of physical damage, but they are most at risk – and their stats are meant to help offset that.

Classes have checks and balances to help keep them equal – it's how you cover those weaknesses that can be a definition between a shitty HU/RA/FO and a skilled HU/RA/FO.

But I believe that's common sense. After all, in games, less hits = more damage (at least when RPG skill attacks are concerned). If an attack has high damage multi-hits, there's usually a heavy cost to pay with it.

…..But you don't need a lesson in RPG Combat Mechanics 101 now, do you?

@Anon – However, if I recall correctly, the KD happens because you're not blocking. If I recall, blocking actually keeps you upright. So perhaps there's not enough "tank-type hunters" using the block mechanic of swords/partizans/wired lances – these three are the Hunter main weapons (gunslashes, whilst usable for every class, are more a "survival knife" type weapon – they're meant to be used in cases where you need a one-size-fits-all weapon for the situation).

Since I've personally tested this, blocking when you get hit actually keeps you upright if you hold it long enough and aren't just using a "Just Block" to get reflect damage (although I don't use Just Blocks, so I wouldn't know – but I think the same principal applies to those now that I think on it).

So in reality, Hunters that want to be tanks need to accrue hate, and then start blocking. Blocking is going to be what saves you from getting KD'd.

However, if there are monster attacks that have guaranteed KD rates, I'd like to see what they are. Because I truly think in those cases, your best bet is not to tank, but rather to dodge/kite those attacks till they wear off (which is something anyone can do – but Rangers do it best because their DPS isn't what's going to win them the fight).

Basically, PSO2 isn't a game where it matters how much you can take in terms of damage – it's a matter of getting hit as little as possible whilst being able to mitigate the damage you CAN'T avoid taking. If it was a game where resisting damage mattered, then it would be a WoW point and click – and I'm tired of seeing games made in that vein.

http://cedec.cesa.or.jp/2012/program/SND/C12_P004…
Ricardo, is there any updates to this? I'm really interested.

The 5 new weapons

Twin mechguns

wand

Twin dagger

Double saber

Knuckles
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10506136/dropiconrender….
Via: psoworld

@Z: If only Twin Mechguns weren't RA only – I'm hoping at least Subclasses fix that somehow. That way, I can actually have a legit Dante (DMC1~4, not DmC) protege in PSO (we all know until they release more outfits that a Dante recreation is essentially not 100% possible).

But I'm curious. From what I recall, anyone can wield barehanded fighting, and that falls under a Knuckle category. So I might be totally off, but could Knuckles be a hybrid "one-size-fits-all" weapon for all three classes? I think it'd be pretty awesome if that were the case – then it suddenly reduces the amount of toys Hunters have to play with to two, making everyone even because they all share a toy (technically, RAs and FOs would still only have one new exclusive toy to themselves – but at least they aren't completely shafted).

And boy, don't hate on mah Gunslash that easily!

@Manta

Nice find. Does it says anything else about the weaps, or just that picture alone? I miss dem double sabers :3

@-Z-

yes, hunters have more toys, but to use a sword (effectively, not to kill rappys) you need a specific skill tree. To use the partisan it's another skill tree. I still have to find someone using wired lances against bosses and gunslash is for everyone.

About dat sweet weak bullet: I was farming some Vol Dragon (hard diff) just now alone. It took me around 3~6 mins each kill. Then a lvl 30 RAnger team friend joined. In our first try I think the dragon lasted around 30 seconds. It was under 1 min for sure. He tagged the horn -> 2 PA's it was broken. Tagged the back horn -> 3 PA's bam. Then more 10 seconds or so beating his head with another weak bullet and he was dead.

Yes -Z-, weak bullet is completely fine as you might think.

You may not find the rare by yourself, but the players' shops are flooded with them. You can buy any bare rare for 100k. I myself bought my partisan before finding it by myself (then I ground it to +7 and sold for 7x the price I bought the first one).

renvalt> they're the stupidly common "junk" rare, that one particular gunblade.what do you want from me? they're flooding the gunblade section of the market and every rare I've gotten prior to last night's rear/volwing has been one, but I've already got a bunch of gunblades that don't require insane amounts of cash and grinders to be good (damn you, item labo…), so I've gotten the to not care much for them as anything other than "that rare that's not actually rare or anything".

but really, I'm kinda burnt on them continuing to make the gear slant worse, instead of trying to sorta even it out. and with two weapon types that seem completely pointless when you take into account what's already around being chosen as what little they're giving RA and FO, it really does come off as two thirds of possible characters being told off.

anon> first off, I know you're full of it when you come out with that "hurr you can buy any rare for 100k" thing, and secondly, the market practice you've just admitted to marks you as nothing but a scammer as far as I'm concerned. just… do us all a favor and stop talking at me. admitting to crap like that is only going to make me more hostile.

I was referring to the *looks it up* ブラオレット. that specific one, not gunblades as a whole. also not sure what you're on about with the nostalgia talk.

are your graphics settings turned all the way up? if not it may just be that certain visual effects are turned off to cut down system load

I just read http://pso2.jp/players/news/?id=293 a new update to the ToS.

Are they going to close the server from foreign connections?