Current character level: 29
Current class and level: Fortegunner 2
First, some thanks. I asked in this entry if anyone knew what happened to the list of missions ordered by level requirement I remember seeing on PSUpedia once… The ever-knowledgeable and fellow PSU enthusiast strawdonkey obliged and pointed me in the right direction. I’ll be following that list, taking in the hardest missions the game can offer at my level. This will also open up all the mid-lobbies, making travel to any missions much easier in future. Thank you strawdonkey. Thawdonkey.
Laser Cannons then. I’d heard their power and usability had been improved, but I had no idea how much so! The damage against a single enemy was almost comparable to that of a rifle, but they really come into their own when up against a group of enemies. Because the shots of a Laser Cannon penetrate and hit multiple enemies the damage can be incredible. They can also now inflict Status Effects on any or all enemies they hit, not just the first enemy they hit which used to be the case. Another great feature is that the elemental percentage on them is high, so with the correct alignment their damage output can be massively increased. All in all, I’m looking forward to getting them up to a higher tier, they have proved very useful even in the short time I have used them.
Current character level: 19
Current class and level: Ranger 4
Quite a jump in level there, eh? I played with tokkybot ver.2 for a bit last night and this afternoon, taking in a multitude of environments from the grassy plains of Parum to the harsh deserts of Moatoob. De Ragan fell, Zolagoug fell, Onmagoug fell, even the mighty Dimmagolous fell, all without too much trouble. I bested them all twice, just in case I got an easy spawn on the first run – hence the massive increase in levels, but I won’t have much time to continue Project tokkybot over the rest of the weekend.
“Where did all the Zoona go?”, I thought to myself as I ploughed through Valley of Carnage C, Mine Defence C, System Defence C and Desert Terror C. Those missions used to be full of them! Come to think of it, those missions used to be a challenge compared to the low level Parum and Neudaiz runs. All of Moatoob was toned down early on in Phantasy Star Universe’s lifespan. Where there was once multiple Bil De Vears there is now a group of Naval, three Drua Gohra’s replaced by three Jishagara. I remember the days when every room in Desert Goliath contained at least three Grinne Bete C! Awesome fun, especially for weak Techers!
Current character level: 9
Current class and level: Ranger 2
I didn’t really complete PSU on easy. When I used to work in Game they had a no fuss 10 day return policy, and this one guy used to come in on a Friday and buy all the big new releases, then come back on the Monday and ask for a refund stating that he’d “Completed it on Easy”. Surely games like Halo and Ninja Gaiden deserve to be ramped up to the highest setting and savoured for the mammoth challenge they present? Completing it on easy then not playing it on a higher difficulty is a bit of a cop-out! He never kept a game as far as we could tell. I’ll come back to this later.
Current character level: 6
Current class and level: Ranger 1
After last nights debacle, I thought I’d need some new weapons. As the plan is to go Gunmaster, I’d concentrate on Rifles, Shotguns and Twin Handguns for now. Laser Cannons have to wait until I’m a Fortegunner, and that seems a long way off yet!
Yet another thing that makes starting now alot easier than it was originally is the shop search function. Using player shops before the Ambition of the Illuminus expansion was painful to say the least… But we knew no better! Finding the best price meant trawling through every player shop on the list, making a note of each price as you went. You could even miss the cheapest price of an item if it wasn’t on the first page of results! The new shop search, combined with the fact that there are alot more weapons on the market, for much cheaper prices, means I can snap up some real bargains.
First things first, I thought I should open up all my travel options so I can move freely between planets. This involves running to each different area in each of the main cities, for example on Neudaiz you need to enter the Guardians Branch and the Yohmei Shop. The most obviously difference since starting the game back in November 2006 is that Moatoob is open – Yes, Moatoob was once locked! Also, I’ll definitely need Goggles, so I went up to the Guardians HQ and started Episode II: Chapter 1 – The Mask. I was not prepared for how dangerous level 1 Gohmons could be, and there was no way I’d be able to defeat a Zoalgoug! Still, seeing as I had already secured my Goggles, I quit out to live another day; Laia Martinez’s Partner Card is in no way condusive to my aims.
