by ROMeo » Wed Mar 02, 2005 11:35 pm
As functionality is regarded my vote goes for the FOmarl. FOmarl is the class to choose if you want to be able to BOTH cast lv30 techniques AND still be unhampered as selection of weapons when vhard turns into Ultimate. Heck, it's the only FO class that can solo! (most of the way at least). Lv30 Shifta/Deband/Jellen/Ryuker guarantees that you'll still be able to deal decent damage, plus, get a Flight Fan and you're ready to go! The downside of FOmarl, as any other FO class, is that you begin the game weak as a baby, and you NEED of a team to babysit you while you grow and get both the techs and MST needed to become an effective backup. Hunters will always guarantee you an easier game, but personally I find Forces most gratifying once fully grown up.<p>On a similar note, if you compare stats progression with level, you can consider HUnewearl as FOmarl's mirror image. Being a HU class guarantees you get access to the best weapons sooner as well as the ability to solo right away, but as soon as push comes to shove (ie vhard into ult), you'll have a slightly harder time as zallure 15 is not zallure 30. Get a force partner and ult will quickly become a walk in the park though.<p>My vote for personal preference, however, goes to RAmarl, as they have all of the rangers' advantages (no melee= no damage on you, shotguns= big XP, plus you still inflict decent damage, contrary to forces) PLUS... your good tech repertoire and S/D/J/Z assure you won't be helpless in Ultimate.<p>My opion about the 2 android gals (HU and RAcaseal) is more or less the same: They both start the game as sweet as it gets (status immunities, big stat growth, fun with traps), but let the game turn into Ultimate and if there's no Shifta/Zallure users in the party you'll fall inevitably from android powerhouse to robotic damsel in distress as you quickly find lv80 raw might means crap against the almighty, Ultimate monsters. Mix that with the troublesome dependance on items and you'll find yourself in troubles very soon if no resta users are around (RAcaseals don't have this problem though as they don't have to get battered in melee). I would only recommend these two if you either hate soloing or you rather live for today instead of thinking of tomorrow.<p>Lastly, FOnewearl has always been my class of choice since old Dreamcast days as 1) I prefer specialization over jack-of-all-trades and 2) I prefer magic/psionics over melee. However, as much as I like both aspects, I must recognize FOnewearl goes from hard to play at best (normal-vhard), to totally screwed at worst (Ultimate). <p>1) Having the worst HP bans her from soloing the game until she gets ridiculously high levels, which relegates her to online play as offline throws both less monsters and less XP per monster, so you'd be old and grey before you're able to acomplish anything on our own.<p>2) Having the worst ATP limits her weapon selection as no other character in the game, and as soon as push comes to shove either A) Get a cmode team to get Srank mechgun or B) Get a HUmar friend to get Giant Plantain Fan from Towards The Future for you... or C) Get a specially skimpy outfit for the closest you'll ever be to the action is cheerleading... and don't even think of techniques, as Ultimate enemies' elemental resistances are ridiculously high, and once you get to Ultimate mines your precious Lv30 Razonde will do a fabulous amount of... FORTY points of crappy damage (unless the % bonuses on combat techniques you get in E1&2 make THAT much of a difference, if that's the case let me know please)... of course you may do more damage when and if you max your MST, which may happen anytime between level 150 and year 2056, whichever comes first .<p>With these I'm not trying to discourage anyone from playing a FOnewearl. I like mine very much, just follow these tips:<p>1) Make life easy on yourself and get a name which gives you a Pinkal ID, the items you find will be overally more useful.<br>2) Get a friend with Oran ID as soon as you can and play in his games, once you find a Double Saber you'll have the sweetest 80 levels of your PSO life as a walking tac-nuke (Double Saber = INFINITE TP supply)<br>3) Get a HUmar friend who can get you a Plantain Huge Fan (or similar Episode2 weapon) as soon as you can so the transition from Vhard to Ultimate doesn't become as traumatic.