Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 offline mode question

[Somnia]

I've had a hankerin to play some PSO, and seeing as my buddies PC has been out of commission for a while and I don't want to play BB without him, I figured I'd boot up my classic copy of Version 2 on my Dreamcast. I started a new character in offline mode, went into the first mission, and I'm really shocked at how different the game is. I don't remember fighting Hildebeasts in the first mission let alone the Dragon boss fight. I was even more floored to realize that I had already unlocked Caves after clearing just the first mission

I remember the game being batshit insane and having SUPER steep learning curve, but I genuinely don't remember the game having you clear an area in just one mission. I'm terrified to even enter Caves with such basic and early gear and XP levels. Thankfully having played the game quite a lot this year I was able to dispatch of the Dragon and all enemies pretty handily as I knew what to expect, but even knowing how Caves and its enemies work, with my gear I'm just not confident. I'm gonna have to find a way to farm some stuff up, but as of right now I genuinely feel like I've missed something with how quick the story just threw me into the next area

So did I do something wrong, is there more to do in Forrest or a decent way to gear up for Caves before entering? Is the story format so different because I'm in offline mode, or is the story structure we experience in BB specific to that version of the game? Thanks for any information!

 

[shadowflare60]

As a dc vet, i can tell you bb is a lot easier than ver.2.

The best way to grind ver .2 is to cleat forest, clear side mission. By clearing a side mission, you "reset" the areas allowing you to go through forest again.

 

[Yalyn]

I don't see anything wrong so far, forest and Dragon was always easy for most first time players. I say take advantage of the new area, keep grinding (leveling up), find better loot (brand, autogun, etc.) and don't forget to feed your mag. And even if you lose to the next boss, you can always try again.

Also do not forget to leave a telepipe near the boss portal if you know you'll lose. I think you know about death pent. so if you had enough, jump in to the boss again, grab your stuff, and quit the game via menu so that way you don't have to worry about losing anything.

Last thing to point out is that it sounds like you haven't tried the singleplayer quests. Once you selected your character and drop in Pioneer 2, there is a lady to your left. That is where you can start doing some single player quests. It's a good way to beat off the boredom.

 

[Aleron Ives]

Fun fact: you don't have to actually clear any quests to reset the freeplay maps. Start an offline quest, then cancel it, and freeplay Forest will be full of monsters once again.

When you're leveling online, the general pattern is to clear freeplay forest and then clear Lost HEAT SWORD. After that you can make a new team, clear freeplay Forest one more time, and then you'll be ready for Cave. The limited quest options in offline mode mean that a lot more repetition of the same areas is required to level up.

As a protip for later, remember that once you beat Vol Opt, you'll be blocked from Ruins 1 by a seal, so you'll have to go back to Pioneer 2. Forest, Cave, and Mine will all reset and get repopulated with enemies (assuming you cleared them before beating Vol Opt), and then you'll have to find and activate the pillars in Forest 2, Cave 2, and Mine 2. Once you beat Vol Opt again, the Ruins seal will be broken, and you'll be able to play Ruins. Defeat Dark Falz to unlock the next difficulty setting, and then repeat the process.

Note that unlike online mode, offline mode allows you to play any difficulty at any level as long as you were strong enough to beat Dark Falz in the previous difficulty. Good luck tackling V2 Ultimate Forest at level 50, though.