Varista
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*As a quick request, if you don't intend on playing Classic or reading this post please do not comment anything negative or sarcastic about this thread, I worked really hard on it over multiple months on how to properly write this and word it. Please and thank you.*
The New Player's Classic Guide
Lately there's been an influx of Classic players that have shaken up the community and I've been wanting to make a Classic guide for a long time as there isn't anything really like it. For the players that aren't really sure what Classic is or does differently, for the players that are interested in it but can't get any concrete information about it beforehand, this guide is for you. We'll be covering what Classic is at its core, the pathways to Ultimate difficulty and finally some gear recommendations for your characters.
For starters, what IS Classic?
Classic is a game type within Ephinea that focuses on the Version 3.0 game type of Phantasy Star Online. For those that aren't aware. Version 3.0 is the classification I give to the platform version of PSO that refers to Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II and the Plus version that was released on Gamecube and Xbox respectively. This version of the game was then later enhanced with the addition of Version 4 (Blue Burst). Classic is what I would refer to as Version 3.1, which is a version of the game that by and large covers the original PSO Episode 1 and 2 for the GC/XB but adds things that original Blue Burst use to be before the addition of Episode 4.
Classic has a number of differences between itself and the Blue Burst that many have come to familiarize themselves with. For instance, Classic retains the 30% increase in EXP for Episode 2 but does not contain *all* of the Episode 2 content that comes with it such as the Class walls (Force Wall, Hunter Wall and the popular Ranger Wall). Classic mode also does not contain Episode 4, which is another key feature that differentiates itself from Blue Burst on the primary ships of Ephinea.
Though it is considered an earlier game version, due to it being hosted on Ephinea, it does retain most, if not all, of the quality of life features that the main ships offer. Classic may be a game mode focused on recreating the feeling of playing the Gamecube and Xbox renditions of the game but it still offers the Individual, or PSO2, style drop mode. No more fighting over drops like the old days. In addition to this, you still have the ability to change your ID pre-level 20 just like you do on the main ships and have the option to change your name whenever you want as well. You can still use the /help command in the lobby to see all of the commands available to you, there's still plenty of them that apply.
If you were wondering, Classic does not have access to the items Red Ring and Parasitic Gene "Flow" for the creation of any of the "Dark" weapon lines. These key items being omitted from the final product of Classic creates a significantly more passive and creative atmosphere; allowing the player to decide what their best shield and weapon options should be throughout their journey.
The Classic game mode is hosted on the US/Devaloka ship and is separated from all other ships. In order to create a "Classic" character, simply create an account as normal and make a character, then log in to the US/Devaloka ship and create a room. The server will then classify this character as a "Classic" character (signified in character select as Blue text) and will only be allowed to play with other characters under the same server designation.
With an introductory level understanding of the game mode Classic, lets get into some specifics that cater more towards the general Classic gameplay loop that you'll be experiencing.
-GAMEPLAY LOOP-
In Classic you do not have access to the Ragol Boost Road bonuses, such as the +25% Rare Drop Rate boost during a specific week. Classic retains all of its original drop rates, which means you will never receive weekly bonus. In addition, it does not have access to the RBR quest list, which means all quests available in Classic will receive no weekly bonuses.
The quest list within Classic is significantly diminished compared to the Blue Burst counterpart. Only quests that fit within the vetted criteria are allowed. The criteria is primarily determined by whether or not the quest would fit within the boundaries of a quest that was to be added by Sega, which is typically much more fairly designed for 4 players with less emphasis on solo play.
Speaking of solo play: the quest list for solo play is reduced down to a specific few Sega quests that were intended for a single person as well as the original story mode quests that Sega initially intended players to play in the offline mode of Episode 1 and 2. The intention is to limit the strength of solo play to make room for Multiplayer, where the vast majority of Sega quests and Ephinea-specific quests lie.
In Classic you have the option between Episodes 1 and 2. Episode 4 is prohibited as it is a Blue Burst specific episode. This means that you will not have access to any Episode 4 items and areas. Furthermore, you will not be allowed to play in Episode 4 quests.
Classic mode has a different level structure as well. Unlike in Blue Burst where the level structure is easier--in Classic, your leveling structure is much stricter. In Classic you will be required to hit the following level requirements for harder difficulties in Multiplayer mode:
Episode 1 Hard Mode: Level 20
Episode 2 Hard Mode: Level 30
Episode 1 Very Hard Mode: Level 50
Episode 2 Very Hard Mode: Level 60
Episode 1 Ultimate Mode: Level 90
Episode 2 Ultimate Mode: Level 100
In One Player Mode your individual level does not matter and the only kind of difficulty progression you will undertake is by defeating either of the final bosses in each episode in your set difficulty. For those of you with experience with the original Episode 1 and 2 story progression, you'll find familiarity with this as due to this feature you are capable of hitting Ultimate mode at a much earlier level. Despite this, even though you may have hit Ultimate at an earlier level, you're still required to hit the Multiplayer level requirements in order to participate in the respective difficulty with other players.
-GEAR AND MAXING-
In Classic your gearing experience is different from Blue Burst. Since you no longer have access to Episode 4 items, you will have to make due with items from Episode 1 and 2. This usually means that you'll have to make some concessions in terms of unit selection or by not maxing specific stats for some classes. The classes this tends to hurt the most is droids, since you'll have to either sink extra materials into LCK or use an extra unit slot for a stat unit to make sure you can properly max ATP, ATA and LCK by Level 200. Mars (RAmar, HUmar, RAmarl, FOmar, FOmarl) are mostly unaffected by this since their material cap is so high that they can afford to utilize a couple extra materials to make up for the lack of items such as V101 and Red Ring. Newms have it as hard as ever, but are still capable of maxing the primary attributes. For FOnewm and FOnewearl you will have to make a decision on whether or not you want to max ATP and ATA with LCK versus maxing out your damage potential with techniques using MST. The choice is ultimately yours.
With the removal of Red Ring you may be wondering what exactly is available to the classes in place of it. Well, the answer is nothing. The only classes that have a comparable offering to Red Ring is droids since they have the rare barrier S-Parts Ver2.01 available which grants 15 ATA. Every other class now has to make due with something more defensive in nature; yes this includes Rangers. Despite Ranger Wall technically speaking being available in Ver.3 (Gamecube and Xbox) it was never released officially, therefore Rangers do not have it available. In terms of shields or barriers, the choice really does ultimately come down to what you want. As tacky as it is to say, fashion vs statistical improvements really is your best argument here. The vast majority of droids will be utilizing S-Parts when it becomes available to them so there's not much argument there.
Rangers have a few options, most of which are almost all the same. The popular choice would be Standstill Shield. If anyone from Ver.3 remembers, Standstill Shield has a very good DFP/EVP benefit to Rangers, offering the highest DFP option for them. Again, this is really your choice.
Hunters are far more lenient with their options. They have access to Standstill Shield much like Rangers but they also have a unique option available to them in the form of Kasami Bracer. Kasami Bracer adds a medium boost to defensive stats and higher boost to evasive stats but with the added benefit of adding 35 ATP to your stats, which does bump up your damage significantly enough to warrant its uses. Again, because of S-Parts Ver2.01, Hunter droids will have those on almost permanently. Kasami Bracer really amounts up to HUmar and HUnewearl. The choice is always yours but Hunters have a lot of options, but not many good ones.
Forces, you have unfortunately been shafted pretty hard by the lack of Red Ring. Your best shield defensively speaking is Tripolic Reflector. It adds a modest boost to defense, a high boost to evasion and tacks on a wide host of resistance upgrades. It comes with the unique ability to deflect all damage from technique attacks at the wearer, including deflecting applications such as Jellen and Zalure from enemies like Gi-Gue in Ultimate. Its your best defensive option, beyond that you're relegated to technique merges, all of which have not been changed in the slightest between releases.
With these options in mind, I'll move onto gear recommendations.
For starters your gear is widely going to be the same as you would come to expect from Blue Burst minus the Episode 4 exclusives.
You don't have access to V101 or Heavenly/Battle or Smartlink, Adept or Proof of Sword Saint. Anything like this.
You are relegated to God/Battle, which is a 20% attack speed increase. If you're coming from Blue Burst this will undoubtedly be slower for you and will take some time getting used to.
For Hunters I highly recommend the following:
God/Battle, God/Ability, God/Arm & Power for early leveling, any Cure units besides Poison.
S-Parts Ver2.01 or Kasami Bracer.
A list of the following ES weapons: Arrest/Demons/Hell Slicer/J-Cutter, Zalure* Gun, Demons Mechguns, Berserk Twin
*Zalure gun I cannot confirm if the technique level is as it is in Blue Burst at Level 21 or if its returned to its previous level in Ver.3 at Level 31. Either way, I'd only use Zalure on a Gun for bosses.
A list of the following weapons: Zanba, Chain Sawd, Red Sword, Tsumikiri J-Sword, Diska of Braveman, Charge Diska, Charge Vulcan, Charge Raygun, Hell Raygun, Demons Raygun, Red Handgun, Black King Bar, Musashi, Lavis Cannon, Lavis Blades, S-Red's Blade, Agito 1975/Orotiagito, Sange & Yasha, Holy Ray, M&A60 VISE, Vjaya, Madam's Umbrella, Rainbow Baton, Flowen's Sword 3084, Twin Blaze.
All of the weapons are assuming your best stats with them. You can figure that out at your discretion but typically, except for a few weapons, having as high hit as possible is ideal.
For Rangers I highly recommend the following:
God/Battle, God/Ability, God/Arm & Power for early leveling, any Cure units besides Poison.
S-Parts Ver2.01 or Standstill Shield.
A list of the following ES weapons: Demons/Hell/Arrest Shot, Demons/Arrest/Hell/Berserk Needle, Demons Mechguns, Spirit/Berserk/Hell Launcher, Berserk Twin.
A list of the following weapons: Spread Needle, Frozen Shooter/Snow Queen, Demon's Raygun/Laser, Hell Raygun/Laser, Charge Vulcans, Charge Arms, Yasminkov 9000M, Yasminkov 7000V, Yasminkov 3000R, Red Mechgun, Guld Milla, Gi-Gue Bazooka, NUG-2000 Bazooka, Holy Ray, M&A60 VISE, Madam's Umbrella, Twin Blaze.
All of the weapons are assuming your best stats with them. You can figure out at your discretion but typically having as high hit as possible on all these items is ideal.
For Forces, I highly recommend the following:
God/Battle, God/Ability, God/Mind, God/Arm & Power, God/HP, God/TP, God/Technique, any Cure unit besides Poison.
Tripolic Reflector or any Merge of your choice.
Most popular Merges are: Red, Blue, Yellow, Gifoie, Rafoie, Gizonde, Resta.
A list of the following ES weapons: Demons J-Cutter/Slicer, Demons Cards, Demons Mechguns, Berserk Twin.
A list of the following weapons: Marina's Bag, Fire Scepter: Agni, Ice Staff: Dagon, Storm Wand: Indra, Magical Piece, Psycho Wand, M&A 60 VISE, Charge Vulcan, Charge Diska, Charge Raygun, Demon Raygun, Hell Raygun, Soul Banish, Madam's Umbrella, Diska of Braveman, Rainbow Baton, Red Saber, Demonic Fork, Guardiana, Gal Wind, Double Saber, Sorcerer's Cane, Striker of Chao, Caduceus, Plantain Huge Fan.
All of the weapons are assuming your best stats with them. You an figure that out at your discretion but typically, except for a few weapons, having as high hit as possible is ideal, especially for battle forces.
-CONCLUSION-
I want to make a note to you about Classic--we are a dedicated sub-community that is excited to see new players on the Devaloka ship playing the game version we think brings the best out of PSO. While it is slower and the drops are harder to earn, I think you'll find yourself enjoying it far more than you ever thought you would; that's because of its slower and more methodical nature, because of the fact your drops are harder and more distinctive, because your gear choices are much wider and more ambiguous.
We are a community that pushes constantly for updates and changes to help elevate that classic experience further beyond. With a dedicated Staff member, Usagi, we aim to bring Classic to a new light and make it the best it can be.
With that, I hope you enjoyed this guide to Classic. I'll be adding hyperlinks to this original post later for the gear recommendations from the wiki to help you figure out what's best faster, as well as a link to the wiki explaining attributes and hit percent for clarity. If you've read this far into it, I want to thank you for reading all of this and, hopefully, giving Classic a fair shot in the days to come. If you see me online, hit me up to play. I'm always happy to.
Thank you for reading.
The New Player's Classic Guide
Lately there's been an influx of Classic players that have shaken up the community and I've been wanting to make a Classic guide for a long time as there isn't anything really like it. For the players that aren't really sure what Classic is or does differently, for the players that are interested in it but can't get any concrete information about it beforehand, this guide is for you. We'll be covering what Classic is at its core, the pathways to Ultimate difficulty and finally some gear recommendations for your characters.
For starters, what IS Classic?
Classic is a game type within Ephinea that focuses on the Version 3.0 game type of Phantasy Star Online. For those that aren't aware. Version 3.0 is the classification I give to the platform version of PSO that refers to Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II and the Plus version that was released on Gamecube and Xbox respectively. This version of the game was then later enhanced with the addition of Version 4 (Blue Burst). Classic is what I would refer to as Version 3.1, which is a version of the game that by and large covers the original PSO Episode 1 and 2 for the GC/XB but adds things that original Blue Burst use to be before the addition of Episode 4.
Classic has a number of differences between itself and the Blue Burst that many have come to familiarize themselves with. For instance, Classic retains the 30% increase in EXP for Episode 2 but does not contain *all* of the Episode 2 content that comes with it such as the Class walls (Force Wall, Hunter Wall and the popular Ranger Wall). Classic mode also does not contain Episode 4, which is another key feature that differentiates itself from Blue Burst on the primary ships of Ephinea.
Though it is considered an earlier game version, due to it being hosted on Ephinea, it does retain most, if not all, of the quality of life features that the main ships offer. Classic may be a game mode focused on recreating the feeling of playing the Gamecube and Xbox renditions of the game but it still offers the Individual, or PSO2, style drop mode. No more fighting over drops like the old days. In addition to this, you still have the ability to change your ID pre-level 20 just like you do on the main ships and have the option to change your name whenever you want as well. You can still use the /help command in the lobby to see all of the commands available to you, there's still plenty of them that apply.
If you were wondering, Classic does not have access to the items Red Ring and Parasitic Gene "Flow" for the creation of any of the "Dark" weapon lines. These key items being omitted from the final product of Classic creates a significantly more passive and creative atmosphere; allowing the player to decide what their best shield and weapon options should be throughout their journey.
The Classic game mode is hosted on the US/Devaloka ship and is separated from all other ships. In order to create a "Classic" character, simply create an account as normal and make a character, then log in to the US/Devaloka ship and create a room. The server will then classify this character as a "Classic" character (signified in character select as Blue text) and will only be allowed to play with other characters under the same server designation.
With an introductory level understanding of the game mode Classic, lets get into some specifics that cater more towards the general Classic gameplay loop that you'll be experiencing.
-GAMEPLAY LOOP-
In Classic you do not have access to the Ragol Boost Road bonuses, such as the +25% Rare Drop Rate boost during a specific week. Classic retains all of its original drop rates, which means you will never receive weekly bonus. In addition, it does not have access to the RBR quest list, which means all quests available in Classic will receive no weekly bonuses.
The quest list within Classic is significantly diminished compared to the Blue Burst counterpart. Only quests that fit within the vetted criteria are allowed. The criteria is primarily determined by whether or not the quest would fit within the boundaries of a quest that was to be added by Sega, which is typically much more fairly designed for 4 players with less emphasis on solo play.
Speaking of solo play: the quest list for solo play is reduced down to a specific few Sega quests that were intended for a single person as well as the original story mode quests that Sega initially intended players to play in the offline mode of Episode 1 and 2. The intention is to limit the strength of solo play to make room for Multiplayer, where the vast majority of Sega quests and Ephinea-specific quests lie.
In Classic you have the option between Episodes 1 and 2. Episode 4 is prohibited as it is a Blue Burst specific episode. This means that you will not have access to any Episode 4 items and areas. Furthermore, you will not be allowed to play in Episode 4 quests.
Classic mode has a different level structure as well. Unlike in Blue Burst where the level structure is easier--in Classic, your leveling structure is much stricter. In Classic you will be required to hit the following level requirements for harder difficulties in Multiplayer mode:
Episode 1 Hard Mode: Level 20
Episode 2 Hard Mode: Level 30
Episode 1 Very Hard Mode: Level 50
Episode 2 Very Hard Mode: Level 60
Episode 1 Ultimate Mode: Level 90
Episode 2 Ultimate Mode: Level 100
In One Player Mode your individual level does not matter and the only kind of difficulty progression you will undertake is by defeating either of the final bosses in each episode in your set difficulty. For those of you with experience with the original Episode 1 and 2 story progression, you'll find familiarity with this as due to this feature you are capable of hitting Ultimate mode at a much earlier level. Despite this, even though you may have hit Ultimate at an earlier level, you're still required to hit the Multiplayer level requirements in order to participate in the respective difficulty with other players.
-GEAR AND MAXING-
In Classic your gearing experience is different from Blue Burst. Since you no longer have access to Episode 4 items, you will have to make due with items from Episode 1 and 2. This usually means that you'll have to make some concessions in terms of unit selection or by not maxing specific stats for some classes. The classes this tends to hurt the most is droids, since you'll have to either sink extra materials into LCK or use an extra unit slot for a stat unit to make sure you can properly max ATP, ATA and LCK by Level 200. Mars (RAmar, HUmar, RAmarl, FOmar, FOmarl) are mostly unaffected by this since their material cap is so high that they can afford to utilize a couple extra materials to make up for the lack of items such as V101 and Red Ring. Newms have it as hard as ever, but are still capable of maxing the primary attributes. For FOnewm and FOnewearl you will have to make a decision on whether or not you want to max ATP and ATA with LCK versus maxing out your damage potential with techniques using MST. The choice is ultimately yours.
With the removal of Red Ring you may be wondering what exactly is available to the classes in place of it. Well, the answer is nothing. The only classes that have a comparable offering to Red Ring is droids since they have the rare barrier S-Parts Ver2.01 available which grants 15 ATA. Every other class now has to make due with something more defensive in nature; yes this includes Rangers. Despite Ranger Wall technically speaking being available in Ver.3 (Gamecube and Xbox) it was never released officially, therefore Rangers do not have it available. In terms of shields or barriers, the choice really does ultimately come down to what you want. As tacky as it is to say, fashion vs statistical improvements really is your best argument here. The vast majority of droids will be utilizing S-Parts when it becomes available to them so there's not much argument there.
Rangers have a few options, most of which are almost all the same. The popular choice would be Standstill Shield. If anyone from Ver.3 remembers, Standstill Shield has a very good DFP/EVP benefit to Rangers, offering the highest DFP option for them. Again, this is really your choice.
Hunters are far more lenient with their options. They have access to Standstill Shield much like Rangers but they also have a unique option available to them in the form of Kasami Bracer. Kasami Bracer adds a medium boost to defensive stats and higher boost to evasive stats but with the added benefit of adding 35 ATP to your stats, which does bump up your damage significantly enough to warrant its uses. Again, because of S-Parts Ver2.01, Hunter droids will have those on almost permanently. Kasami Bracer really amounts up to HUmar and HUnewearl. The choice is always yours but Hunters have a lot of options, but not many good ones.
Forces, you have unfortunately been shafted pretty hard by the lack of Red Ring. Your best shield defensively speaking is Tripolic Reflector. It adds a modest boost to defense, a high boost to evasion and tacks on a wide host of resistance upgrades. It comes with the unique ability to deflect all damage from technique attacks at the wearer, including deflecting applications such as Jellen and Zalure from enemies like Gi-Gue in Ultimate. Its your best defensive option, beyond that you're relegated to technique merges, all of which have not been changed in the slightest between releases.
With these options in mind, I'll move onto gear recommendations.
For starters your gear is widely going to be the same as you would come to expect from Blue Burst minus the Episode 4 exclusives.
You don't have access to V101 or Heavenly/Battle or Smartlink, Adept or Proof of Sword Saint. Anything like this.
You are relegated to God/Battle, which is a 20% attack speed increase. If you're coming from Blue Burst this will undoubtedly be slower for you and will take some time getting used to.
For Hunters I highly recommend the following:
God/Battle, God/Ability, God/Arm & Power for early leveling, any Cure units besides Poison.
S-Parts Ver2.01 or Kasami Bracer.
A list of the following ES weapons: Arrest/Demons/Hell Slicer/J-Cutter, Zalure* Gun, Demons Mechguns, Berserk Twin
*Zalure gun I cannot confirm if the technique level is as it is in Blue Burst at Level 21 or if its returned to its previous level in Ver.3 at Level 31. Either way, I'd only use Zalure on a Gun for bosses.
A list of the following weapons: Zanba, Chain Sawd, Red Sword, Tsumikiri J-Sword, Diska of Braveman, Charge Diska, Charge Vulcan, Charge Raygun, Hell Raygun, Demons Raygun, Red Handgun, Black King Bar, Musashi, Lavis Cannon, Lavis Blades, S-Red's Blade, Agito 1975/Orotiagito, Sange & Yasha, Holy Ray, M&A60 VISE, Vjaya, Madam's Umbrella, Rainbow Baton, Flowen's Sword 3084, Twin Blaze.
All of the weapons are assuming your best stats with them. You can figure that out at your discretion but typically, except for a few weapons, having as high hit as possible is ideal.
For Rangers I highly recommend the following:
God/Battle, God/Ability, God/Arm & Power for early leveling, any Cure units besides Poison.
S-Parts Ver2.01 or Standstill Shield.
A list of the following ES weapons: Demons/Hell/Arrest Shot, Demons/Arrest/Hell/Berserk Needle, Demons Mechguns, Spirit/Berserk/Hell Launcher, Berserk Twin.
A list of the following weapons: Spread Needle, Frozen Shooter/Snow Queen, Demon's Raygun/Laser, Hell Raygun/Laser, Charge Vulcans, Charge Arms, Yasminkov 9000M, Yasminkov 7000V, Yasminkov 3000R, Red Mechgun, Guld Milla, Gi-Gue Bazooka, NUG-2000 Bazooka, Holy Ray, M&A60 VISE, Madam's Umbrella, Twin Blaze.
All of the weapons are assuming your best stats with them. You can figure out at your discretion but typically having as high hit as possible on all these items is ideal.
For Forces, I highly recommend the following:
God/Battle, God/Ability, God/Mind, God/Arm & Power, God/HP, God/TP, God/Technique, any Cure unit besides Poison.
Tripolic Reflector or any Merge of your choice.
Most popular Merges are: Red, Blue, Yellow, Gifoie, Rafoie, Gizonde, Resta.
A list of the following ES weapons: Demons J-Cutter/Slicer, Demons Cards, Demons Mechguns, Berserk Twin.
A list of the following weapons: Marina's Bag, Fire Scepter: Agni, Ice Staff: Dagon, Storm Wand: Indra, Magical Piece, Psycho Wand, M&A 60 VISE, Charge Vulcan, Charge Diska, Charge Raygun, Demon Raygun, Hell Raygun, Soul Banish, Madam's Umbrella, Diska of Braveman, Rainbow Baton, Red Saber, Demonic Fork, Guardiana, Gal Wind, Double Saber, Sorcerer's Cane, Striker of Chao, Caduceus, Plantain Huge Fan.
All of the weapons are assuming your best stats with them. You an figure that out at your discretion but typically, except for a few weapons, having as high hit as possible is ideal, especially for battle forces.
-CONCLUSION-
I want to make a note to you about Classic--we are a dedicated sub-community that is excited to see new players on the Devaloka ship playing the game version we think brings the best out of PSO. While it is slower and the drops are harder to earn, I think you'll find yourself enjoying it far more than you ever thought you would; that's because of its slower and more methodical nature, because of the fact your drops are harder and more distinctive, because your gear choices are much wider and more ambiguous.
We are a community that pushes constantly for updates and changes to help elevate that classic experience further beyond. With a dedicated Staff member, Usagi, we aim to bring Classic to a new light and make it the best it can be.
With that, I hope you enjoyed this guide to Classic. I'll be adding hyperlinks to this original post later for the gear recommendations from the wiki to help you figure out what's best faster, as well as a link to the wiki explaining attributes and hit percent for clarity. If you've read this far into it, I want to thank you for reading all of this and, hopefully, giving Classic a fair shot in the days to come. If you see me online, hit me up to play. I'm always happy to.
Thank you for reading.
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