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Phantasy Star Online 2 Import |OT3| PS4 ways to play

Hey, This isn't the place to complain about how PSO2 isn't coming to the west. We get it, it sucks. Please don't fill the thread with drive-by posts about it.
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Before you go downloading the PS4 version, here's how to register. You'll need 45gb of free space. Here's how to download the PS4 version
If you want to play the PC version using English patches, get the tweaker tool which will install the english patches for you, it can also translate item names.
And if you want to play on the vita, here's a guide for that too.
Or if you prefer a different, phone based experience, here's how to start that

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Phantasy Star Online 2 is an online action-rpg. You choose a class, select quests, take client orders, level up, start a rock collection, get patented PSO red boxes, and generally watch the numbers go up. Combat varies from class to class, going anywhere from hack-and-slashing to third person shooting, magic casting, John Woo simulating, and newly added pet based combat.
Genre: Online RPG
Developer & Publisher: Sega
Pricing: Free-to-play with premium services.
Release: 4th of July 2012 (Japan), Heat death of the universe (West)
Platforms: PC, Mac, Vita, PS4, Android, iOS
Official site: Link

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  • OS: Windows XP 32bit | Windows Vista or Windows 7 32bit or 64bit
  • CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 or above
  • RAM: Windows XP:1.5GB+ | Vista or Windows 7:2GB+
  • HDD: 45 gb
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 7800GT or similar or higher
  • Direct X: Direct X 9.0c or higher
  • Official benchmark and Character creator can be downloaded here. You can use the character you create here in the main game!

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  • Ship 02 is the unofficial English community server. Some gaffers are also on Ship 01.
  • There is no ongoing IP block on the Japanese version. However there is an IP block in place on the SEA servers.
  • It is NOT possible to buy the AC (in game currency for paid content) using a non-Japanese credit card. However if you are playing the android version you can use google wallet to pay for AC using your non-Japanese credit card. Otherwise you'll have to buy webmoney from a 3rd party and use that.
  • You can theoretically get banned for using the English patches (they're against the TOS), but it hasn't happened to anyone yet and likely won't
  • Everyone has 3 free character slots. Each character only gets 1 [free] mag, so you could use the 3 characters to cover each damage type if you wanted to (more on this later)
  • Maintenance occurs every Wednesdays at 11:00 ~ 17:00 JST, or Tuesdays at 10:00 PM ~ 4:00 AM Eastern, Other Time Zones

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  • Mags are back - they can be fed, evolved and help you during quests
  • Party up with 3 friends, NPCs, or NPC versions of your friends
  • Interrupt Events - short randomly generated mini-objectives that pop-up mid quest
  • Challenge Quests. Special designed quests where you start at level 1 and work with 12 others to reach the end
  • Interior home decorating courtesy of MyRoom
  • Create or join a team with access to their very own team room
  • A Casino! Gamble casino coins to get items.
  • Crafting system. Make weaker weapons stronger or customize attributes of your techs and PAs
  • The ability to switch between the 8 classes for free, each with their own skill trees
  • Normal, Hard, Very Hard, Super Hard, Extra Hard, and Ultimate Difficulties
  • An ongoing Story mode with quests that lead to interesting and exclusive content
  • Emergency quests which appear for a limited time
  • An absurd amount of character customization and cosmetic items

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All paid content is bought with Arks Cash (1 AC = 1 yen), which is an in-game currency bought with real money. AC can be bought through the PSO2 website (only with a Japanese credit card), or exchanged for with Webmoney. You can also buy it through the phone version using Google Wallet and a non-Japanese credit card. AC can be bought through the PS4 PSN store as well.
Aside from premium subscription, you can purchase things like new skill trees, new mags, more crafting slots, cosmectic scratch tickets, and so on.

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There are 9 classes available all from the start for all characters. Switching between classes can be done at any, for free, in the Arks Lobby. Each class has its own skill tree. Once you unlock subclassing you can use skills from the subclass in addition to your main class. However you can not equip the weapons from your subclass or use its PAs unless the specific weapon is equippable by multiple classes. Subclassing a class that can use Techs like Force, Techer, Bouncer, or Summoner will let you cast techs as your main class even without the use of a tech weapon. You can change your subclass at will as well so there is room for experimentation. Warning: Certain class combos will obviously be better/more effective than others.
  • Hunter - Uses Swords, Partisans, and Wired Lances. Bulkier melee fighters with a strong set of skills that can either increase damage, decrease damage taken, or improve survivability.
  • Fighter - Uses Double Sabers, Knuckles, and Twin Daggers. Close-range Melee fighters with skills focused on increasing damage as much as possible.
  • Ranger - Uses Rifles and Launchers. Long-range class capable of doing high amounts of damage and providing support to the whole party.
  • Gunner - Uses Twin machine guns and Rifles. Close-ranged class focused on doing stylish flips and gun combos.
  • Force - Uses Rods and Talis. Magic class focused on casting magic and with skills to boost damage.
  • Techer - Uses Wands and Talis. Magic class centered around supporting the party and whacking things with wands.
  • Braver - Uses Katanas and Bows. Close to medium range class providing options for both melee and ranged combat. Can excel at mobbing or bossing when set up properly.
  • Bouncer - Uses Dual Blades and Jetboots. A hybrid of melee and magic with good single target damage and capable of offering support to the party.
  • Summoner - Uses Pets. A class that uses pets as its offense. Can be very strong if in the right hands.

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  • Humans - Not actually the jack of all trades they are advertised to be. Males are better at melee, females are better at magic.
  • Newmans - The space elves. More magic oriented. Best at magic.
  • Casts - Robot/cyborgs. Bulkiest class. Good for ranged and melee. Not good at magic.
  • Dewmans - Pale skin, heterochromatic eyes, and horns. Good/best at all damage types. Lower HP (not by alot, doesn't actually matter).
Stat differences are largely negligible. Any race/gender can equip any gear with no difficulty. The stat differences only matter in min/max scenarios.

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  • The early game is very simple really. You get to make three characters for free. Most people either have one character do every class or have one character do ranged and melee classes and have their second character be a female newman who focuses on magic classes.
  • As soon as you can, do the first story mission of EP4 to unlock the Tokyo area quests. Once you've finished all the Tokyo quests you unlock daily client orders and recommended quests. Recommended quests refresh every day and give you items for clearing them with A-rank or higher. This is important because they are the only source for keys to Bonus Quests which are easy quests that have high exp payouts.
  • Once you obtain your mag, pick a class or at least a damage type (striking, ranged, tech) to main and then level up your mag to be (best case scenario) entirely that attack stat.
  • Do Koffie's unlock Client Orders until you've run out of them. You should be well into your 20 or 30's on two classes if you distribute the exp well.
  • If Emergency Quests are available, go to the level/difficulty appropriate block and do them. They're the best way to get exp. If you can manage to get into a party you'll get boosted exp gain based on how many people are in the party.
  • You should be able to buy low end rare weapons from the player shops for 1k meseta to help you along your way.
  • In the Arks lobby theres a guy in a red hat called Klotho. He has client orders for time attack quests that will be your main/most consistent money source for a long time. The earlier you start working on those the less you have to worry about money (you will never not worry about money, especially in this economy).
  • If you haven't been grinding or affixing your weapons and units by the time you reach VH or SH definitely start doing so. The quality of your gear really starts to matter here.
  • When you start you can largely ignore focusing on the crafting system as its a huge money sink. The system lets you request for other players to do crafts for you. Once you reach the endless grind for 13* you'll want to start doing Zieg's Client Orders since he's one of the only sources of grinders for 13*.
  • What you're doing at level 1 will actually not be all that different from what you can do at level 75
  • Challenge Mode is mostly separate from the rest of the game. The best rewards you can get out of it are photon boosters (used to unlock special weapon latent abilities), lambda grinders (used for grinding 13*), and the Ideal 13* weapons (best for bossing weapons like rifle).
  • Death is meaningless, don't worry about it.
  • Maximizing damage and learning to dodge attacks well is a good thing.

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Q: Is this out in West? When is it coming?
A: It's not. It won't be coming anytime soon. I'm sorry, it's deader than Flowen.

Q: Is it pay-2-win?
A: Eh, not really. Having premium will allow you to expedite grindier sections by being able to buy 10,11,&12 star weapons and units. Aside from that you can rack up a ton of meseta by AC Scratching and selling what you get. Though free players can buy any AC scratch item from player shops so you won't be locked out of aesthetics or special scratch items.

Q: Can PS4, Vita, and PC players play together? How about PSO2es?
A: Yes. There are version exclusive server lobby blocks and shared blocks. PSO2es can not play with other versions as it is effectively a different game.

Q: Why can't I do daily orders?
A: You need to clear Tokyo Free Field Exploration. To unlock the Tokyo area you need to do the 1st Ep4 story mission. To do so go to the Bridge, open the story panel and go through all the cutscenes until you finish the first story mission. After that you unlock the Tokyo Arks Quests, which lead to the Free Field. Once all that is done you'll be notified daily orders and recommended quests are unlocked.

Q: I just started, any gear I should be on the look out for?
A: The Hiei unit set is a good set to start with. It gives you a decent atk boost and PP. Aside from that: Obtain a Red series weapon of your choice from Advanced Quests (or buy one from the player shops). Then go to challenge mode, play Decision at least up to map 3, then using the Challenge points you earned to buy 3 photon boosters (costs around 10k points) from the Challenge Mode shop in the Arks lobby. Grind the Red weapon to +10 and unlock the 再輝の赤 (the one that needs photon boosters) latent ability. After that go and craft the red weapon to as high a craft level as you can. You've now got a solid weapon that will last you into the endgame.

Q: What should I do with my mag?
A: It's best to pick one attack type and max it out. Leveling up def stats is unnecessary as armors and dodging cover it better. Dex/ability, the stat which decreases your damage variance, is effectively a dump stat so it's better not leveled. To try and min/max your mag you want to feed your mag weapons of the matching attack type to increase the mag's corresponding attack stat. Feeding mags weapons also increases their dex/ability stat, you'll want to lower it before it levels so feed the mag mono/di/tri-mates or 4/5/6 star furniture for S/R/T-atk mags respectively.
Three characters means 3 free mags. You could have one character cover each type of atk and its associated classes. Even if a mag solely has points in one type of attack, you can still do decent damage with the other types of atk through smart skill tree set-ups.

Q: What are some good class/subclass combos?
A: Hu/Fi, Hu/Br, Hu/Bo. Fi/Hu, Fi/Bo. Ra/Hu, Ra/Br, Ra/Gu. Gu/Ra, Gu/Hu. Fo/Te, Fo/Br. Te/Fo, Te/Br, Te/Hu. Br/Hu. Bo/Hu. Su/Gu, Su/Te.

Q: What should I do with my skill tree?
A: To avoid bloating the OP, please refer to this link. If you want a specific skill tree layout, ask in the thread or send me a PM.

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Graphics Level 6 Pictures
 
I heard now Amazon Japan ships worldwide.
Does a physical disc edition of the PS4 version exist?
Thinking of importing it... I love to have some PSO on my shelves ^_^.
 

Stalk

Member
How hard would this be for an English speaker

There's an English translation patch for the PC version.

I've jumped into this game several times over the last few years but could never get going. I'm terrible at finding teams to join or whatever haha.
 
For the ps4 sorry :(

It's not too terribly difficult. Most of Bumped's guides show pictures of what menu options do what. As you play you'll kinda learn the flow of the game's menus and be able to intuit what most menus mean. The english wiki lists just about every Client order in the game, so you can always check there if you're not sure what something wants. The game itself also marks quests that can fulfill accepted client orders, so its not too difficult to figure out what each one wants. The toughest part can be keeping track of all the item and enemy names. Though the game has a copy/paste function for item names that can be helpful when looking things up.
 
Figured i'd set that 45gb monster to download overnight but it seems to start with a 7.6gb file initially. And my connection is disappointingly slow as well right now :(

Just wondering if anyone has used 2 PSN accounts with the game? Previously I played with my AU account on one Vita, while my wife played with my JP account on another Vita.
Both accounts are setup on the PS4 so i'm guessing whichever profile i'm logged in as will determine the Sega ID that logs in to PSO2?
 
Just wondering if anyone has used 2 PSN accounts with the game? Previously I played with my AU account on one Vita, while my wife played with my JP account on another Vita.
Both accounts are setup on the PS4 so i'm guessing whichever profile i'm logged in as will determine the Sega ID that logs in to PSO2?

I think it's a safe assumption, as PSN account has been the tie to SEGA ID historically (to the point that your PSN ID is visible to others in-game if you've established the link). I'm not in a position to be able to test this but I think it should work as you think it does.

EDIT: Asked around and while it hasn't been tried on the official client yet, a friend confirmed to me this is exactly how it worked during the closed beta.
 

Hasemo

(;・∀・)ハッ?
For kicks I put up those PS4 beta accessories for sale and imagine my surprise when they actually sold for the stupidly high price:
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I successfully downloaded, installed and linked my PSN account to my Sega ID; which was weird because I had serious trouble doing so during the beta (some sort of Error 750), so I missed out on the campaign rewards.
 
Quick FYI: there are currently daily campaign box rewards. Make sure you pick them up from the Visiphone each day before they expire at midnight JST (11 AM EDT).

For kicks I put up those PS4 beta accessories for sale and imagine my surprise when they actually sold for the stupidly high price:
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They're only 3m and 5m on Ship02 right now =/
 

Codiox

Member
Played a lot on pc years back with the English patch.

Any chance to jump in and enjoy the PS4 version without knowing any japanese except hai and iie? :D
 

Z3M0G

Member
It just launched today

Would be hopeless without english patch... :(

I kinda miss this game. I should not have focused on a range class, I put the camera over my shoulder and played it like a 3PS. I think that was a mistake. I should have went melee, perhaps I would have stuck with it longer.
 
Would be hopeless without english patch... :(

I kinda miss this game. I should not have focused on a range class, I put the camera over my shoulder and played it like a 3PS. I think that was a mistake. I should have went melee, perhaps I would have stuck with it longer.
Conversevely I remembered having a lot of fun playing like that, and I normally don't play over the shoulder shooters.

I remember there were issues with certain isps getting on without a VPN or something similar. Did that ever get worked out?
 
Conversevely I remembered having a lot of fun playing like that, and I normally don't play over the shoulder shooters.

I remember there were issues with certain isps getting on without a VPN or something similar. Did that ever get worked out?
That stuff is all over now. Theres no VPN need and no IP blocks unless you're in specific SEA countries.


Played a lot on pc years back with the English patch.

Any chance to jump in and enjoy the PS4 version without knowing any japanese except hai and iie? :D

If you played the game before you should be fine still. Theres been a lot of additions to the game but no major menu or navigation overhauls.
 

audio_delay

Neo Member
How hard would this be for an English speaker

Shouldn't be an issue. I played it for 3 year without using the english patch. Only thing you should double check is, if you wanting to buy AC tickets for things like storage expansions, aso. But you can just use your smartphone to translate them.
 
Can't find my original Sega ID anymore:( Starting anew and utterly lost:) nice they let you start as anything else then hunter, ranger, force. Always wanted to try braver.
 

jjasso21

Member
Great work on the OT. I'll try out the PC version with the English Patch. Also is it kb & mouse, or can we use a controller as well?
 

Sophia

Member
Three button setup is so lovely, especially for melee. I always liked how PS Nova handled it, so having that same setup here is nice. <3

Welcome to all new players!
 

Windforce

Member
Nice OP!

I was hesitant to import the PS Vita physical version to play on my US account. Now with the PS4 version out though, I decided to download it on my JP account and will play it.

Downloading it now - not sure how I'll do knowing nothing of japanese. Will rely totally on the internet to get going.
 

Sophia

Member
Nice OP!

I was hesitant to import the PS Vita physical version to play on my US account. Now with the PS4 version out though, I downloaded it on my JP account and will play it.

Downloading it now - not sure how I'll do knowing nothing of japanese. Will rely totally on the internet to get going.

Something to note: Your PSN and Sega ID are linked once you play. If you ever intend to import the physical vita version, make sure you link your SEGA ID to your US PSN account and not the Japanese account you download the game with. Otherwise you'll have to swap memory cards and/or reformat the Vita system to log into your Japanese account.
 

Hasemo

(;・∀・)ハッ?
Quick FYI: there are currently daily campaign box rewards. Make sure you pick them up from the Visiphone each day before they expire at midnight JST (11 AM EDT).

They're only 3m and 5m on Ship02 right now =/
I was totally expecting this to happen. Last time I tried selling campaign stuff (from the PSO2 EP4 guide) I ended up decreasing the price from 10+ to ~2 or something millions over a few days before someone bought it.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Indeed good OP might buy the ps4 ver just because. Doubt I will have much time to play though as got a bunch of other titles to finish atm.
 

Windforce

Member
Something to note: Your PSN and Sega ID are linked once you play. If you ever intend to import the physical vita version, make sure you link your SEGA ID to your US PSN account and not the Japanese account you download the game with. Otherwise you'll have to swap memory cards and/or reformat the Vita system to log into your Japanese account.

Thankyou! Indeed I was careful to make sure I immediately logged out of the JP PSN account as soon the download started, to avoid making this mistake. The first time the game runs on my PS4 it will be on my US PSN, where I'll link the account I created on PC.

Question: it seems I can change classes all the time in this game? I guess I should choose a balanced race if I want to do that, then? (Human?). Or a more specific race if I want to be magic oriented, for example.
 

Caim

Member
Played this a lot in the past and just finished setting this up on PS4 but will probably DL it for PC too due to the english patch. I don't remember much, but does it matter which Ship I join?
 

Sophia

Member
Thankyou! Indeed I was careful to make sure I immediately logged out of the JP PSN account as soon the download started, to avoid making this mistake. The first time the game runs on my PS4 it will be on my US PSN, where I'll link the account I created on PC.

Question: it seems I can change classes all the time in this game? I guess I should choose a balanced race if I want to do that, then? (Human?). Or a more specific race if I want to be magic oriented, for example.

Yeah, you can change classes at any time, and there's a sub-class system as well. Race isn't a significant difference, but if it bothers you then you can have three characters, one for each type: melee/ranged/techniques.

Most players don't bother with that degree of minmaxing tho.

This looks awesome and I want in.
Is it simpler to get up and running on ps4 or PC?

About the same, either way. The hardest part is and has always been making your SEGA ID/PSO2 account.

On the PC version you can use the PSO Tweaker to install the English patches and update the game for you. On the PS4, Sony assists with game updates and there's no english patch. You simply need a Japanese PSN account to download the game.
 

CheesecakeRecipe

Stormy Grey
Played this a lot in the past and just finished setting this up on PS4 but will probably DL it for PC too due to the english patch. I don't remember much, but does it matter which Ship I join?

Depends on if you have any friends playing already. Ship 2 is the unofficial english community ship, but even that has become a bit fractured over the years. I never played with the GAF crew, but they recently split to a few different ships around the time Episode 4 hit.

This looks awesome and I want in.
Is it simpler to get up and running on ps4 or PC?

PS4 is likely easier, instructions can be found here for downloading and logging in. PC benefits from english patches and texture/model swap mods, if you're into that sort of thing.


Wow. The Level 6 graphics option on PC is legit.
Massive improvements in textures and lighting.

Yeah, I wasn't sold on them when Sega first revealed the Tier 6 graphics and put out the first batch of promotional screenshots. But, having spent a few hours playing today, I can say that the additional color, saturation and small detail work here and there makes everything look much snazzier. It's not the most technically impressive, but they've cleaned it up quite nicely!
 
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