OK, so here's what I know.

I came into contact with a few max level characters along the way, so I decided to ask some of them what they knew about the class. Very few of them have played on JP servers before, but I did ask what I could.

One of these responses were "It makes damage-focused class builds look like a joke".

If they're really THAT overpowered, then I fear for the current state of balance in the game for the Western servers. IMO, Hero and Phantom should be either Nerfed, stay Removed, or Restricted more than it is already.

Speaking of Restrictions tho, I did get info that it requires you to have 2 classes at level 75 before you can use them. HOWEVER, I feel that this is still too easy to accomplish, as I have 2 level 50+ characters already and it hasn't even been a week since I started.

I know some people are going to complain and try to argue along the lines of "but I like being overpowered, don't nerf". But IMO, if said classes are even gonna be added to the game, then I rather raise the requirements to unlock such an overpowered class. If anything, ALL 9 original classes should be lv75 (if not max level) before you should be allowed to wield such power. If you want to be overpowered like so, then it shouldn't be something that can just be accomplished within just a month. "Work hard to Play hard" as some may say.

These are only my thoughts, in the case the mentioned classes are as overpowered as people say they are. I have no experience on either class, and I only go by what I've heard from others.

I've seen people on the field do 10,000+ damage per hit before, but if that's gonna be a "joke" compared to what Hero and Phantom can do, then it really worries me if such a thing exists in the game.

If anyone is saying that Hero and Phantom are overpowered, they have not really played them that much, or haven't played the JPN server since early Episode 5.

When Hero first released, it was monstrous, and was designed to outperform all other classes, but since then, things have been balanced out so that meta builds of other classes are on par. Their mechanics do make them more popular to use (especially because they each only have 4 PAs per weapon and don't use a subclass), but they do not seriously outperform any other class (in fact, Gu/Fi is still considered to be one of, if not the best classes).

That said, Hero is a very pick-up-and-play type of class, in that it is extremely easy to use and do good damage, but it still requires skill and practice to learn how to get the most out of it. Phantom is a bit more complex to use as a main due to how it uses derived PAs and Marker build up, but it is also a great subclass for many classes so locking it behind more restrictions would only serve to make other classes worse.

Keep in mind that we already have all of the current JPN class balances, so we won't see Hero becoming the de facto class like when it was originally released on the JPN server.

@AndrlCh ahh~ so long story short, it "was" overpowered, but it did get nerfed.

That's what I was hoping to hear. I can relax about its existence now, lol. Many thanks for hearing me out~

@SparkyDaPikachu Ehh, it technically was never really nerfed, rather everything else was brought up to its level. It's why every class has a double jump and various mobility Skills and PAs now, amongst other things.

This reminds me so much of Blade and Soul, where new classes and new old-class variants are so much easier to pull dps from. In the grand scheme of things, most classes could go on par or outperform them, but it's like driving an automatic against a dual clutch 13 shift stick manual with a bronze clutch.