Sorry for being blunt, but I'm going to get to the point, The problem is, and I'll be honest is if you can't beat Phaleg then you'll find the newer content either extremely difficult or impossible as newer content takes more of a dark souls route and becomes far more difficult, take the new extreme quests for instance - They make Phaleg look like a cakewalk by comparison.

This is essentially your end-game progression, whilst Phaleg is optional...these newer extreme quests are important for crafting your class ring for example, which gives you a 1% unconditional damage multiplier, 10% Critical Rate, and 3% damage reduction ALSO, part of the expert flag on your account so obviously you're looking at a big increase in difficulty.

And then you have Masquerade..

Naturally they are ways around these fights, but your starting to look at tailor making your builds, subclass and gear are specific elements of the game and that leads to welcome to PSO2 getting serious.

In my opinion, real end game is not supposed to be for everyone anyway. And if that's the case with this game, then it's doing it right. As long as there's public content everyone can do as well, and a clear path to end game that doesn't include paying up for gear, I feel most people will be happy to stick to their preferred difficulties.

Said that, I'm already used to never reaching end game in any recent games, and while I know this means I'll be on my way out of the game if new content isn't dropped for my skill tier, I won't complain if more content that's more difficult than I can handle is released. Why? Because that's part of what makes a game a game.

Honestly I've found the new extreme quests easier than Phaleg duel.

Edit: nvm, I totally missed it despite having it in material storage

Content is eventually nerfed when newer content replaces it. The more casual players will get to do it eventually and the hardcore players can chase that new high. It works out for everybody. The majority of players aren’t going to have BiS gear the first week and clear brand new difficult content but it’s still going to be there when everyone else decides to go at their own pace. I personally suffer from the alt-aholic curse so I’m leveling and gearing up four characters at once, it’s going to be a while for me too.

The solo extreme quests especially the first 2 came out before EP5 on JP, they are designed for lv75~80 and pre EP5 job balance which global always had - should be a breeze at 90.

The 3rd one - Phanatical Phantoms or whatever it will get translated to - enemies are level 80 but came in during the EP5 job balancing. This one is part of the current JP expert matching requirement and you fight Phaleg on the 3rd stage for this one. Global still have the level advantage on this one as it came out when JP was still 80 though the level cap was raised to 85 for old classes the next major patch while hero got stuck at 80. Wasn't until the end of EP5 where level cap was raised to 90 - was like the 2nd to the last patch of EP5

@HarmlessSyan said in Can't beat Phaleg, you need to get better fast.:

The solo extreme quests especially the first 2 came out before EP5 on JP, they are designed for lv75~80 and pre EP5 job balance which global always had - should be a breeze at 90.

The 3rd one - Phanatical Phantoms or whatever it will get translated to - enemies are level 80 but came in during the EP5 job balancing. This one is part of the current JP expert matching requirement and you fight Phaleg on the 3rd stage for this one. Global still have the level advantage on this one as it came out when JP was still 80 though the level cap was raised to 85 for old classes the next major patch while hero got stuck at 80. Wasn't until the end of EP5 where level cap was raised to 90 - was like the 2nd to the last patch of EP5

Indeed. Even people like me, who are now considered naturally bad and with some minor health conditions that minimize my potential to "git gud" can have some fun in games like these. Though I know I'm a bit considerate in knowing that if I'm gonna ruin a run for someone else, I might as well not even try it. Sadly I know not everyone does that, and those are the players the power creep system usually weeds out eventually.

@ZorokiHanuke

This makes me sad. I have health conditions too and worry about the same thing sometimes. If you’re ever on ship 4 I’ll play with you.

Can't speak for Phaleg but i've watched a handful of masq runs and honestly he seems easier compared to phaleg. I think people struggle with her because they're not used to paying attention to audio ques. That and she's designed to basically OHK you regardless. Where as I don't think masq is.

Masquerade is definitely a lot easier than Phaleg. Phaleg is faster, smaller and does more damage, Masquerade is a lot more forgiving in comparison, plus you also don't have to actually climb the levels if you don't want to, the reward pool is basically the same on the level 1 version minus a couple of things.

So my question is should I just stop playing now since it appears I will not be able to enjoy a lot of the game if I cannot beat her.

@Amari-Kigu said in Can't beat Phaleg, you need to get better fast.:

Sorry for being blunt, but I'm going to get to the point, The problem is, and I'll be honest is if you can't beat Phaleg then you'll find the newer content either extremely difficult or impossible as newer content takes more of a dark souls route and becomes far more difficult, take the new extreme quests for instance - They make Phaleg look like a cakewalk by comparison.

This is essentially your end-game progression, whilst Phaleg is optional...these newer extreme quests are important for crafting your class ring for example, which gives you a 1% unconditional damage multiplier, 10% Critical Rate, and 3% damage reduction ALSO, part of the expert flag on your account so obviously you're looking at a big increase in difficulty.

And then you have Masquerade..

Naturally they are ways around these fights, but your starting to look at tailor making your builds, subclass and gear are specific elements of the game and that leads to welcome to PSO2 getting serious.

Honestly found all other fights you mentioned easy compared to Phaleg. Just hate how unpredictable she is.

Can I just say something here. Nobody should quit due to harder content since all the content the OP has mentioned is optional and can be done to unlock the expert matching queue or some item not needed later which means if you don't want to "git gud" as the words being tossed around here then don't just continue to enjoy the game as is since all UQs will still be available to you with the level requirement being met and matched with people that meet such requirements as well. As for Phaleg I don't like her either but I find the later contents easier tbh so give them a go.

I play a class with no counters, no parries, no PAs, gimped damage, no i-frames, terrible range, and have difficulty because I haven't been able to cheese content with the above mentioned things.

Am I bad for trying to play my class as my class, or should I use other weapons and skills and play it as a different class while being my class?

@Milk What I call "health condition" is literally old age (at least in gamer terms), an accident or two, and old pains from bad youth decisions coming back to bite me. Nothing huge. But I know that with how I feel, my ability cap is reduced. That doesn't mean I won't try to enjoy what I can do. I JUST did 12man ex esca and for the first time I didn't die once, nor ever felt threatened by it. It's slower content than Phaleg, I know, but at least I'm not floor matting it, and this means I can tackle harder stuff eventually, till whatever my health can handle.

@Furious said in Can't beat Phaleg, you need to get better fast.:

I play a class with no counters, no parries, no PAs, gimped damage, no i-frames, terrible range, and have difficulty because I haven't been able to cheese content with the above mentioned things.

Am I bad for trying to play my class as my class, or should I use other weapons and skills and play it as a different class while being my class?

Playing with other weapons with Techter is definitely not what you should do. Techter has the hammer move it is their only PA the uncharged version of it can go a pretty long way with techs being great for enemies. I am not sure of the best solution here if I had to suggest wait till Phantom and Etoile release and give them a go but for now focus on being a better Techter.