At some point , At leas in my mind , I was under the impression that in order to get the best gear, you first have to level up. As you do so, your power increases and maybe , just maybe , Be able to supersede those monsters that , At some point brought you thru the wringer. That's were I stand now, getting the very best weapons and the very best armors , only to be time and time again , have my ass handed to me on a silver platter, It's frustrating to say the least and I've concluded, What is the point of getting to max level, when its still isn't enough To give them what for, and make them run with their tails in between their legs.?

Yes, and maybe you will tell me that , this game isn't made for solo players, its made to be able to be played in Groups or parties. Thats all fine and dandy, but- I want that luxury to be able to do so, To run solo and come out on top. I just think that when you reach level 90, Monsters are beefy and remind me that what im using to subdue them is merely just a pee -shooter.

Simple. Gears aren't everything and skill/knowledge is what gaps players.

Also, not all PSO2 contents are scaled for solo nor can be solo due to a few mechanics that requires a group, but a large portion of the contents in-game can be solo'd.

The game values player skill and most of the content in PSO2 can be solo'd.

Character level and gear won't be able to carry you in this game especially in higher difficulty, they only serve to make the fight easier. People can beat Phaleg using lv30 class or using 1 star weapon with no units. But Phaleg in turn can destroy a level 95 character with 15 star weapon and 13 star units if they don't know how to do the fight.

And then there's Etoile / Superstar. Which auto-parries / auto-blocks (with sound effect feedback) on Double (Dual?) Saber (Sword.) Once Etoile/Superstar comes, you'll see a lot more casual players closing the skill gap with a class that just doesn't care that enemies even exist in the first place. I am aware that Bouncer does have some auto-dodge mechanics as you're attacking, but Etoile/Superstar is on a completely different level that makes even Profound Darkness from the upcoming Boss Rush quest trivial.

But yes, skill is more important than most gear/weapons in this game. Much like Monster Hunter. Which is why I often call PSO2 (and PSU/PSP games) "Monster Hunter in Space."

This problem is exactly the problem of Nem/Slave weapons being introduced to the game early.

You were never suppose to feel powerful, or face roll content. Now that you can't - you feel underpowered, and as a result of those weapons be introduced early, you didn't learn much because you didn't need to do so.

basically, gitgud.

How do you gitgud?

@RainGnyu said in Our power is never going to be enough!:

How do you gitgud?

Read enemy tells (IE: their wind-up animations are usually unique for every attack they do.) Some enemies have subtle wind-up animations like Quartz Dragon's homing light missiles, but it's easier to see that tell when you're farther away.

@coldreactive said in Our power is never going to be enough!:

And then there's Etoile / Superstar. Which auto-parries / auto-blocks (with sound effect feedback) on Double (Dual?) Saber (Sword.) Once Etoile/Superstar comes, you'll see a lot more casual players closing the skill gap with a class that just doesn't care that enemies even exist in the first place. I am aware that Bouncer does have some auto-dodge mechanics as you're attacking, but Etoile/Superstar is on a completely different level that makes even Profound Darkness from the upcoming Boss Rush quest trivial.

But yes, skill is more important than most gear/weapons in this game. Much like Monster Hunter. Which is why I often call PSO2 (and PSU/PSP games) "Monster Hunter in Space."

Etoile Dual blades and Double Saber do not have auto-parries or auto block. Dual blades have a parry weapon action that can be used mid-pa ( but is otherwise no different from other counters and some Iframes on Connect but that's it. Double Saber is a counter weapon and thus the weapon action works similarly to Katana/hero counter (You gotta counter "normally" is if with a katan and if you succesfully do it, there's a sound that tells you you can press it again for a counter., which is no different than hero counter) and their PAs have decently long Iframes. Wand is the one with a BS weapon action, which is basically a bubble deflector shield. But even that has it's limits. Etoile is strong yes, but not to the extent you make it out to be.

Edit to be clearer: Having Iframes on PAs is nothing unique to Et Double Saber and having a sound indicator for counters is not unique either.

And yeah +1 to skill being more important than most gear.

People always say skill but never say what skill.

Best skill is to stay alive has long as you can. Really the only skill you need I my book.

So I train myself to engage the enemy (without attacking) and stay in its face and see how long I can last as a hunter fury build.

unless the game is called Disgaea gear will never carry you out in the content, most games rely in you learn how to use the character/class/skills more and have gear as secundary PSO2 follows the same rule so learning how to use a class is more important than just having big numbers showing in the status of the character

If you play hunter or hero get elder pain and never let go of the attack button and if you play with a group get healing share ring. This made me a lazy gamer.

@Cloudonpot said in Our power is never going to be enough!:

If you play hunter or hero get elder pain and never let go of the attack button and if you play with a group get healing share ring. This made me a lazy gamer.

Elder Pain doesn't make you good though. Elder Pain Omega is a serious crutch. You never die, but you end up face tanking everything, and dealing crap damage. In the end it's better to learn how to dodge attacks.

Also Hero with EPO is pointless when a huge chunk of your damage comes from NOT GETTING HIT.

Once the new difficulty drops in Ep 6 people who are using things like EPO are going to get a big wake up call when things don't give them time to heal because they die in 1-2 hits.

@NIC said in Our power is never going to be enough!:

Once the new difficulty drops in Ep 6 people who are using things like EPO are going to get a big wake up call when things don't give them time to heal because they die in 1-2 hits.

I can't wait to see people try and beat [̸̢̧̛͎̼͚̬̘͙͇̮̫̝̟͓̣̮̲̠͔̠̹̘̗͇̩̳̈̋́̈́̂́̓̎͂̔̌̅̿͠͠R̵̛̛͎͚͉̣̜͇͕̳̹͍͇̲͙̰̼͇͎̹̰͍̣͓̃̽͆̆͗̈́͊̅͑̽̎̔̋͗̅̐̚͜͜͝͠ͅĘ̵̢̢̧̧̛͔̫̰͕̘̦̣̤̝̜͉̯̞̩̦̺̭̱̞̦̳̮̞̻͚̟̱̜̜̥̫͇̣͎̣̯͎̹̟̮̝͓͚̦̙̗͉̙͗͒̌̌̈́̑̀̓̓͑́͆̂͗͌̆̍̎̕͘̕͝͝͝ͅͅD̶̨̡̨̨̞̜̫̣̬̺͓̯̲̥͙̦̖̬̠̖̰͓̼͖̩̞̘͎͚͇͙̪̠̳̖͉̰̞͚̻̲̦̜̫̫̰͔͚̤͎̬͍̲̭͖̣͐̀̌̇̏͐̈͊̄̏͑̉̉̐̿́͆̓̈̽̏́̂̃̐͋̌̽͒́̂͑̀̕̚̚͜͝͝ͅĄ̶̜͓͙̮̭͙̮͇͚̀̀̍̾C̴̡̢̨̧̢̭̮̳̤̙͈̗̗̖͎̞͈̠̘̤̫̗̥̯͚͖̠̟̗̦̓̓̈́̄̽̇̎̌̓̅̆͌̾̓̋̎̅͑͐͒̽̕͜͜͝͠T̸̨̨̪̦̠̞̳̱͎̫̪͔̝͈͈̼͍͙̣̗̘͔̠͙͕̞͚̔̀͂ͅḘ̸̢̢̢̡̧̨̭̹̻̭̗̣̰̞̖̼̜̰̙̻̩͉͔͇͕͚͓͎̲̝̲͍̺̱͈͙̘͔͓̞̣̣̮̗̦͈̰͊͐͜ͅͅͅD̸̨̡̛̛̘͚̰̬̺̤̦̦̲̙̬̾͛̋̿͑̌̾̉̒͒́͐̏̃̑̃̽̿̑͆̿́̒͆̀̈́̿͋͒́̎̉̐̒́̚͝͝͝͠͝͠ͅ]̷̧̧̧̛͎̦̳̤̗̹̘̝̘̹̣͎̗͍̲͕͉̞̩̗̠͈͔̬̤̝̻͖̭͉̰͉͍̙͈̞̳͈̞̉̄͑̑͌̐̎̌̈̓̎̒̌̏́̇̊̂̃͋̓̍̂̈́̈́̉̋̃̇͂̈́͒̄͆͊́̕̕̚̚̚̕͘͝͝͝ͅͅ in AIS 2.0 3.0, and have their butts kicked. (Including me. But I like pain. Especially when delivered by a pretty face)

As others have said - Gear only carries you so far in PSO2, your progression in this game is tied almost entirely to your personal skill level, and learning how to overcome an obstacle by getting better at the game.

Will new Units, Weapons, and Augments help? Of course they will, but not to the extent of something like WoW or XIV, where new gear turns older encounters into complete faceroll nonsense. Learning the game is going take you much further than grinding out an Atlas weapon from Zig, and upgrading the Buster Quest units.

Take the Crimson Fellwyrm, for example. When the UQ launched, there was a very, VERY long thread here on how the encounter was over tuned, how it was too hard, how his attacks were undodgable and too cheap. Hell, my first runs usually took in the area of 25-30 minutes, ending with me out of Moon Atomizers, and most of my Mates gone. This only was made worst with the Heroic version. My first run didn't even see him reach his final phase.

Now? Ole' Red is lucky if he lasts ten minutes, and I use next to no consumables, and Blackey aint doing much better. By comparison, my Atolm run last night also saw us wrapping the encounter up in about twelve minutes, with no deaths, and me only taking a handful of hits (mostly laziness near the tail end of the fight). This was with a PuG group I matchmade into as well, so this shows that the playerbase is also getting far and wide better at the game as well.

As for what's changed on my character? I have one new unit that I picked up with Buster Medals. That's it. I'm still rocking my Nemesis while I still work to get a new toy from Zig, I still have a Cliffard leg piece and a Circuray Arm piece, and my augments haven't changed all that much. What has changed is my understanding and mastery of the Braver's i-frames, how to better utilize banishing shot's combo with my other PAs, and more importantly, I've learned and memorized the bosses movements, call outs, and attacks. I can do Deus Esca now practically blindfolded, and the Fellwyrm encounter is getting very near to that point as well, all because I actively made an effort to learn how to get better at the game.

If you want more power and the ability to turn what were once challenging encounters into child's play, that is what you need to do as well. Treat PSO2 like a Soulsborne - Gear and Stats will only carry you so far, everything else relies entirely on the person behind the controller / keyboard.

@NIC said in Our power is never going to be enough!:

@Cloudonpot said in Our power is never going to be enough!:

If you play hunter or hero get elder pain and never let go of the attack button and if you play with a group get healing share ring. This made me a lazy gamer.

Elder Pain doesn't make you good though. Elder Pain Omega is a serious crutch. You never die, but you end up face tanking everything, and dealing crap damage. In the end it's better to learn how to dodge attacks.

Also Hero with EPO is pointless when a huge chunk of your damage comes from NOT GETTING HIT.

Once the new difficulty drops in Ep 6 people who are using things like EPO are going to get a big wake up call when things don't give them time to heal because they die in 1-2 hits.

I really think you going to be surprised that is not the case. If you augment your units and EPO right as A hunter you could be invincibility.