What is a PP Battery?

A PP Battery is a weapon that is used specifically for the purpose of faster PP regeneration. There are multiple ways of doing it, but the most common one pre-ep6 weapon series is the "while sheathed, increase pp regen" one. Hero has an exception which I will get into later.

Why is it important?

PP Batteries allow you to take advantage of the down time in not only boss fights, but in Endless Quest. Lets say during a boss phase where you can't attack it, you would have gained 50 pp during the downtime. This changes to 150 pp. That's a LOT more damage available for you to do. Even swapping to it while using your Photon Blast is a way to optimize your downtime to gain back PP.

How come they are so hard to get?

Mining Base: Virtual Reality was supposed to come in EP4. With it was supposed to be Orbit-NT series (which doesn't drop in MB4 due to the Orbit series from that all being OT). It also had Deus 14* drops. However, MBVR was completely skipped on Global. This means we missed a weapon series that is very good for it's utility.

The reason for MBVR being skipped could have been multiple things. One is that Knight Gear, a collaboration enemy, shows up in it -- disregard the fact that it shows up in Heaven and Earth though. Considering it doesn't spawn from Nyau in Tokyo Exploration, this could actually be a reason. A second is that it's based off a Dengeki collab urgent (Necky's Challenge). Lastly, they may just be rushing the content and be adding it in EP6 instead, with Ultra Hard difficulty coming instantly on release.

The alternative to Orbit is Spirited Response S-class augments which mimic it, but the S2 which we have is so rare it might as well not even exist. Previously called Flashing Photon Adaptation, it is now called "Luminous Adaptation." The S2 ONLY drops in Trick or Treat urgent quest right now. Without the S1 it wouldn't beat Orbit, but it'd at least service as a decent replacement in the meantime.

The final alternative is to just use a weapon filled with Luminous Graces during the downtime, which is pretty... uh, I guess better than nothing especially if using a Cetos mag with Ares. However, this is where Hero's exception comes in. Hero TMG reload actually benefits from the Luminous Grace s-class augments, so they have a PP battery set already. Obviously this is only meant to be used for pp regen and not for damage, though.

How can this be fixed?

Add Orbit-NT to MB4 drops at least. I was hoping this was what was happening with EP4 end and why MB4 was all over the schedule, but it seems not... sadly. Alternatively releasing TDVR would help too though.

Add Orbit-NT to a new Collection File, or the Badge Shop, or even an Astracite shop so we can use Astracite.

Raise the drop rates on Luminous Adaptation, or give alternative means to get them. One of the most notable issues with NA to come is that PSO2es is one of the biggest sources of some of these "rarer" s-grade augments that were usually only from seasonals -- this one is no exception. You got a free roll to potentially get something every day.

EDIT Nov 17th: ToT is gone and the drop rates were never improved. Thanksgiving doesn't have any S-Grade Augments. The good news is the next limited quest should drop the S1 Luminous Adaptation, and the Christmas Seasonal should be able to drop S2 Luminous Adaptation again, but this is speculation.

The last resort for the Global players is to wait for EP6. This will guarantee Mirage series unless it is removed from the drop tables for some reason. The passive regen style battery can also be "powercrept" by the Genon 15* series in a way, but requires higher HP to get proper use out of it. Considering Orbit-NT is supposed to be EP4 and we're in EP5 though... I'd really rather not have this be the option.

EDIT Nov 17th: We're likely getting EP6 on December 9th with no PP batteries in sight still. EP6 will at least guarantee we'll have one though, unless they remove the Mirage series for some reason. I saw a total of 2 copies of S2: Luminous Adaptation hit the market ever on Ship 1, and now that ToT doesn't run anymore, it can't drop. Frustrating as hell, as it's heavily holding people back from doing things in places like Endless Quest, especially on a class like Force.

Please make Luminous Adaptation less rare, and provide an alternate method. I've only ever seen one on the market and it's hundreds of millions of Meseta, I only have 10M. I've also done a ton of Trick or Treat UQs, but never even got one S-Class Augment from it.

@Theuberclips I just wanted to say thank you for this post. I've heard the term PP battery thrown around before, but this makes it much more concrete/applicable!

You can get plenty from high scores in Endless Quests, all the S grade 2nd tier PP augments drop from those. It's meant to be a grind, if you got everything at the beginning then you'd have nothing to work for.

@Kurumi-Tokisaki That does not drop spirited response aka Luminous Adaptation. That is Luminous Grace 2, S3 only. Which is also later available as an Augment Factor, and isn't the core part of a PP battery -- it barely helps but we have Luminous Grace S3 already. Either that or Timeflow Grace, which isn't used in PP batteries.

Nothing that Endless drops solves the situation at hand really other than the potential option of Will of the Dying, which when combined with Lucent Adversity can restore pp - oh wait we only will have 1 of the 2 of those and kinda needs lifesteal on atlas.

It also does not drop Orbit series, or Mirage series, or anything of the sort.

I just checked PSO2 JP and they have Add items for S1/S2 Spirited Response (Luminous Adaptation), and S3 Radiating Grace 2 (Luminous Grace 2). And they're all pretty cheap, besides the S1 which is 2.5M, the S2 is 600K, and the S3 is 100K. Hopefully Global get's those and they become that common and cheap soon, because I definitely can't afford the 400M that S2 Luminous Adaptation is at on Ship 1.

@Home-Rowed They weren't that cheap for a while, but still a lot cheaper than 150m.

But even by the time the things that give them nowadays on JP come out on Global, we'll have alternate means of getting them, and the budget option will be the Mirage weapon series.

So bumping for some updates.

First of all, S2: Luminous Adaptation doesn't drop now that ToT is gone. There was maybe 1 or 2 that ever hit the market in Ship 1. And now we have a gigantic concern of "how the hell will we EVER get S2 Luminous Adaptation?"

Evem then the S2 isn't that amazing on it's own -- not without the S1. However, the S1 should be dropping in the next limited quest if it's what I'm expecting it to be. But you kinda need to combine the S1 and S2 together to really make it work well... Either that, or replace the S2 with Runner's High... but that only works while running, and so doesn't have anywhere close to the capabilities.

We might get the S2 as a possible drop in the Christmas Seasonal, alongside a TON of other stuff. That at least is good, but unless they sneak it into some content, it's gonna remain ridiculously rare until then. And we'll also have Mirage probably the moment EP6 drops (and if this seasonal is the one that drops S2 Luminous Adaptation, it will be able to drop there as well lol), and Genon will be showing up too...

I feel like it might just be too late to address this now and we're just going to have to roll with it going into Episode 6. Or maybe they throw something into the Thanksgiving Seasonal? Regardless it's been very unfortunate, as it's been heavily holding me back on doing things with Force in Endless - the class that struggles hard once it runs out of PP, especially since it's so squishy. Hopefully it's the Christmas seasonal I'm expecting it to be. If not, at least we'll have Mirage unless they for some reason remove it from the drop tables... and Genon, except the drop rate on that is... good luck

EDIT: S2 Luminous Adaptation is in RWB5. Well, yeah, we're gonna have to wait until EP6, as suspected,. That's REALLY nice to see though.