Revision as of 15:01, 21 January 2007

Game play wise, Phantasy Star Universe plays very much like its predecessor Phantasy Star Online. If you want to jump right in, read the Beginner walkthrough.

Combat

Combat features two basic commands for encounters.

These are:

• Attack - Your character uses their weapon to attack a foe or foes (depending on your weapon). With timing you can use the three variations of attack to perform what is known as a Combo, which are only possible now with Melee weapons. The advantages to performing combos is chaining the attacks in rapid succession which gives greater damage over time and different variances/angles to most follow-up swings.

• Photon Arts - Rangers have a PA called "Bullet." "Bullets" simply adds elemental damage to your Attack. Forces have "Technics" which allows them to cast magic spells, depending on technic(s) attached to the Staff or Wand. Hunters use the PA called "Skill." These skills are a special attacks that inflict more damage to enemies. "Technics" and "Skills" require the immediate use of Photon Points (PP), similar the the TP gauge in PSO or "magic bar" in other games. Guns use PP for attacking normally (Acts like an ammo guage), so "Bullets" simply drain more PP per shot.

Techniques

Techniques are in essence Phantasy Star Universe’s ‘magic’. Each Technique has an associated Element and comes in a variety of uses. Among them are ‘Nukes’ such as Foie (Fire attribute Attack), Barta (Ice attribute attack) and etc. However, unlike physical attacks they cannot be chained together to form combos.

Character Stats

In the character stats screen there are a number of acronyms representing your character's stats. These acronyms and what they mean are as follows:

LEVEL: The current level of your character based on experience points accumulated.

DETAILS: Lists the gender and race type

TYPE: Shows what Job Type you have such as: Hunter, Ranger, Force, etc.

HP: (Health Points) Shows current/maximum number of health points

ATP: (Attack Power) Shows how powerful your attacks are. This also determines if you can wield a more powerful weapon based on its ATP requirement.

ATA: (Attack Accuracy) Shows how often you hit an enemy.

DFP: (Defense Power) Shows how much damage you can absorb from a non-magical attack.

EVP: (Evasion Power) Shows how often you will avoid sustaining damage from an attack.

MST: (Mental Strength) Description TBA

STA: (Status Abnormality Resistance) The higher the less damage you sustain from poisons, burning, and other status abnormalities.

Experience: This shows current amount of experience points earned by defeating enemies.

Next Level: This shows how much more experience you need to advance to the next level.

Meseta: This is the common currency in Phantasy Star Universe.

Online

When you login, you will be transported into a lobby area where other online players gather. Here you can chat, meet friends, and organize games.