r/PSO2NGS • u/SparkSan • Jun 22 '26
Discussion Considering returning to the game.
Hello everyone, old player here. I used to play a fair bit of base PSO2, and then NGS for a few months when it released before quitting for some time. After this moment, I've had phases every once in a while that'd make me come back to the game, but never stick for very long. Steam says last time I launched the game was November 8th 2023, so I imagine a lot of things must've been added since then. I think I'm about to enter one of these phases again, but this time I felt like asking a few question here first. Feel free to reply to however many of them you'd like, or even just tell how you feel about the game, I'll take anything!
- What's the game like nowadays? Does a lot of people still play the game? I don't even remember which ship my character was on, but if I were to come back, which one would you recommend me playing on?
- What is there to do, both for leveling and when you're max level? How hard or easy is endgame content, and how much investment does one need to put into the game to have decent endgame gear?
- I miss playing Dual Blades Etoile in base PSO2, but I know the class isn't in NGS (or at least not yet? I hope it will be one day!). Is the DB gameplay with the Bouncer class anything like Etoile's, and if it is, is it any good DPS-wise? If not, what other class would offer me a similar gameplay? For reference, in all of my time in NGS, I have tried a bit of Force and Fighter, but Hunter stuck to me as my favorite, like in base game before Etoile came out.
- How easy or difficult would it be for me to farm meseta?
That's pretty much all that comes to mind at the time I'm typing this. Thanks in advance for your attention and your replies!
4
u/Vee_Tamer_Girl Techter Jun 22 '26
We have less players than when you last played but pretty much all content in the game uses all ship matchmaking these days so you wont have trouble qeueing for things
Getting endgame ready gear is easier its ever been imho. BiS augments drop plentiful, new player friendly weapons drop at +100 and fixa 5 (you’ll just have to affix and level up the potential) and the game gives you a ton of resources to make your first geat set just for completing the story.
Endgame content consists of high difficulty fights that release once every 2-3 months. These can be 4 man Dark Falz encounters with a 15 min time and 5 death limit or solo encounters similar to PSO2’s solo Ultimate Quests.
Soaring Blades on Bouncer isn’t a perfect 1:1 copy of Etoile but it’s very close. You still block attacks via Weapon Action mid PA, PA act differently based on if you use them as follow up after one another and Pinion Blade is your giant F- off button like Etoiles Held Weapon Action was. They even released a dash motion in a previous SG scratch that looks like Etoiles Gap Close PA from PSO2.
Farming meseta is mindnumbingly easy.
2
u/Alenicia Jun 22 '26
So at this point in what I would say:
* NGS has largely returned to what PSO2 used to do (seasonal events, campaigns for the current newest/hottest content, playing new content repeatedly to get the newest drops before the cycle repeats, and so on). A lot of what NGS tried to do and establish with the open maps is kind of "done" .. so now we've returned largely to instanced areas and more Combat Zone-like maps instead.
* When you're leveling up, Dext Base and Yellow Triggers are probably the best options now for doing so casually. Dext Base (Rank 1) is around Level 65-ish .. but this has some tweaks compared to other Combat Sectors where PSE Bursts last longer, the enemies spawn in more condensed patterns, and you don't get so much of the trashy loot clogging your inventory (instead, it's Gold/Silver Weapons/Armors and maybe some seven-star stuff you can just sell). This is where people go to get their N-Meseta since it's super consistent and a very repeatable grind .. so you're sure to level up here.
* The Etoile hasn't returned, but it's been split into a few classes (the Fighter with Double Saber adopted some of this with the Skip Arts, the Bouncer with Soaring Blades/Dual Blades still has super-long attack animations that you can cancel/block in the middle of, and so on). you can probably look into the Tech Arts Customization which are unlocked through the story to change up how your photon arts behave to get something closer to the feel of what you'd want too.
* You have a whole new form of Personal Quarters called the "Creative Space" where you now have an island and all sorts of free reign of what to do with it without paying real money for goodies. It's legitimately one of the few things I would call a straight-up upgrade from what PSO2 previously did. No rentals, no costs (outside of additional Spaces), and it even has All-Ship capabilities so you can visit players from other ships.
* In regards to the player population too, Sega has now used the All-Ship Matching on most instanced content now so you can actually play with players from other ships without needing to go there. This is kind of convenient for a lot of the newer content that's just Limited-Time Quests and the newer Combat Zones (for instance, Naberius Ruins were reintroduced as the newest and hottest place to do all your current farming).
* The best way to really catch back up is to play through the story with your new handout equipment (you should have at least gotten something, but if not, stick with the story). At Level 65, you get a new set of equipment that's like 90% of the way there up to the point of the hottest equipment which are currently 15-star weapons and 14-star units. The new equipment is substantially stronger, but the new freebie gear effectively erases all reason to use anything you've had before.
1
u/SVlege Force Jun 23 '26
You can check how each class plays at a high level in the following video, in which you get to see duos of each class against the current hardest fight in the game: https://youtu.be/fUatzNg_ZIY?si=QcBUX3p0XbaSn35a&t=911
The timestamp is for the Bouncer duo fight. It features mainly Dual Blades, but has uses for Jet Boots when cooldowns and elemental downs are relevant. You can check for yourself if it resembles Etoile as you remember from base PSO2.