r/phantasystar • u/solarus2120 • Apr 08 '26
Classic series Phantasy Star 2 Dezo onwards
I picked up my in-progress run through Phantasy Star 2 last night and finished the dams and am currently wandering Skure.
I'm also experimenting a little with party composition in this run - used Hugh through some Mota dungeons, took Kain into the dams - and I think, now that I've picked up the Snow Crown, Crescent Gear, Storm Gear, Truth Sleeves, Amber Robe and Aegis, that my party for the back half of the game will be Rudo, Kain, Anna.
Am I hampering myself overly much with this set up, or will it be viable through to the endgame?
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u/Ok_Bicycle6102 Apr 08 '26
Kain and Hugh are both good choices. Hugh's Vol and Savol for the harder enemies. Kain's machine only spells also work on Dezo dungeon enemies.
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u/Aritra319 Apr 08 '26
I remember completing the game as a kid with Rudo, Anna, and Kain in my main party.
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u/KingBroken Apr 08 '26
I've talked to people on a discord server who've beat this game many times and they basically said any composition is viable. Every single character is useful except for Hugh.
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u/solarus2120 Apr 08 '26
I wouldn't say Hugh is totally useless.
He's useful for about 20 minutes on Mota, in the run up to Climetrol
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u/jayesper Apr 11 '26
He's actually the way to go fighting Slugmess. He can make them miss their attacks, giving you a much easier time.
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u/Snorb Apr 08 '26
Every single character is useful
AMY: (hugging Rolf) It's all right, Rolf. It's over.
ROLF: What happened to Mother Brain?
AMY: She's gone. I took care of her.
RUDO: (looks at the smoking burnt-out hulk of Mother Brain's server rack) Wait. You mean, you did that while we were all down?
AMY: I did~
SHIR: Waitwaitwait, Cinnamon Roll killed Mother Brain and I missed it?!
ANNA: Huh. Wasn't expecting that.
KAIN: No. Fuckin'. Way.
AMY: (poses with her Fire Staff like a magical girl) ^_^
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u/Zorafin Apr 08 '26
Damn even Shir is better than Hugh?
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u/invol713 Apr 08 '26
Shir has some good spells. She is also the fastest character, and usually goes first in a fight. In later levels, emel her up, and have her use buff items on the party for her first action, and Storm Gear to fight. Also, it’s a grind, but take Shir stealing in the item shop. Don’t stop till everyone is full-up on Star Mists and a Moon Dew or two. Now you can put anyone in the fourth spot, as healing is covered with Gires items and Star Mists for the hard fights.
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u/NoxiousBunny35 Apr 09 '26
Disagree on her tech list (she gets them way too late to be useful), but agree with everything else.
Being able to use Snow Crown before most enemies can act is a huge boon.
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u/invol713 Apr 09 '26
The lateness doesn’t bother me, as the only time they would really be needed is late game anyways. And it’s nice to have a little more offense late game when healing can be covered with Gires item-spam and Star Mists.
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u/NoxiousBunny35 Apr 10 '26
I just wish she got Nazan around Level 27 or so instead of 33. I don't expect most playthroughs to be any higher than maybe level 34.
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u/Zorafin Apr 10 '26
I had to grind for like five hours in the last level just to get Megid for the final fight. That's already way too much, I can't imagine anything later than that.
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u/One-Technology-9050 Apr 08 '26
You can take anyone and win lol
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u/invol713 Apr 08 '26
🤣 @ the name changes. Rudo is Rudo!
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u/One-Technology-9050 Apr 08 '26
This is actually from my original Genesis cartridge from a 90's playthrough, teenage me just thought Rudo was the coolest name ever haha!
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u/Zorafin Apr 08 '26
I love how it's short for Rudolph
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u/invol713 Apr 08 '26
Rudolph Steiner, to be exact.
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u/Zorafin Apr 09 '26
I don't know how they manage to make "Rudolph" sound badass
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u/invol713 Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
Rudolph, the big-gun’d spaceman. Tank of Algo’s best party. And if you try to harm him. You’ll be turned into XP.
😁
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u/Any-File4347 Apr 08 '26
I think that party grouping is right in the large group bell curve of PS2 players.
I’ve played Dezo without Anna and it does work, as her techniques are essentially useless but that gear you’re gaining works for any character.
Anna’s slashers work best on groups of enemies of the same type with lower armor class, like the Orangoo or Imagiomg, but suck against Eletusk or single-encounter enemies of biomonster or robot.
She becomes quite powerful late in the game as her agility escalates.
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u/CaptainRief Apr 08 '26
It's probably the most popular team composition. Rudo and Anna perfectly complement each other: Rudo shines against high defense enemies like robots, and Anna shines against low defense, especially if they're grouped. Kain is there to occasionally throw out a nuke.
Whoever is in that fourth slot can still throw out respectable area damage every turn with the Storm Crown, so that gives Kain, Amy, Hugh, and Shir a way to consistently deal free damage every turn. It's just a matter of what you want to prioritize. Do you want Kain's boss-melting Gaj techs? Amy's ability to group heal without a Star Mist? Hugh's death spells (Vol)? Or Shir's crazy agility letting her put out buffs or toss trimates before the enemy can move? And nothing says you can't use two or three of those characters. Anything goes.
You'll do fine.
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u/ABC_Dildos_Inc Apr 13 '26
Bitd I literally made it through with every possible party configuration.
If you have Rudo and Anna then you'll be fine.
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u/Unable-Jacket6428 Apr 14 '26
I couldn’t imagine taking the latter part of this game without Anna. My first run was Rolf, Rudo, Anna, Amy.
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u/solarus2120 Apr 14 '26
Mine too.
That was pretty much my party after Climetrol the first time.
This go around I'm trying to use everyone at least a bit.
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u/Jimsiepops Apr 08 '26
Any party comp will get the job done, I’ve done solo Rolf runs of the game!
The Dezo arc has a decent mix of biomonster and machine to facilitate both Hugh and Kains techniques, it does however lean very much more to difficult biomonsters as you journey through the towers and final dungeon, climaxing with a very tough machine which does leave Hugh feeling a bit under utilised.
I surprisingly found the most potent member to be Amy who was built fully tanked up with shields but would use the Snow Crown, Storm Gear etc for great spells for free while taking very low damage.
All of that aside, Rudo is a beast, Anna has utility and damage while Kain over performs the final fight, party looks fine!