Overview
- While the Harmonizer may not sound like an intimidating weapon, the Waker’s primary destruction device is sure to leave its mark.
- Answering the question “Are there mounts in it?” NGS?is about to get tougher with the introduction of one of the Waker’s skills – Fredran Riding.
- Blocking attacks makes Marmelo the familiar angry, and at some point his anger can be explosive.
This is not the first time a new class has been introduced in Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis (PSO2:NGS) since its launch in June 2021. The sci-fi themed action-RPG saw the addition of Braver, a bow-and-katana powerhouse in August of the same year, followed by Bouncer firing on Jet Boots with Soaring Blades in October. . However, this week’s introduction to Waker will be very different as it is not a class that attended Fantasy Star Online 2 (PSO2).
Although it bears a faint resemblance to Summoner’s popular class from PSO2 at the choice of weapon (the Harmonizer), this class does not coddle, feed, or scratch with pets. No, there is absolutely no candy box here to manage. Waker unleashes photonic, animalistic manifestations of death and destruction in an artful dance that matches the game’s fluid combat style. This class is not afraid to approach enemies at close range, but can also deal damage from afar. With both single-target and area of effect (AOE) damage capabilities, Waker is as versatile as it is complex, and I’ll describe what I mean by that in the sections below.
As mentioned above, the Waker uses the Harmonizer, and by taking the Harmonizer Focus ability from their Skill Tree, the Waker contributes to the Focus Gauge of the Familiar associated with the Photon Art (PA) they use to create a damage the enemy. Basically, if you mess around with a Wulfren-related PA, you build Wulfren’s Focus Gauge. Ride Fredran to battle and mow down your enemies (yes you can and it’s a PA called Fredran Riding) and you’ll increase Fredran’s Focus Gauge. Plus, there’s a pretty big payout for building their Focus meters together, as you can then spend a portion of each using the Class Skill Familiar Harmony, which unleashes them at the same time for harmonious havoc.
The above may sound quite simple, but the game changes when you consider that each of the abilities available to Waker changes when “charged” or the button is pressed for a certain amount of time before it is released. For example, the aforementioned Fredran Riding ability, when used normally, simply directs the Fredran to fire a ranged blast at enemies. The real magic comes when you charge up the ability and then find yourself charging enemies on your winged acquaintance. When the PA is finally released, Fredran goes in a blaze of glory and takes the enemies before you.
Wulfen Demolition is also intricate, with actions performed by the colossal familiar differently depending not only on whether you charge the ability or not, but also for how long you charge the power. Uncharged, Wulfen launches a shockwave attack. After being charged for a short time, Wulfen will launch its ground attack and cause aftershocks in the area for a while. When charged for an extended period of time, he will consume extra PP and Wulfen will perform a much stronger attack than his normal ground pound. These are just two of the skills Waker can use in battle, and the others are no less complicated.
In addition, there is another acquaintance who comes to the call of the Watcher – Marmelo. After successfully fending off an enemy attack by using your weapon action, Marmelo will grow (up to twice its size). Holding the weapon action before the release will then throw Marmelo at enemies, causing an explosion on a direct hit. Finally, the Waker can also take the Treble Clef Marking ability from their Skill Tree – which causes normal attacks, after several are aimed at the same enemy, to apply a “marking” that increases both the damage dealt and the down factor applied (increases the chance of a stun, actually.) If you hold down Normal Attack while targeting a treble clef marked enemy, the marker will explode.
There are other things in the Skill Tree of the Waker that make the gameplay even more interesting, but based on the above, you could easily find yourself going into battle aboard a winged acquaintance, causing an earthquake, killing both acquaintances at the same time. summoned into tandem mayhem, hurling another familiar like a bomb, all while detonating marked enemies in between. This isn’t a relaxed gameplay, but is an absolute “bang” once you get the hang of it. If you are very fond of your current class, but intrigued by Waker, you should know that you can select it as a subclass, but the benefits of doing so come mainly in the form of ensuring your survival, as many possibilities depend on using the Harmonizer.
If you don’t play PSO2:NGS anyway, now is a good time to familiarize yourself (pun intended). All you have to do is go to the Xbox or Windows Store on console or PC and download the game for free to experience the wonder of planet Halpha for yourself.
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