"Any1 want to help me with lvl pls"
"Can someone help me get to ___ mode"

and more recently,

"Quisiera ayudarme con TTF"


These phrases are filling the lobby. Everyone wants what WenchZiva refers to as instant gratification. Power levelling has become a very familiar practice for players that come from other servers, or for players who are working on new characters. It isn't difficult to understand where these players are coming from; after all, normal-hard-very hard mode aren't particularly exciting. All the fun toys tend to be equippable at high levels. That item you're looking for only drops on ultimate. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Let's get one thing straight: starting off with a level 5 mag and some kind of crappy weapon means you've got your work cut out for you. But everyone has started off that way. You can expect your first character to take substantially more time than the rest because you are starting on ground level. If you are a player with high level equipment already, you have NO reason to be asking anyone for assistance levelling. Units can be equipped at any level; do a few forest runs and you should be able to find some kind of slotted frame you can equip. Slap on a Heavenly/Ability for extra effectiveness. Borrow a level 200 mag and some meseta from your other character. For forces, use a mind mag and some units to artificially enhance your mind strength, so that you may enjoy the benefits of those high level technique disks you've been hoarding.

If you aren't a lazy player with a new character, here are some of my tips for levelling.

HUcast + HUcaseal
Hucasts are the tank of the hunters. High HP and high ATP mean high solo-ability. At level 90, Hucasts get 2 more freeze traps than Hucaseal. Be sure to use these pretty liberally. In quests like MAS4 and with Eden's experience multiplier, it is not uncommon to fight your way through mobs - dropping freeze and confuse traps left and right, and then level in the same run (thus replenishing your traps). Even now, I'm not particularly fond of soloing with Equity. Hucassys have comparatively weak ATP and HP compared to HUcast and lacks the techniques of the other hunters. That being said, traps traps traps. Everytime you run low, run back to to P2 to get more. Is this cumbersome? You bet. The high ATA of Hucassys means abusing status effects. Bobray has an excellent HUcaseal guide on the forums recommending weapons that are conducive to solo play.

Recommended equipment list:
1.) A gush weapon to reduce your reliance on mates: Last Survivor - Chain Sawd (if you can equip it), Fill/Gush Repeater - Gatling - Vulcan
2.) Master Raven/Last Swan. Can be equipped fairly early on but any mech will do.
3.) Secret Gear, Flowen's Shield, Custom Barrier, Regenerate Gear
4.) Smartlink

HUmar + HUnewearl
The addition of Shifta and Deband for HUmar means enhanced soloability. I admit they were far harder to solo with back in the day, but now they can jack their own naturally high numbers with Eden's buffs. Combined with zalure and jellen, HUmars can definitely hold their own. After you get strong enough from regular runs, run MAS4 a few times. You'll need a sword to get through it, but your goal here is to find photon crystals. Some players think HUnewearl can't solo, but I think that is total nonsense. They have always been an excellent soloing selection because of their techniques. On Eden, Huneys can equip Clio, and believe me: it makes a big difference. Whenever you walk into a room, consider opening with J/Z. Jellen won't always help with enemies that do set damage, but in most cases, it will keep you alive. It is unlikely you'll be able to equip Clio unless you are one of those players with a gifted or borrowed mind mag. In such a case, you'd just have to J/Z from a closer distance. It can get tedious doing so, so assess each enemy individually. Astarks: yes. Evil sharks: probably not. The same advice as HUmar applies.

Recommended equipment list:
1.) Solferino (via trade. I will give these out to noobs if you ask nicely)
2.) Master Raven/Last Swan
3.) Smartlink
4.) Units to boost defense like God/Body, and maybe some HP

RAcast + RAcaseal
Same as HUcaseal, as far as I'm concerned. These guys are tanks. It may take you longer to kill enemies, but they won't be touching you as long as you have a spread needle, which I understand is about as rare as Resist/Evil units these days thanks to the Grave Robbers event. Racaseal has the highest ATA in the game and great defense. Eden really did them a great service, and Racassy players should rejoice for that. They still aren't the greatest for soloing and in a way, they got weaker from having Iron Faust be unlocked for all rangers. But like the rest of their class, they can hit from a distance and abuse their ATA. Traps are not to be neglected either. Drop a confuse trap in a large room, let half the enemies fight it out amongst themselves and target whoever's left.

Recommended equipment list:
1.) Spread Needle
2.) V501
3.) Final Impact, Meteor Smash or Demon weapon for use against multiple enemies. If you are concerned you aren't hitting hard enough, try a Demon weapon. The penalty doesn't apply to casts in modes other than ultimate and the high ATA of these 2 classes allows you to take off pretty good health from an enemy without much fuss.
4.) Frozen shooter. As far as I know, hit is not a requirement even if everyone thinks it is. Frozen shooters do not have blizzard as their special.

RAmar + RAmarl
Their Eden-given J/Z makes them even more formidable for soloing, especially when enemies spawn all around you (effectively negating your long range advantage). That, plus Eden seems to have done everything it could to make soloing more possible for rangers. Their multi-hit weapons have been largely unlocked (Iron Faust, Dark Meteor) meaning you won't have to use Final Impact that much. But I'm getting ahead of myself; this guide is for advice on how to get to ultimate. You don't need to pack serious heat to make it out of quests alive, considering you can snipe enemies from a safe distance without a problem. Ramarls are, in my opinion, the best character for soloing. They have the best weaponry, and very high support techniques. Because of their high ATA, it's easy for them to use hell on entire legions of enemies, such as in RT - a great quest for levelling.

Recommended equipment list:
1.) Last Swan/Master Raven
2.) POSSIBLY a technique unit like Devil/Technique. If your techs are low, 2 extra levels of shifta, deband, zalure and jellen will make a big difference.

FORCES
Why are all the forces lumped together? Because they're the easiest to level! Some of them are better for other tasks. For example, the nuking ability of Fonewm makes any quest with mobs more manageable (like Forest Offensive). Your priority should be on getting decent level Rafoie, Jellen and Zalure. Once you have these, you are ready for MAS4 runs. Episode 4 drop rates give you tremendous experience and most of the enemies have laughable resistances. But any episode 4 quest will do, really. The entire episode exists to apologize for the middle finger salute to forces that is episode 2.

Recommended equipment list:
1.) The elemental wands help quite a bit: Agni, Indra and Dagon
2.) Solferino
3.) Demon weapons
4.) Devil/tech units - same reason as above. Mind units, defense units...obvious stuff
5.) A geist/soul weapon
6.) Smartlink optional depending on your force strategy


Typical Progression
-Begin in forest 1 using what you have. When you get comfortable, move to caves and continue the pattern. If you are a force, I recommend staying in forest and caves for now.

-After you reach level 20, you should either head on over to other episodes or advance to hard mode. Remember that episode 4 experience is excellent, but the enemies are substantially tougher.

-Each time you qualify for a new difficulty/area, I recommend advancing. That is also why I recommend a distance weapon for every character; running right up to a mob of boomas in very hard mode as a level 50 character is likely to result in a red screen.

-Also check your bank and inventory for better equipment. Lower level rares should be equipped, but only to the extent that they actually improve your stats. If addslots evade you, I would take a 4 slotted Solid Frame that I found in the forest over a 1 slot DB's Armor.

-Once you reach approximately level 50-60, begin doing MAS4 runs on normal mode. If you are a cast, use your traps liberally. The goal is to get through the first room only and collect Photon Crystals. Use the photon crystals in BPD2 on normal/hard mode. If you want to enlist assistance, do so, but don't be a leech. Offer crystals to people you trust and ask them to help you find what you want from BPD2. They keep the crystals and goodies they find that are not specifically your targets. Remember that even Decalog has a use. (Kure's Deal in case you didn't believe me)

-Though some players are really against it, I recommend half-TTFs. Stop after De Rol Le because Vol Opt can give players fits on any difficulty. Whether you agree with boss rushing or not, the truth is that the bosses offer a ton of experience.

-For early play, carry sol atomizers. You do NOT want to be paralyzed with no recourse but re-logging.

-As Lske has recommended, doing the government/solo quests is a good way to unlock useful quests later on while still benefitting from the experience.

Playing by yourself is unlikely to be what the makers of PSO were intending. It is an MMORPG and playing with others is encouraged. But begging players to waste their time babysitting you is a surefire sign of laziness, and should be stamped out.

Levelling is a matter of time and nothing else. It does not require skill, high-end equipment or friends with overpowered characters. You just have to be willing to put in the effort. Sadly, I see fewer and fewer players willing to do this. I am willing and open to hearing ANY kind of refutation on this matter.


How to Get Rich as $-$-$-$

As far as value, people don't tend to treat Meseta as currency even if the in-game vendors take them. That dubious distinction is reserved for Photon Drops, and to a lesser extent: Secret Tickets, Photon Crystals, Materials etc. But Meseta is important for the following reasons: mag raising, charge weapon usage (helllllo Vjaya) and purchasing necessary items such as mates and telepipes. When you're in a party and the Sil Dragon drops 2000 Meseta? NO NEED TO RUSH TO PICK IT UP. It makes you look like a selfish prick who can't calculate value.

Generous Meseta Quest List
-Forest Offensive -30K
-Restless Lion (solo mode) -Variable
-Max Attack S quests - 50K
-Bloodstained World -50K
-Towards the Future - 20K (Always 20K regardless of rank)

This presumes you have reached Ultimate, so some of those aren't viable until you hit at least level 90. I'm not sure what they give on other difficulties...I know Forest Offensive isn't nearly as generous. But your strategy should be the same: inventory turnover. Keep a relatively clean inventory so that you can pick up 10 or more items and sell them during your next trip to Pioneer. Your targets include:

Generous Fair Market Value List
-Dragon Frame
-Protect Barrier
-Perfect Frame
-Divinity Barrier
-Spiritual Shield

...and so on. Generic shields and frames net you anywhere from 1500 to 5000 Meseta, making that simple boss drop meaningless. Even Olga drops a mere 4200 on a semi-good day. I've seen Barba Ray drop 2000 in Meseta, and everyone rushes over to pick it up. But break the boxes open...there's never anything ultra-valuable in there. But the total Meseta value of all those items is at least 10000. Weapons sell for as much as you might expect, IE Caliburs sell for more than Breakers or Gigushes. That is what makes Restless Lion so valuable: the NPC weapon drops sell handsomely, regardless of the weapon attributes. And needless to say, there's not much incentive to sell rares. Red boxes retail for 10 Meseta always...if it can't be team-pointed or traded to another player, I'm not even sure if the act of selling it is worthwhile. Sell 10 rares and you earn 1 crappy examination by the tekker.

Your other options include:
Yellowboze ID - very good for big Meseta drops
2-in-1 Shop - because I had to plug it again. I will do an exchange for you if you are hurting for Meseta.
Panhandling - not recommended

Meseta is probably the one thing you can finagle from players for free, especially if you are new. It is easily replenished by veteran players able to tackle quests quickly, and it costs them very little, compared to a mag or valuable weapon. You may inquire, but doing so potentially rubs those the wrong way. A sincere offer of paying the player back once you get on your feet goes a long way.

Very important: do not be like this guy. If another player is helping you out, the most important thing you can do is to hide your mental illness for the duration of your benefactor's kindness.

This post has been brought to you by the B&P&V Alliance.

Well i started my foney when i had my huney around lvl 180, also preparing mind mats, mind mag and several high lvl techs for her, so it was really easy for me XD but i agree with what you said about forces! mas4 and anyother ep4 quest are enough to get tons of lvls as forces. As for the techs to start with, i'd suggest trying to get SI techs too, since in ep 4 there are high hp monsters like the goran detonator that are best to deal with SI techs in order not to waste too many tp spamming RA techs and dealing more damage !

good guide sym!!!

Its very easy to be self sufficient. Sure, i've had some help on a few TTF runs when i was re-levelling due to section ID, but other than that i've been solo most of the time.

For Solo TTF's, i generally stop before Vol Opt, i find the mobs in Mines easy to kill and give decent loot for meseta.

I'm completely new to Episode 4 though. You weren't kidding when you said they hit hard. I'm a bit confused about the Kuro's deal stuff and photon crystal stuff but i'm sure i'll find a guide at some point.

I would however rather play with others, but it seems not many people join parties. Maybe its a timezone issue. There have been a few, but people seem to be doing their own thing.