【PSO2NGS】Elemental + Physical Down Breakdown | Guides

Following up on the channels community feedback. Today we will focus on Element Down and by proxy Physical Down states. What they are, how they are triggered, thresholds, scaling, modifiers, weapon properties and Tech class differences.
Reference material can be found below:
00:00 Intro
01:26 What are Down States
02:54 How are Downs Triggered + Weapon Properties
07:54 Down Thresholds, Scaling, and Modifiers
14:49 Tech Class Differences
18:04 Outro
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PSO2 NGS Attack Table: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
PSO2 NGS Bestiary: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
PSO2 NGS Skill Simulator: arks-layer.com/skillsim/ngs/s...
（C）SEGA 『PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2』公式サイト pso2.jp/
#PSO2 #NGS #Gameplay #NewGenesis #PSO2NGS #PSO2:NGS #Techter

[@lokhanmartin4540]

I watched again and again , like going to school . Now i learn alot thank you

[@Einhander]

Lol well I need use to teach at a university some years ago, so its good to hear i didn't lose to much of my edge.

[@lokhanmartin4540]

@@Einhander wow nice to hear that , yes listen to you just like having a lesson .

[@Miraglyth]

Decent introduction! Besides the verbal mention of rods being the best at elemental downing it doesn't really summarise how far apart the four technique weapons are in terms of their elemental down capabilities.
I've been looking at the elemental down relationships for a while now in part because Sega have gone to great lengths to advertise Boucers as the class of physical and elemental downs (both in their class description and in the system tips shown when teleporting) and it seems plenty obvious that jet boots are by far the worst technique weapon of the four at causing elemental downs, and in part because it says a lot about the differences (or lack thereof) of certain technique weapons.
I've got an elemental down comparison spreadsheet in the works that looks at the elemental down factor per second rates of various attacks and rotations. It's not quite complete yet (in particular lightning is an awkward element because Zonde Clad can build at different rates, and I don't have all the useful wand rotations) but it does consider the elements separately (because skills like Barta Blot and Element Set work very differently per element) and broadly illustrate the weapon differences in EDFPS, both without any skills, with typical class use (e.g. */Bo for Defeat Amplifier sub) and whether or not Elemental Decline is present.
Namely: Rods are king. Without any skills they can expect 95-115 EDFPS from technique use alone at all ranges. Talises can get ~105 from their technique shots but this requires positioning, PA use to deploy the shots and a generally worse PP economy. Wands via Photonic Fury can only expect to get around 60 at best from their best EDF PA rotation (Wave Crash first half repeated) or ~56 from the more PP-friendly approach (Wave Crash completing). And thanks to the Element Set cooldown and EDF numbers that are weaker than Photonic Fury, poor boots can only get 10-25 EDFPS when using the PAs that build their Elemental Decline in the first place. If they're lucky to benefit from skills like Barta Blot or Megid Sphere, this can increase to 45-50 but that's with the charged techniques doing most of the work. Even with Elemental Decline raising this, boots never come close to any other weapon.
The most interesting ramification of this is that there's very few practical situations where substituting a Force for a Bouncer increases elemental down speed. As it stands Forces gain more from an allied Bouncer's Elemental Decline. But even then you'd think that two rod-using Forces with Elemental Decline level 3 from an allied Bouncer would be faster than three rod-using Forces, but boots are so atrocious at causing elemental downs themselves that the increase they give to the Forces is more than offset by the decrease they cause by not being a Force themselves. So the entire skill of Elemental Decline is a placebo at best and a joke at worst.
The other notable aspect of elemental downing is it's the best way to highlight how similar wands and jet boots are. Both primarily cause physical downs with most of their attacks; between them the only exceptions are techniques (all elemental down), Photonic Fury and Element Set (all elemental down), and their photon blasts (split physical and elemental down - wand does 630 both, boots do 504 physical 294 elemental). It's also worth noting that the photon blasts for both are also entirely non-elemental DAMAGE, without elemental weakness multipliers. Considering the similarities with how Photonic Fury and Element Set are triggered, this makes the weapons incredibly similar. The extra boots attacks (Jolt - an actual lightning blast by the way - and Intensity) are entirely non-elemental damage and physical down.
I'd be quite happy to share more information with you on this subject if you're ever interested in making a follow-up video. I could use some motivation to complete this sheet and would be able to provide some visuals (graphs) expressing the weapon differences with and without skill involvement.
Between damage, damage type and down type, there is absolutely room to make the technique weapons more distinct and more balanced. At the moment rods are usually the best at everything and talises are a solid second place. I would really like to see a shift that would allow wands to be more focused on elemental damage while boots became more focused on elemental downing. This could be provided by various balance adjustments or prospective main class skills, for instance:
Wands
- Add a skill to deal increased damage to elemental weaknesses (e.g. 40% instead of 20%).
- Transform certain attacks (like the weapon action counter wave, or PAs) to be part-elemental damage to get additional damage multipliers from those (but remain physical down).
- Add a skill to gain the ability to inflict two types of elemental damage concurrently so attacks against enemy groups with multiple weaknesses in combat sectors could fare better.
Boots
- Adjust Jetsweep Jolt to be non-elemental damage but pure elemental down.
- Adjust Element Set to not give an embarrassingly poor amount of down contribution (it feels like this was an omission after they implemented a cooldown).
- Transform or add a skill to make PAs to be mostly if not entirely elemental down (but remain non-elemental damage).
This would mean instead of rods being the best at damage, versatility, elements AND downing, there would be some balance and diversity: Rods would be the best at damage and versatility, wands would be the best at elements and boots would be the best at downing, with each weapon faring slightly less well (but at least not terribly) in the other aspects.

[@Einhander]

100% agree. I just think you might be driving yourself up a wall with your effort and calculations. Physics alone argues your case. If I have to physically touch you my output is diminished by that factor alone.

[@Miraglyth]

@@Einhander Agreed with that too. The main reason I got into it was because I was getting fed up with other players telling me "You know nothing, Bouncers are clearly the best at doing elemental downs, the game even says so". But after looking into it a little it became morbidly fascinating how much worse they - and wands - were than the accessibility and economy of techniques.
The biggest shame here is that command of this kind of statistic should be the responsibility of Sega's development/gameplay staff. It's kind of embarrassing how badly they've been failing at this stuff to not only get the balance so badly wrong but also to completely miss the mark on their advertised class identities.

[@froskyvale686]

Really good explanation you did there. Thanks for the Video!

[@knyghtshade6697]

I really enjoy your videos and the way you think outside the box. I didn't know about the weather effect other than gigs showing up during storms. I'm keenly interested in that aspect of the game. I'm a believer in there being more to the game than just smack and run so thank you for providing an aspect for exploration.

[@lokhanmartin4540]

Nice thank you , very helpful

[@trankhoa5248]

Thanks you verymuch ! :3

[@AzariusR]

Elemental down is such a nice advantage for Techniques user. Especially in Geo runs even. While sure normal downs are still there, once we don't hit that threshold fast enough by physical down, the boss will keep on hammering on you when Soloing. That is probably very difficult as either melee or ranged class, if you aren't able to perfectly time your dodge counters or WA counters or what not. Certain bosses will be easier for certain classes but yeah that's the gist for now still.
Now if only.... We can ADJUST our FOV sliders on our cameras.... That'll help alot SEGA.

[@cloakpaw2418]

Epic!

[@Apollo_077]

Does down factor accumulation effect subclass photon blasts?

[@Einhander]

Yes subclass PB still receive bonuses. Subclass weapons just lose the 10% main class bonus, everything is the same unless specified in the class skill.

[@jon8jon969]

I always seem to like the worst weapons 🥲 have jet boots been buffed since this information?

[@Einhander]

Jetboots aren't bad weapons they just don't compare to soaring blades. Compared to tech weapons they are still second best next to Harmonizer.
People just don't want to put in the work because they are not designed smoothly. But for those who put the work in they aren't struggling as it would appear the masses think they do.

[@mikemercer5808]

Sorry to ask this but I'm a total noob to this game. I have noticed marks forming on enemies when hit with elemental damage. I have seen a triangle, star, etc. Please explain what this means, and what to do when this happens. Thanks in advance.

[@Einhander]

Those are the element skls you must have learned such as Barta blot or foie brand.
When you see those marks of a certain element charge a technique to trigger the special ability follow up.