Force are the magic users in PSU and they require you to buy spells known as Techniques. To actually use these Techniques you also have to be wielding a wand or staff. The Techniques come in all kinds of flavors like ice, fire, and lighting as well as healing. Again lock-on changes while playing as a force as you get the same strafing ability as Rangers but due to the semi-long cast time Techniques have it's extremely hard to aim your attacks at enemies that are constantly on the move. For this fact alone I didn't spend much time as a Force.


Hunter, Ranger, Force weapon abilities.

6 Player Boss Battle Online - Video

You might notice in the image above that there are orange bars with a level above them. This simply shows off the new class based leveling system present in PSU. Yes, you still gain XP and level your character like any other RPG but you also level your currently selected class by gaining class XP from completing missions. When you complete a mission you'll get a rank from C to S and based on that rank youll get more or less class XP. When you level up your class you gain better stats along with the ability to wield better rank weapons. Going from class level 1 to 2 alone allows you to move from C rank weapons to B rank weapons. This whole dynamic helps to alleviate power levelers as it's much harder to leech class XP than regular XP.

So what are these missions I've been talking about, well they're the heart and soul of Phantasy Star Universe. At certain places on all three planets and even the Guardian Colony you can search for and create missions of your own based in different areas of the game. Once inside the mission you basically kill and unlock everything until the game says you're done. Once you've completed an initial mission you sometimes arrive at a secondary or tertiary lobby area when you can grab more unique missions that sometimes have bosses at the end of them. Rinse and repeat this basic idea throughout all the planets of PSU and you've got an idea of what to expect from the entire game both online and off.


Searching for a group online.

Playing Online - Video

In missions you pick up all kinds of loot most of which are parts that can be used in the new item synthesis process. To make items from common to extremely rare you basically run missions over and over in an attempt to get all the parts you need after which you head back to your own personal room located on the first floor of the Guardian Colony. Once inside your room you can talk to your Partner Machinery which helps you combine parts to make items.