Make the Most of Phantasy Star Universe

Phantasy Star Universe (PSU) is an online role-playing by SEGA that was released for the PC and console gaming systems in October 2006. It loosely follows the original Phantasy Star genre that started on the SEGA Master System. PSU follows a new story-line, but the setting is precluded by SEGA's previous online game, Phantasy Star: Blue Burst.

This guide is focused on helping new players advance quickly through PSU, but should also serve as a central how-to guide for general PSU strategy.

Steps

  1. Level your new character. Most players will want to reach level 20 before they consider exploring the worlds of PSU. At level 20, specific races will gain their basic abilities, such as the SUV Weapons for Casts and the Nanoblasts for Beasts. Other races and classes become more stable around level 20 due to the leveling of techs, skills, and the character itself.

    From levels 1 to 20, players should find the Linear Line (4th floor on the Space Colony) the easiest way to gain character levels. It is also the most balanced approach to increasing all aspects of your character, from skills to type levels. Playing through these missions alone (Unsafe Passage and Fight for Food) should be done mostly on C rating, but may also be done on B rating if using ranged attacks. For parties, B rating is ideal.

    After level 20, players may want to explore a bit more by heading over to Parum for Mad Creatures and Sleeping Warriors missions. Neudaiz is also good for Mizuraki Defense and Forest Islands missions, but you may want to play most of these within a party. If you get bored, System Defense and Valley of Carnage missions on Moatoob are interesting, but not necessarily as balanced for items and gaining levels.
  2. Make friends and find party members. Finding party members is a simple task, as PSU allows players to start missions that are open to anyone who wants to join. Making friends might be more challenging unless you're a younger gamer. Since PSU was released on console systems as well as the PC platform, there is a plethora of youth and young adults with online accounts.

    Making friends in PSU may be an easy task for younger players, but becomes more difficult for mature players. Within PSU, many mature gamers may find it challenging to meet other gamers that are courteous, respectful, and friendly. Regardless of your age, you are eventually bound to find another in PSU whom you may call 'friend'. When this happens, and every time you log into PSU, expect to receive private messages requesting to do a "run".

    An alternative way to find teammates and make friends is to scour areas immediately outside of popular mission starting points. Typically players will pause here while they wait for others in their team. On densely populated servers, this waiting time will attract more players seeking social interactions, party members, and friends.
  3. Earn meseta. Throughout missions, you'll discover that containers may be broken open to find items, while creatures carry both items and meseta. These items may be sold to NPC shops (ie: shops on 2nd floor of Space Colony), but at a great loss compared to their actual value. If you feel inclined to sell items you've collected to purchase your next piece of equipment, sell only low level weapons, armor, and consumables (monomate, dimate, etc.). Even though you may find little use for Synthesis items (Photon, El-photon, Carlian, Hustle Berry, etc.), store them with you partner machinery (PM). When you're ready to open your own shop, you'll be glad you did.

    Most Synthesis items sell very well to other players, especially photons. Photons not sold by NPC shops (ie: Ban-photon and Ray-photon) can sell for hundreds, if not thousands of meseta to other players. Compare this to the 5 - 25 meseta you'll receive when selling to NPC shops. You'll want sell these collected items in your shop once you purchase an "Open Shop" ticket.

    The amount of meseta (PSU currency) you earn for each mission is a total of four factors:
    • Meseta dropped when a creature is killed (positive amount)
    • Meseta earned as a bonus when a mission is complete (positive amount)
    • The meseta value of Items collected from creatures and containers (positive amount)
    • The meseta required to recharge your weapons (negative amount)
  4. Buy and stock a shop. As mentioned above, this should be your first major purchase and your number one priority. It is the critical first step in acquiring large amounts of meseta in the shortest time possible. The player shop ("Open Shop" item), may be purchased for 15,000 meseta from the room decorations shop on the 2nd floor of the Space Colony. Take it to your PM and 'remodel' your room using the ticket.

    If you've saved most of the synthesis items you found earlier in the game, you'll want to sell them now through your shop. Do some research ahead of time by visiting other player-run shops to get an idea of the PSU player-driven market. Remember that some players are only interested in price gouging. For more information on price gouging, refer to the warning "Avoid player shop gouging" below.

    For now, simply sell what you find. When your PM gains enough levels (20 or more), start synthesizing your own items according to your PM's area of expertise. An example price list for photons that match the market on any specific day (what players are willing to pay in order to move items quickly) are included in the tips section.
  5. Feed your partner machinery (PM). Your PM is the most dynamic component in the online faction of PSU. It can hold items, synthesize items, redecorate your room, and even run your shop! Still, the most challenging and time consuming part of utilizing your PM is feeding it. Your PM gains levels in relation to what items you feed it, losing points in some areas as it gains points in others. Your PM has a maximum of 100 levels it may gain, but those levels may be distributed in any area (Striking, Ranged, Technic, or Armor). Also, your PM will also morph at levels 20, 50, and 80. At level 80 (referred to as a fully-evolved PM), your PM will offer you her partner card and be able to join your party for missions.

    For a striking PM (GH-410 and GH-420), start by feeding it low level restoratives such as monomates and melee weapons. For a Ranged PM (GH-430 and GH-440), use traps and ranged weapons. And for a Technic PM (GH-450), use tech discs or rods combined with low level restoratives. There currently is no known fully-evolved PM for just Armor. But, there are shoes that are sold for 1000 meseta at the clothing shop in Moatoob which are gold stars and will increase ur PM's armor rating by a whopping 22 in armor. As you earn more meseta, you will want to feed your PM more expensive items. This is especially helpful if you're in a rush to get a full-evolved PM, with plenty of time to play PSU. It is helpful to use most of your shop's income to fund the task of feeding your PM. Once your PM is fully-evolved, it will be able to synthesize the more expensive weapons, line shields, and items. Doing so will allow you to make an even greater profit from your shop.

Tips

  • Reasonable Photon pricing for your shop (these may vary from time to time):
  •         El-photon    100
  •         Im-photon    100
  •         Di-photon    1000
  •         Ban-photon   250
  •         Ray-photon   500
  •         Zon-photon   500
  •         Gra-photon   500
  •         Photon       50

Warnings

  • Carefully feed your PM. You may feed your PM 100 items before it is 'full'. After a PM has fasted for 12 hours (not fed anything), its item fed count will reset to zero. Then you'll be able to feed it another 100 items and continue the cycle. Each item fed to your PM will add and subtract points from certain areas of specialization. Once your PM reaches a specific number of points in one area (indicated by the red bar), it will gain a level in that area. Although points may be subtracted from an area, levels are permanent. The only way to remove undesired levels is to purchase a "PM Device ZERO" from the room decoration shop on the Space Colony. This device will reset your PM to zero for all levels and points.

    Some points accumulated will be difficult to reverse, while other points gained and lost by certain types of items work well in combination with point adjustments of other items. However, a planned feeding schedule will eliminate the need to do any guesswork.
  • Virtual items sold for real-life currency. eBay is already somewhat saturated with PSU virtual meseta for sale. Most of the eBay auctions for meseta are "buy now" auctions advertising millions of meseta for sale at $5 to $20 USD. Honest accumulation of one million meseta in this amount takes weeks, if not longer, and accumulating 99 million meseta honestly is near impossible given how long PSU has been available. Most of these auction items are generated due to hacks or cheats. Still, some individuals are selling meseta and rare items honestly. Those auction items typically range from 100 thousand meseta to a million meseta and sell for more than $20 USD.

    None of this is covered explicitly in SEGA's PSU Terms and Conditions, EULA, or Rules and Regulations that are found on their official web site. Yet, the Rules and Regulations does discourage purchasing virtual items for real-life currency. Unfortunately, it doesn't detail the consequences of such an act, nor why it is discouraged. It is even uncertain if SEGA PSU team and/or PSU GMs would be able to distinguish meseta that was earned honestly verses dishonestly. It is a gray area that will most likely not favor the purchase of virtual PSU items. Many eBay sellers put a disclaimer in their ads that you are not purchasing virtual items, but rather paying for their services (ie: time) to acquire the items. If you value your PSU account, steer clear of eBay auctions for PSU items.
  • Online game addiction. As with most other forms of addiction, online game addiction is a real and scientifically-proven problem. People have different, if not unique, experiences with addiction, but everyone who plays online games for any extended period of time is prone to online game addiction. A non-profit organization to offer peer support is only a link away: OLG-Anon Online Gamers Anonymous.

    Although PSU does not fit into the popular MMORPG (massively multi-player online role-playing game) genre, it very similar. The game itself currently offers 18 official servers (each referred to as a "universe"), each an exact copy of the other. Nothing within the servers is permanently altered by players except for player rooms and player shops which are server independent and far less customizable than most MMORPGs. Also, parties are limited to 6 players at a time, downgrading the popular 'massively multi-player' term to just 'multi-player' for PSU. Social interactions between players outside of a missions is closer to MMORPGs, but still lacks a sense of community. As of this writing, PSU currently had 30,000+ players, and it is uncertain if that represents total players worldwide or just within the United States. It is also unclear if that number includes players who've purchased PSU but do not currently play online.

    Fortunately, PSU game play is similar to classic video gaming in that each 'mission' is akin to a 'level', with an obvious start and end point, including victory conditions upon completion. This lessens the degree of addiction for some players. Still, it is possible to develop an addiction to PSU and therefore advisable to monitor your gaming habits while playing PSU.
  • Avoid player shop gouging. Those playing PSU, like most other online communities, hail from a variety of backgrounds and represent an unknown range of ages. Unfortunately, this includes players who have either little conscience or little care for other players. Just as is true in any society, people playing PSU will attempt to con and scam. One of these cons takes on the passive form of price gouging. Anyone playing the game for a reasonable amount of time will easily be able to spot overinflated prices (otherwise known as 'rip-offs'). However, it is easier to fall victim to the most devious price gouging schemes.

    Price gouging is comprised of one part greed, and another part nativity. It starts when a player researches the market price of his or her items according to other player-run shops. That player then sets his or her prices accordingly. The price gouging occurs when the prices they reference were overinflated to begin with, regardless of the real market. For example, a player may have visited 20 shops to get a sampling of prices for Omega Acid. That player finds prices in the range of 1,000 to 20,000 meseta, with a strong leaning towards 5,000. They in turn mark their Omega Acid for sale at 6,000. The same thing occurs with other players until eventually Omega Acids that should sell for 1,000 are now selling for 10,000 in a large number of player-run shops. This isn't a demand driven market, but the result of certain naive or greedy players over-inflating the price of a specific items with little regard to actually selling the item. This is also partly due to players setting prices far too high because they don't have intentions to sell items, but rather they choose to treat their unlocked room with a shop as a storage facility.

    Still, there is a market price for most items, and it is supply and demand driven. Most items should sell for approximately 50% of what an NPC shop would sell it for. This is also 10 times what an NPC would pay for it -- NPC shop price is 20 times the sell value of an item. For single digit prices, be aware that the value is rounded off a bit (for example, an item that sells for 2 meseta may actually be worth 25 meseta on the player market, and bought from NPC shops for 50 meseta).

    Another very influential reason for price gouging is the fact that more and more meseta is generated through exploits of the PSU client (cheating). Although this doesn't have a direct impact, the less valuable meseta becomes, the more players are willing to spend on any one shop item. Avoid price gouging by comparing four factors. If these factors don't match the price found in player shops, it is either an overinflated price or the result of price gouging. The four factors:

    • 50% of NPC Shop price (or 10 times sell value)
    • Demand for the item (ie: the need for specific synthesis items to create specific weapons)
    • Item availability. Is it commonly found in missions, or pops up rarely even few missions?
    • Price of item in shops that sell out quickly verses price of item in shops that are never able to sell it.
  • nProtect. PSU employed the software known as nProtect Game Guard to secure their online servers and prevent players from using subversive software to hack and/or take advantage of the game's client. In theory, it is a wise choice in keeping the servers free of cheaters and hackers. However, nProtect software is known to 'hijack' a PC's functionality and security. It blocks all attempts of a PC's software to create message hooks into the system (such as key strokes) and opens gaping holes in Windows XP security. This can be extremely annoying for anyone attempting to multi-task with macros while playing PSU. It is also be a nightmare if the PC is attacked by malware while nProtect is operational. In essence, nProtect revokes some of the computing freedoms we take for granted. Visit Security Focus' nProtect article for instructions on removing nProtect after PSU has been uninstalled.

    The good news is that nProtect will only block message hooks when PSU is launched and during game play (although the security vulnerability is still present). Some have claimed to circumvent nProtect or code hacks to trick nProtect, but most of these claims are rumors or fleeting moments. nProtect Game Guard is updated to protect itself against any hacks on a regular basis. A hack or workaround that may work today will most likely not work tomorrow. nProtect will block the use of all popular macro software, specifically preventing it from communicating with the PC. This includes the Logitech G11/G15 keyboard with macro functionality, and any other macro functionality that is software-driven.

Things You'll Need

  • PSU Game. The PSU retail box game is available from online and storefront retailers.

  • Play SEGA account. SEGA sells various accounts for their games, but the PSU account (known as a "Guardian" account) was originally available for a $9.99 monthly subscription. The current price may be reduced.

  • Gaming Platform. PSU is available for the PC and some gaming consoles.

    • XBox 360. Online play is on an isolated network.
    • Playstation 2. Online play is on the same network as PC clients.
    • PC Platform. Online play is on the same network as PS2 clients. PC hardware recommendation (not requirements):

      • CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo, Pentium D, or an AMD CPU with a 3800 or higher performance rating. This will really help cut down on load times between areas.
      • Video - PCI-E video card with 128MB or more of RAM, either nVidia 7600 series or better models, or ATI X1600 or better models.

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Sources and Citations

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