lots of info on Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of Illuminus
AirRaid
http://pso-world.com/viewtopic.php?topic=148743&forum=20&216
01. Release Information
01-01. When is the expansion being released?
Ambition of the Illuminus is scheduled to be released in Japan on
September 27, 2007. The North American and European versions are
slated to be released Fall 2007, but a solid date has not been given
by SEGA at this time. (However, it should be noted that many retailers
are claiming November 20 as the game's North American release date,
but this information has not been confirmed by SEGA.)
01-02. What systems will the expansion be released for?
Ambition of the Illuminus will be released for PC, PS2 and Xbox 360.
The PC and PS2 versions of the game will be made available for
purchase in retail outlets as a standard disc. Xbox 360 players will
be able to download the expansion from Xbox Live.
01-03. How much will the expansion cost?
The Japanese PC/PS2 versions of the game will retail for 5,040yen
(including tax). An official price has not be set for other
territories.
02. Battle System
02-01. What kinds of new weapons are being added to the game?
Four new categories of weapons will be added with the expansion:
photon whip, slicer, madoog and shadoog. These four bring the total
number of weapon categories up to 27.
02-02. How many new weapons will be added?
Though an exact number has not been given, many sources have been
quoted as saying over 200. However, it should be stated that one
source (an interview in Famitsu) implied that over 200 applied to the
current 23 categories of weapons we have with the base game, not
necessarily the four new categories.
02-03. What kinds of new weapons will we see?
With the expansion, we will see a larger variety of weapons due in
part to many weapon types no longer being exclusive to one
manufacturer. For example, in Ambition of the Illuminus, GRM will have
their own line of rods to go up against Yohmei's. Likewise, Yohmei
will also have their own axe lineup to compete with TENORA's. Aside
from these weapons, we will also see a number of PSO-inspired arms
such as the Madam-brella, a shotgun based on Madam's Umbrella.
02-04. Will there be any new Photon Arts?
Yes. So far six skills have been revealed, but no new bullets or
TECHNICs. These skills are Visshi Grudda (photon whip), Chikkyoren-jin
(slicer), Renga Chujin-shou (twin dagger), Cross Hurricane (twin
saber), Chuei Jitotsu-jin (twin claw) and Absolute Dance (double
saber).
02-05. Will the number of Photon Arts you can learn be raised above
36?
No, but there will be a workaround for this which allows you to
convert a learn PA back into disk form. See the next Q&A for further
details.
02-06. How does the PA disk conversion work?
After you've learned a Photon Art, you have the ability to convert it
back into disk form, freeing up space in your learned PAs. When you
convert a PA back into a disk, its level will be retained so that if
you decide to relearn it later, you'll pick back up where you left
off. Just like current PA fragment-traded PAs, these converted,
leveled PAs cannot be dropped, traded or sold in player shops as they
are tied solely to your account. They can only be kept in your
personal nanotransformer (inventory), your PM's storage or your room's
common box. A level validation system will be implemented on these
disks. This system seems to be for the purpose of allowing only the
character who leveled the PA up to relearn it at the level it was at
when converted. We are still awaiting further confirmation of this
change, however.
02-07. Will there be any new SUV weapons?
Yes. Four have been revealed so far: Gigas Espada (summons a large
sword), Gigas Faust (summons a large fist), Paradis Cataract (calls
down a rain of destruction) and Lapia Fluge (heals, cures and revives
allies).
02-08. What about new blast badges?
It has been officially stated that no new blast badges are being
added. However, new effects are planned for the badges we currently
have, though exact details are not known at this time. (It has been
stated that status effects such as buffs may stick during a
nanoblast.)
02-09. What new battle types are being added?
Two new types have been confirmed: Acrofighter and Acrotecher.
Acrofighters exhibit naturally faster movements when using skills
while Acrotechers are capable of casting TECHNICs faster than any
other type.
02-10. Will type and PA caps be increased?
Yes. Though the type cap has not been officially confirmed (it should
be either 20 or 30, according to the beta), all PAs will have a
maximum cap of 40, depending of course on your type's restrictions.
02-11. What are Just Attack and Just Counter?
These are two new battle system additions to help take some of the
monotony out of using striking weapons. Both are timing based, meaning
that they will only activate when a certain button is pressed at the
appropriate time. A successful Just Attack will unleash a more
powerful attack signified by (aside from larger damage output) a
specific sound effect and unique animation. A successful Just Counter
will protect you from an attack, but if timed properly allows you to
immediately retaliate.
02-11. What other battle system changes can we expect to see?
One more addition we know of is higher PP regeneration rates for
striking weapons. A successful normal attack will regenerate a small
amount of PP to your weapon while a critical hit will regenerate a
larger amount.
02-12. What are the requirements and weapon/PA limits for Acrofighters
and Acrotechers?
Acrofighter: Hunter Lv.3, Ranger Lv.5
Skills: Lv.40
Bullets: Lv.30
Attack TECHNICs: --
Support TECHNICs: --
S-rank Weapons: Sabers, Daggers, Claws, Slicers, Handguns, Shadoogs
A-rank Weapons: Knuckles, Twin Sabers, Twin Daggers, Twin Claws, Twin
Handguns, Cards
Acrotecher: Hunter Lv.3, Force Lv.5
Skills: Lv.20
Bullets: Lv.20
Attack TECHNICs: Lv.30
Support TECHNICs: Lv.40
S-rank Weapons: Sabers, Daggers, Photon Whips, Handguns, Cards, Wands,
Madoogs
A-rank Weapons: Twin Daggers, Twin Handguns, Machineguns
02-13. What changes have been made to the current types as far as
weapon ranks and PA caps go?
The following information comes from the Ambition of the Illuminus
beta, so this is subject to change.
Fortefighter
Skills: Lv.40
Bullets: Lv.20
Attack TECHNICs: --
Support TECHNICs: --
* S-ranks: Swords, Knuckles, Spears, Axes, Twin Claws, Claws
* A-ranks: Twin Sabers, Twin Daggers, Sabers, Daggers, Handguns
Fortegunner
Skills: Lv.20
Bullets: Lv.40
Attack TECHNICs: --
Support TECHNICs: --
* S-ranks: Rifles, Shotguns, Grenade Launchers, Laser Cannons,
Handguns
* A-ranks: Spears, Sabers, Daggers, Twin Handguns, Crossbows,
Machineguns, Shadoogs
Fortetecher
Skills: Lv.10
Bullets: Lv.30
Attack TECHNICs: Lv.40
Support TECHNICs: Lv.40
* S-ranks: Longbows, Cards, Rods, Wands
* A-ranks: Spears, Twin Daggers, Sabers, Daggers, Handguns
Fighgunner
Skills: Lv.40
Bullets: Lv.30
Attack TECHNICs: --
Support TECHNICs: --
* S-ranks: Double Sabers, Twin Sabers, Twin Daggers, Sabers, Daggers
* A-ranks: Swords, Knuckles, Spears, Twin Claws, Claws, Slicers, Twin
Handguns, Handguns, Crossbows, Machineguns, Shadoogs
Wartecher
Skills: Lv.30
Bullets: Lv.20
Attack TECHNICs: Lv.30
Support TECHNICs: Lv.20
* S-ranks: Twin Daggers, Daggers, Wands
* A-ranks: Knuckles, Spears, Twin Sabers, Twin Claws, Sabers, Claws,
Photon Whips, Longbows, Handguns, Cards, Madoogs
Guntecher
Skills: Lv.10
Bullets: Lv.40
Attack TECHNICs: Lv.20
Support TECHNICs: Lv.30
* S-ranks: Longbows, Twin Handguns, Handguns, Crossbows, Machineguns
* A-ranks: Sabers, Daggers, Photon Whips, Slicers, Rifles, Shotguns,
Laser Cannons, Cards, Wands, Madoogs
Protranser
Skills: Lv.40
Bullets: Lv.40
Attack TECHNICs: --
Support TECHNICs: --
* S-ranks: Swords, Knuckles, Spears, Axes, Sabers, Shotguns, Longbows,
Grenade Launchers, Laser Cannons, Handguns
02-14. Any word on adjusting elemental weapon and line shield
bonuses?
SonicTeam have stated they will be reworking the equation used to
determine the damage caused or shielded by elemental weapons and line
shields. Further details have not been released yet.
03. Lobbies and Fields
03-01. What new lobbies will we see in the expansion?
Three new main lobbies have been revealed, one for each planet:
Paracabana Beach on Parum, Mt. Ohtoku on Neudaiz and Casino Volyale on
Moatoob.
03-02. How many new fields will be added?
Official promotional videos have revealed that over 10 new fields will
be added with the expansion. Here are the names of the ones we know
thus far: AMF Headquarters, Old Rozenom City, Military Metronilia,
Saguraki Conservation District, Pavilion of Air, Habirao Restricted
District, Granigs Mine, Il Carbo Base, Forest, Caves and Mines.
03-03. Forest, Caves and Mines? Like from PSO?
Yes, but we currently do not know how these areas will fit into the
game's storyline. All we have to go on at the moment is a bit of
information from the Japanese beta of the game. The Forest area was
said to take place "in an alternate dimension." At the mission select
screen, the cursor used to highlight the area was over a far-off
nebula.
03-04. Is it true that we'll be able to warp to different lobbies
without having to have a team member already there?
Yes. The NPCs who transport you to different lobbies will now be able
to take you where you want to go without having to be part of a party
that's already at your destination. During the beta, this service was
free, but it has been mentioned (though not confirmed) that there
might be a price set for it in the final release.
03-05. Is it true I'll be able to transport items back to my room from
the lobby?
Yes. The lobbies will have new NPCs who run a service which allows you
to transport items from your nanotransformer back to your room in
Clyez City.
03-06. Will the field crystal transport system be changed at all?
Just slightly. Now the option to transport immediately back to the
lobby will be added to the crystal's menu along with all accessed
blocks.
03-07. I heard of an auto-run feature. Is this a real addition?
Yes. You will be able to select a party member to follow and then
enable the auto-run function. You can then take your hands off of the
controls and your character will follow behind the selected player
until you decide to take control over your character again.
04. Character Customization
04-01. What can we expect in the way of clothing and parts for our
characters?
Fans of PSO will be happy to know that 12 costume sets will be added
in the expansion covering all of the game's race/class combinations.
The sets will be based on PSO's "template" character clothing (i.e.
Ash's HUmar outfit, Gilliam's RAcast parts and Rupica's FOnewearl
clothing). Multiple color variations will be included, but we will not
see every design from PSO. Aside from these, over 20 completely
original clothing and parts sets have been revealed for the
expansion.
04-02. Has the character creation system changed any?
Yes, just slightly. SonicTeam did a little tweaking to the male face
proportion sliders to offer more versatile customization. Also, some
new voices were added across the board along with a number of new
hairstyles.
04-03. Will I have to start a new character to use these new character
creation additions?
Nope. Lumilass in Clyez City will now offer you the ability to change
your character's voice as well as make adjustments to their face. No
word on how much these alterations will cost, however.
04-04. Will Lumilass have any other new features aside from what was
mentioned above?
Actually, yes! The accessories selection has been changed to where you
can now select a hat or pair of glasses independent of your hairstyle,
meaning that certain accessories are no longer exclusive to one or two
hairstyles.
04-05. Will I be able to alter my body's proportions at Lumilass?
No, that can only be done during the initial character creation.
Lumilass will allow you to make alterations to your face, but not your
body.
05. Monsters
05-01. How many new enemies will be added to the game?
Official sources report over 30 new enemies will be introduced with
the expansion. A few that we currently know of include Alteratsu Goug,
SEED-Arguine, SEED-Ardite, Par Sorza, and Rappy Polleck.
05-02. Will we see any adjustments to monster A.I. and the like?
Yes. Certain tweaks have already been made to monster A.I. to make
them use their own unique attacks, abilities and range more often as
opposed to simply chasing down players and hacking away.
06. My Room
06-01. Will player rooms get any new features?
Yes! In fact, they're being completely overhauled to allow for more
customization in layout. With the expansion, you'll be able to place
room decorations almost anywhere based on a new floor and wall grid
system. Also, many new redecoration tickets and room decorations will
be added along with a jukebox.
06-02. Will there be an increase in maximum capacity of your storage
systems?
It has been confirmed that your personal nanotransformer's capacity
will not be increased. This has been somewhat addressed with a new
lobby system that allows you to transfer items back to your room from
the lobby. Despite your personal inventory space not increasing, the
developers have confirmed that you will be able to increase your PM's
storage capacity as well as the capacity of your common box by using
special items.
06-03. How will the jukebox work?
The beta gave a short description of this, stating that you could give
your PM any discs that you acquire to compile a playlist. From that,
just select the song you want to play, and that's it. Currently, it is
unknown how discs will be acquired. They may be special event drops or
gifts, or simply available for purchase in the Variety Shop or a
similar store.
06-04. Will shops be changed at all?
The only change we know of at the moment is the ability to customize
your PM's greeting and thank you messages for when someone comes into
your shop and/or purchases one of the items you have for sale.
06-05. Will I be able to redecorate my shop like my room?
Yes. Redecoration tickets will now be applied to your room, giving
each shop a more personalized feel.
07. System Information
07-01. I've heard of a server merge coming along with the expansion.
Any details on this?
The server merge refers to the Japanese PC/PS2 servers only. Shortly
after the original game launched in Japan in 2006, two separate
servers, known as Worlds, had to be created to carry the load of all
of the players. World 1 and World 2 characters were not able to
interact with each other, thus splitting the community. With the
release of Ambition of the Illuminus, both Worlds will be brought
together as one. The merging of both Worlds is expected to take place
during the last third of August.
07-02. Will we get extra character slots in the expansion?
It has been confirmed that the Japanese PC/PS2 players will have a
total of eight character slots with the expansion. This is due to the
merging of World 1 and World 2 into one server. The NA/EU/360
communities have had no confirmation of such a change, but it's still
possible that we might see it. Again, no confirmation has been made on
this outside of the Japanese PC/PS2 community.
07-03. Is anything being done to address the slowdown and lag issues
the game suffers from?
Yes. Kind of. The developers are working on a way to make the PS2
version run better when compared to the PC version. This information
comes from an interview published in the 07.13 issue of Dengeki
PlayStation. No word yet on any adjustments being made to the 360
version.
08. Offline Story Mode
08-01. How will offline mode be handled in Ambition of the Illuminus?
When you begin offline story mode, you'll be taken to the character
creation screens to design your own character. From there, you'll
begin the story as a rookie Guardian being trained by Laia Martinez.
If this sounds familiar, don't worry, it's supposed to. The
expansion's offline story mode will be a retelling of the events of
PSU: Episode 2. However, there's a bit more to it than that. Mainly,
the cutscenes will now be completely voice acted, and the story will
be fleshed out a bit more.
08-02. Will there be an extra mode?
We currently have no confirmation of it. Considering that offline
story mode has you creating your own character (just like the original
game's extra mode), I don't see an extra mode being added to this
game.
08-03. Will we be able to transfer our offline data from PSU into
Ambition of the Illuminus to use in its offline story mode?
Yes. It has been confirmed that you will be able to transfer your
extra mode character from PSU into the expansion for use in the
offline mode. Sources note, however, that it is not known if your
items, stats and progress will carry over or not.
09. Online Story Mode
09-01. How will the expansion's online story mode work?
Just like the base game's online story mode, Episode 3 will be
released serially.
09-02. I've heard mention of something called Phantom of Arkgald.
What's that?
To be honest, we don't know yet. It's possible that it might be the
subtitle to Episode 3, though it could be something else entirely. We
should find out by the end of August, as SonicTeam will be updating
their site with more information on the title around that time.
09-03. Will the story missions ever allow your character to really get
in the action?
Yes. SonicTeam will be introducing a new system following Episode 2
that allows you to make certain decisions which will affect where the
story goes.
09-04. Will I be able to play Episode 3 if I only have the original
PSU?
No. Even though Episode 3 will be released online, you must have the
expansion in order to be granted access to it.
10. Weapon Grinding
10-01. How will the grinding system be changed in the expansion?
Weapon grinding no longer carries the harsh penalty of destroying a
weapon with an unsuccessful grind. Now when a grind fails, the
weapon's stats are reset to their base amount, and the total number of
grinds that particular weapon can have attempted is reduced by one.
The new grind indicator of a weapon will display as two numbers. The
first number shows what grind the weapon is currently at while the
second number shows how many possible grinds that weapon can have. For
example, (0/10) would be a weapon that has never been ground while
(3/4) would be a weapon that is on its third grind level, but only has
four more grind attempts remaining.
11. Interface
11-01. Will there be any changes to the in-game mail functions?
One known change will be the ability to send simple mail from a
person's partner card.
11-02. Any changes to the partner card system?
Aside from what was mentioned above, now your total number of cards
will be displayed out of the maximum number you can have.
11-03. What is the new "online status" option?
This allows you to tag yourself depending on your current style of
gameplay or what kind of game you're looking for. The options during
the beta included:
* No tag (will not attach a tag to your name)
* AFK (if away for an extended period)
* Temporarily AFK (if you plan to be away for just a few moments)
* Solo play (for when you just want to solo)
* Recruiting party (to let others know you're looking for party
members)
* Beginner guide (to let others know you are willing to help out
beginners)
12. Synthesis
12-01. Will item synthesis rates increase?
Yes. The developers have said that we will see an increase in
synthesis success rates over all items.