What makes a good FO? Options

[DarkEpyon]

I saw this mentioned on another board, and wondered how some of you felt. For me, staying on top of the needs of shifta/deband/resta is a good thing. Knowing what element to use on what enemy for optimal damage is also good. Basically someone who is attentive to the needs of his/her teammates.

[HC82]

I think one thing people are over looking is that the support aspect of a FO is the mandatory duty of a Force, just like a robot using traps at the right situation, but then it breaks down into melee or tech casting. That's the other part of the FO, because just casting resta and J/Z isn't exactly gameplay.

Personally I never liked the fact that you either had to be one or the other. If you melee, it's usually because your tech damage is too low to be effective for most situations, likewise if you just nuke, it's because your tech damage is far more effective then your melee. There are a few situations where one type proves more usefull then other type, yet I don't think Forces should be limited to just situational events where you either have to do one or the other. I think a Force should melee and tech cast accordingly.

I am thinking back to the orginal Phantasy Stars, where even a HUmar type character(the main characters) could whoop out some crazy tech damage, but TP actually being limited restricts the player from using it often and only using it during tight situations. We all know that Hunter tech damage totally blows. Its only use is to tag enemies and deal a bit of damage in the process, while rabarta is the only support based attack tech. Likewise even the Forces are some what limited to what they can and can't do when it comes to tech casting or melee, simply because one just isn't as effective as the other. Enemies like C bringer and ep2 sinows either resist tech damage or null all tech amps, including racial amps. Come on, thats like when you fight a Sinow, any percents on your weapon don't take effect(including hit %). BOTH should be effective, even for a Hunter class. Come on Hunters, when is the last time you actually used gibarta or gifoie, and it was actually to your advantage?

Talk is cheap, I know, so iam not suggesting like most people who say "Tech damage sucks, it should deal the most damage like a wizard does in other RPGs". They don't realize that if this was true Hunters and Rangers would be useless and that if you gave forces that kinda non stop nuking power, you'd have to take away their support aspect, but it's both aspects that make a Force appealing to play, not just one. Also this is PSO, part of it's charm is that it is different from other rpgs. Regardless of that, most people would probably agree that making both melee and damage techs effective for a FO/HU would be both cool and enhance the gameplay for each class, yet maintaining a balance so that each class is usefull and not overpowerful might seem hard. I think the questions is HOW? Hey, I wouldn't have made this rant if I couldn't think how it could be done succesfully myself(because it can), but last time I checked I am not an employee for ST.