PSO2 New Genesis builds, explained

by AJ "Tyron" Martinez @ worldsbe.st • June 19 2021

New Genesis is much less punishing than Oracle, and the new systems give you the opportunity to play a lot of previously non-viable weapon and skill combinations; think of this less as a skill tree guide and more as a jumping-off-point for finding your ideal power fantasy.

Weapon access

Weapon choice affects your character more than any other system. You can use weapons from your main class with a 10% damage bonus, and weapons from your subclass at “normal” damage. This damage drop is noticeable, but if your “main” weapon is poorly suited to a situation, using a subclass weapon can still be more effective. For example, if you’re struggling to stick to fast-moving targets with a slow weapon, a fast or ranged weapon might help you gain uptime, offsetting or eclipsing the damage penalty.

You can also use Multi-Weapons that aren’t in your class combination—for instance, a Hunter/Fighter can use a Sword/Rifle multi, despite Rifle being a Ranger weapon—but without at least one matching class, you’ll only be able to use normal attacks and weapon actions. If you’re focused on a single weapon and comfortable using it in all situations, this can be a good option to gain some extra utility.

Subclassing

If you’ve picked your subclass solely for weapon access, you can skip this section and breathe easy. Subclass utility matters in NGS, and some combinations offer more than others, but weapon access is significantly more impactful—play the weapons that you like and ignore the advice below.

If you’re playing weapons from a single class combination, or using a Multi-Weapon purely for normals/weapon action, then consider the following subclasses. Remember that you can switch subclasses with no penalty, since their level doesn’t affect your stats and skill points are shared equally.

If you’re playing a subclass purely to support a weapon from a different class, expect to spec almost all of your points in the 5/10SP “dump” abilities, with exceptions for activated abilities that will work with your weapon.

Subclasses aren’t incredibly important, and every subclass offers some benefit to all weapons, but these are the options most most likely to be and feel impactful IMO. In particular, avoid Hunter subclass unless you’re consistently struggling to survive, since it offers only defensive crutches. Most weapons get lots of value when correctly using their defensive options, and learning to use them properly is an important part of maximizing damage and effectiveness.

Class skills

All directly weapon-related skills should be considered core parts of the moveset and taken ASAP; the only exceptions are Wand Element Revoke (actively bad) and Talis Bloom Revoke (you can drop stance faster by switching Multi-Weapon forms or palettes).

You’re given a skill tree reset pass shortly after unlocking the skill tree, so my personal recommendation is to take 1SP in everything, then respec and drop the skills that you don’t think work for you. This lets you try out every weapon’s full kit and won’t leave you at much of a disadvantage.

After respeccing, you can sink extra points into the 5SP or 10SP “dump” skills to your preference; consider the scaling on each one, since they’re often more efficient with minimal points invested.

Common/simple tech