Alright, everyone! This is for you first-timers to PSO2!

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Some of you maybe have played Phantasy Star Online, the first one across its myriad console versions and/or the PC port Blue Burst. You'll be moderately familiar with the basics of how PSO2 shares the common ancestry of being an action-RPG. You'll also know about Mags. But you don't yet know about Mags in PSO2. They're the same at their core, and yet very different in how they could make or break your numbers.

Some of you may have even played Phantasy Star Universe, of which this game shares some of its gameplay in common with PSO2. Namely the special skills we know as Photon Arts, and how they are tied to your weapons. Also in common with PSO2 are the ability to change your class, which changes what types of weapons you can use (but thankfully gone are the weapons-grade caps, which were an irksome yet brief limitation to me). Things are still different, even if there's familiar ground tread.

And then there's all the rest of you, who might not have played either one previously mentioned!
But who is this guide for? Kind of all three types of you, since everyone still stands to benefit from knowing things that separate PSO2 from the other two games.

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Before I delve into Class Selection, I have something to tell you.

"Newbie Trap 101: Misleveling your Mag".

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Why is this so important to know?

For people who have been through PSO, you already know what Mags do. They're part of your overall equipment, and if you raise their stats to acquire specific evolutions, you get access to different special abilities from them called a Photon Blast. Mag stats also influence your stats, by raising them according to what levels you put into your Mag. This has not changed.

So what has?

Certain classes make the most out of "pure" Mags. Hunters and Fighters benefit from striking attack levels. Rangers and Gunners benefit from ranged attack levels. Forces and Tech(t?)ers get more out of technique attack levels. Scion classes Hero and Etoile lump up all collective attack levels into the stats they need automatically, which makes a partially mismanaged or an evenly distributed one still useful. (Luster does this too, but we don't have that one yet, and might not see it until or just before New Genesis, if at all.)

There's other stats I haven't discussed yet. The next Mag stat is Dex(terity). This Mag is the most brain-dead to level of all of them, just feed discs you don't need to it. Why would you level this?
There's three classes that actually use Dex on Mags to a far more potent effect than a pure attack mag. They are Braver, Bouncer, and the Scion Class Phantom. These classes take every point of Dex and also get one point of their respective attack stats for each of them.
A 200 Dex Mag gives Braver 200 striking and ranged attack levels also. That, if you did it normally, would be 600 Mag levels, and Mags cap at only 200!
Bouncer gets striking and technique attack levels from Dex.
Phantom gets all three!

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

There's three more Mag levels that you, the new player, have to actually BEWARB.

Defense. Now in Striking, Ranged, and Technique flavors! @.@

"Players who don't know what they're doing: wat?"

That's right! If you leveled Defense on a Mag, you're either going for a specific evolution (mildly advanced tomfoolery that I'm NOT writing this guide for), or you're looking to get laughed at.
This was true in PSO, it's still true in PSO2.
Defense on a Mag is...virtually, if not absolutely useless. It's not that it doesn't do anything, no. But, compared to having a Mag that is more dominantly leveled to do damage and not to tank hits (you shouldn't be tanking hits in this kind of game, by the way) is going to make those levels in Defense wasted.

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Other things to know about Mags:
--Know what kind of class(es) you want to play as, and level your first (free!) Mag for that.
--Get cozy with the AC Shop. It's your friend if you make a major flub-up, or if you want to buy Premium, or other goodies like inventory expansions (WANT), mag resets (wait), or additional Mags (200 AC cheaper than resets) !
--Mag Evolution is actually not that important, since you can buy the Photon Blast you want (more on that later), and there are devices that you can use to change your Mag's appearance as well, too. Want a floating Dreamcast? You can do that! Want to pluck Wheatley out of being adrift in space and have him instead? That, too!

Now, with that part out of the way, it's time to select your class!

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Phantasy Star Online/Universe veterans know the Hunter, Ranger, and Force. They're practically a muscle memory, and optimizing gear and Mags for them shouldn't be difficult at all.

For everyone else, there's Mastercard <--LIES UNLESS YOU BUY AC

All classes can use Gunblades, but only Luster can make the most of them.

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Hunter (S-Atk)

Hunters, the highest HP class, wielders of " Swords! :tm: ", Partisans, and Wired Lances (why are they called this, they're practically not this, even if they are wired!).
Their skill tree gives them access to two stances: one, a passive damage-increasing stance that (if not leveled very high) increases the damage dealt to them in exchange, and the other a damage-output lowering, but defense-spiking stance that makes Hunters able to take most hits better than any other class can.

They also have access to a passive that may protect them from lethal damage knocking them out (but don't rely on it even if that's a useful feature).

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Ranger (R-Atk)

Rangers, they are what they sound like! They wield Rifles and Launchers. A limited selection of weaponry, but flexible in what they're capable of.
Ranger skill trees give access to a variety of damage buffs based on either standing still or moving, active skills that add effects to either Rifle or Launcher shots, and traps, but no one really seems to care about them. The traps, I mean.

Pro Rangers: "HMM YES, THESE TRAPS ARE MADE OF TRAP."

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Force (T-Atk)

"Forces, they use it." Don't expect Jedi, though! Forces are capable of using the elemental Technique Photon Arts, which gives them broad, easy access to enemy weaknesses to elements if they have them. Forces wield Rods and Talis(-es?). While also limited in weapon selection, the two weapons have quite different behavior.
Rods are what you'd normally expect to see on Forces.

Talis is also a good choice, particularly if you're good at gauging range for both Techniques and how far the card travels! Why is this? Because a thrown card from a Talis, when using Techniques, actually casts from the card, and not from the character!

Talis User: /toge NOW WATCH ME AS I FILL THIS ROOM WITH ZAN
(don't by the way, Zan itself isn't that strong of a Technique, even against things vulnerable to it)

Their skill tree gives them access to increasing the power of the Fire, Ice, and Lightning elements,
as well as making them charge faster, hold enemies frozen longer, or reducing their cost.
(Word of advice: Don't spec ice, Freeze Ignition is a gag skill)

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Fighter (S-Atk) (((WARNING: I DERPED ON THIS AND GUNNER, THEY'RE NOT SELECTABLE AT CHARACTER CREATION, BUT I'M DOING THIS ANYWAY)))

Ahh, so you're a floor tank, huh? That's all I can really say about Fighter. I haven't looked at it in-depth, and what little time I even spent as Fighter in all the time I ever played PSO2 was not enjoyable.

They're a very risk-reward class, using Knuckles, Double Sabers (& Knuckles), and Twin Daggers (& Knuckles). Their skill tree gives them stances that increase their damage based on how they're positioned to the enemy (front or rear), and has some skills that are damage bonuses while you're at half(?) or even less HP. If you want to gamble with Limit Break, fine. Just remember, my opinion of Fighter is this:

"Basically Dragoon". FFXIV players will get it.

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Gunner (R-Atk)

Oh...my...♥♥♥♥♥♥♥...god. Who made a ranged character both an evasion tank AND a complete showoff at styling on NOT GETTING ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ HIT in order to make the most of their damage output?! Sega did? That...

...Actually sounds plausible.

Anyway, Gunners! They use Rifles and Twin Machineguns! They get the absolute most out of Twin Machineguns, however, and their skill tree is the proof of that! They get damage bonuses for staying above a certain level of HP, and also an active skill that does more damage when you turn it off the higher you make its damage chain go (damage chain goes away upon GETTING HIT, so don't do that) !

Gunner is quite possible the exact freaking opposite of Fighter in method, and I love that it is this, but I'm so bad at not getting hit!

---- (((ANYWAY, BACK TO THE SELECTABLE CLASSES AT CREATION)))

Summoner (T-Atk)

Summoner. I can't believe this became a thing in PSO. At all. It's a neat idea, though, actually.
Why? Because Summoners are "Forces with Pets". Summoners can cast Techniques, and they can also conduct their pets to attack from even longer distances than most Techniques' range, too! (I saw a Summoner actually manage to hit some of Luther's weak spots that were high up, very hard to do on any class that isn't ranged or Bouncer)

Their skill tree is alarmingly straightforward and almost completely centered around their pets. Very little has anything to do with the Summoner's Technique casting at all.

Give it a whirl if you want to play PSO2...differently than other classes.

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Braver (Dex)

Bravers, capable of switching between ranged and melee combat by virtue of using Katanas and Bows. They also have stances in their skill tree, but I...kinda forgot what they do, so I'll just describe what I remember about the weapons.

Katanas, used primarily to accrue their focus to max and then unleash it during successful counterattacks in order to get a damage bonus (there may be other benifits, but I don't recall them too well offhand).

Bows, harder hitting than Rifles, and quite possibly even harder hitting than Launchers, but sitting at a rate of fire and range in between the two aforementioned. They also have a Photon Art that launches you instead of an arrow! (ANGA JABROGA INTENSIFIES)

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Bouncer (Dex)

Bouncers, my absolute favorite class, the most mobile ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ when it comes to gap closing over long distances both horizontally and vertically and then hammering without mercy! They can also be really evasive if played right, and well, really evasive even when played accidentally, too! *eyes Grand Wave Weapon Action*
They use Soaring Blades (S-Atk) and the infinitely-more-important Jet Boots (S-Atk/T-Atk), which let you double jump before level 40, and are arguably the way that Bouncer gets around all over the place so much!

Their skill tree also has two stances, one centered around exploiting elemental weaknesses, and one centered around breakable enemy parts. There are also other skills, one that give damage bonuses to aerial combat while buffed with Shifta, one that gives extra Photon regeneration with Deband up, active skills that create Photon regeneration on elemental weakness strikes and also raise critical hit chance, the ability to make buff field effects last longer than normal, active skills that decrease charge times on Jet Boots, or gives you the ability to fire extra Photon knives on Soaring Blades, and some other things that I think I don't quite remember too well but that may be because of being irrelevantly non-meta.

ANYWAY, Bouncer is a surprisingly strong class at mobility, doesn't really suffer any particular punishment for where their HP is (unlike Fighter and Gunner), and if you like playing either Hunter or Force, or actually want to do both as one class, this one is it!

And more added to sections already existing as I go along.

But now, is time for me to hop away from writing and watch some more DBZ, or something.