December 5th 2008 brings Parum Guardians Boost Road

After 2 months of no scheduled updates, we are finally given something to help cope for the delay in Lightning Carnival. The major updates for December 5th is Level Cap 150, Parum Guardians Boost Road, new S2 missions, new rare missions, and 2 seasonal lobby changes, including one that was never before seen on our servers. We'll run you through what to expect with this major update. This update will include new items, most notably, Lumirus / Hit Charge, Vijerina Line, Ragan Ragac, and Battlestopper.

Illusionary Shaft and How to Find it?

During GBR, you and your party may encounter a rare Parum mission called Illusionary Shaft. Illusionary Shaft is a permanent addition to the game and will also occur after GBR is over.

There are 2 key factors on finding the mission:

  • Players must be within the mission's field before the mission is cleared.
  • Eligible party members must be within a mission for at least 80% of the time.

Rare missions are no longer based on time or amount of players. You have the same chances of finding a rare mission as a solo player. However the biggest change is eligible party members. Only the party members who have been flagged for that mission is eligible to participate in it as long as they fulfilled the criteria above. You will see a message on the screen telling you if you have been flagged for that mission. You may no longer invite friends to play with you in a rare mission if they were not in your party at least 80% of the time, and if they were in the lobby at the time of the mission's clearance. 

What is Guardians Boost Road

Guardians Boost Road are a set of missions you can play in order to earn points. GBR runs until Janurary 16th 2009.  Each mission must be completed with a end result rank of B or better to receive your points. As you earn points for each mission, you gain a drop rate boost up to 50%. You and other players will share their own drop rate boost percentages which can accumulate up to 300%. The higher the drop rate percentages the higher the chance that an enemy will drop an item. This indirectly increases the chances of a rare item to be dropped.

What missions are in Parum Guardians Boost Road

This time the missions are as follows

  • Scarred Planet
  • Lightning Beast
  • Electronic Brain
  • SEED Express

Each mission is located on Parum, and can be played consecutively after you complete a mission. However once you complete Electronic Brain you must return to Holtes City to start Scarred Planet.

How does the Points System Work for GBR?

In Guardians Boost Road, each time you successfully clear a mission with an end grade of B or higher, you will receive points. Your percentage rate is based solely on the mission with the least amount of points. Simply playing the same mission over and over will not raise your boost rate. You must play each mission equally to fully reap the benefits of this mini event. For example lets take a look at a player who randomly plays each mission

  • Scarred Planet: 5pts
  • Lightning Beast: 15pts
  • Electronic Brain: 5pts
  • SEED Express: 25pts

The rules of GBR state that the lowest amount of points for a mission determines your boost rate percentage. The lowest score highlighted is 5pts which contributes a small boost rate percentage of 15%. We recommend playing each mission equally, if you earn 155 points, you can recieve a 50% boost rate near the end of this event.

GM Event: Great Gurhalian Cup Tournament

I'm back from vacation… Not exactly a vacation but something similar to one. December 1st starts the Gurhalian Cup Tournament. Teams can now register before the festivities begin.  Your allowed to have 2-5 players in your team. For Xbox360 players, the tournament will not include missions known for robot slowdown.

  • The first 32 teams to register (per server) will be entered in the tournament.
  • All team members must be level 100+
  • Each team must include at least one Techer (Fortetecher or Acrotecher) and one of the following: Wartecher, Guntecher, or Protranser.
  • Scape dolls are not allowed. Only the team’s techer(s) may revive fallen teammates. Each Acro and Fortetecher is allowed three scape dolls per round, but must sit out the round if they die without a scape doll, and their team must continue without the option to revive members.
  • If all members of a team are defeated, that team is disqualified.
  • Team members must use the same characters / classes through the entire tournament.
  • Game Masters will be present in each round to ensure that all teams race fairly and abide by the tournament rules.
  • Players may only be part of one team, and may not use alternate accounts to enter in a second team.

The GM states that this tournament will not delay any new additional content expected to arrive alongside this event. We eagerly anticipate the announcement of updates.

[via Phantasy Star Universe Official Site]