Overview
A Simple Guide for the Katana Phantom that explains some of its functions, important skills, Photon Arts and such, alongside some of my own personal recommendations for how to get the most out of a Katana focused Phantom as a JP server Katana Phantom Main.A Scion Class can be confusing to pick up when you first start it, and I hope this guide will help alleviate that confusion somewhat.
Introduction
Good day, everyone!
First thing’s first, due to size limitations on the images for a STEAM Guide, there won’t be many images on here, if any at all.
For the full guide with accompanying GIFs for reference, please check the link below:
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL GUIDE[docs.google.com]
I highly recommend using the link above as there are GIFs that help as visual aid.
If you’re fine with just the text-only (with a few pics) version, do read on:
EDIT 05/12/2020: Phantom releases in less than a week (9th December 2020) in NA for the Ep 6 Update. I’ll update the terminology of skills and such once I can confirm them in-game.
EDIT 10/12/2020: Phantom is out, and I have updated the skill names as well as added a bit more to the Mag Build section.
Note: At time of posting, Phantom has not yet released, but it will come in a few days, and I thought I’d release this guide early so anyone interested can read it over the weekend to be prepared for the Ep 6 Update Drop.
Before we begin, I wish to share with you why I decided to write this guide.
Maybe it’s just the ship I play in, but I don’t see many Phantom Mains around on the JP Ship I play on (Though When Phantom releases on NA I expect to see many, many phantoms. I hear it’s great as a subclass, but I find Phantom to be such a fun class to play as a main class that I wish to share with others why, perhaps, they should consider running this class?
As far as I can tell, among JP Phantoms, most run rifle or rod due to better damage output or ease of use. I, for one, find that to be a bit of a shame because I like the Katana Phantom a lot in terms of playstyle.
Also when I first started playing Phantom I was a little overwhelmed with how it worked and it took me a while to understand how its central mechanic works, and I hope to make that process easier for you would-be Katana Phantoms.
As for why it’s a Katana only phantom guide? Because I run a Katana/Rifle Phantom with a usage ratio of about 90%/10% respectively and I feel only a little qualified (probably) to talk about a Katana build of the 3 weapons available.
I originally wrote this as a JP guide but then I realised that I’m a bit out of the loop on the JP meta due to years of hiatus, so I decided to base it on the NA meta since I spend more time on the NA servers nowadays.
Perhaps once NA reaches ‘parity’ with JP, this guide will be updated enough for JP players to use too, but we’ll see. For now, this is an NA only guide.
Phantom’s Central Mechanic
Simply put, the Phantom’s central mechanic is using the weapon action button to access shift (henceforth referred to as alternate) Photon Arts (Phantom PAs are basically 2 PAs in one) and chaining together Photon Arts.
A loaded sentence, I’m sure. For Katana Phantoms, the Weapon Action is sort of like a dodge slash.
Using it while standing still simply slashes in front of you. Pushing down on a specific direction will have your character dodge in that direction while also slashing.
Now then, when your PA is activated, you should see a white circle appear. When that appears, that’s your cue to use a Photon Art (PA) to activate the alternate version of the chosen PA.
You can chain these together by using a normal PA, using the weapon action then activating the alternate PA, rinse and repeat.
However, to facilitate chaining PAs together, the skill QUICK CUT is indispensable. This will be covered in a later section.
Skill Tree & Important Skills
Skill Tree Simulator Link:
[link]
Now then, skills on this list I consider especially important.
Top of the list is, as mentioned earlier, QUICK CUT.
Doesn’t exactly tell you what it does, right? Well, this skill is key to chaining combos with a Katana Phantom, so get this skill ASAP.
What it does is, when you activate quick cut after using a Photon Art, you immediately zip towards a nearby enemy and slash them instantaneously, allowing you to immediately activate an alternate PA after that slash.
The cue for Quick Cut will appear as a purplish bluish straight line on your character some time after your activated Photon Art has completed its animation.
There is also an audio cue, but it can be hard to make out in the chaos of battle so I recommend keeping an eye out for the visual cue instead.
I’d say Quick cut is less used for DPS and more for positioning, darting around to enemies, or in the case of bosses, to keep up the pressure by zipping to it (especially useful against bosses that move a lot) as well as the fact you recover some PP by activating it.
Quick cut shows its true worth when mobbing, especially combined with Schmetterling (More info on the Photon Art Section).
This skill, under very specific circumstances, can sometimes allow you to bypass hazards such as laser walls. For example, if there is an enemy on the other side, and you quick cut zip to them after defeating an enemy on your side of the laser wall, sometimes you will completely bypass the lasers and not take damage.
It’s a bit inconsistent, however, and I would recommend just taking the detour around the lasers or dodge through it (more below at the dodge section).
Yeah you get this by default but I’m including it in this section anyway because it’s important.
This is basically a Phantom’s get out of jail free card. See, Phantoms can cast techniques, and whenever they charge one, they have ONE ENTIRE SECOND of INVINCIBILITY.
May not sound like a long time, but considering dodges gives you less than a second of invincibility frames, you get the idea.
Not to mention you move faster during it, so make use of that 1 second of invincibility to also get the hell to safety.
*If I didn’t tech, I would’ve gotten hit by the helicopter’s blades.
If you’re having trouble keeping track of ‘1’ second, you can try this: “I’m invincible until the Tech is ‘fully charged’”(when it blinks orange), assuming maxed ‘Tech Short Charge’ skill.
It’s not as foolproof, but keeping track during battle can be tough.
Phantom Time & Phantom Time Finisher:
Like with many other classes, you store Phantom ‘Gear’ (Focus) the more you attack enemies.
Gear appears above your PAs on the middle bottom of the screen and fills up. This is what it looks like when it is 50% full.
As you can see, half the entire bar is filled, and there is a yellow diamond symbol on the left side of the bar. This is 50%, so a fully filled bar/2 yellow diamonds would be 100%.
Phantom Time will consume 50% of the bar to activate. A blue bar will appear above the Gear (Focus) bar that gradually depletes, and Phantom Time will end when that bar is completely depleted (20 seconds).
This means that you can essentially store 2 charges of Phantom time, as it only takes away 50% to activate.
Aside from 5 full seconds of invincibility upon activation, your overall PP consumption is reduced by 20% and your dodge step will have more invincibility frames while Phantom Time is active.
You also gain a bonus to phantom marker accumulation (from a skill you should get known as Phantom Time Mark Plus, more on this below) , and your attacks will help generate more Phantom Gear (Focus) which is helpful to make up for the 50% spent to activate it.
However, just like the Hero version, Gear accumulation will begin to stall if you repeatedly use the same PAs or Techs over and over. Should you allow some time to pass, or by detonating a phantom marker, the slowdown of gear accumulation will reset, allowing you to gain it back at the same rate as before.
Just like other class gear(focus) , there is a gear gain decay mechanic. Using the same attacks over and over will eventually slow down the rate at which you gain gear!
Now then, Phantom Time Finisher.
If you have played a Katana Braver and used the Katana Combat Finisher before, or the Hero Finisher, then it is basically something like that.
It will instantly end Phantom Time to activate a powerful attack that changes depending on what weapon you have equipped.
Ideally, you would activate Phantom Time Finisher right before Phantom Time expires, so that you can make full use of the passive bonuses Phantom Time provides to deal as much damage as possible.
The more you attack an enemy, the more markers will be placed upon them, markers will appear as Blue marks (Moderate Amount) or Purple marks (Max).
Blue:
Purple:
If you do not attack the enemy for a time, the marker will disappear visually, but do not worry, because the markers stay on that enemy. Its disappearance is a visual thing.
To detonate a marker, hold down the weapon action button and release it once you see a purple flash:
I’d personally recommend waiting for it to turn purple as that is when you can get the most damage from it. This skill allows Phantom to deal big burst damage in between DPS, so definitely don’t just let it sleep on the enemy without blowing it up.
Not to mention there are skills that reward you for accumulating the max amount of markers, so re-accumulating them after blowing them up is recommended. Of the 3 weapons, Katana deals the most explosion damage.
However, if you are in a rush to recover PP as a katana Phantom, blowing it up at blue is 1 option.
The phantom rings will augment this skill in one of two ways (expanded more on the ring section).
This allows you to accumulate markers much faster when attacking an enemy while in Phantom Time, and is very useful when fighting a boss, which ideally is when you would pop Phantom Time.
Faster Accumulation = Faster & More Marker Detonations = More Damage!
Why we, as Katana Phantoms, would pick this over long range mark boost, should be self-explanatory.
Skill Tree & Important Skills Part 2 (Re: Phantom Dodge & etc)
Dodge Counter Shot: Activates when you perform an attack after evading an enemy’s attack during step.
The Phantom’s dodge step is pretty good, especially compared to other classes, and you will be using it a lot alongside the tech charge invincibility mentioned above.
Phantoms are a little squishy, and ideally, you want to NOT get hit. So, you dodge a lot, yeah? When you successfully dodge an enemy attack, you store a bullet with this skill. This bullet is automatically shot towards a nearby enemy when you use a normal attack, PA, or tech (does not have to hit an enemy to fire).
You can also activate this by using a step-attack (Attack right after dodging), so you can activate the bullet right after you have stored one (You can’t store more than 1).
Now, the bullets animation may look like 4 are being shot out, but it only counts as 1 hit.
Despite it sounding like a ‘nice extra effect’ to have for something you’d have done anyway to avoid damage, this is actually quite an important part of the Katana Phantom’s kit.
You’re in close, so unlike rifle phantoms, you want to dodge a lot. You store bullets which fire off for massive damage. These bullets also contribute to gear(focus) gains and marker accumulation!
So dodge attacks whenever you can and fire off those bullets.
However, feel free to Iframe with stealth tech charge for enemy attacks that you aren’t confident in dodging. After all, as important as bullets are, it’s not going to do you any good if you get smacked and downed by the boss.
The bullet stays stored even if you swap weapons, but can only be launched with a phantom weapon. You lose your stored bullet if you change areas.
Also, you can store bullets against certain non-enemy objects such as certain laser walls, traps or other such damaging obstacles.
The Phantom tree has a lot of skills related to PP, such as Photon Stream which increases damage based on Max PP, Critical Stream which improves crit damage and crit chance based on max PP.
And then you also have skills like PP High Up that give more Max PP, so if you take a look at the skill tree above, you can see that just about every PP related skill is maxed.
The maximum bonus caps at 200 Max PP, so anything that contributes towards your max PP is worth investing in, be it equipment or the Lvl 75 Class Boost Titles (Where u get status boosts when u have a class at Lvl 75).
Basically, you get a damage bonus for having 200 base pp and a crit rate bonus that scales 1% per 5 pp capping at 60% for 300pp.
However, to get 300 pp, you really have to optimise your affixes and is something you should only look into for min-maxing the endgame.
Mag Build
One word, DEX.
So, yeah, make a pure DEX mag.
Why? Because Phantom has a skill called Phantom Mag that transfers 100% of the dex stat on your mag to all 3 attack types.
So really, if you want to main Phantom, there is no reason not to go for a DEX mag.
As for Photon Blast, I would recommend:
The PP regeneration it provides is rather useful for a Phantom who would be chaining PAs to PAs, which can be quite taxing on your PP.
Another option are the photon blasts that gather enemies, specifically:
Julius Nifta
In ep 6 specifically, some enemies have very high movement speed, and while you can chase them with katana PAs, a photon blast to gather them all up within slicing range is always nice.
But more to the point, it gathers and stuns enemies, and you can get a quick cut off on a huge group of enemies, getting back a ton of PP.
A Katana Phantom is usually very PP hungry compared to rifle or rod phantoms, so having an option in the photon blast for pp gain is good.
Phantom Katana Photon Arts
Like the other successor (Scion in NA) classes, Phantom starts with every Photon Art available, which cannot go above level 1 and you can not learn new PAs.
Due to the way the Phantom uses photon arts, the way I would describe their fighting style is ‘weaving in and out of combat’. Picture the term ‘Hit and Run’ in your head, and you might get an idea of what I mean.
In this section, I will cover the 4 Katana Photon Arts available (8 if you count their alternate forms) and how I would recommend they be used in combat.
*Once again, this might be confusing without visual aid, so I’d recommend using the link[docs.google.com] at the intro section for google doc version.
FolterZeit
This PA locks you in place as you perform a combination slash against the enemy in front of you. This is pretty good against bosses whose weak point is in front of you and you want to hit it without moving.
However, do be careful because you can get hit while performing this PA.
And of course, this PA’s fatal weakness is that it’s not very good against very mobile bosses that move or teleport a lot, you’d be better off using other PAs for more consistent results in that case.
Folterzeit (Alternate PA)
Stab the enemy before immediately pulling out and dashing backwards.
This PA is pretty good for immediately getting out of a sticky situation as it activates relatively quickly and allows you to instantly create space between you and your enemy.
In essence, a pretty good escape PA.
Wolkenkratzer
You slam into the ground with your katana.
This PA had the potential to be a primary mob clearing attack as it covers a decent range….But alas, it is not.
This PA is basically only good to start off a combo against mobs, before you start chaining into other PAs. Try dodging right as you slam for safety due to end lag.
The activation time and end lag of the move, while still rather minimal compared to some other classes, pales in comparison to other PAs in the phantom’s kit…Not to mention many other PAs within said kit can also do crowd control.
For mobbing I’d generally recommend chaining quick cut and schmetterling (more info below on this list).
Wolkenkratzer (Alternate PA)
Perform a quick kick downwards.
This move deals decent single target damage, and its activation is very quick. This makes it ideal as the Photon Art to use when chaining into other PAs, especially against bosses.
It is also a mid-range projectile, fired from your kick. As it is at a downward angle, it doesn’t travel terribly far, but can be useful.
RosenSchwert
A stab performed after dashing forward.
Although it has a slightly long start-up animation, this PA is pretty good for closing the distance between you and a distant enemy.
Decent damage too, and can usually hit multiple enemies.
RosenSchwert (Alternate PA)
A forward slash that leaves behind a remnant that damages enemies still in it (Damage over Time effect, aka DoT damage).
One of my personal favourites for bosses and mobs alike, this skill deals decent damage while also leaving a remnant of the slash that deals damage to enemies still left alive that are in contact with it.
Quick to activate, making it a decent choice when chaining PAs.
Only one slash remnant made by you can be present on the field at once and it fades over time.
One way to use this skill is to leave the slash on the boss while chaining other PAs, before coming back to this to refresh the slash remnant to keep up DoT damage.
Schmetterling
A combo of kicks and slashes towards a nearby enemy.
At the start of this PA, you will automatically float towards/approach the nearest/locked on enemy before activating a short combo of slashes and a kick. You can also adjust your positioning slightly after the combo has started.
This is my favourite combo starter on the Phantom, as it deals decent damage for how long the animation lasts and you can reposition slightly as it is ongoing.
Schmetterling (Alternate PA)
Slide around/through enemies while covering yourself in slashes.
This is the PA I use the most, no question.
It is good for traversal in the midst of combat because you can slide through enemies. You can use it to reposition yourself by sliding in any direction you want, go from the front of an enemy to the back to hit a weak point, or even just using it to escape in a direction away from the enemy’s attack.
It is a vital tool in the Katana Phantom’s moveset as the ‘weave in and out’ style of combat requires constant repositioning, movement and dodging.
This can be used as an escape PA, a distance closing PA, a repositioning PA, a chaining PA, a mobbing PA…It is probably the most versatile katana phantom PA available.
For reference, it costs 20 pp to use this alternate schmetterling, and quick cut can heal 20 pp for you, making this your go-to PA for mobbing due to its PP efficiency.
None.
Why? Because one of the best things about the Katana Phantom’s fighting style of weaving in and out of combat is how versatile it is.
Every PA can reasonably combo into any other PA for Katana Phantom.
Due to how the central gimmick (the dodge slash weapon action) works, as well as how the quick cut skill augments it will easily allow you to combo from PA to alternate PA to another PA over and over.
That being said, this wouldn’t be much of a guide if I just left you hanging, yes? So I will list some common combinations (that I often find myself using).
Folter -> Folter -> Normal Attack Combo (Repeat)
Generally what you would use against more stationary bosses, you would use Folterzeit PA for damage before using normal attacks to regain PP.
Schmetterling -> Quick Cut -> (Optional) Wolkenkratzer (Alternate) -> Quick Cut -> Rosenschwert (Alternate) -> Quick Cut -> Schmetterling (Alternate)
One of my more all-purpose combos for bosses with schmetterling used as an opening, followed by wolkenkratzer alternate (Due to how fast it comes out, but i put it as optional if it doesn’t seem useful for the situation), followed by Rosen Alternate in order to leave behind the slash remnant, putting a DoT effect on the boss, ending off with an alternate Schmetterling to escape away/pass through the boss and prepare for another combo.
Rosenschwert -> QC (Quick cut) -> (Optional) Wolkenkratzer (Alternate) -> QC -> Rosenschwert (Alternate) -> Quick Cut -> Folterzeit (Alternate) or Schmetterling (Alternate)
The good old ‘in-and-out’ style, Which starts with you rushing in with a stab, followed by an optional Wolkenkratzer if the situation seems like it would allow you to get in that extra attack, followed by an alternate Rosen which leaves behind DoT for damage against a boss or mob, followed by getting the hell out of dodge with an alternate Folterzeit. If the situation goes that backpedalling isn’t going to work out, substitute that last one with an alternate Schmetterling to slip past the boss or around it to avoid attacks or reposition.
Those are just 3 examples. Feel free to experiment and find a combo that works for you!
There may be combinations that I do not know of that perhaps deal more damage or are safer to execute.
Now then, some might be interested in a Phantom’s means of traversal that isn’t just running from place to place. Just about every class has some form of travel PA or technique, after all.
Well, even as a Katana Phantom, I recommend you keep a rifle handy because Phantom has a rifle PA that is simply amazing for travel. I’d say it’s one of the best traversal PAs in the game. (Subjective Opinion)
The Alternate PA for the Phantom rifle known as Nachtangriff lets you run freely in any direction as you hold down the button, and you can even jump and double jump while running! Very PP intensive, though.
Recommended Equipment
L/Rings
Phantom has 3 specific L rings that you can choose from, that being:
If a Photon Arts is used during Phantom Step, it becomes an shift (alternate) PA.
Phantom Step = the phantom dodge.
Whether or not you decide to use this ring will depend on how you want to start your combos after dodging. If there is a specific alternate PA you believe would make a good combo starter rather than the normal version of the Phantom PAs, this ring is for you.
Marker detonation occurs at the location where the Phantom Marker was placed.
The marker likes to shift position a lot depending on what part of a boss you attack, and using this ring will allow you to better control where you want the marker to detonate.
Marker detonation occurs on the locked-on location.
Marker detonation occurs at the location you are currently locked-on to.
The marker likes to shift position a lot depending on what part of a boss you attack, and using this ring will allow you to better control where you want the marker to detonate.
This will detonate the market where you are locked-on to, no matter where the market is on the enemy.
Personally, I would recommend the lock-on bomb of the two.
I like using the basic forms of the PA to start combos rather than starting out as an alternate PA, and I find being able to decide where the marker will detonate anytime by locking on to a specific part of an enemy to be rather useful.
Other L/Rings
Should you decide to pass on these rings, any other generic ring such as Atomizer Lover will do just fine, anything that gels well with your playstyle.
Bosses later on in the game can KO players easily, especially on Ultra Hard difficulty, so atomizer lover or anything that speeds up healing/revives isn’t a bad choice by any means.
R/Rings
Displays the emblem of your class on your right hand.
This ring, at level 20, reduces damage taken by 3%, and grants a critical rate increase of 10%.
Generally, going for the effort symbol for that specific class you are running is a solid choice anytime.
Increases critical hit rate and damage.
A combination ring that increases your critical hit rate and damage across the board.
Phantoms benefit from increased critical rate and damage from their maximum PP, so really, anything that adds on to the crit rate and damage gels quite well with a Phantom Build.
If you’re playing as a successor(scion) class, the Phantom, chances are you already have access to AT LEAST 13* weapons, so I won’t be covering 12* and below much.
After all, you can get 13* Katanas from the Collection Folder, and the easiest one is just run like, 3 or so Urgent Quests.
At the time of Phantom’s Release, the Novel series of weapons become available to get from the badge exchange for Rising Badge 5. Trust me, get the NOVEL KATANA.
You will need to grind this to 35 in preparation for a Liberate Katana, which is one of the best endgame katanas even to this day on JP.
Honestly?
If you can get your hands on *13 units, you’re pretty much set.
By the time you are running a successor(Scion) class like Phantom, you’ll want to have at least an *12 set of units to hold you over until you can get a *13 set.
Right now, the Schvelle set is all the rage, but this might change as more come out.
Considering some were given out for free during the Thanksgiving Event 2020, they should be relatively cheap on the player store.
Using Phantom as a Sub-Class
I don’t intend to cover this section in much depth as I prefer playing Phantom as a main class, but I must admit that a Phantom makes an amazingly good subclass for certain other classes, and is a valid reason many decide to level the Phantom class.
Phantoms work well with the Braver and Bouncer class (Naturally, as it has a lot of PP boosting skills and is very DEX focused), so if you plan on running either of those two classes and want an extremely solid subclass, consider levelling your Phantom.
If you want a bit more clarification, then here you go :
Bouncers
BoPh is powerful as it is because it gives Bouncer a total of 225% active gear generation for JBs and 150% for SBs/DBs.
It has the fastest rotations period for Bouncer and the lack of damage tied to PrA(Perfect Attacks) like Fury Stance allows you faster rotational freedom.
It also gives tech multipliers allowing you to weave damaging techs into your JB rotations.
Bravers
I’ll keep this one simple, you get a bonus to gear gain & your counters are more damaging.
Final Notes
I just really like the Phantom class, and I wanted to share this love with the rest of you would-be Katana Phantoms. I said so at the start of this guide, but I was rather overwhelmed when I first started playing Phantom as a main class, and I hope that this guide was helpful to you in any way at all.
I’m most likely not the most meta gamer out there for any game, let alone for PSO2, and a lot of this guide has been from my own experience as a Phantom main. If you think that makes it unreliable, then, well, I’m sorry I couldn’t meet your expectations. Hell, I’m sure some of you reading this will one day be a better Katana phantom than I am, and that’s a good thing, I’d say.
I wanted to extend special thanks to my (NA) Alliance Officer and friend Mighty, who took a look at my guide as someone new who started on the NA server and doesn’t know much about Phantom when I wrote this, giving me advice from the perspective of a complete newcomer.
As well as the ARKS-Layer team for their feedback when I first submitted the guide, it helped me pinpoint problems with it and rectify them to make this guide better for all of you guys.
(Unfortunately it didn’t pass their strict test criteria for guides on their server, but I still believe this guide can be of some help to people so I’ve decided to release it independently)
Oh and, if you actually read the STEAM version of the guide without the visual aid from the Google Doc and actually understood it, I tip my hat to you, good sir/madam, because that is simply amazing.
I hope that this guide was helpful, or that it was at least somewhat informative and helps you become a better Katana Phantom!
Thank you for reading!