Originally I played PSO on the GC offline. Last time I played was probably 15 years ago. Every now and then I get the urge to play again and I think it is because I never "beat" the game. My highest level character was maybe 116 and was a HUnewearl. My friend and I shared the save file so we had a couple more characters with different IDs for hunting items and occasionally split screen. We never made it past Mines in EP1 and VR Temple in EP2. Enemies hit too hard, I missed a lot (I did stack God/Arms and get whatever hit I could), many deaths were had.
So now I feel like playing again and have a goal in mind. Finish every episode on Ultimate. It isn't the loftiest goal but it means a lot to me because I haven't, conscientiously, looked at screenshots of the areas in their ultimate form. I was always hoping to make it there myself.
With that said, I was hoping for advice on what character to go with, section ID and weapons to hunt for to make the journey easier etc. I'm not attached to my HUnewearl since I just picked her because I was teenage boy. I did some light reading though and people recommend her or RAmarl for solo. Since it is 15 years later I have a job and a baby to take care of so doing groups seems like a bad idea because I could be called away at anytime. Also since I mostly played solo I think I'd like to finish it all by myself.
I was never a good hunter so I also don't know many of the mechanics of the game I think. My friend and I mostly concerned ourselves with looking cool. We used double sabers or twin swords for the most part and the last thing I remember doing was hunting Al Rappies for Sange which I did eventually get but didn't have a Yasha to pair it with. Generally understood the game but never made use of weapon specials I think. I'm probably missing a lot of knowledge on how to actually play the game aside from basic stuff.
So any and all advice is welcomed.