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A beginners guide to grinding and getting rich on Ultima


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As we all know, one of the most fun and engaging aspects of this game is trading. The purpose of this guide if to detail how new players can acquire useful low level items and trade fodder. These are all quests that can be completed by players at any level. New players should not feel like they have to wait until reaching level 100+ before hunting useful drops to trade with others. Green names greatly help with many of these items, but are not required. If green names is not active, divide expected drops by 3. 

Photon Drops
ID: all IDs
Quest: Ultima -> Mysteries of the Void (normal ep2)
Drops from box found right before teleporting to spaceship beta
Drop affected by green names? - No

Recommend using techs (specifically rabarta and gifoie) box can be found by hitting the switch on the right side of the final room before the spaceship beta teleport (avoid the switch in the middle of room) and then leaving out the exit on the left side of the room. Use warp pads to reach and a handgun to destroy gate switch. Takes 5:30-7 minutes to reach depending on how strong techs are. This is the most reliable and efficient way to farm PDs until acquiring the gear and level needed to survive WOI. PD also drops 1 per player, so if you are starting out with a friend this quest is a much better use of time than doing forest or caves in ep1. (Bonus: farming on Skyly gives a 1/121 chance of dropping luck materials from barb wolfs)


Power materials
ID: greenill
Quest: Ultima-> Max Attack: Forest/TTF ultima (normal ep1)
Enemy: hildeblues
Drop affected by green names? Yes

With green names each run will yield ~9 power mats and takes between 3-4 minutes depending on how strong techs are. A strong enough Razonde will clear each room. Mind materials also drop from blue rappys in this quest (16 total rappy spawns in this quest). If you do not have access to strong techs yet (lvl15+) or are still struggling to kill forest enemies in 1 or 2 hits, TTF ultima would be a faster farming method. In room 1 kill the first Hilde then move to the second room to kill the boomas, then 7 Hilde spawns an 1 rappy before using the /Lobby command to exit and remake. This method takes 1-2 minutes no matter how strong the player is.

HP materials
ID: Bluefull, Oran
Quest: Ultima -> Wrath of Forest (normal ep1)
Enemy: blue rappys
Drop affected by green names? - Yes

With green names the first room of the quest will have ~3 each run. Takes less than a minute, but recommend running the quest until the first room of forest 2 to avoid burnout. Typically yields ~6 HP mats and will be able to mag feed each run

Mind materials
ID: several, see description
Quest: Ultima -> Max Attack: forest/Wrath of Forest (normal ep1)
Enemy: blue rappys
Drop affected by green names? - Yes

Recommend grinding in conjunction with power mats in the manner detailed above. Possible to run greenill wrath of forest instead of max attack forest as there's more rappys, but the quest takes much longer (~8 minutes). Also drops for IDs: Purplenum, Viridia, Skyly. These IDs should grind in the same manner as HP mats described above

Trigrinders
ID: bluefull
Quest: VR-> Max Attack 2 very 2 (normal ep2)
Enemy: hildeblue
Drop affected by green names? - Yes

After clearing the first room, run to the first maze and return to the first room to kill the 2 hildebear/blue spawns. Continue south through three maze rooms then turn right to reach a room with ~12 hildebear/blue spawns. Will yield ~6 trigrinders each run with green names and takes less than 2 minutes

Addslots
ID: redria
Quest: VR -> max attack 2 very 2 (normal ep2)
Enemy: Hildeblue, Nar Lily
Drop affected by green names? Yes

Same method described above for trigrinders.

Dragon scales
ID: all IDs
Quest: Ultima -> point of disaster (normal ep4)
Enemy: ep4 boss
Drop affected by green names? - Kind of

Quest takes less than 15 minutes to complete if follow the route describe here straight to the boss: http://www.pso-world.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=2349
If you're low level and wondering how to make the most of happy hour and/or green names, dragon scales go for 5-10pds and if you're a hunter they can be used to evolve your Kama to the best mag in the game and open up the fastest mag feeding table. Green names raises the chance of rare boss spawn which has a higher drop rate than usual, but Happy Hours affects this drop more than green names. Photon crystals also drop from rare monsters in this quest


Unsealing
Quest: Ultima -> intelligence defense system (normal ep1)

This quest was recently changed and now has slightly more enemies before the PD. Recommend running the quest until the PD box in the roof(found in room immediately after the baranz-on-an-island room). Takes ~8 minutes, ~450 enemies per run, PD drops 70% of the time in my experience. Would recommend running MotV instead for the guaranteed PD (~300 enemies per run), but if you're in a hurry to unseal, this quest is faster. Hunewearl is the queen of unsealing since she can equip every sealed item, and has access to techs.

Photon crystals
Quest: Ultima -> Maximum Attack U: Desert (normal ep4)
Enemy: rare enemies
ID: all IDs
Drop affected by green names? - Yes

"With a nuking FO, you can honestly just spam razonde in the middle of the room and it will kill 90% of the mobs in the quest. With green names, i'd average around 3-5 per run, but if you get lucky, you can see as many as 8 photon crystals in a single room. If you've ever farmed mats during green names, it's the same deal. Sometimes the room has 9 rares, other times the room only has 1 rare spawn." - special thanks to @Nills for the help.  The first half of M4ADMD has also been suggested and will be compared next time green names are turned on. These can either be traded, used to add hit to enemy weapons, or acquiring gear from black papper. See the following guides for help:

http://www.pso-world.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=2423

*Note: the undisputed champ of farming items on normal mode is FOnewm given his innate RA tech boost, so if you are looking to make a character just to farm these items as quickly as possible, this class would be the top choice. FOmar is also an option if you have Godricks cloak*


Exchange rates
Power mats 5:1pd
Hp mats 5:1 pd (these sell the fastest in my exp)
Mind mats 5:1 pd
Luck mats 1:1 pd
TP mats 1:1 pd
Trigrinders 7:1 pd
Photon crystals 5:1pd
Addslots 4:1 pd
Dragon scales 1:5 pds
Unsealing prices: negotiate with the person needing the unseal, typical prices are ~10pds for lames, 25 for SJS, 8 for Limiters or Swordsmans Lore

How to make the most of your time
Stacking multiple PD-earning tasks together is the most effective way to quickly reach a stack of PDs or even a photon Sphere. For example:

Agree to unseal a Lame - 10pds
Unseal a limiter to sell as an Adept - 15pds profit
Agree to raise a custom mag for another player - 30-40pds
Run MotV 33 times to unseal, mag feeding 2x per run - 33 pds (takes around 4 hours)
Total - ~90 pds

And with green names you can get a stack of 99 power mats (20pd value) in as little as an hour, not counting the mind mats dropped along the way.


Each class's top priority gear for beginners (most cost-effective weapons to spend your PDs/farmed items on):

Hunter: Ultima reaper (20-25pds) and/or crimson sword (~75pds). Serene swan for ranged (35-45pds, more with hit%)

Ranger: spread needle w/hit (50-100pds) with proof of sonic team (~50pds) or arrest needle with hit (100pds-20DTs). Acquiring a bringers rifle for episode 2 is also recommended (10-15pds)

Force: banana cannon (15-20pds), for techs: glide divine v00 or psycho wand (both ~15pds)

Units:
Limiters (5-10pds) and unsealing, or Adepts (20-25pds)
V101 (~5pds)
Centurion/battle (eventually** cause: 200pds)

 

There is no reason to be intimidated by the prices you see in shops or feel powerless when reaching ultimate mode without decent gear. It is much easier to grind on this server than elsewhere. Good luck! Any questions feel free to PM me 😊

Edited by jdhenry124
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17 minutes ago, jdhenry124 said:

The purpose of this guide if to detail how to acquire useful low level items and trade fodder. These are all quests that can be completed by players at any level. Green names greatly helps with many of these items, but is not required. If green names is not active, divide expected drops by 3. 

Power materials
ID: greenill
Quest: max attack forest (normal ep1)
Enemy: hildeblues

With green names each run will yield ~9 power mats and takes less between 2:30-4 minutes depending on how strong techs are. Mind materials also drop from blue rappys in this quest.

HP materials
ID: bluefull
Quest: wrath of forest (normal ep1)
Enemy: blue rappys

With green names the first room of the quest will have ~3 each run. Takes less than a minute, but recommend running the quest until the first room of forest 2 to avoid burnout. Typically yields ~6 HP mats and will be able to mag feed each run

Mind materials
Recommend grinding in conjunction with power mats in the manner detailed above. Possible to run greenill wrath of forest instead of max attack forest as there's more rappys, but the quest takes much longer (~8 minutes).

Trigrinders
ID: bluefull
Quest: VR->max attack 2 very 2 (normal ep2)
Enemy: hildeblue

After clearing the first room, run to the first maze and return to the first room to kill the 2 hildebear/blue spawns. Continue south through three maze rooms then turn right to reach a room with ~12 hildebear/blue spawns. Will yield ~6 trigrinders each run with green names and takes less than 2 minutes

Addslots
ID: redria
Quest: max attack 2 very 2 (normal ep2)
Enemy: hildeblue

Same method described above for trigrinders.

Dragon scales
ID: all IDs
Quest: point of disaster
Enemy: ep4 boss
Quest takes less than 15 minutes to complete if follow the route describe here straight to the boss: http://www.pso-world.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=2349
If you're low level and wondering show to make the most of happy hour and/or green names, dragon scales go for 5-10pds and if you're a hunter they can be used to evolve you Kama to the best mag in the game and open up the fastest mag feeding table.

Photon Drops
ID: all IDs
Quest: mysteries of the void (normal ep2)
Drops from box found right before teleporting to spaceship beta
Recommend using techs (specifically rabarta and gifoie) box can be found by hitting the switch on the right side of the final room (avoid the switch in the middle of room) and then leaving out the exit on the left side of the room. Takes 5:30-7 minutes to reach depending on how strong techs are. This is the most reliable and efficient way to farm PDs until acquiring the gear and level needed to survive WOI.

Unsealing
Quest: internal defense system (normal ep1)
This quest was recently changed and now has slightly more enemies before the PD. Recommend running the quest until the PD box in the roof(found in room immediately after the baranz-on-an-island room). Takes ~8 minutes, ~450 enemies per run, PD drops 70% of the time in my experience. Would recommend running MotV instead for the guaranteed PD (~300 enemies per run), but if you're in a hurry to unseal, this quest is faster.

Photon crystals
Quest: Maximum Attack U: Desert (normal ep4)
Enemy: rare enemies
"With a nuking FO, you can honestly just spam razonde in the middle of the room and it will kill 90% of the mobs in the quest. With green names, i'd average around 3-5 per run, but if you get lucky, you can see as many as 8 photon crystals in a single room. If you've ever farmed mats during green names, it's the same deal. Sometimes the room has 9 rares, other times the room only has 1 rare spawn." - special thanks to @Nills for the help


Top priority gear for each class (most cost-effective weapons to spend your PDs/farmed items on)

Hunter: Ultima reaper (20-25pds) and/or crimson sword (~75pds). Serene swan for ranged (35-45pds, more with hit%)

Ranger: spread needle w/hit (50-100pds) with proof of sonic team (~50pds) or arrest needle with hit (100pds-20DTs). Acquiring a bringers rifle for episode 2 is also recommended (10-15pds)

Force: banana cannon (15-20pds), for techs: glide divine v00 or psycho wand (both ~15pds)

Units:
Limiters (5-10pds) and unsealing, or Adepts (20-25pds)
V101 (~5pds)
Centurion/battle (eventually** cause: 200pds)

 

I'd also add for important Hunter/Ranger equips

Hunters - Hell Raygun with around 50 ish hit, Charge Gatlings, Vulcans with hit as well. Usually go for a few PD's and are pretty stronk up until Ultimate mode and somewhat viable even then.

Rangers - same things but also Frozen Shooter if not a cast so they can at least help people in ultimate runs by freezing enemies. Also charge Arms/Baranz Launcher isn't a bad investment either.

Can pay a few PD's each for all of that or farm Restless Lion.

Edited by Clappy
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2 minutes ago, Clappy said:

I'd also add for important Hunter/Ranger equips

Hunters - Hell Raygun with around 50 ish hit, Charge Gatlings, Vulcans with hit as well. Usually go for a few PD's and are pretty stronk up until Ultimate mode and somewhat viable even then.

Rangers - same things but also Frozen Shooter if not a cast so they can at least help people in ultimate runs by freezing enemies. Also charge Arms/Baranz Launcher isn't a bad investment either.

Can pay a few PD's each for all of that or farm Restless Lion.

I thought about adding frozen shooter, but it's such an easy drop I wouldn't even bother spending PDs on it. I also don't have any experience with restless lion, so I didn't know if it's something a beginner would be be able to complete.

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1 minute ago, jdhenry124 said:

I thought about adding frozen shooter, but it's such an easy drop I wouldn't even bother spending PDs on it. I also don't have any experience with restless lion, so I didn't know if it's something a beginner would be be able to complete.

That's all true. Though they can spend PD's on the other stuff since those equips are rather cheap and quite efficient for beginners. Most people would give most of all that stuff away anyway.

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5 hours ago, KSicat said:

What do you mean by green names?

When your name Is green In-game (when you enter the lobby), It means that experience Is 5x & monster spawn rate Is triplified :D [iirc, that Is..]

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Updated and finished (I think) the guide. If you have any feedback let me know, but again, this guide is to direct new players towards useful and tradeable items they can farm easily in normal mode.

Edit: I would like to add the most efficient and easy way to gain meseta. If anyone knows a certain quest on normal (any episode) that gives 100k+ meseta please comment and I will add.

Edited by jdhenry124
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6 hours ago, jdhenry124 said:

Updated and finished (I think) the guide. If you have any feedback let me know, but again, this guide is to direct new players towards useful and tradeable items they can farm easily in normal mode.

Edit: I would like to add the most efficient and easy way to gain meseta. If anyone knows a certain quest on normal (any episode) that gives 100k+ meseta please comment and I will add.

This is good stuff want me to link it to the Quick Start? 

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10 hours ago, killswitch said:

mind mat are same price as pow n hp mat.

I'll adjust the price in the guide, but I've seen them sold for cheaper rates far more often than 5:1. Probably because they are not as in demand as pow or HP. But as we get further and further removed from the last time green names were active that price will probably be standard again

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good start on some basic farming ideas for new players. Just a thought - there are other quests that people may prefer or that are more efficient for farming some of this stuff - might be cool to add a couple suggested quests rather than just one. For example - first room of TTFU is arguably more efficient in farming pow mats, and first half of MA4DMD arguably more efficient for farming PCs.

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On 8/23/2020 at 3:11 AM, jdhenry124 said:

Quest: internal defense system (normal ep1)

Intelligence Defense Systems.

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2 hours ago, RocketTots said:

good start on some basic farming ideas for new players. Just a thought - there are other quests that people may prefer or that are more efficient for farming some of this stuff - might be cool to add a couple suggested quests rather than just one. For example - first room of TTFU is arguably more efficient in farming pow mats, and first half of MA4DMD arguably more efficient for farming PCs.

I just checked TTFU to compare, and there is 1 hildebear/blue spawns in the first room, and 7 in the second, totaling 30-45 seconds vs the 32 spawns in max attack forest in a little over two minutes. I am using a max MST FO, but even still I don't see TTFU being more efficient considering the time it takes to lobby out and reloaded the room every 8 spawns. Players also miss out on mind mats dropped by blue rappys.

I don't know enough about MA4DMD, but I'll look into when I have time and compare it.

Also my goal is to give the most efficient farming method for each item, I want to keep it as brief as possible for new players. Rather than overload them with text/options

55 minutes ago, R-78 said:

Intelligence Defense Systems.

Fixed. Thanks

Edited by jdhenry124
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