Gameplay
Players choose one of three classes - Hunter, Ranger or Force. Hunters are adept with close-range weapons such as sabers, two-handed swords, dual daggers, halberds, and are more suited for up-close and personal confrontations. Rangers are best at ranged combat and excel with weapons such as pistols, rifles, shotguns, and machine guns. Forces are the magic class of the game and are able to learn a variety of attack and support techniques.
There are three races in Phantasy Star Online: Human, Newman (bio-engineered 'elves'), and CASTs (androids). Each type of race have advantages and disadvantages, such as CASTs being physically stronger than the other two races, but unable to use techs (magic). Gender choice is also a factor, which slightly affects stats and can affect the types of techniques able to be learned.
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