🧭 How Gear Progression Works in NGS (Quick Mental Model)
NGS gear is not like old MMOs where you grind one legendary for six months. It’s more like a ladder:
- Starter / catch-up gear to get you through early regions
- Midgame series that you enhance and augment seriously
- High-rarity endgame series with stronger potentials
- Optional ultra-rare chase weapons that are BiS but not required
The key idea is:
You don’t fully invest in every step.
You lightly upgrade the early steps, then go hard when you land on a series you’ll use for a while.
Community gearing advice in 2025 keeps repeating this exact philosophy: take the free/campaign gear, use it to reach higher content, then commit to a current series instead of over-enhancing old drops.
⚔️ Weapon Basics You MUST Understand Before Choosing a Series
Before we talk “best weapons,” you need to know what actually makes a weapon good in NGS.
1) Rarity (★)
Higher rarity weapons almost always have better base stats and stronger potentials. New content is tuned around the newest series, so older ones fall behind. Players on the NGS wiki and community threads confirm that newer high-rarity series outperform older ones in current difficulty tiers.
2) Enhancement Level
Enhancing boosts your raw attack and unlocks more augment slots. This is a huge part of your real power and Battle Power.
3) Potential
Potentials are the “hidden” power multipliers on every series. Unlocking and leveling them is often bigger than a few enhancement levels. For example, current high-rarity series like Akroselio have potentials that significantly increase potency and Photon Blast gains.
4) Fixa
Fixa is a bonus stat roll. Some fixa types are massive power jumps. A weapon with a good fixa can be worth more than the same weapon without one.
5) Augments
Augments turn a “fine weapon” into a nasty weapon. Even basic augments matter, and fully-slotted high-rarity gear is where endgame damage comes from.
🌱 Stage 1 Weapons — What Beginners Should Use (Early Game)
When you’re fresh or returning, your goal is not to chase BiS. Your goal is to reach a comfy BP and unlock higher-rank sectors.
Use Catch-Up / Campaign / Seasonal Weapons
In 2025, seasonal shops and step-up campaigns regularly hand out “ready-to-go” weapons with good enhancement and potentials. The community widely recommends picking these up because they’re basically free power meant to bridge you into midgame.
A perfect example is the Exelio series, which shows up in seasonal shops as a full limit-broken, high-potential starter weapon line. Exelio weapons are level-gated for mid-level players and cover all class weapon types.
Beginner rule:
- Equip the best seasonal/campaign weapon you can get.
- Enhance it a little if needed.
- Don’t dump big Meseta into it yet.
Why? Because you’ll replace it the moment you step into true midgame.
⚙️ Stage 2 Weapons — Your First “Real Investment” Series
After you’ve cleared early regions and your BP is stable, you want a weapon you’ll keep for a while. In 2025, there are two realistic “midgame to high-midgame” paths most players use:
Path A: Upgrade into a Current Craft/Exchange Series
NGS runs upgrade paths where an older high-rarity series can be converted into a stronger one. For example, Tri Selio → Akroselio, which upgrades an 11★ line into a 12★ line with better parameters and a stronger potential.
This matters because:
- You don’t have to start from scratch.
- You can move forward with a clean upgrade route.
- It keeps you aligned with the game’s intended gear ladder.
Path B: Use High-Quality Seasonal Gear Until You’re Ready
Some seasonal weapons (like Exelio) are so strong out of the box that they can carry you into later content before you need to swap. The community notes Exelio seasonal weapons often come already limit-broken with high-level potentials and useful EX augments, making them ideal “hold-overs.”
Midgame rule:
Pick one strong current series and commit.
That’s your first real Meseta sink.
What “commit” means:
- Enhance it high enough to unlock full slots
- Level the potential
- Put real augments on it
- Keep it as your main weapon for the phase
🏆 Stage 3 Weapons — Endgame Series You’ll See in 2025
Once you’re in late game and doing high-rank sectors, your next upgrades are about high-rarity 12★ series that define endgame comfort.
Akroselio (12★ Upgrade Line)
Akroselio is a major 12★ step that comes from upgrading an earlier 11★ line and includes a strong potential designed for high-level play.
Why players like it:
- Strong baseline stats
- Good potential scaling
- Clear, intended upgrade route
- Great “mainstay” weapon to fully augment
If you want a realistic endgame weapon without relying on insane RNG, this is one of the most stable targets.
Twaalv (Ultra-Rare 12★ Chase Series)
Twaalv weapons are considered a top-end chase line in 2025, but they’re extremely rare, often tied to specific high-rank drops or urgent content. Community discussion calls them ultra-rare BiS, but not something you should expect to get quickly.
So treat Twaalv like:
- “If I get it, sick.”
- Not “I can’t play endgame without it.”
Endgame rule:
Use a reliable 12★ series as your base.
Chase ultra-rare weapons only if you enjoy RNG hunting.
🛡️ Units (Armor) — The Other Half of Your Damage
Weapons get all the attention, but in NGS, units are huge.
Your units affect:
- Tankiness
- BP
- Potency (yes, armor contributes to damage)
- Overall comfort in high-rank content
The modern unit list includes multiple high-rarity sets, and current discussions point to Ektasis-line units as realistic BiS targets for players who want strong endgame armor.
How to Choose Units at Each Stage
Beginner Units
Use seasonal/campaign units.
Don’t overthink resist types early.
You mainly need:
- Enough defense to not pop instantly
- Enough BP to pass gates
Midgame Units
Move into a coherent high-rarity set.
People often use upgraded seasonal sets here.
Important: enhance them to unlock slots.
Endgame Units
Aim for:
- A high-rarity modern set (Ektasis-line or current equivalent)
- Fully enhanced
- Fully augmented
Even players debating potency differences agree that the real value is:
don’t invest heavy augments in outdated units. Put your best capsules on the modern set you plan to keep.
There are also newer high-rarity unit releases in 2025 (like Prograde-line units) that push potency higher, so always upgrade into the current tier when you’re ready.
🔧 Enhancement Strategy That Saves You Millions
Here’s the smart enhancement mindset that vets follow.
Enhance in Layers
- Layer 1 (Early game): enhance just enough to clear smoothly
- Layer 2 (Midgame series): enhance hard because you’ll keep it
- Layer 3 (Endgame): max out for full slots and BP
If you max every early weapon, you go broke forever.
Potential First, Then Crazy Enhancements
Potentials are massive multipliers.
A weapon with a leveled potential often feels stronger than a higher-enhanced weapon without it. This is why Akroselio-type potentials are so emphasized.
Use Ability Transfer to Protect Your Investment
NGS introduced a system that lets you transfer all abilities (augments, EX abilities, even empty slots) between items regardless of series type, using transfer passes.
Why this is game-changing:
- You can upgrade series without losing your best augments
- You don’t need to re-build from scratch every patch
- It makes investing in one good set way safer
So when you finally build a strong augment layout, you can carry it forward.
🧪 Augments — Simple Gear Power Without Spreadsheet Pain
Augments are where your power becomes real. Community endgame gearing replies in 2025 basically boil down to:
a modern weapon + modern units + good augments = huge damage.
Beginner Augments
Fill slots with:
- Damage type potency (melee/ranged/tech)
- A bit of HP or defense
- Maybe some PP comfort
Main focus is filling empty slots.
Midgame Augments
Start choosing synergy:
- Bigger potency capsules
- Potency floor (helps consistency)
- Survivability augments on units
Endgame Augments
Now you’re hunting:
- High-tier potency combos
- EX augments
- Fixa-friendly selections
- Layouts that match your class build
No need to copy a meta list blindly.
Just remember: potency + comfort = your personal best build.
🌀 Multi-Weapon — When It’s Worth Doing
Multi-weapon lets you combine two weapons into one slot so you can swap Photon Arts without switching gear. It’s amazing for certain class setups and playstyles.
When it’s worth it:
- You actively use two weapons in your rotation
- Your class skills reward weapon swapping
- You want a smoother flow in combat sectors or bosses
When it’s NOT worth it:
- You’re new and still learning one weapon
- You’re broke and can’t afford extra augments
- Your second weapon is just “for looks”
Multi-weapon is a mid-to-late game luxury, not a beginner requirement.
✅ The “Best Gear Path” Roadmap (Simple Version)
Here’s the clean path that works for almost everyone in 2025:
Step 1: Grab seasonal/campaign gear
- Exelio-type weapons and starter units
- Enhance lightly
- Do story + sectors
Step 2: Pick your first real midgame series
- Upgrade path series like Akroselio
- Or a strong current exchange series
- Enhance seriously
- Level potential
- Add real augments
Step 3: Upgrade units into a modern set
- Ektasis-line / modern high-rarity units
- Enhance for slots
- Add strong augments
Step 4: Endgame improvements
- Chase Twaalv only if you like the hunt
- Perfect your augment layout
- Use ability transfer to move builds forward
⚠️ Biggest Gear Mistakes (Please Don’t Do These)
1) Maxing starter weapons
They get replaced fast.
2) Augmenting outdated units
Put your best capsules on gear you’ll keep.
3) Ignoring potentials
You’re skipping a huge multiplier.
4) Chasing ultra-rare BiS too early
You don’t need Twaalv to be strong.
5) Enhancing units last
Units are a big BP and survivability source.
Avoid these and your progression feels smooth instead of painful.
🚀 Optional Shortcut Help
Some players love the grind. Some don’t. If you ever want to push gear faster, a service marketplace like BoostRoom can help with:
- Farming specific series materials
- High-rank content clears for upgrade resources
- Helping you reach the gear tier you want without weeks of RNG
Totally optional — just there when you want a time-save.
Conclusion
In PSO2 NGS, “best weapons and gear” isn’t one fixed list. It’s a progression ladder. In 2025 the smart path looks like:
- Use seasonal/catch-up gear early (Exelio-type weapons and starter units).
- Commit to a current 12★ series for your first real investment (Akroselio-tier or similar).
- Upgrade into modern units (Ektasis-line / current high-rarity sets).
- Build strong augments and carry them forward with ability transfer.
- Treat ultra-rare drops like Twaalv as a bonus, not a requirement.
Do that, and you’ll always feel strong for your stage of the game, without wasting Meseta on dead-end upgrades. The game stays fun, your BP rises naturally, and your build grows with you instead of fighting you.
