Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis - Mining Rig Defense, Evolcoat Weapons, and new Vialto Armor

A new Urgent Quest was finally added to Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis with the August 18, 2021 update: Mining Rig Defense: Aelio. Players of base Phantasy Star Online 2 will recognize the format from the various Mining Base Defense Urgent Quests from that version of the game. The goal in this rendition of the familiar quest is to protect three color-coded towers from waves of enemy assault.

Similar to the existing Urgent Quests, Mining Rig Defense: Aelio occurs semi-randomly in rotation with the current Urgent Quests, appearing every 3 to 4 hours or so. So it may take some chance to be able to undertake this quest for the first time.

One key thing to note is that similar to other Urgent Quests, you'll be Ranked from B to S, this time depending on how efficiently you protect the towers. However, your reward items will not be affected by your ranking, which is nice because the quest can be difficult in pick-up groups and some of the rewards are worth going for. So even eeking out a B rank with one tower remaining can net you some good items.

PSO2: New Genesis - Mining Rig Defense tips and tricks

Unlike the Nex Vera or Pettas Vera quests, Mining Rig Defense requires a bit more team coordination, as the objective is to defense three locations rather than fight down one boss. The general progression is that the battle will progress in numbered Waves, with short gap periods in between. While New Genesis has so far been pretty lax about many playstyles being effective, the setup of this quest requires being able to do a decent amount of damage quickly and typically to multiple enemies instead of focusing on single-target dps. 

Classes with good range and area-of-effect damage will shine best here, as well as those with decent ability to regenerate PP easily. Rangers and Gunners with something like a Force Sub-class for PP Conversion and PP Recovery Boost is generally a good option. Those sticking with Melee Classes should use weapons like Wire Lances or Double Sabers over primarily single-target weapons such as Knuckles. Talis-using Forces or Techters or Bow-using Bravers might find some space as well.

While specific strategies used will depend on the group's skill and class composition, there are some general tips to help things go as smoothly as possible regardless of what sort of team setup you bring in (or end up with):

Assign Players to each Tower: This is easier said than done, and more difficult to do in random matchmaking, but you'll want to more or less evenly spread your team of 8 players amongst the three towers you need to defend. Each tower will see some enemies threatening it each wave, even if it doesn't seem like it right away. Having a group of enemies get through because all the players all balled up on one side is an avoidable mistake. Of course, some common sense applies here as well, such as breaking away from an assigned tower as the wave winds down and no more enemies are spawning in.  

Collect Blue Flowers between Waves: While this might be obvious to veteran PSO2 players, your team will want to collect as many Points as possible by picking up the blue Collectasigne flowers while waiting for the next wave. The points you earn here are used to Repair damaged towers, invoke a temporary Barrier Shield, or summon a pretty powerful Mobile Cannon.

Engage Enemies Early: If you manage to engage the enemies while they are still around the northern parts of the map, you can often pull their attention away from the towers before they ever get close. This requires some decent coordination and/or good mobility though, as it could leave the towers defenseless should a few enemies sneak through.

Don't Ignore Red Towers: An enemy tower called a Meldrum will appear in the back (far north) of the area in the later waves. After charging for about 20 seconds, it'll fire a very powerful attack and do major damage to the mining towers. These are very fragile and will die quickly, you just have to make sure not to ignore them, and don't go for a tower you already see an ally heading towards.

Use Barrier Shield in a Pinch: Provided you have the points stocked up, Barrier Shield is an immensely powerful tool that can protect a tower from a ton of damage. If a lot of enemies are spawned near a tower and weren't drawn away early, this could be an option to stall for time until help arrives.

PSO2: New Genesis - Mining Rig Defense New Weapons, Armor, and Augments

One main reason to pop into the Mining Rig Defense Urgent Quest is to get some items that can be tricky (or impossible) to earn anywhere else. Even if you don't need the items yourself, they can often be sold on the player shop for some decent return, especially the unique Augment Capsules. Of course, it's also possible to just pick up what you'd need from the Personal Shop for your own purposes as well.

Evolcoat Weapons

A new series of 4-star weapons have been introduced to the game with the Mining Rig Defense update. Evolcoat weapons are a powerful new series of weapons with a pretty high potency bonus with their unique Weapon Potential. These weapons can drop from the new Urgent Quest as well as from Enhanced Enemies -- the ones with a glowing red shield that you must destroy a glowing node on first in order to damage them. These should be a decently powerful option as a cheaper alternative to Straga weapons, trading 1% maximum potency bonus for no Damage Resist penalty. The extra charge speed on the Photon Blast is universally useful as well. 

Evolcoat Weapons have the 'Soulspring Unit' Weapon Potential

• Potency +20 / 22 / 25 / 26%
• Photon Blast Gauge Charge when attacking +20%

Vialto Armor: Arga, Belta, and Sheza

Up until now, the only named Armors were the trio of Qual de Armors available in Red Boxes or sold for pretty high prices on the Personal Shop. With the Mining Rig Defense update, a new trio of armors is now available. You'll earn them from the new Urgent Quest, and drops have also been reported from Enhanced Enemies here as well. These armors should find themselves to be much cheaper to find on the Personal Shop due to their relative abundance. They trade off the +4 PP from the Qual de Armor set for +25 HP and 1% Damage Resist instead, along with slightly different base Defense numbers. They also only raise each potency by 0.5% instead of 1%, making for a tankier option overall.

• HP +25
• Arga: Melee and Ranged Weapon Potency +0.5%
• Belta: Ranged and Technique Weapon Potency +0.5%
• Sheza: Melee and Technique Weapon Potency +0.5%

Ragras Soul Augment Capsules

The Ragras Soul Capsule is a new augment for Ranged damage that drops from the Mining Rig Defense UQ, specifically from the Destragras boss at the end. When combined with the Pettas Soul from the Command DOLLS Suppression Op Urgent Quest and Gigas Precision capsule options, players using ranged type weapons have a lot of options for boosting their damage numbers if they manage to get their hands on a rare tier III capsule drop. Again, note that your rank in the Urgent Quest does not affect your reward item chance. If you're not a Ranged player, they'll sell for a good amount on the Personal Shop if you can access it.

C/Ragras Soul I / II / III

• HP +15
• Ranged Weapon Potency +1 / 2 / 2.5%