So you like to play PvE content, eh? Ready to hop in and show other people your skills with smacking the AI around?

Hold on there, mate. In certain situations, some of your usual strategies might cause more trouble than they're worth. We all know how annoying it is to nail a target with a high damage ultimate attack, only for AI teammates to decide that's a good time to knock them away, causing it to merely graze them. Indeed, this may be part of the reason people prefer to solo things!

We'll be going over some things you can do to minimize headache for everyone playing, and maybe feel like a badass team in the process. But first...

Synergy (Syn-er-gy):
noun: The interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

In the context of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, synergy in PvE content is generally playing in a way that is helpful to other players and their playstyles. Done right, all players will be able to maximize the overall damage output on the enemies while minimizing the frustrations involved with multiple players attacking one target.

The strategies to use for this depend on everyone's playstyle, who the AI has targeted, and how many enemies you are fighting. Through this guide, We will be going with the assumption that your team is consisting of 3 members, but two players can easily be just as effective of a team. Let's move right into this with...

While there are countless different builds and skills in Xenoverse 2, typically there are 4 playstyles that you'll encounter in PvE content, listed below.

Brawler
Close combat specialists. These players like to get up close and personal with the enemies. You'll usually see them beating the snot out of the enemy using a combination of Basic Attacks and Super Attacks. Most brawlers will use skills that allow them to extend their combos and stay close, even when the enemy is knocked back. They've got to reserve their stamina for vanishing out of enemy combos, after all.

Most brawlers will max out their basic attack and stamina stats and also put points into some sort of super skill damage, so they can double as strikers or blasters if needed. Others opt to dump extra points in health to survive longer in a tanking role, but brawlers in general usually don't have a high max ki, as all the basic attacks generate a lot of it, so they rarely want for more.

Blaster
While these players don't mind beating the snot out of their enemies when the situation calls for it, they'd prefer to hang back a little ways and hit the enemy with Ki Blasts and Ki Blast Ultimate Attacks. Being what they are, these attacks have among the highest damage output in the game and have very long range, but can be very slow to fire. Late game AI love to punish such players by breaking their stamina in the middle of an Ultimate Attack, leaving them unable to vanish from combos or boost away from heavily damaging attacks. These players will usually focus most of their efforts on getting enough KI for their ultimate attacks.

As such, these players will usually dump points into Ki Blast Damage and Max Ki. They become a Blaster/Brawler if they like to get their ki through basic attacks and dumping points into Basic Damage.

Striker
Similar to Blasters, these players prefer to use Ultimate Attacks as often as possible. However, most Strike Ultimates have very quick startups and don't leave the user vulnerable to stamina breaking for very long. The tradeoff is that their range is usually quite short, and the damage somewhat lower than most Ki Blast Ultimates. These players will usually be alongside Brawlers if they are present, getting in close to ensure their Ultimate Attacks connect.

These players usually dump points into Strike Damage and Stamina and/or Max Ki. A lot of strikers also put points into basic attack, becoming a Striker/Brawler.

Support
A rare breed of player, these players will either use a multitude of buffs to make themselves very difficult to knock out and then make themselves the center of attention for as many enemies as they can with taunts, or they'll do their best to heal their allies and keep friendly AI from getting knocked out. The game, sadly, does not reward these players sufficiently for their efforts, so they are usually only playing this way for a break from the other three styles, for fun.

Dedicated support players tend to put points into Health, Stamina, and Max Ki, but as there are few dedicated support players, most use their stats from their damaging playstyle.

Given that support players are both rare and usually statted for one of the other playstyles, we'll focus on the first three in this guide. I do salute you dedicated support players out there for your tenacity to continue to play a style that is under-rewarded


Now that we know the kinds of playstyles we'll be dealing with, we can begin to focus on the situations and strategies we can use to work together effectively.

Generally, most Parallel Quests will begin with 2 to 3 enemies versus your team. It is difficult during this time for multiple players to attack one enemy, as an AI that is locked on to a player is very aggressive towards them while they are not locked onto that AI. This is one of those times that Blaster types will have to use close combat, otherwise they will likely end up getting stamina broken.

Against 3 AI, your team will have the least frustrating time if you all fight your own enemy. This ensures that you're not getting in the way of each other's attacks or inadvertently causing an AI to knock two players around at once.

Upon the PQ starting, the AI will usually target the player closest to them. This often results in one player having all three AI target them at the same time to start with, but once your teammates join the fray, those AI you are not targeting will usually switch targets and you'll be in a 1v1 situation against your target. This is an ideal situation. Targeting the AI that has you targeted reduces troubles with any lag and allows you to effectively attack and dodge them.

If you find yourself with two or more AI targeting you, don't fret. Most of the AI are kind enough to allow you to fight your target one on one. If the AI is one of the ones that doesn't care about that, then you are in a troublesome situation where your best bet is to alternate throwing the two AI targeting you to minimize your damage taken until a teammate can distract of one of them.

With the above said, if there are three AI and you find yourself not being targeted, one of your teammates is at least in a 1v2 situation. You should find which teammate that is and go help them!

In PQs with a VIP AI on your team, They will also be targeting an enemy. These VIP AI will usually cause the mission to fail if they get knocked out, so if you're not being targeted, check if any of your teammates are in a 1v2 first. If they're both in 1v1 situations, go help the AI with their enemy, but be aware that AI teammates love to knock enemies away, and have no hesitation at flying straight into an enemy ultimate attack in a vain attempt to punch them.

Tip: Don't get tunnel vision! If the enemy you have been fighting targets someone else, but another AI is targeting you, it is generally a good idea to switch targets. Chasing a single enemy relentlessly doesn't work when the other AI comes up behind you constantly comboing and knocking you away.

So you managed to knock out your target, but your teammates are still fighting? That probably means you're not being targeted. Now is a good time to take a moment to charge your ki and buff up before moving to help your teammates. If you're low on stamina, land on the ground and stand still to get it back faster, unless you've only got a sliver left, in which case it's faster to self-break by boosting around for a few seconds. If you're using Rise to Action, that is an alternative.

... They're still fighting?

Now is the time to assess a few things. In order of importance:

• Is one of your teammates at critical health?
  If your teammate is low on health, they're having a tough time. They'd probably appreciate if you came over to back them up, or even take aggro for a minute so they have time to heal with a capsule, if they have one.
  
  
• Is one of your teammates out of stamina?
  There's no bar for you to look at for this, but if a teammate is losing a lot of health very rapidly, or you look at them and see that they're getting the snot beaten out of them and not vanishing, then the answer is probably yes. Chances are, they'd appreciate you interrupting the combo they're stuck in so they can regain their footing.
  
  
• Which enemy has more health?
  If neither teammate is in trouble, then you can make the choice. You can help a teammate finish off the lower health enemy, or you can assist the other with the higher health enemy so that it'll have less health for the...

There's only 1 enemy remaining versus your whole team. This is where it becomes a bit tricky to avoid getting in each others way and interrupting things, but we'll go over some strategies you can use to not step on each others toes as much. These apply to any situation where you're attacking the same enemy as someone else.

Brawler types:
You need to take into account that the ultimate attacks of the Striker and Blaster types do lots of damage very quickly, whereas Brawlers do a slower, but more steady amount of damage.

Your job here is to distract the enemy and keep them from being able to dodge the ultimate attacks from Blasters and Strikers, and to attempt to catch them back in another combo after their ultimates launch the enemy. You do have to be careful about your attacks, because an accidental hit on the enemy while they are getting hit by an ultimate can cause them to get knocked out of it prematurely, reducing the ultimate's damage by a whole lot. Remember that your teammates are using up 3 or more ki bars to use these skills. So listen carefully for Blasters firing attacks, and watch Striker teammates for when they try to initiate theirs. Once an ultimate connects, move downrange and wait for the attack to launch the enemy towards you, then catch them in a fresh combo.

In the event that there are two Brawler types in your team, it might be tempting to both hit the enemy together. However, when doing so, the game has a tendency to end one player's combo early as the enemy gets moved far away enough for one of your hits to whiff. However, you can take advantage of the fact that the AI cannot vanish from players it is not targeting. This means that you are free to stamina break the enemy with little risk if their target is out of range, or even have the targeted brawler float a little distance away while the other brawler beats up the AI as if it had no stamina at all, trading off as it switches targets.

Striker types:
Chances are you're up there beating the snot out of the enemy with the brawlers, but your ultimate attacks can do quick bursts of damage to the enemy. Brawlers tend to have some sort of move that makes the enemy heavily stagger. Indeed, Brawlers might even abuse that to extend their combos. This is also a good time to let loose with an ultimate attack if you notice the brawler is delaying their follow up combos. They might be trying to set you up with an easy hit, in such a case.


Blaster types:
This is the time where you have the most risk free usage of your ultimates, given that usually at least one other player will be distracting the enemy. A good place to be is behind your Brawler or Striker, in line with them and the enemy. This makes beam attacks easier to connect, and if you time it right you can catch the enemy in your ultimate off the knockback from a Striker's ultimate, causing massive damage in a very short time.

While Ki charging skills are useful here, keep in mind that if the AI targets you, charging your ki leaves you open, and firing ultimates risks a stamina break for you if the close quarters people get knocked away by a sudden evasive skill from the AI, or if they need to break away from combat for some reason.

Your teammate slipped up, and Goku got the better of them with a Super Kamehameha blast. They are now essentially out of the fight for now until they can be revived. Your first instinct would be to rush over and revive them, right? After all, AI teammates drop everything they're doing to come revive their fallen comrades...

Well, there are certain situations where this will get your whole team knocked out, causing you to fail the mission. Say it was a situation where not only did Goku get the better of that teammate, but Vegeta also got a lucky shot with a Big Bang Attack on your other teammate. You are now suddenly in a 1v2 situation. Don't forget that as a knocked out teammate, you can still provide minor buffs to nearby alive players. You're not 100% at a disadvantage at this point when your Saiyan buddy is giving you a damage buff and your Earthling buddy is giving you some slow Ki regen.

Granted, this situation is not a great one to be in, but it is salvegable, especially if one of your enemies is nearly knocked out themselves. Remember, a lot of the AI are practically gentlemen and will let you 1v1 your target all day. Rush to revive your teammates however, and you might just get taken out yourself by a double whammy ultimate from Goku and Vegeta.

If you can manage to knock out one of the enemies, then you are in a 1v1 situation again. Even if the other enemy is barely damaged, all you need to do at this point is make them waste their stamina enough for you to get off a successful stamina break. Kicking them away at this point means they usually have to fall all the way to the ground before they can recover, and if they still haven't recovered from the stamina break, they can't boost at you and have to settle for a slow fly. This gives you plenty of time to revive a teammate and bring the odds back in your favor.


If the situation is really bad and you need a teammate up immediately, here are some things to remember when reviving a teammate:

• You can move around in the revive zone and still progress the bar
  
• You can Block in the revive zone and still progress the bar
  
• You can use Evasive moves in the revive zone and still progress the bar (Super effective with Vanisher Guard!)
  
• You can use Super Guard in the revive zone and still progress the bar

Essentially, as long as you are not staggering from an attack, are locked onto your teammate, and within the revive zone, you can progress the revive bar. With some good defensive skills, you can revive a teammate even when you're under attack, but guarding can be hard when you can't see your enemy very well.

If a teammate gets knocked out and you see their super soul pop up as 'I really do love being immortal', then you are free to focus more on defending yourself than trying to revive them if needed. That super soul causes their revive bar to fill up slowly on it's own, so they'll get themselves up eventually, though with reduced health. This can be a lifesaver if they are one of two teammates down and you can't spare a moment to try and revive anyone due to Goku and Vegeta both trying to slap you around.

Thank you for reading my guide. I know it's a big wall of text, I might try to work some pictures into it later.

I hope this guide helps you and your teams have a more enjoyable experience in-game. While I wrote the guide for PvE, some of the teamwork can apply to PvP as well, such as effectively comboing off of each other when you outnumber the enemy.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment. If it fits in the guide, I'll add it to the respective place. And who knows, you might have taught me something new!

Feel free to rate up if you'd like to.