I think Meteor should have some work you have to put into it to make it one of your most powerful spells.
On the same note I have to say that the prices of spells have gotten way out of hand. Sure you can do Walk of Echoes, but there has to be a reason why everyone is charging so much: low droprate. Adding higher tier meritable spells would solve this and make merits more relevant than the outdated and (nearly) useless AM II spells. (However, since they are raising the merit cap, we may see the full potential of these spells, as most people put 5 levels into Freeze II and Burst II.)
We know S-E is going to be giving an overhaul to merits, so what should we be asking for in the Tier 3 merit category?