[dev1052] Group 1/Group 2 Merit Point refinements SCh edition

[Sotek]

Enlightenment should become 5 minutes with just 1/5 after the january patch where they'll fix group #2 merits.

Was referring to this, first I'm hearing of it. Damned amazing if they're actually going to do something with group 2 merits, Enlightenment is nothing more than an ability for applying Reraise for me at the moment. Only added effect I can imagine it getting with extra merits is lasting for extra spells, but that's questionable since I doubt they'd adjust the duration.

Oh snap, suddenly Argute Gown +2 has a purpose.

[Zhronne]

I use enlightenment for Reraise and occasional erase atm, but I suck at SCH so I wouldn't consider my way of doing things a term of paragon.
Anyway, you probably missed THIS post from Bayohne.

Basically a lot of the group#2 JAs are 20 or 15 mins JAs, getting more than 1/5 helps you reduce the cooldown from 20/15 mins to 10/5. Then there's another group of JAs who already have fixed recast timer and getting more merits increases the potency/effect of the JA. These ones are staying as they are, whereas the first ones are getting changed to work like the second group.
This means that stuff like Shikikoyo for SAM will be 5 mins with 1/5, but probably will transfer only 50tp, each additional merit adds up to 25tp to the max transferable amount.

This works very well for the original 15 jobs, a bit less for the ToAU and WotG jobs since they have kinda "special" group#2 merits... so I dunno what they'll do with Scholar, in my previous post I was wondering if they'll apply this new approach to these 5 new jobs or not (probably not?), but if they do then probably Enlightenment will become 5 mins with 1/5, and... and I dunno what they could ever do with additional merits tbh.

[Economizer]

I almost posted a new thread, as I was originally thinking of suggesting it as a new Stratagem, but adding it under Enlightenment / and two-hour fits a bit more for balance purposes unless it was another x2 stratagem cost stratagem.

Under two hour Scholar currently gets two more spells to use. Based on that, Scholar, much like Blue Mage, should get more spell access under Enlightenment then what they get currently. Now obviously, and sadly, being able to use Embrava under Enlightenment every ten minutes would defeat the purpose of its two hour restriction so no, that's not one of the spells. But the spells would be spells considered "too powerful" for Scholar to wield normally, and more to the point in game, would be things a Scholar wouldn't be able to learn due to lack of specialization, or lack of utility on the field.

List of suggested spells, only available to Scholars under Enlightenment or Tabula Rasa - a few of the suggestions might be a bit extreme or out of line, but this is just a baseline. Keep in mind that any spells that would be made compatible with certain stratagems would be compatible with /SCH as well (however, since Haste is an exception already, more exceptions can be allowed, so a spell added here wouldn't necessarily work with certain stratagems). The levels are also just a base suggestion.

• Sacrifice - 75
• Tractor - 76
• Phalanx - 77
• Haste - 80
• Warp - 81
• Drain II - 85
• Stun - 90
• Retrace - 91
• Freeze - 93
• Tornado - 94
• Quake - 95
• Flood - 96
• Burst - 97
• Flare - 98
• Comet - 99
• Cure V - 99

Personally, I'm not really sure about Comet. As per the ancient magic spells, aside from being procs, I think they could pull level 2 skillchains if used with Immanence if one of the other hundred suggestions about Immanence aren't implemented (for example, I've suggested that if you have a different weather spell up then the element of the spell you are casting, it could count as the second element for skillchain purposes).

Perhaps this idea wouldn't really work, but I got it stuck in my head when thinking about the game, and I think it would be a cool mechanic.

[Sotek]

Anyway, you probably missed THIS post from Bayohne.

I'm not sure if I'm happy with that, they're basically only changing merits with -recast on successive merits. Enlightenment being changed is great (I'm willing to bet it will last for extra spells with added merits), but they basically stamped a big "NO" on any sort of adjustment for those god awful Stratagems and Stormsurge. The merit Stratagems would actually be alright if they just reduced the stupid cost of them (and, like with Relic +2, bound like merits up into one option), why does Stormsurge have to be Scholars best merit option when it's nothing more than +7INT?

As for Enlightenment, having it last for extra spells would certainly be useful, but I'd still rather it just swap me to the opposite Arts, Addendum: Black to Addendum: White and so on. We have these things call Stratagems, they're fairly useful SE. If I'm in dire need of casting Paralyna or Erase from Addendum: Black, I'd benefit far more with Accession handy. I'm glad I only sunk one merit into Enlightenment (because as awful as the Stratagems are, I actually used Tabula Rasa before they added Embrava), I'll probably continue using it for nothing more than Reraise unless they surprise me and do something completely different with it (SE surprising me usually results in something like Lv.30 Helices).

If I was optimistic (again, Lv.30 Helices), I'd hope SE makes Enlightenment swap your Addendum for a set duration with added merits increasing the duration, or even keep it as lasting for 1~5 spells. Key point is it would grant us Stratagems should we need them. They're too lazy to copy the programming from Tabula Rasa that grants all the Arts bonuses with none of the penalties and paste it onto Enlightenment, I've no idea why but this would completely get around whatever brick wall they hit there, too.
Sadly, it's a good suggestion - one posted after the community reps have gone for the Holidays no less - so SE will never even consider it.

I almost posted a new thread, as I was originally thinking of suggesting it as a new Stratagem, but adding it under Enlightenment / and two-hour fits a bit more for balance purposes unless it was another x2 stratagem cost stratagem.

• Sacrifice - 75
• Tractor - 76
• Phalanx - 77
• Haste - 80
• Warp - 81
• Drain II - 85
• Stun - 90
• Retrace - 91
• Freeze - 93
• Tornado - 94
• Quake - 95
• Flood - 96
• Burst - 97
• Flare - 98
• Comet - 99
• Cure V - 99

This has been suggested before if my memory serves me correctly, well, a similar concept anyway.

Just a nit-pick, in bold are spells I think Scholar should have natively anyway (except Drain II, Black Mage doesn't even have that last I checked and if they do we have Aspir II now, so Drain II sure be purely native as well).

• Haste, we have it at Lv.5 with Embrava, we should have it natively too. Again, I'll never grow tired of saying this, it's almost flawlessly logical.
• Phalanx, why the hell not when we're already better than Red Mage with it, they just need to make Phalanx II not an abysmal waste of programming. I'd also throw Gravity in there despite it being a completely irrelevant spell, Red Mage has Gravity II after all (Cruel and tasteless joke or dead serious, you decide).
• Stun, because I see it as an earlier (and better) version of Break, if Black Mage has it, so should Scholar. Along with Blind, Bind, Bio, Bio II and all the White magic enfeebles, since White Mage has those.
• Sacrifice is a tactical spell if ever I saw one. Scholar should have got this, not White Mage. I'd throw in Auspice as well to be honest. They're both far more suited to Scholar than White Mage in my opinion.

[Economizer]

First, I know many of my Scholar ideas aren't original. Few are for Scholar. We just have to keep suggesting them and making them better and better. Personally, my most favorite suggestion currently is the one with different weather counting as a second element for Immanence (if its a balance issue, it could consume the weather spell too).

I disagree with Scholar getting Stun natively, unless Red Mage gets it first. Phalanx and Haste are spells that require you to sub something anyways, so basically it forces the Scholar to choose between Haste/Phalanx or Stun. Like a lot of these spells, others get better access because they actually have a greater understanding of their respective fields of magic, instead of just pulling it out of a book whenever you need it. The idea here is that Scholar would get many of these when they pull it out of a book once every ten or so minutes.

• Sacrifice is a tactical spell if ever I saw one. Scholar should have got this, not White Mage. I'd throw in Auspice as well to be honest. They're both far more suited to Scholar than White Mage in my opinion.

There is not a healing magic spell White Mage doesn't know, and Sacrifice works better under Afflatus Solace. That said, perhaps Scholars should get it natively under Add. White, especially since it isn't AoE, and being able to Accession it would help both classes. The only weird thing about it I'd think is how it would affect the caster given that it is other target only and not AoE.

On Auspice, it is an AoE, and was made exclusively for White Mage, and like Sacrifice, works better under Afflatus Misery (although not much since the nerf). If anything, Auspice should be a Divine Magic spell, but that's another point for me to add when I eventually compile a "revamp Afflatus stances" thread (spoiler: it is mostly going to be about Misery, with a side point of giving a weakened version of both to /WHM).

Scholar shouldn't get certain spells period, despite what many Scholars may think, but I think that having some they shouldn't have be time limited to ten minutes would allow for more interesting gameplay while keeping an eye towards class balance.

[Sonshou]

All those Strategems Merits should be roll into 1. Simply a waste of merit points to get them one by one and they're not particularly desirable.

Probally can add ability to copy buffs to party member like the empathy merit of DRG. number of buff transfer depend on merit level. Too bad if you transfer your SUblimation to a warrior.

[Zhronne]

but they basically stamped a big "NO" on any sort of adjustment for those god awful Stratagems and Stormsurge.

For the new stratagems maybe they'll make them cost just one charge, don't see them going any further than that.
As for Stormsurge uhm... I'm afraid their "way of fixing it" was through the augment on AF2+2 feet. (yai for more inventory+1! As if we didn't have too many items to carry around already...)

As for Enlightenment, having it last for extra spells would certainly be useful, but I'd still rather it just swap me to the opposite Arts, Addendum: Black to Addendum: White and so on.

What I'd love is being able to use stratagems of the "other side" until you cast one spell affected by one or more of those stratagems, but we all know that's not goin to happen.
They're either:
1) Leaving Enlightenment unaffacted, as an "exception", from the new merit approach
2) Make so Enlightenment lasts more spellcasts

If 2) is what's gonna happen, I'd probably still go 5/5 Enlight, mainly because even with just one stratagem charge cost, I still don't see the special stratagems being any use (accuracy one maybe to land some debuffs? But I'd rather change my storm element with klimaform up to do that, honestly. I actually wonder if the macc special stratagems work with Klimaform up, I bet they don't!)

[Zhronne]

All those Strategems Merits should be roll into 1.

The way they handled AF2+2 augments makes it pretty clear that this will NEVER happen

[Jamesy]

to expand on sotek's posts cura is a sch only spell in old ff games and yet whm has it? whaaaaa.....

[Zhronne]

Did anybody sort out the "Augments Enlightenment" effect on the AF2+2 body?