Why are our group 1 merits so bad?

[Neisan_Quetz]

Exacta. I made a long post about it over on another FF forum showing skill levels had changed (iirc 360 and 370 skill were the same tier). Phalanx 2 is an imprvement over 1, if only due to duration and being castable on others, so it isn't bad anymore, other than locking 5 merits which is a problem but I figure the difference in less slow/para merits would be small enough to be negligible for the moment.

[Hyrist]

I would so far to say that it's more Merit II's that are a train wreck than the first tier.

Though I would like to see the entire Job based merits reworked in general, for all jobs. A lot of these abilities and spells we have on the lists realy... they would be nice if they were normal JAs but with the limits on them, they're not worth investing the merits in certain ones over others and being forced to choose did not bring about the uniqueness among classes they were attempting to do.

Convert 5/5 Ice 5/5 (loves me my enblizzard/bind/blizzard/Paralyze accuracy.)

But I there really needs to be more to it than this, especially at 99.

[noodles355]

I don't really disagree with that, EXCEPT, that everyone goes ice+wind. You're a RDM and you probably have a mix of phallanx 2, slow 2, and paralyze 2.

Actually I started with 2 Bio3, 3 Slow2, 5 Para2 as I was doing more solo stuff. As my Ls started calling me to events more I swapped out Bio3 for Dia3. I kept Para at 5 though because most other rdms do 5 Slow2/3Para2 and this way for anything that matters where we had 2 rdms we could have a 5/5 potency slow and para on the mob as well as dia.

Also Break doesnt really suck, sure it doesnt work on most NMs but for regular mobs its basically a stun on a separate timer with a longer cast time, or a short duration sleep for dark-resistant mobs. I use break quite a bit.

I never really was too keen on meriting phalanx2. If it was a tough enough fight that you would need it then you'd probably be using a pld like old times and they have it anyway. If you were still using DD tanks and you dont need stun then you can accession phalanx with /sch. If you're there as a dedicated stunner and so cant be /sch then you probably have a 2nd rdm to buff the tanks anyway (a la pre level cap rise timmys)

[Babekeke]

Is slow 2 5/5 the same as hojo: Ni? I always assumed it was, so didn't bother with it.

[Seriha]

Slow II caps at a little over 39% (easier to reach with less MND with more merits invested) while Hojo: Ni is a fixed 20%. Base Slow II should always be better, though, even with MND deficiencies.

[Swords]

Just proves that if we got the RDM Merit spells as purchasable, they would likely only have the strength of single merit spells. This would also make sense, since if we wanted, we could put 1 merit into each spell. The exception imo being bio/dia which would possibly have the same duration as the other dia/bio spells.

Problem with that is level 1 Tier II Merit spells as it is, are only slightly better than their Tier I counterparts. However, I would find it acceptable if SE allowed the purchasable Tier II enfeebles to cap equal too or greater than a fully merited Tier II Merit spell through stats/gear.

I don't think it should be restricted to RDM to receive the rework for merited spells, I think WHM's, BLM's, and other spellcasters should be given the same treatment in their respective areas.

Some of the reworked and Tier III merit suggestions were a nice change of pace. I do think the main focus of the new merits should allow more selection to differentiate between a more melee oriented or mage oriented RDM, however it needs to be done carefully and done in a way that both types can find a place in a party for experience or an event setting. It's often misconceived it's our lower skill that kills us but the truth is there is two factors that kill us, the first is skill compared to dedicated magic mages like BLM or WHM or melee skill like DRK or MNK, the second is our lack of power compared to other jobs melees have greater options in powerful weaponry while BLM's and WHM's have stronger spells and both have abilities and traits to further enhance them. The problem is further compounded when a equally skilled and equipped DD/Mage can still out damage, cure, nuke due to higher Damage Weapons/ Tier Magics.

To counteract this problem and give RDM a deserving boost to at least make comparable numbers for an equally equipped and skilled mage or DD would, I came up with an idea that might be passable for a Tier III merit. The Merited ability would be similar to No Foot Rise that you would have some kind of trade-off like losing your ability to do Weaponskills, to cast certain types of magic, or even -stats in a way similar to Beserks Atk/Def tradeoff, but receive bonuses such as +5~10% Haste, Attack, Acc, R.Acc, R. Atk, and +5~10 Enspell damage for melee situations. At the same time you could have a trade-off ablity for the mage side too that could give +5~10% Potency (for all types of magic), cast and recast time down, magic accuracy, magic crit. rate, and MAB. I do stress it needs to be a percentile boost, because in order make frontline or even backline more viable we need to close the gap in one of the categories, considering it makes more sense that jobs can keep their more powerful spells and weapons, boosting our stat abilities to at least compare/outdamage those with similar gear and skill would be plausible.

[noodles355]

To be honest I would be ok if SE made it possible to reach the same potency of capped 5/5 spells with a purchased scroll + good mnd gear because to be honest I'm pissed off that my very good MND set with many HQs doesnt mean jack diddly fuck.

[Kristal]

Actually I started with 2 Bio3, 3 Slow2, 5 Para2 as I was doing more solo stuff. As my Ls started calling me to events more I swapped out Bio3 for Dia3. I kept Para at 5 though because most other rdms do 5 Slow2/3Para2 and this way for anything that matters where we had 2 rdms we could have a 5/5 potency slow and para on the mob as well as dia.

I went with Phalanx II (5/5), Slow II(2/5), Paralyze II (2/5) and Blind II(1/5), because I'm effectively the only RDM in LS.

[Hyrist]

Dia 3 3/5, Paralyze 5/5, Slow 1/5, Blind 1/5

Blind is fairly well underestimated as a Debuffs as, at it's base, it's triple the base effect of Blind. And there'res enough evasion tanking to justify having a merit in it.

However, I'd rather these be potency merits for their general spells, and receive the root spells as scrolls. This way it effects our tiers across the board and opens up windows for having new tiers of all our favorite debuffs. (Hopefully without having to invest more merits again.)

As far as Tier I's. I support the idea of a Magic Accuracy becoming a single mertiable skill. Then adding things like composure effect, enspell damage, and maybe a new JA (Hello Double/Quick cast?)

But then again, I did say the entire merit system needs some reworking. They likely won't touch it until 99, sadly.

[ManaKing]

Dia 3 3/5, Paralyze 5/5, Slow 1/5, Blind 1/5

Blind is fairly well underestimated as a Debuffs as, at it's base, it's triple the base effect of Blind. And there'res enough evasion tanking to justify having a merit in it.

However, I'd rather these be potency merits for their general spells, and receive the root spells as scrolls. This way it effects our tiers across the board and opens up windows for having new tiers of all our favorite debuffs. (Hopefully without having to invest more merits again.)

As far as Tier I's. I support the idea of a Magic Accuracy becoming a single mertiable skill. Then adding things like composure effect, enspell damage, and maybe a new JA (Hello Double/Quick cast?)

But then again, I did say the entire merit system needs some reworking. They likely won't touch it until 99, sadly.

If they do it at 99, that will be good enough. We've waited this long. It's not like a couple months is going to make a dramatic difference. The important thing, to me, is that it happens at all.