hay look it's a Merit topicFollow

Copied from my post on RDM forums. It's a better fit there, but I figured I'd post it here too to see if anyone I know here on this server has anything to say about it. >_>

Going to be LOTS of merit babbling. Ye have been warned.


So lately, my linkshell has really been getting into the meriting groove thanks to the release of ToAU, and I've nearly gotten 10 or so merits in the past weekend o_O Righteous.

Anyway, I'm starting to reach the point where my upgrades are no longer no-brainers, and I actually need to start thinking about what I want to do with these >_>


I've earned 18 total merit points so far, I've placed them as such:

LV1 Convert
LV2 Ice Accuracy
LV2 Wind Accuracy
LV1 MP
LV2 Enfeebling Magic
LV1 Elemental Magic
LV3 Evasion


Little bit of "background info":

1) RDM is likely to be my "main" for good. It's like moving out of your parents' house and into the real world for the first time, it's a nice sense of freedom and that's what I like most about the job. However, I am a dabbler in just about every kind of job, and I've yet to encounter a job that I disliked (I have all of them unlocked). I am all in favor of merits that would help me take up other jobs, and I might even be crazy enough to merit something up to make leveling a job easier, and remove those merits later on when I'm done with the job (I'm looking at enmity merits in particular here, fully meriting enmity doesn't look too hard, it's only 10 points and as I stated I practically got those 10 points over a single weekend).

2) For the time being, I don't do endgame stuff. I've been in an HNMLS once (I left it the same day I joined it, hated it and only ended up making a fool out of myself), and I've never entered Dynamis. Most of what I do is either EXP parties or soloing random weaker crap. Because of this, I don't really need merits to make me teh 00ber to go up against gods or anything like that, just stuff that would help me do better against the stuff I already fight.

3) My current overall goal in this game is to get my static through CoP (we're currently at Diabolos), and for the majority of this, I am playing as my WHM, although I will use RDM for certain key fights like Snoll Tzar and the uncapped fights. Thus far, the two Enfeebling merits have been a great help to my WHM, he's been able to enfeeble stuff that otherwise would have just been a lost cause. Primarily, I would like merits that would help me in completing CoP, even if this means revoking those merits later.


That being said, here are my thoughts (subject to change of course):

- HP/MP... The obvious answer would be to go all 8 on MP, but I'm not sure if I want to do that or go with the balanced approach of 4/4. Mainly because, if I'm playing a job without MP, those 8 MP merits would be entirely useless, and if I ever wanted to revoke 4 of those 8 merits it would be 20 merits down the drain, ouch. I am working to 4 MP merits right now though because I'm reasonably sure I'll want at least that.


- Attributes... Probably gonna worry about this last for obvious reasons, but I do intend to worry about it eventually. Due to the cost-intensiveness of these merits, I really don't want to have to revoke merits and move them around in this category, so whatever I pick I want it to be useful for RDM (other jobs would just be a bonus). I'm thinking either STR or MND, and I notice that either one would help boost Savage Blade, nice bonus there.


- Combat skills... I'm going for LV4 (maxed) evasion because I do solo a lot and I think that would help me some, and it would be useful to just about every other job as well, so I'm pretty much set in stone in that regard (if the LV3 evasion so far wasn't enough of a clue). The other 8 merits would be enough to max out one weapon type. Obvious choice would be to max out Sword, but that would only really be useful for one other job (PLD). I was thinking of leaving these 8 remaining merits alone for a while, but then recently it dawned on me -- RDM can't really merit much in the way of combat skills, being that we don't get many weapon types we can use to begin with. Chances are, in order to merit a weapon I'd like to use for another job, I would have to get that job to 75 first anyway, which means by that point I might not want the merits anymore. =/ Still need to think about this one.


- Magic skills... I originally wanted all 8 Enfeebling merits like a good little boy RDM, but as stated above, I don't really fight anything as RDM where the maxed merits would be especially worthwhile. I land almost everything against EXP mobs unless the mob is naturally resistant (latest example: wind and dark spells against Imps; Silence and Sleep love to resist on these buggers) and generally in these cases I'm doubting that more Enfeebling skill would allow me to break past those natural resistances. I still have yet to land Silence on an Ahriman mob, for instance.

The places where I notice the Enfeeb merits the most is as my WHM, in level-capped CoP areas; they're a godsend in there. Because of this, I would definitely be willing to push Enfeebling some more if it would continue to help me in CoP (seems like they would be able to help both my WHM and RDM).

I'm currently considering 4/4 in Enfeebling and Elemental merits, not only because I think it's a pretty balanced approach for RDM, I'm also thinking this would be a nice combo for BLM later on (I'm reasonably sure Enfeebling would be good to have as BLM, because they are the only job that gets Sleepga 2 naturally, for instance.)


- Other... this is the only category I'm actually reasonably sure about, probably going to max +crit% for sure, then probably -interrupt%. Which means no enmity merits for me if I do that, anyway. Oh well, maybe that's for the best. If I do decide to tweak enmity though, obviously I wouldn't be able to do this. {Hmmm.}


- RDM specifics... at first I was pretty adamant about maxing out Convert because I am a Convert *****, I've always wanted to be able to use it more often because it basically translates into more MP. However, with the one Convert merit I have so far, I am noticing a slight problem... usually I am RDM/WHM when I merit, and I tend to use Divine Seal in conjunction with Convert. Problem with this is, even though Convert is on a 9:40 timer, Divine Seal is still 10 minutes... so I usually end up waiting the full 10 minutes anyway >_< If I were to merit Convert any more, I would pretty much have to separate the two JAs. Considering how the DS + Cure 4 (or Curaga 2 as appropriate) is pretty much hardwired into my RDM/WHM routine, this would be pretty damned hard to get used to ; ;

Because of this, I am considering revoking my one Convert merit (before I make things any worse), and doing the normal cookie cutter build and maxing out ice and wind accuracy. So far though, I have two merits in both of these (I placed those merits there because regardless of whether I max Convert or not, I know I will want at least those 4 merits where they are), and I don't really notice any difference in my performance. Paralyze did an awesome job on imps without the merits, it still does... Silence and Gravity didn't land well on the imps without the merits, they still don't. So yeah, still confused about what I'm going to do here.


So, all in all, I'm looking for any advice on where to go with my merits. I am hoping that there are other RDMs out there that have similar playstyles to mine (dabbler in all jobs, not really big on endgame events, wants merits mostly to help in level-cap events and leveling up other jobs) and I'm hoping these people can share their own experiences. For instance... if you've got fully merited Convert, how do you like it? Has it been helpful enough to warrant the sacrifices in ice/wind accuracy? You know... stuff like that. I love the meriting process but I also understand it's a long process, and while I can certainly see myself revoking merits and moving them around eventually, I'd like to at least have a plan to lessen the amount of this I'll end up doing XD

Thanks in advance.

Just a response to barry. DO NOT MERIT ENM+. When you go back to any mage/dd job it will severely hurt you. Unless you intend to never use a DD job outside of thief it is just a bad idea. If you want to get the ENM boost, pick up some enm gear and swap it in for TA. The merits aren't worth it unless you know for a fact you don't intend to do a DD job that isn't burst damage that is used with Trick Attack.

Edit:

I might be back over the summer. I promise nothing though. I'll hop on one of my roomates accounts and say hi before I leave school.

Edited, Tue May 2 20:03:23 2006 by galatheil

Race is actually a factor when deciding these merits. You're Taru so yeah, HP merits might be more important... just like how Galka and Elvaan might value MP merits more overall.

(I'm Hume btw, guys)




STR's probably how I'm going to go myself.




Just an FYI, the Elemental Accuracy merits are not in that category, they are actually our RDM job-specifics, along with Convert recast. In the magic skills category you merit your actual skill levels, similar to what you'd do with combat skills.

Doesn't seem like there's anything really worth meriting in the magic category besides Enfeebling and Elemental for most mages. Dark Magic could be great if RDM's rating in it wasn't already abysmal, it would be far better spent on a DRK (good for BLM too but they have other magic skills to consider). Hardcore NINs will want Ninjutsu, hardcore BRDs will probably want Wind Instrument, hardcore SMNs might want Summoning Magic (since SE is apparently going to give that skill some value eventually), and the people that end up being hardcore BLUs have the newly-added Blue Magic to consider.




Yep, that's what I'll be working on next after getting my final Evasion merit.




I have been advised that it may be best to hold off on this category for a while, because SE did state at some point in the past that they would be introducing new meritable stuff a few months or so after the expansion's release. It seems logical that they could go in this category, so I'll wait for more info.

As for RDM/BLM, yes, I have used that combo often (it's what I usually am by "default" unless the situation, usually EXP, calls for another sub), but in almost all of my EXP parties post-60, /WHM has pretty much always been required for status removal, or if it wasn't required, it still would have been more useful. One of the big draws of having /BLM in EXP parties was Drain/Aspir, and those spells started to crap out for me around that level. Aspir, for instance, would regularly return me less MP than it cost to cast in the first place.