Overwhelm... Yay or nay?

[yuna544]

With the recent "fix" of overwhelm, I was wondering just how "overwhelming" is it? I haven't got a chance to test this myself, but I've burned 7 merits into it already (figured "Hey this sounds good! I'ma merit it!")
I've heard a few things, yet I'm not sure exactly how good this trait is.

Friend of mine was PTing on trolls and busted out Soboro (DMG 40) and said he was doing 500 at least from the front, did 500-700 WS. Trolls have high DEF and still con IT (right?) to 75. So I'm thinking this Trait is rather good and I'm happy.

Yet people on Allah are reporting absolutely no difference at all, sometimes WS from the front does even less! Yet their tests were all done on level 1 mobs... so I'm thinking it only works on exp worthy stuff?

I attempted to PT earlier to test it, yet it didn't go so hot. Hate was bouncing all over the place so I don't really know if I was "Face to face" with the mob.

just wondering if anyone has tested this themselves and what they've found out, if it's worth it to keep or did I just waste 7 merits on it.... the world may never know!

[Karinya]

Well, if it's something like an attack bonus, their attack is already capped on level 1 mobs, so they won't see the bonus. By the same method you could "prove" that Berserk doesn't do anything.

I wonder if the bonus will be comparable to Sneak Attack and endgame SAMs may be able to stop subbing THF all the time...

[Minaku]

Well the upgrades say they add 6 more attack... so it's just a small increase to your attack when you WS. I don't know how much the first merit gives, but judging from the other abilities and their upgrades, it probably is somewhere between +10-20 attack. It's certainly not anything like SA from the front, and I'd rather spend merits on the other categories.

[arkaine23]

There's some talk of Overwhelm being boosted even more in the october update. There are some bad translations floating around about new level 25 and 35 job abilities that are offensive and defensive in nature. Sounds like SE wants to improve SAM and also make /SAM more attractive.