Best merit PTs setup

[eva00r]

I'm not going to point out that this setup is the best or that setup is the best. I'll try to gather a lot of information for people who are setting up merit parties. The exp earned does not depend only on the party setup but also, as a major factor, depends on the crowd.

You can also suggest any merit party that you have experienced. I'm very glad for that.

My jobs at 75 : NIN, BLU, PLD, BRD, RDM So I know pretty much everything in the area of Support, Pull, Tank, DD, Heal ...

Mamool Ja Staging Points
Mamool Ja

TP Burn Setup
NIN/WAR, 2 DD/NIN, BRD/NIN , BRD/WHM, SMN/WHM

This setup will be able to pull unlimited chain. I've got 17k exp per hour for this setup. 3 merit points and something after a 2 hours long hunting.

NIN/WAR : Main tanker, with all +STR, +DEX, +Attack gears.
DD/NIN : Main attackers, subbing NINs will prevent a lot of damage
BRD/NIN : Main puller, sings 2x Minuet, Elegy and Lullaby
BRD/WHM : Main healer, sings 2x Ballad, 2x March, Finale and Lullaby
SMN/WHM : Healer/attacker, use Hastega and Neither Blast for THF/NIN Mamool

Caedarva Mire (Azoup Isle)
Imps & Flies & Jnun

Arrow/BLU Burn Setup
NIN/WAR, 2 RNG/NIN, 2 BLU/NIN, 1 RDM/WHM

Again, unlimited chain for this setup. 15k exp per hour due to lack of mobs.

NIN/WAR : Main tanker, with all +STR, +DEX, +Attack gears.
RNG/NIN : Main arrow burners, Slug Shot everything that can fly.
BLU/NIN : Sub healer and also imp rapers - Healing Breeze are very handy here due to a lot of flies
RDM/WHM : Main healer, puller .. all you have to do are refresh, cure, gravity, sleep and bind.

Mount Zhayolm
Ebony Puddings

Mana Burn Setup
BRD/WHM or COR/BRD, RDM/WHM, BLM/WHM x 4

Kill Ebony Puddings out there ... kill 3-4 of them and then full rest .. then kill them all to get chain #10-11 then full rest again. 14-16k exp/hour.

BRD/WHM : Refresher and Sleeper
COR/BRD : Refresher and Buffer, sing ballad + evoker roll + healer roll for resting and sing ballad + evoker roll + wizard roll for killing
RDM/WHM : Refresher/Healer/Sub Nuker
BLM/WHM : Nuker .. use Tier 4 spell to kill each pudding in 1 shot

Ulleguerand Range
Demons, Ahrimans, Taurus

TP Burn Setup
NIN/WAR, 2 DD/NIN, RDM/WHM, WHM/BLM, BRD/NIN

20-30 chains for demons, eyes and taurus. 12-13k exp / hour

NIN/WAR : Main tanker, with all +STR, +DEX, +Attack gears.
2 DD/NIN : Main attackers
RDM/WHM : Refresher, Healer and throw in Cursna
WHM/BLM : Healer and Cursna
BRD/NIN : Puller, Minuet x 2 and Ballad x 2

Lufaise Meadows
Rocs

THF Burns
4x THF/NIN, WHM/SMN, BRD/WHM

10 chains for big birds. Avoid the rams. Use thf SATA among yourselves and do a pair/trio SC. Evis > Sharkbite or Evis > Dance > Evis. Shark Bite can reach 1600ish damage here.

THF/NIN : Tankers/DDs/Pullers
WHM/SMN : Healer, Erase, Stona
BRD/WHM : Link sleeper

King's R Tomb
Ghost and Bones

MNK Burns
3x MNK/NIN, WHM/SMN, BRD/WHM, BLM/WHM

10k exp+ .. Here we don't need RDM so I picked BLM instead. 3 MNKs can pretty much rape any bones but ghost BLM and WHM are the key. Fire 4 and Banish 3 ftw. WHM must have devotion to reduce down time for BLM while BRD with rank 3+ lullaby recast is great for crowd controlling. Both BLM and BRD play vital roles in interrupting ghost's spells by stun and lullaby.

MNK/NIN : Bone Rapers + Chakra whenever you can plzzzz !!!
BLM/WHM : Stun, Fire 4, Sub healer
WHM/SMN : Main Healer, Banish 3, Dia 1 to save mp
BRD/WHM : 2x Minuet, Puller, Sub healer and Sleeper.

[eticket109]

One of the best I had was in Halvung

MNK/NIN x2, DRG/WHM(RDM) x3, BRD/WHM x1

We ran pretty well and had almost know downtime. The DRGs handled most of the healing.

[tdh]

My Best Merit party was a Sky group.

3 WAR/NINs
RNG/NIN
BRD/WHM
RDM/BLM (Myself.)

Roamed around the main camp destroying any Weapon that would move. We pulled down 27k EXP in less time than it took for my Glace to wear off. (3hr food.) I ~believe~ we ended right before the 2 and half hour mark. BRD and I would go and grab Weapons to keep the chains going. We never broke Chain #12, but if a Chain was broken we just started a new one. Usually Chain #9 to #12.

Shortly after ToAU was released, and the everybody in Vana'diel did their mass migrate to the Mire, I had a Lv.71~ish party that pulled down 12k+ an hour. NIN, DRG, SMN, BLM, RDM, WHM. NIN would pull, DRG would Penta Thrust, SMN would Predator Claw, BLM would nuke away, WHM would Curaga and Haste, and I would Refresh/Haste and nuke. So much damage it was sick! 500+ Blade: Jins, 500~1k Pentas, 1100 Predator Claws, 1k+ BLM nukes, and my random 400~600 nukes. With out the crowd, the camps outside of the Mire Staging point are just amazing.

[Icemage]

Sky's weapon camps are so-so these days. It's very hard to break chain #20 there due to the large amount of running you have to do.

It's also possible to manaburn Lufaise Meadows for virtually infinite chain if you do it right since everything is Sleepable. ~10K/hr

No burn party list is complete without King Ranperre's Tomb: MNK/NINx3, WHM/BLM, BRD/WHM, RDM/WHM on skeletons and ghosts. WHM casts Banish III on the Lemures (ghost-type) to keep chains alive. ~10-13K/hr


Icemage

[KoukiRyu]

I had a really awesome MNK burn about a month ago, it was just a tad different from Icemage's though;

3x MNK/WAR
1x BRD/NIN
1x RDM/BLM
1x WHM/SMN

We did really good...I know it was more than 10k/hr cause we had partied for an hour and I had managed to get a merit and a half. I personally prefer going all /war...we didn't have really any down time(except when the BRD pulled 3 skele's >_>) and we were able to completely destroy everything there, lol. These parties are super fun, and great exp. :D

[Kirsteena]

I adore parties in Ulu Range with people who know what they are doing. Too often though the mages react too slowly to blindna etc...

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Arrow/BLU Burn Setup
NIN/WAR, 2 RNG/NIN, 2 BLU/NIN, 1 RDM/WHM

Again, unlimited chain for this setup. 15k exp per hour due to lack of mobs.

NIN/WAR : Main tanker, with all +STR, +DEX, +Attack gears.
RNG/NIN : Main arrow burners, Slug Shot everything that can fly.
BLU/NIN : Sub healer and also imp rapers - Healing Breeze are very handy here due to a lot of flies
RDM/WHM : Main healer, puller .. all you have to do are refresh, cure, gravity, sleep and bind.

Might want to fix that early statment.

Also, a lot of people seem forget there's a staging point on the other side of Mire full or qutrub-type mobs, Jnuns and the rare imp over there. RNG, DRG and SAM destroy these mobs with great ease. I've known people to go over there as DRG/NIN or /WHMx2, RNG/NIN x2, BRD/WHM or /NIN and then WHM or RDM. Hard to get a NIN to go there because they'r afriad of the three-fold attacks qutrub do (which are extremely rare), but these jobs drop them so fast its hardly a concern.

[eva00r]

Again, unlimited chain for this setup. 15k exp per hour due to lack of mobs.

It means, you kill a mob under 40 seconds, therefore the chain is unlimited. However, you can gain more exp/hr by killing each mob within 30 seconds but you cannot do that since that are not that many mobs.

[Kurb]

oops my bad sorry lads

[Icemage]

Re: Kurb
I appreciate the thought, but this discussion is for merit parties (Level 75 only). The game dynamics at 75 are very different than at other levels.


Icemage

[Mog]

Nothing beats a good manaburn. mmmmm

5 blms + 1 brd = dead puddings

[eva00r]

You don't need 5 blms. 5 blms + 1 brd is slower than 4 blms + brd + rdm. The key is your mana regeneration rate, not damage. 5 blms would overkill a pudding, 4 blms + 1 brd will yield better exp because it is a 5 men party.

[Murphie]

I can attest to that. I was in a Manaburn the other day with 5 BLMS and me (RDM/WHM) and I could have really used a BRD rather than one of the BLMs.

[Lmnop]

Caedarva Mire
Imps & Flies & Jnun
Arrow/BLU Burn Setup
NIN/WAR, 2 RNG/NIN, 2 BLU/NIN, 1 RDM/WHM
Again, unlimited chain for this setup. 15k exp per hour due to lack of mobs.
NIN/WAR : Main tanker, with all +STR, +DEX, +Attack gears.
RNG/NIN : Main arrow burners, Slug Shot everything that can fly.
BLU/NIN : Sub healer and also imp rapers - Healing Breeze are very handy here due to a lot of flies
RDM/WHM : Main healer, puller .. all you have to do are refresh, cure, gravity, sleep and bind.

You were the RDM in this party? Just a hunch, seems like hella lot of stress for pick-up RDMs ("wayaaa I can only refresh 2 people effectively, and if I do it I refuse to do anything else!")

[eva00r]

Random RDM won't be able to do it ... I was a BLU/NIN in that party while my friend is RDM/WHM. He's really good RDM. We timed the monster pop time and keep running up and down the hill in a loop starting from the starting point (imp & fly) to the pond (toad & imp) to the far side (imp & fly) and then back to the start point again.

Flies - Sleep by RDM, BLU
Imp - Silence/Bind by RDM
Toad - Sleep by BLU, Bind/Gravity by RDM

[Murphie]

I've been in a party like that and it really can be pretty stressful if the BLU isn't willing to pick up the slack healing-wise. Also, it's hard as heck for me to sleep at my level, so Imps and Jnuns are really stressful pulls (on the other hand, I hate fly AOE so I make do).

It's doable, provided everyone is on point, but it's tough for a pickup group.

At least in that setup you're only doing 2 refreshes and 1 haste. I've had 5 Melee/NIN, 1 RDM/WHM parties lately that wanted full haste, and for me to pull, and they didn't bring meds of any kind. So it was good times.

[eva00r]

The key are really 2 BLUs and RDM. It's a must for BLUs to heal actually they are main healers.

REQUIRED Spells for a BLU to pick
- Magic Fruit (Single Target Heal)
- Healing Breeze (AOE Heal - Spam this for 55 MP)
- Sheep Song (Sleep - Imps/Jnuns)
- Yawn (Sleep - Imps/Jnuns)
- Soporific (Sleep - Flies)
- Disseverment (Damage - Acc+10)
- Frenetic Rip (Damage - Acc+10)
- Head Butt (Stun)
- Auto Refresh

[Murphie]

Besides Magic Fruit and Head Butt most BLUs I party with just use DD spells. :(

[Icemage]

Besides Magic Fruit and Head Butt most BLUs I party with just use DD spells. :(
That's not because of the job though. Most of the BLUs that I see are DD wannabes if for no other reason than most players like being DDs. I've partied with BLU/WHMs at a number of levels, and they're very effective - no worse than a pre-pact-change SMN in many respects, and certainly more sturdy as healers even before acquiring Magic Fruit.


Icemage

[Murphie]

I didn't say it was because of the job. I realize it's just the player mentality. The BLU in my LS is awesome at changing his spell setup to suit his role, whatever that may be.

I just said that all of the BLUs that I have partied with have been subpar, unfortunately.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Again, unlimited chain for this setup. 15k exp per hour due to lack of mobs.

It means, you kill a mob under 40 seconds, therefore the chain is unlimited. However, you can gain more exp/hr by killing each mob within 30 seconds but you cannot do that since that are not that many mobs.

Then its not "unlimited." Its a contradictory statement, that'a all I was pointing out.

[Icemage]

I just said that all of the BLUs that I have partied with have been subpar, unfortunately.
That I can certainly believe - there's a lot of not-so-awesome BLUs out there.

Personally, I'm not fond of BLU as an attacker at most levels, and I'm bemused by people who feel it's best suited as a DD. It dishes out good damage, but is heavily MP-dependent when in a DD role. If all you want is big damage every 60 seconds, just invite a Thief and improve your enmity situation...


Icemage

[Kirsteena]

It has been interesting getting used to having a blu in endgame situations, working out where best he works.

Often, for 18 man events, such as Limbus and the like, also for Kirin, we have found he works best in the tank party set up we have. He performs a combo DD and Support role, Diamondhide being wonderful, in addition to his stunning capabilities. We did the 3 kings Limbus last night, and he was a monster on the bugards, virtually soloing them, but easing off on the kings, falling back to support. But he did thinking ahead for what spells he would need, complaining when he was one point short for Cannonball so he could self light...

[Karinya]

I like them in a mass-enfeebling role in Dynamis. A lot of their enfeebles are AoE (Frightful Roar comes to mind). Temporal Shift is awesome too when a big pull all wakes up at once, or those annoying multiple-BST pulls (sadly one of the BLUs in my Dynamis LS doesn't have sea yet).

As for the 17k stuff... it's only possible if you're alone in an area that normally has 3-4 parties. TAU areas are constantly horribly overcrowded and nothing else has fast enough repops.

[eva00r]

Mamool Ja Staging point support 2x uber parties (17kish). One at the front of mamook gate and another at the upper part. That's all ...

[Intensity]

Has anyone tried an Arrow Burn setup since the patch for RNG's? 5xRNG and a BRD? Wasn't that the most insane exp/hr pre-nerf?