Will SE be adding more magic exclusives to various jobs?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Dark Knight has gotten a lot of magic-exclusives lately, enough to garner more attention to the job and desirability in the eyes of players. This is great for DRKs, but other jobs seem to be missing out on such job enhancements.

Red Mages have been talking about a lack of exclusive enfeebles, in addition to other spells, which does hold a bit of weight as BRD, COR, NIN, SMN share spells/abilities has or once did specialize in. Which the exception on BRD, no other class had Refresh before RDM and the only real exclusive spell RDM now has are the self Bar-spells, the En-spells and Gravity. While that seems like a lot of the surface, not all of it is commonly used.

White Mage loses out a bit to RDM in the fact that RDM has access to Tier IV White Magic. This isn't so much on an issue when it comes to PLD because they're not expected to carry all the weight of healing, just cure others and themselves to draw enmity. It is a big issue for WHM in the fact that Cure/Protect/Shell IV are more than sufficient for healing and PT protection.

BLM, SMN, NIN, BRD and BLU have lots of exclusive magic, so that's not so much and issue.

But BLM does suffer from the TP burn trend, so perhaps a set of spells could be created to make them an attractive invite to a melee-focused PT. I, for one, loved how, in FFIX Vivi and Steiner would team up to forge a magical melee attack that unleashed great damage upon a foe. Perhaps something like a very strong enspell for one-hit only.

Bard isn't lacking in spells, but job abilities are something they do lack. Perhaps they could be given some job abilities at lower levels to enhance thier musical talent.

Paladin has no magic they can call their own. The recent Rampart adjustment grants Stoneskin to the PLD and members in area of effect, which sparks an interesting question of why not give them the Stoneskin spell and Stoneskin II as an exclusive amoung other possible, protective magic.

Dragoons' wyverns have always been magical, but DRGs rarely have the opportunity to display their wyvern's healing talents. These abilities are triggered through spell and weaponskills, but not job abilities. Perhaps the offensive, defensive and balanced wyvern could get an extra, additional ability to enhance each function and possibly extend DRG's subjob options. Perhaps the creation of a job ability such as Lancet (an ability sorely missing from DRG), could allow the wyvern to perform additional functions.

Monk and Corsair are the only jobs to perform types of magic through job abilities. MNKs, being of strong mind could use their abilities to support, possibly allies or bring more harm to enemies. So far MNKs have been given the merit ability to give more HP to allies, but perhaps Chakara could be used to heal allies as well?

Talk of more abilities for Corsair is arguably premature until we see what the Group II merits are, but one thing that still feels lacking remains within Quick Draw. Dark Shot and Light Shot were granted alternative uses, and those two along with Wind, Earth and Ice Shot are commonly used. Fire, Water and Lightning Shot, however, aren't commonly used since enfeebles they'd function with aren't used often either. Perhaps those Quick Draws can be granted alternative functions just as Light and Dark Shot received them.

So, are more magic exclusives going to be given to jobs with magical abilities?

[Malacite]

But BLM does suffer from the TP burn trend, so perhaps a set of spells could be created to make them an attractive invite to a melee-focused PT. I, for one, loved how, in FFIX Vivi and Steiner would team up to forge a magical melee attack that unleashed great damage upon a foe. Perhaps something like a very strong enspell for one-hit only.


Or they could get off their asses and finally add Mystic Knight. Some BLM only party buff spells would be much appreciated though.


As for DRG's and their wyverns, I've often thought that DRG/BLM should be a viable combo, using black magic to spur on your wyvern to use elemental breaths and/or unique enfeeblements? Like maybe Burn Breath? Basically I'd like to see wyvern's use different "spell" breaths based on what the dragoon casts. Imagine Wyvern's buffing the DRG and/or Party!


I've got some ideas for quick draw too:

Lightning Shot: Added Effect Stun (could be VERY useful, should have a long duration)

Fire Shot: Maybe a forced berserk status? This would make a lot of mobs easier to kill but also more dangerous, which is right in line with COR's high-risk high-reward style.

Water Shot: I got nothing at the moment >- >


I can't think of any unique spells for PLD at the moment. (mainly 'cause I'm lazy and want to finish this post soon, I'll edit it later as I'm a very creative person)

However, I do believe PLD should gain access to the "na" line of spells, or at the very least be given a job trait that boosts curative magic power (WHM should obviously get this too). The reason I believe PLD should have "na" spells is because both WHM and PLD are "protectors". RDM may have healing magic skill, but only PLD and WHM are dedicated to keeping others alive.


That's it for now. I'll add more later as I think

[Legal Fish]

Naturally, Fire Shot should give Plague status.

And Lightning Shot being Stun is a fine idea.

Water is fine, since it can be used to enhance the DoT of Poison. A rare situational buff, but a buff none the less. Fire/Thunder has no point however.

[Aksannyi]

I would love to see more job-exclusive spells pop up, and the kind that are greater than 37 so no one else can have them with their subjob, either. Adds a bit of uniquness to each job. I love the idea that, for example, Red Mage is not "just another healing mage."

[Legal Fish]

I think RDM is fine the way it is post-41.

I think there needs to be a weaker refresh at level 24(level BRD gets Ballad) so that they fit into their enfeebling/enhancing role much earlier.

Really, I think there is enough stuff out there to make RDM unique... with gear that enhance spikes and enspell damage. Even Merits was nice to RDM: They got Phalanx II, Dia/Bio III, and tier II enfeebals, a lot of variety. If you feel RDM is just another healing job, I'd say you should do some PvP or solo.

[Aksannyi]

I don't. Everybody else and their mother does, though. I personally hate main healing. I want something for RDMs that's SO great, they don't want me just to main heal but for my other wonderful spell/skill.

I have yet to merit, but I definitely do love the Tier III/II enfeebs that we can get. Maybe it's greedy of me to want more, but I just don't want to be considered a curebot for the rest of my career.

[Rain_Blade]

Or they could get off their asses and finally add Mystic Knight. Some BLM only party buff spells would be much appreciated though.


As for DRG's and their wyverns, I've often thought that DRG/BLM should be a viable combo, using black magic to spur on your wyvern to use elemental breaths and/or unique enfeeblements? Like maybe Burn Breath? Basically I'd like to see wyvern's use different "spell" breaths based on what the dragoon casts. Imagine Wyvern's buffing the DRG and/or Party!


I've got some ideas for quick draw too:

Lightning Shot: Added Effect Stun (could be VERY useful, should have a long duration)

Fire Shot: Maybe a forced berserk status? This would make a lot of mobs easier to kill but also more dangerous, which is right in line with COR's high-risk high-reward style.

Water Shot: I got nothing at the moment >- >


I can't think of any unique spells for PLD at the moment. (mainly 'cause I'm lazy and want to finish this post soon, I'll edit it later as I'm a very creative person)

However, I do believe PLD should gain access to the "na" line of spells, or at the very least be given a job trait that boosts curative magic power (WHM should obviously get this too). The reason I believe PLD should have "na" spells is because both WHM and PLD are "protectors". RDM may have healing magic skill, but only PLD and WHM are dedicated to keeping others alive.


That's it for now. I'll add more later as I think

Mystic Knight are knights that can cast magic on their swords to perform attacks with the power of the spell for several rounds. In my opinion, that's like a red mage with their en-spells.

[Legal Fish]

I don't. Everybody else and their mother does, though. I personally hate main healing. I want something for RDMs that's SO great, they don't want me just to main heal but for my other wonderful spell/skill.

I'd hate to sound rude, but in exp you can't be everything ;/. I believe that is why you can change jobs in this game.

[Aksannyi]

I'd hate to sound rude, but in exp you can't be everything ;/. I believe that is why you can change jobs in this game.
Nah, that's not really it. I'm just sick of being the Pink Mage, and I guess taking it out on you guys. It would be nice to get to be Red for a change.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Naturally, Fire Shot should give Plague status.

And Lightning Shot being Stun is a fine idea.

Water is fine, since it can be used to enhance the DoT of Poison. A rare situational buff, but a buff none the less. Fire/Thunder has no point however.

Yeah, Fire and Thunder Shot really do nothing at all, I can certainly see Thunder Shot being a Stun. Only thing is I don't want any other shots to end up doing no damage like Light and Dark Shot no longer do.

Right now, my Water, Fire and Thunder Cards sit in my MH unused. They just really need a more practical application, though I suppose you do have a point about poison for Water Shot, its really just not the enfeeb I look for in most situations.

Aside: if RDM/WHM is Pink Mage, then wouldn't RDM/BLM be a Brown Mage? Brown Magic does exist within the game and I have no desire to see a job that specializes in it. At least it explains why there are no toilets in the game.

[DieselBoy09]

Nah, that's not really it. I'm just sick of being the Pink Mage, and I guess taking it out on you guys. It would be nice to get to be Red for a change.

But what is a red mage other than a watered down whm/blm combo with good enfeeble skills, refresh, gravity and fast cast?
If you get in a pt with a whm, you can easily enfeeble, backup heal and cast a nuke ever now and then, what more is a Red Mage to be?

If you don't want to be "pink", I would gladly sign a petition getting SE to restrict the tier level of cure spells given to RDMs. That would benefit me, a white mage, very nicely and you could go back to being something other than a main healer~

P.S. I love inviting rdms to parties, not for healing, but so I can be refreshed and they can waste their mp with enfeebles instead of me.

[MaverickDFZ]

PLD could benefit from an MP drain, spikes magic - Shining Spikes, Lvl 40?

WHM should definitely be given an increased movement speed on target(only party member) spell - Feather, Lvl 54?

I hate it when RDMs moan about the spells they want, as if they arent currently the best soloer in the game, and when they moan about having to be main heal in a pt, they need to go get themselves a new job...cos RDM is kinda the perfect healer when you cant get a WHM

[Malacite]

Only thing is I don't want any other shots to end up doing no damage like Light and Dark Shot no longer do.

That's why I said "Added Effect"


Mystic Knight are knights that can cast magic on their swords to perform attacks with the power of the spell for several rounds. In my opinion, that's like a red mage with their en-spells.

No, it's en-spells on roids. lolRDM >.>

My point about that statement is that job would be all kinds of fun, and could be added as another DD and/or Tank, depending on SJ and what Spellblades you use. God, I just really really freaking want spellblade again ; ; And we still don't have a job with A+ enhancing, so we could end up with an enhancing magic specialist who can tank and/or DD (preferably both)


No comments on the wyvern magic yet though =/


Oh, and I think RDM should be given "Regain" as a spell. Currently it's one of the item-only buffs that can be gotten in either Salvage or Besieged, but it looks like SE thought of my TP-refresh idea before I could post it @. @

[Lmnop]

I hate it when RDMs moan about the spells they want, as if they arent currently the best soloer in the game, and when they moan about having to be main heal in a pt, they need to go get themselves a new job...cos RDM is kinda the perfect healer when you cant get a WHM

There's that old wordage again. When's the last time you saw a rdm solo 7-10k/hour? Rdm soloes well, but it soloes very slow. To the point of it being a hobby, rather than anything practical.

Rdm are a wonderfully unique job atm. But nobody cares what the snowflake can do when we know that it main heals better than WHM.

[Legal Fish]

I have an idea that SE could easily use to give a good use for Water Shot:

If Water Shot increases the potency of Poison, they could give COR only bullets that inflicted poison, something high, like 10/tick, like Poison II. That way, the COR could switch to his poison bullets then Water Shot afterwards.

Another thing you could do for Water Shot is make the effects of Acid Bolt "water" based and have it increase that effect... though that would involve the COR working with another RNG or THF(or WAR).

[Karinya]

Well, soloing Ose is practical if you can't find anyone to help you camp him. Even if it does take 15+ minutes (hell, it takes 5 minutes just to kill a PH if you're saving convert so you'll have it in case of an ose pop). Soloing Genbu in 8 hours, not so much.

But the main reason RDM doesn't feel like RDM in high level exp: super weak monsters. There's usually just no point in making them any weaker, especially when they die so fast anyway. (Occasionally silence is worthwhile.) Jobs that specialize in enhancing (BRD, COR) see one buff apply to 3+ fights, so it's still worth using; but enfeebles die with the target. Furthermore, most RDM enfeebles only reduce the monster's ability to damage the party - which is already negligible in high level exp. Dia III arguably *is* still worth casting in merit (or Dia II if you don't have III) - but that's it, because the others are irrelevant on something that dies so fast and isn't really hitting back anyway.

Of course, this mainly holds in TAU camps. If anyone actually still fought Uleguerand's Kindred or Tavnazian Rams, enfeebles would still be quite useful there. But most people don't, because it's far more rewarding to massacre the helpless.

Really, I'm starting to think that there's hardly any point to even discussing any other balance problems as long as that one remains unfixed. So much of the game balance was designed around the assumption of a given level of monster difficulty that it really destroys everything to have that thrown away. BLM vs. melee, useless enfeebles, tanks not holding hate, not taking enough damage to justify using a party slot on WHM, possibly even /NIN being invulnerable, are all traceable back to underhunting. Except it isn't really "underhunting" when you get MORE exp for it.

SE, please adjust the exp system so it is worthwhile to fight dangerous monsters for exp again.


P.S. It would fix Poison and Water Shot, too. Poison is great on things that don't die in 30 seconds - cheap, low hate, great damage/MP, can't miss or be reduced by defense/resistance once it has landed. I think it's even immune to Magic Defense Bonus. Stronger mobs = more useful Poison = more useful Water Shot. So many things would be fixed indirectly by making IT's worth fighting again.

[Saren]

What Karinya is saying makes a lot of sense.

Perhaps some sort of straight exp bonus for ITs, not something that scales with level so it's in your interests to fight low ITs. I love the idea of making skillchain and mb more desirable and possibly making it so you can use trick attack to put all the hate from the skillchain on the trick partner too (I read someone suggesting that somewhere on here this morning but I forget where).

Couple these two together and you don't 'gimp' burn parties exp but you do reward people who cooperate to take on stronger enemies which....is how it should be.

[Malacite]

The way I figure it, if a classic style SC + MB party could chain IT mobs for a minimum of 400-500 EXP per kill (before chain bonuses) then it would be on par with the TP burns. This way people could go with either style depending on what jobs are seeking and everyone has a good time.

[Sevv]

You can chain @ Nyzule Isle on IT mamojal(Sp? i use tab key lol) for about 250-400 they die quick and can keep chain with a brd a mage (we usually have whm) and all dds. We pull great exp/hr, ITs are out there but people are lazy.

-edit didnt want to double post-

Its with the magic burst and Offensive mages their is alot of down time, for a standard party. It moved from Mana burn to TP burn. Nyzule isle you can Wyvern Burn 6 drg/mage (got 16~18k/hr). In the Mire (nyzule mire 2) Smns can burn easy. Whm and Rdms Can join burn pt so easy its not a problem. Drks can sub nin skill up axe and burn great even Bst/nin does very well in burn set ups.

[Legal Fish]

SE needs to add monsters that are IT++, not just IT(borderline VT). They need to grant way over 200 exp a kill for them to even compare to rapid killing of the current situation. Finally, they need a lot of unique traits to balance them being weaker than their level without being meleeburn pray. The exp doesn't have be entirely based on level, giving monsters an exp bonus (like Hippogryphs, Wyverns, and Rams have) can make it easier.

Let's make up a monster here.

First let's compare exp gain. These estimates are very, very rough and shouldn't be held by any standard.

Group 1: Tank DD DD Healer Support BLM(BLU or SMN might work) + DD/BLM/orSupport. Uses SC+MB. (Might be best if one DD was a SAM)

Group 2: DD DD DD DD Support Support. Uses Meleeburn.

Both of these groups are average / borderline well-geared. No BB MNKs or Ridils.

We won't factor in exp chain rewards, but note: They will probably be in the favor of Group 1 if they can hit Chain 5. Group II will be more consistent with their chains however(probably having a constant Chain 5 bonus).

Group 2 kills a monster that gives 100 base exp every 30 seconds. In 10 minutes, that's 2000 exp or 20 monsters. (that's 12k an hour, without factoring Chain Bonuses)

Group 1 kills a monster that gives 300 base exp. That means to keep up, they need to kill around 6 and half monsters in 10 minutes for 1980 exp. That is more than 2 monsters per 2 minutes, meaning they can hold a Chain 5 (but it might be a bit close). (that's 11.8k an hour, without factoring Chain Bonuses, with would be a lot of the exp gain).

It seems Group II would be able to keep up with Group I, maybe even surpass them with Chain bonuses added in... so 300 exp is perfect.

Now the monster would have be different than normal. It would need some unique traits:

1) Prevents the current hate target from being an effective DD. This can be done with a simple Defense bonus against monsters facing them or making the monster very hard to tank with shadows but effective with VIT/Def/Shield. There has been be an advantage to holding it still.

2) A lot of HP. And MP. It would need to be Aspir-able for BLMs. Maybe even weak to Aspir.

3) A weakness to SC and MB to counter it's large HP.

4) This something almost every monster needs: not have super annoying AoEs, buffs, or debuffs.

5) Have a camp with at least 5 or 6 pops on a 5-minute timer.

6) The camp must be easy to handle. Either they don't link or they are easy to pull. If the latter, they shouldn't be TOO hard to sleep.


#3 is most interesting and probably most important. We saw this with Qutrub in a way. However, they weren't enough to bring back the style... this was probably due to other factors that they missed from above...

Is there a monster, in FFXI right now, that SE could modify to fit the SC set up perfectly? Yes, the Wivre.

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Category:Wivre

They have #1, 5, and 6 down perfectly... with frontal Cone AoE and a Defense bonus from the front. Their camp is awesome, couldn't be better really. They do not turn if hate is changed, simply begin to attack with their tail.

#2 is sort of fulfilled as they have very high HP. I don't know their job type... but they sound PLD, so they might be Aspir-able. They have very high Defense, but very low Evasion(ITs conning with low evasion with small effort).

Their WSes are mixed: They have a Berserk/Haste effect(very strong haste, like 100%), a SEVERE AoE Attack Down effect(ruins them really), and spike-flail type move. They also have a Defense up ability that greatly increases the defense in their front and back.

The biggest problem is the AoE Attack Down. There should be a way to prevent that. I think the best way would be: It only uses it if hate changes too fast. Like if a PLD or NIN lost hate for a couple seconds, then got it back, the thing wouldn't use it. However, if a meleeburn tried to make it bounce around everywhere, they would get nailed with it.

Really, that would be enough, all you need to do is work on making SCs worthwhile. A simple boost could do this: While Weapon Skills receive no damage bonus, Skillchain Damage and spells that are MB'd receive a HUGE bonus and are never resisted. Let's say a flat 50% bonus on SC damage(and since it's never getting resisted... that's the WS damage * 1.5 more damage) and an additional 50% Bonus on MB'd spells... which is 80% without a BLM stacking MB+ gear on.

So let's see: Let's say the set up is BLU and SAM and BLM. They are going to do Light.

Don't bust me on this, but let's say BLU uses Savage Blade, for the fact it's Fragmentation. SAM will use Tachi: Kasha. The BLM, with three Merits in Burst II will use that. BLU will MB with Mind Blast. Let's say the BLM lacks Relic Gloves and Static Earring.

Let's say the BLU does 500 Damage and the SAM does 1200 Damage. The SC will do 1800 Damage and the BLM would hit around 1300 or 1400 damage without the MB bonus(depending on how well geared he was), with the bonus of 89%, he does 2646 Damage. I'm not sure how much mind Blast does usually, but I'm going to say maybe 400 Damage? If that's that 800 Damage.

500 + 800 + 1200 + 1800 + 2646 = 5146 Damage. I don't think Wivre have that much more than that... I could imagine physical attacks to build TP covering the difference.

Sorry about the really random numbers, I haven't been in an lvl 75 exp party in roughly a year, let alone one with a BLU.

The last change is... if they are not "PLD" tyoe mobs already, make them that, so BLM(and DRK and /BLM) can Aspir.



Another thing they could do for SCs, which would help A LOT for jobs with magic that they don't use (DRK, PLD, even WHM) and a job like SMN, is add a Conserve MP effect to Magic Bursting.

Something 100%. Conserve MP saves you by making you pay 15/16 to 8/16(1/2) MP cost. This bonus would need to be 8/16 to 4/16, that's 1/2 to 1/4 MP cost.

I would restrict this bonus to SC Levels 2 and higher, just to be on the safe side.

This would have a HUGE effect on SMN using Magical BPs in parties... hell, it might even let SMNs who are not curing let their Avatar build TP.

For BLMs, it lets them MB AM II magic without fear of killing their reserves. I'm not sure how many of you are aware, but Thunder IV is much better than Burst II(or any AM) by a good ratio. Burst II is 2.47~ Damage per MP and Thunder IV is around 3.14~ I think. However, AM II was meant to be MB'd (just look at those merit upgrades). The same could be said for the Merit SMN BPs, in fact, the exact same thing could be said when comparing their Physical BPs.

With this change, a BLM can MB a AM II for between 143.5 MP and 71.75 MP. That's a Stone IV and Blizzard II.

If that doesn't bring back SCs, nothing will. And it wouldn't be broken if compared to the current meleeburn tactic. It would turn BLM to "lol downtime" to "I have to learn to MB now?".

Let me tell you, it would do a lot for BLM for things like Assaults and small group things. I don't see it having too much of an effect on BLM for the big things outside something like Kirin(where you go all out)... because you don't only stop and rest for MP, you have to keep your hate in check. Really, this only helps LSes that gimp themselves by not accepting some zerg tactics.

Now this would have an even bigger effect on SMN, who would feel the boost with their tier II/IV nukes and magical BPs. I wouldn't be surprised if SMN could turn into a full out DD if not put into the healer's spot, at least before merit-range. Shiva could use Rush to build TP fast and Blizzard IV would be reduced a good deal. Now if you put some effort into an avatar with a good supporting BP?(Garuda, Titan, Fenrir... especially Fenrir, he's cheap) SMNs won't need to switch out and lose TP.

I can see BLU also benefiting a lot from this, but I don't know a big deal about the job. I do know Magical attacks are not popular in exp due to physicals being more damaging. This would probably fix that.

Things get interesting when you consider a PLD never really uses all his MP in exp parties anymore. Maybe that weak, but hate-grabbing Holy for 50 or 25 MP might be useful sometimes. If the party was built for it, WHMs could have fun with their Banish spells. I doubt a DRK would find much mileage with this, but consider they have a good deal of MAB gear and B Elemental Skill... well, I don't know. RDMs will dig it, that's for sure.


A camp with a monster designed for SC+MB exp at 75 and the exp reduction I named above? I think it would be enough to bring back SCs to at least a decent popularity.

And I'm done.

[Callisto]

Aksannyi

It all depends on the kind of invite that you take. If you don't want to main heal, don't take the invites asking you to, believe me you'll find another party. And once you hit merit level, you'll have plenty of options. Most of the merit parties I get invited to I'm asked to be puller rather than healer, and I usually do that /DRK - LOADS of fun by the way, especially vs. Greater Colibri, you can't really cast on them, so I break out the ESword and eat some sole sushi, put out about half the DD of a SAM, not stellar but when you consider that it's your Refresher doing that it's not bad at all.

To the point of the thread: I don't know if new spells are really needed for RDM, I already have quite a selection, and really you can do anything you need to as RDM if you gear for it. I have a slight gripe about Bio 3 being Bio instead of Poison 3, it'd be nice if my big tier 3 DoT was based on my Enfeebling skill and not my Dark Magic, but otherwise my only wishes would probably be a new JA just to have something else to play with. I always thought that Celes' Runic ability from FF6 would be fun, the ability to absorb the next spell cast by a mob and pocket the MP. Alternately, I'd headbutt a kitten to be able to use Vorpal Blade without WAR/PLD/DRK sub, which may be possible if the rumors are true about Vorpal Sword, but I'll have to wait until someone on Ramuh actually has one of those to find that out.

[Malevolent]

Or they could get off their asses and finally add Mystic Knight.

Ok you've mentioned this a few times but i don't remember in any FF game where there was a Mystic Knight.....

[Callisto]

Ok you've mentioned this a few times but i don't remember in any FF game where there was a Mystic Knight.....

FF5, it was one of the powerhouse jobs with its 'Magic Sword' ability. As described above, pretty much Enspells on roids.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Paladin has no magic they can call their own. The recent Rampart adjustment grants Stoneskin to the PLD and members in area of effect, which sparks an interesting question of why not give them the Stoneskin spell and Stoneskin II as an exclusive amoung other possible, protective magic.

i like this, PLD with stoneskin will make our {Meat}{shield} job more easy and i think that will give us more atention when pt'ing cuz almost every pt wants a NIN tank because is "easier" for the WHM's that way but with Stoneskin PLD can tank almost the same way NIN does. prolly the only problem with this will be the cast time cuz Stoneskin is a very long casting spell(if u r not a RDM),flash can help for like 5 sec but i think that's not enogh so will be hard to keep Stoneskin up.
Also i think PLD should hv Shell IV (lvl75) for more self-magic-protection cuz some times if theres no WHM or RDM with us that's a problem when fighting some mage's mobs

[BurningPanther]

Actually, I would have liked to see PLD get Phalanx, it seemed only natural for them to share it with RDM.

[Malacite]

PLD should really get na spells IMO... and give RDM Poison 3 already >. >



While it would suck for those who've already spent the merits, I think all 6 spells for RDM in category 2 should be replaced by new traits/abilities and made into scrolls. Meriting for magic is just silly IMO, and while a number of those spells are amazing, the limited points you can allocate to make them worthwhile kills RDM's versatility IMO.

In short; NO MORE MERITED SPELLS PLEASE! Just make the scrolls a total pain to get (not abjuration pain but not something silly like assault points either)