Revamping the Merit System: What SE SHOULD have done.

[Malacite]

I've been thinking about it a lot lately and so now I feel the need to make a thread.

SE screwed up with the category 2 merits. Big time. Some of the jobs got off pretty well, while the others got royally shafted IMO. So, I've got a few reforms in mind, along with what I think would have made more sense.


First off is the system itself and the usage of points. The whole idea behind merits is to customize your jobs a little bit, giving them a power boost as you see fit rather than increasing the level cap. That's all fine and dandy, except that SE made it way too hard to experiment with.


Put bluntly, merit points really should be refunded whenever you take some away from a category. At least partially, if not in full (e.g. you spent 4 on one upgrade, you should at least get 1 back, if not the full 4). In the case where the amount returned would exceed the 10 point limit, you would be unable to undo the merit until you spent some points. Either that, or they could increase the limit.

Now I have thought about this, and yes you could in theory take off all the merits from a fully merited job and then spend them on another one, thus avoiding the need to merit any more. Some people probably would do this, but I don't think it would really be as widespread as SE may fear.

It's not going to hurt their subscriptions. It's a stupid time sink, and if they changed it I'm confident that the crowding of merit camps would lessen.



Now on to the main point. It's my opinion that SE has effectively shot themselves in the foot by making certain spells merit abilities. This prevents higher tier spells from being released (Bio and Dia for example go up to lv 5) and screws over some jobs from being implemented (RDM has Slow II, which would be essential to Time Mage if it were ever created)

A good number of the spells are lackluster (Protectra/Shellra V) or shouldn't have been given to the job (RDM doesn't learn Bio or Bio II, so why the hell did it get Bio III?) The merited blood pacts are a waste too. They should have just been all level 75, and SMN along with the other mages should have just gotten the same 2 JA and 2 JT.


Here are my ideas, starting with NIN.


The SAN wheel really should have been made into BCNM (maybe HNM?) drops and set to lv 65 or 70. Rather than the 2.5 second cast time, they really should have been 0.5 with a recast of 1.5 - 2 minutes and made a bit stronger. With a 2 minute recast, NIN/BLM's would be able to dish out a hefty chunk of damage, while not being able to spam it as quickly as the Ni Wheel.

A recycle trait for Shuriken would have been great too. Just give it a good % of not using up the shuriken (they're hard enough to get as it is)

As for the second JT, I really can't think of much. Some kind of JA that combines a ninja tool with a shuriken similar to Quick Draw would be neat...


Basically, the category 2 merits would open the floor for more NIN's to make use of shuriken and ninjutsu instead of focusing on Dual Wield and tanking. They're supposed to be killing machines according to SE, so let's get serious.



Next up is RDM.

Bio 3 shouldn't have been given to RDM. It's a BLM/DRK spell and should have been made into a scroll for them. Dia 3 would have been better around level 60/61 (following the trend with Dia and Dia 2) Can't really say what levels the others should have been.

Other than Enfeebling Seal (increase the potency of next enfeeble) I can't really think of much here. Actually, I'm gonna stop bringing up new JA's altogether for now save Runic (for PLD) since I'm mainly pissed at the spells.

Which brings me to WHM. Why couldn't they have gotten something like Holy 2, Haste 2, Regen 4? Something remotely usefully anyway. Shellra V I've heard is ok (better than protect) but still seems like a waste to me.


SMN could have gotten enmity merits for avatars or something... from what I hear, no one really uses the merit pacts anyway.

About the only ones they got sorta right were BLM's Tier 2 Ancient Magic. The only reason I say this is because they all cost the same MP and do the same damage which is how the elemental nukes should have all been done in the first place.


I have other things I want to do so that's it for now.

[Raydeus]

I asked for the same (Long time) ago, it's ok if you couldn't move merits around to other categories, but you should be able to move merit points around within the same category so you don't have to waste merits trying to find out what works the best for you.

Take the Others category as an example:

Emnity increase
Emnity decrease
Critical hit rate
Enemy critical hit rate
Spell interruption

This is a good example of what a waste of merits can be, if you level a DD job (with not much of a defense) then you'd want to decrease Emnity. But, if you also wanted to play a tank job with the same character then you'd have to dump all those merits so they wouldn't have an adverse affect on your tanking (and even worse if you wanted to Increase your Emnity for it).

So, without a way to swap merits from a stat to the other (within the same category) you are better off not using merits at all on certain categories if you have jobs with different roles that could conflict with each other.

That's just wrong. :vent:

[IfritnoItazura]

So, without a way to swap merits from a stat to the other (within the same category) you are better off not using merits at all on certain categories if you have jobs with different roles that could conflict with each other.

That's just wrong. :vent:

I think S-E would rather you level up an alternate character if you wish to play "conflicting roles", so you can merit them differently, as dictated by need or personal preference.

There's something inherently broken about a character which can do everything in a game which stresses cooperation.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

No DD that levels a tank merits enmity +/- that I know of. Most go right for critical hit rate and leave the category alone after that.

The FFXI job system is about flexibility, Merits and aquiring endgame gear are about specializing your character (hence most of it being R/E). Some people just never get that hint.

[Raydeus]

I think S-E would rather you level up an alternate character if you wish to play "conflicting roles", so you can merit them differently, as dictated by need or personal preference.

There's something inherently broken about a character which can do everything in a game which stresses cooperation.

Nah, that could apply to most MMOGs but not XI, because of all the time and effort it takes to level a character having to level another just so your merits don't conflict is contradictory to say the least.

If that was the case then skill levels wouldn't be cross-job like they are since job rating is what determines their highest lvl at any given time. And besides, a character alone can't do everything even if he/she has all 18 jobs at 75 with full merits.

This is XI we are talking about here.

[silentsteel]

What could happen with the removal of merits, is that yes, it gives back full merits, but you can only do so once a day/week so that it isn't abused.

And yes, some of the merit 2 need to be changed.

My two cents. =p

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Pop Quiz, folks.

Which character should level PLD, BLU or RDM?

Tarutaru with singing, wind, staff, axe and lance merits?
Or Mithra with marksmanship, sword, archery and MP merits?

The answer really is that I could go either way, but the mithra is the sensible choice. The magic category is completely open for her and there's the sword and MP merits to boot.

The "problem" with the merit system is people level so many jobs on one character and want to max the potential of them all, but they've done so much that some of them end up marginal instead. Its also much to do with the inventory "problem." People want it all, but when you logged in, SE told you to have a life, please.

If you want to be a Tarutaru PLD, FFXI allows you that, but its at the expense of a lot of other things. Especially so if you want to be the best Taru PLD you can be.

[Raydeus]

What could happen with the removal of merits, is that yes, it gives back full merits, but you can only do so once a day/week so that it isn't abused.

And yes, some of the merit 2 need to be changed.

My two cents. =p

I'd like to be able to tweak merits at anytime though. You can't really abuse the system unless being able to tweak your character for specific tasks is considered abusing. :)

As a RDM if you are gonna play Paralyze-RDM in a fight then you'd swap merits to Ice Acc and Paralyze II, then, if you gotta be chain stunner you'd just swap to Lightning Acc and Dark skill.

Either way you'll never be able to go beyond the category limits and you'd have to invest plenty of merits to get to higher increases like usual. This would only save you from dumping merits that you already earned just so you could change your merit setup.

[Legal Fish]

No offense, but a lot of this is lame.

Only really, really shitty merits should be removed/replaced. In my opinion there is just one: Scavenge recast, god that's lame.

Any current standing can simply be changed to better fit the game.

San ninjetsu is fine really... if you added "Enmity+" to additional merits it would work out great. The elemental wheel could also benefit from their Elemental resistance down duration increasing based on tier. The recast is also could use modification like you mentioned.

Protectra and Shellra 5 only issue is that unlike other merits, their strength increases so weakly compared to other spells, abilities, and traits. What they should of been is: Additional merits = 5 Def or -2% magic damage. They could have also been traits to effect also Protect IV and Shell IV, but that doesn't matter now.

RDM DO learn Bio I and Bio II. The only issue with Bio III(and I guess Dia III) is that their DoT increase is rather pathetic and could of been better(at least Bio III's DoT should increase with each merit). Bio III is also hurt by the new standard of Utsusemi.

SMN's magical BPs are an issue outside of merits. Keeping your avatar or spirits out doesn't provide enough benefits. Additional, Magical BPs rely on MBing.

BLM's AM II spells are not as great as you might imagine. Outside Manafont spam aiming for nuking once in the battle, you almost always better off with Thunder IV. They rely greatly on MBing once they have been merited further.


Now the complaints about merits being limited to people with multiple jobs. You've completely missed the point of merits. They are customization to make people different. You can't be the best at every job. It's like asking for all the mission reward earrings and rings.

Finally, Group II merits have one big problem. Feint aside, they were clearly intended to have a 5/10 limit like Group I. This makes most traits and spells much more useful, also makes timer of most abilities 5 or 10 mins.

[Malacite]

Additional merits = 5 Def

Useless.

RDM DO learn Bio I and Bio II.

Okay, but BLM and DRK do get it much earlier and have more dark magic skill.


BLM's AM II spells are not as great as you might imagine.

I never said they were. I just said that SE got things right by giving them all the same base damage, as they should have done with all nukes.


San ninjetsu is fine really... if you added "Enmity+" to additional merits it would work out great. The elemental wheel could also benefit from their Elemental resistance down duration increasing based on tier. The recast is also could use modification like you mentioned.

Gonna have to disagree with you there. I've spoken to some NIN who have it and went /BLM. They weren't impressed. The casting times suck (2.5 cast, 60 recast) and don't do enough damage to really be worth it. The Ni wheel is still easier to spam for quick damage spikes. I'd really like it if NIN could get more mileage out of their ninjutsu and especially shuriken, to diversify the job instead of just focusing on dual-wield and melee damage.

The FFXI job system is about flexibility, Merits and aquiring endgame gear are about specializing your character (hence most of it being R/E). Some people just never get that hint. I said about as much in my OP. I'm not blind you know.

But my point is it shouldn't be so damn arduous to experiment with merits. More to the point, what if someone fully merits say WHM. Then, 3 months later (or however long) they decide they really just don't want to play WHM anymore, but want to trick out DRK or RNG. Now they have to undo all that work, essentially wasting hours and hours of grinding in merit parties.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

I said about as much in my OP. I'm not blind you know.

Who said I was talking about you?

But my point is it shouldn't be so damn arduous to experiment with merits. More to the point, what if someone fully merits say WHM. Then, 3 months later (or however long) they decide they really just don't want to play WHM anymore, but want to trick out DRK or RNG. Now they have to undo all that work, essentially wasting hours and hours of grinding in merit parties.

FFXI is by far more generous with thier systems than some MMOs have been. Some MMOs still go by skill trees and once you make a choice, it can never be undone and you have to level another character if you wanted to specialize your character to something else. Here you don't have to go that route unless you want to.

At any rate if we could handle merits like you wanted to, then everyone would just merit five jobs - WAR, MNK, NIN, RDM and BRD - and hardly merit on the others.

Oh wait...

[Legal Fish]

Useless.


And can you tell me why? It has nothing to do with the merit itself, it's a problem about the game's defense mechanic which should be fixed. And it would very useful in PvP at least.

[Armando]

I don't know. Even if they fixed Defense (let's suppose mobs used the same formulas we did) 5 Defense at 75 is a drop in the bucket.

[Malacite]

It has nothing to do with the merit itself, it's a problem about the game's defense mechanic which should be fixed.

That's exactly why it's useless. A drastic change to the def/vit system is required IMO, but that's not the subject here. Although it would be nice if the protect line of spells gave increasing amounts of defense (or damage reduction?) based on the tier and enhancing skill. This would really be a major boost to WHM and would seriously help to make their job easier.

Granted RDM's would be able to do this for the most part as well, but they'd be spending more MP and time.

At any rate if we could handle merits like you wanted to, then everyone would just merit five jobs - WAR, MNK, NIN, RDM and BRD - and hardly merit on the others.

Oh wait...


Tee hee. Ah but seriously I do think something should be done. I don't think it would get quite as bad as you make it out either. Some people do actually merit on other jobs for fun.

Hell I refuse to merit on WAR anymore for just that reason. I don't find it fun. Cast utsu, spampage, rinse lather repeat. yawn. (Not that merits are terribly exciting to begin with)

I like playing on SAM much better. Now if SE would just make skillchains worthwhile, I'd be having quite a bit of fun with my soboro.

[Legal Fish]

If the merits became 5/10 limit, a fully merited spell would be Defense+80. I'd say it would be pretty decent. Protect is 10, Protect II is 25, Protect III is 40, and Protect IV is 55. It's 15 Defense increase per tier. This would be a 25 Defense increase. Even if the limit is forever stuck at 3/6(and I hope to god it isn't), it would make Protect V 15 Defense more than Protect IV which makes a lot more sense than 1 more defense per upgrade.

EDIT: It's very important to bring up. If that way of thought was correct, then jobs like PUP and DRG shouldn't even have received Group II.

On your method of boosting Defense spells, this does very little to fix the system itself.

[Legal Fish]

I will say this: you should be able turn off certain merits like Enmity +/-.

[eticket109]

Okay, but BLM and DRK do get it much earlier and have more dark magic skill.


Bio: BLM - 10, RDM - 10, DRK - 15
Bio II: BLM - 35, RDM - 36, DRK - 40

However, the E rating in Dark Magic is truly abysmal. It makes much more sense to raise the Dark skill slightly in RDM then it does to remove something like Bio II. Although Bio is technically Dark Magic, it is considered a debuff or enfeeble by the player base and is at the core of what a RDM does. It makes sense to have it meritable.

The Tier II screwup lies mostly with NIN in my opinion. Let's give NIN 8 meritable abilities with 6 points max to spend on them. gg SE.

[Callisto]

As for issue with Dia/Bio 3: It made sense to give RDM Dia 3, seeing as how that's the first spell RDM even gets, and it's an Enfeebling-based spell. By extension, it made some sense to give Bio 3, since it's the other half of Dia per se, and RDM does get and make lots of use from Bios 1 and 2, as their DoT ticks are greater than Dia. My problem with Bio 3 is that Bio is based on Dark Magic skill, and not Enfeebling magic, so you're tossing out the spell with a base skill of 200 if it's capped. It would have made more sense to give Poison 3 instead of Bio 3, with a healthy chunk of DoT/tick and the spell being Enfeebling-based. Otherwise, here's how I view my Group 2's for RDM:

Dia 3 - Essentially pointless for the MP cost. Not enough DoT, not enough Def- to warrant spending the MP on. I dropped it after testing it for awhile.

Bio 3 - Still needs the DoT to scale up when you merit it higher. At level 1 it's pathetic, the duration is next to nothing. At level 2, the duration is better, and the initial damage is pretty decent if it goes fully unresisted. Although, since it is based on Dark Magic skill and not enfeebling, this doesn't always happen.

Phalanx 2 - Kickass. I get more use out of this than I ever thought I would. I do alot of small-group things with DRKs, SAMs, MNKs and the lot, and it's a great help to keep them from burning all of my MP on cures b/c they take hits like a wet paper bag. I'm putting serious thought towards dropping Paralyze 2 and bumping this up to level 2.

Paralyze 2 - Not terrible enough to toss it by itself, but really for 6x the MP cost of Paralyze 1, the proc rate really isn't that much more often at level 1. I think I'd be better served to bump Phal 2 up another level and let this one go.

Slow 2 - Also kickass. Even at level one the effect is noticeable, the tanks I've worked with have said it's extremely noticeable to them. Makes Charybdis duo pretty easy with a NIN.

Blind 2 - Honestly I can't tell how good this is. I use it, but when something hits or misses a tank, it's hard to tell if it's their evasion or my Blind. Hell if I can tell the difference. I cast it and hope it's better than Blind 1.

[Raydeus]

I will say this: you should be able turn off certain merits like Enmity +/-.

That would work too. Although you'd still be unable to merit other atributes because even if a stat boost is turned off it would still count for total combo, that's one of the reasons I want to just tweak merits at will.

But still, an on/off switch would be much better than nothing, that's for sure. :worry:

[Legal Fish]

I'm bored... so I'm going to throw out some thoughts. Imagine a Group II merits for Others. These would be extremely potent and ideally equal in power. Their effect would only be accessible at level 75. Very potent and very costy. 5/10 limit.

Auto-Refresh (Activates at different percent of MP: 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 100%)
Attack Speed (1% per Merit)
Fast Cast (1% or 2% per Merit)
Damage Reduction (1% per Merit)

[hongman]

Just nitpicking here, why would you want Auto-Refresh to kick in at 100% if you are at 100%...

Anyways - my 2 cents on RDM's Para II is the same as the majority. Not bad enough to drop, decent proc on exp mobs at lvl3, but really should be adjusted to either proc more, or lower the MP cost.

Landing it on Sky Gods is meh. I managed to Para II Suzaku on /DRK, and I saw it proc once. Which is pants. Granted I didnt have as much mnd as /whm but still, thats poor.

Slow II is hands down the best spell in that category.

I pity RDMs who use Bio III without gear swaps.

[Gobo]

Thats cause though Suzaku is a "Wind" mob from being a greater bird, its also a Fire mob, since it is Suzaku. By constrast I've had a decently +MND Para II (I think I was at about +50) proc a decent rate on Seriyu, Fafy, Khim and a few other end game mobs while stopping Ouryu dead in its tracks (multiple back to back procs and a few triple procs). Mind you, it still doesn't stay on as long as I would like and sometimes its stupidly flickle. It really is a "cap or don't use it spell" because lvl 1 sucked monkey balls and 2 wasn't much better. An MP reduction for it would be nice, I won't deny that.

[hongman]

There you go then, I managed to land it in a God that is inherently weaker to that element. Fantastic.

Once I can merit my enfeeb some more, I can reduce the +skill kit and go for more +MND. Just too lazy to do Slow II with skill macro/Slow II with max MND macos, currently its all +skill and MND where skill isnt available.

Or if I ever get Duelist Chap. If.

[Gobo]

No i'm staying you landed it on a God that is resistant (fire>ice) to that element, which means that you did something hard. (Though landing an Enfeeb on a sky god is usually difficult in itself)

[Callisto]

I did do a bit more research and testing of my spells, and yeah I'm dropping my level 2 Bio II and putting both Paralyze II and Phalanx II up to level 2. The initial damage from my Bio III is pretty good, it usually does about 165~, however even when I max my Dark Magic I can only get to 224(Torque, Abyssal, and Crim Gauntlets) and at that level Bio III will only do 7/tick, while Bio II with the same skill will do 6/tick, and last twice as long. Unless you're really hard up for the extra 4.whatever% Attack Down effect, I've come to the conclusion that Bio III just isn't worth the MP cost.

[hongman]

No i'm staying you landed it on a God that is resistant (fire>ice) to that element, which means that you did something hard. (Though landing an Enfeeb on a sky god is usually difficult in itself)


See, Im still such a "young" RDM..../sigh

Although, on Wiki it just says Suzy is weak to Water.

[Callisto]

See, Im still such a "young" RDM..../sigh

Although, on Wiki it just says Suzy is weak to Water.

That'd be technically correct as he's a fire-based god. This would make him inherently strong to ice spells like Paralyze. I'm not sure if by being a Greater Bird as well makes him have a wind element, too, which if it does might offset that a little.

Side note, I <3 Suzaku fights! I haven't done it in a longtime, but instead of binding it we used to just have me chainstun while he chainnuked. I generally kept him from casting anything, although one time he did get a Flare off on me, luckily Blink ate it. :biggrin:

[hongman]

Yeah, we CSS him, and now I have /drk I get to have fun on him xD

Although he does still get a few spells off during his CS spam, apparently this is normal though.

Marvellous fun.

[WishMaster3K]

I should raise DRK one of these days.. But I see myself coming to sky a few times as a newbie PLD so I can jump in for 2 minutes while the Vets reraise, so who knows. I might make a career out of it. (not enough to NOT get a Rajas Ring tho.. That thing is pure Awesome.)

Merits in general are "ok" for RDM, which is fantastic because the majority of the jobs get screwed harder than-

Ok, nevermind, that was going to be a bad analogy, but after some time, I've definitely thought of meritting Phalanx II and Slow II. Dia3 is worthless to me. And for the MP cost, ParaII is as well. And Bio just equals: no.

I think RDMs are balanced enough as it is. My only complaint is adjusting enfeebling at higher levels, because there is no way that RDMs with 320+ in skill should still be recounting how enfeebling still sucks..

[hongman]

I should raise DRK one of these days

Cool. Come to Bahamut and buy all of my 4-5 +1 Scythes I was silly enough to buy (yeah, i turned to a melee tard while lvling DRK) and now cant sell :/

[WishMaster3K]

Cool. Come to Bahamut and buy all of my 4-5 +1 Scythes I was silly enough to buy (yeah, i turned to a melee tard while lvling DRK) and now cant sell :/

Oh hell no. I'm gonna raise DRK like I raised WAR: As gimp as possible because I'm only taking it to 37.

I don't plan on spending more than 100k on DRK (not counting food, but keeping in mind that I'll sell gear as I move up in tiers and buy more)

Maybe 200k. I'm loving this economy btw.

[Legal Fish]

Just nitpicking here, why would you want Auto-Refresh to kick in at 100% if you are at 100%...

This would mean it would be active 100% of the time as well, including 81 to 99%. (It's basically Sanction refresh).


EDIT: I'm bored so I'll review over the entire list of merits and how they can improved.

HP/MP = this are A-OK.

Attributes = also A-OK... but you know, it wouldn't hurt to add a Group II based on race. Like Tarutaru being able to increase their STR, VIT, and HP more(not enough to be equal to an Elvaan of course).

Combat Skills = Fine.

Magic Skills = Fine for the most, limits maybe should be adjusted to be more fairly equal to Combat Skill.


Others:
Enemy Critical Hit Rate should be -3%. (12% total)
Spell Interruption Rate should be -3%. (12% total)

Now main jobs... these timer reducing ones should be increased slightly. For example: Berserk is increased by 10 secs per merit, should be 12 secs, so a full minute is reduced instead of 50 seconds. I won't mention this below, but assume it to be true for all.

For Group II, the limit should become 5/10, just like Group I.

Warrior:
Group II:
Savagery- Warcry should be modified to last 1 minute long(at least on WAR main) and stack with Boost / Crimson Howl. This improves this merit greatly.
Aggressive Aim- WAR should receive a higher Bow skill to give this merit much more use.

Monk:
Group II:
Mantra- 5 min duration.
Invigorate- Auto-Regen type that stacks with Spell/Drink.

White Mage:
Group I:
Divine Seal Recast- Each merit reduces it by 1 min.
Group II:
Protectra V- adds 5 Defense per upgrade.
Shellra V- adds -2% magic damage per upgrade.

Black Mage:
Group I:
Elemental Seal Recast- each merit reduces it by 1 min.

Red Mage:
Group II:
Bio III- 1 dot increase per merit upgrade.
Blind II- Decreases accuracy more if the target doesn't have shadows.

Thief:
Group II:
Feint- Each merit decreases the recast time by 30 seconds.
Ambush- Increases attack and ranged attack by 1% for each merit.

Paladin:
Group I:
Holy Circle recast- 1 min reduced per merit. (Killer effects would need be more beneficial as well)
Group II:
Featly-Base merit timer is 15 mins.

Dark Knight:
Group I:
Last Resort Effect- Doesn't increase Defense down.
Arcane Circle recast- 1 min reduced per merit. (Killer effects would need be more beneficial as well)
Group II:
Diabolic Eye- Also increases Magic Accuracy.

Beastmaster:
Group II:
Feral Howl- Potency/duration and accuracy is effected greatly by monster level and CHR. Very likely to last 5 to 8 seconds on VTs and under. Also, if the BST has a pet, all hate from this ability is given to the pet.
Beast Affinity- Prevents "uncapped" jug pets to appear a slightly lower level than 75.

Bard:
Group I:
Minuet and Minne Effect- +2 instead of +1.

Ranger:
Group I:
Scavenger recast is removed from the game.
"Ranged Additional Effect" replaces it: 2% increase in potency(like Elemental Staff increase on Holy Bolts) and accuracy of additional effect activating per merit. (caps at 10%)
Camouflage recast- Camouflage is made better by having a special effect added to it. When ranged attacking a monster with no enmity on anyone, nothing will link with it when pulled and it will be aggro-type hate(meaning lost once someone else touches it). Doesn't work in certain environments(mainly Battlefields)

Samurai:
Group I:
Warding Circle- 1 min reduced per merit. (Killer effects would need be more beneficial as well)
Zanshin- 2% increase per merit.
Group II:
Blade Bash's stun accuracy is greatly increased.

Ninja:
Group II:
Elemental Wheel Ninjetsu: San- Casting time is .5 seconds.
Additionally, the elemental down duration increases based on tier, San being the longest.

Dragoon:
Group I:
Ancient Circle- 1 min reduced per merit. (Killer effects would need be more beneficial as well)
Group II:
Strafe-+1% breath potency as well.

[Malacite]

I'd rather RNG be able to merit Barrage than Scavenger...

Also, I was thinking of Drain at the time when I mentioned RDM and Bio @. @ (I thought Bio was the lv 10 spell when it's actually drain for DRK ^^ my bad)


And why the hell do people demand more Bow skill for WAR? Unless you're a RNG or SAM archery sucks. I'd rather WAR get more marksmanship skill seeing as they're one of the 4 jobs that can use every kind of bolt.

[Legal Fish]

Bow, Crossbow, whatever.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Xbows have far more utility that bows. If a RNG is using a bow or gun, its just for raw damage. Xbow is far more versitile, hence the suggestion of WAR getting a higher rating in that than Bow.

Blind, Bloody, Holy, Acid, Venom and Sleep bolts. Their effects are more reliable and almost always proc save for Chimera, Light-based mobs and Colibri.

Its not easy to solo on RNG, but without Xbow, it would be impossible. WAR would gain versitility in PTs and more solo ability if their marksmanship rating improved.

I say leave Bow at C rating and bring Marksmanship up to par with it. I know people look at a B or C rating and think thats too low to be effective, but Archery and Marksmanship are a little stronger than their skill ratings let on. Doesn't hurt that Ranged Accuracy gear is much easier to obtain than accuracy gear.

WAR is fine with C on Archery, just look at SAM/RNG and COR/RNG if you need proof. SAM has a C and COR has a B in thier resepective ranged skills. I think bumping up Marksmanship for WAR would do a lot more good.

[Arximiro]

Well I don't think anyone said this yet.. I just glanced. I had this idea the other day.. I think we should just be able to merit everything in any category but equip merits in the mog house only... like if you are going out as war equip your 5 str merits if Rdm/blm equip your 5 Int merits and so on..Enmity merits for my nin give me hell on my War I'd love to be able to toss on enmity-4 when I go merit on War.. just be able to equip the current cap in the categories but be able to purchase them all with merits..


I really dont think this would hurt the balance. If they didnt make you need so much shit like Sky sea etc etc.. Im sure more people would make more chars. But nowadays its way too difficult to get all that stuff done because everyone is 75 almost and usually not willing to help. Atm Im like completely capped on merits altogether and it really blows because I like to merit. I think it would be cool if they would let us do that. You could specialize for a certain occasion sure.. but in my opinion you earned that shit you should be able to use it how you want.

Anyone like my idea? :D

[Malacite]

I like the idea of an "other II" category, but I think it should have merits for resting HP and MP.