[hongman]

1. Can I merit Group 2 Merits before finishing Group 1?

I am definately doing for all the tier 2 stuff, as for the elemental MACC, was going to do (in order of priority)

Ice
Wind
Earth

I see little point in meriting Lightning, Water and Fire MACC as priority, does everyone agree with this?

I know order of merits is pretty much perference, was planning to just work my way down the list of tier 2, and convert recast.

If this seems spam like it is, Im in forum whore mode today.

[Raydeus]

Ya, you can merit whatever you want in any order.

And yep, Wind, Ice and Earth are the only elements worth spending merits on. The thing is sometimes you'll be asked by your LS to cap acc for a certain spell, like cap Ice Acc + Para II full merits, or Earth Acc + Slow II full merits.

Although I haven't heard much about that practice anymore lately, it could be worth taking into consideration if you join a LS like that.

In my case I went with:

MP +80
Ice +6
Wind +6
Earth +3
Convert Recast -1:40

And currently working on Enhancing skill cap and Enf skill with the rest of the points after that. Then I'll start with Sword, Dagger and Crits.

RDM group II merits you ask? At this moment there's absolutely no reason for me to spend merits on such crappy and MP costly spells.

[BurningPanther]

There is no order. Obtain your merits as pleases you.

That said, I'm gonna share too(e-peen ftw?):
Group 1:
3 Merits Convert Recast(-1:00)
4 Merits Ice Magic Accuracy(+12)
3 Merits Wind Magic Accuracy(+9)

Group 2:
3 Merits Slow II
3 Merits Paralyze II

Outside of RDM specific, I've got:
2 Merits Max MP(+20)
1 Merit Sword Skill(+2)
8 Merits Enfeebling skill(+16)
1 Merit Critical Hit Rate(+1%) ... and already seeing a big difference!
1 Merit Spell Interruption Rate Down(-2%)

Obviously, I'm going to finish Max MP, Sword skill, Crit Rate, and Spell Interrupt, as well as put four into Dagger skill, and save MND merits for last, since they will not only be the worst, but I am undecided on what else I want to pair with them(I plan on 3 Merits MND, not sure if I want to put the other 2 into STR or DEX...)
__________________________________________________ _________________________________________
Raydeus, I know you have a stigma against the Group 2 merits(not that I blame you), but if I may, I highly recommend meriting a full Slow II. It's easily and visibly the best spell to come out of the category.

I also chose Paralyze II, but am disappointed with the returns. I'd pull merits out of it, but I'm unsure of what I want more than that, and while people continually laud the usefulness of Phalanx II, I simple don't care about it enough. Dia III is a strong choice, the defense down effect is also a pretty visible difference from Dia II. However, I decided against it due to my dissatisfaction with it's cost and duration. I probably should have gone with it.

But seriously, get Slow II. I think you won't regret it.

[hongman]

Thanks guys!

And yes, E-peen ftw!

[Pteryx]

Not much e-peen here -- so far I only have 15 merits:

* Wind accuracy 1, ice accuracy 1 -- These are good ones for kiting, and I like to kite. Also, that single wind accuracy merit is all I needed to be able to properly stick Silence on imps without endgame gear. Furthermore, ice accuracy helps one of my favorite spells, Paralyze. Which brings us to...
* Paralyze II level 2, Phalanx II level 1 -- Paralyze II is something I've wanted from long before they even announced group 2 merits, as Paralyze's effectiveness drops off sharply in the 50s even with an Ice Staff. Paralyze II level 1 still isn't much, alas, beyond actually being stickable; level 2, however, starts to kick in at a satisfactory rate. As for Phalanx II... well, the primary role of a RDM after sub levels is to buff the party, and this is fine by me. Thus, I took the one buff spell.
* Enfeebling Magic level 1 -- We debuff as a high priority, too. Every serious RDM75 should have at least one enfeebling merit, IMO. I plan to concentrate skill merits on other jobs and I still took one enfeebling merit.
* MP +10, Shield level 1 -- These I really took for PLD's sake, but they aren't useless for RDM, particularly not the MP.

The lesson here is to merit according to your tastes. If you're completely lost for ideas and you enjoy endgame, though, I'd suggest asking your endgame shell what would fill in holes in their makeup. -- Pteryx

P.S. Oh, and as far as lightning merits? That's only really of any use if you want to get the most out of Stun as a RDM/DRK.

[hongman]

I know what you mean aboout Paralyze - I dont normally have too much of an issue sticking it, but the question of whether its worth it is debatable sometimes!

I'll stick Para, and although not paying "particular" attention to the proc rate, sometimes I wonder if it even proced at all.

Silence, is a ???? to stick on Imps. Id say 60% success.

Although I am keen (as always) to see what stats I get after I have capped my Lvl 72 skills and have finally finished tweaking my equip macros for max effect.

PS I know BLM's have that coveted "breaking 100INT" mark for increased DoT etc... anything for RDMs that break 100 MND?

[Kirsteena]

I need to finish rdm merits, but since my ls keep making me go blm, I kinda need to finish them first (pimp hat v2, and I'm stuck on blm - thanks).

I have capped slow II and para II. For what I do (at the moment, all I have time for is daily Faf camping), when they land, they make mobs into pussies. Para II saved our hide when after maint we got Faf and there was only six of us on at the time and we had a slight darter issue - Faf paralyzed 6 times in a row takes a LOT of pressure off the tanks.

Group 1, I have a minute off my convert recast, which frankly is all I need - I have so much MP gear that my convert ratio is very nearly 1:1. I'm going to probably go 4 ice and 3 wind with what I have left. I don't see the point in working on earth acc for one spell - at least ice and wind work for more than one spell.

For the rest, I have 8/8 enfeebling magic merits, and will be working on mp. The only point in working on mnd for a rdm is if you are going to go all out mnd for your spells - and as an Elvaan, you have a natural advantage there.

[hongman]

6 times on faf....nice!

Looks like BLM will be next for me as well Kirst...not looking forwward to that! While I really dont mind playing BLM, invites suck hard and soloing is....boring.

Then again, I'm surprised if I dont get an invite within 15 mins of sticking my flag up, so is the life of rdm

[Kirsteena]

Soloing may be boring, but it doesn't half bring you a lot of seals... which means you end up making money at the end of the day. To be honest, I found i was ok for invites up until 53-54 - which is when ToAU parties make an impact. By then you have elemental staves, so it makes soloing ok.

[hongman]

Quick change of topic before I forget - after reading this thread Potency of Enfeebling Magic

I forgot you cant just dump limitless merits into each group.

Group 2 max's if I reas them right from Wiki is max combo 6, max per item 3.

Looking at the effectiveness of each spell, I can say I am terribly disappointed to see some of the uselessness of merit spells - as such, I initially plan to merit:

Slow II -> 3
Paralyze II -> 3

Or maybe, just maybe, pull out 1 from Slow II and stick it in Phalanx II.

Am I losing much without Dia III, Bio III, Phalanx II and Blind II?

Ok, Blind II and Bio III are pretty to cast but are from what I can make out pretty gank. Dia III....useful but not over Slow II and/or Para II's proc and sticks imo.

Do I have it right?

EDIT:

Group 1

Convert Recast - 3 (minus 1 min)
Earth - 1
Ice - 3
Wind 3

[hongman]

And so I have etched out my grand plan....muhahahaha

Although it will take me (years?) to ever reach the max...at least I have a plan!

Here we go (for my own records as well as sharing)

HP/MP
MP - 8 (I have plenty of HP)

Attributes
INT - 3
MND - 2

I plan on leveling BLM as well, and seeming as we are naturally high on MND and lower in INT this should balance it out.

Magic Skills
Enfeebling Magic - 5
Elemental Magic - 3

Weapon
Dagger - 8
Sword - 8

Defense
Evasion - 4
Parry - 4

Others
Emnity - -3
Crit Hit + -2
Spell Int - 3

Group1 and 2 as above.

Subject to change, but right now I want to be RDM main and BLM secondary main so these reflect that.

[Kirsteena]

Frankly, even though my second is blm, I don't regret the 8/8 on Enfeebling Magic. I'm a rdm first and foremost, and if they don't like it, tough. Means I am oft the one asked to Ele Seal/Sleep mobs though . I may get resisted slightly more than the others, and my damage be lower, but I certain do enough damage with the elemental magic skill from gear to make it worthwhile (cue me racing round with Kaiser Behemoth on my tail at Sunday's Limbus).

You can only have 8+4 for weapons, which sucks.

Personally I'm not touch mnd/int etc till I see if I want to level a melee job, and I'll probably end up meriting str...

[hongman]

That be true Kirsteena, all my merits are aimed toward mage RDM and BLM but I have considered leveling NIN or WAR....

If NIN does happen, then I'll pull the emn - merits and leave them blank. If WAR, I guess I can leave them there and adjust to STR and pull from MND/INT as you said, but they are a long long time away....those merits may even be a longer time away becuase thats a whole lotta limit points!!!

First and foremost, I want to be a kickass RDM with very potent enfeebs - hence why booting the stats that matter most to me.

Theres a few people in my LS (as you well know!) that play RDM at events right now becuase they are needed as RDM - so I would like to step up to that mark, at least then people like Norrs can play SMN (I think?) which is as far as I can tell, her real main.

[Raydeus]

Originally Posted by BurningPanther

Raydeus, I know you have a stigma against the Group 2 merits(not that I blame you), but if I may, I highly recommend meriting a full Slow II. It's easily and visibly the best spell to come out of the category.

Hmmm I might give it a try after I'm done with the rest of the merits.


*Writes Slow II at the bottom of his "To merit" list.*