Are they worth it at all? I've heard mixed answers from people.
Are they worth it at all? I've heard mixed answers from people.
no
Weren't they buffed up a bit in the last update? I'm not a Summoner, but I remember reading something about how they gave the avatars a TP bonus on their merit BPs or something.
They are good collection and fun to play with more than taking actual actions in battle,
the damage aren't much different from your current IV version spells from avatars.
They always had a TP bonus. Just now you get more of a TP bonus for each additional upgrade after you unlock the BP. It just means that you're better off meritting 2 of them to full than getting all 6. Trying to gain TP with an avatar seems foolish and somewhat paradoxical to me since SMN's core competence is mob-TP-free damage (who worries about hate anymore?).Originally Posted by Skirkle
Personally haven't gotten around to meritting them yet (think I just have Wind Blade unlocked). Been too busy with all the NIN goodies since the last update.
from my girlfriend myrla/elph who is a 75 smn:
wind blade and grand fall are the only two worth it. garuda covers light/frag and grand fall distortion/darkness.
the latest change resulted in the base tp when first summoned(and only unlocked) from 20 to 40.
the biggest appeal of them has been using on magic bursts in limbus and kirin(with 100 tp they outdamage nether blast) as well as high evasion mobs. but a lot of this is dependant on individual gear and merits. grand fall has done 1400-1600 magic bursts on darkness chains, when between 100-200tp.
i'll leave it to elph to post screenshots on her own time(we're away for the weekend and only have my laptop for internet access).
Quick question out of curiosity. Why these two? Are Garuda and Leviathan the only two avatars she uses?Originally Posted by Martinius
If you ask me, if you're only going to unlock two (and fully upgrade them) a better choice would be Heavenly Strike and Thunderstorm, because any Bards or Ninjas you'll be doing any real work with will be enfeebling monsters to be weaker to ice and thunder elements, not wind and water.
To answer the OP, these Bloodpacts are actually very useful to unlock, if you want a magical attack option that is not Nether Blast.
Best thing about them is the animations look cool.
That being said, I have Grand Fall simply because I like Leviathan, not really because of the practical use (although I guess it can be used at Faf)
Titan's has an added effect Stun.
I think they're all pretty worthless though.
imo, the new BPs are a waste of MP.
If you want to MB , you're looking for the wrong job, BLM are supposed to cast strong spells.
Smn's main "power" are Physical attacks of garuda and levi mainly.
Do they look good? Yes
Do they worth the mp? No
Shiva's looks really cool on JoL, i use it for shits when it's on wind mode. but ya not worth meriting cept for fun.Originally Posted by supercoco
Magical BPs can be somewhat useful for a flying wyrm.
A SMN in my LS, uses Wind Blade quite often, and it nails some pretty good damage on LV2. If you go to LV3 on 2 of them, you're probably better off then all 6, as someone stated.
It just so happens that those 2 are the most popular for lv70 BPs. Doing it for Shiva/Ramuh would also be nice because they're rather unpopular later on.Originally Posted by Jeryhn
I'd say if you don't plan on using them, "catch 'em all" (or simply put them on the bottom of your to-merit-list). If you do, then 3 in Shiva's and 3 for Ramuh's prime BPs.
Has anyone noticed a difference in the update?
Also, Magical BPs seem best when MB'd(at level the tier spells anyway). Has anyone, for whatever reason, tested how well they do MB'd with different levels of TP and compared them to the physical BPs?
The TP effect on them has been increased.Originally Posted by BRP
Also, the TP Bonus you get from upgrading them increased from 20 to 40.
No offense but wherever I go to read about these meritable smn bps, all I hear is negative input. Fine and dandy PRE-update
but POST-update I want to know if doing one that is level 3 in a MB and outside a MB straight off the bat without gaining tp. Just hearing "no, they suck before so this update doesn't mean anything and I am just saying this because I am too lazy or I like seeing the pretty animations" doesn't cut it...
Results please
You do realize you could just test it yourself. Unlock one, TP your avatar to 80 TP and use your newly unlocked BP. Now just take that number and pretend you didn't assault your avatar for that 80 TP. Grats! You are now self-sufficient.Originally Posted by KokoroNoKawari
Or you could always go look at one of Enilanerda's threads on *gasp* alla.
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/jobs.html ... 2212031282
true statement. And i love Enilanerda's merit pact testing threads, I only wish there were more than two of us posting results and testing pacts so we could gain a better information base for them. Everyone else over there seems more concerned with laughtermath than summoning.You do realize you could just test it yourself. Unlock one, TP your avatar to 80 TP and use your newly unlocked BP. Now just take that number and pretend you didn't assault your avatar for that 80 TP. Grats! You are now self-sufficient.
Or you could always go look at one of Enilanerda's threads on *gasp* alla.
Anyway,
I found the merit bloodpacts have been very useful, moreso since the recent update that increased the effect of TP. They are very consistant for thier damage and magic burst better than anything else summoner has. Its true that magical damage is blm expertise, but its also partially smn field too. Before these pacts smn had no end game participation in the skillchain/ magicburst process outside of magicbursting astral flow pacts. Summoner is not really amazing at anything, the strength of the job is its ability to damage, defend, and enhance with its assortment of varied abilities. My high on kirin lvl2 windblade was 1064 with less than 100tp, and it never got resisted once during the 2 kirins we did.
I have windblade at lvl3 now and 3 others at 1, but i'm waiting to see which one to max out next. I used to have all 6, but I found having all 6 less useful to me than the possibility of maxing out 2 because these pacts only really shine when magic bursted. What you want to do is find the two or three skillchains you see the most at events or HNM fights, and then merit 2 lvl3 or 3 lvl2 so that you can have effective pacts of the correct element to magic burst with. I love meteor strike and grand fall, but I can't remember the last time I have had to magicburst those two elements on anything. All I see these days for skillchains are fragmentation and light (organized skillchains), so i'm just leaving 3 pacts at lvl1 currently until i find the right element to max out for me.
Ultimately the choice of which ones and how high you merit them are up to the skillchains and enemies you encounter regularly, but I'd say they're worth getting because smn was sorely lacking high level magical damage ability for years. These pacts are the only magic damage smn can get that does more than thier spirits (on MB and resistant enemies at least).
SMNs don't test anything. They just assume it sucks and complain.