RNG Group 2 Merits

[Shadida]

OK, so I was feeling left out since the BLMs and SMNs decided to have their own fun so now we get a RNG thread. How are you or have you split up your 6 upgrades in Group 2? I'll withhold my opinion til I see some replies - don't keep me waiting too long. :wink:

[Akroma_Seraph]

3 Snapshot - Lowering the delay of ranged attacks by (6%?). This seems sorta obvious to me anyway, with the rage of haste gear on every other job in this game. (Also note I have lv5 Rapid shot, and Personally enjoy using af1+1 hat/af2 body combination at times).

1 Flashy Shot - For my personal RNG use I only bring out my beloved job for Big Nasty mobs, that are normally a Zerg situation. Therefore, I could care less about hate in most cases and the extra damage this JA can provide is worth it. On that point though, I don't really see having this on a 15min timer to be worth spending the other 2 category merits on it.

With that said, I Stopped meriting RNG at this point. I have 5 other jobs that still needs merits (3 now, PLD and RDM capped entirely) and I simply don't use RNG enough to warrant the other group to merits. If I had nothing else to merit and/or decided to go back to RNG I would probably finish it up something like...

3 Snapshot / 1 Flashy Shot / 1/2 Recycle / 1/0 Stealth Shot

Recycle because it saves you lolgil and because I don't feel that Flashy Shot needs more than 1 merit. Stealth Shot to me has very limited uses, and in the end seems like it wouldn't effect my play very much.. so I might not even unlock that.

[Shadida]

I only presently have 1 Stealth Shot and 1 Flashy Shot, because I don't have a lot of time/patience for merit point parties lately. I'm thinking either:

Flashy Shot 1
Stealth Shot 2
Snapshot 3

If I'm satisfied with Stealth Shot 2 or:

Flashy Shot 1
Stealth Shot 3
Snapshot 2

In case Stealth Shot 2 effect isn't potent enough. My rationale is:

Flashy Shot with 3 merits only reduces it to 15 minute recast - that means instead of 3 times an hour you get to use it 4 times an hour. Really, how many fights that RNGs fight on are going to take an hour these days? Most of the time RNGs end up fighting things like Sky gods or Sea Jailers, most of which are force spawns. You have to wait 15 minutes between pops anyway, so who cares if you have extra merits? Way I see it, having the ability is nice for when you need that extra kick or if you actually WANT to take hate, but just unlocking it is enough.

Stealth Shot was exactly what I was hoping for when they announced they would release these v2 Merits - an enmity-management ability. I was hoping more for something like WoW's Feign Death (yes I know it'd be broken lol) where you could reduce your hate on command, but making it so your next Sidewinder generates less hate is amazing. I've fired 900+ damage Sidewinders when mobs in Salvage or EXP were at 80% with Stealth Shot 1 and with a good tank, the mob didn't even flinch. I think that this is a great ability, I just need to get off my ass and get some merit points lol.

Snapshot sounds great but it doesn't seem powerful enough to make it a priority - especially since in most meripo or Dynamis fights you won't get to see as much benefit from 2-6% increased R.atk speed. All the same, it's better than extra Flashy Shot or Recycle so I'll undoubtedly fill in the blanks after I'm satisfied with Stealth Shot.

And of course lolRecycle. Sure it's nice but it doesn't really boost your performance at all, so I'm not really interested. I guess maybe there's a chance it would save you from firing your PPA/GMB? lol

What's everyone think?

[pingpong]

have never found a use for stealth shot before, is hard enough for a RNG to pull hate these days, unless /war in which case stealth shot might not help you much anyways.

[Shadida]

Yeah I prefer /WAR, so I'm definitely always aware of the hate situation. I take hate before BLMs 90% of the time (when I go to Wyrm KS99 I usually end up tanking the flying part, lol). On longer fights it's usually okay unless the tanks die.

[Zeria]

I would personally do 3 Snapshot and then split up the other three between Flashy Shot and Stealth Shot depending on which you think having 2 in vs 1 would benefit you the most.

[happydude]

3snap 2 flashy 1stealth

[Seyrr]

RNG73, but I've been thinking about RNG merits more and more as I approach 75, so I'm glad to see some discussion on this.

I've actually been thinking of stocking up on Recycle. I like to make my money stretch as far as I can, especially since I never seem to be very good at making it. The way I think about this is that whatever your Recycle rate is, knock that price off of all of your ammo (I can prove this statement if you want to see the math.) If you throw on a Scout's Beret for an estimated 25% Recycle rate (according to Wiki) and fully merit Recycle, that means that you're effectively buying ammo with a 40% discount. Making it easier to afford top-notch ammo seems like a worthwhile investment... but it seems like people disagree. Did I mess up in my reasoning somewhere?

As a side note, keeping that beret on also means -3 enmity, which might make it harder to pull hate... but I just got RNG73 last night, so again I may not be qualified to do anything more than speculate.

People who know more than I do, please knock some holes in my logic?

[SamanosukeShiva]

When my RNG hits 75, I think I'm going to go for 3Snapshot 3FLashy Shot, My LS happen to have very good tanks and I rarely pull hate

[ringthree]

I am going to do:

3 Snap
2 Recycle
1 Flashy

For the same reasons as Seyrr

[VZX]

1 Recycle
1 Stealth
1 Flashy
??? Snapshot

If they make the group 2 merit upgradable to 5 times or more, I'd consider snapshot. Otherwise, I better waste it on others
0.3 second max cut on my obow is not gonna make much of difference

[Shadida]

Really, Recycle? I dunno - I guess I don't think much about the price of arrows since I have friends who hook me up at lower than AH prices and since I have started to find some repeatable income through crafting. I also don't believe it's worth dumping merit into an ability that won't improve my RNG in fights.

I'd definitely like to recommend Stealth Shot to anyone who plays with the same balls-to-the-wall attitude I do on RNG - if you're the type who hates sitting on TP or refuses to /NIN unless you absolutely have to, then I think Stealth Shot is for you.

Can anyone with maxed Snapshot tell me if the difference is noticible? I guess a question that might put things in perspective is, would you rather spend the merits on Rapid Shot first or Snapshot first?

Finally I'd urge anyone who has or wants more than 1 in Flashy Shot to reconsider for the reasons already discussed. :wink:

[VZX]

My reasoning not to do snapshot by current time is just the maximum limitation of 6% delay cut. and we can't get any better than that 6%.
If the game maker somehow nerf the total delay cut melee can get from dual wield/haste gear/ and haste spell to something like 10~15% only, they probably won't consider the haste build ever.

[Stellar]

If I was only allowed to use 10% haste as a melee then I would just make sure to get that 10% haste...

[Seyrr]

Really, Recycle? I dunno.... I also don't believe it's worth dumping merit into an ability that won't improve my RNG in fights.

Not directly, no. But if it allows you to afford better ammunition you wouldn't normally use due to price conerns, then it is improving your performance, isn't it? For someone like you who doesn't have cash flow issues and has easier access to top-of-the-line stuff, I suppose it's not as important. Someone like me who tends to have trouble making money might find it more useful, though. But that's the point of merits, right? You can customize your abilities with regard to your play style.

And hey, assuming the same numbers I suggested earlier, a 40% chance that you won't accidentally lose your PPA or GMB sounds pretty valuable in and of itself. :wink:

I'd definitely like to recommend Stealth Shot to anyone who plays with the same balls-to-the-wall attitude I do on RNG - if you're the type who hates sitting on TP or refuses to /NIN unless you absolutely have to, then I think Stealth Shot is for you.

It definitely seems useful, but I'm wondering how vital it is to max it out. Just how balls-to-the-wall are you if you need a -30 Enmity shot every five minutes? Would 1 or 2 upgrades work just as well for most people?

Not trying to claim you're wrong, since I know you're more experienced than me. I just like to understand these things before I go spending merit points on them.

EDIT: ... ew, ErinTribal? I dunno if I like that more or less than Birdhair.

[Shadida]

I'd definitely like to recommend Stealth Shot to anyone who plays with the same balls-to-the-wall attitude I do on RNG - if you're the type who hates sitting on TP or refuses to /NIN unless you absolutely have to, then I think Stealth Shot is for you.

It definitely seems useful, but I'm wondering how vital it is to max it out. Just how balls-to-the-wall are you if you need a -30 Enmity shot every five minutes? Would 1 or 2 upgrades work just as well for most people?

Oh, I totally understand - I ask myself the same question. That's why I said in my post that I might do 2-3 or 3-2 Stealth/Snapshot. I do know that having only 1 isn't quite enough for my taste - it works only about 1/2 the time. I guess once I upgrade it and start to use it I'll be able to determine if I really need a 3rd or not.

[Demetrius*]

flashy shot is for gank fights and e-penis shots. I really don't see the use of it being fully merited. You get to use it 4 times an hour instead of 3. great . stealth shot is much more practical.
and recycle you're gonna end up regretting once money isn't an issue. think long term.
3 snap / 1 flash / 2 stealth

[Vertabreaker]

Mine are:

Snapshot: 3/3
Flashy: 3/3

They used to be:
Snap 3/3
Flash 1
Stealth 2

I can tell you from personal experience using Stealth shot, don't waste your time. It doesn't decrease enmity enough. If you're pounding away and dropping bombs, Stealth shot is not going to help you....you're going to die regardless. I was expecting to see a big difference with enmity when using I pulled hate shortly after using it which leads me to believe it doesn't decrease it as much as you would think.

Just wish we could merit barrage recast /sigh.

My reasoning not to do snapshot by current time is just the maximum limitation of 6% delay cut. and we can't get any better than that 6%.
If the game maker somehow nerf the total delay cut melee can get from dual wield/haste gear/ and haste spell to something like 10~15% only, they probably won't consider the haste build ever.

Snapshot 3/3 and Rapidshot 5/5 w/AF2 body and AF1 head to TP on is a pretty big difference. Or at least I see one with bow.

[Shadida]

Just wish we could merit barrage recast /sigh.

QFT... how come SAM get to merit Meditate and we don't get to merit Barrage? c'mon

[Vertabreaker]

Just wish we could merit barrage recast /sigh.

QFT... how come SAM get to merit Meditate and we don't get to merit Barrage? c'mon

Because SE hates Rngs.

Or that's my theory anyway.