Randomer Question Thread

[Epical]

Combat merits question: Currently I have 4/4/4 H2H/Katana/GKT respectively (I left 4 out on purpose for future use), and I'm in a bit of a dilemma in regards to where I should throw those last 4. Right off the bat, I think SAM is the least likely to grab the last 4 merits seeing as I have no problem hitting and the attack bonus isn't as noticeable on 2H. NIN on the other hand is a strong candidate seeing as when I'm trying to tank things with Ridillberk WARs poking the same mob, it can get tough at times. D: MNK would be the current leader seeing as whenever I'm on it, getting 15 return on Asuran isn't really an option (Salvage/merits, Dynamis to a lesser extent). I guess I could go 2/2 in Katana and H2H, but the results would be less potent to the point where it's better to go 4/0?

Anyways, yar, inputz!

[Martinius]

my honest opinion is that outside of fafnir, nidhogg, greater wyrms, byakko, kirin, or those fucking lamiae in azure experiments, put the last 4 into whichever job you want to be able to eat meat on. it sounds simple, but 7.2 extra acc is basically adding a sniper's ring +1 to that combat skill. you're right that the 2h bonus makes sam an unlikely candidate for you(tho i just finished mine, and having 297 gkt skill is fucking sexy as hell... :fingers crossed for justice torque tomorrow night

basically go 4 into either mnk or nin, whichever you enjoy playing more... the 4 will help mnk greatly in salvage, the 4 will greatly help nin to eat meat at many exp camps while maintaining a haste build. so if you tank on nin w/ a terra/santi, go for mnk, if you only play mnk bc of salvage, go nin.

[Cyn]

4 + 4 + 4 = 12 dude. Combat merits cap at 20.

Since you don't want more gkt merits, just do 8 katana and h2h, 4 gkt.

Or am I missing something completely here?

[Martinius]

unless i misread, he implied he was saving 4 combat points for future use(i'd assume for leveling a tank job to put into parry, shield or evasion), thus leaving him with 4 remaining points to be used. i gave my advice under that assumption, or did i miss something?

[Cyn]

Oh nvm. The way he worded it was just strange.

[Amele]

which merit should i put into cat1 WHM? going to cap barspell for sure, but which is better regen effect or -cure cast time?

I'm a little late to the discussion but all 3 are viable depending on what you do with your whitemage

basically: heavy HNM/post RoZ-endgame => must do barspell, pick one of the others
only endgame you do is basically dynamis/limbus => entirely your choice.
never do endgame => barspell is worthless, do cure/regen.

pick what matches your playstyle the most, you should get the gear either way. (i.e. still get cure clogs even if you merit regen, still try to get briault even if you merit cure speed.) I assume you have a blessed briault/aiming for pantaloons already.

I don't use regen enough to justify putting merits in it, so I went cure speed/barspell. my cat II's are currently just 2 Shell V and 1 devotion: I had been planning 3/3 but I will probably drop one for martyr 1. I work mostly with pld tanks so devotion will generally give them a couple hundred mp (which will be more enmity/hp than martyr would give) but having a 500hp instant cure will save lives.

[Epical]

@Martinius: thank you. I'm still debating between 2/2 and 4/0 though. ><

4 + 4 + 4 = 12 dude. Combat merits cap at 20.

Since you don't want more gkt merits, just do 8 katana and h2h, 4 gkt.

Or am I missing something completely here?

Sorry if it came out worded a bit odd, I've been writing papers for the last few days so my sentence structure is shot. I've used 4 in Evasion Skill, so I have 4 left before I cap at 20.

[Martinius]

happy to help ^^ frankly, 2/2(and this comes from someone who tried splitting marksmanship and archery, ended up giving up archery to focus on other combat skills) just will give you middlin' results for both jobs. frankly my instinct is to go 4/4 h2h b/c being able to eat meat as a mnk is much more important than it is as a nin, where you can pop some sole sushi, throw on all your haste/dual wield gear and kick some ass as my friend calls it 'death by 1000 paper cuts.'

[Cyn]

I would delevel all of my other jobs before I removed any of my 8 katana merits.

[Martinius]

i don't disagree, which is why in my original post i stipulated max the one you play the most in a situation where those weapons will do the most good. if you're a mnk who does nothing but chi blast, h2h merits do nothing for you. if you're a nin who tanks HNM w/ staff, katana merits will do you no good. but yeah, my same friend who is of the 'death by 1000 paper cuts' philosophy, also has 8/8 katana merits and can eat meat at most ToAU exp camps, so im not arguing their awesomeness.

[Cyn]

I suppose I'm of the same philosophy, full katana merits, all haste gear, AF1+1 body, etc.

[Epical]

Going with 4 H2H because if I'm on NIN, I'm probably fighting stuff that is TW-T, or Limbus, which is easily fixed by sushi. If I'm on MNK it's Salvage or things that need to be hurt quickly. Thanks again for your help!

[Ryushii]

Yeah, fire staff with /SAM, use seigan and velocity shot, hasso occasionally for WS if the timers permit. Especially if you are using bow, since you shouldn't be within melee distance anyways unless you get hate.

So SAM is a lot bigger for RNG than NIN? At what lvl would SAM sub be better than NIN in an experience party? Or would it be best to wait until 75 for merits/end game? Also, is SAM the prefered sub job for sky, or does it depend? Bow user with Ebow fyi, if that matters. Xbow is bleh.

[Cyn]

Not saying that it's the most popular, alot of people just keep using NIN sub. But starting at level 70, SAM sub offers a good compromise between survivability and increased offensive capabilities. Especially with ebow, I'd suggest trying out SAM sub 70+ in situations where you feel like you might take hate sometimes. On things that have fully supported tank parties, hate is much less of an issue, and you can consider using WAR sub for berserk (nothing can compare to what berserk does for ranger offensively...).

[Martinius]

Going with 4 H2H because if I'm on NIN, I'm probably fighting stuff that is TW-T, or Limbus, which is easily fixed by sushi. If I'm on MNK it's Salvage or things that need to be hurt quickly. Thanks again for your help!

added bonus: if you have to come nin to salvage, that's 8 more skill until you get weapons :D

[Epical]

If I'm not on MNK for Salvage, I'll be on RDM... but same bonus applies!

[Tricen]

If i were to get counter+ items, ie avenger earrings (all jobs can use), would that give me counter? So on my THF, I equip two of these and counter+2? http://www.ffxiah.com/item.php?id=18856&sid=10 Has counter+1 on it, why?

[Cyn]

If i were to get counter+ items, ie avenger earrings (all jobs can use), would that give me counter? So on my THF, I equip two of these and counter+2? http://www.ffxiah.com/item.php?id=18856&sid=10 Has counter+1 on it, why?

Yes.

[Tricen]

ok, so is counter+2 even noticeable then?

[Cyn]

No, not really.