Battle Adjustments (05/28/2008)

[Purrrfect]

... However, since PLD is still not broken, please give us Phalanx and Stoneskin as native spells. Dispel would be nice as well.

flash II would be better imo

I still have 4 pages to read, but thats fucking win right there...

[Hyan]

I'm still kind of shocked they finally gave MNK something new, only took 4 years?

If you count Subtle Blow, exactly 4 years, one month, and 11 days. If you don't, there's the Chakra change in July 2003.

And we're even getting new (hopefully) better h2h than destroyers in this update too, how generous of SE :Q_

[Yutuyu]

Are you fucking kidding me?
Aren't you the same dude that bitches every time, when a job that hasn't gotten specifically shit in years asks for something, hi2uMNK/RDM/NIN/BRD Now your asking for SAM to get more crap? No..no..no that you deserve more crap!?

Congratulations to MNK's and BRD's for finally receiving some specific attention. SAM's and even PLD's don't deserve shit at this point of the game.

Please show me the evidence to backup your inane claims.

You are refering to one post where I say that I don't think NIN needs anything new that will revolutionize the job; only new toys. I said nothing about the rest of the jobs in question, and I only that bit about NIN once. Your talent for overexaggeration is truly amazing, you sir are a fucking idiot.

Plus there's nothing wrong with giving people something new to do. 2 more Overwhelm Merits is barely going to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. I was merely expressing that it's cool that they're giving me something new to do with my SAM.

Also way to disregard the part in my post that admits I don't think SAM needs a boost and the fact that SAM got nerfed twice in a row after the initial 2 hand adjustment.

[aurik]

5 penance 3 invigorate 1 formless 1 mantra

What's even the point of Mantra? If people want a 4% boost that badly, you'd probably want to go all the way. It's all or nothing, imo.

Maxing penance is the best plan of action since there is never a time when it WONT be useful, especially now that it takes up more than half of its own recast. Soloing, low-man, large group, everything.

Mantra is a hate utility. Ever since Drain2, its actual use is severely diminished. Too bad it wasn't like +10% hp with a timer which, at 5/5, is constantly usable.

[shirak]

Drg
5 Angon
4 Empathy
1 Deep Breathing

Curious to see if 20-25% mac on wyvern breath (strafe) makes a difference vs 5/5 deep breathing. Can't see needing more than 3 in empathy, maybe 4.

Rdm
2 DiaIII
3 SlowII
2 ParaII
3 BioIII

Remains to be seen whether SlowII will scale significantly or not. If its broke I'll just remove ParaII merits and cap slowII. PhalanxII I have at 2 upgraded now, I just dont see it useful anywhere but salvage and now we have a scholar there so no need. DiaIIIx2 is perfect, and can't ignore BioIII for solos.

Thf
5 Feint
1 AC
2-3 Aura Steal
1-2 Ambush

[Sargas]

In regards to the Beast Affinity thing, isn't there still a chance that a lvl 65 jug can still pop out as like lvl 68 or something? lol

I dunno, I don't play my BST hardly enough. I just wish the cap was more definite instead of just having a chance.

No, it's the other way. Pet caps are obviously the max level they'll reach but there is always a level range in which a Call Beast action will create a pet. The exact caps seem to be -2 from the pet cap (or master level, whichever is highest, but never going over the pet cap). So a CC can pop anything from 73 to 75. This is shitty as hell and should be totaly removed, makes zero sense. Imagine your weapons or weaponskills randomly performing with stats two level lowers. In theory, AF2 gloves reduce this, but i'm unsure if they reduce it by adding levels directly to the pet (as the merit II cat does) or by actualy lowering the fluctuation.

In any case, the fluctuation of a lv65 pet called with no merits or AF2 will in theory always produce a lv65 pet if called by a lv75 BST. I can only assume that a funguar called with max BA merits will go through the fluctuation check anyway, the merits just changing the input cap and not the actual output level. So max BA merits make funguar to be equivalent to CC. Do notice that it aparently affects the cap number as i said, as in, if you call CC with maxed BA it will produce the same result as calling CC with no BA at all in the sense that the cap will still be 75 and the fluctuation of 2 levels will still happen anyway. AF2 gloves seem to work differently in this regard.

Without counting AF2 gloves, this in theory means that you could pop reliably lv73s Sabers (caps at 63 aparently), which would in most cases do better than lv73-75 CCs, unless you need the tanking power of the crab. I honestly have no idea how well Saber will stand up to Funguar at 73-75 and i have no idea how the other couple lv65 caped pets do, since i've never had a chance to use them.

AF2 gloves reduce the fluctuation, so that instead of spawning 0-2 levels below you, an uncapped jug will spawn 0-1 levels below you (so CC pops 74-75 with gloves equipped). Capped pets always spawn at their cap, so with 3/3 BA merits every funguar I call pops at level 71 (65+6). As you say, BA merits don't change the fluctuation in uncapped pets, so with 5/5 BA merits funguar will most likely spawn at 73-75 (74-75 with gloves) just like any other uncapped jug.

As a side note, this update will probably make Killer Instinct slightly less of a complete joke, since a wider variety of jugs will be viable (tiger, lizard, fly, funguar).

[LD]

5 penance 3 invigorate 1 formless 1 mantra :roll:

What's even the point of Mantra? If people want a 4% boost that badly, you'd probably want to go all the way. It's all or nothing, imo.

Mantra is a hate utility. Ever since Drain2, its actual use is severely diminished. Too bad it wasn't like +10% hp with a timer which, at 5/5, is constantly usable.

Ah, so it's like Diffusion for BLU, only not nearly as broken. Mantra and Formless do need recast and duration adjustments, making them both 3m duration and 5m recast would give them a lot more usability for the common man.

[aurik]

5 penance 3 invigorate 1 formless 1 mantra

What's even the point of Mantra? If people want a 4% boost that badly, you'd probably want to go all the way. It's all or nothing, imo.

Mantra is a hate utility. Ever since Drain2, its actual use is severely diminished. Too bad it wasn't like +10% hp with a timer which, at 5/5, is constantly usable.

Ah, so it's like Diffusion for BLU, only not nearly as broken. Mantra and Formless do need recast and duration adjustments, making them both 3m duration and 5m recast would give them a lot more usability for the common man.

Mantra's far from broken, it's a really minimal hate spike...only useful if you can hit the whole party, then it's the same VE as boost.

I still figure it is better than a 4th in invigorate.

[Purrrfect]

SE should just make DEF/VIT do something, and gimp Utsusemi. Make it absorb 1 hit each or something, and this game would be much more fun. Just my two cents.

They could make the new spell (I'll be risky and call it ShieldSpikes) such that it increases beyond the current shield proc cap, but cancels out any utsusemi effect currently active (and casting utsusemi would do the same). I could REALLY see SE pulling a wildcard like that on us with this hype.

On the whole, I wouldn't be upset by a nerf to utsusemi from /nin. Unfortunately, they have pumped all the DD up too much for them to survive with a gimp /nin. Ni@lv40 when it was introduced would have made nin not THE sj choice, but going back now would be suicide for SE.




I'm pretty sure I'd still trade pldspikes for drkspikes given the chance tho.

[Katlan]

One thing I don't understand about all the class buffs is... they keep buffing all jobs, increasing max merits, ect... but they do not ramp up the content difficulty to match all off these continuous buffs. I am not saying jobs don't deserve to be made better, they do & there is a need for balance.

But all we are gonna be left w/is a bunch of OP classes that make all the PvE content in this game easier than it already is. And i just don't see them adding harder content that requires all these new skills, yatta yatta. It's like the only way they believe to keep their player base is by adding new merits (ect...) and not adding harder content. And I am not talking about the difficult content that is based on pure random factors

[Purrrfect]

One thing I don't understand about all the class buffs is... they keep buffing all jobs, increasing max merits, ect... but they do not ramp up the content difficulty to match all off these continuous buffs. I am not saying jobs don't deserve to be made better, they do & there is a need for balance.

But all we are gonna be left w/is a bunch of OP classes that make all the PvE content in this game easier than it already is. And i just don't see them adding harder content that requires all these new skills, yatta yatta. It's like the only way they believe to keep their player base is by adding new merits (ect...) and not adding harder content. And I am not talking about the difficult content that is based on pure random factors

They don't add harder stuff. They add events that take away everything you have and make you work for it again.

[oldoldman]

One thing I don't understand about all the class buffs is... they keep buffing all jobs, increasing max merits, ect... but they do not ramp up the content difficulty to match all off these continuous buffs. I am not saying jobs don't deserve to be made better, they do & there is a need for balance.

But all we are gonna be left w/is a bunch of OP classes that make all the PvE content in this game easier than it already is. And i just don't see them adding harder content that requires all these new skills, yatta yatta. It's like the only way they believe to keep their player base is by adding new merits (ect...) and not adding harder content. And I am not talking about the difficult content that is based on pure random factors

They don't add harder stuff. They add events that take away everything you have and make you work for it again.

When did this happen?

[SamanosukeShiva]

imma force my salvage rdm to max phalanx2, fuck para2!!! ;D

[Reality]

god, just make beast affinity add static levels to your jugpets, none of this hoop jumping bullshit

still, 5/5 BA will be nice with af2 gloves which i don't have...

[Neosutra]

One thing I don't understand about all the class buffs is... they keep buffing all jobs, increasing max merits, ect... but they do not ramp up the content difficulty to match all off these continuous buffs. I am not saying jobs don't deserve to be made better, they do & there is a need for balance.

But all we are gonna be left w/is a bunch of OP classes that make all the PvE content in this game easier than it already is. And i just don't see them adding harder content that requires all these new skills, yatta yatta. It's like the only way they believe to keep their player base is by adding new merits (ect...) and not adding harder content. And I am not talking about the difficult content that is based on pure random factors

Oh, you can beat AV? Solo kirin? You can walk down the middle of Castle Otroja[S] and spit it all their faces and call their mother whores?

Take the new better buffed jobs and go do the MULTITUDE of shit there is to do in this game. All the while pushing the boundaries of just how few people you can take and still beat the challenges that took you an alliance(or 2) to beat a few years ago.

My favorite thing in the game is Soloing/Low manning shit that others cant beat with parties or more. The stronger they make my jobs, the more fun I have trying shit I never thought I could do.

[Xanthe]

One thing I don't understand about all the class buffs is... they keep buffing all jobs, increasing max merits, ect... but they do not ramp up the content difficulty to match all off these continuous buffs. I am not saying jobs don't deserve to be made better, they do & there is a need for balance.

But all we are gonna be left w/is a bunch of OP classes that make all the PvE content in this game easier than it already is. And i just don't see them adding harder content that requires all these new skills, yatta yatta. It's like the only way they believe to keep their player base is by adding new merits (ect...) and not adding harder content. And I am not talking about the difficult content that is based on pure random factors

They don't add harder stuff. They add events that take away everything you have and make you work for it again.

When did this happen?

I hear there's this new event they're adding called Salvage. I bet we'll be able to get some awesome gear from there!

[SephYuyX]

Im surprized at the lack of negitive BLM comments. Nothing from Spook, how sad.
Well, BLM got Retrace last time, so I guess getting nothing in this update is ok!
Oh right, MBs are still cool.


But meh, more merit points are always better.

[RKenshin]

5 penance 3 invigorate 1 formless 1 mantra

What's even the point of Mantra? If people want a 4% boost that badly, you'd probably want to go all the way. It's all or nothing, imo.

Mantra is a hate utility. Ever since Drain2, its actual use is severely diminished. Too bad it wasn't like +10% hp with a timer which, at 5/5, is constantly usable.

Ah, so it's like Diffusion for BLU, only not nearly as broken. Mantra and Formless do need recast and duration adjustments, making them both 3m duration and 5m recast would give them a lot more usability for the common man.

Mantra's far from broken, it's a really minimal hate spike...only useful if you can hit the whole party, then it's the same VE as boost.

I still figure it is better than a 4th in invigorate.

I've got such a bad obsession with Chakra that I might just max Invigorate as silly as it probably would be. But with where I use MNK I've never had a need for Formless Strikes, although Mantra as a hate spike sounds interesting.

Maxed would put me at like 800 HP recovered though, which is way overkill. Especially since I don't solo. But... must..feed...urge.

[Max™]

One thing I don't understand about all the class buffs is... they keep buffing all jobs, increasing max merits, ect... but they do not ramp up the content difficulty to match all off these continuous buffs. I am not saying jobs don't deserve to be made better, they do & there is a need for balance.

But all we are gonna be left w/is a bunch of OP classes that make all the PvE content in this game easier than it already is. And i just don't see them adding harder content that requires all these new skills, yatta yatta. It's like the only way they believe to keep their player base is by adding new merits (ect...) and not adding harder content. And I am not talking about the difficult content that is based on pure random factors

They don't add harder stuff. They add events that take away everything you have and make you work for it again.

When did this happen?

I hear there's this new event they're adding called Salvage. I bet we won't be able to get some new hands from there!

Or did you have any luck yet

[Seraph]

Congratulations to MNK's and BRD's for finally receiving some specific attention. SAM's and even PLD's don't deserve shit at this point of the game.

I just want to take a moment to say screw you, and point out that this is the only unique PLD spell that will be in the game. Every other spellcasting job until this point has had unique spells. All of them. Always have.

"Reflect" won't be gamebreaking. It will be fun, and give the stupid paladins a relatively large boost, and the intelligent ones a smaller boost. It's almost enough to make it into a merit party now to make up for all the exp PLDs lose in events getting all the other jobs their shit. We don't get a bonus 10% damage reduction right off the bat with the merits. So calm down, and if you are up to it, blow me.