Just kidding...
Skill merits are a touchy subject for me, I have way too many jobs to focus them on just one. I want to maximize versatility without sacrificing too much on my favoured jobs. So far I have White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, Dark Knight, Bard, Ninja, Blue Mage, and Scholar level 75. I'm working on Paladin and Summoner, with no intention of leveling any more after that assuming no more jobs are released. I've neglected meriting these categories for too long, and need to come to a final decision on what to do with them. I don't care to merit White Mage since it performs just fine without them, and I just plain don't like Ninja, since any job can outperform it with by using it as a subjob. I never get to use Dark Knight for anything other than Bahamut's Zaghnal fights, and Blue Mage only ever gets used with sub Thief. But I do like these jobs and they're fun to solo with.
Which magic skills do you find the most helpful for each job? Which do you find the most easily compensated for with equipment?
Would you merit offensive skills for melee jobs you never get to use, or merit defensive skills instead? Does meriting a skill, like parrying, before its capped make it harder to skill up to cap?