Serious questions about merits

[Malacite]

I honestly wasn't sure if this belonged in Standard or Advanced but since I'm hardly new to the game I figured it goes here >.>



I've tried asking idk how many times back over at DiV and never gotten any real responses. My dilemma is that I like playing multiple jobs, which naturally screws with my combat merit options royally.

At present I have WAR, MNK, THF, BLM, BRD, BST and SAM at 75, and WHM is at 65. I'm going for Maat's cap if you can't tell but that's not my major concern.

Out of my 75's I enjoy SAM and MNK the most, but that could always change. I've long since dismissed my original plan of maxing out GKT and pimping out SAM (in part because no matter what I do I can't seem to get my hands on a Hagun . _ . ) and I'm still hoping for more jobs from FF5 to be added to the game (Chiefly Mystic Knight which would require sword merits)

So, barring whatever other weapon I decide to max out, should I at least max out Hand to Hand? Now, I don't use my MNK as much at events because I'm still working on improving my MNK gear but how much of a difference would 8/8 H2H merits make since that would effectively give me DMG +2?


Finally, I'm also rather vexed over magic skill merits. I want to take BLU to 75 at some point as I really, really enjoy the job and and Blue Magic Skill merits have a dramatic impact so that's a given. I'm unsure what to do with my remaining magic merits though.

I already have BLM @ 75, and I really enjoy SCH (38 atm along with RDM) but I'm not sure if I would be best off maxing out Elemental, or diving it between elemental and enfeebling evenly.


Thank you in advance for any helpful comments & suggestions ^^

[Falisa]

Moved to standard. Advanced is more for game wide subjects and drama sometimes. If you have a question about your character or something along those lines, it goes in standard.

[jimbobsonofgod]

screw blue merits 8 enfeeb 8 elemental
if you aren't playing mnk and you aren't playing sam then i wouldn't merit either until you were serious about playing those.

[Yugl]

I have SCH and BLU, but did BLU 8 and Elemental 8 since I prefer to play BLU. If your BLM is most in use, Elemental + Enfeebling ftw.

[Tsuki]

H2H merits will do much to boost your attk but more importantly your accuracy for MNK. 1 handed weapons don't get the same accuracy and attack bonuses from stats like dex and str as two handers do. You can never go wrong with capping out H2H merits if you enjoy playing MNK.

[Aksannyi]

One thing I've found about BLU, is while the skill merits are definitely beneficial for it, BLU is not really used that much except for fun. We have a few BLUs in the ls, I've never seen any of them on BLU except maybe in town. So even though you rather enjoy BLU and all that, if you're considering from and endgame perspective, 8 ELE/8 ENF are the best bet all around for magic.

At this point, I'd recommend still holding off on the weapon merits. You may find something else yet that you truly love more than what you already have played. Also, merits are reversible, it sucks big donkey balls because you don't get them back, but it isn't like what you put in can never be taken out. If you don't mind putting in a little extra time to get some merits there's not really a whole lot of harm in putting some in, deciding you don't want them, and putting new merits somewhere else.

[Moridam]

I'd definitely max out H2H, MNK desperately needs the accuracy, and the bumps in base damage are quite nice too.

[Ultimagi]

If you love Monk and Samurai the most, merit Hand-to-hand and Great Katana. Don't hold your breath for Mystic Knight, there isn't likely to be any more large expansions. Level Blue Mage to 75 before you decide whether or not it will be worth it for you to merit Blue Magic. Elemental and Enfeebling are the obvious choices for a Black Mage, but you should make the decision based on what you enjoy.

[Malacite]

For now I do like MNK and SAM, but before the nerf I <3 RNG (was only 16 at the time when they did the big nerf. I stopped leveling it because I realized I was going to need high lv alchemy for bullets and by the time I hit 60 alchemy BAM nerf ;

At the moment I've got 1 in marksmanship and 4 in archery (had a lot of fun doing SAM/RNG but got expensive fast lol) and I may yet undo those I don't know. Yes, I really enjoy SAM and MNK for now but I'm not 100% sure I want to invest merits in those 2 only to revoke them later when I have a lot of other things to merit such as Beast Affinity >. <

Let's just assume I have all jobs at 75 (I just might at one point, I really do enjoy them all except BRD and WAR) and play them fairly equally. What weapon merits would see the most improvement when maxed out? This is why I lean on H2H because it doesn't just boost attack and accuracy but literally raises my DMG rating. I should also mention I originally had Bushi but switched it for Suppa.

[Panthera]

I’m writing this going on the assumption that you’re going for Maat’s Cap, and that as you say, you enjoy playing multiple jobs.

Enfeebling Merits are one of the most useful and most versatile merit categories in the game. White Mage, Red Mage, Black Mage, Scholar, even Dark Knight have enfeebling spells. I have a Maat’s Cap myself, and it’s nice to be able to enfeebling spells, no matter what job I’m on. It’s a good way to get the most mileage out of your merits.

Now, one could argue the 2nd most versatile would be Elemental, as Black and Red Mage as well as Scholar use them. A combination of both Enfeebling and Elemental would make for a very reliable mage job. A common mistake among mages it so go for too much MAB who end up doing less damage because they get frequent resists for lack of enough Elemental Skill. The more skill you have, the more you can get away with putting MAB and INT gear in the same slots.

As far as weapon merits go, should you enjoy Ranger so much, consider Marksmanship as a versatile merit. This will benefit your Corsair as well, not to mention helping your Thief to land Acid Bolts. (To Rangers, I’m not starting an Xbow > Bow or vice versa debate. This is strictly in terms of usefulness across multiple jobs).

I’d advise you to merit Sword. This will obviously benefit your Blue Mage you enjoy so much, not to mention that many other jobs use Sword on occasion (Joyeuse comes to mind). This is what I did, along with Blue Magic Merits, and Enfeebling, all 8/8. However, you might want to wait until you have your original 15 jobs to 75, to see how you actually play.

The approach I took was one was that one category would be my “Business” merit, the other would be my “for Fun” category. Business would be that job you play to get gear *with*, the other is the category you play to get gear *for*. Example; Bard you get gear with, Puppetmaster you get gear for. You might end up needing Great Katana merits as your business category to be used on HNMs etc., and merit something else for fun. I think it’s important to do it this way, and not put all the emphasis on maximizing your business categories, while forgetting your enjoyment of the game.

[Malacite]

Thank you very much, the above was very helpful ^ - ^


I don't use my BLM very much at end game for now largely due to a lack of gear (and places to put said gear @_ @) and yes, by the time I finish getting my cap I may end up deciding I like certain jobs more than others which is why I've been hesitant with any merits that aren't job-specific. I really hate meriting and having to go back and undo previous merits is a pain in the ass.