Random Question Thread V: But does it 6-hit

[Argettio]

An ability with far less utility over time than third eye.

Granted both merits grant the same proportional increase to the ability(1/30 recast per merit), I would hope most people value third eye more than they value meditate..

I am no SAM (nor am I ever likely to be) but isn't the normal SAM set up 5/5 Meditate and 5/5 sTP?

I'm fairly certain I have seen people torn up in the 'post your gear' and 'whats better' threads for suggesting or having TE merits.

[Nishida]

5/5 Med vs. 5/5 TE..I can only see TE being better if you don't do much group events. Otherwise..Meditate is going to kill the mobs faster = win.

[Seedz]

Bandwagons are bad, and you should feel bad when hopping on one. I've always advocated TE merits for SAM, and been yelled at for not doing Meditate. Guess what? More often than not, those who yell "MEDITATE OR DIE" sit on TP or simply forget about using Meditate as soon as it's up, or it's simply not practical to use it when the recast is up. Of course you could make a case for timed events like Einherjar etcetera, but you should know better than to value a seldom useful shorter recast over a constant that can (and will) save your ass more often than not.

[Cream Soda]

I did meditate because anytime I cannot fulltime hasso, I don't want to be on sam anyways. Mnk ftw in those cases.

[Shinryuu]

I want to be on SAM tanking Tyger and Sarameya as opposed to being on not-SAM and being utterly useless on those fights (can be different for you maybe you do have useful jobs but NIN MNK WAR DRG here bro :3)

Actually WAR/SAM on Sara is fine, SAM is just a bit better though.

[Kidnoftle]

I am not a sam but the sams in my shell normally go with TE over meditate. Sams pull hate in most group events, TE helps there. Sams can also sub /war to more events, TE helps there.

Meditate helps you hit the floor faster, which is always cool since I need more sams to merit with anyway.

[FailureMidgard]

Bandwagons are bad, and you should feel bad when hopping on one. I've always advocated TE merits for SAM, and been yelled at for not doing Meditate. Guess what? More often than not, those who yell "MEDITATE OR DIE" sit on TP or simply forget about using Meditate as soon as it's up, or it's simply not practical to use it when the recast is up. Of course you could make a case for timed events like Einherjar etcetera, but you should know better than to value a seldom useful shorter recast over a constant that can (and will) save your ass more often than not.

Do you believe the crap you type? I fully understand what TE merits bring to the table, but the crap you type just sounds like propaganda. "A seldom useful shorter recast". What? How is meditate seldom useful? Or are you saying that meditating more often is seldom useful? If that's the case, I'm unsure what to even say, it's just delusional to use those words to describe it.

Really, both are valid options, and it should depend what your shell does/needs:
Shell requires /nin in Ein for AoEs, meditate is better, run hasso.
Merits, meditate is better, run hasso.
Dynamis, meditate is better, /nin, run hasso, and watch TV during it because paying attention to 3rd eye for 3.5 hours in the most boring event in the game is quite painful.
Salvage, if your mage(s) have mp problems or you're dying, TE is better. If you're having issues with the timer, meditate merits are better.
Solo/lowman, TE is better.

Bandwagons are bad, sadly it sounds like you're jumping on Thorny's here at the moment. Anyone trying to say TE or Meditate is universally better is well, wrong.

[Seedz]

Except it was a response to a genuine comment asking about the old saying that sams should only ever do store tp and meditate, a fairly common misconception amongst those who don't understand samurai. I was merely stating that TE merits are far from retarded (again, something many people have said many times), and that Meditate merits are, more often than not, overrated.

[FailureMidgard]

Except it was a response to a genuine comment asking about the old saying that sams should only ever do store tp and meditate, a fairly common misconception amongst those who don't understand samurai. I was merely stating that TE merits are far from retarded (again, something many people have said many times), and that Meditate merits are, more often than not, overrated.

Meditate merits may be overrated, they are still good. You're vastly overrating TE merits, and calling meditate merits "seldom useful" is just plain stupid and vastly underrating it.

[Seedz]

Meditate merits may be overrated, they are still good. You're vastly overrating TE merits, and calling meditate merits "seldom useful" is just plain stupid and vastly underrating it.

I didn't say they aren't good, I just made a case for TE merits. We could keep arguing the usefulness of a lower meditate recast versus having a lower third eye recast, and neither of us would be ultimately right because shit is situational. I, myself, don't have 5/5 Meditate or 5/5 TE. Bad choice? Maybe, but it works for me. At times I wish I had capped Meditate, and at times I wish I had capped Third Eye. Bottom line is, there's no universal way to merit a certain job, as the whole merit system is there to customize your character to better suit the situations you find yourself more often in.

[Cream Soda]

You guys are vastly overusing the word vastly.

[TheTaru]

How do you save macros to the server? Or did I imagine that feature being added? >_>

[Nightfyre]

How do you save macros to the server? Or did I imagine that feature being added? >_>

CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+B, CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+R to retrieve. No idea for consoles.

[TheTaru]

CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+B, CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+R to retrieve. No idea for consoles.

Asking for 360. Sorry, should have said so. (If it's even possible)

[Ezhno]

It is possible to store configuration data (macros, configuration settings, and map markers) on PlayOnline's servers, in addition to your game machine's own hard disk drive. You can store the configuration data for one character's worth of data on the PlayOnline servers.

Saving to the Server

At the character selection screen, highlight the character to save the data for, and press the following buttons/keys. Then choose the slot in which you want to save the configuration information for the highlighted character.
PlayStation 2: L1 button + L3 button
XBOX 360: LB + left stick button
PC/Keyboard: Shift + Alt + Ctrl + B

Restoring from the Server

At the character selection screen, highlight the character to restore the data for, and press the following buttons/keys. Then choose the slot from which you want to load the configuration information for the highlighted character.
PlayStation 2: R1 button + R3 button
XBOX 360: RB + right stick button
PC/Keyboard: Shift + Alt + Ctrl + R

Deleting Data and Restoring Default Settings

At the character selection screen, highlight the character to restore the data for, and press the following buttons/keys. Confirm deletion to restore default settings for the currently highlighted character.
PlayStation 2: R1 button + L2 button + R3 button + L3 button
XBOX 360: RB + LB + right stick button + left stick button
PC/Keyboard: Shift + Alt + Ctrl + D

.

[ZhiGaruda]

Bandwagons are bad, sadly it sounds like you're jumping on Thorny's here at the moment. Anyone trying to say TE or Meditate is universally better is well, wrong.

I ride Thorny's bandwagon like it's a bicyle without a seat. HARD.

But I still think 5/5 Meditate > 5/5 Third Eye. My reasons for this are actually kind of stupid in comparison to everyone else, but:

When I was in my old shell, I did 5/5 Meditate and went SAM/WAR to absolutely everything except DI (/THF). I would normally ride Hasso, and I brought mule RDM's to dual-box/PL bot myself and only myself with, so it wasn't a big deal.

Now, I go SAM/NIN to everything I am on SAM for, and normally use Hasso + click off for shadows, only using Seigan in really sticky situation's, or things like salvage chariot's, but even there, TE timer usually isn't an issue with my mega-sexy damage down build anyways.

But, my main reason for this is that I am not an iddle SAM.

[Hadriel]

In my experience meditate merits are the infinitely better choice. My experience consists mainly of merits, dynamis, einherjar, and other longish events though so take that for what you will. In situations where I would need to be spamming third eye I'm either going to be subbing ninja (only hitting TE for ichi casts) or going as monk.

I don't think "forgetting to hit meditate when it's up" is a valid argument in the age of recast macros / plugins.

[FailureMidgard]

I don't think "forgetting to hit meditate when it's up" is a valid argument in the age of recast macros / plugins.

Wait, are you trying to tell me that a KC is better than a scythe for a DRK zerg? I think using a Perdu is better for zerging because you may forget to hit souleater and bloodweapon.

[Hadriel]

I can say with one trillion percent certainty that KC is better than scythe for souleater zerg.

[Viq]

Good thing I found a tree to hold onto, because that breeze nearly knocked me over.