AM2 Spells

[Psylentcuda]

I was wondering what other BLM' are doing witht he new AM2 spells. Does it seem best to get two and Merit them 3 times each, or three of em with 2 merits, or all 6 of em. If someone could help me out deciding because i dont want to blow all my merit points in that category on something that's gonn end up not being good.

 

[Hmkiroko]

What my plan is:

12 merits into Burst II (Thunder Potency)
7 merits into Freeze II (Blizzard Potency)
3 merits into Tornado II (Kirin)

Increasing merits in the spells increases both accuracy and strength on magic bursts only. I would spend the merits on the spells that you are putting potency points in only, as basically you only burst with either Darkness or Light SC (or on the rare occasion Distortion or Fragmentation).

Hope that helps.

 

[Bedwarmer]

I went a split, burst and freeze, 3 each. I'm not an active 'endgamer' though, so maybe you wanna go more towards whatever it is you fight the most (Kirin, Jailers, etc..) personally I either solo or duo 100% of the time, so any other spells are pretty much useless to me.

 

[Pompidou]

I'm going to get all six, but the most effective plan is getting burst and freeze with 3 each. I have a different set of priorities than most of the top notch blms. Firestreak had a good explanation somewhere about why ice and thunder are the only spells a blm needs, but I can't remember where. I'm aiming to be well rounded. Whm is my sub, I'm evenly distributing my other blm merits to cover all the bases a blm has to cover (not just elemental), and I'm getting all six ancient magic II's. I'll be the first to concede specialist blms will outdamage me, but I like having a full arsenal of tricks up my sleeve, and not just one. Really, I think when it comes to merit abilities, anything you get is icing on the cake. You can be a great blm w/o any AMII's. Take the opportunity to distinguish yourself from the pack, I say. I think that's what SE intended.

 

[Bedwarmer]

I can totally get behind your reasoning Pomp. Customization is what's so great about merits, to me. When it comes to getting 3 merits for quake II, I have a bit of an eye problem; I can't see myself doin it.

Personally, I would like to have hot, rough sex with Burst II. It's made things so much easier to solo/duo since it frees up Thunder IV for 2 casts on a lot of the shite I find myself tangling with. Thunder IV>sleep>Gravity>Burst II> Thunder IV, and an Om'phuabo usually falls quickly (sans the drop of course) It's nice to not have to close Thunder timer gaps with anything less than Blizzard, like say on an Ebony Pudding.

When you get all the AM II's put on a show so we can see what they all look like.:nyam:

 

[Tavjon]

3 on freeze, and burst was the best thing i ever did. 6 points away from 3k dmg on mb from a ebony pudding and around 2600~ on light sc w. trolls

 

[Jakey]

I'm going 3 into burst 3 into freeze. these are the elements I use 99% of the time.
I don't care about kirin I do enough damage to him already... of course I don't really need this sort of insane damage for anything else either. I have one thing to say to tanks when I finish these merits... good luck

 

[Blabj]

I either wont bother doing them or just put one merit into each of them.

I still haven't done potency, so I'll be working on that.

 

[pakomen]

I'm getting them all. So far I've gotton 4 of them and it's provided a lot of versatility. Very useful for oneshotting worms on orichalcum survey assault too .

 

[Phraust]

Been in a kind of a debate with a couple black mages on this.

Here are the facts as I see it, I am not a mage in any way shape or form.

As it is my understanding, Black mages tended to use Thunder IV/Thundaga III on nearly everything because of three factors: It was the highest tier spell, nothing really resists thunder, and it bursts on light.

As it is my understanding, Black mages tended to use Blizzard IV/Blizzaga III on nearly everything else because of four factors: It was the second highest tier spell, nothing really resists Blizzard, It bursts on Distortion, and it had the added bonus of having it's main stat staff come with 10 elemental magic and 5 int.

As it is my understanding, all the spells are pretty much equal now, they all cost the same MP, they take the same time to cast, and they should, in theory, do the same damge, with the exception of one spell, Freeze II.

Freeze II is a no brainer. You can burst it easy on any distortion SC, which most, if not all melee, even the stupid ones, are versed in, on how to open and close. It's got the elemental Staff that has the best stats/bonus for the spell, and will likely garner the best investment.

The second spell however... Is Burst II still King? And if so, it it only so because BLMs merited Thunder potency?

Wouldn't it make more sense at this point to choke up the merited potency and gear more towards what you do with your time? If you're fighting Fire mobs, maybe it would be best to merit Flood II and water potency, I.E. Tiamat. Or perhaps you do a lot of Ouryu fights, maybe Tornado II would be better? Maybe it is a matter of the Light Skillchain, and you need to do the Thunder. But... If you know your LS has a lot of Unmerited BLMS/New Blms, or the opposite, overly merited BLMs, maybe Meriting Flood II would be good to open the lowered resistance to thunder for them.

I mean is there any real though going into your selections? Or is it just "Z0MG THUNDAR LOL!!!"

Hmkiroko had a good plan, and a lot of BLMs I see are basically basing thier choices off the "I merited Thunder/Ice potency already" philosophy.

I mean I know most fights are T.Threnedy'd/Suiton'd for the majority of the time, if not I.Threnedy'd/Huton'd for Blizz.

I was just more curious in hearign more peoples' voices on this subject.

 

[Bedwarmer]

In between the Tiamats, and Jailers we blm's are left with just about 23 extra hours where nobody wants shit to do with us. The sun used to rise and set on Thundaga III, hence why most blm merited it's poteny. Despite the stats the staff may add, Blizzard is never going to be a thunder, just as fire is a fucking joke compared to blizzard.

If your spending 23/24 hours meriting with 4 other blm and a refresher, it makes no sense whatsoever to bulk up on anything less than your strongest asset. Your a thf, so I'm betting you have capped dagger and evasion merits. What's so lolthunderzomfg!!!1!!one about capping our potency, when it's akin to your dagger or evasion? Your strongest trait, go with it. As far as a MB goes, maybe someone will put one together on a god or something, just for kicks, but by-and-large the MB is a dead art come merit time. Hell, most shit is dead by the time we get our damn spells off anyway.

All spells doing the same damage is the silliest notion I've ever heard. Think shark bite vs gust slash. My burst II averages a good 150-250 more(without Obi) than freeze II does (even with Obi) and Thunder IV is comprable to freeze for less mp, and shorter re-cast timer. To be 100% honest, the only times I ever really cast freeze II is to show someone what the animation looks like.

 

[Phraust]

In between the Tiamats, and Jailers we blm's are left with just about 23 extra hours where nobody wants shit to do with us. The sun used to rise and set on Thundaga III, hence why most blm merited it's poteny. Despite the stats the staff may add, Blizzard is never going to be a thunder, just as fire is a fucking joke compared to blizzard.

If your spending 23/24 hours meriting with 4 other blm and a refresher, it makes no sense whatsoever to bulk up on anything less than your strongest asset. Your a thf, so I'm betting you have capped dagger and evasion merits. What's so lolthunderzomfg!!!1!!one about capping our potency, when it's akin to your dagger or evasion? Your strongest trait, go with it. As far as a MB goes, maybe someone will put one together on a god or something, just for kicks, but by-and-large the MB is a dead art come merit time. Hell, most shit is dead by the time we get our damn spells off anyway.

All spells doing the same damage is the silliest notion I've ever heard. Think shark bite vs gust slash. My burst II averages a good 150-250 more(without Obi) than freeze II does (even with Obi) and Thunder IV is comprable to freeze for less mp, and shorter re-cast timer. To be 100% honest, the only times I ever really cast freeze II is to show someone what the animation looks like.

First I didn't merit either Dagger or evasion, While i do plan on meriting Dagger, there's no real need to merit Evasion ever. I merited Sword Because I use a sword in my offhand most of my gaming time, and it needed a boost in accuracy. Thieves are not DD in an HNM fight, (Kinda are, but it's too complicated to explain here in a short time) we are mainly there to help with hate control, and settup/close a Skillchain (If used); or dropped in at the end of a fight for TH II (if your LS is "Old Fasioned" (Being Nice here)). As long as I can gain TP reliably and in time for a skillchain, I.E. make up for the 40 TP I don't get from Meditate as a subjob, I see no real issue with my current config, and Thus I can use those merits to Enhance the rest of my Gaming time.

Second, I really thought the AM2 spells were all created equal. It's why I asked. I thought SE had put em in so BLMs could exploit mobs' weaknesses more easily, or imporove HNM/party dynamics in general. For instance, some of the most powerful debuffs used are: Slow, Elegy, Paralyze, and Dia/Bio. If you used Earth Threnedy, you would lay it up for Slow and Elegy. If you could further it by adding a Darness SC and a Quake II burst, you could take full advantage of the current mob state.

I mean am I totally wrong? Or is there even a hint of logic to my theories?

 

[Pompidou]

AMII are all created equal, if all blms are created equal. However, most blms who've merited already skewed the AMII usefulness towards Thunder and Ice because of past potency merits. While I've been 75 for a good time now, I haven't gotten a merit party yet, so all my AMII are on a level playing field. Unlike the traditional elemental nukes which scale from stone to thunder, and AM I which scale from ice to fire, all AM II have the same base damage.

 

[Firestreak]

The main thing is that AM2 are nice but the level 4s and agas are still going to be used often, therefore you're going to still want thunder and ice potency merited. The reason being, is while many of the non BLM community views focusing only on thunder and ice as a lack in versatility, if you could merit thf WS directly, the BLM spamming 2 elements(would be one except for spell timers) is no different than the THF who turns 60 and forgets he ever had viper vite. Aero IV is obsolete at 75, and level 3 skillchains seal the deal making blizzard or thunder the only spells you need. Now AM2 are nice, but they are MP efficient to be your only spells, therefore you're going want want thunder and ice merited still, therefore those 2 AM2 are going to be your best.

Is the benefits from putting all 6 into 2 outweigh the benefits of meriting all 6 for random NMs? I haven't decided yet, because I don't know how well a fully merited Burst 2 will do on a light skillchain on Jorgumand. If simply meriting them fully makes up for being not the best element for Wyrms especially, then all into 62is a no brainer. If not, how good are they on wyrms in the first place? How big a difference? How often do you do wyrms? I can't answer these without first hand experience based on my gear. And as I don't have it, til I decide to return to wyrms I won't merit them further.

 

[Pompidou]

Is the benefits from putting all 6 into 2 outweigh the benefits of meriting all 6 for random NMs? I haven't decided yet, because I don't know how well a fully merited Burst 2 will do on a light skillchain on Jorgumand. If simply meriting them fully makes up for being not the best element for Wyrms especially, then all into 62is a no brainer. If not, how good are they on wyrms in the first place? How big a difference? How often do you do wyrms? I can't answer these without first hand experience based on my gear. And as I don't have it, til I decide to return to wyrms I won't merit them further.

I'm hoping that the answer varies player to player. I'm hoping that these merits force variety in a playerbase that strives to be the same. Ideally, some players would for example, merit Freeze II and Burst II three times each, and some would maybe go two, two and two on Freeze, Burst and Flare II (another semicommon plan I've read), and some, like me would get all six. All of these blms would be created separate but equal. We'd put our merit strategies in our search comments and people could pick the blm that best suits their purpose. It'd be cool if similar ideals applied to all jobs. What I hope doesn't happen is that players find one plan that's significantly superior to all other plans in every aspect, and all the choice is taken out of merits. I mean, I'm taking my choice gimped or not, but it'd be a nice perk to find out it's not. That's my oppinion anyway.

 

[Firestreak]

I'm hoping that the answer varies player to player. I'm hoping that these merits force variety in a playerbase that strives to be the same. Ideally, some players would for example, merit Freeze II and Burst II three times each, and some would maybe go two, two and two on Freeze, Burst and Flare II (another semicommon plan I've read), and some, like me would get all six. All of these blms would be created separate but equal. We'd put our merit strategies in our search comments and people could pick the blm that best suits their purpose. It'd be cool if similar ideals applied to all jobs. What I hope doesn't happen is that players find one plan that's significantly superior to all other plans in every aspect, and all the choice is taken out of merits. I mean, I'm taking my choice gimped or not, but it'd be a nice perk to find out it's not. That's my oppinion anyway.

But before AM2 came out you wanted to merit all of your potency variably anyway, the problem is that in MMORPG, seperate is never equal. Not to say the standard is always better but there usually in one better. Conversely, I really hope people sticking their merits into their serch comment doesn't happen as I'd hate to see any BLM excluded based on merit choices.

 

[Bedwarmer]

the 40 TP I don't get from Meditate as a subjob

Holy chit. Is Sam sub down to 40% from Meditate now? I think it used to be 60%, but I haven't touched my rotten Drg/Sam in over a year.

I follow your theory, and it's a solid one. However, I wouldn't buy into it for even a second. Spreading the merits out across the potency board would give like what, 2 merits per category? Then 1 merit in every AM II, and you'd suceed at being average. Once you land the big setup shot, your left with a menu of sub-par spells that simply won't hang. I could see a goddam Taru getting away with this, since those lil' fuckers blow my shitty Mithra away with a mere thought, but for me, I need all the bang I can get for my MP buck. Kinda like the Thunder IV I just casted on an Ul'aern, on Thundersday, with Rairin Obi that did a staggering 141. weeeee

Aero IV is obsolete at 75, and level 3 skillchains seal the deal making blizzard or thunder the only spells you need.

QFT. I can't emphasize the gap between Thunder, Blizzard, and everything else enough. Even pre-merit the difference is astounding. Prolly why most Blm went thunder/ice potency.

I mean, I'm taking my choice gimped or not, but it'd be a nice perk to find out it's not.

I see nothing gimped about your path. Like Phraust was saying, you'll be really versitile, and prolly capable of all kinds of stuff the bulk of us aren't.artytime:

 

[Bajaratt]

/sam meditate is still 60%, that's probably just a typo. I just tested it and it's 60%.

 

[Bedwarmer]

lol. Thanks Baj. I was gonna cry for a minute there.

 

[alanon]

The following is just for Alanon the Blm:

I am going for them all. No real reason other than the fact that I just want them all. I don't do gods or Wyrms and as such, I have no real recollection of the last meaningful burst I had in an uncapped fight. For me it's all solo'n or messing around.

As fire already stated, the AM2s just are not MP efficient. As far as I can tell, meriting them only effects damage on the burst. If it effected damage in general, I'd reconsider. If I could take down something that used to take 4 tier4s with 2 AM2's, I'd merit them, but it is horribly inefficient now. One resist and 1/3 of your MP pool is gone.