Ancient Magic II Thread, part deux

Firestreak

Firestreak

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Well it's been a while since they added all the tier 2 Ancient Magics.

I myself unlocked Freeze 2, Burst 2 and then stopped meriting Catagory 2, leaving capping 2 or getting all 6 ambigious.

Mainly the reason... I had no idea how much capping them would help, and no idea how often I'd feel compelled to use all 6.

All I can say.. is I almost never use both Burst 2 and Freeze 2 in the same battle. So if I wanted all 6, it would be for the purpose of each individual spell, not for the ability to chain 6 different AM2 together.

But what's also been abundantly clear... sea obi + AF2 legs + right day of week = holy shit.

But I don't know how AF2 and obi bonuses compare against 5 damage potency merit advantage I get on the 2 elements I'm using.

For those with all 6 and 5 ice/thunder potency and af2/obis... what's the difference between a flare 2 on firesday and a burst 2 on firesday?

And then for those of you who do HNMs, Gods, Wyrms, what's the difference between base spell and merited spell for your resist rate?
 
Is there an actual way to measure your resist rate or just by guessing? I can't help you there.

I believe putting points in past 1 for the AMII enhances the magic accuracy of the spell all the time, but enhances damage only on a magic burst. By how much, I have no idea. Hopefully it's not negligible.

One point in potency increases the MATK for that type of spell by 2 correct? As well, Obi's increase the damage by 10% when used on the correct day. As well, there is a noticable effect when the spell itself is used on the correct day.

I'd venture a guess and say that Flare II would be more powerful on Firesday than Burst II, using an Obi and AF2, but with zero merits in Fire Potency. With no Obi and only AF2, I would have to go with Burst II in all case's since it works with your existing potency merits.

Using AF2, I haven't really seen a big difference in damage, but I could be just stupid. How big of a difference do you notice Firestreak?
 
One thing I would keep in mind before doing anything is the upcoming patch. apperently there will be some changes to additional level in AM, so I would wait until after the patch to see exactly what those changes are before commiting to anything.
 
The difference for me is like 1900-2000 dmg range for AM2 on a normal day with Mahatma and Penitence rope, with the right obi and legs on a good day it's 2150-2250.

It's like a 12.5% bonus overall. So the question becomes, would I with no merits but right day pass the base 1900-2000 dmg with unmerited elements?
 
I really doubt it. The Merits are definately a huge factor in pushing your Burst AM II to those levels on a normal day.

Btw how are you pushing your damage so high? Did you merit INT or are you using a Yigit Piece or a Sorc swap? I'm assuming you are fighting flans, because I think I've hit about 1833 as my highest damage dealt to them with a typical HQ Staff/Penitents/Iqgira/Zenith/Rostrums/Moldy/Prism/Mahatma setup.
 
Hmkiroko said:
I really doubt it. The Merits are definately a huge factor in pushing your Burst AM II to those levels on a normal day.

Btw how are you pushing your damage so high? Did you merit INT or are you using a Yigit Piece or a Sorc swap? I'm assuming you are fighting flans, because I think I've hit about 1833 as my highest damage dealt to them with a typical HQ Staff/Penitents/Iqgira/Zenith/Rostrums/Moldy/Prism/Mahatma setup.
Click to expand...

MP low enough for Ugg Pendant, swap in Zenith pieces and rostrum and serket to lower my HP, then swap in Mahatma/AF2 legs, Penitance/Obi, Genie, yigit feet, sorc ring, hq staff, demon+1, zenith mitts help(thinking about selling all my PLD and NIN gear for getting +1).. just regular abyssal, moldevite setup,

and tamas

Got the potency and elemental, presently working on INT. Hopefully can push it towards the 2300 - maybe when I can get zenith+1
 
Yea, Genie is out of my price range. How much is it worth again? Zenith+1 is pretty pricey too, but whatever pushes your character to the limit.

I haven't really touched Assault, so I am not close to getting the Yigit Gages. Would you recommend them, especially since I am looking into trading up for a Sorc Ring setup? I guess it's easier to hit the yellow HP with those boots.

I can't wait until more people get a Novio earring. Vitax is the only one who I have seen with it.
 
How often (since ToAU came out) have you partied where you've Magic Bursted consistently, with Burst II or Freeze II? Barring gods, since I suppose you're meant to MB there, I'd have to say I haven't.

Not once.

Increasing the # of merits you have in the Tier 2 category of the BLM Specific merits seems completely useless, in my opinion. Unless this planned update completely revolutionises the way in which people will want to construct partys in favour of blackmages, I doubt sticking those extra (very costly) merits to upgrade your AM2 any further will do you much good. Stick them on MP, or Enmity. Or even Potencys for christ sakes, if you don't have a decent backing of potency then you just fail...
 
Yup Blab. Save from Gods and Fafnir there is no application for meriting AM II past one point. After I'm finished Blizzard Potency (done Thunder), I'm going to start on either INT or MP. I'm kind of hold off on -Enemity, but all three will be brought up in the end. AM II will be a costly upgarde, so I'm putting it off until theres nothing left to upgrade.
 
I've been in a party once with melees as my BLM, not that they skillchained.

But besides the magic burst damage bonus, meriting them should at all times raise the magic accuracy, so hopefully, it would make the damage strike most often on the top end of the range. Or lower resists, which can happen sometimes even on puddings.

The question being, ignoring even the possibility to upgrade AM2 up higher, is there a point in merit parties to unlock the other 4 or not if you got 5/5 potency in both.
 
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I did them all and actually the only time they are ALL useful is when I'm in an alliance that includes other blm's. I'll throw out a floodII just to drop thunder resistance for the other blm's. In limbus and dynamis where we have 4 or 5 blm's, often nuking down the same NM, I do this religiously.

I think I've casted tornadoII and quakeII three times ever. I mostly just wanted the full set.

My original potency merits (4 thunder, 4 ice, 2 fire) were done the way they were to maximize my effectiveness in killing marids when their hairs were top dollar. With that setup, I'd often open fights on firesday with AF2 legs, karin obi, and flare for some pretty decent damage. But as of last night I dropped one of my fire merits, upped ice to 5, and am in the process of upping thunder to 5 as well.

I know, I'm a jackass. I should have done that to begin with. But I'm the kind of guy who likes to try unorthodox things for myself just to see if they work. And it did work pretty well, to be honest.

I would say the top 3 useful AM2 (if you don't fight kirin at all) are burstII, freezeII (best overall damage), and floodII (for fafnir and for helping out other blm's in your alliance).

There is one area in temenos where it's actually pretty useful to have all of the different AMII for MBing avatars. But that's a very limited use.
 
I don't think BLMs should get all but more then just Freeze II and Burst II.

Tornado II useful for Kirin, Ouryu and basically is just another high damaging single target spell. In the event of a two hour it can more useful then using an Aga in dangerous areas and if Thunder IV/Burst II isnt up.

Flood II lowers resistance against Lightning. That's just a great reason to get so others can land their Thunder spells which are most often used on HNMs.

Quake II and Flare II I don't see a huge reason to get at all. 4 AM II is enough and those are the most useful.
 
I am 6/6 because each element has a bonus depending on what you are killing. I did merit to stage 3 in Burst II and it made almost no difference for me. It's up to the player though in what they want to accomplish. So far the only one that I believe was a total waste of time was Quake II.
 
I've got Burst II, Freeze II, and Tornado II. I haven't seen a need for getting the other 3.

I believe each upgrade gives MAB+3 on MB's, which isn't that spectacular.

What mobs are you doing 2k damage against, and are you talking with or without MB? With your gear setup, assuming the mob doesn't take extra damage (open mouth hpmedes, lamia, etc) a 2k Burst II with pent rope and mahatma slops would be a 2100-2130ish unmerited potency AM2 with AF2 pants and obi kicking in.
 
I'm talking about regular nukes not MBs, and I am getting more of a boost than that out of AF2, obi and day of the week.

And for Crosis and Stouter, since you have alternative AM2s and sea access so I'm assuming Obis, and assuming merited potency, what are you guys doing on AM2 - right day, full gear vs like freeze 2, wrong day full potency?
 
I just finished up my elemental magic merits and barely touched potency, so I couldn't offer much. I can tell you that Quake II on earthsday with obi and pants will do more damage than full potency Freeze II with manatma slops and pent rope, but the difference is going to be maybe 5% more.
 
How do you guys manage to fit all this gear into your inventory?

I could cut down on maybe... 5 more items, leaving me 49/60, but I'm still missing out on some gears that I'd have to obtain (sorcerer's ring & all the bits needed to make the LE kick in eg Serket Ring, Zenith Legs et al) but carrying a set of obis... No way.

Do you guys scrimp on other pieces of gear? I know I like to carry around with me a full set of Enfeebling Equipment, aswell as Dark Magic equipment. Theres no way I'd sacrifice any of my Enfeebling gear whilst soloing, thats just asking to be exploited by a plucky wamoura prince who's determined to kick your ass. Sure I could lose out on the Dark Magic Equipment, but I'm sure having a 150+ MP Aspir while soloing Puddings is sure to help you out and speed things up.

What I really wanna ask, and I know it's getting off topic now is, what -exactly- do you carry with you when you go to solo Puddings? Right down to the food you take, even misc items like what you're selling in your bazaar, and link pearls.
 
Blabj said:
How do you guys manage to fit all this gear into your inventory?
Click to expand...

ahhh the age old question ;) personally, my blm is 5k from 69, and ive always had to macro swap gear to hell between all my jobs...

80 mog slots, 20 storage slots, 60 mog locker slots, 60 inventory slots, etc. and 2 mules :D but i dont really keep gear i use even somewhat often there.
 
Just curious, do AMs' -resist and NIN nukes' -resist stack? If so, why not combine Quake II and (Huton, I think?) on Kirin then do Tornado II/Aero IV and such? Just wondering cause I hear alot of BLMs only seem to get Tornado II and Burst II mostly.
 
8 staves, 1 range atack, 2 hats, 4 torques, 2 earrings, 5 rings, 2 gloves, 3 body, 2 back, 2 belts, 4 legs, 2 feet. 1 food.

this leaves you some extra place in inventory XD.
 
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