Merits For A Endgame RDM

this. ppl who say you need convert in abyssea as a RDM in a group of 2-3 killing NM's just never did it. With 2 Refresh Atma its 10mp(15 with the newer atma) + 6(7 with pants+2)) + 2-3(gear)... thats more MP then you can use really... as Mithra i am at 1.4-1.5k MP in Abyssea + 18 tic refresh. You really... dont... need Convert. And thats without useing Meds. And who want to say "you dont nuke enough" go do it yourself and see. Since you mostly "stop" nukeing once you have hate so the other RDM's can get it again and you focus on shadows and other buffs in that time. you really dont need convert.

I still spam Convert every time it's up with double Refresh/etc Atma O_o get more aggressive!


My other RDM is also an incredibly aggressive and intelligent RDM so we don't have that problem. A lot of the time we're both /sch, not /nin too.

EDIT: For the record my killcount on NMs in Abyssea solo/duo must be in the triple digits by now, so it's not a case of simply not doing it.

Solo'd my ***for years even without dchap ... go figure.
Well i am done in this thread. The op question was answered in many ways by now and ppl bashing and goin "wtfyoudontknowshit" are just turds.
If you had an opnionon in this topic why no state YOUR MERITS then, instead of bullshittin around.
my 2 cents

Talking about NMs, nobody gives a ***about trash mobs. If you're using Bind/Grav on trash mobs (or need accuracy for it), you need to fix your setup and stop wasting stones. Most NMs that you could actually kite with those spells are probably pretty harmless and a better (faster) killed with a melee and a RDM. Only NM I've fought in Coast so far that I've bothered casting Bind/Grav on besides orobons was Heqet because my friend and I were too lazy to wait for him to change to MNK after an orobon, and really is was a massive waste of time. He could have changed to MNK and killed it in less time than it took to nuke that frog down.

For the accuracy merits helping duration resists statement, if your plan for something that builds resistance to gravity is to kite it with no means of taking it on once it does build resistance... you need to fix your setup and stop wasting stones.

If you need Earth accuracy to land Slow2 on something that isn't resistant to begin with, you need to quit RDM. Seriously what have you fought that has such a slight resistance to Slow2 that 10 accuracy is going to fix? You're not fixing anything. You're adding a very small % to another already bad stick rate. It's just a matter of luck at that point.

Thorny has already established on BG recently that if you're doing Saboteur Slow2s, you don't even need as much MND as most put on their gear. You can put more accuracy on... Only enough to make the effect 25% before Saboteur so that it hits 50% if you have elegy on. With the abyssites of furtherance you need even less so on gear.

Also some of you "not nuking aggressively enough", etc. Stop pretending no side is wrong in this argument when the only arguments for accuracy merits at this point are "I actually need it to land Slow2" (lawl) and "It's useful to avoid duration resists on something that builds resistance because when it does more than likely resist eventually like I know it will, I'm screwed".

I understand that this is a forum and that everyone can give his or her 2 cents but, as always, some answers are utter BS.

First of all, there is no best way to merit RDM for being a team player or a solo player but it all depends on how and in what environment you play and what your situation demands.

As is has been mentioned by like everyone already, convert is no brainer, it's butter and bread of a RDM and you will always want to enhance the unique traits of your jobs. You don't merit hand-to-hand skill as a NIN only because you can equip knuckles but katana, since it's you're main weapon with a high native skill and RDM is the only job that gets convert, period.

As for the enfeebles, they are all unique to RDM and thus are all valid.
As a RDM finding yourself in the tank party taking care of your PLD and s/he is /war most of the time, I don't see why phalanx II would be a bad choise. It can make the difference between life and death in certain situations since it reduces the dmg taken effectively and can be merited so that it's timer fits your refresh/haste cicle. It's still better than phalanx I, which PLD now gets natively but since PLD lacks the enhancing skill, it will never reach a RDM's phalanx II (even without the RDM using "a ridiculous amount of enhancing gear").

Personally, I think that slow II is a must have as a RDM since there are way too many occasions in this game where you want to use it and it's by far more reliable than paralyze, which only has A CHANCE to proc, whereas slow II either lands and works or it doesn't.

Bio III has always been a waste to me since it doesn't last very long and in most endgame situations no one gives a rat's *** if they are being hit for 250 instead of 265 (no actual numbers, just an exaggeration! If ppl are getting hit, they're doing something wrong most of the time anyway and wasting merits for other ppl's mistakes is a joke). >,>
However, if your tanks don't know shadow-tanking, this could be a nice addition to your phalanx II merits to reduce the dmg taken once more.

But anyway, I don't want to discuss every possibility there is and every positive or negative thing about those merits since it really depends on what you find yourself needing/casting more.
It might just be for a current situation and may or may not change as you continue playing but like I said, there is no best way of meriting RDM for everything but has to be customized by your situation/style.

Obviously, your cat. I ele-acc merits should support your cat. II choises and/or desires to nuke (even though I still believe that RDM isn't made for nuking since other jobs can do that way better, unless you have lvled BLM or SCH as well and put merits into elemental magic and preferably into INT as well of course).

I hope that this helps you a tiny little bit for finding out how to lvl YOUR RDM and not SOMEONE's RDM. Be smart (or not) and find your own way and take your shell's needs into account. Don't merit things because other ppl say it's a good thing to do (only) but try to do it the way you want to and can play the job.
There are enough bandwagon jobs out there as it is.

GT~

Just thought I'd throw in some thoughts on RDM merits in abyssea-land.

As a solo/lowman RDM, oftentime I do NOT have any Refresh oriented Atma. Instead favoring MAB type to pump out more damage while limiting the amount of TP my target is getting. This means I am riding my Convert timer (5/5 merits) like a cheap hooker. I also usually end up getting stuck taking Atma of the Dread for Treasure Hunter.. because I'm the only one who completed AMK... /facepalm

Now, if for some strange reason I have more MP than I can burn though fast enough. (Which can happen if I have a stacked BRD and COR) I would opt to move those merits from Convert to.. Thunder magic accuracy.

Yes, you heard me. Thunder.

I really mean it.

While right NOW, it does nothing what-so-ever, those merits would go into Wind m.acc for the same reason: Nukes. However in the future when RDM has access to Thunder IV, the boosted m.acc from said merits will make up for the loss of m.acc while using a MAB-Magian staff.

If you're a RDM that can't land an enfeeb on pretty much anything, just quit now. Please. However, there are still some choice targets that are difficult to nuke as /nin, and as such your merits should go to improving your nukes for said targets. However, /sch remedies this nicely if that is an option for subjob.

Lastly, Pinkmagery is hard. Rotating Haste/Refresh II and curing damage-sponges really requires merits specifically tailored for it. I have no idea how you amazing mages pull it off. /sarcasm

tl;dr
Stop using refresh atma if there are better choices. (MAB, Treasure Hunter)
Do not choose ele merits for enfeebles, choose them for nukes.
Sub /sch, you don't need any elemental merits period.. So get Convert merits and Alacrity your nukes more.
Curing people is not hard, enfeebling NMs is not hard. If either of these are a worthy challenge for you. Go level BLM and play it as a main healer/enfeebler. (They get Cure IV now, so it can't be that haaaaard.)

Any questions?

Haha, Raen fails

Don't be like that, it's obvious that the RDM asking for advise with merits isn't an "old dog" and I can only speak from own experiences, I haven't known a lot about RDM even after being 75 for quite a while. Yet, it has been my 1st 75, so I didn't know much about the game in general, at that point either.

So, please take into account that some ppl didn't experience solo/kite-nuking situations just yet.
Also, knowing what stats are mandatory for each type of spell (INT/MND) isn't understood for every RDM when they hit 75. It takes time to learn the job to know since most of the time when being in a party situation in the process of lvling, you don't really care that much about enfeebling when you are main healing and the fights are short.

Go with convert 5/5. It can help you in many/if not all situations. That is all.

This thread is still alive? o_O

Yes, Convert 5/5, why the hell would anyone need earth acc to land slow?

HELP!! im soo torn on my last merit and tho ive read all of this I still cant decide!
Now I love bio/slow/para
they proc alot and are hella handy. I am a end game RDM and a big solo RDM

one merit choice left...


what should it be!!?!?


Bio III 4/5 -> 5/5 (why?: this is 30 additional seconds to my already powerful Bio for soloing and many bosses, taking it from 1:20 to 1:50)

Slow II 3/5 -> 4/5 (why? Who doesnt like fighting sloths? Tossing this baby out I can really see the effect)

Para II 2/5 -> 3/5 (why? This can put me 3/5 on two spells to even them up some and I see it proc alot.. Id not complain seeing it proc even more and I tend to use it more on soloing or a quick debuff for quick killable abyssea mobs)

if you have 4\5 Bio, take it to 5\5.. Bio3 is really a 0\5 or 5\5 option:P

I'd say finish Bio too.

So today I finally wished I had a lower recast on convert. Was doing orobons and this time I was /thf for TH. Forgot how much /sch helps out lol. But then again I still only have 1 lunar abyssite

Sometimes you don't have the man power lol. Not just a tanks suck less or you. You just don't have people so a well merited slow/para2 could make a huge difference. I've noticed rather decent difference since I put 2 more merits into para2

My para II is 5/5 and it tends to rape. Differently notice a much higher proc rate over para or 1/5 para II.

Honestly, Bio III is just meh and with TIV nukes, dot plays a much smaller roll in how a RDM solos. ESP in abyssea where MP is plentiful.

Friggin abyssea. *** changes everything so much lol.

I have no problem at all /sch. Unless I litterally have nothing else to cast other than a couple self buffs and the nukes. I litterally can't spend my mp that fast without completely ignoring everything else my rdm can do. Like debuffs or buffing others.

Now maybe if I was soloing /nin or low manning with other people that I don't have to buff sure. But outside of that I spend all my time casting or running and still take longer to run out of mp lol

2x RDM/NIN owns almost everything in abyssea, who needs a group? :P

It makes my day feel extra special to know I irritated you. :)

Seriously? 1/5 on Slow II? You may as well save the merit. And ice merits? For what? That bind you'll never be sticking on anything you do endgame because they're all completely resistant?

Hey what about that NM we fight some.... also blizz!!! Ok it will be awhile before I use that nuke much.

Tier 1 merits are kinda meh on rdm nowadays though. 1/5 on para/slow/blind are only good for overwriting people casting Tier 1 debuffs who don't understand the concept of potency builds. Because by themselves they barely better than the Tier 1.

Phalanx II pretty much only useful in salvage or weird situations where phalanxing people would be nice but you can't /sch. Even then more than 1 is meh.

Bio3 is worthless less than 3 though now it's not even good for kiting with the extra refresh you get dot is only a small part of your dmg. Nice for the att down in blood tanking though.

Dia 3 niceish for zergs I guess but hard to justify more than 1 more in.

para/slow with decent build and merits *** mobs up.

haven't messed with blind II. But I do use blind I alot and it has noticeable effects

So baby, slow, para, and blind are group 2 merits.
I'm assuming you knew that and i'm reading your statement wrong :p

Phalanx II imo is a waste of merits now a days. Generally the only people you're going to be casting phalax on will be subbing rdm and able to do it themselves, or just go /sch. /sch is uber anyway

5/5 SlowII

Yeah I know you probably read it wrong.

Like I said pretty much only salvage. Which some people still do

<.<

>.>

Like I was a week ago lol

1/5 Para2 is HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE and it makes a big difference over para1 (when 5/5) if your potency set isn't garbage. Acting like 1/5 and potency alone is going to make it own is stupid. Bio3 lost a lot of usefulness since Abyssea, Para2 gained a lot more. With how many mobs in Abyssea DA and TA every para proc makes a better difference and some NMs like Heqet, Athamas, Asanbosam or w.e the bats name is, are completely crippled by a good Para2.