Developer Comments For Group 2 Merits

Warrior
We’re making adjustments to show the difference between Warrior and other jobs

Question: Why did you decide to make Tomahawk have a special defense down effect?

Answer: Our original image of the Warrior wassomeone who would throw axes. With Tomahawk, we wanted to createsomething different from throwing items that are for damage, like ashuriken, so in the end we settled with the special defense down effect.

Question: When it comes to party battles, peopleequip a lot of gear in their ranged or ammo slots that help with theirdamage output or their accuracy. It seems that the chance of them usingreal ranged attack gear is pretty small. Is it fair to say thatAggressive Aim is mainly aimed towards people who play solo or smallgroup parties?

Answer: Warriors are very skilled at using thewide range of gear they can equip. We did this to raise the base rangedattack power of Warriors who wanted to go that route.

Monk
There’s a lot of variation in job traits and abilities

Question: Each option has its benefits and itsshortfalls so players really ponder over what they should merit. Whatkind of advice do you have for Monks who would like to be stronger?

Answer: When we started to develop the group 2merits for Monks, we decided that Mantra and Formless Strikes would beabilities you use in special situations. Formless Strikes is for yourown personal benefit while Mantra helps out your party. We think it’s agood thing to have a lot of variation in your job traits and abilitiesso Monks should just choose the ones they like the most. For people whoplay solo a lot, Invigorate might be a good thing to merit.

Question: By the way, if Mantra is used on a Galkan Monk, their HP can exceed 3000. That’s amazing!!

Answer: {Galka}{fear}

White Mage
We wanted White Mages to have a little fun

Question: You really have to be close to a person to use Martyr or Devotion. Why is that?

Answer: The “Bar-” spells have the same limitationon them. It makes White Mages move from their safe place a distanceaway from the battle and we think it’s a little fun for White Mages tohave to get within the AoE range of enemies. Both of these abilitiesrequire a mage to think about their timing when they use them.

Black Mage
We’re taking a look at MB

Question: Black Mages learn Tier 2 Ancient Magicspells for their group 2 merits so we really want to see more chancesto do Magic Bursts. Can you tell us your thoughts on where Magic Burstsare going?

Answer: It’s really hard to do a skillchain byyourself in order to do a Magic Burst. We really do want a system wherepeople can do more Magic Bursting so it’s something we are reallythinking about. Right now all we can say is that we’d like to makeadjustments in the future in some shape or form.

Red Mage
Really effective magic… depending on the situation

Question: Blind II, Paralyze II, etc, cost a lotof MP compared to their tier one counterparts. This makes them a bitharder to use. Can you give us any advice on using them effectively?

Answer: With Paralyze II, the enemy should be onewhere it makes a difference if the enemy is paralyzed once every 4 or 5actions. Blind II is good for situations where it’s really importantthat you increase your ability to evade attacks.

Question: From what I can tell in game, Slow II andPhalanx II are really popular! I especially think that a fully meritedPhalanx II is excellent.

Answer: Slow II is probably popular because it canoverride certain haste effects (from spells or other abilities).Phalanx II is stronger than regular Phalanx so it’s also very handywhen you solo.

Thief
Choose your merits to match the way you play

Question: Everything is so useful I can’t decidewhat to merit! Can we get some advice for all the Thieves out there whoare wondering what do merit?

Answer: You should choose your merits to match theway you play. You can help out your party members with Feint, steal aneffect from the enemy with Aura Steal, increase your power withAssassin’s Charge… Ambush is the only one that’s not really usefulwhile soloing.

Question: I’m having fun stealing effects frommonsters with Aura Steal. Are there any interesting effects you cansteal that you can tell us about?

Answer: Well, during testing we had to make a lotof adjustments because it kept stealing things you didn’t want it tosteal. If you steal something you think is odd, can you please quietlytell us about it? (laughs)

Paladin
Chivalry is the star

Question: Fealty and Chivalry are really popular right now. Are there any situations to make use of Iron Will or Guardian?

Answer: When we developed Chivalry, we thought itwas something that everyone should definitely merit. Iron Will reallydoesn’t have a chance to shine. Rampart already cuts down on the amountof magic damage taken already and right now in the game, there are moresituations where tankers don’t have to worry so much about spellinterruptions anyways.

Question: If you fully merit Guardian, the amount of enmity you lose is cut by 95%. Does Guardian affect all actions by a player?

Answer: The way that enmity is lost changes whileSentinel is active. Basically speaking, you’ll see the change in theamount of enmity lost after taking damage from the enemy.

Dark Knight
We increased the number of support job options.

Question: The increase to Overwhelm for Samuraisis capped beyond the 3rd upgrade but there is no limitation placed onDesperate Blows. Can you tell us why?

Answer: The effect from Desperate Blows is onlyactive when you use Last Resort. Also, the effect from Last Resort andHasso during the same short amount of time is capped at 25%. So a fullymerited Desperate Blows at 25% is equal to a Desperate Blows taken tothe 3rd level (15%) + Hasso (10%). If you merit Desperate Blows abovethe 3rd level, using something other than Samurai for a support job ismore viable. This is why they are the same up until the 3rd level.

Beastmaster
Lots of changes to called pets

Question: If you fully merit Beast Affinity, Funguar and Flies become a really strong choice. Was that anticipated?

Answer: Yes. It’s not just about increasing the levelcap of pets like Funguar but having the ability to use a wider range ofabilities with your pets in battle if you decide to use merit points.This was a goal we had in mind when we were planning Beastmaster merits.

Bard
Two abilities you want to learn with merit points

Question: Is it safe to say that the two Group 2 Merits that really help out all-round are Nightingale and Troubadour?

Answer: You can mix and match them and theycounterbalance each other so it’s really recommended that you learnboth. By the way, you know how we recently added Pianissimo? We wereoriginally thinking of making it a Group 2 merit option. However, wedecided we wanted more people to be able to use it in general so itbecame a regular ability instead.

Question: Are Sirvente and Dirge more gearedtowards battles that last a long time? Like BCNM or HNM battles? Somepeople have called out for Ballad instead of these two songs…

Answer: Bards really sing songs that have benefitsto party members more than ones that benefit themselves… It’s reallyhard to decide what to sing isn’t it?

Ranger
Equipment with a haste effect for ranged attacks

Question: Snapshot is the first time we get a hasteeffect for ranged attacks. Is there a reason this wasn’t done throughequipment instead?

Answer: This is a brand new trait so the number ofequipment options is still small. We aren’t sure about the particulardetails yet but we’ll add more at the next version update.

**(This booklet was put together before the recent September update.)

Samurai
The cap on Overwhelm was made after thinking about job balance issues

 
Question: Please tell us about the limits placed onOverwhelm. It doesn’t seem like there are any other merit options forother jobs like this…

Answer: When we first started making the Group 2merits, we didn’t have plans to limit Overwhelm. However, afteradjustments were made to Samurai, we decided there would be a problemif the same percentage bonus was available after the 3rd level.

Ninja
A way to attack enemies with resistance to physical attacks

Question: Is there an effective way to use the San ninjutsu?

Answer: We added this as a countermeasure peoplecan use against enemies who have more resistance to physical attacks.In general, you should use several of them in sequence to get the bestresults so players should learn as many as possible to make them easierto use.

Question: Shuriken are pretty expensive so I’m kind of iffy on using Sange…

Answer: Well, I think the idea behind Sange is pretty interesting…

Dragoon
We’ve made Wyverns stronger in a number of ways

Question: Are there any status effects that are especially useful for a Wyvern to pick up by using Empathy?

Answer: You could increase the defense of yourWyvern with Stoneskin or Protect. You could also transfer songs orrolls and increase the attack output.

Question: Why add the “Defense Down” effect to Angon?

Answer: Just like Warrior and Tomahawk, ouroriginal image of the Dragoon was of somebody throwing polearms so weadded that with an ability. If you throw a real polearm and pierce ashield, you impair that person’s ability to evade your attacks. Wewanted to mimic that idea. At first we thought about adding an effectthat impairs an enemy’s evasion but that would overlap with some otherabilities so we settled on the Defense Down effect.

Summoner
How to use the abilities from Group 2

Question: The abilities learned at level 70 are sopowerful I don’t see any noticeable difference from the Group 2 meritedabilities. Are there any special conditions that make these abilitiesmore effective?

Answer: These are more for enemies that are highlyresistant to physical attacks or enemies that you can attack from adistance away. The accuracy rate isn’t very bad but using them whilekeeping in mind the elemental weaknesses or strengths of your enemy maybe challenging.

Blue Mage
You can only increase your blue magic slots through merits

Question: Convergence increases the power ofmagical blue magic spells so does it increase the effect of spells thatweaken enemies as well?

Answer: It only affects damage output. It won’t make spells that weaken enemies any stronger.

Question: A fully merited Enchainment adds a 50 TP bonus. If I’m already at 300%, will it act as if it’s 350%?

Answer: Your attack will be calculated with 300% TP. It won’t increase to 350%.

Question: It seems Assimilation is the one thing Blue Mages can’t be without!

Answer: You can’t get additional Blue Magic pointsthrough equipment. We really want Blue Mages to merit Assimilation andmake use of it.

Corsair
An ability that reduces your luck

Question: Corsairs really can’t overlook Snake Eye can they?

Answer: We hope people have fun playing around with it a lot and aim for 11s or lucky numbers.

Question: It seems like abilities like Boost andScavenge seem to be the only ones that regularly get refreshed if youuse Loaded Deck. Is there a priority set in the system when you usethis ability?

Answer: No, there isn’t. It will only randomly select from abilities waiting on their recast timer.

Puppetmaster
The hidden potential of Automatons

Question: Even after maxing out Optimization with anextra 25%, Automations still have very low defense and can’t reallyfunction as a shield or tank. Isn’t there a way you could give thatoption to Puppetmasters?

Answer: Including the various attachments you canuse to increase your Automations defense that are currently available,we plan on looking into this issue and others in the future.

Question: With Role Reversal, Optimization, etc,I’ve rapidly increased my abilities but it’s still hard to get invites!I just want to be more understood!

Answer: We strongly believe people will come tounderstand Puppetmasters. Until then, we’ll need Puppetmasters tospread the word about the good points of their job or be proactiveabout making their own parties. Maybe you could try making a livelyparty with Beastmasters, Dragoons, and Summoners?

You can see more information about the booklet (in Japanese) at:
http://www.famitsu.com/blog/vanatsu/2008/08/_vol01.html