SMN Merits

So I've been debating on what Merits i should put into for Tier 1 SMN Merits...

I was thinking maxing out Elemental MP Cost or putting 5/5 on Pet MAB and 5/5 on Pet M.Acc.

And what do you suggest I should look into for Tier 2 merits?

Thanks.

I would think MP cost would be useless since it only works on the elementals and not the Avatars themselves.

Most people go for Pet acc/attack. Not sure myself which is better.

At the moment my elementals cost 12MP, so at full merits (-10MP reduction), Elemental Avatars will cost 2MP which is virtually nothing if I keep using Elemental Siphon. I'm still not sure though, which is why I need opinions :(

Since you only call out elementals for siphon, just doesnt seem worth it imo.

yea unless u plan to use ur elemental a lot; mp cost will b useless. i dont have the time atm sadly to continue to merit mine (i dont do those lol smn burn that y XD) but so far i have: +2acc, +3atk, +1macc no tier2 merit yet :(

now i have 2 smn friend that r almost if its not full merited with a bit of better gear than me n still get resisted on predator claw n such so how u merit it depend really how u plan to use him: avy melee, magic, support pt. i want mine for pure DD with a bit of macc as back up

I see that you have blm so you prolly did enfeeb/elem 8/8 and none into summoning.

With the abundance of skill we are able to get via gear there really isnt any reason to level acc or macc. 5/5 att/matt is the way to go imo(not much of a spirit person).

For C2 it really depends on what it is your doing in game but I would suggest having 1 light and 1 dark elemental based bp above level 1.

I only have 8/8 Elemental Magic merits.

Thanks for the opinions, it looks like I'm going to go with MAB/MACC or even Att/Acc.

I did 5/5 Physical Att/Acc

Even with all the Pet:Acc gear, avatars still do wiff on occasion.

Its hard, if not impossible, to get a 95% hit rate on avatars.

And do 8/8 Summoning Magic merits

It will help out alot for Siphon, and also adds a little for Att/Acc, at least with BPs

I probably will. It would help me get 317 Summoning magic ^^b

wtf, lol for sum reason i cant quote korg comment with is merit on but yea i aggred, that how my friend have is merit n really depend on luck but i have less merit n can still beat is BP...

With my merit atm the best i ever did was ~2.7k dmg with ifrit flaming crush, cant remember wat mob i was fightin (probly farmin coffer key or hktk eyes behind sahagin door)

You aiming for this set?

Something like that, yea. You're missing Relic hands though, if that's your Summoning magic set.

was talking to a friend about this other week whos all about the pet jobs and about the new smner gear. before it was mab acc and mp cost but now with things like shiva boots it makes macc more useful or being able stick her sleepga in useful situations over like mab or reg acc. Far the att supposedly its such a small boost it not really worth it.

What set is that? looks like a perp set while avatar melees?

Its the set SMN has on 95% of the time.

The other 5% its all BP- gear, and thats to keep BP down to a min.

But yeah, this is the set needed to get 317 SMN magic skill and keep Garuda/Fenrir/Carby/Diabolos free (Garuda with ZNM headband).

Skill does nothing for the avatars att(melee or bp) only effects acc/macc of rage bps

.....................You're not serious are you? Skill effects everything an avatar does. This has been proven. Not just acc/macc.... Just look at Titans Stoneskin.

Avatars have a base (magic)accuracy which is affected by the SMNs level not the skill. Skill levels effect the "actions" you take with your avatar... so Ustav is correct

unless smn is your #1 job used, id skip the smn skill merits. you can reach 317 with out them, and 317 isnt even that big of a deal imo. a smn with +3 refresh favor will be just as good to me as a smn with 4 anywhere its ever used. elemental skill/enfeeb will end up being way more useful over time if you ever blm or rdm too. personally for smn1 merits, i have 5/5 mag attack, and 5/5 physical attack (aside from occasional resists, acc's never been a big problem for me, even in hnm settings). i have a fey crozier with augments -2 perp, +7 pet att, and +4 pet mab, along with acp body with +15 pet att, and +7 macc/mab, as well a pet mab +1 earring, a +2 pet acc waist, and another +3 pet macc waist. with penance hat, smn torque/earring, relic hands, evokers ring, af pants, and relic feet, i pretty seldom resist, basically never miss, and pretty much always out parse other smn i play with. just my food for thought ::shrugs::

Technically it increases duration of wards, and MP gained from siphon also, so can't really say it does nothing other than that :)

I'm also inclined to believe it helps with att/acc, but that's just my opinion *shrug*

avatars have base int.. but i dont think either of you are right about skill only having to do with mag acc/att. in all my years of personal experience, skill has had just as much bearing on my physical rages acc, as its had on my magical. for as long as i can remember now too, testing has supposedly always confirmed as well.

Summoning Magic skill directly effects Blood Pact: Ward Duration (3 Seconds added for each skill passed Cap), Avatar Accuracy, Magical Accuracy, Elemental Spirit Recast time, and Elemental Siphon.

It does nothing for Attack, With that being said, I'd go for 5 Attack / 5 Magical Attack, as there are a few mobs that most SMN's will come across that level 75 BP's will out-damage the 70BP's, so its nice to have Both Attack Capped.

While its true Accuracy is more important, there is no doubt in that, but you can get a lot of Accuracy from Summoning Skill past Cap, I have no trouble with Resists on even IT and beyond mobs when it comes to the 75 BPs with my Current merit set up (Not complete but aiming for the 5 Atk/Matk)

Then again if you're a Summoner who does little to no endgame events and finds themselves more often then not fighting mobs with Low Physical Resistance, then 5Acc/Atk would be best for you. It depends solely on your play style.

The only reason 5atk/matk works for me is because i have a good amount of SMN Skill gear available to me, and the thankful ability to not need my Magical Merits so i can devote them to SMN Skill. Plus Most of the enemies i fight are weaker to magic than Physical, and the 75BP's will generally outperform my 70BPs.

Its certainly not the same for Every summoner, I'd just take a good look at what you use your summoner for, and base it off that. unfortunately like Melee jobs SMN merits have no 1 single "Right" or "Wrong" way to do them, since every SMN will play the job for Different reasons.

ANWYAY, Goodluck, i hope you find what you're looking for.

Edit: also all Avatars have a base "Magic Attack BOnus" III or IV Job Trait.\

Edit2: Apparently (According to Wiki, whom i trust) Avatars have Magic Attack Bonus IV Job traits at level 75, and Shiva's Base INT is 82. Pretty nice.

I'm inclined to agree, however I can't find the info at the moment, lol.

I said actions ie blood pacts. I still don't think skill effects pet accuracy ie auto attack hits

Well technically someone said it *only* effects acc/macc of rage BP's, which you said that was correct <_<

Also, would be nice if someone could find the info on it effecting avatar acc etc, this is what I've always believed. But for the life of me can't find any info on it atm.

http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/jobs.html?fjob=15&mid=125556209657891137&num=38&page=1

not saying this to be a jerk, i dont condescend unless someone condescends to me... but what are you basing that opinion off of ? i see you have smn @ level 1 is all.

acc will have same effect each attack round swing as it would effect physical rages (ws's if you will). skill having to do with its accuracy in same manner as it would magical accuracy maybe debatable, but that much surely isnt.


and @ the testing bit above. ive seen it before, and ill say the same thing i said first time i saw it. greater colibri wtf ? only thing its good for testing is how much MORE someone is doing imo.. HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE acc test subjects <.<, ESP for smn.

BWAHAHA Greater Colibri. Anyone, with no ACC can hit those things. They evade worse then brick walls. If I wanted to see test's done about SMN skill effecting Pet ACC.. Id do it on something a little harder to hit.

That test only proves that Colibri are even easy to hit for our Avatars.

Just reading that.. He only put on 5 SMN skill and continued on? Thats not going to make much of a difference. Thats like just wearing Walahra turban and no other haste gear, and expecting to TP faster.

I wanna see that test done by a better person, with a hell of alot more then just 5 skill over cap........

Wow, fail at reading much. He used 10. Greater Colbri were used, possibly for their known values, or ease of access.
Since you're such an expert though, I would absolutley love to see all the testing you have done.

I'm sure the whole comunity will welcome it and thank you for it. Or poke holes in it saying it's flawed and they could do a much better job if they wanted to, either way.