BLM Merits, AM II

I have some questions about AM II, BLM merits. I have been looking around and I have seen it done so many ways I'm not sure what way to go. Right now I feel it would be best to max out Burst II and Freeze II. I already have Ice Potency and Lighting Potency maxed, so it would go even better with that. I don't really see a time where I would be using Flare II or Flood II over Freeze II or Burst II. If I'm wrong, please correct me. Thank you for your time.

it's personal preference. 5/5 freeze and burst are imo the best. back when people actually did magic burst it was great for the extra damage you got from going 5/5. bliz 5 and freeze II will be your most damaging spells thanks to atma of the beyond. if you're worried for 5/5 freeze 2 and 1/5 on the other spells.

honestly idk either, i have my blm fully meritted and put one point in each am2 and finished off group 2 in freeze2 and burst2, personaly i feel one point in each is worth it incase something is weak/strong to the elements and upping am2 doesnt seem worth it to me, i almost never get resisted (even outside abby) and no one has the skill left to set up an SC for MB so more than one point didnt seem important to me

It doesn't really matter, because you only get the damage bonuses when it's used in a magic burst, which those days are long gone. Having then unlocked is enough.

I ironically still use Freeze II and Burst II, Freeze II for when Blizzard V is down, and Burst II because it's currently the strongest lightning damage spell.

Well, I also use Tornado II on Glavoid/Ulhuadshi if I'm BLM while Aero V is down.

I only really use BLM for empyrean weapon farming, since it's either Whm or Blm, and we have Whm mules now. I can't think of any other times when I use AMII. I'm pretty sure Freeze II with beyond atma will still beat Fire V with Agni's Staff +2.

Thank you all for the help.

I got 4/5 Freeze and Burst, and 1/5 Tornado and Flare.
Tornado is handy on sandworm-mobs, and there occationally are mobs where fire is your best bet(Koghatu etc).

But well, Tornado is the only spell you should "need" to get other than freeze/burst, but its a personal choice.

changed up blm AM2 merits after abyssea

3/5 burst2/freeze2
1/5 flood2/tornado2/flare2/quake2

S-E seems to like making earth-based NMs. You got the Sandworm line (Glavoid, Ulhuadashi, etc.) and the Ouryu line (Cuelebre, Dragua, Ouryu), and a few others like Jailer of Faith. I like having Tornado II available for these situations.

Aero V has made Tornado II semi-obsolete in some circumstances, but having two potent wind-based spells doesn't hurt in my opinion.

I think having Freeze II fully merited is kind of a waste, at least if you use the level 51 elemental staves. Fully meriting an AM II spell provides a large boost to that spell's magic accuracy. And you probably don't need that much MAcc boost on Freeze II if you're using Aquilo's Staff.

Ultimately, AM II's are a matter of preference. Merit whatever suits you. I originally did 1 merit in each AM II, but have more recently switched to 5 Tornado, 3 Freeze, 2 Burst, mostly because I think Tornado II is the most practical spell of the 6, and I don't have access to Tier V nukes in ice or thunder, yet.

just did something similar. I have a feeling we will never see skillchains as we did in the past and should adapt to the fact BLM has become a grellow ***/azure ***.


SE should have let us use these nukes instead of forcing some to buy AM1's, as I barely have a use for mine.

This is what I did.

The extra accuracy from more than one merit isn't as important anymore, and when magic bursting, I'll use a tier5 nuke anyways (with the obvious exception of Burst2). These days, I prefer to have the option to cycle through the three strong single-target nukes for each element (aside from thunder).

I wouldn't even bother anymore unless you are just sitting at capped merits and nothing else to do. Most T5 are stronger anyways.

You really shouldn't need the macc on blm. Either you can land ***just fine or it's a mob that you pretty much need ES to land full dmg lol.

I haven't used a single AM2 in months. Partly cause usually stick to ice/thunder nukes... and well freeze II only does 25% more dmg than blizz IV for an extra 75% the cost...

That and half the casting I do is proccing and for hate reasons can't really spam stuff so much that I can't wait for recast.

Also if you are going for just higher dmg all tier V but stone will beat AM2 and all jas will by a large margin.

Thanks to Atma of the beyond, THUNDER will never be as strong as ICE. If you do much nuking outside of abyssea however that isnt the case. I would merit Freeze2 5/5 and go 1/5 on the others. If you do fight a monster that is very resistant to ice, and you must cast wind for example, you have all of the spells at least available.

Unless of course you set both thunder dmg atmas... and ice doesn't have a good 2nd one

To which you would be sacrificing ultimate or MM, most likely ultimate.

I don't have ultimate :(. But sure even trading ultimate for another thunder dmg atma would bring them to about the same. Unless you used ascetics drink or didn't have trial staffs then thunder would win again. Also brewing thunder would beat the ***out of ice. Assuming similar tier of course

lose out on the mag acc, I enjoy being able to cast blind para and slow and have them stick without having to use es. This is dual boxing though.

I land them just fine and I don't have ultimate... unless it's one of the nms that would resist that even from my rdm. I still have a pretty decent enfeeble set though.

Low manning I set allure half the time anyways. Nothing like being able to spam ***and not get hate and still survive moves that wipe everyone else

Meriting AM II more then once only affects it on MB right? No one MBs anymore so isn't better to get one of each an just merit Burst/Freeze up to Lv3?

Personally for me I use, 5/5 Ice 5/5 Lightning potency....So I figure to maximize my damage in and out of abby 5/5 Freeze 2 5/5 Burst 2...

Magic Accuracy as well ^^

And I magic Burst all the time I don't know about you other mages...

I rarely see anyone skillchain on purpose... let alone in anyway that lets me know they are going to... and with the prevalence of spellcast and such you often don't see it so didn't even know if they did

Well we all chat and they let me know when darkness is otw. Or I burst off the blu....I also play on 360 and have yet to have experienced the awesomeness of spellcast....but I will be soon =)

Yeah... so few people skillchain. Or let you know. And it doesn't matter what you play on it's what the skillchainer does that makes it not show up. Technically just quick macro gear changing can do it too if you are on that ***.

mh personally i have 5/5 ice/lightning and burst/freeze 2 still, tho i'm thinking of maybe getting flood and tornado 2 at least ~.~


i do magic bursts frequently too >.>
mostly when i'm doing stuff with small groups or friends are on blu or sam, but with all the elemental fast cast you have on blm nowadays you can hit sc a lot easier if you just see them happen >:

I self skillchain all the time... but no one sees it mhaurahahhahaaha

You might be right, will all depend how much stronger Thunder V / thundaja is than the ice ones.

They really need a 2nd good ice atma... and I'm gunna laugh if they keep not making the trial staffs stronger and adding more +element dmg to the point HQ staffs are as strong in abyssea.