New bloodpacts

[Grandsummoner_Kairos]

If you check the playonline website it shows a glimpse of the new merit system. It seems that we are able to obtain the prime bloodpacts after the update happens. Just wanted to see what everyone thinks about this.

[Feba]

Re: New bloodpacts

It's all gonna depend on how powerful they are. In the BCs i've done, they've always been second best after the 2hr.

[Amri]

Re: New bloodpacts

Merit Point Additions(22/07/2006)

With the upcoming merit point additions, you will be able to improve your character even further with all-new abilities and spells in the existing 15 job categories.
Merit point job categories will also become available for blue mages, corsairs, and puppetmasters.


Merit Point Categories

The existing 15 job categories will be improved to allow players the opportunity to further customize their level 75 characters with unique abilities.

These improved categories will include 4 to 8 abilities for each job. Depending on the distribution of merit points, it will be possible for players to access multiple new abilities.
Check out the upcoming version update news for what's in store.


- Subcategories
The 15 existing job categories will be divided into subcategories. Group 1 will include conventional abilities, while Group 2 will include the new job abilities, job traits, and spells.

- Accessing New Abilities
You can access Group 2 abilities by spending 1 point on the ability you wish to learn. Additional points spent on the same ability will shorten the recast time or enhance the effect (refer to the help text for each ability to learn the specific bonus).
Lowering the number of merit points in an ability to zero will cause it to disappear from your ability list.

- Ability Point Maximums
The Group 1 and Group 2 subcategories have separate totals for the maximum number of possible ability increases. Spending merit points to improve conventional abilities will not affect the acquisition of the new abilities.


Merit Points for Blue Mages, Corsairs, and Puppetmasters

In the upcoming version update, merit point job categories will be added for the three new jobs introduced in the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion disc.
These categories will initially contain only the Group 1 subcategory, allowing players to improve the basic abilities for these jobs.

Link: http://www.playonline.com/pcd/topics...85/detail.html

It seems to work well, there are 6 avatar bloodpacts we don't have as far as I know and there are 6 avaliable merits in that category. However, what is interesting is Square Enix's claim that meriting further a spell/bloodpact/job ability will decrease it's timer or increase it's effect. This could be interesting, or maybe not, we will have to wait and see.

~ Craig

[Neomage]

Re: New bloodpacts

Yay! Finally we get newspells/abillities... To bad that BLM isn't fun anymore...

[Feba]

Re: New bloodpacts

BLM isn't fun because you can't use a full group of BLMs to win at NMs?



Seriously, there's more to BLM than killing NMs.

[Gobo]

Re: New bloodpacts

Well I was going to power through NIN this weekend so I have it to 37 to mess around with the new stuff as RDM/NIN, but now I think I am going to just Merit in my free time lol.

Interesting that you can either gain all 6 abilities at base power or get stronger versions, but not all of them if you spend more merits on one. Guess I'll have to merit avatar Magic attack/acc too, lol.

[Ruz]

Re: New bloodpacts

I was hoping that the Prime BP would be quested...

Yay for exp grind <.< >.> not a very inventive way to introduce new things and it is kind of a let down that they used the merit system for it. Now the pacts are easy to get because anyone can go out and kill monsters it just takes time.

Yet on the other hand I am looking forward to seeing how the BP pan out, they are magical so I can see if they are MB and what strength they will have. Will it be on par with the high level BLM spells? Also from reading the POL site I am wondering what they mean by

- Accessing New Abilities
You can access Group 2 abilities by spending 1 point on the ability you wish to learn. Additional points spent on the same ability will shorten the recast time or enhance the effect (refer to the help text for each ability to learn the specific bonus).
Lowering the number of merit points in an ability to zero will cause it to disappear from your ability list.

specifically the part about lowering recast timers. Will the new abilities be seperate from our regular BP. Probably not but it would be interesting if by meriting the new abilites it decreased the BP timer as a side effect. Purely speculation so take from it what you will.

[Feba]

Re: New bloodpacts

Great.


People ask for more merits and SE adds them, then people bitch because they added it through merit points.


You people will NEVER be happy will you?

[Grizzlebeard]

Re: New bloodpacts

Feba, when did you become S-E's spokeschild?

[Feba]

Re: New bloodpacts

SE's spokeschild wouldn't bitch about their crummy programming.

[Aralays]

Re: New bloodpacts

It seems to work well, there are 6 avatar bloodpacts we don't have as far as I know and there are 6 avaliable merits in that category.

There are seven unused bloodpacts: besides the elemental single-target nukes from the celestials there is still Cacodemonis (AoE-Curse) of Diabolos.

I think the wording of SE is interesting: We have to pay 1 Merit Point to learn this new abilities and then we can increase them. But on the Picture it says 'next 3 p' ... does that mean the 6 points we pay for the prime bloodpacts are not counted to the maximum of this category and we can then either increase the power of two bloodpacts to tier2 or one bloodpact to tier3? Or is the '1 point cost' not true for summoner and we can just get 2 tier1 bloodpacts or one tier2 bloodpact?

I wonder what the higher tiers of these bloodpacts will be? Increased damage like a built-in MAB? Additional effects like lowering resistance to a certain element? Enfeeblings? Lowering of stats like Burn, Frost, etc.?

[LadyPeorth]

Re: New bloodpacts

Before we question how the new bloodpacts will work. Keep in the mind they'll probably only give us the 6 elemental level 80 Blood Pacts, and you can only have 6 merits in the group two selection.

Edit: This means it will either be "Spinning Dive/Predator Claws/Nether Blast"able (in that you enhance just the BPs that will be used most often) or the one merit per ability.

I frankly myself would like to see it be the latter...the level 80 BPs were always wonderful to watch and not being able to get them all would be down heartening.

[Ruz]

Re: New bloodpacts

Never said I wanted more merits, I dislike the system in general and always thought that new abilites should be added through quests.

Reasoning behind this:

- Adds more to the storyline of each job (I like the story of the jobs so far and it is a major reason why I play :p )
- Changes from the norm are always welcomed, do you really want to grind these merit points? I don't. I do not even want to level that often.
- I was expecting a more exciting way to gain new abilities, something inventive.

I am not mad about getting them I just wish there was a more interesting way to get them.

Anyway I think that this would be interesting,

I wonder what the higher tiers of these bloodpacts will be? Increased damage like a built-in MAB? Additional effects like lowering resistance to a certain element? Enfeeblings? Lowering of stats like Burn, Frost, etc.?

or maybe like how some avatars have additional effects like stun, and gravity (both of Ramuh's "STAVE" BP and Tail Whip.)

[zagex]

Re: New bloodpacts

I think the wording of SE is interesting: We have to pay 1 Merit Point to learn this new abilities and then we can increase them. But on the Picture it says 'next 3 p' ... does that mean the 6 points we pay for the prime bloodpacts are not counted to the maximum of this category and we can then either increase the power of two bloodpacts to tier2 or one bloodpact to tier3? Or is the '1 point cost' not true for summoner and we can just get 2 tier1 bloodpacts or one tier2 bloodpact?

Next 3p means it costs 3 merit points to merit that ability. So it's going to take 3 merit points to learn the bloodpact, then probably 6 to merit the same one again, or 3 to learn a new bloodpact.

[Neomage]

Re: New bloodpacts

BLM isn't fun because you can't use a full group of BLMs to win at NMs?



Seriously, there's more to BLM than killing NMs.

I'm not talking about manaburn. Heck, I PREFER conventional parties.

It's just... All the drama...