BST Merits and You

There comes a time when one must decide which BST merits are worthwhile and how those merits should be allocated. Ideally, there are two types of BSTs at level 75: the melee and non-melee BSTs. As such, I have recommended merits for both types below:

Legend:
Red - Do not invest in this merit.
Yellow - This merit might be worthwhile.
Green - Definitely invest in this merit.

[Group 1]

Killer Effects [Melee/Non-melee]
This merit increases the activation rate of all "Killer Effects" by 1% per upgrade. I only recommend this trait for non-melee BSTs because melee BSTs should be using "Snarl" frequently.

Reward Recast [Melee/Non-melee]
This merit is recommended for both types but for different reasons. For non-melee BSTs, healing your pet can be very important, but for melee BSTs, there does not seem to be much else worth getting.

Call Beast Recast [Melee/Non-melee]
A useful merit that shaves almost a minute off your "Call Beast" recast when fully merited. Recommended for both types.

Sic Recast [Melee/Non-melee]
Only useful if you like using pet moves more often. Even with jug pets, I find that most pet moves tend to be unimpressive in general.

Tame Recast [Melee/Non-melee]
The only merit that I do not recommend for both types given that "Tame" has a base recast of ten minutes; invest your points elsewhere.

[Group 2]

Feral Howl [Melee/Non-melee]
A somewhat useful skill if it lands, but it tends to work poorly for anything EM and above. It can also serve as a secondary claiming tool if you have a jug pet out.

Killer Instinct [Melee/Non-melee]
This skill has been tuned up a notch with the March 2010 update, but it remains useless on some mobs given the current jug pet selection. In addition, it only lasts one minute per use.

Beast Affinity [Melee/Non-melee]
Only useful if your favorite jug pet(s) is/are capped at your current level.

Beast Healer [Melee/Non-melee]
If your letting your pet do all the work, get this and your "Reward" merits to the cap. For melee BSTs, choose this merit if nothing else interests you.

Updated: September 16, 2011

Scrapbook Collection, Page 2

Since I have not done much for my BST lately, I decided to hunt down a Herder's Subligar for testing purposes. Initially, I started slaying monsters on BST, but after some time, I thought of a more efficient way of dispatching my foes: AoE Weapon Skills.















And what better job for AoE WSs than DRK? By rounding up ten to thirty monsters at a time, I could decimate the entire mob via "Shockwave," a Weapon Skill that induces AoE "Sleep" around its target.

Most of the time, the critters dropped blue caskets, so I used them to recover my HP, MP, and/or TP between waves.






As for brown caskets (these drop the Herder's Subligar), I had a decent shot at opening them most of the time, but sometimes, I got unlucky with the number of available hints. In total, it took me some six hours worth of brown caskets before I finally found my Herder's Subligar.

Unfortunately, the trousers share the same model as a Bone Subligar, but look forward to testing on the Accuracy effect in a future post.










I have also been Fishing in the Quicksand Caves lately, and occasionally, I will manage to pick up an Antican Tag on route to my Fishing spot. The tag is used to pop the NM above, and upon its defeat, it has a chance of dropping a Tungi and some random ores. Since I already own a Tungi, I was mainly after spare change.















I also hunted Bright-handed Kunberry just after the big update last month, and overall, I ended up going 1/2 for the cape. Usually, I can avoid fighting the NM's Tonberry friends by using a pet pull, but I have also fought the NM and links simultaneously before.















While on route to a Fishing spot in the Sea Serpent Grotto, I spotted both Wuur the Sandcomber and Masan on my "Widescan" list. Initially, I was only after a few Grimmonites for Fishing GP, but I decided to take a detour and slay the NMs first. Gil is gil after all, right?















Next on the list is Campaign. After stumbling into Jagidbod's Warmachine, I attempted to flee from the NM, but instead, I soon found myself pincered between Jagidbod and an Orcish Strongarm. Not surprisingly, I ended up dead moments later.















After receiving a "Raise" from a passing WHM, I immediately retaliated by attacking the nearby Belfry. Although Belfries summon periodic reinforcements on their assailants, I decided to abuse some pet mechanics to bypass this defense.

Moreover, by attacking the Belfry with local pets, I could pacify a reinforcement that attacked my pet by using "Release," and by doing so, the reinforcement would then attack the nearby outpost. Afterward, I could assault the Belfry again by reacquiring my pet, and by repeating the process several times, I demolished half a Belfry before my Campaign battle ended.















I have also been Fishing in the WotG areas, and to summarize the experience, it is really, really bad. Not only do most fish have notorious bite rates, but they can also snap your line (or rod) frequently. Even with an Ebisu Fishing Rod, I only managed to catch the fish above after receiving no less than two dozen line snaps.















I only shudder at how a Lu Shang's would fare. If I am correct, these fish will serve some purpose with Zaldon after the next update, and I pray that the corresponding items are worth the difficulty.















To add insult to injury, these fish are only worth slightly more than their older counterparts, which makes them otherwise useless for now. As such, I will be funding my Guttler via older fish until the new ones are fixed price-wise.