Merit Points

In this corner of the census, we’ll be introducing the merit point data we’ve accumulated over the past year. We’ve arranged merit points by category and aim to answer the questions “What abilities are being upgraded to what level?” and “How many people are there upgrading those abilities?”
Let’s start out by taking a look at status upgrades.

Max HP
Max MP

	Upgrade 1		Upgrade 2		Upgrade 3		Upgrade 4
	Upgrade 5		Upgrade 6		Upgrade 7		Upgrade 8

As a general trend, there aren’t many items at levels 5 to 7, but there are a large percentage of items at level 8 and at levels 1 to 4. The reason for this is likely due to the maximum total number of upgrades being set at 8 where most players divide those 8 levels into 4 for HP and 4 for MP or decide to focus solely on HP or MP, either maxing out their upgrades or trying to do so.

STR
DEX
VIT
AGI
INT
MND
CHR

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

Next, we move on to attributes.
Strength is the clear winner here, followed by the popular attributes dexterity and intelligence. The reason for strength’s popularity is likely due to the significant additional damage obtained through its upgrades and the fact that it can be utilized by such a wide variety of jobs.

In addition to the extra damage added to regular weapon attacks, many players have likely chosen strength upgrades in order to increase the damage caused by most of their weapon skills.

Hand-to-hand
Dagger
Sword
Great Sword
Axe
Great Axe
Scythe
Polearm
Katana
Great Katana
Club
Staff
Bow
Gun
Throwing

Guarding
Evasion
Shield
Parrying

	Upgrade 1		Upgrade 2		Upgrade 3		Upgrade 4
	Upgrade 5		Upgrade 6		Upgrade 7		Upgrade 8

Next up are the combat skills.
When it comes to weapon skills, the different weapon upgrade choices are linked to which jobs are most popular and also to those weapons that are used by the most jobs.

For defensive skills, evasion is the single most popular upgrade. We believe that this is due to evasion being the only defensive skill shared by all jobs. Additionally, the selection of equipment that enhances evasion is wider than for any other defensive skill and players can more easily assemble a set of equipment that maximizes evasion.

Divine Magic
Healing Magic
Enhancing Magic
Enfeebling Magic
Elemental Magic
Dark Magic
Summoning Magic
Ninjutsu
Singing
Stringed Instrument
Wind Instrument
Blue Magic

	Upgrade 1		Upgrade 2		Upgrade 3		Upgrade 4
	Upgrade 5		Upgrade 6		Upgrade 7		Upgrade 8

Continuing on, we come to magic skills.
The magic skills are very much connected to the popular job rankings with the concentration of upgrades primarily focused on enfeebling magic and elemental magic. Because these two kinds of magic are closely related to resist rates and aggressive actions, they are the two most quickly upgraded magic skills for red mages and black mages who have reached level 75. At the same time, however, a bard who has reached level 75 will most likely want to upgrade wind instruments and singing, and a blue mage who has reached level 75 will want to upgrade blue magic.
To a player possessing multiple jobs, choosing which magic skill to upgrade may be an even more difficult decision than choosing a weapon skill.

Enmity Increase
Enmity Decrease
Critical hit rate
Enemy critical hit rate
Spell interruption rate

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Next, we move on to other skills.
Critical hit rate has unquestionably crushed the competition here with spell interruption rate and enemy critical hit rate coming in far behind in second and third place. The decision to increase or decrease enmity depends on the job. Players with multiple jobs will become more and more wary of permanently affecting their enmity as they level up, and that is part of the reason why there are so few players who choose the enmity-related options.

We’ve finally come to the last section, merit points spent on jobs.
There is no right or wrong way to use merit points. But, by looking at the choices senior adventurers have arrived at by trial and error, we can benefit from their wisdom. The results are really quite fascinating.
For those of you who have already reached level 75 and for those of you who are climbing towards that goal, we present this data as a reference. Enjoy!

Group 1 Maximum total number of upgrades: 10 levels Maximum per item: 5 levels Points necessary for each upgrade: 1/2/3/4/5

Group 2 Maximum total number of upgrades: 10 levels Maximum per item: 5 levels Points necessary for each upgrade: 3/4/5/5/5

[ Warrior ]

Group 1	Berserk Recast
	Defender Recast
	Warcry Recast
	Aggressor Recast
	Double Attack Rate

Group 2	Warrior's Charge
	Tomahawk
	Savagery
	Aggressive Aim

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Monk ]

Group 1	Focus Recast
	Dodge Recast
	Chakra Recast
	Counter Rate
	Kick Attack Rate

Group 2	Mantra
	Formless Strikes
	Invigorate
	Penance

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ White Mage ]

Group 1	Divine Seal Recast
	Cure Cast Time
	Bar Spell Effect
	Banish Effect
	Regen Spell Effect

Group 2	Martyr
	Devotion
	Protectra V
	Shellra V

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Black Mage ]

Group 1	Elemental Seal Recast
	Fire Magic Potency
	Ice Magic Potency
	Wind Magic Potency
	Earth Magic Potency
	Lightning Magic Potency
	Water Magic Potency

Group 2	Flare II
	Freeze II
	Tornado II
	Quake II
	Burst II
	Flood II

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

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[ Red Mage ]

Group 1	Convert Recast
	Fire Magic Accuracy
	Ice Magic Accuracy
	Wind Magic Accuracy
	Earth Magic Accuracy
	Lightning Magic Accuracy
	Water Magic Accuracy

Group 2	Dia III
	Slow II
	Paralyze II
	Phalanx II
	Bio III
	Blind II

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

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Upgrade 5

[ Thief ]

Group 1	Flee Recast
	Hide Recast
	Sneak Attack Recast
	Trick Attack Recast
	Triple Attack Rate

Group 2	Assassin's Charge
	Feint
	Aura Steal
	Ambush

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Paladin ]

Group 1	Shield Bash Recast
	Holy Circle Recast
	Sentinel Recast
	Cover Effect Length
	Rampart Recast

Group 2	Fealty
	Chivalry
	Iron Will
	Guardian

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Dark Knight ]

Group 1	Souleater Recast
	Arcane Circle Recast
	Last Resort Recast
	Last Resort Effect
	Weapon Bash Recast

Group 2	Dark Seal
	Diabolic Eye
	Muted Soul
	Desperate Blows

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Beastmaster ]

Group 1	Killer Effects
	Reward Recast
	Call Beast Recast
	Sic Recast
	Tame Recast

Group 2	Feral Howl
	Killer Instinct
	Beast Affinity
	Beast Healer

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Bard ]

Group 1	Lullaby Recast
	Finale Recast
	Minne Effect
	Minuet Effect
	Madrigal Effect

Group 2	Nightingale
	Troubadour
	Foe Sirvente
	Adventurer's Dirge

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Ranger ]

Group 1	Scavenge Recast
	Camouflage Recast
	Sharpshot Recast
	Unlimited Shot Recast
	Rapid Shot Rate

Group 2	Stealth Shot
	Flashy Shot
	Snapshot
	Recycle

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Samurai ]

Group 1	Third Eye Recast
	Warding Circle Recast
	Store TP Effect
	Meditate Recast
	Zanshin Attack Rate

Group 2	Shikikoyo
	Blade Bash
	Ikishoten
	Overwhelm

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Ninja ]

Group 1	Subtle Blow Effect
	Katon Effect
	Hyoton Effect
	Huton Effect
	Doton Effect
	Raiton Effect
	Suiton Effect

Group 2	Sange
	Ninja Tool Expertise
	Katon: San
	Hyoton: San
	Huton: San
	Doton: San
	Raiton: San
	Suiton: San

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Dragoon ]

Group 1	Ancient Circle Recast
	Jump Recast
	High Jump Recast
	Super Jump Recast
	Spirit Link Recast

Group 2	Deep Breathing
	Angon
	Empathy
	Strafe

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Summoner ]

Group 1	Avatar Physical Accuracy
	Avatar Physical Attack
	Avatar Magical Accuracy
	Avatar Magical Attack
	Elemental MP Cost

Group 2	Meteor Strike
	Heavenly Strike
	Wind Blade
	Geocrush
	Thunderstorm
	Grand Fall

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Blue Mage ]

Group 1	Chain Affinity Recast
	Burst Affinity Recast
	Monster Correlation
	Physical Potency
	Magical Accuracy

Group 2	Convergence
	Diffusion
	Enchainment
	Assimilation

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Corsair ]

Group 1	Phantom Roll Recast
	Quick Draw Recast
	Quick Draw Accuracy
	Random Deal Recast
	Bust Duration

Group 2	Snake Eye
	Fold
	Winning Streak
	Loaded Deck

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Puppetmaster ]

Group 1	Automaton Melee Skill
	Automaton Ranged Skill
	Automaton Magic Skill
	Activate Recast
	Repair Recast

Group 2	Role Reversal
	Ventriloquy
	Fine Tuning
	Optimization

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Dancer ]

Group 1	Steps Accuracy
	Haste Samba Effect
	Reverse Flourish Effect
	Building Flourish Effect

Group 2	Saber Dance
	Fan Dance
	No Foot Rise
	Closed Position

Upgrade 1

Upgrade 2

Upgrade 3

Upgrade 4

Upgrade 5

[ Scholar ]

Group 1	Grimoire Recast
	Modus Veritas Duration
	Helix Magic Acc./Atk.
	Max Sublimation

Group 2	Altruism
	Focalization
	Tranquility
	Equanimity
	Enlightenment
	Stormsurge

Upgrade 1

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