Best way to distribute merc skill points?

[olmec]

I just turned lvl 20 and am completely new to this game. Already, I have some misgivings about dumping skill points into certain skills for my low-level mercs.

Can someone let me know which skills for certain mercs are worth points, and how much? How do YOU split the 60 points a merc has? If I have 2-3 of the same merc, is it better to have them all specialized in the same skill, or different?

Aside from my new viking, who'll get nothing but freeze axe books, I'd like to know peoples ideas/opinions on how they spread their skills among their mercs.:malehero:

[Flexor]

its the best to focus on 2 skills for now,since the caps is lvl 100 which i believe,so its 100 skills points for u,about the potential points which is 30(i duno how to raise) but every character gets 30 potential skill points which can be converted into usable skill points by eating some sort of potion to pump ur skills,so thats 130 skill points for u.

Most skills are caps at 60 while some others like guard dispel is at 40,so plan wisely before u put ur skill points,skill reset books is 300k each,not cheap.

While some skills are very efficient at lvl 1 already,and increment sux,like monk's holy guard and exo's speedcast,witch's mana recharge,for viking he has another skill called deadly strike which eats many ap but deals heavy dmg to a single target,pretty good to finish off a red merc,you wun get to see it at ur lvl but u can try getting it through market ,i believe BEG books are quite cheap for this skill

[twixter]

if u have 2-3 same mercs is better when they have diffrent skills but books for diffrent skills are really expensive

[SparkGun]

I just choose the skill that seems most helpful, like a mon's awakening(to remove combos) and holy guard to get rid of status effects.

[A13x]

My Monk got 3 Skills - Awakening at lvl 11 (at 11 it removes -2 combo) holy guard at lvl 1 (may raise it later, dont know if guard dispel then fails often) and 20 in Protect right now.

[Arietta]

i was stupid and threw in a few points on my shaman for hex of darkness cause i thought "oooo I can do damage instead of healing!". Yeah. right...

[meloku2]

My Monk got 3 Skills - Awakening at lvl 11 (at 11 it removes -2 combo) holy guard at lvl 1 (may raise it later, dont know if guard dispel then fails often) and 20 in Protect right now.

chill on the protect it drains too much mana. Max Awakening best monk skill. HG u don't really need that many points since lvl 20 Guard dispel can remove lvl 40 HG (maybe more havn't test it yet) so keep HG low.

[tehngion]

Well, I suppose it all depends. Flame sword, lightning spear, wild shot, and blessing of life are all very good choices, so early on you won't have to worry too much about skill points for your mercenaries.

You do get more than 60 points, as was said before; 1 point per level a merc has, and 30 additional points for converting skill potential into skill points. Problem is, as far as I'm aware, the only reliable way of getting the potions for converting skill potential into skill points is completing the cannoneer quest, and that only gives one potion each time you complete it, so I'd say realistically you'll have 100 skill points to work with through the life of a mercenary.

If you have a monk at this point, you do have to make some choices about what skills you'd prefer. Personally, I opted to use one of my skill decrease books on my monk so I could teach him shield of protection instead of protect. While it doesn't give as much defense as protect does, it's cast every time your mercenary is hit AND at the beginning of your turn, resulting basically in your monk's MP being converted to your main's HP. I'm only level 45, myself, but so far the spell has been a godsend; I've got my staff main in the front row tanking away. (I probably won't be able to keep that up for too much longer, but hey, I'll milk it while it lasts.)

Without question, you'll want holy guard and awakening at least at level 1, if you've got a monk. Awakening is ridiculously useful at keeping your front line un-stunned and IIRC holy guard gets rid of all status ailments.

Personally, my mercs are set up like this:
Staff main (Blessing of life level 30-something, brutal will 10, evanescent scud 1)
Swordsman (Flame sword 40-something)
Spearman (Lightning spear 40-something)
Archer (Silence 40)
Gunner (Wild shot 40)
Artilleryman (Deep insight 40, Deadly shot 1)
Monk (Shield of protection 40, awakening 1, holy guard 1)

note: My main's skills are messed up. As soon as I can I'm going to get my hands on some more skill decrease books and fix it up a bit.

[kaiser99]

Aww, same here...
I got 6 breakdown and 1 fatal strike on my sword main....
Intend to max out flamesword, and breakdown at 1st, but people was saying how *not very good* it is.... i regreted... The only time i use breakdown is to combo wwith my cannon main fren.... DESTRUCTIVE WIND~~

[Kiena]

Problem is, as far as I'm aware, the only reliable way of getting the potions for converting skill potential into skill points is completing the cannoneer quest, and that only gives one potion each time you complete it, so I'd say realistically you'll have 100 skill points to work with through the life of a mercenary.

You get five potions per quest completion, not one. :)

As for me, I actually like breakdown. And level 60 breakdown + level 60 chaos wind = the most KICKASS destructive wind ever. :P

[tehngion]

See, if I knew two people who were going for the main-exclusive skills, I'd totally go for evanescent scud. I want to see a full 60/60/60 Bursting Beam in action :P

Also, whoops, my bad. Five potions, then, though all things considered it's still ridiculous that that's the only way to get 'em.

[Flexor]

See, if I knew two people who were going for the main-exclusive skills, I'd totally go for evanescent scud. I want to see a full 60/60/60 Bursting Beam in action :P

Also, whoops, my bad. Five potions, then, though all things considered it's still ridiculous that that's the only way to get 'em.

i wonder anybody did a 60 on scud...i wanna noe how effective it is alone

[olmec]

Thanks for all the great info, especially monks. I didn't know I could replace protect with SoP, I just assumed the monk ALWAYS cast protect, and then from then on can cast other spells. If I remove protect, he'll autocast SoP instead....hmmmm.

I have an axe main, and I do want to max awakening, which is better for an axe main that likes to hang out in the front row, auto protect, or auto SoP?:mnk:

[ziv]

Do vials of skill potential use up just skill potential, or do they use up skill potential and a bonus point?

[Kiena]

Do vials of skill potential use up just skill potential, or do they use up skill potential and a bonus point?

They *just* use skill potential. Don't know how the bonus point rumor got started, but it's not true.

[MiaFLSurf]

Ive already ruined my monk... put like 10 points in Protect.... ugh.

[AtsushiHayami]

heres my suggestion research each skill and see its effects,test it if you have to and then decide which one of them is the most useful of them all to have around