DNC Merits

I've heard so many conflicting opinions (and the reasons behind them) on what job specific merits to choose for DNC, so I thought I'd start a discussion thread here. Which ones did you select and why? :)

5/5 haste samba, 5/5 reverse flourish, for TP and haste, of course.

1 saber dance, 1 fan dance, 3 no foot rise, 5 closed position (though this may change).

1 on each of the dances cause nice to have, 3 no foot for TP. I would do 5, but w/ recast on reverse flourish, only able to benefit from all 5 finishing moves when idle. Closed position is nice, but to anything w/ multiple DDs, will be hard to face mob from the front.

What Tiger said. I personally did 5 NFR, 3 Closed position only because when I'm doing endgame DNC things, I can't be in front of the mob because of cone attacks. You only benefit from NFR idle, or if you whiff a step (Happens like 5% of the time, it still saves lives)

Group 2 is really personal preference, group 1 stuff is what he says, anything else is kinda stupid.

Edit: The why for group 1. Step accuracy is stupid, you shouldn't be whiffing steps unless it's 5% ruled (there's tons of gear to macro in). Building flourish..... well.... you're not going to be using it ever. Haste is amazing (obviously?) and better RF returns save lives.

Also, Ninian is the master dancer, so any advice she could offer you would be much better than myself.

Haste Samba(5/5): I decided to max this out mainly as something to benefit the party but also enjoy using it during soloing.
Reverse Flourish Effect(5/5):I treat my dancer job as a DD that specializes in weaponskill/self skill chain damage. The 15tp allows me to weaponskill+one round of attacks+reverse flourish=100tp~
Saber Dance(1/5): Was really excited when this ability first came out considering the amount of double attack it gives.I seldom use this ability now.It still has its uses such as WS or SC as well as farmin for me.
Fan Dance(1/5): By far the easiest decision for me to make as far as dancer merits in general.I solo alot and the added damage reduction helps against tougher enemies such as charby who rip through shadows like paper.I'd definately consider more merits in the ability probably allocating the merits i put in closed position into this.
No Foot Rise(5/5): My FAVORITE dancer ability.IMO any dancer is considered gimp without this ability, its just that helpful.It helps dancers main heal merit parties,solo skillchain more frequently,and maintain a decent amount of tp in case an ability removes tp(directly or indirectly).
Closed Position(3/5): Again, i solo a lot so the added evasion was really the only reason for me to upgrade this trait with my remaining points.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. I've yet to determine if my DNC will be allowed in any end game activities... It's highly unlikely since I also have RDM, BRD, BLM and THF but a girl can always hope! Heh! I guess the logical route would be to focus on Group 1 merits (and perhaps NFR) till I have a better idea.

Cheers! :)

If you want to use DNC endgame, join a decent shell. DNCs that are properly geared/meritted are much rarer than RDM BRD BLM TH4.. my shell has 3 appropriate DNCs and 10-12 each of the others out of 20ish active members. Proper dynamis and einherjar melee parties should always include a DNC, though they're not very practical at other events.

Get me in ur shell bro

I don't like closed position because of conal attacks/mob moving 24/7 and NFR at 5/5 is AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

I am playing my fiances dnc more than she is, and I had a few questions of which way to go. NFR is obvious. The down side to curing walze is the cool down for it now. Especially after a IV or V cure. Her eva is so bad I'm afriad to get .fan Dance due to the emnity since we duo a lot. I guess over time it will cap and all is well.

So until then I'm thinking of Saber Dance onry until she can evade more.

<rage> The timer on waltzes are rediculous!</rage>

You should at least have 1 Fan Dance for emergencies regardless. Also not seeing what Saber Dance has to do with evading more. You can buy her shitty evasion gear for one, and two if you don't want her pulling hate Saber Dance will make her pull hate... D:

And yes, Waltz timers suck. Use III unless Saber Dancing.

I did:
1 Fan Dance, 5 Saber Dance, 2 No Foot Rise, 2 Closed Position

and I have no complaints.

When it comes right down to it, merits are an accidental byproduct of doing anything in Abyssea these days. I spent 17 merits just to speed up my Waltz potency testing. Just mess around and see what works best for you.

It really only takes a quick run to cap evasion, especially for a dnc. just pull 5-10 mandies at once and tank them for massive evasion skillups. Regen atmas will help a bunch if you have them, or use regain atmas and spam waltz to stay alive. Bonus if you can get a rdm to Phalanx you.

Well saber dance doesn't have the +15 emnity like fan dance has, so I was speculating she wouldn't have hate as much. But maybe just enough to get some evasion skill ups whenver she gets it. and thanks for suggesting waltz 3 instead. Was dying waaay to much waiting on timer.

Group 1: 5/5 Building Flourish & Reverse Flourish
I use to have 5/5 Haste Samba but after toying with Building Flourish I tried 5/5 Building Flourish. I know some dancers won't agree but DNC is one of those jobs that you merit based on how you play. There is no right or wrong way to merit DNC. Plus I have no problem keeping up steps for all my flourishes. Now dont get me wrong I love hasteing myself but for the things I do the mob dies to fast to worry about Haste Samba being 5/5. Plus Saber Dance + Drain Samba works wonders sometimes.

Group 2: 1/5 Saber Dance 4/5 Fan Dance 5/5 NFR
For group 2 I choose 4/5 Fan Dance because "for me" the lower timer helps when you use it alot. Closed Postion was merited at one point but the factor is I'm not in front of the mob all the time. NFR is great for when I miss a step (happens rarely especially if I use Presto 1st) or standing idle.

So in short for me I picked Building/Reverse over haste samba for skillchaining plus by having Fan Dance merited down for obvious reasons it cuts off sambas anyway so an extra 5% haste doesnt bother me specially with an occ. att. dagger. Again, it all depends on what you are fighting and how you play your DNC. Just an opinion.

Shouldn't really matter, she'll probably cap hate either way. She does need to skill up though, badly. D:

I did 5/5 Fan Dance, 3/5 Saber and 2/5 Closed. I don't understand why people think NFR is a no braither tho, with Presto there's usually a surplus of Finishing Moves anyways.

And another great way to cap Evasion is to go to the Chigoes in Attowha and aggro around 5 and have a whm cure bomb you. They attack a lot faster than mandys so be prepared, but on the upside you gain skill ups fater :P

I did a fair share of DNC tanking before I changed servers and you do not need closed position.

I did fan dance 4/5 and saber dance 1/5 and 5/5 NFR. 5/5 in haste samba and 5/5 in reverse flourish(with DNC af3 +2 hands you get 100 tp back ... wut).

DNC tanking is much different than DNC solo and DNC dd. Being a hybrid job you'll need access to those components with your merits.

Group 1 is the standard 5/5 Haste Samba/Reverse Flourish.

Nice thing about Group 2 is you really can be flexible w/it.
I solo/tank a lot of stuff and have enjoyed what I have. If I wind up too eva heavy I can always drop and shuffle but haven't felt a need.

Group 2
0/5 Saber Dance (never really used it and hate being cut off from cures)
4/5 Fan Dance (not so much for the getting hit that much as it's annoying to be 5 min. off and it's been dispelled on an iffy mob)
2/5 No Foot Rise (see someones above comment about Presto. w/Presto and proper stepping having the right amount of steps should never be an issue)
4/5 Closed Position (cause if i'm tanking/soloing spare acc/eva is kinda nice. if i ever shuffle merits it'll be from here to Saber maybe for pure DD situations)

YMMV

I personally 5/5'd Fan Dance, by far my favorite job specific ability. Technically, I don't think you'd really ever actually "need" Saber Dance, but i put a merit into it because its just so damn fun! I see no harm going 5/5 Haste, 5/5 Reverse, 5/5 Fan Dance, 5/5 NFR, clean and simple.

EDIT: I dont like Fan Dance because I get hit alot, but because its awesome for when you do get hit, its like 15 damage. xD

I did 5/5 Haste samba and RF.
For Group 2 it was a bit hard for me, but decided 1/5 Saber, 4/5 Fan Dance and 5/5 NFR.

I was debating changing some of NFR into Closed position. But I think for the off situations where the mob lives more than a couple seconds and has 5/5 Defense down and Feather step it's kinda of frustrating getting 1/2 flourishes a step. Or if my step decides to whiff at a critical moment. :\ So in those situations it's nice. Sure Closed Position would be nice too, but eh, not too much of a game breaker for me.