December Update - Dancer!

Big update today! Big news for Dancer with category 2 merits, AF2 & AF+1! Plus SE threw in a few more toys for Dancers in there :)

So, reading through update info, here's my first thoughts before trying anything.

Category 2 Merits
If category 1 wasn't hard enough to choose, this time around SE really did a number on Dancer. On the surface, it looks like every item is worth meriting. However, I realy do wonder what SE is thinking with these merits. From 1-74, Dancer is designed to be a front line healer, doing some damage while being able to do the majority of the healing. Suddenly, you get two meritable abilities that... focus Dancer into doing more damage, or even tanking?!

Anyway, quick look at the merits
Saber Dance
- High Double Attack Rate, but no Waltzes.
- Recast: 5 minutes, Duration: 5 minutes.
- Effect gradually decreases
- Additional merits shortern recast time by 30 seconds
At first glance, this appears to be the "let Dancers go merit" ability. Double Attack only applies to the Dancer, and this is not a Samba. However, I'm seeing this a little differently. DA = more TP, so putting this up at the beginning of a fight, or whenever you're low on TP should mean that a Dancer can build up a ton of TP really quickly. The duration is as long as the initial recast, and further merits are supposed to bring it down, so this is clearly a "click off" once you need to use Waltzes. I'm figuring this is SE's way to compensate for the maximum TP being 300%. With this, Dancers can get TP faster, and WS if they want to and be confident of getting TP back quickly.

Fan Dance
- Reduces physical damage, increases enmity, but no Sambas
- Same recast & duration again
- Effect gradually decreases with each hit taken
- Additional merits shortern recast time by 30 seconds
This is a really weird one... It's effectively saying that Dancers... are supposed to be tanks at endgame? The AF2 Hands also have +enmity on them, which is a change from the -enmity on AF. I'd have to experiment to see how much enmity increases, and how effective the damage reduction is. I already get enough hate with all my -enmity gear, so this makes this ability quite strange... Can it really be used to turn Dancer into a real tank? We get high enough evasion, have evasion gear, plus we have a form of Provoke... if necessary, we can sub NIN, and if we don't take hits with /NIN, does this mean that we'll be able to hold hate? Plus even if shadows go down, we do have decreased physical damage...

No Foot Rise
- Grants Finishing Moves for standing still!
- I think it's a 3 minute recast...
- Each additional merit increases the number of Finishing Moves granted
Initial thought was... gain TP without doing anything, basically a Mediate for Dancers. After thinking about it some more, I realized that this actually can be much more powerful! Most Dancers... well, ok, GOOD Dancers would typically use Reverse Flourish every two steps. This is the most efficient as it does not waste any Finishing Moves, and it lets you use Reverse Flourish every time the timer is up. However, this means that you won't be using Finishing Moves for your other Flourishes... Violent Flourish, Animated Flourish, etc. No Foot Rise *should* allow a Dancer branch out a little more without having to worry about running out of TP!

Closed Position
- Accuracy & Evasion bonus being face-to-face with the enemy
This seems to be the solo merit ability. We have high evasion, good accuracy, so this really pushes it up. Fully merited, it's basically a Scorpion Harness +1. As for group events... well, most of the time mobs are spinning around, or you can't always be at the front... so it's of limited use.

So... what does this mean for merits? At the very least, I'm going to unlock Saber Dance, Fan Dance and No Foot Rise. I'll probably put at least 2 merits into NFR since 2 Finishing Moves are required to use most Flourishes including Wild Flourish & Animated Flourish. After that, I'm not sure... It would have to depend on whether the recast timers on the two Dances are reasonable as is, or if I feel they need to be merited down further. It's possible I'll end up fully meriting Closed Position or NFR

Dancer AF+1
Dancer AF is already a macro piece for the "enhances effectiveness/duration". Unless the +1 version actually increases this effectiveness, there isn't really a reason to upgrade any piece. Even the body +1 has the same "Waltz potency +10%" as the regular AF. The only piece that may be of interest is the Dancer's Tights +1, which gives Accuracy+5 and could replace Cobra Unit Subligar's Accuracy+4.

Dancer AF2
Dancer AF2 is... incredible >.< Almost every piece is useful or significantly better than any alternative piece of equipment. I'll list the key characteristics and why they're important

Etoile Cape: Accuracy +5, Evasion +5, Chr+5, Dex+5
- No other cape has as high accuracy, evasion, or chr or dex bonuses!
Etoile Tiara: Waltz Potency +5%
- Together with the regular AF body, that's +15% total!
Etoile Shoes: Increases Step Accuracy, Accuracy +3
- Additional macro piece to land steps. Combine this with the AF hands for even more step accuracy!
Etoile Tights: Increase Jig duration, Haste+3%
- Hopefully Jig duration stacks with AF Boots. This is also the only other leg piece that has Haste on it! Maybe I don't have to do Ashu Talif after all
Etoile Casaque: Accuracy +10, Attack+12, Dex+4, Enhances Violent Flourish Effect
- Soooooooo... Scorpion Harness++? Added stun effectiveness is good too!
Etoile Bangles: Evasion+5, Attack+5, Enmity+2
- This is the only piece I'm scratching my head over... Evasion+5 and Enmity+2 would be good for use during Fan Dance I guess?

Overall, this is muuuuuuuuch better than any other equipment for Dancer. I waaaaant~