[Poruku]

Please guys, stop building 42 aptitude. I'm going to quickly break down the math.

36 aptitude is obviously the minimum that is reasonable. 6 points for 10 stats. Great.

42 scaled aptitude requires you to go up to 43.
7 points for 10 stats is a good deal.

48 aptitude requires... 50 points.
That's another 7 more points for 10 stats.

So why do so many people seem to be building 42 aptitude?... I don't understand, you're just sitting at a middle ground for no reason!

Now that being said, I'm gonna enter into my second point: 48 Scaled APT is (almost) always worth it!!!

Point 1: Experience Bonus!
In the vast majority of cases, if you're playing the game, you want experience. It just so happens that APT gives 1% experience bonus per point. That's 12% more with 48 than 36.

Unless you're some kind of sweaty pvp player, I don't see how this could be seen as worthwhile to drop. Why would you deprive yourself of experience in a game where most of the gameplay is about getting xp and then going back to level 1 and doing it again?... If you have a full LE book, then sure. Disregard this. But most people aren't that.

Point 2: Most people actually want 7+ stats
The main argument against 48 APT is that "my build only needs 6 stats". But in many cases, you actually do want more. Here are the situations I'm talking about:

- you want to hit a SAN threshold for elemental resists (and the hp/fp is nice) or it's useful for racials (kaelensia get better blind resist, etc)
- you want to hit a guile threshold for skill pool
- you want to hit a WIL threshold for skill pool (and the fp is nice)
- you could use a bit of extra strength for BW as a mage, etc, thus saving you a talent point

And sometimes, people actually have 7+ stats they want, and STILL don't go for 48 apt... I mean come on. Why?? If you're non-evade, there's a pretty high chance you actually want 7 stats. str/def/res/vit/ski/luc/gui users I'm looking at you.

Point 3: "Useless" stats add up when you get 4 for 1
Here we reach the crux of the debate. Many people, when looking at the stats screen, only think they want specific stats, and don't care about useless stats. But here are the bonuses you get for each stats even when they are not a core part of your build:

- STR: battle weight
- WIL: FP and elemental atk, as well as skill pool size
- CEL: Actually useless
- DEF/RES: If you're a dodge build and you scoff at 0.9% damage reduction across the board, that's just being silly. You really think going from 7% DR to 9% doesn't matter? Come on! 2% more effective hp is obviously useful to you.
- FAI: Crit evade is always useful. You also get FP and Status Res, the latter of which is fairly useless.
- LUC: Crit evade
- GUI: you can go for a skill pool slot. Many races can benefit from reaching for that 10 guile, or sometimes 15.
- SAN: A bit of FP/HP, Status Res, and elemental resistances. The status res, combined with faith, gives you 6% more SR. When facing non-will status inflictors, they routinely have about 120 at best. And you can get like 26. That's a chance to avoid a status. Sounds insane until it happens.

Now you might look at these and say "big whoop, I don't need it". But keep in mind... It costs you A SINGLE POINT to get ALL OF THEM. These may be small, but they add up. They make you a more well-rounded build. 2 CE, 6% SR, 4 hp, 16 fp. All for 2 points? Please think about it.

Not to mention crit chance, ele atk from each stat, and other situational bonuses might be useful to your build.

Conclusion

48 scaled aptitude is the safe choice for every single build. There are cases where 36 is fine, like when you really wanna pump CEL/SKI/WIL on something specific, but that's only going to be a good move if you're finished with grinding altogether. But in the vast majority of cases, 48 scaled APT will serve you much better, and it makes it a no-brainer to start off your char the right way every time.

Going 36 is a risky move, and it sucks for grind. 48 is always good, it's reliable, it's well-rounded. It just makes sense.

Thanks