Geomancer design confusion.

[Sparthos]

this just got lot of potential it just it only been about 2-3 days since the job came out and got rushed to 99. you forgot how it was when pup,sch when it first came out. lot potential and over time it got updated. geo got lot unique things about it. as lvl 25 with cap skill. pting in Kazham having geo-regen 7/tick at the camp was useful imo. with the Indi-Poison aura. i can see this job being epic later on just like how i called out sch and pup, give it some time and you will see

And this excuse works where? There is a clear pattern in FFXI that jobs that launch poorly stay that way for years and I doubt GEO will be any different if what's coming down the pipes is true barring any surprises.

SAM launched well, always had room in the DD pissing contest even though it lacked many JAs and had an embarassing level span where the "master of skillchains" couldn't create a light skillchain. Improvements to SAM have only turned the job into the go-to source of envy for the base as SE has piled improvement upon improvement to the class.

NIN started out without a purpose but with the tools given was morphed from a pulling type THF variant into a full blown DD / tank. Tools like Blade: Jin, SEs underestimation of how widespread blinks would be applied and Dual Wield being able to bring delay down to impressive levels set NIN ahead of the pack.

DRG started off with a crippling 2hr issue and an inability to keep up with the other DD relegating it to the lolDRG status it had for years. Even with numerous improvements DRG still cannot shake the inadequacy complex that surrounds the job barring the Mythic which seems to turn peoples legs into jelly.

BLU launched well, improved over time and got huge improvements from Abyssea onward. Though spells lacked on high level targets BLU came out of the gate with potent spells like Actinic Burst, Disseverment, Head Butt, Cannonball, Vertical Cleave and Regurgitation - spells that all do unique things.

COR had viability from launch and improvements only cemented the job as competition for BRD as the DD variant to the support oriented BRD. JP have disagreed since time immemorial on the DD applications of Corsair but what do they know? A Quick Quick Draw change to Light/Dark shot to Sleep/Dispel was useful too.

PUP is PUP. Horrible job, stayed horrible for years and only recently (Abyssea onward) got the attention it needed. C h2h, 20mins on your jobs calling card and a mess of AI issues relegated PUP to the fecal matter of Vana'diels job list.

SCH launched with issues and has been plagued with them ever since. Even with the quick Addenda improvements the job has always had issues being different from WHM, RDM, and BLM. In recent years as RDM has slipped, SCH has taken its place as the 3rd mage in the trinity however this was more due to Embrava which as we see was quickly shut down. SCH was always designed as a subjob and on that front it changed things but SCH main? Issues.

DNC? Quickly relegated to the solo circuit even with the impressive Haste Samba at its disposal. Though the potential DD possibilities of the job have been demonstrated over the years because of the weak launch and relative inflexibility of the healing Waltzes, the job has been carted off to the side for jobs that can heal quicker, without huge TP costs without needing to engage.

GEO not being viable from the launch sets it on the path of PUP barring any major errors in observation which does not speak well for where this job will be nevermind 6months down the road but years from now.

[Alhanelem]

PUPs road to being decent was a lot more gradual than you let on, but otherwise its mostly accurate. PUP is thoroughly viable now but in a manner similar to DRG will probably never fully recover from its stigma.

I think GEO is probably being sold a little short, but nobody really wants to be the guinea pig- the total cost for all the scrolls from the vendors is over 8 mil and you'll probably only use a handful of them.

[leorez]

PUPs road to being decent was a lot more gradual than you let on, but otherwise its mostly accurate. PUP is thoroughly viable now but in a manner similar to DRG will probably never fully recover from its stigma.

I think GEO is probably being sold a little short, but nobody really wants to be the guinea pig- the total cost for all the scrolls from the vendors is over 8 mil and you'll probably only use a handful of them.

after seeing those NPC spell number i got a shiver down my spine. After all these years do they not yet get that they should be at least mildly affordable. Not everyone is walking around with double digit mils in their pockets.

[Sparthos]

PUPs road to being decent was a lot more gradual than you let on, but otherwise its mostly accurate. PUP is thoroughly viable now but in a manner similar to DRG will probably never fully recover from its stigma.

Road to being decent? Having leveled PUP in the thick of that nightmare, the improvements to PUP didn't come for a long time after its launch. Sure, there were attachments that improved PUPs viability... at EXP level content but SE was sure to put that behind The Ashu Talif - an extremely obscure BCNM that few people ran. The crippling H2H issues were fixed a bit by being given Stringing Pummel but there was a long time where the best PUP could do is Dragon Kick or more importantly the improved Howling Fist but PUP still boasted mage-level combat skills in an era where even A+ DD wouldbe calling upon sushi depending on scenario.

Dynamis brought better AF equipment but still most of it was situational and in no way near as useful as what BLU or COR was getting. BLU started off on Homam, a fantastic melee set for its day on day 1 and quickly found itself on numerous leather sets while also straddling mage gear. What did PUP get? Usukane at the peak of its rarity and Pahluhan gear which was expensive and required mastery of Assault missions to amass enough points to purchase it. PUPs AH DD gear choices were horrible, the backpiece issues still bother me to this day (no Amemet+1 for you!) and overall you had to put so much effort into PUP to make it workable.

That doesn't even get to the rage inducing feeling when you call your Automaton, an Imp decides to amnesia you then unleash AOE attacks on your pet killing it and having you waiting on a 20min timer. Thanks SE, I always wanted to play Puppetmaster without an automaton 90% of the time because the thing falls over in a light breeze.

Now Abyssea fixed alot of these issues with massive improvements to gear selection, the rightful combat skill improvements adjustment, deus ex machina, the increase to skill gain for PUP, haste gear, better oils, the maintenance JA, weapons equal to MNK, better weaponskills for the automaton and the crucial AI adjustments but that was YEARS after the job launched and even today PUP is still relegated to the sidelines because the puppet is weak, still dies too fast, JA delay hobbles the master and what is brought to the table can be done better by others.

I stand by statement that PUP flailed around in its own feces for a long time only to get radical adjustments in the Abyssean era. Almost everything attributed to "todays PUP" is a result of the 75-99 circuit.

[Luvbunny]

Totally agree with what you said. Sadly this new turns of events and ideas are just plain terrible. I think they ran out of ideas, and instead of improving the original 20 jobs - they decided to create 2 new hybrid jobs that could have been an improved version of RDM, and spread the Geo spells to SCH, BRD and COR. It's safe to say that after seeing how disappointing the new expansion is, we can all take a year or two break until all adjustments have been made and we get a good amount of missions to complete. Already canceled my subscription, enjoy the game for the rest of you

[MarkovChain]

You are completely right on PUP. It's not the only job that failed though. COR is pretty baddly ranked because you never think of bringing it prior to considering DD1 DD2 WHM BRD THF. Some job have been used because of their 2H and not for their existence as such. COR was overely abused to reset 2H (level 5! smn burn, ADL, nyzul..), SMN exclusively used for PD, SCH (nearly) exclusively used for embrava... then nerfed lol, and so on. I forgot DNC, I have no idea why you would bring one in any event unless maybe you didn't find a mnk or a war to do the job.

Also I have serious doubt about RUN to be any good, because the idea of magic tank sounds bad even before it was introduced a few days ago. They already indirectly admitted that PLD would take less damage anyway, so why bother again ? If anything the ratio formulas change is making PLD twice better than RUN. Why should we use jobs that suck again ?

[Hashmalum]

If Geomancer is to buff front line jobs by standing near them, it needs some enhanced survivability compared to most mage jobs. A job trait that would reduce damage from AoE attacks would seem fitting--area damage is GEO's "thing", it would help when buffing front line jobs, but wouldn't allow GEO to tank.

[Kaisha]

SCH launched with issues and has been plagued with them ever since. Even with the quick Addenda improvements the job has always had issues being different from WHM, RDM, and BLM.

A year in from SCH's release, the job was better than BLM in pretty much every situation that didn't need GA3 nukes.

Granted, as soon as Abyssea came out and gave BLM some insane nuking power along with a free 25% FastCast on nukes at 90, things changed.

[JouriStarz]

I don't get why people think they should be able to cast more than two buffs, Cor and Brd both only are allowed two unless there's more than one in the party which is the same for Geo anyway.

[Sparthos]

I don't get why people think they should be able to cast more than two buffs, Cor and Brd both only are allowed two unless there's more than one in the party which is the same for Geo anyway.

Corsair can put up 4 buffs (2 rolls on backline, 2 rolls on frontline), Corsair can now maintain at least 2 XI rolls thanks to adjustments, BRD can put up as many buffs as Pianissimo can allow and fulltime 3 songs with a 90 emp or 4 songs with a 99.