GEO updates

[Pawkeshup]

Here's a couple ideas I've been kicking around to make GEO a bit more relevant.

Allow the Luopon to move. Either by directed commands or by being able to cast it on someone and have it track them.

Allow the effects to go Alliance-wide. The bubbles are large but often useless animation in alliance situations, and since they can only ever put up two, why not allow it to be one that is alliance wide?

Yes, I know, rabble rabble why can't others do alliance wide. Well, because your magic isn't a massive bubble.

[Thegreatmonkey]

Allow the Luopon to move. Either by directed commands or by being able to cast it on someone and have it track them.

I dont think that is within the ability of FFXI to be able to do. At best you should just recast it to move it to another spot.

[Pawkeshup]

It is in the ability. The Luopan takes up the pet slot. As such, it can be scripted just like any pet. You can already send commands to dismiss it, to make it last longer or burn brighter. Moving it requires recasting right now, and that's an expensive move, MP-wise. Stack that onto every spell being one that requires you to go into AoE range and risk death repeatedly... The job has been wedged in. It's role was already taken by SCH. It needs a new one that is slightly better than it's current, something to make it valuable to an alliance.

[Thegreatmonkey]

I cannot tell my pet to move to the side of a mob because it would trigger less AOE moves. I would have to pos myself just right and then tell the pet to go attack. What they could do is add a command so you can recast it without using up MP, that recast would be the same Luopon with remaining time left. As for the job itself, I think they should revisit old jobs to make them valuable in an alliance again (aka THF, RDM) before they add any new jobs.

[Louispv]

GEO is damned useful in an alliance already. It's the only buffer whose buffs are usefully strong and apply to the entire alliance. (I guess steps and dia apply too, but those aren't so potent.) Lowering an enemy's evasion by 42 is the same as raising your party's accuracy by 42, same with att/def, mab/mdb, etc. A BRD can't get that much boost from 1 song unless he soul voices, and can't hit the whole alliance unless he keeps dancing between parties.

Only real problem I see with Geo is what to do after you put up two effects. SE seems to foresee them nuking between putting up auras, but nuking is pretty worthless to begin with, and leaves you with no mp to reapply auras. It ought to get either native healing skill and spells to heal between Auras, or more melee skills, abilities and gear to melee between auras, so as to apply both aura effects on the same party members/enemies, without dying/ being a leech.

But BRD and COR have the same sort of issue, so it's more of a flaw of buffing jobs.