Feedback on Aetherial Manipulation.

[Riko_Futatabi]

I'll keep this relatively brief. I love that Aetherial Manipulation now has a 10 second recast, however the problem I personally have with this skill is that in a tight spot it's hard to quickly gauge which player to use this skill on if I need to zip out of an AoE. This results in me generally resorting to just running normally instead of taking a gamble, which is sometimes the case when using this skill as a reflex since you are depending on where the rest of your party is and some might not all be in safe spots.

Now I also play Dragoon and I love Elusive Jump for getting out of a tight spot and even rushing closer into range. I believe Aetherial Manipulation needs this type of freedom that Elusive Jump has. The difference I'd have would be that Aetherial Manipulation allows Black Mages to dash forward in the direction they are facing. Sort of the inverse of Elusive jump, however it would still have all the freedom of that skill.

Thanks for reading! Hope I made this clear, post any thoughts if you have them. ^^

[OgruMogru]

I understand where you're coming from in regards to the skill's usability but I think your solution could bring up it's own host of problems. Unless you want to AM to the boss you're going to have to already have stopped casting to move into position for AM. Pre-moving for your movement spell as opposed to just cycling thru party list whilst you're casting seems even more awkward tbh. AM does feel kinda clunky, and I've found occasionally on using AM, it will sometimes interrupt my next cast if I'm really spamming the button, which can be really annoying. As far as planning who you're going to AM to though, I feel that requirement of forethought to be one of the key things about BLM and strategising which member of my team I need to AM to depending on the type of mechanic I'm trying to deal with to be really rewarding. I don't really want to interrupt my cast to point in the direction i want to manip to when I could just choose a target while I'm busy casting.

[Riko_Futatabi]

I don't mind an interrupted cast if I know I'm going to reliably make it out of an AoE. And that's really what it's coming down to. I use this ability rarely due to having to switch between a party member and the boss, which you've already said can be rather clunky, at least when using keyboard/mouse. I've never used controller but it might be easier on there to rapidly switch targets, and not just any target, a target you know will be safe! This could just be a personal thing though, I definitely don't have the muscle memory built up on selecting a target and hitting Aetherial Manipulation. But that being said, I'd settle for also having enemy targets available to teleport to. Also from my personal experience, I find that when I do want to use Aetherial Manipulation it's when I'm too far out and want to get closer in.

Honestly, I just want to get the most out of this ability with it being a low recast time now. Making it a bit more of a skill that can be used as a reflex over having to plan ahead, which I feel Black Mages have to do a lot of already.

[OgruMogru]

Perhaps it might work better for you in conjunction with the new mouse scroll keybind, although I wouldn't be able to have an informed opinion on how that would feel because I do use a controller. I also pretty much always play with a premade group so I know I can rely on them more. Always having my favourite scholar 3 button presses down [up and down targeting on controller can be assigned to scroll thru party list. First two pushes down are tanks for stack mechanics, one up goes to the bard for staying out of boss cleaves] and waiting in a safe spot really makes it easier to practice getting the muscle memory because, as you said, you can't use it on enemies so therefore you can't even practice with a striking dummy x) I would argue that having a reflexive movement ability outside of using triple/swifts is kind of against the job identity which revolves heavily as you said around planning ahead. I will agree that the range is a little low and I've died plenty of times being cocky only to realise I'm out of range of an ally and died horribly, or AM'd to the OT instead of MT and taken a cleave to the face. Wouldn't complain if they decided to increase the range >.>

[MagiusNecros]

Make it work like Shukuchi or whatever the Ninja warp is.

Target macro should work just fine.

[Makrar]

I like it as it. Sure it could be better (targeted aoe like NIN would be amazing!) But it's still very useful.

I'd be up for less of an animation lock though

[Fannah]

You can also use the "mouse over" macro : it casts the skill on the target you are pointing with your mouse.
/ac Aetherial Manipulation <mo>
So it's easy to target someone you see outside of an AoE while still adapting to the situation.

(or of course as it has been said you can use a targeted macro directly, but then who to pick, maybe someone you trust in to dodge aoe + someone who is not usually that far from your lines to quickly go back in like a range dps).

[Rongway]

Mouseover is great for Aetherial Manipulation.

It's helpful to pick a target ahead of time, and rest the mouse cursor over that person's name in the party list. And if circumstances change to make that person a less desirable target, the mouse doesn't have to move far to pick someone else.

[Ceallach]

I'll keep this relatively brief.

My solution would be a mouse-over macro.

/micon "Aetherial Manipulation"
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <mo>
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <mo>
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <mo>
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <mo>

Something like that, basically. Just keep your camera zoomed out and roll your mouse over whomever you want to zip to. That way you don't have to bother with targeting a player and you can keep slinging spells at enemies.

[itti18]

I am using two macros for it , one targets the nearest pc which I use most of the time and the other one is mouse over macro when I need a specific target