Support job updates needed
I'd like to see some adjustments done to the category support jobs. In this case I'm mainly thinking of BRD, COR and SMN.
Subjobs
When most of these jobs are used as subjobs, they are extremely limited compared to many other jobs.
1. As many other mage jobs, the selection of songs/rolls/wards is restricted by level. This means that by default many of the most popular support abilities are cut off from subjobs.
2. BRD buffs are weaker due to lack of skill, COR buffs are weaker due to programmed restrictions, SMN buffs are shorter due to lack of skill.
3. BRD and COR are restricted to one instead of two songs/rolls.
If you just multiply all these restrictions, you'll notice that a /BRD is about as good as 1/8 of a BRD main. Same with COR, and SMN isn't much better. Compare this to say WAR, it is like if berserk gave 4% attack bonus as /WAR.
I think it is unreasonable that these jobs should be so terrible at subjobs, when many others are almost as their main jobs in power. A first step in the right direction would be to allow 2 songs/rolls as a subjob. (No clear way to improve SMN since it is terrible to begin with)
Costs
I think the costs of boosts and buffs from BRD, COR and SMN are very unbalanced in the current stage of FFXI.
BRD:
Duration ~2 min
MP cost 0 MP
Split songs
2 active songs limit
COR:
Duration 5 min
MP cost 0 MP
Global recast
2 active rolls limit
SMN:
Duration 0.5-3 min (extendable)
MP cost ~90 MP each
Global recast
no limit
First off, it is just silly that a SMN would be paying MP for the same abilities COR and BRD do for free. For example Earthen Armor vs Sentinel's Scherzo, or Sleepga vs Lullaby. It makes sense for Healing Ruby II and such that are cure spells unavailable to BRD and COR, but available to MP users like WHM and SCH.
I.e. BP:Ward needs to be split into BP:Heal and BP:Ward. BP:Ward being MP-free and BP:Heal costing MP per pact.
Secondly SMN pacts should have a base duration of 3 min, extendable to 5 min through skill. Abilities having 0.5 min or 1.5 min durations on a global recast system is just insane. Would COR be playable if SAM roll lasted 1.5 min? No. That is also why so many Summoners avoid wards completely in many situations and just focus on BP:Rage.
The result would of course be that a SMN can put up 5 wards, while a BRD or COR can only do 2. But you have to also pay attention to the difference of a 2xMarch + Haste combo vs a Hastega + haste combo (which doesn't stack). BRD and COR still have the better support abilities, which would counter the fact SMNs could do many less useful ones.
Randomness
BRD is very reliable. The randomness here comes mainly from resists. COR is slightly less reliable, with rolling a 1-6 value each time and aiming for specific values on rolls. You can play it safe, or bet your chances, or "cheat" with snake eyes and fold.
SMN on the other hand is severely lacking on a few wards for this. Mainly the 100% random wards, and the moon or time based pacts.
Glittering Ruby: This is completely useless, because you have no idea what it will give you, and it decays over time too fast. An improvement would be if it was either not decaying so you had +14 to a stat for minutes, or if it guaranteed a good stat per job. Like on WAR it gives STR every time, on BLM it gives INT every time. It still leaves a few tricky jobs like SMN... what to give? STR for melee? MND for cures? Because nothing works for pets.
Ecliptic Growl: Moonphase based. This just doesn't work at all. It just ends up as the whole day being either "Not worth using" or "Good". Imagine yourself if BRD or COR had real life days they just woke up to and said "Oh, today I'm incapable of using this song/roll". This needs to just be a plain "+X to all stats" that never changes.
Ecliptic Howl: Same thing.
Dream Shroud: Time based. Just plain annoying. Hey guys, lets mana burn. 18-24 and 00-06, the rest of the vanadiel day we take a break and wait for my support abilities to start working again. No. While it is awesomely funny to have something called "dream" and have it based on if it is sleepy time or not, it doesn't work in a game. (Unless we can force nights). I could accept it if it was base 10 MDB and MAB always, and then +1-5 based on time. That way it would be good always, and better at night or day. Now it is just pointless half each vanadiel day.
So in Summary, remove random elements and make them more guaranteed good. Nobody would accept BRDs march spells to give 0-10% haste dependent on if it is winter, spring, summer or autumn in game time. Nobody would accept that CORs had max re-roll caps depending on their nations conquest progress. Summoners should also not be forced to put up with randomness.
I think this would go a long way in rejuvinating support jobs as both main and subjobs. Especially Summoner, which has always been the most ignored support job in the game to such an extent I've sometimes felt like the only person considering it a support job at all. (We have half our JA's being support, why wouldn't we be a support job?) But a support job is judged by how well it works, and Summoner never "worked" for BP:Wards.