Idea to fix BLM

Give BLM Channeling abilities similar to how VIVI was able to use EN Spells on other players. Use this in conjunction with burst magic this ability can be set only to activate for characters involved in the initial Skill chain from which the burst was Created. Depending on the level and strength of the BLM this could Reach EN-3 type of levels giving it a bit more edge over RDM and Giving it a place in modern parties. Linking it to Burst means BLM wont become another buff whore, and limiting the time the resulting EN effect is active accordingly to help with balance. If you wanted the effect to be completely similar to VIVI in FF9 Then Give the Affect an Enmity bonus so blm's could select the tank as the ONLY effect recipient, and giving the BLM some extra room for a time limited onslaught until the Tanks enmity is returned to normal.

I say to just increase the damage.

as a start for fixing BLM: make it so AoE nukes don't degrade by the number of targets. That will put it close to the level BLU & BST are at for cleaving.
That way it at least is more viable for lower level content since the highest end, magic burst strats are simply too slow in a group where the enemy also gets a resistance to repeat nukes within a short window of time.
if they don't mind making BLM into a melee job, fix staff WSs to not be trash, or give BLM access to better scythes & sythe weaponskills.
Also, like Shantotto II, give BLM a stance for dealing dark elemental damage with melee swings.

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as a start for fixing BLM: make it so AoE nukes don't degrade by the number of targets. That will put it close to the level BLU & BST are at for cleaving.

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The whole reason these spells do less damage to multiple targets is so that they aren't unequivocally the best spells in all situations. Even FFXIV and other MMOs also do this with most AoEs doing less damage to additional targets- such that you need a certain number of targets before the AoE is worth using. If they made the damage flat against all targets, they'd have to lower the base damage to compensate, such that you would need more targets for the spell to be worth. But I don't think anyone wants that since people often take the tradeoff of paying more MP to get a bigger spell on a single target.

When will BLMs get Ultima? (or a use for Meteor?) :/

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

The whole reason these spells do less damage to multiple targets is so that they aren't unequivocally the best spells in all situations. Even FFXIV and other MMOs also do this with most AoEs doing less damage to additional targets- such that you need a certain number of targets before the AoE is worth using. If they made the damage flat against all targets, they'd have to lower the base damage to compensate, such that you would need more targets for the spell to be worth. But I don't think anyone wants that since people often take the tradeoff of paying more MP to get a bigger spell on a single target.

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They do to single targets roughly the same DMG as single target tier+1 nukes. stonega ~= Stone II.
They cost quite a bit more MP to cast. It's already worse. Your argument falls on its face since you didn't address why it's fine for BLU to break your argument.
Subduction, wait 3s, subduction. Short casting time, short recast, high DMG, not nerfed by hitting multiple targets.

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They do to single targets roughly the same DMG as single target tier+1 nukes. stonega ~= Stone II.
They cost quite a bit more MP to cast. It's already worse. Your argument falls on its face since you didn't address why it's fine for BLU to break your argument.

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The argument doesn't "fall flat on its face" at all.

The point you made about tiers is largely irrelevant, in no small part because using these spells gets around recast times on individual spells and the level at which you earn the AoEs is different from the corresponding single target only nukes. Those spells have no option to be used on multiple targets (which could have been a thing with /SCH but they chose to make that only apply to enfeebling spells), while AoEs do have the option to be used on a single target. But the real reason what you said is irrelevant is it has nothing to do with BLM AoEs being balanced to not be too efficient with many targets.

I would personally argue that BLU is too strong when it comes to AoE, rather than BLM being too weak. Even if there was no falloff, I'm not sure people would be choosing BLM for this, especially given other factors like black magic recast times generally being long compared to most blue magic (I'm not personally familiar with BST being used for this purpose, so I don't know what they use to cleave)- it is simply way easier for BLU to do this sort of thing compared to BLM- BLU has all kinds of magic and traits they can use when cleaving while BLM is made of paper and has nothing that lends itself to being a cleave master aside from having AoE spells. While we can cleave/aoe spam mobs the way we do with these jobs, I don't believe it was really intended to be as easy as it ended up being.

BST can do some AoE skills very frequently, like every 10s. there's quite a few AoE jug pet abilities, not sure which ones are typically used: Whirl Claws, Molting Plumage, Frenzied Rage, Stink Bomb, Fireball, Cursed Sphere, or bubble/venom shower.

I hate that before I broke down and actually made a BLU myself, it'd take me 2~3x as long to do what they do on BLM RDM SCH or GEO. (RDM & SCH sub'd either of the others)
RDM SCH & GEO at least have places where they are used fairly often. BLM gets ... Ongo. That's really all it has going for it.
Since damage is cap'd at 100k-1 there's really no reason to bring a BLM to basically anything since they deal damage too slowly to count as a DD and provide less than typical DDs do in terms of support.

Dropping the AoE nerf would at least make them a more appealing option for cleaves and possibly divergence. AoE'ing large groups of mobs on BLU is a simple way to full clear the zone. Could add in BLM for extra breakgas & sleepgas in addition to their AoE spell list.

Oh, i know. Boost Meteor's damage to deal 99,999dmg to most things (non-NM) AND remove the Elemental Seal lockout on it. with a 3 minute base recast you aren't going to spam that regardless what you try. It shouldn't break the game, but would make BLM viable at least in Divergence.