Avatar Favor adjustments, please?

[Soranika]

Not a lot of people seem to like Avatar Favor. Despite the decrease in perpetuation cost and positive aura effect, it's ill received thanks to reducing Avatar's proficiency with offensive blood pacts, losing half it's collective potency every time we use a blood pact, and some favor effects are too lackluster to warrant use because of the issues prior mentioned. I, for one, find it horrible to have a wonderful ability that sounded great on paper but works poorly on the field.

These have probably been suggested already but here goes.

~Remove blinking/reducing Avatar Favor's aura effect when using blood pacts. There's no legitimate excuse for preserving balance when there's a penalty already in place weakening offensive blood pacts.

~Lower penalty for having Avatar Favor active based on summoning magic. It's great that potency of Avatar Favor is increased summoning magic, but the penalty to offensive blood pacts are unacceptable. Lowering the penalty would be a further reward having high summoning magic and would make Avatar Favor a lot more desirable to use.

While I'd like to make a suggestion on specific avatar favor effects, I'd like to wait and see how SE handles each avatar's aura effect once we hit 99 and everything will be officially capped. I do believe that avatar favor should be something SMN should be using full time (or at least more often) like other jobs with their enhancing job abilities.

Community thoughts?

[Windwhisper]

I agree on the subject, that favor currently is barely used since the effect resets each time you use a BP. If the reset function would be removed the jobability would be worth using again. Some favors are less useful than others though but thats on another page. Since the penality using favor decreases offensive potential of our avatars already i see no reason why it should reset the favor upon usage of a BP as well.

[Garota]

I totally agree. This is the same reason why I do not use it neither. I remember testing it out when it was first introduced. After realizing that the favor effect resets to the lowest value after any bloodpact is used, I immediately stopped using it during battle. I'll only activate it rarely, usually if I'll be idle and to set Carbuncle's Regen or Diabolos' Refresh for myself or party members.

If I recall correctly, this was introduced at the same time as Red Mage's Composure. That's one job ability that I'll never go anywhere without having it active on myself full time. Its a shame that Avatar's Favor wasn't as efficient as Composure.

[Soranika]

Shame indeed. Most new (well then new) JA that jobs got were ones that are pretty much used full time. Composure for RDM, Affaltus Solace for WHM, Yonnin and Innin for NIN depending on situations.

It's rather unfair that in order to use Avatar's Favor for it's highest potency, you basically sit there and not use any blood pacts. SMN aren't invited to parties just to stand there. I have to wonder what SE's intentions were when it came to the way they designed Avatar's Favor.

[Malamasala]

Well, I've said it for years. The huge flaw SMN is built upon, is that you should be penalized.

You have a pet, so you should pay perpetuation. What was that? It only idles next to you? Who cares, penalty! Penalty for having an awesome glowing blob next to you. For free! It doesn't cost any gil at all to glow, so pay us the MP!

Btw we felt pity for SMNs so we gave them TP bonus to magic attacks. But we must have penalties, so we made sure your TP is nullified on releasing and changing pets. For balance you see, it wouldn't be fair if the update we gave you, actually made you better.

I hear you have 8 useless spirits. But behold! Elemental Siphon. Now you can all use spirits, for a few seconds each 5 minutes. Oh and btw, since we gave you this awesome ability, your spirits will not get any new spells ever. Look forward to the level 80 cap update!

We heard some requests for an aura effect from our playerbase. And since we always listen and want our players happy, we implemented it! Just toss out the aura and viola, half-decent buffs! But that isn't all! Wait 5 minutes and it becomes really strong! PS. For balance reasons it nullifies on pet swap has a short range so your avatar has to be in damage range to buff and we reset it if you use BP:Rages oh and lastly we also gave it a 25% damage reduction on pacts. Aren't you happy?

Also, did you check out that cool new armor we added last update? It has cure potency and MAB and stuff. Isn't it to die for? We made it especially for your SMNs. Considering you have so many cures and nukes on the job, it should be very helpful.

It also seems like staff users are rare in FFXI. We've been trying to find some jobs that can use staffs. We've been thinking of introducing MNK or PLD as the staff masters, what do you think? Oh well, if you ever find some job who mains staffs and isn't in the backline casting cures and nukes, you could tell us. We've never seen one! Oh, and here, have some magian staffs for SMN. Like DD staffs. But remember, if you ever see some staff users, tell us.

I think I ran out of sarcasm. Need to let it refill a while.

[Luvbunny]

You said it best Malamasa, the developers at SE for FFXI are one of the MOST clueless group that ever existed. They must have utter massive hate on ALL pet based jobs when it takes them years to fix the problems. I am glad the finally decided to do something for Pup after 5 YEARS!!! Beastmaster is finally good and competent now. But SMN and DRG still gets no love whatsoever, even if the updates should be VERY minor and it won't really break the game.

Please stop adjusting WHM... or giving that particular job more spells from other jobs... I long for the day when WHM is dead weight and not needed and when you can invite other jobs in their place like SCH and RDM.

RDM, SCH, DRK, RNG, COR and PLD should be their TOP priorities now along with SMN and DRG. At least they are working on SCH. Give Rdm and Sch their Cure V and call it a day please. The rest of Aby Elite jobs should be left untouched for awhile... I feel like they have very little clue on how to do job balancing on certain jobs but greatly favor certain jobs (yes thank you, WAR, MNK and NIN is awesome already - leave these jobs alone).

[Dreamin]

No BST is far from being good and competent, if you think that, you clearly never play the job before and the nerf done to BST. BST's strength is that it can use mobs in their environment to battle other mobs/NMs, they basically took that away in anything that isn't old content - ask any BST who leveled it from years past how fun it was for them to solo NM that normally took a full ally as well as their ability to keep fight spot free from any roaming mobs. Those were the most fun days of BST. Jugs are great but the timer kills it. Ever try to be BST in WoE? VW? Yeah, once you pet dies, you basically become a very weak war with axe until your jug timer is back up. And there's nothing more annoying to have your pet sit on TP while wait for timer to be ready to use.

As for the OP, Avatar's Favor was a let's throw something out there for SMN the dev made back in the days because most SMN complaints that without a BRD/COR/RDM in their pt, they can't keep their avatar out long. It was a backend way to say, here, let's fix the perp cost. However, it's so easy now a day for any SMN to get free any avatar (anywhere) that it is no longer needed/used. You have access to enough gears to get net 0 and can always /rdm for self refresh+convert to basically solo anywhere without ever worrying about MP anymore.

It's no big secrets that SE haven't seen to have any clue to any of the pet jobs ever since ToAH.