On Red Mage melee...

[Karbuncle]

Whats Even funnier is they removed Diaga II for RDM's.

[Seriha]

Yeah, I still balk at the "enfeebler" aspect when you consider the lack of -gas or the variety of debuffs that BLU gets, but RDMs don't. Dream Flower was an abso-frickin-lutely awesome addition to BLU, and that wasn't even their first multi-target sleep. However, they can also go and stack a Blind and ACC Down, affect specific stats without a particular sub, and so on, often with some bonus damage on top. Herpderp DD onry BLUs make me sad, but I can't exactly fault them for offense's glaring superiority over defense in this game.

[Hyrist]

With the enemy offense's so easily muted between cures, counters, debuffs, etc. How else could it be though?

Enemy TP moves is about the only thing bosses have going for them, really, and the only way 'defense' could be properly utilized. But with White Mages able to powerhouse recovery, especially in Abyssea, there's almost no point in defensiveness.

Blame the fact that the majority of the jobs now are ridiculous powerhouses offensively though. I'd say as far as DD performance wise, SE needs to put the breaks on any further updates that do anything more than balance them out between each other, and then start working on the rest of the utilities of these jobs while the rest of classes catch up. In the end it'll be the utilities and stylization that should separate the melee classes.

[Seriha]

Without going into a giant hypothetical on the game without Atma or even Utsusemi, I'll just say things would be different. Moreover, with the majority of fights simply being an angry mob trying to take our HP to 0, and us to them, you kind of pidgeon hole everyone into the now. I've babbled about more complex encounters and environments before, but without them, the game will ultimately be a lot more of more of the same.

[ManaKing]

Offense in general is just too effective. When you are 16 v 1 against a boss. Only 1 or 2 people actually have to be able to take hits.

If they are physical, almost everything in the game can be negated by /NIN.

Oh man a caster? Stun, Silence, Addle.

AOE or Resets hate? a tank 1 v 1 the mob with a WHM healing them.

Yeah it's not like there isn't some challenge left in the game, but for the most part everyone has gotten out of hand. The reason I bitch about needing buffs for RDM is that we really haven't. If the entire game is going to be dumbed down, at least include RDM in it. It's the discrimination and comparison that hurts more than anything else.

[Duelle]

Offense in general is just too effective. When you are 16 v 1 against a boss. Only 1 or 2 people actually have to be able to take hits.

To be fair, few of the jobs were designed to be able to take more than one or two hits before kissing dirt. At the same time, because of this you can't really implement too many encounter mechanics that involve group/raid damage (not to mention group healing would have to get some adjustments to work with the new mechanics).

Yeah it's not like there isn't some challenge left in the game, but for the most part everyone has gotten out of hand. The reason I bitch about needing buffs for RDM is that we really haven't. If the entire game is going to be dumbed down, at least include RDM in it. It's the discrimination and comparison that hurts more than anything else.

I'd rather think that we want changes to RDM so that it can start doing things we've been wanting to do since some of us rolled one.

As far as controlling the degree as the Acc -> MAcc, I'd say... 1/10. 400 Root Accuracy = +40 Magical Accuracy is a sizable boost.

I was thinking more along the lines of 3/10, or 1/5 if that's too much.

[Hyrist]

iirc, 35 is the total magical accuracy given by Elemental Saves, so 40 would be superior to that Going twice that or more would be really broken.

Not that I'd particularly mind. I hate Staves on RDM with a particularly venomous hatred. People who tote multiple staves around are the ones who complain most about inventory issues. Bare minimum of them, you're talking 3 inventory slots that can be done without the clutter.

Of course, you'll have to get the healers away from their +22% cure potency though, and even I get tempted by a full potency Ice Magians. But then again, I'm more tempted in the prospect of having BLU at the ready for any time I get flat out told I can't front-line on RDM.

As far as group/raid mechanics and some jobs just being too squishy. I'd say that's a direction SE can take the other jobs. Right now most DD's got their damage aspects down, I don't see it it improving much more than it already is for many of them. Expanding their utilities would allow for another direction for them to improve/sidegrade without running into the redundancy we have with so many damage dealer jobs out there. Plus, it would help keep battles more interesting if they're given tools to deal with a different kind of endgame than your typical tank and spank.

[Duelle]

Not that I'd particularly mind. I hate Staves on RDM with a particularly venomous hatred. People who tote multiple staves around are the ones who complain most about inventory issues. Bare minimum of them, you're talking 3 inventory slots that can be done without the clutter.

Could be worse. You could be like me who uses a +MAB Shamshiir as an excuse to never use staves. I'd just like to kill the reliance on staves when front-lining, though. If you're spamming nukes or healing one should ideally be in caster gear and nothing else. The image of real mageblades that put staves to shame is still a very nice one, though.

[Hyrist]

Shamshir +2
Mainhand Inverse Light

Offhand Darkness

or, Offhand Darkness Shamshir +2 and mainhaind fully magian upgraded Murgleis, if you've got a pack of zombie slaves to help you.

However, the draw of the staves now isn't just the magical accuracy. Goodness knows we've got plenty of that. It's the +22% Cure potency, and the extra Nuke Potency given on these Magian staves that look attractive, even to me.

Still, I've got such a deep seeded detest for how a set of level 51 staves were used for years as an argument against ever letting a Red Mage draw their blades. And SE's reaction to it was about 5 years too late, and way too weak of an adjustment. I doubt I'll ever take the staves I do have out of satchel.

[Tamarsamar]

Shamshir +2
Mainhand Inverse Light

Offhand Darkness

If by "Inverse Light" you mean the one with the Additional Effect, why not Mainhand the +Magic Accuracy Shamshir +2 and Offhand the Additional Effect, and use them with Enspells II?

As enamored as I was with a Magic Accuracy Sword at first, though, we aren't exactly lacking in Magic Accuracy nowadays. So you might as well get a Sword that maximizes your physical ability, be it a Lightning-path Accuracy Shamshir +2, some kind of Khanda +2, or a Chant du Cygne weapon.