Quote Originally Posted by FaeQueenCory View Post
Wonderfully said, but you forgot something:
Our ward potency (the buffs not the heals) are crap atm.
The benefit of a smn ward is that it's all -ga effects...
While it would still be nice to have their potency revised for the >99 world we find ourselves in today....
The thing is...
if the BP cap was raise to 50% (30s)... then the sacrifice of having a less potent buff (ignoring the still relevant ones like Fenrir) would be a good trade-off if they could be reapplied every 30s as needed.
SCH/rdm will be better at casting a phalanx-ga than Diabolos... but should the timer be increased... Diabolos' phalanx-ga would be a more relevant alternative... even if it's only 13% (iirc) and a good sch can plop out a 25% (iirc)...

TL,DR: the timer cap needs to be inceased.
Everything else can wait for aeons... because that timer's cap is the single most important thing summoner needs to be viable.
Trust me, I am very aware of the deplorable state of our buffing Wards. Nearly universally, we pay more MP for less potent effects - and I'm talking about SCH or /SCH Accessioned spells, so it's direct comparisons of cost and potency between two AoE buffs! Oh, but we win out in duration, for what it's worth. If the BP timer is to be the number one thing that needs to be addressed for SMN, Ward potency would be a mighty close second.

(Also, as a side note, Phalanx is not a percentage -DT. It is a flat number taken off the amount of damage you would take. I.E. if you would take 20 damage from a hit, then after a 13pt Phalanx you would instead take 7 damage. And while we're still stuck at a 13 pt Phalanx, anyone else capable of casting the spell can reach a 30pt Phalanx with a very moderate 400 Enhancing Magic.)