Let me start by saying I'm sorry that this post might be a bit long and from a while back. I took a break from the forums for a short time so I fell behind, that said there are some things I want to reply to so~ I hope you'll forgive me replying to old posts.

Quote Originally Posted by Dale View Post
Another example: phalanx 2 isn't a pure upgrade from phalanx 1. It just serves a different purpose, allowing us to cast on other party members. So I don't see why a new tier always needs to be a pure upgrade. In fact I think it's better that it just allows a different usage of the spell, that way neither spell becomes useless or obsolete.
Not really. Assuming you have 5/5 Phalanx II both spells cap at -35 damage, the difference being that one can be cast on others while the other is self only. The second tier also scales in a way that makes it much more powerful than the original until you hit 300+ Enhancing Magic, at which point they even out. The upgrade II gets is the ability to cast on other players, the only real flaw with it is the lack of ability to use Accession with it, which isn't an issue since the original's potency is the same as the second. I admit all of this requires 5/5 merits, but that's how powerful the spell should be anyways, as with any merit spell.

Also, considering the vast amount of support utility this class has now, I think our melee damage is fine. So I don't share your opinion that we are weak. Nor do I understand why you feel the tier2 en spells make us weaker. They just provide us with a way to reduce resistances while at the same time adding some damage to our melee attacks. It doesn't weaken the class.
There's a difference between saying that having something weakens a class, and saying that the something the class has is weaker than it should be, or that the something is weaker than another something that isn't able to be stacked with the original. Enspell IIs do make RDM a stronger job than it would be without them. That said, they're weaker than our original Enspells in most situations. If I'm in a situation I need magic accuracy enough to lose my DMG for the sake of my(-10?) elemental resist I'm likely using a staff for the additional magic accuracy anyways and won't hit anything with my Enspell to begin with. It's just not practical to use Enspell IIs in most situations, even single wielding they're almost always worse than the originals due to how the Enhancing Magic calculation works and our ease of stacking Double Attack thanks to Temper.

Changing the IIs to be a real upgrade, a real second tier, wouldn't in any way make us overpowered. It would only serve to make the spells more useful and at the same time make them more sensical. I can't for the life of me understand why Enhancing Magic should be calculated on hit when the originals weren't, I can think of no reason that this is necessary or defensible. That alone feels like more of a glitch than a feature, and yet it's never been addressed.

In either case, the last thing I want to say on this is that I'm a large advocate for RDMs meleeing. We're not exactly weak, but we are left behind by most other front line jobs quite easily. Even in our best possible gear I have a hard time keeping up with your average DDs thanks to our flaws. We have a lack of gear other jobs get in the DD department, often times being left with very random pieces, and last I knew our best set was simply a random mix up of different gear from MPNMs and Delve bosses where we got thrown a bone. When it comes to actual sets or powerful pieces of gear in general for light DDs we're left off completely, which often kills our ability to keep up. One fairly unique way to make us keep up and stand out would be more powerful Enspells that help us match up to other DDs. Two simple changes to Enspell IIs would make them viable and powerful enough to fulfill this role. It wouldn't make RDM overpowered in any sense, would make the elemental resistance reduction more useful as there wouldn't be a cost associated with it that often times doesn't seem worth it, and it would remove one more complaint people have about RDM. Speaking of which...

Quote Originally Posted by Raydeus View Post
Sorry guys but you just don't know how to play RDM if Enspell I&II mechanics throw you off like that, same with Gain spells, if you don't know how each stat affects you then you don't know why it is such an advantage to be able to chose a stat to boost at will.

What you should be complaining about instead is how badly RDM spells scale with skill and how low the caps are set on them, also about how the merit spells should be scrolls instead with merits used to either enhance them directly or generally.

But the mechanics of spells are good, you just need to learn2play and to adapt to situations.
There are many issues to complain about, and I admit this isn't one of the larger ones, but it's something that does need brought up. One need not be content with mediocrity simply because there is something even more mediocre to complain about in the same breath. I hate our merits too, but we've talked about that issue so much I don't think there's anything wrong with talking about other issues as well. All of that said, I must ask, how is the mechanic of Enspell IIs calculating our Enhancing Magic on hit rather than on cast "good"? It's a flaw I can't see as being defensible.