Job balancing?

[Kensagaku]

That one reason isn't even a reason to bring thf anymore. Not only does hardly any end game content actually drop things, but literally every job can get TH 4 when TH 3 is the last one that does a damn thing. Which is why it's so infuriating that our special gifts were TH 13 and 14. They know TH stopped mattering 10 levels ago but here are 2 new tiers that you can never get to, and that don't do a thing. I would have been happier if they were just left blank.

People aren't even using thf for farming anymore. All I ever see doing salvage are blus. Hate control is a non issue, so thf pretty much brings nothing special to the table. And don't get me wrong, I hated just getting invited to events for TH, but it was better than nothing.

Honestly, I'd say it's even worse now, simply because endgame content is guaranteed to drop at least one item. Because of this, TH isn't necessary except for the rare chance of a second item. Combined with randomly getting equipment in your spoils list (more so during the campaign but possible outside), THF really serves no purpose except as a placebo these days. It's not that a THF can't be a good DD, but compared to the amount of babysitting needed for any melee character, it's just not worthwhile.

As Omnys says, the first things we need to consider are:

*Mob evasion or player accuracy; right now, dual-wielders have an advantage in getting more accuracy, since they have a second weapon to stack accuracy AND they are on light armor most of the time, which is also loaded down with it. Note I'm speaking of native dual-wielders, so no throwing BST at me on this. That's its own kettle of fish. Maybe offer 2h a better amount of accuracy from things like DEX or skill, enough to get them up to a more modest level. And of course, tone back mob evasion.

*The potency and range of debuffs; this can actually go both ways, decreasing or increasing. Why increasing? If mages are at risk of debuffs (such as from Strophadia's moves, which push them to the very edge of their casting range and often catches them), then it forces setups to go with a bit more support and become adjusted to dealing with the need to react to these debuffs. By doing so, it puts melee and mages on a more even playing field when it comes to debuffs and, though it requires a bit more babysitting for the whole party, makes it more viable for melee to come along. These days, it's not that healers aren't viably able to babysit melee, it's that it's simply inefficient to do so as opposed to focusing on the tank while mages nuke from a distance. If mages are at the same risk as melee, then strategies are forced to shift and adjust to accommodate proper support, enabling setups where there is more opportunity for melee to join in.

*Reduction of AoE Frequency or Effect; AoEs aren't bad, and they are meant to provide a threat to prevent a simple tank-and-spank setup where only the PLD/RUN/PUP Auto takes hits while everything wails on the mob free of risk. When used correctly, they are a concern, but not a game-ender. Most days, EVERYTHING is an AoE. Everything wipes shadows, everything hits for high damage combined with multiple status ailments, etc. Even many NMs these days have AoE basic attacks. When we get to this point, we're getting out of hand, and it makes it completely non-viable to use anything that's not at a range. So my proposal would be one that's been mentioned previously: Tune down the damage of those hit by AoEs that aren't the current hate target. Do something like a 30% reduction at most, so that AoEs still offer potent damage potential, but at the same time aren't a party one-shot. Perhaps even lower for casual auto-attack AoEs, because the mob shouldn't be knocking off most of our HP every few swings. Additionally, perhaps add a decrease in magic accuracy for debuff TP moves (not spells) that affect targets other than the current tank; while this won't guarantee a 100% avoidance, it makes it far easier if we're not riddled with 5+ debuffs every few seconds. This will again offer some viability for melee.

Amnesia (or: ugh, I can't do anythinggggg); Amnesia, as stated, is one of the worst threats in the game, comparable to a mute effect on the mages. But the problem is that mute is nearly nonexistent and non-viable because it locks out your healers instead of just your nukers, leading to a complete party catastrophe, while amnesia is so commonplace that it's easy to see why most melee are hanging up their weapons. If you're constantly stuck in auto-attack, unable to use your JA or WS, you're literally just sitting there swinging and waiting with minimal contribution. Just like Silence as Silena, I think it's time for Amnesia to have its own spell. If it balances it a bit more, make it something like Cursna, where it's not a 100%, but do make it something of a higher proc rate than non-gear Cursna. That's just terrible. And do the same with Silena/Echo Drops for Mute so that such an ailment becomes viable too, give it a chance to remove, but not a 100% due to its potency. This will create a reasonable risk that at the same time can be dealt with with proper preparation.

Edit: Somehow I missed my most important note in all of that.

*Mob HP Scaling; I think this needs to be tuned down if a lot of these things ever get implemented. If we need support to back our melee, then we need to not be punished for it. Our LS recently did Maju with an alliance of 16, and boy were we sad; while we had no issues surviving with a mage setup, between the cumulative magic resistance from too many people nuking together, the fact that some of them weren't making up for the extra HP their presence gave, and the actual scaling itself, we never got it below 40% or so. We've actually had discussions about going in smaller groups and then cycling in people here and there to get them their clears as opposed to doing an event as a linkshell. If it gets to the point that you have to exclude to get a minimal number of people, it's a good sign that HP scaling has gone too far.