[dev1017] Job Adjustments and Refinements

[Duelle]

SMN=Backline mage

<snip>

For the record I'm not attacking SMN melee, I just take issue with the SMN = Heavy DD view point.

The problem on a concept level is that SMN is about heavy damage dealing...coming from the avatar/eidolon/summon. That's why people remembered Rydia in IV, Dagger and Eiko in IX, and hell, even Yuna in X.

On the spellcasting side, summoners prior to XI's incarnation were backed up by a secondary school of magic. The devs assumed this would be covered by the subjob system, until people figured out that elemental spells cast at half-level profficiency due to skill ratings were (rightfully) stupidly gimp. The fact that healing spells had no such penalty did nothing to help.

[Razushu]

The problem on a concept level is that SMN is about heavy damage dealing...coming from the avatar/eidolon/summon. That's why people remembered Rydia in IV, Dagger and Eiko in IX, and hell, even Yuna in X.

On the spellcasting side, summoners prior to XI's incarnation were backed up by a secondary school of magic. The devs assumed this would be covered by the subjob system, until people figured out that elemental spells cast at half-level profficiency due to skill ratings were (rightfully) stupidly gimp. The fact that healing spells had no such penalty did nothing to help.

Summons were the most poswerful magic in the games, but they seem to have ditched Massive damage for damage/support combo here.

[Duelle]

Summons were the most poswerful magic in the games, but they seem to have ditched Massive damage for damage/support combo here.

Which kind of failed in the context of parties because of how the trends developed when it came to summoner.

Granted, the job is not an easy one to adapt to an MMO context. The avatars would have probably benefitted from having specialized roles rather than being capable of attacking with some support. Then you could have your damage dealing avatars (probably Ifrit, Leviathan, Garuda, Ramuh), your defensive/healing avatars (Carbuncle, Shiva), and your tanking/utility avatars (Titan, Fenrir). Spirits could have been more like "aspects" that act as that second school of magic that I mentioned Summoners prior to XI were known to have. That might have created a better basis of what the job could/should be capable of instead of being so reliant on its subjob to fill in the gaps between blood pacts (this refers to back when it was a universal 1-minute timer, not the rage/ward split that came much later).