Melee Range Abilities: And Why They Are Completely Useless

They aren't useless. They just fit into a very specific niche that you want avoid being placed on, but on occasion they're the only thing you can use. Their damage can't be too high or they start interfering on how effective they'd be over combos.

MNK is a special case while instead of having one you get Form Shift and Meditation which lets you prepare a stronger burst when you engage back at the boss, its probably part of XIV MNK concept to never gain a ranged Weaponskill. (Yes I know they have Wave Fist in some other games of the franchise.)

If anything, would be cool if such skills didn't break combos. Specially for SAM, Enpi is actually really strong but you don't use because of combo breaking.

I think they should be changed to oGCDs.

For Dragoon, moving into 5.0, they could save 1 hotbar slot by making Piercing Talon a 20s recast ranged oGCD, with like 120 potency. Then, when under the effects of BoTD, it becomes GK, and under the effect of LoTD, becomes Nastrond. Those 3 are similar animations (hop and thrust/toss). Make them all share a recast. Basically turn Piercing Talon into a low level ST version of GK/Nastrond. They can do this for Throwing Dagger (make it share a recast with Ninjutsu) and make it an oGCD. This way, PT is a low level GK for Lancer and TD is a low level Fuma Shuriken for Rogue.

I like to use them to pull a single mob out of a pack. Helpful in Eureka, and also the overworld when you're under level and don't want to get overrun. Though sometimes it is fun to run around on NIN throwing daggers at stuff.

Truthfully having them not break combos would be a fantastic idea. Because I honestly forgot most of these skills even exist.. I use them so rarely that I don’t even think about them with the exception of Sam’s empi combo

understand the point
but its a bit funny of a thread for Dragoon to start when the Jobs built around ranged attacks

not break combo maybe even Extend your combo duration so it doesn't fall off would be nice nothing job gauge related
don't need to be strong just a QoL touch

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Originally Posted by zuzu-bq

MNK is a special case while instead of having one you get Form Shift and Meditation which lets you prepare a stronger burst when you engage back at the boss, its probably part of XIV MNK concept to never gain a ranged Weaponskill. (Yes I know they have Wave Fist in some other games of the franchise.)

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Theoretically, monk could get aura cannon as a skill that burns up your chakra stacks. Make it ranged line AOE that's lower potency than forbidden chakra so monks can use a skill if near capped on chakra stacks when mechanics require them to disengage while also adding the requested AOE version of a skill that uses up your chakra stacks for large pulls in dungeons.

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Originally Posted by Jonnycbad

I think they should be changed to oGCDs.

For Dragoon, moving into 5.0, they could save 1 hotbar slot by making Piercing Talon a 20s recast ranged oGCD, with like 120 potency. Then, when under the effects of BoTD, it becomes GK, and under the effect of LoTD, becomes Nastrond. Those 3 are similar animations (hop and thrust/toss). Make them all share a recast. Basically turn Piercing Talon into a low level ST version of GK/Nastrond. They can do this for Throwing Dagger (make it share a recast with Ninjutsu) and make it an oGCD. This way, PT is a low level GK for Lancer and TD is a low level Fuma Shuriken for Rogue.

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That would provide no mitigation to forced downtime (due to range, not boss jump), either power creeping melee during full uptime fights or nerfing them where downtime is remotely present for no actual benefit...

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Originally Posted by zuzu-bq

MNK is a special case while instead of having one you get Form Shift and Meditation which lets you prepare a stronger burst when you engage back at the boss, its probably part of XIV MNK concept to never gain a ranged Weaponskill. (Yes I know they have Wave Fist in some other games of the franchise.)

If anything, would be cool if such skills didn't break combos. Specially for SAM, Enpi is actually really strong but you don't use because of combo breaking.

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Monk has a ranged skill. It's used from range when you cannot reach for standard melee attacks. Meditation. It was perhaps faintly overtuned at low SkS during HW relative to other melees' ranged skills and is now painfully undertuned, especially at higher SkS, but it's still a skill that causes potency without needing to be in melee range.

Enpi is also a decent tool already so long as you have the SkS to afford it. Yaten grants 520 potency at the cost of 10 Kenji (nominally 120 potency via Shinten) and a single GCD (an average of 377 potency normally over a Kasha/Gekko combo, less for Yukikaze, including Kenki). With the Sen included, it's situationally a loss, but where the Sen was already at risk -- a net increase 27 potency, though at massively increased TP cost (which can be of considerable concern to SKS SAMs). The issue is whether you'll gap your Shifu, Jinpu, or (if solo Slashing) Yukikaze or push MKSS or Hagakure behind. On the other hand, at other SkS breakpoints, it can actually keep your Hagakure properly timed by pushing back when you'd have to replace an already held Sen or Iajutsu a GCD before Hagakure comes off cooldown. It probably ought to be about 20 potency stronger to better allow it to offset Sen cost at lower SkS breakpoints, but it's situationally viable even without forced downtime; no other ranged option can say as much.

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Originally Posted by Dualgunner

Same tbh.

The ultimate goal of melee is to never break melee. That said, some strats of this tier's latter fights might end up forcing that, so I can see the merit in this suggestion. It has my support.

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Same here.

This is a pretty good idea, I support it.