6.1 SAM Changes: A Discussion/Response

As a main of SAM from 4.1, I'm mixed. I'm mostly against the changes, in fact, heavily against the changes so far. I only like the change to Third Eye and Meikyo Shisui so far.

I'm also an advocate for the shinten/kyuten change for senei/guren. If I'd been in the forums before this fiasco, I'd have suggested those publicly the moment I saw WAR in ShB. The devs have the ability to make certain stats proc certain actions over normal actions, there's absolutely no reason they can't do that for SAM to alleviate the bloat.

I can believe button bloat more than the actual stated 'action bloat' because the removal of Kaiten only means we find other ways to fill that same gap, thus bringing us back to the very same 'busy work' they were trying to prevent.

A job being busy isn't a bad thing if it all flows neatly, and SAM was one of those that flowed really nicely. REALLY nicely. Without Kaiten, even filling the void with Shinten just feels... off. Kyuten spam feels a bit better than the shinten spam, but that's only because Tenka Goken has been neutered to the point where it's pointless. Tenka Goken needs to be up there with the other Iaijutsu casts for power and by hydaelyn, please make it a cone again!

Squishy dps don't want to eat 5 cleaves just to fart on the enemy.

Bring back Open Eyes. Make Third Eye into Merciful Eyes. Make Shinten into Seigan.

Make the meditation stacks matter. It can either have 1 button that changes based on the number of stacks or it can alter Shinten and Kyuten based on the number of stacks. We can keep both Shoha 1 and 2 if the way Meditation stacks work. For that matter, it kenki spenders could even add to the stacks.

Iaijutsu, Ogi Namikiri already build it and with more meditation stacks, we could have it where Senei and Guren build it, too.

A minimum of 5 meditation would allow all of these to exist without making everything a separate button for individual situations. Consolidate these redundant buttons into an evolving kit with Shinten and Kyuten being the base for these extra attacks that do roughly the same things.

It would both make the resources matter again, and it would also be more in line with the consistent damage they seem to be going for. Less spikes as it would just slowly ramp up more and more until you hit full meditation, and then rinse and repeat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NohimeOda

Hissatsu: Kaiten Removal:

---

What each individual sees as positive or negative will vary, but to me:

Positives:
More accessible to new players picking up the job for the first time. // More accessible but less engaging - so while I concede that accessibility is a positive, I'd argue that the overall effect is a wash at best.

Negatives:
More able to freely press Hissatsu: Shinten without worrying about having the kenki for your Iaijustsu. // Simplified rotation with kenki spending completely unrelated to stickers - makes kenki management/spending mindless.
Easier to dump Kenki into burst windows without extra play-around kaiten. // Easier but less engaging - we used to have 2 spenders - one that was part of the rotation and 1 dump - now we just have a dump - spamming the same button isn't interesting, especially since timing doesn't matter.
One Less button to press // Not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case, a bad thing.
Less satisfaction in properly maintaining kenki for your midare/higanbana.
Loss of cool spinny sword animation.
No longer have play around kaiten that felt rewarding
Overall Job flow diminished

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NohimeOda

Midare Setsugekka/Ogi Namikiri Auto Crit:

---

Positives:
Literally nothing.

Would-be positives:
BIG NUMBER every time // The problem is, without Kaiten and with the lower potency, the guaranteed crit hits for about the same as we used to hit for with non-crits. We aren't getting big numbers every time - we're getting low numbers every time.
Your highest potency abilities always feel like they hit hard // The problem is, they don't feel like they hit hard because they don't hit hard - harder than Gekko and Kasha, sure, but compared to what we're used to or what other dps burst for - not at all.
No longer need to worry about low-rolling these abilities // The problem is, they didn't get rid of low-rolling - they got rid of high-rolling.

Negatives:
Job synergy with party buffs diminished
Less rewarding/satsifying to press in group play
Higanbana and Tenka Goken always feel like lesser Iaijusus

I'd also like to call out the change to Tenka Goken's AOE template - before Fuko we used to have to reposition constantly, which admitted might have been a bit much, but changing Tenka Goken to be circular now makes it so we don't have to reposition at all, which is also a bit much.

Fuko with Tenka Goken as a cone was a happy medium, especially thanks to Kaiten, since you'd always be doing that while repositioning for your Iaijutsu.