What change do you want to see on your main class for Endwalker ?

What if DRK had, like... a bigger sword?

A "Solo Actions" menu to go with "Role Actions" so we can actually do other crap on our favorite jobs without all the whining when we want some variety.

A lot of DPS jobs are still dull since they can't have fun toys to play with outside of a set rotation. "Maybe in 6 more years this game won't be so overbalanced.", I said, 6 years ago.

Rdm to have more support stuff like an aoe esuna or a move to give mp.

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Originally Posted by GavynG

A "Solo Actions" menu to go with "Role Actions" so we can actually do other crap on our favorite jobs without all the whining when we want some variety.

A lot of DPS jobs are still dull since they can't have fun toys to play with outside of a set rotation. "Maybe in 6 more years this game won't be so overbalanced.", I said, 6 years ago.

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What do you mean by "solo actions?"
The opposite of role actions? Ones not shared and specific to your class?
So... your jobs normal actions & traits?
I feel like I'm missing something here.

I just want fewer, more meaningful buttons. Having 1-6 modified by ctrl, shift, and alt and it still isn't enough. I feel like ARR had the right amount of total buttons. Also, I don't want these static rotations, I want to feel like each GCD I have to make a meaningful decision about which ability I use next. Only jobs that play like that currently are the healers imo. Also, the 1+2+3 combo on every physical job is kind of monotonous. Makes every physical job at its core feels same-y.

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Originally Posted by ItMe

What do you mean by "solo actions?"
The opposite of role actions? Ones not shared and specific to your class?
So... your jobs normal actions & traits?
I feel like I'm missing something here.

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Actions that can only be done when solo, or not in a party. Obviously, this will only affect open world and solo duties. I imagine they want strong abilities or something.

However, the problem then becomes, if people get used to them, they will want them in parties and not just solo etc. Personally, I do not see the point.

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Originally Posted by RotoLoto

I just want fewer, more meaningful buttons. Having 1-6 modified by ctrl, shift, and alt and it still isn't enough. I feel like ARR had the right amount of total buttons. Also, I don't want these static rotations, I want to feel like each GCD I have to make a meaningful decision about which ability I use next. Only jobs that play like that currently are the healers imo. Also, the 1+2+3 combo on every physical job is kind of monotonous. Makes every physical job at its core feels same-y.

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Bard, Dancer and Red Mage are more proc based, where they GCD you need to perform can change at random. I notice you have dragoon levelled, which happens to be the job with the most strict rotation in terms of GCD flexibility.

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Originally Posted by Mikey_R

Actions that can only be done when solo, or not in a party.

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Hahaha DUH!
Silly me : P
TY

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Originally Posted by Mikey_R

Obviously, this will only affect open world and solo duties. I imagine they want strong abilities or something.
However, the problem then becomes, if people get used to them, they will want them in parties and not just solo etc. Personally, I do not see the point.

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True, though it could be a neat way to add spice to solo runs. And I'm all for more soloable content.

Can't be anything to powerful though or it'll mess with deep dungeons.

Hmm... also you'd get really used to solo actions when going through MSQ, which should be when you're able to get used to how your job is "supposed" to play.

And if solo actions are impactful or plentiful enough the Dev team would be trying to design and balance two versions of the same job, which sounds like a nightmare that could only lead to extreme homogenization in a desperate attempt to be able to juggle everything.

Man, this idea sounded neat at first but I'm liking it less and less the more I look at it.

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Originally Posted by RotoLoto

I just want fewer, more meaningful buttons. Having 1-6 modified by ctrl, shift, and alt and it still isn't enough. I feel like ARR had the right amount of total buttons. Also, I don't want these static rotations, I want to feel like each GCD I have to make a meaningful decision about which ability I use next. Only jobs that play like that currently are the healers imo. Also, the 1+2+3 combo on every physical job is kind of monotonous. Makes every physical job at its core feels same-y.

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For physical jobs, I feel like NIN is the "worst" of the 1+2+3 combo that you're complaining about (followed by MCH)

NIN has a burst window in Trick Attack and mostly holds mudras for those windows (IIRC, you have to use 1 Mudra between trick attack windows to make sure you don't cap). That causes NIN to really feel that "filler" downtime in my opinion.

The class you have listed as you Main (DRG) actually has a fairly long rotation (10 abilities) not the 1+2+3 combo at cap. You have the long rotation while using cooldowns as they become available. I feel like it's different enough.

SAM also has a fairly long rotation (10 abilities) with a DoT that you have to manage (every 60s you have a shorter combo rotation, 3-4 abilities) and cooldown abilities that change that rotation every 55s.

MNK has a shorter rotation (6 abilities) with a DoT to manage and the rotation's #1 and #4 abilities swap every so many rotations with again, a cooldown that drastically changes the rotation every 90s and a decent number of oGCDs to use

MCH is, like the NIN, closer to what you're complaining about. MCH has a couple of GCDs to weave into their 1+2+3 and a "fun" burst window once you get your heat gauge up. However, like NIN, I agree with your statement for MCH

BRD and DNC (mostly DNC) are so largely proc based that while it has a 1+2 combo, you have to have bad luck to feel like you're just doing 1,2,1,2,1,2. BRD is kind of meh (IMO), but it's not because of 1+2+3 (it's because of 1+1+1+1+1+2+1+1+1+1+2 with oGCDs)

Between this and other characters I main or at least nearly main every job, so I guess I'll just go with some of the broader points:

For shield healers, I'd like to see partial shielding, as to make it less strong as a means of cheese (e.g., nullifying otherwise lethal mechanics) while still allowing it some significant total mitigation. For instance, a shield might apply a heavy Defense buff, but time and every point of damage thus mitigated would sap away at that added Defense, reducing its percentile mitigation until there's nothing left (pretty quickly when absorbing a large hit). It'd still act much as before in that you'd want to time to just before the big hit, but it would effectively last longer without increasing its maximum eHP increase as it would apply against a single blow.

For healers in general, some actual mechanics to weave in and work from. Imagine, for instance, if back in the day WHMs' Cure I had successively empowered their next Cure II cast, and recent Cure II casts their Cure III. That would be something you could actually bank into in preparation, making healing feel like more than merely scheduled oGCD click-offs or even mere throughput-centric whack-a-mole, or true healing (i.e., beyond shields) something that is dealt with only reactively. Additionally, offense should have curatively-interactive mechanics and vice versa, albeit in a rather flexible manner that doesn't invite waste or set combos. No further oGCD heals, and perhaps even the present ones consolidated slightly and made more interesting and integral. Instead, further offensive skills are returned, sometimes with bundled utility. Moreover, maximal healer DPS (e.g., theoretical with zero GCD heals) should be increased slightly -- say, to some ~80-85% of that of a DPS, up from some ~70%, albeit at notably greater complexity.

For tanks, I want agency again. That could come from revitalized stances, sure, but even more than that I'd like to see resource and uptime expenditure offer us synergetic/banked and immediate opportunities for both offense and defense. Passive mitigation should be decreased and maximum damage increased. (Aside from this, I'd like to see fight designs make more use of tank positioning rather than relying on auto-centered or auto-positioned mechanics.)

For DPS, I just want to see bloat (e.g., Form Shift and Meditate, which could be better handled passively anyways*) removed and core mechanics actually give some real and reaching substance. Or, if I could dream, I'd see our present "combos" scrapped in favor of actual combos between individually worthwhile skills (rather than using up to 8 buttons and 10 button-presses to preform a single, inalterable decision's worth of action).

*

By making Meditate passive, you could free up The Forbidden Chakra (and Enlightenment) to be castable at any amount of available Chakra, for proportionate effect. This passive Meditate would simply generate Chakra continuously whenever the global cooldown is not active, at a Chakra every half-GCD's time, just as it does when pressed. It'd just do so in a smoother, more granular fashion, since progress towards the next Chakra would carry over to the next time one's off the GCD.

Meanwhile, by just allowing Opo-opo its bonus immediately, Form Shift can be replaced entirely with just a mechanic by which either (1) using a Form causes it to weaken for 2 GCDs or (2) using a form different from the last two used generates a stack of a buff, stacking up to 2 times. Perfect Balance would of course prevent said debuff or guarantee said buff. In this way, one is still more or less forced to cycle between all three forms, but one can enter combat from any form and exit Perfect Balance into any improved form without the need for Form Shift.

Black Mage has always been my main job class on my main character since 1.0--- and I need him to eventually be able to cast Meteor--- like so...

https://www.gamerevolution.com/asset...et-640x360.jpg

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Originally Posted by Ramesses

Black Mage has always been my main job class on my main character since 1.0--- and I need him to eventually be able to cast Meteor--- like so...

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Considering the BLM LB3 is meteor I don't think they'll ever get a regular spell more meteoric than an LB3.
https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/m...7d/Meteor1.jpg

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Originally Posted by ItMe

Considering the BLM LB3 is meteor I don't think they'll ever get a regular spell more meteoric than an LB3.
https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/m...7d/Meteor1.jpg

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Perhaps I needed to be more concise. Trust me-- I absolutely know what the BLM LB3 looks like-- as mentioned above, it's has been my main job since 1.0-- matter of fact, here a pic of my lvl 80 Black Mage on my main character

https://i.imgur.com/D0mVhW9.png


The question asked was "what change I'd like to see"-- and what I meant was that I wish my meteor cast would have a more devastating animation as shown above.

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Originally Posted by Ramesses

what I meant was that I wish my meteor cast would have a more devastating animation as shown above.

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Oooooh.
My bad.

More Explosions for Black Mage and more turret techs for Machinst.

BLM could get Comet, a lesser Meteor. It would be a nice symbolism with space travel and XIV starting with a meteor and BLM ending the story Arc with comet.

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Originally Posted by Soge01

More Explosions for Black Mage and more turret techs for Machinst.

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Turret tech when the expansion actually removed the turret? Or more interactions with the Queen? I agree to the second but I'd be carefull with the first.
Bishop or "Automaton King" coming back could be a Queen 2.0 or AoE version and that would be disappointing.
A stronger version would mean the "Automaton King"/Bishop is still a glorified DoT.
An AoE version would mean you'd never see the new bot in... 90% of upcoming 8 man content and sometimes in 24 man raid.

Also, "Solo actions" in open world/solo duty... We already have the chocobo in open world, a far enough healing buddy. Lost Actions in Eureka&Bozja. And The Echo buff in solo duty.
The best solution would be to buff the chocobo, maybe with new actions, and that's done. Why bother balancing solo action? Is the goal to do old EX/Savage content solo when many have mechanics that needs to be dealt with multiple player? Then you want actions to deal with these mechanics aswell?

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Originally Posted by CKNovel

Bishop or "Automaton King" coming back could be a Queen 2.0 or AoE version and that would be disappointing.

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My pipedream is that we get the Automaton King (or whatever) and it's big enough we pilot it ♡♡

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Originally Posted by ItMe

My pipedream is that we get the Automaton King (or whatever) and it's big enough we pilot it ♡♡

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I'm not a massive fan of Mecha and it would be a massive downer for me. ^^'
I'll be honest and admit that I, on a personnal view, hope it will never happen. I love MCH for the use of tools and guns (and bigger guns), I love robots as well but piloting one? I think it should stay exclusive to G-Warrior content.

A "pipedream", next to a chainsaw and reworked Flamethrower would be to summon Ark, there's already Cruise Chaser for the animations/skeleton.
Ark would act as a Satellite, the MCH giving order for Satellite attacks, mainly AoE. Completing the requirements could allow the MCH to summon Ark on the battlefield like the Queen.
But one-step at the time, for now my expectations are very low when it comes to MCH. In the last LL, Yoshi-P had the ranged jobs in his action bar, maybe he is playtesting the jobs. But that's speculation, maybe he's simply an active ranged player.

Actually something I would like would be for red mage to be given more chances to get to use veryholy/verfire, they are such cool spells that I wish I could use more often than once every full combo

dont really know what i would want for dragoon.
i'm a bit afraid since i enjoy the job at lvl 80 as it is now. i hope they dont remove too many skills.
maybe a litte dragon/wyvern which has a timer, but at the same time a life bar, so you have to be careful when to call it.
i think there was an aoe with dot in the past? that would be nice.

i also thought about a dragon transformation, but that may be a bit too much

Red Mage: An upgrade to the three ranged AOEs. And some useful additions to the existing spells. Currently, the red mage has several spells which are doing the exact same effect except that it either fills the white or the black mana. And it would be cool to get some spells that use either the white or the black mana for an effect like an enemy debuff if you use the black mana and a self-buff if you use the white mana.

Edit: And a buff to Embolden.

I feel like black mage, after all these years, is still a love it or hate it kind of job. I've literally went through all the different caster type mini-games I've seen in MMOs the past few years to think on how they could fix this unwieldly thing, and the best I could come up with was something similar to Moonkin Druid rotation sans Wrath of the Lich King, with quick firing Fire 1 and Blizzard 1 turning into instant cast Fire IV and Blizzard IV.

The way that one worked is that you kept casting a spell of the corresponding element until the meter filled all the way in that direction, then you'd get a damage buff when you hit the eclipse state, which is when the meter hit 100%, for the opposing element. It's rather simple in execution and avoids a lot of the problems that blackmage has since during the burst phase you can go to something like Fire IV and Blizzard IV naturally, with a lower cast timer, and keep your motion up. In fact, if we really went that eclipse direction, Fire 1 and Blizzard 1 would turn into Fire IV and Blizzard IV. Then each one of the casts of rank IV you get off, it would add a point to the flare / despair meter until you could fire that off.

Right now I think the jobs rotation works, but it just is really bad in terms of encounter design because it puts too much emphasis on figuring out where to stand. It leads to a really bipolar experience of either doing all the damage because you know where to stand, or no damage at all, and it hurts especially bad in leveling roulette when people don't know the job that well. Spell speed spec helps a bit, but I think Crit-Spec is still king and pushes just how crazy this job can get in encounters.

That and enocian. Sweet mercy, how much someone wears that button down when you are between encounters and trying to avoid losing your stacks. I can't think of a time where I had to keep pressing a button between encounters just to keep my dps up, and swapping to the moonkin rotation would fix that since you don't lose your eclipse state unless you start firing spells of the opposing element.

DRG:

- Remove Piercing Talon or increase it's potency and make it not break combo.
- Make Coerthan Torment refresh Disembowel buff.

- Ala Morn
- Holy Dragoon/Nidhogg Human Form ;)

For NIN, I mostly want Square Enix to—keep doing what it's doing. NIN is great!

Let me hide the offhand dagger, tho. (The NIN poster art only has one dagger/sword!)

M C H


Literally do anything with that I dont even care if its clunky just make it fun because what we have right now is embarrassingly one-note which many people will disagree which is fine or say Drill is a complex skill yadda yadda yadda. Its fine, MCH has its fans its just jobs shouldnt get this remedial as they grow in level. And maybe DONT do BRD dirty and reduce its mechs to please a audience that never cared for it as thats looking like the trend since 5.0 started....oh and DRK too

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Originally Posted by Jirah

M C H


Literally do anything with that I dont even care if its clunky just make it fun because what we have right now is embarrassingly one-note which many people will disagree which is fine or say Drill is a complex skill yadda yadda yadda. Its fine, MCH has its fans its just jobs shouldnt get this remedial as they grow in level. And maybe DONT do BRD dirty and reduce its mechs to please a audience that never cared for it as thats looking like the trend since 5.0 started....oh and DRK too

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I like machinist the way it is and I'm going to disagree here on the choice to make it more complex. The idea of this game is to run multiple jobs, not just one job, and there are jobs in this game that are waaaaaaaaaay too annoying to figure out, like Summoner largely due to how some of the skills work, along with Ninja.

I'm still kind of laughing at how I could level jump a Black Mage or Bard and not have an issue, but then legitimately level a summoner and realize at around level 78 I was doing the entire thing wrong. Ninja was the absolute worst of the bunch to level jump into because of the freaking Mudras. I don't even know if the quest line helps with that or not, but I can't see someone stepping into ninja and figuring out that job right out the gate.

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Originally Posted by Colt47

I like machinist the way it is and I'm going to disagree here on the choice to make it more complex. The idea of this game is to run multiple jobs, not just one job, and there are jobs in this game that are waaaaaaaaaay too annoying to figure out, like Summoner largely due to how some of the skills work, along with Ninja.

I'm still kind of laughing at how I could level jump a Black Mage or Bard and not have an issue, but then legitimately level a summoner and realize at around level 78 I was doing the entire thing wrong. Ninja was the absolute worst of the bunch to level jump into because of the freaking Mudras. I don't even know if the quest line helps with that or not, but I can't see someone stepping into ninja and figuring out that job right out the gate.

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I agree with you on SMN, but NIN is a bit easier to understand than it seems (and the quest line absolutely doesn't help).

For NIN the only things that matter for Mudras are:

1. The number of signs you hit
2. The sign that you end on
3. Not hitting the same one twice before casting

The quest line will tell you "To do this you can do Ten -> Chi -> Jin or Chi -> Ten -> Jin" and you sit there trying to remember that if you don't notice that it's just "whatever, ending with Jin." There are a couple of things that could be explained easier, this and Astrologian's card system (i.e. Red border goes to ranged, blue border goes to melee) are so much simpler than remembering names of things.

Also, other than the Mudras, there's really not much to NIN, all of the complexity rests in realizing 7 different combinations and basically a 1+2+3 combo.



But, to challenge your view of the game, the idea is not to run with multiple jobs. There are some things in place that make that worthwhile and relatively easy, but there are other things that spit in the face of that idea. Just because you (and me too, I'm an omni-80 and love jumping between jobs) like being able to pick up any job, doesn't mean that the game is designed with that specifically in mind. We shouldn't "punish" players who have a single job they love and want to play with underdeveloped, simplistic gameplay just because a minority of people like being able to easily switch between any job. Each class should have a high skill ceiling for those that want to be the best at that job as they can be and if you/I want to play multiple jobs, we should be prepared to learn each of those jobs. They shouldn't slow down because of us.

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Originally Posted by Colt47

I like machinist the way it is and I'm going to disagree here on the choice to make it more complex. The idea of this game is to run multiple jobs, not just one job

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a job with no care for positionals, cast bars, or even divergent rotations should have somthing anything to grant that extra step of mastery if MCH stays the exact same in EW it would be a travesty for a job so vastly incomplete to not get anything while the other jobs get new tools and what not or worse .....get even more simpler since pressing a button 5 times in a row is to alienating and just remove it to make it accessible by reducing it to one. Also what does multiple jobs have anything to do with MCH being toothless

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Originally Posted by Jirah

a job with no care for positionals, cast bars, or even divergent rotations should have somthing anything to grant that extra step of mastery if MCH stays the exact same in EW it would be a travesty for a job so vastly incomplete to not get anything while the other jobs get new tools and what not or worse .....get even more simpler since pressing a button 5 times in a row is to alienating and just remove it to make it accessible by reducing it to one. Also what does multiple jobs have anything to do with MCH being toothless

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They should bring back it's cast times then. Many loved gun mage mch from HW and it looked super fun to play. I honestly think they should also bring back bow mage as well. I adored bow mage from HW and wouldn't mind its return. I don't move around as much as a range phy anyways so I wouldn't mind. Though that's just my opinion

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Originally Posted by Rymi64

They should bring back it's cast times then. Many loved gun mage mch from HW and it looked super fun to play. I honestly think they should also bring back bow mage as well. I adored bow mage from HW and wouldn't mind its return. I don't move around as much as a range phy anyways so I wouldn't mind. Though that's just my opinion

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The problem with Bowmage and Gunmage, BRD was not designed with casts in mind, MCH was. BRD ended up not giving a good feeling for older BRD players.
Then they removed casts and the problem did a 180. Since MCH was designed with Casts, many cooldown were now weird or kinda useless/incomplete such as rapidfire or ammos.

With all the instant casts BLM, SMN and RDM now have, ranged with casts could make a comeback under a new form. Not all GCDs being casts but why not only straight shot for BRD. Still, i don't know enough of BRD rotation to understand how it would impact the rotation overall.
I believe a 1.5 seconds cast could work to keep the "Mobility" aspect. A 2.5s cast would make MCH the least mobile job, even less mobile than BLM outside of leylines.

I've taken a look at the JP side and it looks like they also regret the removal of casts, the main argument being that there is now a lack of ingenuity. Like how Melees ask themselves "How can I safely go to melee range and do my positionnal" or casters "how can I get an additionnal cast there".
The ranged role clearly needs attention, not as much as SMN and the healers, but the problem can't be left ignored for another 2 years, especially for a whole role.

In regards to cast time on physical ranged, it worked well on MCH as not every GCD had a cast time. If you proced Slug or Clean Shot, they would instantly go off, this coupled with rapid fire mean it worked well, whereas BRD (from what I remember) had everything on the GCD and even Empyreal Arrow had a cast time despite being oGCD.

So, with that, having some GCDs have a cast time would be fine. Just to throw around my thought, on MCH, make Drill and/or Air Anchor have casts, but leave the main combo and heat Blast Alone. BRD, Refulgent Arrow can have a cast, maybe Apex Arrow? but I feel that should be an oGCD anyway.

Dancer could be a bit harder to fit one in. They have obviously never had cast times, so maybe have it on Saber Dance? No idea,

However, in regards to this, it would be nice to have some sort of unique mechanic in regards to ranged physical. It can be something similar to cast times, but different. If, for example, you charged the attack instead. You can still use it on the move, and you get X potency, however, if you let it charge for a max of, say, 1.5 seconds, it can have X+Y potency. If they were really ambitious, they could have an attack that would take 2 GCDs to cast (but I forsee alot of problems with that). However, rather than it be either one potency or the other, have the additional potency increase through the cast time, so, just to put some numbers to give a better idea, every 0.5 seconds of casting, you gain 20 potency. So instant cast would be X, after 0.5 seconds it would be X+20, after 1 second, X+40 and if you get the full cast, X+60. It still keeps the cast time, but makes it different. This could also lead to situations where it would be better to cut the cast short so that you can fit on 2 oGCDs for a potential DPS gain.

Of course, it also adds in more potential abilities, like one that stops the cast, but still gives the full potency etc.

I should add, I really don't use the physical ranged role much except Machinist, so if anything is off with Bard and Dancer, that will be why.

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Originally Posted by Colt47

I like machinist the way it is and I'm going to disagree here on the choice to make it more complex. The idea of this game is to run multiple jobs, not just one job, and there are jobs in this game that are waaaaaaaaaay too annoying to figure out, like Summoner largely due to how some of the skills work, along with Ninja.

I'm still kind of laughing at how I could level jump a Black Mage or Bard and not have an issue, but then legitimately level a summoner and realize at around level 78 I was doing the entire thing wrong. Ninja was the absolute worst of the bunch to level jump into because of the freaking Mudras. I don't even know if the quest line helps with that or not, but I can't see someone stepping into ninja and figuring out that job right out the gate.

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I think the problem isn't the job, it's the game that does a terrible job explaining rotations in the first place (understand, it doesn't explain anything).

SMN is fairly simple to understand if you carefully read all spells and abilities, like any other job. It's just that the game won't tell you that everything exists in a two minute cycle (110 seconds technically). Once you understand that, it's just easy to understand how the job flows because the big parts of its structure are mutually exclusive (the trances). Hitting on things when they are available is doing most of the job, the rest is optimization (and managing pet bugs).

The biggest issue in SMN right now is how each level cap brings something new that doesn't work with previous elements of its kit. Phoenix doesn't work like Bahamut, Bahamut doesn't work like Dreadwyrm Trance, Dreadwyrm Trance doesn't work like the Egi (the Egi doesn't work with Aetherflow and the DoTs).


The game should explain at least broadly what an oGCD ability is, how to use it and when. It should also have job quests (well, when we used to have them) teach you how your rotation works, especially at each level cap

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Originally Posted by Rymi64

They should bring back it's cast times then. Many loved gun mage mch from HW and it looked super fun to play. I honestly think they should also bring back bow mage as well. I adored bow mage from HW and wouldn't mind its return. I don't move around as much as a range phy anyways so I wouldn't mind. Though that's just my opinion

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I dont think MCH would improve at all if it got cast times it would require a rework to better base its kit around it. but I cant speak on that without talking about ranged as a whole which have alot of issues with its homogenized state and identity crisis.

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Originally Posted by Jirah

I dont think MCH would improve at all if it got cast times it would require a rework to better base its kit around it. but I cant speak on that without talking about ranged as a whole which have alot of issues with its homogenized state and identity crisis.

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The current ranged problem is that they're seen as "Casters without casts" or "Melees without melee ranged&positionnals", which falls again in the lack of ingenuity.
During SB, it was a mana resources battery with powerfull mitigation. If a Melee was KO'd, they needed TP. But the battery is not a part of the game anymore and mitigation has been nerfed way, waaay too much.

There was multiple suggestions to bring a bit more depth to all the rangeds such as different potencies based on range, it was debated that the best choice was closer = higher potencies to not conflict with healers. I have no idea which idea is better and if SQEX actually takes in account the community feedback.
They don't know what to do with BRD and missed multiple times an opportunity to buff the job, MCH recently had a rework that kept the weird Flamethrower and the latency issues. And they're happy with DNC, an unbalanced job in my opinion.

MCH was shining on gameplay and performance only in a third of HW. It was a mess during SB and during ShB, the rework was welcomed at first until most players realized it was an empty job. For the very first time, BRD is not the "best ranged" and lost its throne in the hardest way. I don't have huge expectations when it comes to the rangeds.

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Originally Posted by CKNovel

There was multiple suggestions to bring a bit more depth to all the rangeds such as different potencies based on range, it was debated that the best choice was closer = higher potencies to not conflict with healers. I have no idea which idea is better and if SQEX actually takes in account the community feedback.
They don't know what to do with BRD and missed multiple times an opportunity to buff the job, MCH recently had a rework that kept the weird Flamethrower and the latency issues. And they're happy with DNC, an unbalanced job in my opinion.

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After playing the ranged physicals and reading a bunch of people complaining about them being unfulfilling (and thinking the same myself), I had thought about different (unique) ways of introducing mechanisms regarding movement for ranged physical.

Melee have positionals and casters have cast bars, I had thought of range sections for ranged physical, similar to positionals, but some abilities did more damage at 0-5y, some more at 15+y, but you would need some new UI element that shows distance (or at least the different sections being used, e.g. 5y, 10y, 15y). On top of that, I think it would really be tough to balance high end encounters around something like that. It would definitely be cool though.

For MCH, I heard that it used to have ammo, but never really saw how that worked (I assume that it was just like any other Build Resources->Use Resources job). I think it would be cool to have a "reload" mechanism; Have MCH have a ton of different weaponskills (or the 1,2,3 combo with multiple charges and a couple of "bigger" attacks) that have a really long cooldown (e.g. 5 minutes) and another ability called "Reload" which has a shorter cooldown (e.g. 10s) and uses a GCD. Certain abilities (e.g. Drill/Anchor) would maintain their cooldown and Reload wouldn't affect those. Then maybe have some abilities do more damage the more abilities are on cooldown. So you sit there and attack and have a strategy on when you reload. Maybe you reload early to line up with buffs, but otherwise reloading uses up a GCD, so you want to make sure you use as many abilities as possible. Have an OGCD with a 5m cooldown that is "Quick Reload". Just seems like it would be a fun aesthetic.

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Originally Posted by LeonKeyh

For MCH, I heard that it used to have ammo, but never really saw how that worked (I assume that it was just like any other Build Resources->Use Resources job). I think it would be cool to have a "reload" mechanism; Have MCH have a ton of different weaponskills (or the 1,2,3 combo with multiple charges and a couple of "bigger" attacks) that have a really long cooldown (e.g. 5 minutes) and another ability called "Reload" which has a shorter cooldown (e.g. 10s) and uses a GCD. Certain abilities (e.g. Drill/Anchor) would maintain their cooldown and Reload wouldn't affect those. Then maybe have some abilities do more damage the more abilities are on cooldown. So you sit there and attack and have a strategy on when you reload. Maybe you reload early to line up with buffs, but otherwise reloading uses up a GCD, so you want to make sure you use as many abilities as possible. Have an OGCD with a 5m cooldown that is "Quick Reload". Just seems like it would be a fun aesthetic.

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Ammo back in the day used to boost the damage of the next weaponskill + give 100% chance for the regular combo to proc its next stage (before, each weaponskill had like 50% chance of proc the next stage). So you basically used it to have guaranteed combo continuity, but the thing is that it was very unfulfilling, but since it had quite a big downtime, you were forced to cope with your regular RNG clunky 1-2-3 combo for a good chunk of the fight (also you had to save ammo for the Wildfire). Your regular combo could sometimes get you to 1-1-1-1 depending on your luck.

I think ammo could be a nice element to re-introduce, but not like its original version. Maybe yeah, something as enhancing bigger attacks... Or even if the Gauss/Ricochet charges were actually the ammo count.

Procs, rapidfire and ammos also made "casts" instant back in HW.
Only Split shot (1), Lead shot (A dot) Hot Shot and Spread/Grenade shot were casts but as mentionned above, you could end up spamming 1 if you were unlucky.

In short, there wasn't much casts anyway.
Quick Reload was on 15s, Reload on 60s, rapid fire&Wildfire on a weird 90s. And if you needed to move, you could remove the Gauss Barrel or the Song to freely attack.

BLM being my main dps, it is also a job which I consider nearly perfect so what could be added is indeed a good question

- Visual & Potency buff -
Current best rotation is with high SS, skipping B4 and doing no F1. It is extremely clunky and unpleasant to play due to the way mp server tick work.
This is also not the way the job is intended to be played. The DPS gap is not high (a few %) but it's nonetheless there and it's frustrating to be forced to choose between "comfortable gameplay" and "best rotation"

New trait to upgrade B4 and F1 to ensure the proper rotation
Burning Ice
When using B3 in Astral Stance, your next B4 is CDH **or** Your Umbral Heart increase F4 damage have x% more crit
When using F3 in Umbral Stance, your next F1 becomes Triple Fire, (1.5s cast, deals 120x3 potency fire damage)
**Added baseline utility : B4 grant 5000mp**

This would ensure the usual rotation is BiS no matter what


Then, I consider with all the mobility we got, we kinda lost the fantasy or "I can't move ima turret", however since the gameplay flows so well, anything added has to not be disrubtive. This one is more of my own fantasy and I'm 99.999% sure nothing even close to that will make it into the game

Shatter
30s CD, only usable while under the effect of Ley Line
7s cast : 0 mp
Gather energy, while casting, every 1s you gain 1 stack of Void Energy (max7).
Upon finishing or cancelling the cast, deal 300 potency per stack. (don't forget it's not affected by AF)
SpellSpeed increase damage of this spell instead of reducing its casting speed.
Astral Fire and Umbral Ice duration stop decreasing while casting.
each stack is its own instance of damage to average crit rng, but only the total damage down is shown

So as said, the goal is to add some "I can't move" fantasy to the job without disturbing the rotation. LeyLine seems to be the best place to implement this as we're already trying our best to not move. To ensure this is not affecting our core rotation, the timer on AF and UI are frozen while casting, this ensure it can be done at any moment and not when the timer is above 10s.

Enhanced Thunder
I dunno how we could improve the thunder mecanic, it's the same since ARR yet it works so well....
but I want something new to it

RDMs needs 2 uses of its gapcloser. Then RDM would be perfect.

Edit: added the bottom, since i mistakenly double posted.

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Originally Posted by CKNovel

The problem with Bowmage and Gunmage, BRD was not designed with casts in mind, MCH was. BRD ended up not giving a good feeling for older BRD players.
Then they removed casts and the problem did a 180. Since MCH was designed with Casts, many cooldown were now weird or kinda useless/incomplete such as rapidfire or ammos.

With all the instant casts BLM, SMN and RDM now have, ranged with casts could make a comeback under a new form. Not all GCDs being casts but why not only straight shot for BRD. Still, i don't know enough of BRD rotation to understand how it would impact the rotation overall.
I believe a 1.5 seconds cast could work to keep the "Mobility" aspect. A 2.5s cast would make MCH the least mobile job, even less mobile than BLM outside of leylines.

I've taken a look at the JP side and it looks like they also regret the removal of casts, the main argument being that there is now a lack of ingenuity. Like how Melees ask themselves "How can I safely go to melee range and do my positionnal" or casters "how can I get an additionnal cast there".
The ranged role clearly needs attention, not as much as SMN and the healers, but the problem can't be left ignored for another 2 years, especially for a whole role.

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I never understood why they didnt give them short cast bars. 0.5s and 1s casts exist, so why didnt BRD/MCH have them? and as you put it, 1.5 works as well. (IMO it should be dependent on which skill you use, and offer at LEAST 1 skill thats instant)

I enjoy the Machinist as is and never really played it before this expansion. Adding anything that pins it to a position would take away what makes it great to me (Basically a structured Bard that has a rotation instead of a priority system). I just think there are far better things to worry about than trying to fix something that a lot of people are probably satisfied with.

The two Jobs that have the most issues in the game are probably Black Mage and Summoner. It has nothing to do with the End Game experience on them, because I think both are fairly good. Black Mage is just rough because what defines a caster is the casting timer, and it's the poster child of the entire caster lineup so it has some of the most outrageously big cast timers of any job. What makes those two problematic is that what they do changes a lot from low level to high level, making level sync a problem.

We can basically judge what is at the gold standard by what jobs are keeping the same rotation as they level up and just adding things to them. So stuff like Machinist actually is at gold standard. Dark Knight is another job at Gold Standard, and I believe the four jobs they introduced in the last two expansions are at gold standard. The ones that are problematic are ARR and HW. You can't really learn a job if the job doesn't even give you the right rotation until level 70 or 72. Paladin is kind of iffy on their rotation and I think they are definitely doing some tweaks to it come End Walker.