Dear Bioblaster

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Originally Posted by War-Eagle

I have to agree. I'm on the receiving end of machinist damage all the time and they consistently get highest or 2nd highest damage in most matches. Now, I imagine if they don't ever have to get close to anyone ever then that damage would be even higher.

Seriously, you want infinite harass from safety but you are already terrifying.

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Terrifying? A Machinist is one of the most fragile things in Frontlines. If you start wailing on him, you'll cost him the mana he needs to Recuperate if not downright kill him because he has nothing to defend himself unless he's inside his Bishop and even then, that's just a last ditch effort to maybe not die horribly. If you get a Machinist to Guard, you probably cost him his Heat charges because he can't afford to walk-cast to charge while he's running from fire.

They're balancing for CC and screwing FL. Also, "Deleting peple every 90s" is pathetic close to what a Ninja can do, or a Samurai. If you really think a class needs to have a shit kit just because he has one LB (That can be guarded anyways) then just kill off NIN, SAM, WAR, WHM, DRG and every other class with a potentially good LB. Don't lock half of Machinist's kit behind throwing himself to the Melees, ESPECIALLY NOW THAT THEY REMOVED BIOBLASTER AS A WILDFIRE THING!

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Originally Posted by ReiganCross

And now, because this goddamn action NEEDS to be bad and in their efforts to make Machinist bad everywhere they go because we're not allowed to have nice things... They removed Bioblaster as a Wildfire activator...

It's like you took my feedback and decided that I needed to hate this thing more, not less. In the name of all Machinist constantly being screwed out of being allowed to deal damage or being remotely good, I hate you, balance guy.

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Seriously, this change single-handedly makes me not want to pvp anymore… it may sound overdramatic but it’s less about the move and more about what it represents.

Bioblaster literally exists for no reason other than to make MCH weaker, bioblaster primed should really be considered a debuff, then we find one good thing about it that actually makes it kinda viable to use and SE response? “Patch that immediately!”…. Like how tone deaf can you be?

I agree.

Bioblaster seems to be some sort of attempt to keep MCH balanced, but it just serves as a debuff in your rotation that forces you into a bad play to "purify" it and access your good buttons again. It isn't fun. Deliberately destroying a jobs gameplay enjoyment isn't how you do balance.

OwO It could be nice.

Bioblaster should be it's own button as it DOES have uses, but I'd much rather get air anchor yeah.

I've started watching enemy MCHs for Bioblaster Ready; it's depressing how much you can restrict them just by being aware of the tool combo. Unless they can sneak out of objective fights for a duel, they've got to step up eventually, so all you have to do is keep one eye open and one finger on your CC...

This wasn't a balancing decision.

They literally just lifted the skill from old PVP without changing anything.

I'm willing to bet they didn't even notice that they'd grouped a 12y skill into a rotation with 25y skills.

They simply didn't think about the implications.

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Originally Posted by XgungraveX

I just checked I thought it was 5% but the tooltip says 3%.

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I _think_ 6.11 fixed it, but it showed 5% on the Analysis tooltip, but 3% on the Chainsaw tooltip. I imagine that the Chainsaw one was the correct one.

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Originally Posted by Sarevok_Thordin

Bioblaster should be it's own button as it DOES have uses, but I'd much rather get air anchor yeah.

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The only reason I suggest making it rotate with Scatter Gun is because Square seems to be very inclined into giving the jobs the least ammount of buttons possible...

Otherwise I'd not only suggest Bioblaster be his own button, but also Hypercharge that then changes to Heat Blast, charged with Heat stacks that DOESN'T DECAY, so you can actually have some degree of control over your Overheat window.

But if they're gonna go with the least ammount of buttons, Bioblaster actually does have the same range of Scatter Gun so using one after the other doesn't seem that bad. If anything you'd need to cleanse Scatter Gun to be able to get Bioblaster. (You'd also need to just assume he has his primed effect by default since Analyze is designed to work with the other button.)

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Originally Posted by GayRobot

I've started watching enemy MCHs for Bioblaster Ready; it's depressing how much you can restrict them just by being aware of the tool combo. Unless they can sneak out of objective fights for a duel, they've got to step up eventually, so all you have to do is keep one eye open and one finger on your CC...

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Exactly my point. And I hate it with a burning passion.

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Originally Posted by AorusCorsair

This wasn't a balancing decision.

They literally just lifted the skill from old PVP without changing anything.

I'm willing to bet they didn't even notice that they'd grouped a 12y skill into a rotation with 25y skills.

They simply didn't think about the implications.

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Nah, I don't think it is incompetence in this case. I think the Idea is making sure that this guy is forced into a range where the other players can kill him. That's why so many ranged classes have close-ranged cones/dashes. Which in one way I get, you don't want people just permanently in the safety of their 25y just kiting players.

It's just that Machinist is uniquely disabled in the name of that. He already has Scatter Gun which would slot in the same place as SCH's Mumify, BLM's Burst, SMN's Crimson Cyclone, BRD's Repelling Shot, WHM's Seraph Strke... But he ADDITIONALLY has to deal with that on Bioblaster, on top of already essentially never being able to Scatter Gun because you need to think about dumping Bioblaster first (And you can't even weave Scatter Gun like you used to be able to Blank.)

They want to make ranged people close into melee people so they're not constantly kiting (Like happened a lot before 6.1), but they DOUBLED DOWN on Machinist. And when Machinist finally found something good about that lock, they made sure it didn't work. To make damn certain that Bioblaster is a PUNISHMENT, not an actual tool.

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Originally Posted by Anzaman

Bioblaster having 12y range, and then being tied to same button with 3 other abilities that have 25y range just feels bad.

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This right here is why I gave up on MCH after the first day of the update. It just feels terrible.

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Originally Posted by Darthgummibear

This right here is why I gave up on MCH after the first day of the update. It just feels terrible.

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Yep, same here. The rest of the kit feels super fun for pvp, but bioblaster straight up killed it for me.

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Originally Posted by AorusCorsair

This wasn't a balancing decision.

They literally just lifted the skill from old PVP without changing anything.

I'm willing to bet they didn't even notice that they'd grouped a 12y skill into a rotation with 25y skills.

They simply didn't think about the implications.

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Pretty much this. It actually may be more accurate to consider it a purely aesthetic choice. Drill, Bioblaster, Air Anchor, and Chain Saw all utilize MCH's big "multitool" whereas their other actions don't. That's the only reason why those four actions were paired together. I don't think consideration was taken for how the inclusion of Bioblaster would negatively impact the flow of the job.

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Originally Posted by Blueyes

Pretty much this. It actually may be more accurate to consider it a purely aesthetic choice. Drill, Bioblaster, Air Anchor, and Chain Saw all utilize MCH's big "multitool" whereas their other actions don't. That's the only reason why those four actions were paired together. I don't think consideration was taken for how the inclusion of Bioblaster would negatively impact the flow of the job.

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I truly believe they knew Bioblaster would force MCH to get too close for comfort and therefore wouldn't spam his big multitool. To make sure that wasn't the case they even had them all share stacks.

I do not think this was an oversight, this seems to be very much a conscious effort on their part. They made this on purpose and I think that is much worse than just wanting things to be pretty.

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Originally Posted by ReiganCross

Exactly! It's a total of 16k damage but spread out over 9 seconds. It feels like: "You go there and get under the range of their 3 Dragoons or I'm keeping all those skills to myself!" And for what? A DoT they can easily heal away? No way I'm spending Analysis on this garbage, either, especially if all that does is add a pathetic slow they won't even need to remove because I'm now well within range of most things they'll want to throw at me anyways.

Maybe it would be worth if I could hit the entire party with it, but getting close to an entire 5-man team?! Are you insane?! How do you think I'll make it out alive from that move? No ammount of Guard in the World will save my squishy behind.

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16k damage over 9 sec is pretty good. The issue is the short range. I don't think it needs a range extension, but it should just not be part of the core rotation. I feel like the MCH class fantasy is picking the right tool for the job, meaning you'd separate all of the Cid-tools and retune things from there. Bioblaster could be your close range, high damage weapon (this would normally be the flamer, but a channeled cast is not going to function in the fast pace of the PvP revamp.)

People keep discounting dots and I think it's because they don't realize how important attrition is, especially at high skill. Players above a certain threshold of skill are *not* going to die to burst or CC chains with any regularity, because they know better than to put themselves in positions where that's likely to happen. They'll Guard it, their teammates will protect them, etc. You'll sometimes be able to pop someone, but it's not common. Instead, at higher levels of play, attrition is the primary goal. Your targets are prioritized based on their remaining mana (and whether or not they have Purify or, especially, Guard available.) Forcing someone to pop one of their four potions to recover from a dot is significant. Better still if you can apply that to multiple targets (which is why SCH is so strong.)

Heavy is also pretty useful. It's the weakest of the various CC effects, but it also lasts the longest and is very problematic for healers, casters, and pretty much anyone else without a readily available dash. Being stuck in the open is a death sentence (higher skill players avoid being burst down primarily by hugging corners and pillars to quickly LOS if they are targeted, after all.)

I think Bioblaster is completely fine as-is. The only issue is that you are forced to use it in order to access other tools. I think that entire design is against the concept of MCH as a whole. Instead of needing "Bioblaster Ready" or whatever, they should just handle it like NIN mudras - all of your tools share the same 2 charges, and you cannot use the same tool twice in a row. Maybe they could add optional combo bonuses for using specific tools in a chain, but I feel like Analysis already kind of covers that idea.

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Originally Posted by Gserpent

I think Bioblaster is completely fine as-is. The only issue is that you are forced to use it in order to access other tools. I think that entire design is against the concept of MCH as a whole. Instead of needing "Bioblaster Ready" or whatever, they should just handle it like NIN mudras - all of your tools share the same 2 charges, and you cannot use the same tool twice in a row. Maybe they could add optional combo bonuses for using specific tools in a chain, but I feel like Analysis already kind of covers that idea.

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Yeah, I'm less discounting Bioblaster as a good skill on it's own and more complaining about the problem of HAVING to use it. And that is an expert example, imagine if Ninja had to use every single one of their Ninjutsus in a row. Imagine if you had to Raiju, then Huton, then Suiton, THEN you're allowed to Hyosho and THEN you're allowed to Gokka, and that's not even the best order because you kind of want your stuns to follow a DoT and then your big hit to hit them while they're low. But if you're forced into an order than you're not exactly expressing any skills aside from where to DUMP your skills away.

Hell, I can easily see myself using Air Anchor - Drill and keep swapping between them for poking harassment, and then closing in with Bioblaster - Chain Saw for finishers. That would indeed be an infinitely less restrictive system and wouldn't FORCE me to find a situation to use Bioblaster in just so I can move on with the rest of my machinery.
I can already see the mapping: New button - Reassemble (Same Icon and Animation), press it to select a multitool (Like you would Ninjutsu), then Blast Charge turns into Drill, Bishop Autoturret turns into Air Anchor, Reassemble turns into Chain Saw and Scatter Gun turns into Bioblaster. (You keep Analysis unchanged so you can decide if you want to Analysis or not after you press the Machinery button.)

Bioblaster isn't bad. The slow is, you're literally shoving a slow on a momment where the guy needs to move the least to hit you. Heavy isn't bad, but when you're getting closer to them is the worst time to slow them. But the damage itself and the damage of the DoT is perfect, especially because it keeps ticking on Guard (Which would be REALLY useful if Drill wasn't shoe-horned to work BEFORE Bioblaster...) It was EVEN BETTER when they allowed Wildfire to explode on Bioblaster ticks, but I'm guessing it was too hard to make it so it didn't count as an extra 4th stack of Wildfire if it ticked together with a last shot, or they just wanted to make Bioblaster the worst it could be.

But the way the skill is layed out, I'd really rather have it be a poison grenade that you just put on a 25y distance, 5y radius instead of the cone. It would literally be less area, but at least I wouldn't be shoved into Melee to be allowed to reach for my Air Anchor. Or just make it rotate with Scatter Gun, which would'nt be the best since you kind of want your Scatter Gun ready at all times for Wildfire (Not for the knockback, though, that thing NEVER works in the right direction). Or in any other way that I get to use my other multitool gadgetry without being Bioblaster blocked.

Ya the concept of bioblaster is perfectly fine. I just think it should be its own damn button.

Just turn bioblaster into a gas grenade, thrown ground aoe on selected target. Same effective better range

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Originally Posted by Darkpaw

Just turn bioblaster into a gas grenade, thrown ground aoe on selected target. Same effective better range

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That would be perfect honestly. It would be like the snipers poison grenade in swtor.

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Originally Posted by ReiganCross

I truly believe they knew Bioblaster would force MCH to get too close for comfort and therefore wouldn't spam his big multitool. To make sure that wasn't the case they even had them all share stacks.

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I think analysis already compensates for that. Only having two stacks of Analysis means that to burst I want to drill but hten I have to move in, use bio, and then analysis either on that or air anchor to stun.

Imo if they did Bio > Anchor > Chainsaw > Drill it would more accurately align the "flow" of the job. You put bio/turret, can cc with anchor, can aoe with chainsaw and secure the kill with Drill.

With cooldowns being what they are (maybe I just suck at the job that's possible too) I often have analysis up without the skill I want to use it on or don't have analysis for Drill meaning I'm sitting on it waiting for my burst.

If you keep the same cds but move the skils around you can still use analysis for bio/anchor but if you want to REALLY burst you have to analyze > saw > analyze > Drill which puts everything on cooldown for around the time it'll take to get back to that combo.

I'd just pull Bioblaster out of the combo and toss it as it's own button, next to Scattergun, but also make Scattergun and Bioblaster share a cooldown with each. They could even take Analysis off Bioblaster and keep the damage/DoT and just give it a flat -25% movement/health recovery as the trade for not punting back, but being in melee. This is why I've been playing Bard strictly, especially in Frontlines, compared to MCH.

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Originally Posted by Caddo

I'd just pull Bioblaster out of the combo and toss it as it's own button, next to Scattergun, but also make Scattergun and Bioblaster share a cooldown with each. They could even take Analysis off Bioblaster and keep the damage/DoT and just give it a flat -25% movement/health recovery as the trade for not punting back, but being in melee. This is why I've been playing Bard strictly, especially in Frontlines, compared to MCH.

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It would be kind of weird to pretty much never Scattergun because Bioblaster is that superior to it.

You get 12k from Scatter Gun if you hit single-target, you get 12k from Bioblaster regardless of target numbers. So you'd be choosing instant-damage + knockback over DoT damage, which normally would mean instant wins but can you really risk having someone else ruining your Scatter Gun damage? I don't feel like that's a very good choice considering Bioblaster, even without ever being able to throw Analysis on it, would just be superior in almost every situation. Hell, if you just pick ONE second target, Bioblaster is double the damage output. And it's not even an obvious output, it's the kind of damage that creeps up on your target, killing him when he least expects it (Even inside of guard.)