Freeze - Why Isn't It More Complimentary To Flare?

Hey there! So... any chance of buffing BLM's Freeze spell?

What it is currently:

Freeze
Cast Time: 2.85s
MP: 1760 (at Lv60)
"Covers area in ice, dealing ice damage with a potency of 100"
Additional Effect: Bind Duration: 15s (PVP 12s)
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice or Removes Astral Fire


What I would like it to be:

Freeze
Cast Time: 3.80s
MP: 1760 (at Lv60)
"Deals ice damage with a potency of 120 to a target and enemies near it."
Additional Effect: Bind Duration: 15s (PVP 12s)
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice III and removes Astral Fire Duration: 10s
Additional Effect: Costs 0 MP if used after Flare.

What that would do:

1.) It would change Freeze from an AoE that has to be aimed (which slows down BLM considerably by itself) into a target-based AoE like Fire II.

2.) Increase Freeze's cast time to match Flare's for balance, then buff damage by a potency of 20.

3.) Grant an option for what to do after Flare rather than Transpose.

I wouldn't say no. I am only level 54 on BLM and I admit after my Flare > Convert > Flare Transpose...I kinda just sit there waiting for a MP tic. Maybe I am doing something wrong? lol

I'd certainly like that; it'd be quite a bit faster getting your mp back without having to Transpose. And then on top of it, you'd get an extra little bit of damage for your aoe rotation where there'd normally be like four seconds of waiting.

I'd be a bit sad to lose some of its utility in PVP (which is virtually the only time I even use Freeze) with that longer cast time. Not against your overall line of thought, however; it would be nice to get more use out of the spell and I'm not a huge fan of template spells on a controller.

Ground Targetting skills on this game are so awkward anyway, and making freeze worth something would be great.

Obviously needs some balance, as it would just be a straight buff to BLM in PVE situations.

I miss the original freeze from version 1, it was target not ground based, it didn't do much in dmg but it lowered your enmity significantly which was helpful in a pinch.

Should cause Frozen status effect. Bind effect but attacks won't negate it until the duration is over. It's supposed to be a powerful Ice spell. Make it one.

Or hell even make it work like Salted Earth. Anyone that walks in the Circle gets binded and causes DoT damage for like 15-20 seconds.

Otherwise it will always remain a flavor of the day PvP skill.

You know what I end up doing in PvP? It's either Freeze for the bind or Sleep. And half the time that's all I can do.

This is probably one of the best skill suggestions I've seen on this forum. Having to transpose after flare and wait for a mana tick feels quite clunky.

Freeze's best effect is telling you who the bad black mages are. (pvp notwithstanding)

While I do feel that Freeze could use some adjustment to make it actually useful...

Quote:

---

Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice III and removes Astral Fire Duration: 10s
Additional Effect: Costs 0 MP if used after Flare.

---

...that pretty much nullifies Flare's primary drawback.

Probably won't happen based on that.