Classes and Rotations to be "Easier" in 4.0. Predictions, Concerns, and Discussion.

As per the title, what all do you think these changes are going to apply to, and in your opinion what all or to what point should they be applied to?

I can only predict that even though they stated this, there will be ways to optimize your output. Otherwise the game would break in two.

iirc, in that interview Yoshi mentioned that he did not want to add so many "breaks" in combat which staggered the flow of the fight.

With that statement I can already assume the MNK move Tornado Kick will be revised or removed.

I can also assume potential skill consolidation.

All speculation but that's what I think is going to happen.

probably tiny fixes to things like drg 4th hit always being random, skill consolidation like you said. maybe enochian refreshing differently, extending timers on certain debuffs/buffs like heavy thrust, etc.

I expect that they'll make the timers for, say, enochian and BotD more lenient - maybe buff certain skills so that dropping enochian/BotD doesn't completely ruin you. Other than that, I hope for a bit of skill trimming to reduce the amount of buttons needed. For example, Stone III could have been a trait applied to Stone II at level 54, rather than a completely new skill. This way, I wouldn't have to keep a useless skill on my bar (or else constantly switch it out) in case I'm running content where I'm synced down.

I'd also like to see skills that, when activated, immediately switch into another skill. You can do this with macros and hotbar switching, but it's much clunkier than it could be. An example for this is the SMN's dreadwrym trance. Instead of having two separate hotkeys for dreadwyrm trance and deathflare, I'd like to see the skill toggle automatically into deathflare when DT is activated, since deathflare cannot be used outside of DT and ends it upon use. Something similar could be done with tank stances.

At first glance I'm somewhat concerned about the whole thing. It might only improve gameplay, but it might also trash gameplay I currently enjoy.

I play monk a lot. I love monk. The only thing I might change is to add one or two more things to do with meditation, and/or buff purification (since it restores less TP than cross-classed invigorate and is on the same cooldown). But neither of those really seem to qualify as changing the rotation, and certainly wouldn't be making it simpler. They could do things like make Twin Snakes simply a trait that adds the buff to True Strike, and, while I wouldn't be heartbroken over such a change, I like the number of skills monks have now. Same could be said for dragon kick. In more serious methods of making the job "Easier," they could reduce monks to two forms, get rid of our DoTs, reduce the number of oGCD abilities we have, or just roll back to the lv50 set of skills. Any of those, especially in combination, would probably send me to another job (or another game).

In contrast, I've leveled Black Mage to 60, but basically never play it. I basically never play it because the lv60 rotation feels clunky to me. First off, with how casters are structured in this game, anytime a caster wants to activate an oGCD ability, it is paired with downtime. Downtime on a DPS means lower DPS (there are some instants BLM has, but scathe would still be a decrease to DPS and Firestarter is a proc). At lv50, BLM had one damage buffing CD, raging strikes, and it was a cross-class ability. Between 50 and 60, they added Sharpcast, Enochian, and Ley Lines. The additional oGCDs annoy me, but I'm sure many people are not annoyed. The other issue I have with BLM is a vague timing complaint about enochian and Fire IV. Without ley lines up, a UI3-cast Fire III will only allow me 2 Fire IVs before I have to refresh AF, but a normally cast Fire III will allow me 3. In either case, it's a very small number of skills before I have to refresh AF. That by itself wouldn't be too bad. Even managing Enochian, Astral Fire, and MP wouldn't be too bad. It's when you have to manage Enochian, Astral Fire, MP, movement, thunderclouds, and the couple of oGCDs that I get sick of it. The windows are small and the interruptions and managed numbers many. There are a number of things they could do to make it more straightforward, and I would welcome just about anything.

I assume they plan to back away from the 'buff maintenance' they added to several jobs.

Some people find it fun, but not enough people to justify so many jobs having a variant of it.

I don't think we'll see some heavy changes, but I can see them being less strict on certain jobs to help bring numbers up across the board, much like they are with the change to auto-attacks coming soon.

Personally, I'd like them to look at maintence buffs ( BoTD, GL, Enochain), and scrap Cleric stance in favor of buffing all potencys of healing dps spells (Stone, Malefic, Dots, ect.). A change to Wanderer's Minuet and guassbarrel, away from having to plant myself like a tree .

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Originally Posted by Jandor

I assume they plan to back away from the 'buff maintenance' they added to several jobs.

Some people find it fun, but not enough people to justify so many jobs having a variant of it.

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That's the thing, though. Not every job should be about stacks or buffs or <insert other overused mechanic>. You can have jobs with varying levels of difficulty or focused on certain mechanics while excluding others. When ROG/NIN was implemented, some people expectedly switched mains because ROG/NIN was not chained to positional attacks the way MNK and DRG were. This is also why people lost their shit when the devs talked about wanting to add positionals to NIN; the very thing they were trying to get away from was being forced on them through lack of alternatives.

Yes! TY, SE! I'm so tired of spending more time on the rotations above anything else! TY!

I literally spend most of the time in battles staring at the crossbar.

Reduce all classes to 2 buttons.

Heavy Attack
Light Attack

By pressing these buttons either rapidly or in alternating orders it will always perform all optimal skills.