Just another <TP> Revision Idea
Another take on TP…
Please, spare the analogies to other FFXIV iterations that this suggestion may warrant.
My only intentions here are to:- Create an analog resource that classes can each use in unique ways atop a more universal concept of combat dynamics, thereby smoothing out certain current mechanics, which should seem gimmicky or rigid compared to their replacements that use this system.
- Give greater means to pool output potential beyond cooldowns alone.
Accelerate combat entry. You and a mob pack shouldn’t have to charge at one another just to begin anticlimactically poking each other via openers, reaching full combat only after 3 to 5 GCDs.
- Reiterate the idea of “combos”. Combos should no longer be, in terms of points of decision, a single skill with up to three preparative key-presses. Finishers may be rushed or overcharged, bridges enhanced, etc.
- Give a means for tanks to balance or capitalize upon offense or defense beyond mere stance-dancing.
Though not a part of the TP revision itself, these changes parallel certain other changes:- Skills now more fully function as they would appear to function. What would appear to cleave, does (Spinning Slash). What looks capable of comically flattening an opponent, can (Skull Sunder). What looks like it should launch the target skyward, will (Full Thrust). What looks like a simultaneous counter-attack, is (Savage Blade).
- Many AoE attacks may now have situational single-target uses, and vice-versa.
- TP now plays a part even among casters and healers.
- MP now plays a part among all tanks and physical attackers.
- Sprint has been modified to grant more control and is now a more integral, though still costly and situational, part of gameplay.
- Jump has been modified to a dynamic movement key that should provide more combat-usability. Its quality of life uses, such as when paired with camera facing to prevent auto-facing, are now provided by default.
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The TP Revision:- TP is now a resource that is both spent and built by your skills and abilities, and further generated from mitigation done and damage taken. Combos, additionally, have been removed in their strictest sense; weapon-chains are now more lenient. No longer is any skill prevented outright by having not followed a specific series of actions. Instead, its cost is only moderately decreased or its effectiveness increased.
- Those skills that previously served as combo “openers” spend very little TP, and build a large amount. Combo “bridges” consume a larger amount, both as a flat value and a portion of current total TP (for enhanced effectiveness), and generate less. “Finishers” consume a yet larger amount, as a portion of current TP for proportionately enhanced effectiveness.
- TP has a resting period of approximately a half its maximum amount, enough to launch a combo finisher upon engagement if so desired. TP fills more quickly the less it’s filled, slowing from 0% to 50% full, and fills thrice as quickly when out of combat. For most jobs, this is not enough of a benefit to counteract the damage bonuses of playing at higher TP levels, wherein higher potency may also mean more TP generation, but this universal mechanic is played on in a variety of ways to further differentiate class gameplay.
- Because TP generation benefits from damage taken and mitigated, tanks in particular have enhanced resource generation. In turn, many defensive abilities and certain offensive or utility skills or abilities now make use of TP. This allows tanks to further prioritize between enhanced rate of bridges and finishers or enhanced ability output, to any degree thereof or there-between, for either of offensive or defensive purposes.
Examples of Gameplay (General):Overall, gameplay is not highly changed by this revision alone. Optimally speaking, combos are still used in mostly the same manner as before. However, optimal rotations may now prefer that TP be pooled in preparation for certain skills, for their enhanced effectiveness, or that a finisher be rushed in order to fit in another before it, spread debuffs more quickly, or so forth.
The revision therefore gives a sense of macro-rotation, strategy stretching beyond a single window of returning least common multiples in weaponskill and ability alignment. It also, varying from job to job, gives a sense of a gamble, wherein increased output may or may not be worth the additional spending done, or wherein output returns greater resource which can then return greater output (especially true of Warrior and Monk).
More importantly, however, TP can interact with class and job mechanics, altering a Dragoon’s jump height and impact damage, Ninja’s stealth bonuses or mudra effectiveness, the Monk’s speed, etc. By attaching many of these mechanics to a more analog resource, skill priorities may further vary situationally and rotationally, and their benefits may be experienced more smoothly, allowing for greater gameplay dynamics. Many, many skills have been adjusted for this reason, and new passives have been added to certain jobs to give a more pervasive sense of theme.