Discussion: Interesting Mechanics for your Jobs

In my boredom for this long graveyard shift, I got to thinking about how interesting it would have been if, rather than the current state of Dark Knights, if they had a unique mechanic where, will in Grit, they get an additional passive defensive bonus, at the cost of their MP i.e their MP will take the damage before their health does. Perhaps OP and it would definitely throw the shaky tank balance way out of whack, but I thought it was a fun thought. Figured I'd give voice to this and turn this over to the forums - to take a break from my other, more serious posts.

So how about you, OF? Any interesting mechanics that you could think of that might be interesting - might spruce up your chosen job(s)?

Being a Darl Main, I would have loved if their tank stance was not a simple rehash of Shield Oath, but an effect that reflect and leech back 20% of the damage you take at the cost of a higher penalty on your own damage.

As for their job gauge, I think it would also have been more interesting to have a gauge that fills overtime and boost your damage more and more but that shouldn't reach 100, so you'd have to keep it at a sweet pot to be the most efficient. Lorewise, you'd have to expell some of your Dark Energy frequently to prevent it from exploding inside you.

That would be pretty cool, much like how the early DRK quests, you keep getting warned not to drown in too much darkness. Something that makes DRK actually feel like an advanced tank would have been nice. The job gauge actually increasing your damage as you go over 50 blood...now that would've been nice. Something that forces you to actively balance the core concepts of the job that MSQ glazed over. Hell, it would be nice if we could actually pull in aspects of the 'personalities' that reside in us.

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Originally Posted by KaivaC

That would be pretty cool, much like how the early DRK quests, you keep getting warned not to drown in too much darkness.

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Taking even more inspiration from the early DRK quests, having the gauge reach 100 could have created an explosion and put you in "Down for the count" for a few seconds, like the first quest (And, let's say deactivate Dark Side). It means that if you know the ennemy will jump, you could have made your Dark Side explode on purpose before the down time.

It's pretty close to how the heat gauge work for MCH, but it would at least be different from the other tanks.

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Originally Posted by KaivaC

if they had a unique mechanic where, will in Grit, they get an additional passive defensive bonus, at the cost of their MP i.e their MP will take the damage before their health does.

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So technically Dark Knight has this in an active version via TBN, gaining a defensive bonus in the form of a shield at the expense of about a quarter of your base MP. The drawback of making something like that passive is that it provides less engaging gameplay (or at least that's what their argument would be along the lines of).

That being said though, there is a game where this specific mechanic has actually been done: Aion. The Aethertech class has a buff mechanic that involves reducing their damage taken by a sizeable amount for an extended period of time while having half of the damage reduced by the effect dealt as MP damage in addition to a constant MP drain as long as the effect remains active. To offset this, the Aethertech comes with a wider array of abilities that generate MP. It's certainly something to look at for future tanks in this game I'd think.

Considering DRK is getting a complete rework in 5.0 it will be interesting to see what changes they make.

Outside of TBN the defensive kit is a bit lacking compared to the other tanks. At the same time the offensive kit from HW was completely gutted which put a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

I am still hoping they bring back another DOT for DRK as well as bring the defensive kit up to par in 5.0

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Originally Posted by KaivaC

In my boredom for this long graveyard shift, I got to thinking about how interesting it would have been if, rather than the current state of Dark Knights, if they had a unique mechanic where, will in Grit, they get an additional passive defensive bonus, at the cost of their MP i.e their MP will take the damage before their health does. Perhaps OP and it would definitely throw the shaky tank balance way out of whack, but I thought it was a fun thought. Figured I'd give voice to this and turn this over to the forums - to take a break from my other, more serious posts.

So how about you, OF? Any interesting mechanics that you could think of that might be interesting - might spruce up your chosen job(s)?

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If you are so bored maybe this old and maybe forgotten thread may catch your interest and maybe lighten your boredom.

I'd like it if PLD got some kind of offensive abilities tied to its gauge, either an attack or maybe a damage buff that slowly drains it like old Dark Arts.