Please revert SAM 6.1 changes

I would like to request that the devs revert the changes made to SAM in 6.1. Burst damage is the core identity of SAM. The removal of Kaiten and redistribution of potency from the Iaijutsu, conflicts with the core identity of the class.

From day one the class was supposed to be centered around building up resources and spending them to achieve huge bursts of damage. In SB it was all about Hagakure Shinten spam. Which probably wasn't intended, but that's what happened. In ShB it was all about Midare, Senei, and later Shoha (once they fixed it). Build up resource, spend in burst. That's always... Always how it has been. If the Devs intention is to change the core identity of SAM, I would like to know. If it isn't their intention to change the core identity of SAM, the changes they made to SAM have gone too far.

Kaiten made the big hits bigger, feeding into the identity of the class, and made resource management an active part of the job. If the Devs intention was to reduce the amount of effort it took to manage kenki (which was minimal imo), removing Kaiten might have seemed like a good idea. But they removed a major contributor to the jobs identity without adding anything to fill in the gap. So, until they add something that fulfills Kaiten's role, they should leave Kaiten alone. {But seriously... what SAM main thought that kenki management needed to be simplified... whatever, doesn't matter.}

Similarly, spreading out the potencies from the Iaijutsu conflicts with SAM's core identity. SAM's identity is it's Iaijutsu. They are the only melee class in the game that has to cast any of it's abilities. The entire rotation is centered around it's Iaijutsu. Nearly every single ability that SAM possesses is connected to it's Iaijutsu. It's basic combos build up resources to utilize Iaijutsu. Three of it's off GCD abilities are tied to utilizing Iaijutsu (Kaiten makes them bigger, Meikyo gets them faster, and Ikishoten makes the biggest one available). So why would the devs deemphasize the Iaijutsu by spreading out their potency?

In order for SAM to feel good, in it's current state, with it's current abilities, the Iaijutsu need to feel big, at the very least. Now, if the devs want to change that emphasis on Iaijutsu, they need to rework SAM and clearly communicate what they think SAM's identity should be. Because everything they have done to SAM since it's introduction in SB (Removing Hagakure, Introducing Tsubame-Gaeshi, Changing Shoha, Introducing Ogi Namikiri) has been to emphasize the Iaijutsu.

So please, dev team, please revert the changes made to SAM in 6.1. They don't help. They make the class feel much worse. Please.

Midares and Namikiris feel like a wet noodle. It makes the loss of kaiten feel worst. Specially if you dont have an ogcd before the cast bars. There are so many good changes on this forums but going back is like one of the best things they can do. A hotfix is all we need.

Wholeheartedly agree with OP. The iaijutsu is the main emphasis. Middling damage as you build up your resources, and then when enough time has passed, the further you wait and build yourself, the more devastating the final blow is supposed to be. That was the whole core of the rotation. All the other stuff they've added was just fluff that reinforced that idea.

Iai should hit hard. All of them. Crit variance seems like a poor reason when that was how the job has functioned all this time. Unintentional or not, several aspects of SAM gameplay has fed into the idea of samurai from the rest of the FF franchise. Iai casts being a direct active representation of Cyan's sword tech from FF6 and what not. Could even argue that the disparity between crit and non crit are akin to using Gil Toss in other games as damage from that is typically 'a gamble' unless you're filthy rich.

All I wanna say is, the kit in 6.1 feels limp. Sure, trash mobs still die in a reasonable time. Sure, bosses still take die in a relatively similar time. But the fun of the job is gone if the one thing we're supposed to build to doesn't have an impact.

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Originally Posted by BurntMarshmallow

Similarly, spreading out the potencies from the Iaijutsu conflicts with SAM's core identity.

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What they did to our potency distribution is like if they took black mage and nerfed all the fire spells to buff all the ice spells and then lowered Xenoglossy's potency by 60% and made it auto-crit.

Well put. If they wanted to change Iaijutsu and crit variance as a whole, they should've made overhauls to all the classes in regards to synergy, not just us. All that these 6.1 changes did was make the class boring as it was during Stormblood release. Revert them please.

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Originally Posted by ShanaShirayuki

All that these 6.1 changes did was make the class boring as it was during Stormblood release.

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Now, I'm curious. Didn't the Samurai class during Stormblood include Kaiten?

If it was boring back then, and yet had Kaiten, how would its removal suddenly make the class as boring as back in Stormblood?

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Originally Posted by DPZ2

Now, I'm curious. Didn't the Samurai class during Stormblood include Kaiten?

If it was boring back then, and yet had Kaiten, how would its removal suddenly make the class as boring as back in Stormblood?

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Back then Hagakure gave 20 kenki for every Sen. So the typical play was to gather Sen, use Hagakure and spam Shinten versus using the actual kit for Iaijutsu. That's what folks mean by boring or reverting back to spam. SAM play like this had existed and the devs specifically tried to change that by altering Hagakure in Shadowbringers

Revert the changes, this job now feels unenjoyable and pathetic.