petition to return the glad block ability

So SE has removed the gladiator block ability in favor of auto-block, great right? No, it sucks. we longer control the pace of our blocks. I for one had no problem keeping my shield up and would much rather hit my guard ability every 20 seconds if the alternative is no def and barley any blocks. A classic case of trying to fix something that wasn't broken and in turn breaking it.

This needs to be fixed(before 1.20)

EDIT: i better option would have been to leave the block ability and add auto block. The auto block could go into effect when our shield arm falls, but keep the block ability for people who wanna control the pace of their blocks.

all of your skills are on timers, i dont know why people find guard so cumbersome when it was the same as hitting any other skill

I will have to disagree. There are some things that simply were not fun to do while fighting as a GLA and one of them was to keep your shield up by pressing repeatedly a key. GLA has many skills on its own and after you cross class, enough to keep you busy, while if you didn't put your shield up, for any reason, now you have a useless item equipped.

I would rather my attention go into my surroundings and the state of battle, than to my shield arm constantly.

well now shields rarely block at all. and before if you didnt block you had the added bonus of the defense on the shield. now you dont have that anymore either.

I wouldn't mind an auto-block feature that works but what we have now is garbage.

auto block != block 100%.
Guard was heavely broken, but (as already stated by many, SE in primis) block rate need to be raised

Block rate needs to be raised also I've noticed that "partial blocks" have next to 0 damage mitigation. Also parry should be available. GLA's are supposedly the 1on1 tank specialist while MRD is your horde tank specialist atm.

I wouldnt even mind if they did make it more so GLA blocks and parries were excellent against 1 mob directly and weaker against any others attacking you.

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Originally Posted by yukikaze_yanagi

auto block != block 100%.
Guard was heavely broken, but (as already stated by many, SE in primis) block rate need to be raised

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guard was not heavily broken, is was annoying. But id rather be annoyed and have something that works then have my shield stripped of all its defense stats and have an auto block that doesn't work.

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Originally Posted by syntaxlies

and before if you didnt block you had the added bonus of the defense on the shield

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Nope, that's not how it worked. That stat has been renamed to Block to clear up that confusion. Shields never gave flat defense.

Also as a level 50 GLA you still have 100% uptime on your shield boon rotation so you would never use guard anyway, they just need to raise the block rate which they've already said they are looking in to. I would like them to lower the recast on ambidexterity though.

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Originally Posted by syntaxlies

This needs to be fixed(before 1.20)

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Why? My GLA does great aside from strongholds, and that's not because MRD is a better tank, it's just that you don't need one in the strongholds outside of the Zahar'ak boss. People use MRD on Ifrit because again, it's not about MRD being a better tank it's because the tank is unnecessary. Ifrit is unblockable most of the time and is physically incapable of killing the person at the top of the hate list, so why take a dedicated tank? More time in the fight is more time for people to mess up.

As much as I enjoyed soloing Great Buffalo for 30 minutes as GLA I don't think we need 100% block back or that useless guard button taking up a slot on our bars. If you want to block more get sentinel's gauntlets and HQ shields, and make sure you use ambidexterity on a mitigation boon instead of outmaneuver.

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Originally Posted by syntaxlies

i know im one of the few who prob like guard so ill lock this thread i suppose

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What I'm saying is, you don't like GUARD you like having 100% block rate. We still have to hit a button all of the time on Lv. 50 GLA so adding guard back would do nothing, they just need to up the block rate or make it more influenced on our stats so we can work towards better block with materia or HQs.

i jsut want it fixed. I really wouldn't car if we kept auto block or had guard. as of now i was better off with the guard, if the fix auto-block then im sure it will be good. I just hate having to wait for 2-3 months for these simple fixes to come in cause they seem to only do them with the e big patches.

I agree. I told this was stupidity of them when they started with that "remove guard skill" topic...it was obvious that it would f'up GLA.

The "FFXI was this way" logic rarely actually offered better results than the old system...no wonder the battle system is the weak link of this game.

Yo

As stufoo has said You would never use the "Guard" ability anyway because you have Aegis Boon II, Deflection, and Outmaneuver on 30s durations and 90s cooldowns. 30s x 3 = 90s

As long as they up the block rate i would be pleased. The way it is now I am almost tempted to drop the shield so I can parry. Parry is a stat I can incrase with materia so thats something. if they did the same with shield block it would be a lot better.

I agree, using my common sense of cross examining the functionality of skill, I'd rather have a new ability. If they would add something to ..."Guard" instead than just rising your shield, how about rising your shield and sword, countering with every block? Now that would be different, that would catch the enemy off guard and deal 25% more dmg.

Auto guard makes more sense and it give us the choice to up our blocking rate, that's what RPGs all about, choices.

Should be, Block only works on the target you target (with raised %), and parry can work on any mob in a cone area in front of you.

with shield abilities leaving CNj and THM (sons of Bs)
they need to give something worthwhile to the mages wearing them, besides a 1% dmg mitigation of -0 dmg

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Originally Posted by Brannigan

Yo

As stufoo has said You would never use the "Guard" ability anyway because you have Aegis Boon II, Deflection, and Outmaneuver on 30s durations and 90s cooldowns. 30s x 3 = 90s

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some guard durations are lower the the skill durations, so yes you would

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Originally Posted by syntaxlies

some guard durations are lower the the skill durations, so yes you would

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What.

They last 30 seconds each and have a 90 second cooldown, regardless of what shield you have equipped (as of 1.19)

Use Aegis->wait 30 seconds->Deflection->wait 30 seconds->Outmaneuver->wait 30 seconds->Aegis comes off cooldown.

30 + 30 + 30 is 90 if you didn't know.

Seriously how are you not getting this? Do you not play the game or something? Did your gladiator get powerleveled to 50?

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Originally Posted by Stufoo

What I'm saying is, you don't like GUARD you like having 100% block rate.

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This. I think it's hilarious that the OP wishes to have the flawed blocking mechanism "fixed" by reinstating a bad mechanic that was removed for a reason just so he can have his block rate back. Fixing things by breaking them, only in a different way, must be the least innovative way to change things imaginable.

Anyway, I don't really like the way the shield works in general. You don't have to time anything, or think for that matter, as long as you just keep rotating your shield skills. Pre 1.18 the abilities were very impactful, which is how it should be, however, the constant rotation took away the need to time them carefully. I think they were intended to be panic buttons but instead you could just keep them going indefinitely.

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Originally Posted by Brannigan

What.

They last 30 seconds each and have a 90 second cooldown, regardless of what shield you have equipped (as of 1.19)

Use Aegis->wait 30 seconds->Deflection->wait 30 seconds->Outmaneuver->wait 30 seconds->Aegis comes off cooldown.

30 + 30 + 30 is 90 if you didn't know.

Seriously how are you not getting this? Do you not play the game or something? Did your gladiator get powerleveled to 50?

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just because you used a skill taht lasted 30 seconds didnt mean your guard stayed up for 30 seconds. different shields had different guard durations

scutum wield rate 10 seconds plus 50%self preservation = 15 seconds that means after 15 seconds of hitting your ability your guard would have to be activated because your shield arm would fall.

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Originally Posted by Frein

This. I think it's hilarious that the OP wishes to have the flawed blocking mechanism "fixed" by reinstating a bad mechanic that was removed for a reason just so he can have his block rate back. Fixing things by breaking them, only in a different way, must be the least innovative way to change things imaginable.

Anyway, I don't really like the way the shield works in general. You don't have to time anything, or think for that matter, as long as you just keep rotating your shield skills. Pre 1.18 the abilities were very impactful, which is how it should be, however, the constant rotation took away the need to time them carefully. I think they were intended to be panic buttons but instead you could just keep them going indefinitely.

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you obsly didnt read that much of the thread. i would like to have guard back in exchange of what we have now. i have said at least once that i wouldn't mind an auto block system that works, but given what we have now or what we had before id take what we had before.

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Originally Posted by syntaxlies

you obsly didnt read that much of the thread. i would like to have guard back in exchange of what we have now. i have said at least once that i wouldn't mind an auto block system that works, but given what we have now or what we had before id take what we had before.

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I read the entire thread. And yes, you did say you wouldn't mind an auto-block that works more reliably, however, you completely failed to even mention this option in your original post. Clearly this idea never even crossed your mind when you started the thread, so you actually wanted to fix blocking specifically by bringing back the old guard and a near 100% block rate when a shield ability is active.

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Originally Posted by syntaxlies

just because you used a skill taht lasted 30 seconds didnt mean your guard stayed up for 30 seconds. different shields had different guard durations

scutum wield rate 10 seconds plus 50%self preservation = 15 seconds that means after 15 seconds of hitting your ability your guard would have to be activated because your shield arm would fall.

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You want a complete return to the old system, then? Where two-thirds of the time you were practically completely invincible to normal attacks? Because if you were using a proper shield that's what it was and you still never used the Guard ability.

I'm surprised no one mentioned Phalanx. With the old guard button system I was practically spamming Phalanx and the monster was hating me for it. It was great, but now I barely block at all and Phalanx does not get my attention.

I would like to see a return to the old guard system, but with a visible guard meter (as animations do not properly reflect your current guard state).

The old guard system was one of the few unique mechanics in this game that actually worked (for the most part).

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Originally Posted by Spider-Dan

I would like to see a return to the old guard system, but with a visible guard meter (as animations do not properly reflect your current guard state).

The old guard system was one of the few unique mechanics in this game that actually worked (for the most part).

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Very true. Also, it was nothing a recast timer over the icon wouldn't fix.

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Originally Posted by Spider-Dan

I would like to see a return to the old guard system, but with a visible guard meter (as animations do not properly reflect your current guard state).

The old guard system was one of the few unique mechanics in this game that actually worked (for the most part).

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What could possibly make you think it worked? You just put your shield up every X seconds no matter what. There was no need for timing or judgment, it was just a button to babysit. Guard itself became obsolete once you got all the shield skills but the gameplay remained the same.

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Originally Posted by Frein

What could possibly make you think it worked? You just put your shield up every X seconds no matter what. There was no need for timing or judgment, it was just a button to babysit. Guard itself became obsolete once you got all the shield skills but the gameplay remained the same.

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It's not the same. Before, I used phalanx all the time. Now, it's not even on my skill bar. Makes other skills that rely on guard useless too.

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Originally Posted by DeadRiser

It's not the same. Before, I used phalanx all the time. Now, it's not even on my skill bar. Makes other skills that rely on guard useless too.

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Tue but irrelevant here. If we could auto-block more often, those skills would be useful even without manual guarding.

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Originally Posted by Frein

Tue but irrelevant here. If we could auto-block more often, those skills would be useful even without manual guarding.

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How is it irrelevant? Manual guarding gives you a reliable block that you choose when to block while the other is based on percentages and random numbers. I'd much rather something that is more reliable.

they could also do something like your attack is reduced while blocking, etc. Not everything needs to be auto-mated much like combat is now.

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Originally Posted by DeadRiser

How is it irrelevant? Manual guarding gives you a reliable block that you choose when to block while the other is based on percentages and random numbers. I'd much rather something that is more reliable.

they could also do something like your attack is reduced while blocking, etc. Not everything needs to be auto-mated much like combat is now.

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My point is that the usefulness of Phalanx mostly relies on overall frequency of blocks, not on whether it's automated or manual.

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Originally Posted by Lienn

Very true. Also, it was nothing a recast timer over the icon wouldn't fix.

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i actually made a thread for a block recast timer along time ago

also im glad to see that some other liked "guard" better too. It would be nice if it made a return in the form of stances, were, like someone said, you do less damage in guard stance.

just do like FFXI and give gear that increases block rate. problem solved.

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Originally Posted by Dubont

just do like FFXI and give gear that increases block rate. problem solved.

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they do have gear in game(sent gauntlets)they dont help, ive learned to live with it so idc anymore, i just switched to mrd so i can parry now,lol. if they increase block rate or give some block rate materia, or blocking skills that work, ill try it again.I dont have a single shield skill on my bar anymore, except war drum.



edit: instead of guard: id be in favor of stances, block: were your DD goes down, and acitve where dd increases and def goes down.

this thread was really just to say how broken it is now.