New Healer Idea - Maestro!

New Healer Job - Maestro
Alternative names: Conductor, Prismatist, Crystalist


Aether is most interesting indeed, and the ways to manipulate it grow as times progresses. Recently, it was discovered that special crystals called prisms (not to be confused with glamour prisms, these are hexagonal bipyramids -- look it up) have a natural aetheric resonant frequency, and if these frequencies can be reached and maintained, these specially-formed prisms emanate special magic and power.
The mages investigating these odd resonances have found out a way to consistently use these prisms - playing specific songs orchestrated specifically for each type of prism coaxes out the latent power in each one, but only as a skilled conductor carefully massages out the melodies and maintains balanced aetheric flow around the area. While at first, it was hoped existing bards could accomplish the job, the complex melodies and orchestrations were far more than a bard could sing. Instead, the mages were able to develop a new, very specialized type of magician for this role, -- the Maestro!

Maestro (or Maestra, if female) is a new Healer class focused on AoE healing and effects via the use of Prisms. These prisms are floating crystals in the shape of hexagonal bipyramids that give effects to those around them.
Wielding a conductor's baton in main-hand and a symphonic score in the off-hand, the maestro conducts the precise flows in and around the battlefield to keep the symphony of prisms going to best affect the team. When in-action, the Maestro would truly be living up to the metaphor of conducting a symphony. The baton magically brings the music off the pages of the score to resonate each type of prism into the battlefield.
Note: If playing a female character, all references to you in this state will be Maestra.

Mainhand: Conductor's Baton
Offhand: Symphony Score

The Maestro's Job Guage

The job guage of the Maestro is the Alignment Meter. This is a simple bar from 0 (full of Darkness) to 100 (full of Light), but as the job levels, it gains up to 4 stacks at level 64, stacked vertically on top of each other. Each bar represents the current Alignment Points of each currently active prism. Most new prisms are created with Alignment Points of 50. At 50, the bar will be half-full of Light Alignment Points and half-full of Black Alignment Points.

Once a Prism is created, every second, its Entropy builds. (Entropy will be visible as a small number at the bottom-left of each bar.) This is a number that starts at 1 and usually goes up by 1 every second, unless another spell changes that. Every 3 seconds, the current Entropy is added (or subtracted) from the Alignment Meter. Whether it's added or subtracted is chosen at random, but stays the same until either the Prism shatters or Chord of Light/Note of Darkness is used, and if the latter, whether it is added or subtracted is randomly chosen again.
So, Entropy keeps going up, and every 3 seconds, the bar changes to reflect this. Hence, over time, each Prism gets more and more unstable until eventually, it will be 0 or 100 on the bar, at which time, it shatters and is destroyed.
The Prism's Alignment decides where its Alignment Meter begins:
Dark - begins at 25 (3/4 full of Dark)
Neutral - begins at 50
Light - begins at 75 (3/4 full of Light)
Each Prism's Alignment Meter is also shown above each Prism, in addition to the HUD.

~Job Actions~

Unless otherwise stated, all actions have a range of 25y.
Each Prism created initially has a range of 3y, but is extended with Traits as you level. Also, each each Prism is a distinctly different color, so over time, they can be distinguished between. They also have a faint ripple that emanates outward from the Prism to show their area of effect.
If a new Prism is created, and it then exceeds the number you can create, one of the other existing Prisms is shattered.
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Lv 1 Downbeat
Ability, 2.5s cooldown
Deals unaspected damage with a potency 80. If a Prism Spell is cast next, gives a 50% chance for Entropy of that Prism to be 0 for 5s.

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Lv 2 Prism of Hope
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 6s cooldown, MP 180
On targeted area, creates a prism that gives healing effect over time to anyone within range. Cure potency: 250 Alignment: Light
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Lv 4 Chord of Light
Ability, 2.5s cooldown
Target Prism gains 20 Light Alignment Points.
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Lv 4 Note of Darkness
Ability, 2.5s cooldown
Target Prism gains 20 Dark Alignment Points.
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Lv 6 Prism of Space
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 12s cooldown, MP 140
On targeted area, creates a prism that allows players to quickly (0.5s) teleport to the prism when clicking on it if within 15y. Alignment: Neutral
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Lv 6 Prism of Hate
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 12s cooldown, MP 220
On targeted area, creates a prism that automatically attacks random enemies within its range with an aetheric energy attack every 5s with a potency of 40. Alignment: Dark
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Lv 10 Crescendo
Ability, 20s cooldown, Range 15y
Pushes a Prism 8y away from you.
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Lv 10 Descrescendo
Ability, 20s cooldown
Pulls a Prism 8y towards you.

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Lv 12 Prism of Resurrection
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 60s cooldown, MP 300
On targeted area, creates a prism that raises the first person who dies within range, or who is already dead, to a weakened state with low HP, then shatters. Alignment: Light
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Lv 12 Prism of Retribution
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 30s cooldown, MP 300
On targeted area, creates a prism that recoils 3% of damage taken by players within range to all monsters within range. Alignment: Dark
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Lv 15 Prism of Pestilence
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 120s cooldown, MP 280
On targeted area, creates a prism that inflicts constant Weakness status on enemies within range. Accumulates Entropy twice as fast as other prisms. Alignment: Dark
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Lv 18 Prism of Protection
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 120s cooldown, MP 300
On targeted area, creates a prism that allows party members within range to only take 90% of all damage inflicted. Alignment: Neutral

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Lv 22 Overture
Ability, 5s cooldown

Stays in effect until it is used again. While in effect, the effects of multiple Prism of Hope within range will partially stack, with the second giving 50% of its healing, the third giving 20% of its healing, and the fourth giving 10% of its healing. Also, all healing Abilities (not Spells) used will grant Regen of equal potency to the Cure Potency for 30s. Cannot be used with Opus.
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Lv 22 Opus
Ability, 5s cooldown

Stays in effect until it is used again. While in effect, Prism of Hate potency is increased to 80, also Prism of Hate, Prism of Retribution, Prism of Pestilence, and Prism of Torment additionally inflict opponents with Crystal Lung, which can be stacked on itself every time the Prisms damage the opponent (or, in the case of Prism of Pestilence, every 10 seconds) and remains as long as target stays in the Prism's range. Cannot be used with Overture.
- Crystal Lung: Causes damage over time with a potency of 12 for each stack.
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Lv 26 Pianissimo
Ability, 45s cooldown, MP 520
Creates a straight-line area 3y wide and 15y long beginning with a random prism and including the target. If no target is selected, the target is self. All players within affected area are healed with Cure Potency 250. Adds 5 Entropy to the Prism.
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Lv 30 Sforzando
Ability, 120s cooldown

For 10 seconds, the radius of all active prisms you own is increased to 25y.
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Lv 35 First Movement Solo
Ability, 60s cooldown
Launch energy ball at target Prism to remove up to 10 Entropy from Prism, then bounce energy onto random nearby enemy with attack potency of 140.
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Lv 38 Prism of Potency
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 24s cooldown, MP 400
On targeted area, creates a prism that increases the potency of all Weaponskills and Spells (but not Abilities) of players within range by 15. Alignment: Neutral

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Lv 40 Aether Waltz
Ability, 180s cooldown
Three Prisms of the last type you cast are created, each near 3 randomly chosen party members within range (excluding you). If less than 3 party members are within range, the maximum amount possible will be created (0, 1, or 2).
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Lv 45 Prism of Enmity
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 300s cooldown, MP 480
On targeted area, creates a prism that slowly builds enmity, which builds faster when nearby players are attacked. Prism can be attacked by enemies and has HP, and if HP reduces 0, the Prism shatters. HP is about 50% of a pet's HP. Alignment: Dark
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Lv 46 Cut Time
Ability, 60s cooldown
Shatters a target Prism, dealing unaspected damage with a potency of 150 to all enemies within range.
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Lv 50 Prism of Salvation
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 240s cooldown, 900 MP

The only prism without a radius of effect. A player standing next to it can Interact with it (0.5s) to shatter it, fulling healing them in the process. Alignment: Light
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Lv 50 Grand Encore
Ability, 120s cooldown

Target a Light-Aligned Prism to shatter it and turn action into Grand Encore (Light), or vice-versa for Grand Encore (Dark). Target a second Prism to shatter it and all players within range of that Prism gain the following effects, based on the second Prism's Alignment:
Dark: Spell and Weaponskill Potency is increased by 10 for 15 seconds.
Light: Regen with Cure Potency of 240 for 15 seconds.
Neutral: Barrier nullifying 6% damage for 15 seconds.
Grand Encore (Light) doubles the duration listed. Grand Encore (Dark) doubles the intensity listed.
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Lv 52 Second Movement Solo
Ability, 60s cooldown
Launch energy ball at target Prism to remove up to 5 Entropy from Prism and all Prisms within that Prism's range, then bounces energy onto random nearby enemy with attack potency of 180.
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Lv 54 Accelerando
Ability, 90s cooldown
Quickens the over-time effects of all nearby Prisms, but also accelerates accumulation of Entropy.
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Lv 56 Syncopation
Ability, 120s cooldown
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 220. Must be under the area of effect of 3 or more different types of Prisms to use.
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Lv 58 Tacet
Ability, 120s cooldown
Resets all Entropy in all nearby Prisms to 0, and keeps Entropy at 0 for 5 seconds.
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Lv 60 Prism of Torment
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 300s cooldown, MP 600
On targeted area, creates a prism that attacks all enemies within range with an aetheric ball of energy with a potency of 200 every 15 seconds, beginning immediately upon cast, and also inflicts targets with Poison. This prism and all prisms within range gain 10 Entropy each time this attack is executed by the prism. Alignment: Neutral
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Lv 62 Fortissimo
Ability, 240s cooldown
Shatters target Prism and restores HP within a 15y radius with Cure Potency of 500, also all players within the range gain a barrer than nullifies damage equal to 25% of the HP restored. Duration: 60s
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Lv 64 Third Movement Solo
Ability, 60s cooldown
Launch energy ball at target Prism to remove up to 25 Entropy from Prism and all Prisms within that Prism's range, then bounces energy onto random nearby enemy with attack potency of 120.
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Lv 66 Ovation
Ability, 240s cooldown
Wisps of aetheric energy bind all existing Prisms together, creating a planar 2D region bound by them. Within this region, each normal attack damage by enemies has a 50% chance of being negated, but for each occurrance of damage being negated, Entropy in all Prisms increase by 10 and cannot be lowered while this effect is occurring. If any Prism shatters, the effect ends. Must have 3 or more Prisms active to execute. (Under current design, will usually only last for 5-10 seconds.)

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Lv 68 Cadenza
Ability, 180s cooldown
Target player is aetherly tied to the next Prism you cast (within 10s). For this 10s, until you cast, you are limited to only casting Prism of Hope, Prism of Protection, and Prism of Potency. The Prism created tied to the target will affect only the target player, but its effects are boosted 40%. Also causes Entropy to generate faster.

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Lv 70 Prism of the Divine
Spell, 1.2s Cast, 600s cooldown, MP 1,200
All existing prisms are shattered upon use. A massive prism descends from above, emits a flurry of light and swirls, then shatters over the range of the move, sending aether flowing everywhere. Enemies within range take unaspected damage with a potency of 300, and all players within range are healed with a Cure Potency of 1,200. To execute, four prisms must be active first, each with Entropy of 10 or more. Alignment: Light

~Traits~

Lv 6 Counter Melody
Allows the creation of 2 Prisms at a time.
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Lv 12 Metronome
Upgrades Chord of Light and Note of Darkness to give them a damage with a potency of 80 to all enemies within range of target prism.
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Lv 18 Ensemble
Upgrades Downbeat's percentage from 50% to 75% and increases radius of all prisms to 5y
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Lv 20 Enhanced Mind
Increases mind by 8.
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Lv 20 Maim and Mend
Increases base action damage and HP restoration by 10%
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Lv 24 Metronome II
Upgrades Crescendo and Decrescendo to give them a damage with a potency of 80 to all enemies within range of target prism at target prism's resting location.
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Lv 36 Counter Melody II
Allows the creation of 3 Prisms at a time.
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Lv 40 Enhanced Mind II
Increases mind by 16
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Lv 40 Maim and Mend II
Increases base action damage and HP restoration by 30%
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Lv 54 Ensemble II
Upgrades Downbeat's percentage from 75% to 100% and increases radius of all Prisms to 8y
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Lv 60 Enhanced Mind III
Increases mind by 24
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Lv 64 Counter Melody III
Allows the creation of 4 Prisms at a time.
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Lv 68 Final Measure
All Prism Spells become Instant, and the radius of all Prisms is increased to 10y.

TLDR?

Maestro is a new healing class that focuses on Healing over Time and Damage over Time and uses almost exclusively AoE moves through the use of different Prisms that float around the battlefield. The Maestro has several moves to maintain and move the Prisms around and to shatter them to gain various effects. It will be a complicated job and require a good deal of practice to master, but it will fill a nice hole currently in the game where WHM focuses on burst heal, SCH focuses on barriers/nullification, and AST serves as a mix of the two, MST has focuses on AoE HoT.

Any comments, concerns, criticisms, feedback, suggestions, ideas, etc. is very much welcome! Thanks everyone.

I just love (actual) Bard jobs, 10/10, would main.

Thank you :)

while this is an interesting idea. i will say that we do not need any new healers at the moment.

I'm not sure that given the teasing that has been hinted at Dancer, that another class before that would be accepted (and Dancer is a synergistic class, that heals and buffs)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Saraphin

while this is an interesting idea. i will say that we do not need any new healers at the moment.

I'm not sure that given the teasing that has been hinted at Dancer, that another class before that would be accepted (and Dancer is a synergistic class, that heals and buffs)

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I also like the idea of Dancer, but I do think the idea of Maestro is definitely more interesting. To be honest, I feel like whatever the next Healer job is, whether Dancer or something else, it needs to be implemented using something like this AoE-style heal/buff. Anything else would overlap existing roles too much.

Just letting everyone know that I updated the cooldowns on many of the prisms to balance their power. Originally, all Prisms were 12s cooldowns, but this would be way OP on some of the Prisms, so now many Prisms have much longer cooldowns. The "bread and butter" Prisms that make up your main rotation still have low cooldowns, though. I also clarified the effect of Aether Waltz a bit more. Finally, I lowered the potency of Prism of Hate from 100 to 70, Prism of Torment to 200 from 250, and Prism of Retribution from 5% to 3%. Any other feedback you can give is appreciated, thanks all.

Edit: I also added traits that upgrade Chord of Light, Note of Darkness, Crescendo, and Decrescendo to give them damage. This solidifies the rotation a lot more, especially at lower levels.

Well, concidering 99.9% of that game damage comes from burst dropping u from 100 to 5%, a job based on aoe healing would be quite potent. However, Whm currently fulfill that spot pretty well with their current kit. If u want your maestro to do more than that, Im not sure ull even need 2 heals for most fight.


What I'd like to see is a shift from burst damage to more concistent damage and have the next healer a master of HoT, a bit like resto druids in wow.
With the current system it would nt work all that well since which is why I'm hoping for some change

Although, the job itself, (not talking about skills} is rather interesting and really fits the FF fantasy. I'd definitely see that as a new job in bravely third for instance. Gj on the concept ^^

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Saraphin

while this is an interesting idea. i will say that we do not need any new healers at the moment.

I'm not sure that given the teasing that has been hinted at Dancer, that another class before that would be accepted (and Dancer is a synergistic class, that heals and buffs)

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I'm guessing that's the way Dancer was in XI (which I never played)? The dancer jobs I've encountered in FF-games have always been debuffers while bards have been buffers. :O

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sylvain

Well, concidering 99.9% of that game damage comes from burst dropping u from 100 to 5%, a job based on aoe healing would be quite potent. However, Whm currently fulfill that spot pretty well with their current kit. If u want your maestro to do more than that, Im not sure ull even need 2 heals for most fight.


What I'd like to see is a shift from burst damage to more concistent damage and have the next healer a master of HoT, a bit like resto druids in wow.
With the current system it would nt work all that well since which is why I'm hoping for some change

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I agree overall. The main heal of the Maestro is Prism of Hope which is a HoT effect. The Maestro has abilities to burst heal, but the "bread and butter" of the job will be healing over time.

Love this idea well done on the concept.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arctanx

The main heal of the Maestro is Prism of Hope which is a HoT effect. but the "bread and butter" of the job will be healing over time.

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I actually would prefer your maestro from the dancer on a purely esthetic pov. (Since I don't know how the dancer will play, yes I'm one of those who believe the next healer will, unfotunately, be the Dancer)
But as I said, considering how damage works right now, this healer would probably be very ineffective. You do not need hots, you need to top people quick before the next explosion will bring everyone down to 20%.

But the idea is definitely great, especially the theme around it. ( I really don't like the dancer)

However, I wonder if the mechanic you thought about aren't a bit too... Focus consumming.
Healing requires a lot of focus and you can't expect most healer to take care of party, boss mechanics and their own set of complexe mechanic. (which is why, strictly speaking, healer have very simplistic tools)
AST is borderline too much for most people. I've had my fair share of AST barely shooting any cards because they were too busy healing and doing mechanics.

10/10 would main this.

Man, the amount of time you put into all that is really impressive. I want this in the game now just because of how much you put into it!

Thanks for the good compliments and feedback everyone, I do appreciate it. FYI, i made a a few balance tweaks, notably reducing Prism of Hope from 350 potency to 250 to keep it more inline with its intended Heal over Time use. (It'd still be best-in-game for HoT.)

@Sylvain, you make a lot of wise and astute points that are spot-on. I do fully understand that the current game isn't very friendly to HoT and is more focused on burst healing, but I wanted to create a new Healer job that filled a gap. I do think there'd be instances where Maestro would be viable in the current meta, but it'd be very difficult and probably less overall healing than other Healers. I was careful to make sure Maestro was a "master of variety" when it comes to the job, though, giving it several unique niche abilities that aren't elsewhere in the game, as well as making it a healer with barriers, HoT, and burst heals, but perhaps be a "jack of all trades, master of none" situation. It'd be interesting to see how useful or useless Maestro would be as currently.

Edit: To encourage more variation among the different Prisms (I'm afraid that 3 or 4 will become dominant), I introduced a second Lv 50 action that adds a bit more strategy to the mix:

Lv 50 Grand Encore
Ability, 120s cooldown

Target a Light-Aligned Prism to shatter it and turn action into Grand Encore (Light), or vice-versa for Grand Encore (Dark). Target a second Prism to shatter it and gain the following effects, based on the second Prism's Alignment:
Dark: Spell and Weaponskill Potency is increased by 10 for 15 seconds.
Light: Regen with Cure Potency of 240 for 15 seconds.
Neutral: Barrier nullifying 6% damage for 15 seconds.
Grand Encore (Light) doubles the duration listed. Grand Encore (Dark) doubles the intensity listed.

I m not sure if being a jack of all trade Master of none would actually be a great idea.
Hear me out, within the current game design, on a strictly healing POV, AST fills this role. They can go diurnal for more hps and hots to mimic WHM or nocturnal to mimic Sch shields. Ignoring very specific scenario, a WHM healing output is higher than AST in diurnal and a Sch mitigation capability is higher than AST in nocturnal.
This is mostly due to a lack of ogcd healing skills which are replaced by the cards mechanic. To compensate this weakness, AST have access to powerful buff. The AST compensate its master of none weakness by being the ultimate buffer
This is very key, because it means that you cannot realistically make maestro Jack of all trade, because he doesn't and should bring buff. Making him this way means there is no other mean (I can think of) to compensate their poor healing.

The only solution is to tap into that HoT design and instead of making him an AST without cards, making him a clear choice if sustained heal is wanted. Because in the end, you can have the best game play, if it sucks no one will play it.
However, not giving it mitigation would make WHM maestro a dangerous duo if the game keep these insane burst. Therefore a skill akin to AST bubble would fit perfectly, giving enough mitigation for those transition while tapping into a strong recovery mechanic instead of a prevention (shield) for the frequent burst windows

Good points, so let's try this. Let me know what you think:

Lv 22 Overture
Ability, 5s cooldown

Stays in effect until it is used again. While in effect, the effects of multiple Prism of Hope within range will partially stack, with the second giving 50% of its healing, the third giving 20% of its healing, and the fourth giving 10% of its healing. Also, all healing Abilities (not Spells) used will grant Regen of equal potency to the Cure Potency for 30s. Cannot be used with Opus.
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Lv 22 Opus
Ability, 5s cooldown

Stays in effect until it is used again. While in effect, Prism of Hate potency is increased to 80, also Prism of Hate , Prism of Retribution, Prism of Pestilence, and Prism of Torment additionally inflict opponents with Crystal Lung, which can be stacked on itself every time the Prisms damage the opponent (or, in the case of Prism of Pestilence, every 10 seconds) and remains as long as target stays in the Prism's range. Cannot be used with Overture.
- Crystal Lung: Causes damage over time with a potency of 12 for each stack.


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This gives it two stance moves, one to focus on HoT and the other to focus on DoT. Also notice this is easy to exploit with Aether Waltz and Sforzando for maximum effect.

I have some tweaks I may add to the Maestro idea in the coming days. In the meantime, I'm working on an idea for a Tank job and a skiller job also. Hope they work out well, stay tuned!

Great job on this idea! I would love to play your Maestra! :)

I like the idea. It seems fun to play with. But I am skeptical. I always love healing/support, but the game doesn't have a place. So as your idea is lovely, do you yourself have any ideas/viewpoints on how the Maestro would fit in the mix. I wanna hear those, scenarios and all if you can. Current healers fit how the content is approached. I wanna know what changes you would set for future fights, always expand, never stop dreaming. Ideas are beautiful. Lets discuss this more as a group. I feel every1 has a note that would simulate necessity/priority.

Looks cool but maestro sound stupid xD

can u tell me where unlock job........ i cannot find in city state,wh unlock?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redjujufish

can u tell me where unlock job........ i cannot find in city state,wh unlock?

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It's not an actual job (yet)! It's just a suggestion.

It's not a bad design. It reminds me of how the arcanist was going to work in 1.0. However, I do have a few gripes.

• Downbeat: Please specify how long you have to cast a Prism before the 50%+ chance for the 0 Entropy to work. For example, red mage's Dualcast is 15 seconds.
• Prisms: Instead of 1.2 seconds, consider 1 second to match the arcanist's Sustain. The summoner's Demi-Bahamut's Wyrmwave has a 1.5 second recast if you'd prefer something longer.
• Prism of Resurrection: I feel the MP cost isn't high enough. It would be literally the best Raise variant in the game if this job were implemented, so no other healer would ever be wanted. That's bad for balance.
• Prism of Retribution: I think you mean "reflect," not "recoil."
• Prism of Pestilence: Please specify what Weakness does like you did for Crystal Lung.
• Opus: Crystal Lung is unaspected, yes? Please specify.
• Sforzando: This means to "get louder gradually." The effect is not gradual.
• Solos: Please specify type of damage. Unaspected? Physical?
• Grand Encore: If you shatter a neutrally-aligned Prism, it grants a damage nullification barrier. 6% of what, though? Do players take 6% less damage, or is damage nullified up to 6% of the recipient's maximum HP? Specify.
• Accelerando: Speeds it up by how much? Does Entropy become 2 per second, for example? Does the healing/damage over time happen every half-tick?
• Prism of Torment: Please specify type of damage. Energy is not available as a type of damage.
• Cadenza: Again, Entropy accumulates how much faster?
• Prism of the Divine: You say it shatters, and as far as we can tell from any other Prism, that removes the Prism. This Prism therefore seems to be a one-shot. Does its area of effect remain, or is it a single burst?

Overall, I'm not sure this job does enough healing and too much buffing. Also, could you elaborate more on how Entropy affects the Alignment Gauge?