Dancer is (almost) a perfect job

I decided to main Dancer for Shadowbringers after hearing about it from the media tour and I've gotta say that I absolutely love the job. The feel and the flow of it really suits my gameplay tastes and the mobility makes it hard for me to want to play other jobs at times. That being said, nothing in this world is perfect and there are just a few changes I'd like to see come to Dancer hopefully before the next expansion.

1. Improvisation
I'm sure many people have already commented about this, but Improvisation feels like a horrible level 80 ability and it gets very little use as there are so few opportunities to use it effectively. I've heard many different ideas pitched about how to make the ability better but I think mine is a bit simpler and has the added benefit of actually adding to the Dancer's DPS. The change I'd make is that as soon as you activate the ability you should gain 50 Esprit. They could leave everything else about the ability the same and even remove the healing bonus if need be but by adding in this instant Esprit gain you can use the ability consistently inside of your burst windows while also still using it in that rare instance that you can't attack anything and people are stacked up.

2. Saber Dance
This change is needed regardless but ties directly into the previous change in that I'd like to see Saber Dance add 5 seconds to all of your currently proc'd abilities. Dancer is obviously designed to be a proc-based job but sometimes you get so many procs inside of your burst window that you have to sacrifice them in order to get the higher damage move out. If they make this change then you should be able to get all of your procs out and maximize four-fold feather generation.

And that's it! Assuming they don't buff the other jobs like crazy I don't think it needs any more personal damage buffs than this to bring it up to where it should be in a group composition but I also wouldn't hate a slight buff to their proc'd abilities if that's necessary for balance. I'm more concerned with keeping the overall flow of the job smooth like it is now.

I'm glad you like dancer, it's to bad I don't enjoy it but I am loving FFXI Dancer very much, it's such a fun job

I also love DNC and the gameplay of it (had wanted dnc in ffxiv for a while now)
It will definately needs a slight buff in dmg and i foresee it will. The gap will just be far too big when the other jobs get buffed in the next upcoming patch.
Oh and i agree about Improvisation as many do as well i am sure. it feels awkward a bit and out of place to be able to use in a rotation.

One point i will say is that they please do not make it like Nin mudra system, there has been talk about it but that would just be very awful

I like the Saber Dance suggestion. I have had moments where I lost a proc just because I got so much Esprit and had to dump it to avoid missing procs. I think Improv gaining 50 Esprit instantly isn't exactly what I want since it just becomes another button you need to hit when it comes off cooldown. The main problem with Improv is this raid tier where there is almost no downtime in any of the fights (E1s is long, but you can't act during it). Maybe that will change later in the other tiers, but, right now, Improv is just a bad skill for this raid tier. One thing I will say, however, is I don't want my Esprit gain tied to the amount of people who sit in my puddle, or at least have the amount gain be in multiples of 5, not 3. 3 is just a weird number when Saber Dance's requirement isn't a multiple of 3.

i do think the job needs a guaranteed way to collect Fans 1 and 2 whether it be Standard and Tech step give certain amount of fan each successful use or just some ability that just gives you 2-4

I'd add one more suggestion: make Standard Step's recast time scale with skill speed just like Machinist's Air Anchor and Drill.

If you have any amount of skill speed, you have to choose between doing nothing for a few tenths of a second to use Standard Step on cooldown (wasting your skill speed) or drifting Standard Step by one GCD every time (maybe losing uses of it over a fight).

I'd say Dancer has one major problem. It is either an incredibly busy rotation or a very lazy one. Its busiest parts are a bit too busy when you try to optimize damage, its lazy parts are fine if a bit too simple. I can't comment on saber dance or improv as I'm only 71, but aside from the ridiculously intense 2m rotation of trying to drop 4 saved feathers + all of the other cooldowns combined, the class is really fun. I'm sure once I'm more used to it it will feel better overall, but I'm not sure when that will be.

Improvisation is probably one of those skills that can not be iterated on in its current form to make it worth while.

Any buff to it is just an indirect buff to Saber Dance because the one and only use for Esprit is Saber Dance (which is also a problem with Dancer).

I would say get rid of Improvisation and replace it with Improvisation Step, a 3 step dance that gives you and partner some kind of extra buffs on a 60 second cooldown.

What if Improvisation just spent a small amount of Espirit and in return gave a small buff to your party for a short duration? Give them a little way to manage Espirit so they can potentially fit more Saber Dances in Devilment windows, rather than being forced to Saber Dancer and dump 50 to prevent overcapping.

Saber Dance needs to be oGCD and that's all.

As for improv, just remove it. Aint no way in the world you gonna get 7 people to stack on you.

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Originally Posted by Rasikko

As for improv, just remove it. Aint no way in the world you gonna get 7 people to stack on you.

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That's not true. Almost all higher Ex Trials and Raids have some Stack-Mechanics or phases where at least 7 people - and sometimes the whole group - stands together at one place. In Alliance-Raids too. And there will probably be more in the future as well.

But I am not so fond of this ability as well. It's like Shoha for SAM, very limited and even in those situations you could probably think of something better.

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Originally Posted by Rasikko

Saber Dance needs to be oGCD and that's all.

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this would totally be enough for me : o

It would help a lot when windows get real busy and you are forced to give up some for more damaging skills, and Saber Dance has highest priority..

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Originally Posted by Pepsi_Plunge

That's not true. Almost all higher Ex Trials and Raids have some Stack-Mechanics or phases where at least 7 people - and sometimes the whole group - stands together at one place. In Alliance-Raids too. And there will probably be more in the future as well.

But I am not so fond of this ability as well. It's like Shoha for SAM, very limited and even in those situations you could probably think of something better.

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Yes in those situations you could use it, Ive done it, but the duration of stack mechanics just isnt enough even then. Just for the pure sake up building 80 Esprit faster than RNG God allows, means asking people to stack to you. I cant see that kind of cooperation in a PUG, maybe a static.

I would like it if their change improv in another dps raidbuff or a lower Trick attack version that cost Esprit gauge and their duration depends on your esprit guage and give them something like refresh. And sry for my englisch xD

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Originally Posted by Kallisto-Lumina

I would like it if their change improv in another dps raidbuff or a lower Trick attack version that cost Esprit gauge and their duration depends on your esprit guage and give them something like refresh. And sry for my englisch xD

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To piggyback off your idea I think improv being a 4 step dance and the pay off being a weaker aoe version of trick attack would be cool.