Giving each job a second spec: would it work?

[ShaneDawn]

DPS WARs, DRKs and SCHs are already a thing.

[Khalithar]

Snip

Second role doesn't have to mean this class can suddenly tank or heal, it could add a second way of doing dps. Here are some ideas off the top of my head, SE wouldn't have to do this, just random thoughts of mine.

For blm the current way to play is the Fire/Ice casting. Now imagine they gave it a second spec focusing on Thunder spells and dots, it would have way less burst and instead have sustained dps going for it, give it an alternative way to regain MP that doesn't involve switching to using ice spells and now you have a different way to play blm without changing it's fundamental role but providing a new way to deal damage for people that might not enjoy the mp management fire/ice playstyle.

For Drg they could something do similar to the sith warrior in swtor, in swtor the warrior had a single target dps spec and one that was more focused on AoE. It provided an alternative playstyle as well and worked great in fights that required more AoE but you could still use the single target spec if the rest of your group had AoE covered or you didn't really like that spec.

Nin could go a similar route to the original FFXI tank version. Not becoming a tank, instead imagine it had a ninjutsu specialization, the class could use the elemental wheel system from XI (where each elemental ninja magic made it weak to the next element ninja magic) where it focused more on casting the spells in melee range while maintaining it's attack speed buff.

[Hix]

No point to specs in a game where you can level every class/job on the same character. Instead of trying to make a sword using DPS, they could just make a Samurai or Duelist job or something. If they wanted to give BLM a melee spec, they could just make a Red Mage or a Magic Fencer job instead. I would rather have 2 completely different flavored jobs than 1 job that can do 2 things.

[Gilthas]

FFXIV allows you to change jobs very easily. If you're a DPS that wants to tank, then change to WAR/PLD/DRK.

Specs are only needed in games that lock you into a single class, not here where we can easily swap to another job.

[Duelle]

The problem is classes were supposed to follow this design paradigm (look at SMN and SCH) but the devs gave up on that idea. I still say it could work, but it would require the job crystals doing more than just give you extra stats and 5/10 abilities.

In an "infinite money and time" scenario, the devs could change classes so that they level only up to lv30 (in other words, classes would be capped at lv30) and make the jobs take over post-30. This negates the problem they cited for jobs branching off classes (since the devs said that currently buffing SMN would buff SCH in some way).

[TessaJalloh]

We already have specs, we're adventurers, and we can play any class or role we want. the ultimate tree system.

In all seriousness though, they experimented with this very idea, Summoner and Scholar were their attempt at a specialisation within a class and it turned out to be a terrible decision that they've chosen never to do again, instead introducing a single role for each new weapon type instead.

The game just isn't designed around multi tiered classes. forcing change to shoehorn it in would cause a lot of problems too.

[SpecialKK]

I think this has to be done in next xpac. I can't imagine getting five new buttons to add to my rotation as a DRG

[Xairos]

I don't think any blm would pick a dot focused dps as opposed to the big numbers they already pull. If they did, they would just play summoner.

[Kallera]

There's already a push to make healers and tanks move into dps territory. Its not out of the ballpark for dps to receive similar treatment (coughDNCcough)

[Shurrikhan]

No point to specs in a game where you can level every class/job on the same character. Instead of trying to make a sword using DPS, they could just make a Samurai or Duelist job or something. If they wanted to give BLM a melee spec, they could just make a Red Mage or a Magic Fencer job instead. I would rather have 2 completely different flavored jobs than 1 job that can do 2 things.

True, but there are some much closer variations that may still be worth pursuing. For instance, what about a DRG who can hold multiple combos' progress simultaneously, allowing for more rotational variance, and where instead of using WT and F&C as combo 4ths they'd simply get Fang, and (separately) Claw, which duplicate damage/effects or spread/enhance them, respectively;
A Monk whose abilities aren't limited to stance, and each stance grants additional effects to and modifies the animations of each;
A Summoner who has closer to half its damage coming from its pet, with increased speed of micro management, and ways to spend Aether to buff/activate abilities from its pet;
Or a BLM who isn't just about getting as much Fire spells off as possible and then returning to Fire as quickly as possible - still the same abilities, same weapons, same range, same role, but very, very different.