The cast time on Stoneskin II

[Destous]

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All I'm asking for is a justification for a long cast time on a skill that can't be used in battle. The point of cast times and MP costs is to balance a skill while in combat. They are 2 factors to consider before using a skill as a player judges the opportunity cost before making a decision. None of this exists for SSII. The end result is a waste of player time. This feeling of having their time wasted is so prevalent that it's become commonplace to burn swiftcast to avoid 5s of cast time for no other reason than to not waste 5s waiting on the cast time. I'm baffled that you fail to understand this.