But it's a sword.

[Shurrikhan]

WAR is different than Berserker too. And PLD than Knight lol.

Note: Knight is the Japanese name for Paladin here... Were the two actually separate before, that just goes to show that merges are common when moving from single-player characteristics to creating a fulfilling MMO class.

But Red Mage is Red Mage, and as always in the series, except for XI that I didn't play and don't know how that worked, they're Mages with Swords to support their damage.

They don't, though. They don't even supplement their capabilities, really, let alone have any meaningful interaction with them. There's nothing the sword does at present that a tiny increase to cast potencies and a Tri-cast on a 60-90s CD wouldn't cover, in the rare case that Dual and Swiftcast wouldn't cut it (really need that third cast on the run). It's like the Oath Gauge on PLD if you had no real control over what to do with it other than to not **** up, and the spender, rather than Shelltron, were just marginal bonus damage for which the rest of your toolkit had been nerfed in balance.

[QUOTE=Tiops;4224286]I know, but that's why I think people's complaint about RDM doesn't make a lot of sense. They're asking for a mix of Mystick Knights and Red Mages, and neither of them would fit the description people are asking for (a 50% fighter 50% mage).

Again, though, it will rarely make sense to design a class for a progressive game that ends near or at level cap (where flexible, varied growth and priorities end and structured challenges meant to be solved in relatively exact ways or under stressed priorities begin) in the same way as a game that essentially begins at level cap. Our classes here are inherently a different beast than in single-player. One should not be outgrowing their loadout or central identity, as it should be tailored with the end in mind. Everything should be intentional. So when you slap a sword onto a caster, you expect it to have real synergy, not just to append a rotational requirement.