Red mage, samurai, black mage, lets discuss balance.

[Ralgarog]

TL;DR: Red Mage seems easy (and it is) because it only requires a base competence to effectively play the class because a lot of our heavy hitting abilities are locked behind procs and combos. Even players with a low competence level would want to continue an enchanted combo to get a Vernuke instead of just letting their mana sit in place, or not picking up the extra damage from the enchanted redoublement combo. In addition to this, it must be assume that for a player to get from level 50 to max level in under 3 weeks that some base level of competence has been achieved. We are veteran players can sometime forget how long the journey from level 50 to 70 can be. Note that you don't have to be the most competent player in the world to get to level 70 as a red mage in 3 weeks, but there needs top be some base competence there and we can assume that they would also be competent enough to want to finish combos or cast -all- of their spells.

[Ralgarog]

Adding in enchanted versions of the Vernukes that function as the existing ones do, and a new base version of Vernukes that function as a colored mana purge will give players who don't reach the level of competence required to master the class the opportunity to play the whole class and cast all of the spells, but as a penalty, thus significantly widening the skill gap though artificial means.

WRT BLM and SMN: I think it is always better to buff a class that needs a buff than to nerf other classes down to its level. And if a buff is going to be handed out, a nerf should not coincide with it because sometimes a 2% buff is better than a 1% buff and a 1% nerf to another class.

[Ralgarog]

Actually, you adjust game mechanics based on the top players. That's how competent design works. You have to see something being played at the absolute limit to know whether or not it does need to be adjusted, and how easily that absolute limit can be reached.

I agree with that statement; Top players will play the class the optimum way that it is meant to be played. With that said when balancing a game with this many players, mastery achieved by the top 10% of Red Mages (essentially most of the RDM at max level; the majority of Red Mages rolled wont ever make it to max level) may have some unforeseen consequences. To a top level player, it may make sense to not using Manafication immediately on some encounters and to wait until your first Vernuke on other encounters. That may not be obvious to the average Red Mage who may use it as soon as they can.

This 1000 character limit is absolutely killing me.

[Kabooa]

You bypass it with editing your post.

[Oriens]

This is why this game needs a public test servers so they can use real feedback before things go live.

I main RDM right and also have 70SMN but won't play as SMN. Too much effort to do decent numbers.

SMN are punished SEVERELY for messing up rotation/cooldowns and punished even harder if they die. SMN utility of a 5% damage buff and reduction on the closest party member to egi needs MAJOR rework. The egis themselves need rework now, too.

I'm about to start leveling BLM and am hyped because it looks fun but will probably still go back to RDM since it's easier and vercure and verraise are so clutch.

[Jonnycbad]

Verraise needs to be on a 60 sec cooldown. RDM can toss instant cast raises everywhere and really change the fate of a run single handedly. I know it lowers their DPS and costs a lot of mana, but they can literally raise 7 people in 15 seconds, mana permitting.

[PrismaticDaybreak]

Verraise needs to be on a 60 sec cooldown. RDM can toss instant cast raises everywhere and really change the fate of a run single handedly. I know it lowers their DPS and costs a lot of mana, but they can literally raise 7 people in 15 seconds, mana permitting.

Yeah, if you have lucid dreaming and your whole party is dead and we have about 5000 spell speed, otherwise to raise 7 people it'd be at least 28 seconds, that's a really niche setting.

[wereotter]

RDM is suppose to be a jack of all trades master of none. Right now it's a master of everything. I don't play Black Mage anymore but it should defiantly be hitting way harder than it is right now.

The problem with this logic when applied to the paradigm of FFXIV is if you have a job that, at best, does sub-par melee, sub-par casting, and sub-par healing, when would you ever use it? In order to fit the roles of the game, they had to make it actually perform well at one of those roles, and they chose caster. Red Mage melee is terrible if its not enchanted, and while it has a cure and a raise, you're generally about as useful as a summoner in that regard since you shouldn't ever be using Vercure in a party scenario, and I only use Verraise on dead healers. (Unless I'm in voice chat with my static group and they ask me to raise someone)

[Daws]

I initially liked RDM until I played SAM. SAM feels like a manual transmission and RDM is an automatic. There's more gears (Kenki, Sen, combos) to work with, they have more control over their damage (storing kenki for add/burn phases for example) and I love it. That said, ever since my first Lakshmi run where we were near wipe if not for the RDM handing out rezzes like Halloween candy, I have been tempted to give RDM another go for that delicious utility.