Protect is a waste of space and should have died with Stoneskin

[OcieKo]

Iam fine with the way protect now, it just like those long buff in typical mmorpg, wow with that 60m buff something like that.

Problem is, its the only one. Most MMOs with long term buffs have a pretty large collection of them scattered across various classes with little overlap. So the players picked a set they wanted. Here its protect, thats it... Theres the biggest part of the problem, its why Shell got baked in, why it went to cross role. If jobs brought more unique long term buffs, itd be less noticable, and wouldve been WHM brought magic resist, but we want, dodge chance from AST or auto-parry/block from SCH. And at this point I dont see them making more long term non-personal buffs, so realistically making protect more along the lines of Apocastasis makes more sense.

Sidenote: I loved the EQ1 buffing system, albeit I played Shaman so I made plat hand over fist with it, but still.

[NocturniaUzuki]

I have no problem with Protect as it is now. I don't have it on my role skills and it's just something I cast at the start of the fight as a minor bonus. If someone dies, they lose it. It's incentive not to die, and makes little difference anyways.

[HappyHubris]

Protect is my favorite spell in FFXIV thematically; it'd be a shame to see it go.

[Serilda]

Protect is my favorite spell in FFXIV thematically; it'd be a shame to see it go.

For the purpose of debate rather than my own feelings, since the devs said they want our opinions, how would you feel if they retooled it into a short term buff like it is in PVP rather than a set-and-forget passive buff everyone has in groups 100% of the time? Because it sounded as though this sense of nostalgia was the only reason they kept it in at all when moving to SB, and I'm sure there are ways around it. Heck, we could even get Shell back if the need for them to be permanently on (as our 'sixth' role action) was gone.

[magnanimousCynic]

I don't have it on my role skills and it's just something I cast at the start of the fight as a minor bonus.

To me that's a bigger problem than some people might think.

Using Protect at the start of a duty and then switching it to something else technically gives you 6 Role Actions, due to how passive of a spell it is. Tanks can't do this, Melee can't do this, Ranged can't do this, and Casters can't do this. Only healers are able to indirectly have access to 6 Role Actions at once.

My suggestion is that Protect be made into a Magic version of Palisade. This forces you to keep it slotted when you want to use it, instead of being a spell you cast once and swap for a different action. This would also give protect more active mitigation instead of the minor mitigation it is now.

[Novak_04]

For the purpose of debate rather than my own feelings, since the devs said they want our opinions, how would you feel if they retooled it into a short term buff like it is in PVP rather than a set-and-forget passive buff everyone has in groups 100% of the time? Because it sounded as though this sense of nostalgia was the only reason they kept it in at all when moving to SB, and I'm sure there are ways around it. Heck, we could even get Shell back if the need for them to be permanently on (as our 'sixth' role action) was gone.

I would LOVE for this to be a White Mage only CD. I'm not a fan of it, personally. The fact that it's required/expected is frustrating. The role actions are supposed to be situational and "required all the time" kind of contradicts that concept.

[Kurando]

Personally Protect should be one of a few cross role skills that should not form part of your 5 selection. Every Class/Job should have a role skill that can be equipped for free, and reflects them in some way, just like in PVP.

So WHM would get Protect, AST Rescue and SCH Eye for an Eye as examples. The WHM could also equip Rescue but unlike the AST it would take up one of their 5 role slots. That means in theory, a class/job could have up to 6 cross role skills but only 5 would be customizable.

Other possibilities for a fixed role skill.
PLD - Convalescence.
MNK - Second Wind.
NIN - Goad.
BLM - Swiftcast.
RDM - Lucid Dreaming.

[HappyHubris]

For the purpose of debate rather than my own feelings, since the devs said they want our opinions, how would you feel if they retooled it into a short term buff like it is in PVP rather than a set-and-forget passive buff everyone has in groups 100% of the time? Because it sounded as though this sense of nostalgia was the only reason they kept it in at all when moving to SB, and I'm sure there are ways around it. Heck, we could even get Shell back if the need for them to be permanently on (as our 'sixth' role action) was gone.

I would be fine with protect as currently implemented or as a short term party buff. I just love seeing my party steel themselves for battle with the shields appearing, as well as the protect shield effect in combat.

[FreakinRican]

The problem is that protect and esuna are cross role instead of just being standard. Imagine if they took away our Raise spells and forced us to use a cross role slot. That's how I feel. The bigger issue is how healer cross roles are a game of getting back what we lost.

Instead of removing things from the game entirely, both esuna and protect should be standard just like Raise. Replace them with better, more unique cross roles.

[Lunali]

I don't understand how everyone can think protect is so useless. The second someone is revived, not only is their protect gone but they are in a weakened state.

They are in a weakened state, which no longer reduces their hp, but still reduces their damage. Also, they have already died once, meaning they are more likely to miss mechanics that protect wouldn't save them from. These factors mean that spending more time and mp on them than necessary is less efficient than it would be on other people.

Esuna, (unless you know it won't be needed) Largesse, and Eye for an Eye are all useful to keep the whole party up. Lucid Dreaming is more or less a must have in any lengthy fight, and for a short fight, Protect can be cast after. Swiftcast has already demonstrated more usefulness than combat Protect as you had to rez the person in the first place. Which skill do you think Protect is better than?