Black Mage

[Llugen]

Sweet jesus, stealing (and adapting) this suggestion from Eloah in the other thread regarding Blizzard II, Sleep, and Freeze being awful:


Sub Zero Lv. 54: When MP is reduced to zero, the next cast of Freeze will cost no MP and grant a full stack of Umbral Ice
Enhanced Umbral Heart Lv. 68: Successful usage of a Sub Zero proc grants three Umbral Hearts


Also yes, these 1.0 utilities suggested could be neat, particularly if they could apply to a DRK in Grit. Suitable utility for BLM could be as simple as just a 180s recast party-wide speed buff a la Battle Litany, though, and even THAT would be pretty much fine.


Side note: Do the devs even read these forums? The description specifies "discussion with other players." Where do we go to post suggestions that the devs will actually read? I think we've made some real progress with this thread and some of the others (Meltdown, Freeze, etc)

[Remedi]

Take convert, call it Astral speed, make it gives 15% speed to every one for 15 secs bam done

[Llugen]

I think it should be something that eats your ley lines and gives it party wide (plus then you wouldn't be stuck in it every other time). Convert definitely needs love but it's still nice to have that extra MP single target and that extra flare for aoe.

[Lelila38]

Why is everyone so bent on Convert being useless? It's a vital part of openers, allowing 8 F4s. With all the other issues we face I don't see a need to change that specific skill.

[Remedi]

It's because it has 3 min CD and it essentially gives 1-2 fire IV which is a bit low

@Llugen I'm thinking about removing the haste buff from ley lines and make it permanent, also between the lines moved to the same level you learn ley lines and essentially morphing it into a movement tool where you switch place with your ley lines once you use between the lines

also tbf they read it surely, I mean most of 4.0 SMN skills are essentially their answer to that branch of forum community wanting more interactions with pets, what we can also deduce is that they however keep such changes for expansion idea pitch while also having a lesser approach during patch time.

[TsuKoj]

Why is everyone so bent on Convert being useless? It's a vital part of openers, allowing 8 F4s. With all the other issues we face I don't see a need to change that specific skill.

It's not a bad ability. Just an awkward one. It's a 3 min cooldowns and takes 20% of your hp for 2 fire 4s. Openers are strong because of buff stacking. It's when all the raid buffs and personal buffs go up which makes each buff more effective. Problem with convert is it doesn't really fit the opener meta. Trick attack lasts 10s and is used on the 5th-7th gcd 11-25s, litany is up on the 2nd-3rd gcd 3.5-25s, foe reqs up on the first 1.5s-25s, same with battle voice, chain strat is used to match trick and litany. So the window of power is essentially between 3-11 is good, 11-25 amazing. Blm standard opener(@1917ss) (also rough estimates but I'm erroring in favor of convert) is sharp b3(0) > t3(2.35) > b4(4.9) > t3p(6.25) > ll > f3(8.5) > tc > f4(10.7) > pot > f4(12.95) > swift > f4(15.2) > lucid > f4(17.45) > convert > f1(19.6) > f4(21.85) > f4(24.1) > then 2 more f4s but at this point all the raid buffs are down(looking back at my logs my last two actually started casting at on the 24.5 second mark with arrow, and 29 second mark without). So the two fire 4s you gain off convert aren't really "opener" fire 4s, but just standard ones which while a dps gain, is minimal. Convert used to be awesome when blm had raging strikes since they could with enough ss fit extra fire spells in during the buff window.

The other issue with it is being a 3min cd makes the timing on it awkward. You want to time it under your infusion, but infusion cd is 4.5m. So in a 9+ minute fight you'd either lose a use of convert or not be able to line them up. You can convert at minute 3, 6, 9 where it only lines up with an infusion at minute 9, or you can convert at minute 4.5 and 9 to have it line up both times but lose a use of convert.

In the end, it's not a bad ability, it's a dps gain most definitely, but it's lost a lot of its spark due to the loss of raging strikes, and the fact that extending your rotation isn't the best way to synergize with others. It's also has a hp cost that makes it dangerous to use in certain situations.

[Waliel]

I wish Convert would be a 1 minute cooldown with roughly halved effect. You could get in an extra F4 with Triple and more opportunities for Flare Convert shenanigans. It would also help with recovery if you mess up your mana.

[Ferrinus]

To be in agreement with lore about black mages, Convert should either be a THM ability or it should cost no health and be called Channel or something.

[Makrar]

Convert just needs to have an effect to justify the cooldown. Its so laughable ineffective right now. How much of a dps difference is there between someone who uses convert correctly and someone who doesn't? Because it surely cant be more than 1%

IMO, i would like to see it changed to something like this;

Convert
Sacrifices 30% of maximum HP to restore 100% of MP. Cannot be executed when current HP is lower than 30%.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire III and removes Umbral Ice.

[Llugen]

The idea of Convert is fine it's just weak so it needs tuning up.

If it's going to continue to be 180s recast, I'd have it give you an entire MP bar, three Umbral Hearts, and maybe even a set of procs (particularly a Thundercloud as its most likely that your initial Thunder III is about to fall off)

If they want to keep the effect the way it is, I'd say it should be 60s recast (so every other fire phase) or maybe 90 would be acceptable so it works with Ley Lines. Also if they do this, they should either lower the HP required or remove that stipulation completely, as it would drive the healers crazy. (Indulge)