
Originally Posted by
Grimoire-M
This is an ED replacement, with nearly the same functionality ED currently has for SMN's specific interactions. The rest of both kits are completely untouched. The only restriction it would need is for the Ruin stacks to only exist inside combat to prevent opener shenanigans. Hell the SMN-Focus trait could trade away the MP for the extra damage just to preserve their current MP values. Regarding Aethertrail, it would proc when you use SMN-Focus, like any Aetherflow ability currently does. It does not gain Aethertrail stacks when you expend the Ruin stacks it gives. All of the current SMN aetherflow abilities require an enemy to be present to work at all though, which cuts into your rotation during jump phases. This guarantees you can get DWT and Bahamut rolling on time, no matter what the fight's like, and lets you go for a Fester/SMN-Focus/Fester opener, which has the same timings as the Fester/Painflare/Fester opener but doesn't lose potential potency to speed it up. It actually lets you squeeze more into the current DWT. Bahamut is the only exception due to the way it interacts with your oGCDs, requiring a target to proc Wyrmwave, but it doesn't change up the core rotation much. You'd use it twice in your non-bahamut Aetherflow window (SMN-Focus/Fester/SMN-Focus) to get to DWT faster and use 3-4 stacks inside DWT for a minor boost of 30-40 potency every 2 minutes. If the Aetherflow lockouts were removed you'd be repeating the opener inside DWT anyways since Fester/SMN-Focus/Fester fits in cleaner than Triple Fester does, which is still 90 potency every 2 minutes over the current rotation for comparison.
The reason for the divergence from the base ability of Focus into two distinct Job-specific abilities is simply because SCH and SMN have different needs that ED doesn't help with, but those needs still share some commonalities. It's a slot worth replacing on both jobs, and the functionally what it does is still similar on both, but tweaked to deal with their respective problems. SMN needs an ability to use Aetherflow on during downtime, and specifically needs it to compete with Fester to be worthwhile to use at all. SCH needs the MP more than it needs the potency, and I address the latter concerns above. Focus is specifically so Arcanist has something to do at a low level and ties it all together.