Dev Team, you screwed up.

[Dualgunner]

Then you've missed my point entirely.
I don't really care if they make another caster DPS and call it Blue Mage. But it will still have to function exactly like the rest of them.
Point and shoot - press your buttons in an order. It's not going to be a tank, a healer, an off-tank, an off-healer. It won't provide some mythic utility. It won't be able to replace a healer... it will be its role.
Unless - they fundamentally change the core dynamic of group content. Which, though unlikely, could happen. But I'm thinking it won't.

"Point and shoot, push your buttons in an order." Congrats, BLU as it is right now fits that description. Please acknowledge that the three casters play very differently from each other, despite that they work toward the same goal.

[Ilyrian]

"Point and shoot, push your buttons in an order." Congrats, BLU as it is right now fits that description. Please acknowledge that the three casters play very differently from each other, despite that they work toward the same goal.

What I'm saying is you'll just have another Red Mage with different spell names - where the illusion of melee combat is there but not real.
OR another BLM with different spell names
OR make the DoT based with filler and you've got a SMN with different spell names.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to other types of ranged magical dps playstyles.

Ofc, this isn't necessarily a bad thing - but the range of BLU spells and all their utility and uniqueness would have to be toned down to the point of irrelevancy OR you're in a situation where you have to have a BLU or they are completely useless.

In a game with no true support role - having one would break the system until every class was re engineered to find balance with it. Could be done - but I can't see it.

[Karsia]

There's something that's been bugging me that I haven't seen posted yet. Why do we have content that cares about elements when we do not have a complete elemental kit? What I mean is we only have one Wind aspected spell and it's on a 30 second CD. Sure you don't necessarily need it to complete any objectives in the Carnivale, but the whole point is to have a tool for every situation. It might not be a problem if Feather Rain was stronger, but I doubt that even with Peculiar Light, Off-Guard, and Bristle that it would one-shot a Wind-weak enemy; dot included.

[Dualgunner]

What I'm saying is you'll just have another Red Mage with different spell names - where the illusion of melee combat is there but not real.
OR another BLM with different spell names
OR make the DoT based with filler and you've got a SMN with different spell names.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to other types of ranged magical dps playstyles.

Just because you can't imagine it doesn't mean there's no possible way. People were saying the same thing about Red Mage before it came out-- "How do we release RDM without it just being BLM again?" Well, they managed it. There's nothing stopping them from doing the same for a Blue Mage.

As far as the number of BLU spells being reduced--yes, a DFable BLU probably would have their total spells reduced. I'm also given to understand that XIV as it is right now is up there with total BLU spells anyway.

[Ilyrian]

Just because you can't imagine it doesn't mean there's no possible way.

That's kind of an invitation for you to offer your ideas of how this can be achieved - if any. Conversation and all.

People were saying the same thing about Red Mage before it came out-- "How do we release RDM without it just being BLM again?" Well, they managed it. There's nothing stopping them from doing the same for a Blue Mage.

There's been a pretty noticeable backlash against RDM being a generic caster clone.

It looks nice and it's flashy but it's hardly the caster-melee-healer hybrid many imagined.

Edit: This whole conversation is basically moot as the people that are complaining about the BLU we have now will complain about the BLU we get if they decide to bring it in line with the other classes.
Such is the nature of things.

[Kabooa]

That's kind of an invitation for you to offer your ideas of how this can be achieved - if any. Conversation and all.

Bluece's wild, I already wrote it.

[Dualgunner]

That's kind of an invitation for you to offer your ideas of how this can be achieved - if any. Conversation and all.

That you have to ask this of me means you didn't read my post from last page, and frankly I'm a bit saddened by that. I put about thirty minutes spitballing three or four different ways Mighty Guard could be handled with White Wind as a paired mechanic to it.

Regardless, whether or not I personally can come up with ideas does not negate what I've said at all. People doubted RDM's ability to be in the game. Nobody could imagine how so everybody concluded it was impossible. Then Yoshida's team put in a (from everywhere I've seen, apparently we live in different circles) very well received take on the Red Mage.

There's been a pretty noticeable backlash against RDM being a generic caster clone.

It looks nice and it's flashy but it's hardly the caster-melee-healer hybrid many imagined.

Generic caster clone?

It focused on RDM's iconic dualcasting mechanics and added in a focus on balancing two meters against each other and a burst phase that mandates melee range. That's something neither other caster can or has to do, so "generic caster clone"? Really? I expect words like that to come from people who don't actually play this game's casters.

Edit: This whole conversation is basically moot as the people that are complaining about the BLU we have now will complain about the BLU we get if they decide to bring it in line with the other classes.
Such is the nature of things.

I have more fun discussing this than I do playing watercannonmag--I mean needlemag--I mean drillcannon mage.

[Kalise]

I'm at a bit of a loss as to other types of ranged magical dps playstyles.

Well... I don't know about you, but I'm seeing an incredibly obvious magical rDPS playstyle for BLU that is completely different to that of RDM/BLM/SMN.

If you note 2 things about their current spells:

1) Most of their spells are Cone and PBAoE skills with very few being the targeted skills with long range.

2) They have (Albeit currently pretty niche for the most part) combo skills that can set up for bonuses on other skills.

Which suggests, that BLU's unique playstyle could be that of an rDPS that has less range because they use primarily Cone and PBAoE skills (They're not technically melee because they don't need to be in melee range, nor will they be auto attacking anything).

With skills that provide combos based on debuffs that get applied to enemies. Potentially with skills having more than one bonus effect to provide them different usages depending on what debuff was active on the target (I.e. Skill A might put a DoT on the target if debuff A was on the target but might just do direct damage if debuff B was on the target)

Of course, with all this talk of debuffs, I don't mean what they currently rely on with actual status effects (Such as Petrification, Deep Freeze and Dropsy) but rather unique "Debuffs" that don't do anything, but merely allow for BLU to combo skills with it. So they would be able to be applied to bosses and trash alike without worry of immunities, unbalance caused by potent status effects or diminishing returns and the eventual immunity that entails.

Like and easy way to think about it would be the element of the attack that applies a debuff. So a fire based skill would apply a fire debuff which would then affect other skills in a way you might expect a fire debuff to work with them.

You could even make things dynamic and have certain skills have a chance to proc multiple debuffs or a special debuff that is really good for powering up some spells but only happens randomly (Basically, creating the standard proc gameplay but with the procs being monitored as debuffs on your target as opposed to making your own skills shiny and boosted)

[wereotter]

I ignore half the spell synergies because they aren't worth using.

Ram's Voice > Snort > Dragon's Voice

This is a chain I've found generally to be effective, but only really works once, and only if snort can knock the enemies back. Though you'd think a level 50 in 130 gear doing a 400+ potency attack should kill a level 40 monster. It does not :/

[Palladiamors]

Ram's Voice > Snort > Dragon's Voice

This is a chain I've found generally to be effective, but only really works once, and only if snort can knock the enemies back. Though you'd think a level 50 in 130 gear doing a 400+ potency attack should kill a level 40 monster. It does not :/

Rams voice, bristle, Dragons Voice. You can get it off twice before the diminishing returns gets you. And honestly, thats a ton of damage...on trash mobs.