It makes zero sense for the PLD class to have three different skills for AoE

[Lyth]

...

I suspect that a lot of abilities that previously used TP will simply become free, including AoEs. If you look at WAR, the only actions which use TP outside of combo actions are Tomohawk and Overpower. There's not really a point in keeping an entire resource bar just for these two actions.

A second reason is that in lower level dungeons, when your tank bottoms out on resources from using Flash/Overpower, they're forced to tab single target through the mobs to hold enmity. The whole system becomes simpler if you have a base enmity AoE that is free but doesn't do all that much damage.

I think the easiest solution is this:

PLD:
Merge Flash and Total Eclipse to create a single action that does low damage and generates enmity, with no attached cost.

Add in a second action that doesn't generate enmity, but is a high magical damage AoE that can work in conjunction with Requiescat. I'm thinking something along the lines of Agrias' (FFT) Judgement Blade or Divine Ruination/Holy Explosion. Some of these animations are already in the game anyways.

I'd also suggest that Requiescat be ranged, so that you could cast your big Holy spells (i.e. Holy Spirit/Judgement Blade) while starting from range.

WAR:
Remove the cost from Overpower, and have it provide similar damage to PLD's baseline enmity move.

I don't think there's really a problem with IR-Decimate. The damage strikes me as a tuning issue. I do think that Steel Cyclone, in its present burst self-healing stance-penalty ignoring form, needs to go. Decimate should be your baseline gauge spender regardless of stance.

If nostalgia requires you to keep the action, just turn it into an upgraded form of Overpower depending on level sync, and just drop the self-healing.

DRK:
I think this is the tricky one.

I think that we need to get rid of Unleash, because it doesn't really get used at higher levels. Either Unleash should upgrade into Abyssal Drain at a higher level, or Abyssal Drain should just replace Unleash altogether as the baseline enmity move.

As for costs, I think Abyssal is the least likely of the three baseline enmity moves to become free. You are casting a spell, after all. There are a couple of ways that you could offset this additional cost, however. I think the easiest way to do so is to have Blood Weapon proc off of spells in addition to weaponskills, and keep it stance independent (replacing Blood Price altogether).

Alternatively, you could have it offer a bit of baseline self healing or a bit of extra damage to offset the price tag.

...

As you pointed out elsewhere, the burden of proof is on the poster, not the reader, and it's up to them to provide the appropriate context for a suggestion.

And no, the word "snide" implies that I was being indirect in my views on the matter. I was fairly explicit.

...

I remember that old 3.x meme:
"WAR is powerful because it is superiorly designed. Don't nerf WAR, buff PLD/DRK."

Funny thing is, I even remember the MogTalk episode where it originated from, back in 2015, before everyone started parroting it. Oddly enough though, when PLD had a superior redesign at the start of Stormblood, everyone seemed to suddenly lose their minds over it.

I don't think it's necessarily even an issue of power balance. It's about change. MMOs often rely on a formula to push out regular content. But when things become too consistently formulaic, your longstanding players start to lose interest. Change is necessary.

This is true for raid compositions as well. Most groups preferentially looked for a WAR, SCH, and BRD since at least 2014. In a game that's going to have 17(+1) jobs next expansion, we ought to be seeing a lot more variety than we presently do.

I didn't mind Heavensward, even though it favoured WAR even more heavily than present. I didn't even mind the pride over how strong WAR was compared to the other two tanks. You had to work harder on DRK, but you were also valued for it.

I didn't even mind the start of Stormblood. DRK was probably hit hardest by the expansion changes, but the devs promised to rein in WAR's power, and to an extent they did. Everyone now had some sort of penalty for changing stances. Everyone now had to deal with resource management. PLD was a clear cut winner, but DRK and WAR were the closest in performance that they've ever been. And after a two-year draught, there's nothing wrong with giving PLD a little time in the sun. Change is good.

What I do object to is the dev response to community requests between 4.0 to 4.2. You had a few vocal, but influential players going on about how unfair the situation was for WAR, and on how they needed either lots of utility buffs or a dps advantage to compensate. You also had people spreading misinformation about how DRK had suddenly gone from being the most difficult tank to the easiest, simply because we only had one dps combo (protip: we always did). And what's worse, a lot of WAR players bought into this without formulating their own opinions, and just kept parroting it back.

I think that's part of what caused a shift in how we think about DRK. In Heavensward, every time we saw a drawback on our actions, the response was: "We'll just deal with it, this job is supposed to have a high skillcap." Living Dead is terrible? We'll deal with it. Shadow Wall is the weakest of the "30% DR" cooldowns? We'll deal with it. High APM and more unforgiving play than WAR for less rewards? We'll just get better and beat them at their own game.

But if I'm playing the "easiest tank job", I suddenly don't want to put up with that anymore. And when I look back at 6 years of WAR being a lock-in to most raid teams, I also don't want to put up with that any more, either. I don't mind if DRK is at a disadvantage compared to other tanks, even in the coming expansion. I just don't want to see the WAR/SCH/BRD trinity as guaranteed raid slots. And I would take any amount of nerfs to both my job, and to tanking as a whole, to see a change finally happen, and to prevent things from getting stagnant.

[Kalise]

I suspect that a lot of abilities that previously used TP will simply become free, including AoEs. If you look at WAR, the only actions which use TP outside of combo actions are Tomohawk and Overpower. There's not really a point in keeping an entire resource bar just for these two actions.

Honestly, I'd be interested to see if they actually end up making resources matter in 5.0 for all classes. So instead of "Spam the best DPS combo ad infinitum" there's a sense of having to use an alternate combo that takes less MP to as to not run dry or to regen up for a burst phase where you want to access your higher damaging combo for the duration.

I just don't want to see the WAR/SCH/BRD trinity as guaranteed raid slots. And I would take any amount of nerfs to both my job, and to tanking as a whole, to see a change finally happen, and to prevent things from getting stagnant.

Inb4 GUN/DNC/BRD are the guaranteed raid slots for the next 6 years.

[Jandor]

Inb4 GUN/DNC/BRD are the guaranteed raid slots for the next 6 years.

I think they'll surprise us all.

GNB/DNC/MCH

[347SPECTRE]

I think they'll surprise us all.

GNB/DNC/MCH

Shooter/Dancer meta. I'd actually like to see that.

[Nolagamer]

Just borrow WoW's paladin consecration ability. AoE attack with enmity.

[LeoLupinos]

I personally find Flash unique and usefull for helping friends by taunting the enemy and letting them kill the enemy, especially in Eureka. It's the only skill that build emnity without doing damage, I hope they leave it there.

I really don't feel any skill bloat with tanks. They're already the most boring role, removing skills will not help.

[MorbolvampireQueen6]

i just don't get y pally kept both its dot and stun when war,drk was removed in stormblood that was a bit unfair

[aodhan_ofinnegain]

i just don't get y pally kept both its dot and stun when war,drk was removed in stormblood that was a bit unfair

The reason why both DRK and WAR lost Scourge and Fracture was the fact they just applied a DoT and that's it. For PLD Goring Blade is a combo finisher, and Circle of Scorn is an AoE enmity modified oGCD which happens to have a DoT attached to it.
Not really unfair when you look at the criteria they used for removing single press and forget DoTs, any single use with no extra use outside of a DoT effect was removed, MNK, DRG and NIN also lost a native DoT as well due to this.
As for Shield Bash, guessing it remained as it cost 120/130 tp and cost a GCD to use, lowblow/ Brutal Swing on the otherhand were free oGCD stuns.

[aodhan_ofinnegain]

As for PLD AoE, honestly can't see them removing TE so soon after implementing it's only GCD spammable AoE skill. As Lyth suggested, I would like to see TE gain the enmity effect from flash, and flash upgraded into a higher damaging AoE, maybe same potency as decimate, this way TE is still affected by Fight or Flight, and then you can switch over to Requiescat, for magic based AoE, which would compliment PLD single target rotation at present, but it is all depending on how the tp/mp consolidation affects the job.
Currently I wouldn't say PLD's AoE is too bloated, since you still use Circle of Scorn on single target, leaving 2 skills you may or may not use, depending on the content you're doing.

[OcieKo]

Or just hope all the melees can have an AoE Combo rotation.
MNK has 2/3rds of one.
DRG has a short 2 step one.
NIN is in a weird spot for this... probably the least awkward feeling of the non-rotation melee AoEs.
SAM probably in the best spot for melee AoE.

If they wanted to go Flash > Total Eclipse > New Move for a rotation, and give something to follow up Overpower for WAR.
I'm not speculating on DRK/AST these days as I suspect the ShB is going to mess with them significantly.

And I'm on the faction for rotating combo buttons so we simply need finisher slots/usable slots for pretty much all classes. It's an easy way to bring down the hotbar bloat without too much pruning/combining, which will happen regardless, some skills are just unnecessary or dull, but I'd say on average most jobs will get back at least 3-5 slots on their bars if not way more.