Rework Bluemage!

[Silver-Strider]

Maybe an exaggeration, but it seems like SE are the only mmo whom struggle with job designs to this extent. No mmo is perfectly balanced, they all have issues, but SE makes it seem so difficult. Makes me wonder if the FF brand where not behind this game, how well it would actually fare.

It isn't a bad game, don't get me wrong. I do think they get away with a lot because the game is called Final Fantasy 14 and not Dungeon Fantasy 14.

I always wondered why I was never really looking forward to any jobs, maybe this is why....I don't know......I feel BST would be a rat master like a Plague's Tale or something.

Go play Elder Scrolls Online. Balance in that game is a joke in comparison to anything SE has done with FFXIV.

[KageTokage]

I still wish they could've just restricted the use of BLU in standard content until you've learned their "essentials" needed to execute their full DPS rotation properly.

I'd still find the class fun if I had to do without or had access to nerfed versions of their "OP" moves like Final Sting, White Wind, Bad Breath, Peculiar Light, Tail Screw, Doom, etc.

They've already lost one of their major edges that had over conventional classes in that now everyone can spam AoEs without quickly running out of resources.

[MPNZ]

So, change it's role to all rounder and make mask stances with randomized abilities and requirement to acquire certain abilities and keep it like OP due to the hassle of having to collect those abilities and the chance that they players will que with a partially empty tool kit. And, allow BLu the ability to switch between its mask stances for situational needs and we finally have a job that could actually reduce ques caused by dev team hubris XD

[Zerogunsoul81]

At this point I feel like they should just unlock it, and see how it handles in normal content. Just give it things to help it from 50-80 and just watch to see if it brakes anything. Not like it can use doom, missile, tail screw, or any status effects on impotent enemies. So just let it do it's thing, if it's braking everything, lock it and fix it before unlocking it again.

[Duelle]

At this point I feel like they should just unlock it, and see how it handles in normal content. Just give it things to help it from 50-80 and just watch to see if it brakes anything. Not like it can use doom, missile, tail screw, or any status effects on impotent enemies. So just let it do it's thing, if it's braking everything, lock it and fix it before unlocking it again.

Without gameplay and mechanics to back it up, BLU would be DOA if they were to do that. Not to mention people would resent what would look like repeated buffs/nerfs to the job.

[Brightshadow]

Without gameplay and mechanics to back it up, BLU would be DOA if they were to do that. Not to mention people would resent what would look like repeated buffs/nerfs to the job.

Lol like it wasn't dead on arrival already.

Anything is better than what we currently have as of 5.0, if the job gets access to duty finder and current level stuff they would atleast be able to participate. Just like how almost nobody wanted to play machinist in 4.0 but they could still participate in any current content available.

As for mechanics to back it up, there is a ton of mechanics already in their spells. BLU just has more customization. It definitely wouldn't be a job for everyone, but we already have 17 jobs with the normal slightly altered mechanics I think something different that could do regular content isn't necessarily bad even if its a tad underpowered. (which could be fixed by potency changes in patches.)

[Banim]

I'd be happy if BLU was part of the new jobs for next expansion. They could still retain their limited job content having a separate set of abilities, much like all other jobs have a separate set of tools in PvP modes and the Wolves Den area.

[Duelle]

Anything is better than what we currently have as of 5.0, if the job gets access to duty finder and current level stuff they would atleast be able to participate. Just like how almost nobody wanted to play machinist in 4.0 but they could still participate in any current content available.

I wasn't around during Stormblood long enough to know what the deal was with MCH, but that sounds like a false equivalence. Any failings MCH had during Stormblood were most likely the result of poor design and/or balancing (read: stuff that could be fine-tuned because the groundwork was already in place). BLU was intentionally made devoid of mechanics. That's a huge difference between those two scenarios.

As for mechanics to back it up, there is a ton of mechanics already in their spells.

I've looked over the spell list in and out of the game, and I don't see much aside from a handful of spell interactions, most of which are little more than gimmicks (Lv5 Petrify => Drill Cannon, any stun => Sharpened Knife).

I also see a bunch of spells that are not usable in dungeons and raids (Doom, Missile, Lv5 Petrify, Tail Screw, Snort, all stuns, anything that resembles CC), a tank stance with a cast time, and two suicide moves. The only things that I would consider usable in the current design would be the DoTs (Feather Rain, Song of Torment), Flying Sardine if you ever need an interrupt (though it doesn't seem like that sort of thing is mandatory) and Bad Breath every 15s for the attack debuff/Peculiar Light for the magic damage taken debuff. I won't claim that utility isn't covered, but that leaves BLU to spam Water Cannon between the cooldowns for Feather Storm/Glass Dance/Shock Strike.

Which takes us to my point on gameplay and mechanics. BLU doesn't have much to go by, especially when compared to the other casters in the roster. It also doesn't have traits that support the job in its chosen role (taking a page from the FFXI "certain spells in a combo grant traits" system wouldn't be a bad place to start). And considering the devs have a fixation on giving everyone a resource bar (even jobs that never needed them; see: PLD), you'd need to address BLU's lack of that as well.

To get back into brainstorming, you could plausibly make spell interactions BLU's thing (the way Astral Fire/Umbral Ice is BLM's thing and Aetherflow is SMN's thing), but you need to take it well beyond just the gimmicky stuff currently in place.

[Jandor]

To get back into brainstorming, you could plausibly make spell interactions BLU's thing (the way Astral Fire/Umbral Ice is BLM's thing and Aetherflow is SMN's thing), but you need to take it well beyond just the gimmicky stuff currently in place.

Could take advantage of the elemental spells.

In FFXIV you have the following interactions:
Fire melts Ice, Ice blocks Wind, Wind extinguishes Fire (yes I know that last one is stupid.)
Lightning boils Water, Water erodes Earth, Earth grounds Lightning.

For example, you use an earth spell and it gives you an earth buff, any water aligned spell used will do bonus damage because it's going "through" the element it's strongest against.
So your water spell then does bonus damage, removes the earth status, and replaces it with a water one. Then you use lightning to attack, clear the water status, and complete a basic 3 button combo, gaining a 'blue mage token' to be spent on a more impressive non-aligned spell like 'Bad Breath'.

Thinking a gauge something like this.



Start with Fire, Fire extinguished by Wind, Wind blocked by Ice, one "token" granted.
Lightning opener, grounded by Earth, eroded by Water, second elemental triangle "token" granted, and one bigger "token" for completing the whole elemental wheel.

Small token for something like a toned down Bad Breath.
Bigger token for stuff like the Primal spells but beefed up?

I think the job could probably still use a little more than that, but it's a solid enough foundation to build upon IMHO.

[Zerogunsoul81]

I hope that blue mage get fleshes out into a full class at some point. Cus the showed off they're adding a morbol mount for it. And i just wanted it to be a full fledged class. And not a minigame they use as a way to keep people play for an extra 4 to 5 days. And a way to carrot on a stick people into playing it. I want a my fav class to be able to do things with. Instead of it being the MMO version of being stranded on a desert island.