Geomancer and Chemist - A Better Idea

[Shurrikhan]

I tried a chemist healer, but much of what it utilizes can translate into a DPS type job.

Removing / adjusting the healing oriented abilities and tuning them to be damage oriented ones, and you have a stim-giving, potion chugging, grenade throwing, shot-aiming floppy-hat wearing adventurer.

Nice. I'd probably play either version once refined (e.g. improving the obvious skill-specific issues like potential griefing via Mighty Serum and sync issues from Vigor without further background changes to how Speed or accelerated CDs work, dpsing between heals if ammo invariably makes the next X shots heal, and ideally a bit more gauge interaction).

The aesthetic has all kinds of giddy goodness, and I'd love to have more (and more impactful) single-target support.

[Leidiriv]

That Ironsight concept (really cool btw) has inspired me to post my take on the class here too. I'll leave the story stuff out for brevity's sake but the rest can stay in.

The Medicus-

Weapon: Two-handed hand cannon attached by a series of tubes to the Synthesis Chamber, a glass canister worn on the Medicus’s back.

Limit Break: Mega-Phoenix - The Synthesis Chamber overclocks, creating a powerful Phoenix Down that gets launched into the air, creating a large ball of light, from which smaller balls of light drift down onto the party, fully reviving them

Mechanics:
Solutions: Certain weaponskills and abilities apply Solutions to yourself and your party members. A character can only have 5 Solutions at once, and Solutions are spent on Aetherochemical Charge/Pulse, Dark Matter, Soothing Pulse, and Clinical Trial.

Feedback: Consuming Solutions causes toxic waste to build up in your Synthesis Chamber, increasing your Feedback Gauge. You can have up to 200 Feedback at once, and Feedback is spent on Caustic Spray and Refreshing Spray.

Actions:
Noiseblaster: Deliver an attack with a potency of 180/200/220/240
Cast time: 2s | Recast time: 2.5s | Range: 25y | 400 MP | Weaponskill
Level 1 MED

Debilitator: Deliver an attack with a potency of 80.
Additional effect: Deals damage over time with a potency of 30/40/50.
Duration: 30s
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 2.5s | Range: 25y | 400 MP | Weaponskill
Level 2 MED

S-Potion: Restores the target’s HP.
Cure Potency: 430
Additional Effect: Applies 2 Solutions to the target.
Cast time: 2s | Recast time: 2.5s | Range: 30y| 400 MP | Weaponskill
Level 4 MED

M-Potion: Restores the target’s HP and the HP of all party members near the target.
Cure Potency: 250
Additional Effect: Applies 1 Solution to all affected party members.
Cast time: 2.5s | Recast time: 2.5s | Range: 25y | Radius: 8y | 800 MP | Weaponskill
Level 10 MED

S-Phoenix: Resurrects the target to a weakened state.
Cast time: 8s | Recast time: 2.5s | Range: 25y | 2400 MP | Weaponskill
Level 12 MED

S-Elixir: Restores the target’s HP.
Cure Potency: 600
Additional Effect: Applies 2 Solutions to the target.
Cast Time: 2s | Recast time: 2.5s | Range: 30y | 1000 MP | Weaponskill
Level 30 MED

Aetherochemical Charge: Consumes all Solutions on the target to create an Aetherochemical Barrier around them that absorbs damage equivalent to a heal of the following potencies.
1 Solution: 150
2 Solutions: 300
3 Solutions: 450
4 Solutions: 600
5 Solutions: 750
Effect does not stack with Galvanize or Nocturnal Barrier.
Additional Effect: Grants 5 Feedback for each Solution consumed this way.
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 10s | Range: 30y | Ability
Level 30 MED

Aetherochemical Pulse: Consumes all Solutions on self and all nearby party members to create an Aetherochemical Barrier around each one that absorbs damage equivalent to a heal of the following potencies.
1 Solution: 85
2 Solutions: 170
3 Solutions: 255
4 Solutions: 340
5 Solutions: 425
Effect does not stack with Galvanize or Nocturnal Barrier.
Additional Effect: Grants 2 Feedback for each Solution consumed this way.
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 10s | Radius: 15y | Ability
Level 35 MED

M-Elixir: Restores the target’s HP and the HP of all party members near the target.
Cure Potency: 450
Additional Effect: Applies 1 Solution to all affected party members.
Cast time: 2.5s | Recast time: 2.5s| Range: 30y | Radius: 8y | 1300 MP | Weaponskill
Level 40 MED

Red Fang: Delivers a fire-aspected attack to the target and all enemies near the target with a potency of 80.
Additional Effect: Burn
Burn Potency: 20
Duration: 15s
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 2.5s | Range: 15y | Radius: 6y | 600 MP | Weaponskill
Level 45 MED

Caustic Spray: Delivers damage over time to all enemies in a cone before you.
Potency: 150
Duration: 10s
Additional Effect: Continually applies Solutions to yourself and all party members in a cone before you.
Effect ends upon using another action or moving (including facing a different direction).
Cancels auto-attack upon execution.
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 2.5s| Range: 12y | Radius: 12y | Weaponskill | 50 Feedback
Level 50 MED

Holy Water: Blesses an area with holy water, increasing the healing received by all party members who enter the area by 15%.
Additional Effect: Applies a Solution to all affected allies every 3s.
Duration: 30s
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 80s | Range: 30y | Radius: 8y | Ability
Level 52 MED

Balm of Garlemald: Restores own HP and the HP of all nearby party members.
Cure Potency: 300
Additional Effect: Applies 2 Solutions to all affected party members.
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 40s | Radius: 15y | Ability
Level 56 MED

Transfusion: Grants healing over time effect to target.
Cure Potency: 300
Duration: 15s
Additional Effect: Applies 1 Solution to the target every time they are healed by this ability.
Cast time: instant: Recast time: 60s | Range: 30y | Ability
Level 58 MED

Dark Matter: Consumes all Solutions on the target to deliver an attack to all enemies near them with a potency based on how many Solutions were consumed.
1 Solution: 75
2 Solutions: 150
3 Solutions: 225
4 Solutions: 300
5 Solutions: 375
Additional Effect: Grants 5 Feedback for every Solution consumed this way.
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 45s | Range: 25y | Radius: 6y | Charges: 2 | Ability
Level 60 MED

Hero Drink: Reduces the damage that the target takes by 40%.
Duration: 6s
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 180s | Range: 30y | Ability
Level 62 MED

Bacchanalian Infusion: Increases the Direct Hit Rate of self and all nearby party members by 20%.
Duration: 15s
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 120s | Radius: 15y | Ability
Level 64 MED

Lilith’s Kiss: Delivers an attack with a potency of 60.
Additional Effect: Damage over time
Potency: 40
Duration: 30s.
Additional Effect: Grants 1 Feedback every time Lilith’s Kiss deals damage.
Level 66 MED
Cast time: 1.5s | Recast time: 2.5s | Range: 25y | Weaponskill
Level 66 MED

Experimental Reagent: Applies 5 Solutions to self and all nearby party members.
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 90s | Radius: 15y | Ability
Level 70 MED

Refreshing Spray: Delivers healing over time to self and all party members in a cone before you.
Cure Potency: 120
Duration: 10s
Additional Effect: Continually applies Solutions to self and all party members in a cone before you.
Effect ends upon using another action or moving (including facing a different direction).
Cancels auto-attack upon execution.
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 2.5s| Range: 12y | Radius: 12y | Weaponskill | 50 Feedback
Level 72 MED

Inferno Fang: Delivers a fire-aspected attack to the target and all enemies near the target with a potency of 90.
Additional Effect: Burn
Burn Potency: 30
Duration: 12s
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 2.5s | Range: 15y | Radius: 6y | 600 MP | Weaponskill
Level 74 MED

Soothing Pulse: Consumes all Solutions on self and all nearby party members to restore HP based on the number of Solutions consumed on each target.
Cure Potency with 1 Solution: 70
2 Solutions: 140
3 Solutions: 210
4 Solutions: 280
5 Solutions: 350
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 10s | Radius: 15y | Ability
Level 76 MED

Unstable Compound: Gradually increases your Feedback Gauge.
Duration: 15s
Effect ends upon using another action or moving (including facing a different direction).
Cancels auto-attack upon execution.
Triggers the cooldown of weaponskills upon execution. Cannot be executed during the cooldown of weaponskills.
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 60s | Ability
Level 78 MED

Clinical Trial: Consumes all Solutions on the target.
Additional Effect: Grants 10 Feedback for every Solution consumed this way.
Cast time: instant | Recast time: 20s | Range: 25y | Ability
Level 80 MED


Traits-
Magiteknical Synthesis: Swiftcast and Surecast now affects your Weaponskills. Additionally, the recast time of your Weaponskills now scales with Spell Speed instead of Skill Speed.
Level 18 MED

Maim and Mend: Increases base action damage and HP restoration by 10%
Level 20 MED

The Perfect Mix: Certain Weaponskills and Abilities apply Solutions to their targets. Max 5 Solutions per party member.
Level 30 MED

Maim and Mend II: Increases base action damage and HP restoration by 30%
Level 40 MED

Toxic Feedback: Consuming Solutions now increases your Feedback.
Level 50 MED

Deafening Blast I: Increases Noiseblaster’s potency to 200.
Level 54 MED

Virophage I: Increases the damage over time potency of Debilitator to 40.
Level 66 MED

Deafening Blast II: Increases Noiseblaster’s potency to 220.
Level 68 MED

Fang Mastery: Upgrades Red Fang to Inferno Fang.
Level 74 MED

Virophage II: Increases the damage over time potency of Debilitator to 50.
Level 74 MED

Deafening Blast III: Increases Noiseblaster’s potency to 240.
Level 74 MED

[Kabooa]

That Ironsight concept (really cool btw) has inspired me to post my take on the class here too. I'll leave the story stuff out for brevity's sake but the rest can stay in.

The Medicus

Noiseblaster, I'm sold.

This seems like a more managerial playstyle, via applying, maintaining, and consuming Solutions. I like that, it's one we don't really have represented yet. Aesthetically I'm just picturing the tf2 medic and that's always a plus.

[Shurrikhan]

Noiseblaster, I'm sold.

This seems like a more managerial playstyle, via applying, maintaining, and consuming Solutions. I like that, it's one we don't really have represented yet. Aesthetically I'm just picturing the tf2 medic and that's always a plus.

Medicus does seem like it'd step on fewer DPS-oriented jobs' toes if implemented, as compared to a healer Ironsight. I can't quite get into the job as described as much as what I picture from Ironsight, but that may just be a bias towards one aesthetic over the others. The "managerial" playstyle, as you put it, certainly appeals to me, so I'm not sure why it's not 'clicking' as of yet.

(Personally, I immediately imagined a cross between Overwatch's Baptiste, but with a lot less gunnery or consistent access to damage, AL's Caustic, and TF2's Medic. Which... seemed pretty lucrative.)

[JanVanding]

I still think chemist is possible for one main reason

hear me out on this....

Rikku and VIIIs Junction system.

In Final Fantasy X, Rikku served the Chemist's role, being more a thief archetype that also had chemist skills.

This would lead for an interesting branch for Rogues as they get to also become a melee healer and they can base their skills around stealing from the enemy and using it to boost your Allies (think the Junction system from 8 where you draw abilities from enemies to stock or use, obviously GBR has draw in one form, you're using draw in another).

they could even tie it in with Al Mihgans being that they learned the ability to draw from the travelling GBRs/captured a Garlean Gunblade, studied the tech adapted it.

So you would have some healing and buffing skills which you can improve by effectively "stealing" (drawing) from the enemy and using the stolen Aether to buff your Allies and power up your heals.

Thoughts?

[ReiMakoto]

Just to point out, chemist could easily have a lore justified reason for why potion heals could cost mana despite not being "magical". The MCH Aethroconverter, draws in ambient aether and converts it to lightning/ fire aether for mch's to shoot, a similar mechanic could be used for a CHM "backback" which instead converts the CHMs personal aether into a substance used to make their potions. This could be a further balance mechanic, as you could make it so CHMs basic gcds don't cost mana unlike the other healers, but their healing is more mana intensive as a result. Pair this with the posibility of off global mudra esq mix with instant actual cast on the heal, which is bigger than other healers main spammable heal but has the aformentioned downsides. Another mechanical possibility is reduced range on using said instant potion to balance their instant nature (10y) outside of throw which is on a 15s cd.

[Archwizard]

That Ironsight concept (really cool btw) has inspired me to post my take on the class here too. I'll leave the story stuff out for brevity's sake but the rest can stay in.

First I want to say, I really appreciate that you actually took the time to develop a unique concept. You've definitely put the level of critical thought I'd been hoping to see from a healer concept in this -- going above and beyond, even, with such specifics as potencies, traits and levels.

I definitely can see the unique potential from the Solutions setup, allowing you to plant the seeds on allies for further healing later on. I get a WoW Rogue Combo Point vibe from that system.
I also applaud the attempt to create interplay between healing and damage. I'm aware of the frequent criticisms towards the current healer paradigm that there are perhaps too many healing tools for not enough damage intake, leaving lengthy periods of damage dealing which are themselves a boring affair; my knee-jerk reaction is to be critical of how many more DoTs there are than even SCH had at its peak, but then again, having more access to damage tools for each healer may be a step in the right direction.

There are some aspects of this setup that confuse me though (which admittedly could be due to simple oversights or typos) -- for instance, M-Elixir seems like a straight upgrade to M-Potion without visible drawbacks. With most skills consuming MP and requiring cast times anyway, I fail to see the point of having them be weaponskills instead of spells, particularly when that means they're unaffected by Surecast and you can't use Swiftcast on them until you get the trait for it (which could be problematic in sync'd content); it strikes me as feeding into the recurring trend I mentioned, a choice made simply to say the job is non-magical despite a lack of intrinsic advantage over magical healers in that regard.

I also have concerns that this system as you've written it rewards overhealing, since it applies Solutions regardless of how much targets are healed, and in fact requires Solutions to deal damage through some abilities. Such a system could end up having the Medicus simply throw obligatory potions (or worse, waste healing CDs) as part of a damage rotation. The shared resource on Spray abilities also forces the player into a choice between damage and healing, which may lead players to avoid one of the Spray abilities as often as possible, depending on the damage balance of Caustic Spray and whether it's worthwhile to conserve Feedback.
(I'm aware this could be compared to use of Energy Drain for SCH, but Energy Drain is largely meant to be a means to dump Aetherflow before its CD returns. The damage value of it is generally considered to not be high enough to conserve it, compared to using the oGCD healing skills to avoid spending GCDs on healing. Meanwhile Sprays appear to consume multiple GCDs each.)
Meanwhile, I also have concerns about the distribution of Solutions in the vacuum of healing. The earliest use of Solutions is for creating a barrier, which means that the barrier must be generated after healing, despite that barriers are often preferred before healing is even necessary (like in Wall to Wall pulls). It's less of a problem later on when you have multiple skills that generate Solutions, but then you run into the reverse issue, where as a result of all Solution-consuming skills being on alternating cooldowns, you could potentially have more means to generate and overcap them than you have to actually use them, possibly even forcing you to resort to using skills outside of the situations they're necessary for just to have a means to burn the extra off -- which appears to be critical to generating Feedback.
Also, some skills offer a massive disparity depending on the size of the group: if you can place and consume Solutions on multiple targets at once and receive more Feedback as a result, then you'll intrinsically be generating more resources in an 8-man group than a 4-man group or solo, and potentially overcapping as a result -- a concern that applies to no other healers as their additional resources are bound to themselves. Likewise, if anyone dies, there goes all the Solutions on them, which can cascade to affect the potency of your skills on everyone else in the case of Refreshing Spray.

Overall, an interesting concept with its own merits, but as Shurri put it, it doesn't quite "click" for me. For other concepts I might say "it has a gap in the kit for X scenario," but some of these won't be fixed with a band-aid.

[Leidiriv]

You definitely raise some good points with regards to the role actions and resource management on MED, though I made sure to put the Magiteknical Synthesis trait at the same level as you would normally unlock Swiftcast. Should I potentially also add clauses to that one for SpS and Surecast? With regards to the aesthetics thing, I don't necessarily agree, since MNK and RDM in particular would benefit from having an additional body on the field throwing out weaponskills for the phys damage.

Regarding the Solution spending, what would you recommend? Should I drop the cooldown of the various Solution spenders to be avout the same level as Clinical Trial? Should I drop the Solution amounts on MED's various GCDs to further encourage the Sprays and things like Holy Water? The thing about the Sprays spending the same resource was 100% intended though, to create tension in the kit based on GCD usage.

As for M-Elixir, I view it as being like Cure III is to the basic Medica for WHM. The latter's useful in a pinch if you absolutely need the lower MP cost, but the former's overall more efficient.

With regqrds to the DoTs, though, there's only really 2 DoTs that are used in ST combat (Debilitator and Lilith's Kiss). The Sprays just act like Flamethrower and Red/Inferno Fang is more like what Miasma II used to be for SCH.

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed it overall, and thanks for the detailed feedback!

Edit: I made a few balance changes that should overall make the kit flow better. I reduced the cooldowns of the Solution spenders and Experimental Reagent, reduced the Solutions generated by MED's tier 2 healing GCDs, and added a clause to Magiteknical Synthesis about Surecast and SpS (though ideally they'd both be merged into a single Speed stat). Also I doubled the maximum Feedback to make the Sprays more lenient overall.

[Shurrikhan]

I still think chemist is possible for one main reason

hear me out on this....

Rikku and VIIIs Junction system.

In Final Fantasy X, Rikku served the Chemist's role, being more a thief archetype that also had chemist skills.

This would lead for an interesting branch for Rogues as they get to also become a melee healer and they can base their skills around stealing from the enemy and using it to boost your Allies (think the Junction system from 8 where you draw abilities from enemies to stock or use, obviously GBR has draw in one form, you're using draw in another).

they could even tie it in with Al Mihgans being that they learned the ability to draw from the travelling GBRs/captured a Garlean Gunblade, studied the tech adapted it.

So you would have some healing and buffing skills which you can improve by effectively "stealing" (drawing) from the enemy and using the stolen Aether to buff your Allies and power up your heals.

Thoughts?

That would seem more to indicate that... perhaps we never should have left behind the classes-as-mixable-skillsets design paradigm of 1.x (and instead just include Archery, Performance, Machinistry, Gunnery, Dancing, Chemistry, Thievery, Stealth Tactics, Shield-bearing, etc., with any given weapon class -- albeit at varying in-practice synergies), even if everything else should have been burned with caustic fire?

[Pyitoechito]

Chemist doesn't have to be an MP-free healer or lack cast times. I don't expect the devs to create a healer that isn't dependent on mana and casting. Chemist could take a note from Noctis in FF15. In said game, potions we're actually just energy drinks that Noctis infuses with magic to give them healing properties. Chemists could take low-quality potions (because it would be easier to explain their infinite supply of them) and infuse them with aether to make them as potent as other healers' spells.

Now we have established how CHM could potentially rely on MP and have cast times.

Mix has been mentioned, but I do believe it would be a fun mechanic to implement on a healer. It would likely be a halfway between NIN Mudras and AST cards. Like NIN, it would involve pressing oGCDs in a certain order to get desired outcomes (like a healing puddle an explosive), but like AST the oGCDs can be done between GCDs. This would not be like DNC (where the outcome never changes, just the order of the steps) or fully like AST (where the outcome is random).

To make mixing even more unique by being able to store multiple mixtures, rather than having to use the completed mix immediately. Say we have 2-3 oGCDs for mixing, and each variety of completed mixture also has it's own action slot. There's no "start mix" or "end mix" action, mixing begins with the first "mix action" and ends after a third "mix action" is used. This would probably be handled like Mudra actions and have all mix actions share charges. The job gauge would show mixing progress and the order of mix actions. Once a mix completes successfully the corresponding action that was created will gain a charge, and multiple charges can be stored.

In this way, CHM would be somewhat like SCH where they are proactively managing their healing kit to prepare for upcoming mechanics (SCH does this with barrier health and skills like Excog). Whether that would be a fun or interesting way of creating a healer... shrug.