What would you guys think about getting more Dynamic, "Combo" abilities?

[CaptainLagbeard]

I wouldn't wish the current gamestate of healers on anyone. As this change would make ALL jobs like them, with their 2 buttons pressed endlessly, I must object to this idea.

In addition, Square didn't have the resources to give some jobs things that evolved how the job was played. A lot of jobs had more removed then they gained. They aren't going to consolidate combos to single buttons and add abilities to make up for it.

They wouldn't need to add anything immediately. However, whenever the next expansion rolls around (which likely isn't until sometime next year) they won't have to remove anything since they don't run into the problem of running out of space on action bars...

[Canada_bangs]

They wouldn't need to add anything immediately. However, whenever the next expansion rolls around (which likely isn't until sometime next year) they won't have to remove anything since they don't run into the problem of running out of space on action bars...

sounds great on paper until they still remove moves because of job changes or just flat out balancing and some moves growing out of date in SE's eyes. Also new moves in some aspects would naturally phase out some older ones depending on how the design team comes up with em. Point being making them a single button would not stop them from removing skills. There's more to it then just space. The bigger issue is balance and flat out job changes overall.

[CaptainLagbeard]

Doesn't address the dull tedium of current healer gameplay consisting of 2 buttons being pressed infinitely, or a single one if you're in an AoE situation. It also removes and/or limits a degree of control players have over their rotations, for those that have them. To remove that fine nuance and that bit of depth for current healer-level gameplay and that sort of rigidity is absurd to me.

Yes, healer gameplay can be tedious, but when you're supposed to pay attention to what the boss is doing and everyone's healths, simpler gameplay for a healer can be a little more welcome...


And I fail to see what control you'd lose over a rotation with condensed combo buttons, they'd still function the same way the weaponskills currently do, they just won't be in 3 separate buttons (or 5 in the case of DRG).
Anything that doesn't interrupt the combo still wouldn't interrupt it, and in a case like MNK, it would realistically be 3 buttons that just change based on your Stance than full combos...

[CaptainLagbeard]

Take, for example, current SAM. Hakaze is GCD 1 for 3 combo trees, with each tree doing something very specific. In order for the 1-2-3 system to work, you'd need to condense these into 3 buttons as Midare requires 3 Sen and the 3 Sen are symbolic to what Midare is. If that were to happen, SAM players could no longer use Hakaze as the primary jumping off point for combos, meaning that specific snap judgments can no longer be made. We'd be locked into a combo set the moment we press a button. As a direct example, in some fights I need to float Hakaze into Midare, Higabana, or something else. My next button depends on what I need done. Do I need a Shifu Refresh? Jinpu? Or can I Yuki safely and get through the filler GCDs early? With the proposed system, this sort of decision making is removed, and thus flexibility, depth. Definitely not worth it imo.

The only solution is to make each combo a 2-button combo, but then that requires rebalancing, such as nerfing Midare due to getting 1 extra each 24 GCDs (roughly, I think that'd be 1.2). But then SAM loses a bit of that "heavy single hit" identity, which is a big loss since, well, that's SAM.

A lot of players might not see that sort of depth and flexibility, admittedly. But removing the possibility, harming the job's identity, or both would definitely hurt the job for me. SAM is a really fun class that has a lot of depth under the surface. I don't feel it's appropriate for it to be removed or harmed just because some players want to press 1-3 buttons over and over. There are better ways to deal with button bloat, such as consolidating buttons that are always used in tandem (queen + detonate, Summon Bahamut + Enkindle Bahamut, Third Eye + Seigan + remove the self heal because it's literally useless) and buttons that shouldn't really exist (Bliz 1 > 3, Fire 2 > Flare) that should be implemented first.

Look, you wouldn't be locked into a full 3 hit combo by initiating one of them, they all start with Hakaze, so using any of the 3 combos WOULD still be possible after a first hit of Hakaze... But there's no reason for Shifu and Kasha to be two separate buttons, or Jinpu and Gekko to be two separate buttons.

It would literally function the exact same, it would just have less buttons to press.

[JohnSpawnVFX]

Look, you wouldn't be locked into a full 3 hit combo by initiating one of them, they all start with Hakaze, so using any of the 3 combos WOULD still be possible after a first hit of Hakaze... But there's no reason for Shifu and Kasha to be two separate buttons, or Jinpu and Gekko to be two separate buttons.

It would literally function the exact same, it would just have less buttons to press.

"Look, I don't care to discuss how hard it would be to program it. I just want it, period."

[CaptainLagbeard]

"Look, I don't care to discuss how hard it would be to program it. I just want it, period."

How hard is it to program the game to recognize that an attack was used and that you can move to a second attack in a combo? I dunno.

[WigglesTheWiggly]

"Look, I don't care to discuss how hard it would be to program it. I just want it, period."

How hard is it to program the game to recognize that an attack was used and that you can move to a second attack in a combo? I dunno.

Exactly and we already have such systems baked into both PvP and a few PvE skills. I doubt it'd be that difficult to tweak seeing as we already have modifiable systems in place to accomplish what's generally being asked for by a number of us.