I like BLU a lot after 5.15, but BLU being restricted is making XIV less fun for me

[TheRealQuah]

Far from it. "Man mode" runs seem impressive until you realize that tanks are inherently nearly twice as tough as any dps even before using cooldowns and have healing capabilities comparable to healers. 8 Tanks can fail or ignore a lot of mechanics with all members surviving that normal compositions must perform. DpS is the only real factor limiting "man mode."

The Morbol Mount involves clearing content with 8 members of one the least durable job types. DpS isn't a problem, the challenge is complete built around figuring out how to handle mechanics that can easily kill most if not all of the party if messed up.

Good luck getting past even the first 20 seconds of UCOB "failing or ignoring a lot of mechanics". In fact that goes for most fights. 8 manning fights as tanks takes a level of skill which far surpasses any content that BLU has access to in this game.

DpS isn't a problem, the challenge is complete built around figuring out how to handle mechanics that can easily kill most if not all of the party if messed up.

You just basically described every fight in the game above Normal Trial level content.

Would not surprise me if SE kept BLU the way it was at the moment up to level 60, but then gave you a fixed set of skills to use from level 70 onwards and let you do all content with it. IE keep the limited job content and upgrade it into a full job at 70, albeit with a fixed skill set. When thinking of adding new jobs for the next expansion, BLU is 90% of the way there, it's a no brainer to upgrade it and save tons of resources. Plus Caster and Healer should be the next 2 job types to gain another.

[DPZ2]

I suspect that, if SE were to make BLU a full job, a lot of the 'insta-kill' spells would disappear, and you would be reduced to the same standard 20-30 actions of every other DPS role in-game, earned the exact same way as every other role in-game.

Which spells are you absolutely willing to give up to become a full job, and in what order should they be acquired on the way to level 90?

[Auryan]

-snip-

The "used up" comment kinda gives a reminder of what BLU is at its core: side content. But now you want it to be reach max level and be a part of the max content? Even if it were to hit level 80 it'll still have the same limitations and more (Savage, Ultimate and Bozja). Keeping it at least an expansion behind is there to make sure it doesn't affect the balance of the latest content. Most of your issues stems (MSQ, roulette) from the balancing concerns and the unpredictability of the job in the hands of randoms. There could be ways to work around that like adding a roulette for just BLUs or give players the option of letting BLUs in if they sign off on it, but those also run into their own issues.

No job is the same. Some jobs are simple and straightforward like WHM, DRG, BLM, etc. But then you have FF jobs that are a bit harder to adapt like BLU, Arithmetician, Puppetmaster, Oracle, Morpher, you get the idea. So adding WHM into XIV as a healer that, you know, heals is much easier than to add Morpher that channels the spirits of collected monsters with various abilities in battle.

I'm not saying you're wrong to feel or think this way, but making BLU into a standard DoM isn't what it's suppose to be or will likely ever be. I'm afraid the answer the devs have consistently given is a "no", but they're likely looking for ways to expand and improve on the concept. Like say maybe giving BLU some kind of approachable, grindy content that the average player can do. I wouldn't mind a BLU relic with wacky and unique effects. Or unique currency from logs/Carnival to buy interesting rewards. The current system is fine, but they can always offer more long-term incentives. And if they want to take it one step forward with the concept, why not add create shared content for the job type? A Eureka/Bozja-esque content would do wonders if they ever plan on investing more on the idea.

So, that's all I got for now.

[DBriggs304]

BLU is just too overpowered to be a regular class.

[ty_taurus]

I suspect that, if SE were to make BLU a full job, a lot of the 'insta-kill' spells would disappear, and you would be reduced to the same standard 20-30 actions of every other DPS role in-game, earned the exact same way as every other role in-game.

Which spells are you absolutely willing to give up to become a full job, and in what order should they be acquired on the way to level 90?

I imagine that if BLU ever does upgrade to a usable job at end level play, it would involve some kind of system where you have to "refine" your blue magic, which would ultimately change how each spell functions to match how actions work outside of the BLU gimmick content. Let's say this is hypothetically happening. From a lore perspective, we learn that as the blue mage uses the magic of monsters and is naturally well-rounded, we begin training on how to specialize our magic toward a more targeted goal (tanking, DPSing, or healing).

In order to accomplish this, we need to refine our magic to fit that specialization. The way it could work is that some spells would have a refined form that you can receive through the newest BLU gimmick of the expansion. Let's say that in Mighty Guard's case, our refining process makes it instant case, OGCD, and removes the DPS penalty, essentially making it the same as Iron Will, Grit, and the like.

Once you completely fill a specialty tree by refining all the spells in that list, you can then equip that specialization that makes you officially a tank, healer, or DPS depending on which you equip, effectively meaning BLU could queue as any role. This specialization cannot be changed in battle or in an instance unless you're in an instance where you can change jobs (like PVP). While that specialization is equipped, you can only use the list of refined spells associated with it. So if you queue as Healer BLU, you won't have access to Mighty Guard, for example.

It's all wishful thinking at best, but this system is possible at least.

[MagiusNecros]

I suspect that, if SE were to make BLU a full job, a lot of the 'insta-kill' spells would disappear, and you would be reduced to the same standard 20-30 actions of every other DPS role in-game, earned the exact same way as every other role in-game.

Disagree. The instakill or HP percentage skills only work on trash mobs(very rarely bosses and only the first or 2nd never a final). Maybe you can make an argument for oneshotting low level fates. And it's very rare that skills like Perpetual Ray will work on any boss. Works on Diabolos Phase 1 in Dun Scaith to amazing effect.

Moving on Blue Mages are limited to 24 spells and have 4 role actions so there's your 28 skills right there.

And they have a rather nice system of being able to choose a role they want to play. Or mix and match.

Blue Mage in the FF franchise was never about balance. It was always about exploiting an enemy using their own tricks against them.

Outside of stacking buffs and moonfluting away with Primal skills Blue Mage damage is rather tame IMO.

[Garten]

... if SE kept BLU the way it was at the moment up to level 60, but then gave you a fixed set of skills to use from level 70 onwards and let you do all content with it. IE keep the limited job content and upgrade it into a full job at 70, albeit with a fixed skill set. When thinking of adding new jobs for the next expansion, BLU is 90% of the way there, it's a no brainer to upgrade it and save tons of resources. Plus Caster and Healer should be the next 2 job types to gain another.

That is exactly what i would hope for the future: Live the Masked carnivale and all the LimitedJOB related things, but ALSO create a REAL proper Blu mage jobs.. it could use another job crystal for what i care.

[LeonardoRozsas]

Im mainly a blue mage, i use it everyday helping level other blue mages and getting spells, i helped over 100 blue mages, and i never get tired, or at least i wanted to say that.
I like blue mage exactly because its overpower is really fun. I don't want to lose power to do the same contents as other jobs.
But in my thread i gave suggestions of new blue mage content, so here i will make new suggestions.
i already said to enable roulette for a closed party if dungeon 4 players, that would solve the roulette with friends.
Being able to do ultimate and omega savage would be amazing, i prefer to gradually upgrade him as the contents would be overwhelming and it would require time, i don't mind staying only 1 expansion behind, but i want to be able to do all old contents as blue mage, except pvp as i suggested blue mage only pvp. Also i will leave here a suggestion for blue mage tank that is really bad right now, change mighty guard to increase hp by 50%, and give some instant cd because if you say diamond back with that huge cast and a lot mp is good enough, im going to slap you and ask for you to try tanking a8s, then you will change your mind.

[SpiralMask]

BLU is just too overpowered to be a regular class.

i'm pretty sure anyone here or in any other thread can rattle off some REAL easy fixes to the "overpowered" abilities you might list--such as making whitewind potency based, remove 'death'-type spells entirely since everything is already immune to them, make mighty guard/diamondback an aoe party/self defensive buff like SMN's devotion skill and a small shield like BLM's manawall or NIN's shade shift (respectively), most supposedly broken debuffs are already three-and-done-forever and if there isn't perfect party communication all three applications will be blown instantly as several BLUs try to apply it at once and rendering that button effectively wasted on every player who has it for the rest of the fight, the devs have already repeatedly nerfed buffstacking for the "please kill yourself" strategy of selfdestruct/final sting as well as the brush with death debuff and a very long revive spell cooldown, and many of it's stronger abilities require either a limited-application debuff (knife requires stun, drills require petrify, etc etc etc) or you having 7/23 other players that are equally geared, skilled, interested, and have the "correct" spells at gunpoint to try and attempt to go get (such as J kick, the primal spells, etc).

aside from that gimmicry, you refresh your dot, spam your 12 bland flavors of 200 potency cone (of which only three actually matter, those being a physical, astral, and umbral spell since elemental resistance mechanics were removed back in heavensward, a full expansion before BLU was added), weave in your big OGCDs (primal spells+devour) as they come off cooldown, and stack your selfbuffs for your burst windows much like any other "real" dps class