SUGGESTION: Turn Bluemage into a regular job - Limited Job>Advanced Job (An Approach)

[TeraTyrantShadic]

Post#52

Single Player Final Fantasy is very different to a Massive Multiplayer Online Final Fantasy. Of course they aren't a reliable main tank or healer in the FF series (Mainly Single Player), because there is no such thing as Roles in those games (Other than saying which is which in your head), you had to know which job can hold aggro, which can do tons of damage and which can heal. Same can be applied to FFXI, there is no role assignment or a strict role; the only other way to identify is through what job does what. FFXI is a fine example to take inspiration from and there is nothing dangerous about it. We are looking Blue Mage as a whole not with a sub job (We can ignore the sub job aspect as it is not present in FFXIV), we are looking at how they have constructed to fit Blue Mage into the game and really the only reason why Blue Mage is OP is mainly because of the gearset. Any class is OP with the right gear set. If they are naked (No armor or weapon) they are just as weak and similar to the other classes. FFXIV gear works differently as well, even as a Level 60 Blue Mage we use the Augmented Shire Philosopher set which is shared by all DPS Caster Class. So we can ignore the gears as they are two different things between FFXIV and FFXI. As for their balancing they added new spells, removed some from previous FF games and added ones that didn't even exist in past FF games.

All single player FF games (From 5 - 10) have Blue Mages but they are not a Main Tank or Healer but they are situational. Fair enough but this is an MMO, SMN and RDM can be in the same department as Blue Mage in terms of support utility with heals and buffs and debuffs. However Red Mage and Summoner are not all 3 roles, with Blue Mage it can be. With over 280+ spells in FFXI there is so many some of it even allow it to boost it defense up or outright mitigate damage; heal the entire party or remove statuses (For the record White Wind heals with (MaxHP/7)*2 which is far different from any of the single player Blue Mages' White Wind); dealing massive damage with both its own spells and weapon skill solo combos. There is even guides as how to tank as a Blue Mage or even how to heal as a Blue Mage (Though the healing guide is hard to find but it is doable with WHM being its sub job and with Magic Fruit (Cure IV) it can really be good at healing with the right gearset and at a cheaper cost than a normal Cure IV in FFXI and pair it with the Auto-Refresh Trait and you got yourself an infinite healer.). All of it is situational but it is very much so doable. I am not saying you didn't say that I am saying it to clear the record and the fact of the reason why people wanted it as a Multi-role Job.

People want it as a Multi-role because of FFXI. Sure in FFXIV it doesn't have to be a Multi-role job. Again, it can be pure DPS or it can be a multi-role. I am fine with either way as long they get rid of the limited job system and never do that again. Multi-role is not in the majority of the Blue Mages in the FF single player series but with FFXI being the only MMO with Blue Mage (Other than FFXIV) people tend to expect a repeat from the older games. Take something good from older games and make a better and improved version in the newer titles that is the expectation set for Blue Mage in FFXIV. The heart of the Blue Mage is literally as long it learns magic from monsters and it is versatile and really that is the heart of it and I don't mind if it was a Pure DPS or a Multi-role but just get rid of Limited Job is all I am saying is that I am suggesting ways it can be done. Versatile can just mean anything, but with FFXI it literally means taking up all 3 roles and having a variety of spells for different situations as it has a double meaning in FFXI. In single player games though it has one meaning different spells for different situations, there is only one meaning because there is no such thing as a role (mentioned in the game) and you'll have to figure out what each job does and what they are capable of. Plus the final nail on the coffin to seal it to be expected as a multi-role was Aetherial Mimicry and really they tried hard with the 5.15 update to make it doable with group play and yet it is still not perfect.

TL: DR

Single Player ideas ≠ Massive Multiplayer Online ideas, Single Player games have no such things as roles and can only guess at what job does what (Without a wiki or guide). Ignore Sub's job and gear as they are not the same as in FFXIV and only focus on how Blue Mage was made in FFXI. Any class in FFXI is op because of the gearset.

Agreed that in the Single Player FFs there is no main tank or heal. SMN and RDM can have much utility and support like BLU but cannot be all 3 roles whereas BLU can with the right gearset and spell set for tanking and healing which RDM and SMN doesn't have the option to change their spell set (In FFXI).

The need for multi-role by many is because of FFXI and with Aetherial Mimicry reinforcing that it can multi-role in FFXIV. I don't mind if it can be a pure DPS or a multi-role, I just want Limited Job to be gone and never be repeated again. Versatility has 2 meanings in the MMO (In both role and spells) while in Single Player games it only has one meaning (Spells only).


WoW Comparison

Stop comparing FF to WoW Classes; they are objectively different. Their move set changes every time you change your job spec, you have to get different gear for each spec because of the stats. Plus they are only a main healer when you set your spec to restoration, you can easily change from restoration to guardian and become a main tank. For the record every class and spec have normal DPS because everyone has to DPS while either they tank or heal. Seriously that is what is happening with MMOs nowadays everyone including Tanks and Healers have to DPS they may not be as strong as a DPS but they have to. As for Restoration with normal tanking, they don't have the added enmity as that will only apply when they become a guardian druid and when their kit changes so that their moves generate aggro. Also in WoW we have a class/spec tree and in FFXIV we don't as the games work very differently in terms of job traits and kit.

If we're gonna relate Blue Mage and Druid, we can't because Blue Mage right now is a DPS role and can do everything ranging from Main/Second Tank, Healing and DPS. All the player needs to do is change the spell kit, for tanking we have... The Look, Ice Spikes, Veil of the Whorl, Diamondback, Mighty Guard, Devour, Frog Legs & Cactguard and if you want to go far fetched Gobskin (Though it is better when it has Aetherial Mimicry: Healer). The rest of the spells can be just about anything, with what I have given that leaves 16 more slots left. For the optimized DPS rotation you need Bristle, Off-Guard/Peculiar Light, Moonflute, Song of Torment, Magic Hammer, J Kick, Eruption, Devour, Shock Strike, Surpanakha and Glass dance which leaves with 6 more slots (not going to repeat for devour). So we can fill that in with Angel Whisper, White Wind, Bomb Toss, Flying Sardine, Final Sting and Aetherial Mimicry. Plus Veil of the Whorl and Ice Spikes are rarely used by tanks so it can be replaced with something else leaving 2 more slots to be used/replaced.

Now we encounter a problem where it can do everything with this spell kit. Funny how it is not the same with Druid in WoW. Where you have to change specs and get different separate gear for each spec, each spec tree has only 3 different options. Blue Mage? Nah we only need Augmented Shire Philosopher set and we can fight with this one kit and excel at just about every role and we have an unlimited option of spells with 24 active spells as our hard limit... Hence why I go back to saying Aetherial Mimicry is one way of balancing it so that they are forced to take in spells more related to the roles. In 5.4 there could be more healing and tanking spells and if that were the case they can multi-role and prevent the hybrid roles and forcing players choosing 1 role to play in group content and excelling at that one role, while in solo content they can have whatever kit they want to have and bring it to Deep Dungeons, Eureka, Treasure Hunt Dungeons, Bozja, Squadron and Masked Carnival. Another reason why I think a Job Gauge is really needed especially when the build up gauge is being used universally with almost every job is that it can work in tandem with Aetherial Mimicry when you have a certain amount of points it can boost a spell. Also you can't play all roles in FFXI not especially when you are doing high end content, where you want to maximize specific traits for specific build and gear sets for Blue Mage there are two main types of set, AoE Nuking and DD. They already solved their balancing issue and nowadays it's SoA (Seeker of Adoulin) and Ambuscade content that brings in high-tier content. You can multi-role (Doing all roles at the same time) but you'll just be pissing people off, because people expect Blue Mages in FFXI to have a DD set already for high end content (Alongside having Almace and Tizona). So pick one role and stick with it as you can either go in as a Healer, Tank, DD or Support (As traits need to be maximized). If you want another multi-role job look no further with Rune fencer and Geomancer, I can be a Support Healer as a Geomancer (When they are actually meant to be a DPS Support). Rune Fencer can be both DPS and Tank but still have to pick one role or the other when doing group content. Another thing unlike FFXIV in FFXI you can swap gears mid battle, hence why it is essential when you play in FFXI you have to learn to gear swap with macros. FFXIV allows you to swap gears during battle back in 2.0 but now you can't anymore after a patch in ARR.

TL: DR

FFXIV Jobs ≠ WoW Classes and Specs, stop trying to relate or compare the two.

Blue Mage ≠ Druid, Monk and Paladin. Blue Mage kit and be freely changed; WoW's Paladin, Druid, Monk can be freely changed but not like Blue Mage and can only be changed through changing their specs and their spec trees and it is much more limited than Blue Mage.

Blue Mage with 24 spells slots can main all 3 roles with 2 spare slots. 5.4 could possibly introduce more spells for Tanking and Healing as a Blue Mage. Only do one role when participating in FFXI's High end content otherwise you piss people off regardless of the job. Gear swapping is crucial in FFXI while in FFXIV you can do that and the game works differently.