Why can't sync just affect gear and stats...?

[SavishSalacious]

because you didn't think about this logically.

[Payadopa]

Good heavens.. One can only imagine how fast a 50 or below dungeon would go if we had access to our entire job kit to our actual level.. Or how drastically underwhelming these dungeons would be

Guys, potencies are a thing.

[Seraphor]

Guys, potencies are a thing.

Yes... that's the point.

I'll say it again. The difference between Monks rotation potencies between level 15 and level 80 is 300%.
That is to say, at the exact same stats, only accounting for potency differences. The level 80 rotation is 300% more than the level 15 rotation.
This is due to completing the basic combos and adding more potent hits in there, all of the additional oGCD skills which directly add potency to the rotation, an added DoT, and the multiple personal dps buffs like Twin Snakes, Fists of Fire and Greased Lightning that multiply all potencies across the board, or damage output via speed boost, and stack.

This means you're killing things in 25% of the time it would take you otherwise. A 15 minute dungeon at level 15-20 (so Sastasha/Copperbell/Tam-Tara) drops to less than 4 minutes. Now there's no reason to run anything else. ilvl cheese it like Alliance Raids.

[Packetdancer]

Guys, potencies are a thing.

Yes, which is the problem. (I'm going to try to hastily math MMO stuff to illustrate this while my head's still filled with mathing RF wireless stuff for work, so forgive me if I misremember a potency or something.)

Let's say I take a level 50 WHM into Crystal Tower: my two main damage spells are going to be Stone II (200 potency) and Aero II (60 potency to start, 60 potency per tick for 18 seconds). In comparison, if I take a level 80 WHM into that same Crystal Tower run, if it didn't change the job kit at all when playing lower-level stuff: my two main damage spells are going to be Glare (300 potency) and Dia (120 potency to start, 60 potency per tick for 30 seconds).

So, let's say I cast four GCDs of my main single-target attack: the WHM at level 50 will do 800 potency of damage; the WHM at level 80 will do 1200 potency of damage. So even if we assume a 1:1 match on potency-to-damage between the two (which isn't the case, due to slightly wonky gear syncing math), the level 50 WHM has to do six casts of Stone II to do as much damage as the level 80 one does in four Glares.

Already, there's a damage gap between the two just on potency of the main attack alone.

But let's start with applying the DoT, so we're now getting five total GCD casts: we'll assume a 2.5 second GCD, which means we're covering... what, 12.5 seconds? So let's say the DoT will tick four times. Both Aero II and Dia will do 60 potency per tick, so they're going to be equal over this period, for 240 total damage. However, the 80 WHM will do 120 potency up-front instantly on casting Dia (more than half the 50 WHM's Stone II potency), while the 50 WHM gets 60. The 80 WHM also has Assize, which they can weave in after the Dia for an additional 400 potency to all surrounding mobs.

For the sake of math, let's just assume there's only one mob, and see how much damage those two white mages do over that ~12 second period.

WHM 50: 60 potency (Aero II initial damage) + 800 potency (4x Stone II) + 240 (4 tics Aero II DoT) = 1100 potency
WHM 80: 120 potency (Dia initial damage) + 400 potency (Assize) + 1200 potency (4x Glare) + 240 (4 tics Dia DoT) = 1960 potency

And the gap in the damage potency will only get greater between the two as you get into longer stretches of combat; over 10 casts of the primary attack, the 50 WHM will do 2000 potency of damage, while the WHM 80 will do 3000. If you cast it 30 times in the course of a run (since it's not like even at 80 you have many other DPS options), the WHM 50 will have done 6000 potency of damage, and the WHM 80 will have done 9000.

That's without figuring in things like how WHM 80 can pop Asylum to do some healing for them, or Temperance to mitigate damage, which frees them to do still more damage casts, while WHM 50 has to use those same GCDs to actually apply healing, so the WHM 80 is going to get in more actual damage casts than the WHM at 50 will.

Now, instead of Crystal Tower, let's imagine Sastasha. So our little level 15 CNJ only has access to Stone I (140 potency) and Aero I (50 potency up front, 30 per tick).

CNJ 15: 50 potency (Aero initial damage) + 560 potency (4x Stone) + 120 (4 tics Aero DoT) = 730 potency
WHM 80: 120 potency (Dia initial damage) + 400 potency (Assize) + 1200 potency (4x Glare) + 240 (4 tics Dia DoT) = 1960 potency

So I feel like yes, even if you put two of a job into exactly the same set of gear, same weapon, etc., having the full kit you've unlocked available at every level would still make things die faster with higher-level folks. And potency is precisely the reason why.

[Kaurhz]

My main problem with this (absurdity aside) is it just further perpetuates many of the issues that the community face.. If we were to carry the dungeons as hard as we can with our full utilities at our max level then newer players who are still leveling and still getting access to their job kits won't necessarily be put into a position where they need to get better for a long time. It just sets a really bad precedent until you actually get to the job cap itself.

[linayar]

Things melt anyway, we do wall to wall pulls already. I'd like to press more than 2 buttons please.

So, things already melt with just two buttons and you think you should be able to push more?

I haven't done a leveling roulette in months because of it, and I normally tank / heal. So if you want faster queues, one of my conditions is keeping my skills while synced.

Somehow, I think the community will do just fine regardless.

[Frizze]

Now, instead of Crystal Tower, let's imagine Sastasha. So our little level 15 CNJ only has access to Stone I (140 potency) and Aero I (50 potency up front, 30 per tick).

CNJ 15: 50 potency (Aero initial damage) + 560 potency (4x Stone) + 120 (4 tics Aero DoT) = 730 potency
WHM 80: 120 potency (Dia initial damage) + 400 potency (Assize) + 1200 potency (4x Glare) + 240 (4 tics Dia DoT) = 1960 potency

All that, and the higher level guy hasnt used his strongest attack yet(the blood lily). But Sastasha is a dungeon, so lets look at an aoe pull.

So conjurer has... nothing. Medica 1 is their only aoe spell at all at this level. So i guess theyre switching targets to dot everything, then spamming stone on the tanks main target? The white mage is spamming Holy(both for the damage and the stuns - holy has the same potency as the conjurers stone but on all nearby targets), weaving in Assize and Misery(900 potency for one target, 25% falloff for the rest) when theyre up, and they can still multi-dot if they so choose.

[Payadopa]

I get that higher level skills mean more damage but seriously, guys. You make it sound like you can't balance that. In a game where balancing has run rampant. And we're talking about content that literally everyone does. Multiple times a day even. That more than justifies the costs.

[Ammokkx]

I get that higher level skills mean more damage but seriously, guys. You make it sound like you can't balance that. In a game where balancing has run rampant. And we're talking about content that literally everyone does. Multiple times a day even. That more than justifies the costs.

I'm... not sure you understand the gravity of the situation.

Okay, so let's imagine you were able to keep your full kit (nevermind the fact that having access to AoEs when you shouldn't alone would make things go faster) but all your potencies are scaled down proportionate to the amount of skills you have unlocked so you do the same amount as a newb.

You know what you've just done?

Punished veterans because now they have to put in 10x the effort for the same result as someone who needs to press 2 buttons. If you leave the parts of their kit they would've had at the time untouched, then it just gets even weirder, as what do you do with a combo skill you shouldn't have at that point? You'd imagine you'd still do more damage, which... y'know... would make you objectively better than someone who doesn't have that combo skill. Also known as the people who need the roulette.

"just balance it lmao" is not considering the actual effort you need to put in to balance it. If you want to make the argument, I'd like to see you map out the kits for every individual class and how they would be balanced across EVERY dungeon while keeping all of their skills, including status effects and damage buffs. Good luck!

[Seraphor]

I get that higher level skills mean more damage but seriously, guys. You make it sound like you can't balance that. In a game where balancing has run rampant. And we're talking about content that literally everyone does. Multiple times a day even. That more than justifies the costs.

"Just balancing it" would require a different adjustment for each level difference and each job.
Monk between level 15 and 80 is 300% different, so reduce level 80 stats in Sastasha by 75%? Ok, that would get the job done. but what if it's a level 60 Monk? Or in a level 40 dungeon? Or both?
The power increase from skill potencies isn't linear, it's sporadic and in bursts. Gaining Fists of Fire is an instant +10% damage at exactly level 40.
But that +10% at level 40 for Monk won't necessarily apply to Machinist, or Black Mage. At level 40 Black Mage gets... Blizzard III, not much of a functional increase in damage, but it does get Flare at level 50, which drastically increases it's AoE damage.
It's much, much easier to balance things at level. The level 50 dungeons are tailored to the amount of damage the jobs can do at level 50. Adding in these adjustments by level difference in increasing the balancing workload tenfold or more.

Even if you manage to pull off this ridiculous equation and tailor the right potency adjustments for each job at each level difference... as Ammokkx mentioned, you'll have level 80 characters playing optimally with their level 80 rotation, dealing the same sort of damage as a level 17 Black Mage spamming Fire 1.
I think I'd rather be spamming Fire 1 in that situation. The focus needed for a perfect level 80 rotation is being saved for end game content.