Each expansion I get hyped and also worried about more skills.

[Raikai]

I'm in favor of the button prune like consolidating ABC combos, but most players seem to consider having more different buttons to press "deep".

I find this quite funny too... there's very little difference about pressing the same key 3 times while it changes than pressing 3 different keys that people put right next to each other in the correct order.

Consolidating the combo systems would allow space to add more abilities to be woven in or more skills that interact with different stages of the combo.

Plus there is indeed a ton of buttons for casters too, for example... Why Seraph and Consolation aren't the same button? Why Dreadyrm Trance doesn't turn into Summon Bahamut, and then into Enkindle Bahamut? Ley Lines could turn into Between the Lines while active. Dream within a Dream could turn into Assassination.

Basically there are a ton of conditional abilities that are only usable after a previous ability is pressed, and those could really merge into the same button.

[Rilifane]

We really need some button pruning.
If skills are mutually exclusive or need a specific skill to have been executed first, just merge them. Leylines/ Between the Lines, Dream within a Dream/ Assassinate, Third Eye/ Seigan with Merciful Eye still on a seperate button etc.
And PvP combo system.
That alone would free up plenty of buttons to make room for actually interesting skills instead of keeping pointless button bloat, deleting nice skills and giving them back 10 levels later with a new animation.

[Jin-]

Pruning needs to stop. It ruins the 1-50lvl gameplay. Also classes lose the unique stuff. Comparable to Classic vs Retail soon.

Would be nice if they combined the combos like some of the skills already on RDM and unprune some of the old removed skills

[Bacent]

All we need is a combo system like in PvP where (sensible) skills flow into the next but it's the same button. And I think I'll get my wish if the last MSQ in 5.55 is anything to go by (if I'm not mistaken).

I don't think we'll actually get that. The battles where we're playing as other Scions they have super simplified hotbars so you know what to do without people going 'oh god what icon is that' so that anyone could really do it.

Some skills branch, and some can be used in reverse order, ect.

[Nyarlha]

I don't think we'll actually get that. The battles where we're playing as other Scions they have super simplified hotbars so you know what to do without people going 'oh god what icon is that' so that anyone could really do it.

Some skills branch, and some can be used in reverse order, ect.

Branching skills are always a false excuse, it's still pretty easy. Say you have a job that has 2 combos : 1 2 3 and 1 2 4. Just consolidate 1 2 3 and leave 4 separate, so that you just need to do 1 1 1 or 1 1 2(previously 4). That already cuts down hotkeys from 4 to 2. Hell, there may even be some plugins that do just that already.

As far as "reverse order", i have no ideas what you'd be talking about, do you have any exemple?

The only extremely niche thing it'd change is that you couldn't just spam 1 2 on some jobs in very specific situation (such as PLD where you could spam Fast Blade -> Riot Blade for more mana regen) and you'd have to commit to the full combo.

[CKNovel]

TBH this expansion had the least number of ability used.

I have massives holes in my hotbar since 5.0, I don't use my mouse buttons for WAR, MCH has barely any buttons.
IMO, jobs like GNB have a nice number of buttons, DRG is at the perfect numbers of buttons, SAM as well.
And I'm binding food, pots, even mount. I don't click at all except for targeting a specific mob.

Button prunning happened for MCH, for the good kind because rapidfire was always with Wildfire, made no sense to keep them separate. But they merged a bit too much.
That's also something that bothers me, people wants AoE variant but also button prunning. Make the Single Target spell an AoE and boom, you get both.

Job design is at its weakest, there is gaps between jobs, DRG and BLM are perfect but many other jobs lacks something, QoL/Button.
There is many action that were badly designed, take Flamethrower, Anatman, Shoha. Oh and 2 were reworked during the expansion while Flamethrower is boring since Stormblood.
Considering we've seen variant action, I don't have many hopes about SQEX fixing, completing the current jobs.

[Izar_Chillen]

Scholar needs a good sort out

[Bacent]

Branching skills are always a false excuse, it's still pretty easy. Say you have a job that has 2 combos : 1 2 3 and 1 2 4. Just consolidate 1 2 3 and leave 4 separate, so that you just need to do 1 1 1 or 1 1 2(previously 4). That already cuts down hotkeys from 4 to 2. Hell, there may even be some plugins that do just that already.

As far as "reverse order", i have no ideas what you'd be talking about, do you have any exemple?

The only extremely niche thing it'd change is that you couldn't just spam 1 2 on some jobs in very specific situation (such as PLD where you could spam Fast Blade -> Riot Blade for more mana regen) and you'd have to commit to the full combo.

Dragoon has a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 that can also end up being 1, 2, 3, 5, 4. Would you suggest that become 11123 or 11132 instead

Also the combo being 1, 1, 1, or 1, 1, 2 would just feel kinda wrong? I would rather skills get upgraded as you level up, personally, like how they've been doing for a decent bit of them

And what you call a 'false excuse' is literally based on peoples' preferences. I honest hate the PvP combat. I need my skills laid out how they are now for me to actually register them mentally, so if they reduced the skills like how you're suggesting, I would honestly hate combat in the game and possibly start moving away from the game if it's handled any way I personally can't handle. Saying it's a 'false excuse' is literally shutting down what someone thinks about it.

[Cithaerias_pyropina]

I need my skills laid out how they are now for me to actually register them mentally, so if they reduced the skills like how you're suggesting, I would honestly hate combat in the game and possibly start moving away from the game if it's handled any way I personally can't handle. Saying it's a 'false excuse' is literally shutting down what someone thinks about it.

Easy, just make it an option. You wouldn't need to enable it.

[Puremallace]

Same honestly, this game has a skill bloat problem. I doubt I could play without a controller.

They really need to do a button prune before Endwalker.

(Button prune, forums, not ability prune. There are some abilities that have no business being on separate buttons)

Yeah no. There are other ways to address by simply enhancing current abilities. Swear to god noone learned any lessons from what Blizzard did over at WoW. Pruning sounds real great until it actually happens and you realize you are left with a bunch of jobs that are just copy and paste of each with literally no differences. We have examples of other MMO's where this has occurred and EVERY single time it was a disaster.

It is a childish MMO playerbase of people all in our 30's by now that cry for new shiny abilities like little kids. They could raise the level cap by 5 and change some of the potencies and I would be happy.