The Problems With Ninja In Endwalker

[Kolsykol]

Have you ever missed a positional because the boss turns suddenly? It's like that, except you die resulting in a far greater loss to your DPS. If I am to paint a clearer picture, what happens is you use Assassinate thinking everything is just fine, and as soon as you do, lethal AoEs pop right under your feet as if they were waiting for you to use the skill.

Expecting common sense from players, and "sensing" when a mechanic is coming are not what I would call reliable prevention methods to floor tanking. You have to put up the guard rails so players don't kill themselves, and the devs by no means intend for players to die while using skills like assassinate. However, why it is still in the game at all is anyone's guess.

There are other skills in the game that have animation locks too ( DRG ), it's not like it's only Assassinate and others have it far worse in that regard.
I can't think of any casual content in particular where mechanics aren't fairly predictable, and in more difficult content there are worse things that can happen and learning when the mechanics are coming and what you can and can't do is part of it.
I've gotten killed before because I got overzealous with trying to fit an extra GCD in before SSS on MNK it's just part of the learning process.

Do you have any examples of mechanics that happen so fast that you can't avoid them because of Assassinate?
I really can't think of any, you'd basically have to use Assassinate after the AoE indicator appears.
You should just hold it then and use it when you get back again.

I just don't necessarily agree that the devs should be putting up guard rails for players, and I do think that the consequences here are self-imposed.
But that's my opinion.

I don't disagree that the consequences are worse, but I also think that the screw up is far worse too because I don't agree that it isn't predictable.
If you use Assassinate and then as you use it the AoE indicator pops up you should have enough time to move out, even in really tight situations you can teleport too.
I think dying because of it is probably more in line with being overzealous and trying to fit it in before moving out just like how I might die from trying to fit an extra GCD before SSS.

It's not that I'd be against the animation lock being removed I just don't think that it should be for the reason of putting up guard rails for the players so to speak, it should be for the sake of responsiveness imo.
But yeah agree to disagree, even if I'd still be fine with the end result.

[Gemina]

Snip.

You're points are valid, and I am pretty sure you understand where I am coming from. The animation lock is more of an annoying inconvenience than the bane of everything NIN, but the issue I have with it is two fold with one of those being it is an oGCD tacked onto another oGCD, and the lock not being worth the real estate it takes up.

As for the guard rails, that just refers to anything where being punished for a misstep is not the intention of the devs. Assassinate isn't a core part of NINs kit like DRGs jumps, and someone who plays DRG will have an advantage in regards to Assassinate if they play NIN, but NINs shouldn't be eating floor for a tacked on skill. Just no way.

Examples are plentiful. At any given time I can screw up and use Assassinate during my opener/burst phase from shear muscle memory, and find myself stuck. Man, this happened in Bozja/Zadnor all kinds, but I am actually mentioning those two to exclude them as this content is designed to kill players frequently. And of course there are times where the damage is non-lethal, but was still avoidable otherwise.

But yeah, it's not that big of a deal and it's going away anyway, so kind of moot.