What would be a good DoT Caster Job to Replace old SMN?

[Tsukino]

Time Mage (Japanese original is basically "spacetime mage") would fit this well. It could be hard to fit classic spells like Haste and Slow into the game as it is, and they've already taken a lot of its stuff and given them over to Astrologian, but otherwise it's not a big leap to say that damage ticking at regular intervals that can be burst early for big damage would be a form of spacetime magic.

Geomancer could work, since it obviously can't work the way it did in single-player games basing spells off your current terrain. They could simply have spells themed off different biomes/elements. Mimic/Mime could also maybe be made to work here, but I'm having a harder time seeing how exactly.

Final Fantasy Tactics also has several jobs that haven't appeared in many or any other games that could be made to work with the DoT thematically. Mystic, Orator, and Arithmetician all seem like they could have some way to tie them into DoT spells somehow. Also, with less attachment to them from longtime series players other jobs like Summoner have, there wouldn't be as many people disappointed that Mystic, as an example, wasn't a DoT job before.

Another possibility I can think of might be Green Mage. Although this wasn't a job other than in one of the bad FFT sequels, they did reuse the idea of "green magic" for status affecting spells in other Ivalice games. There are other one-off jobs from those games that could work just because they have little identity since they're not in multiple games, like Illusionist or Trickster.

I don't like the idea of adding Necromancer when there are so many other actual FF jobs that aren't represented yet. Reaper just seems completely out of place already. I know that technically there was one in the FFV remake, but I still wouldn't put it ahead of real classics like Time Mage or Geomancer.

[SeverianLyonesse]

I'd still like to see a proper Geomancer. WHM kind of takes on some of that earth and wind magic, but a DPS that was nature based would be fun.

Summoner is practically a Geomancer at this point. Or "Gemomancer."

I wouldn't mind a Green Mage though with a druid vibe though.

[Laerune]

Green Mage and give them different forms like WoW druid.

[Shurrikhan]

Green Mage and give them different forms like WoW druid.

What synergy would the DoTs have with those forms, though? Not to say that such a synergy couldn't exist, but why does "shapeshifting Green Mage" shout "DoT job!" to you?

[Sylve]

What synergy would the DoTs have with those forms, though? Not to say that such a synergy couldn't exist, but why does "shapeshifting Green Mage" shout "DoT job!" to you?

A sort of simple synergy might for their to be 2 shapeshifts to cycle between.
The first one applies the DoTs that build a gauge while ticking (Cat, Wolf or other clawed animal) and then the second form consumes the gauge as a finisher and let's you turn into a more heavy hitting creature as a finisher?

- on mobile btw, so I apologize if the formatting breaks.

[GrizzlyTank]

Nekomancer!

[Shurrikhan]

A sort of simple synergy might for their to be 2 shapeshifts to cycle between.
The first one applies the DoTs that build a gauge while ticking (Cat, Wolf or other clawed animal) and then the second form consumes the gauge as a finisher and let's you turn into a more heavy hitting creature as a finisher?

That seems more a constraint to the shapeshifts than a synergy with the DoTs. The DoTs would essentially be a way to force shapeshifts per X seconds as not to drop their respective unique DoTs, kind of like Bard's songs, no?

[Sylve]

That seems more a constraint to the shapeshifts than a synergy with the DoTs. The DoTs would essentially be a way to force shapeshifts per X seconds as not to drop their respective unique DoTs, kind of like Bard's songs, no?

Sorry, lol. That was kind of a half formed thought bubble i dropped while at work XD

The more complete form of that thought is that Shapeshifting itself is the manner in which DoTs are applied but not the only reason to be in those forms.
Not limited to just 2, but something like:
- "Venom Spit: Shapeshift into a Spitting Cobra for X seconds and Applies poison for x potency in a cone before you"
- "Rend: Shapeshift into a Lion for X seconds and applies Bleed for x potency in a cone before you"
Reason for the cones instead of single target applications is to reduce the need for identical AoE versions.

The act of transforming applies a DoT relevant to the form and increases the Gauge a set amount while the ticking of the DoT itself provides Gauge in smaller increments.
Give a set of morphing combo buttons that allows you to attack the enemy while in any given form. The flow would then to be to form shift for the DoT, do a combo while there and back to 'human' form.

No cooldown on any of the shapeshifts, nor any specific order to apply the DoTs as they would stack across the various forms (To encourage utilizing all the forms) with a long enough duration on the DoTs that keeping them all active is just part of the rotation, using the Deaths Design style of buff extension rather than replacement so "clipping" them isn't an issue.

Give the Human form a set of debilitation style spells that enhance or manipulate the DoTs in some way. Either making them tick faster, a nuke similar to the old Fester or even a longer cooldown that eats all the active DoTs to combine them into a single short duration "nuke DoT" with a high tick potency, stackable with new applications of the regular DoTs.

Cap it off with a Gauge spender (similar to how Fey Union works) where you turn into a Chimera or other large powerful beast but begin draining the Gauge to maintain that form.
You'd have the option of hoarding the Gauge to line up raid buff windows for this nuke phase or "snap" the form similar to how you can set and forget Fey Union or snap it on/off for short bursts.

The playstyle of it would be very freeform, lacking the strictly enforced combos of current jobs.
Shapeshifting to apply DoTs so the Human form can manipulate those DoTs for varying effects would be the synergy.

Bard only wants to put DoTs up so they proc the varying song effects when ticking. This job would want the DoTs active so they can directly manipulate the DoT itself in some way for additional effects related to the DoT in question.

[TheRealQuah]

Necromancer will never be in the game - Yoshi P said this himself. Too much censorship in certain regions to make it viable.
Time Mage is in the game - it's Astro. Like it or not, that's the case. Haste's and Slow's will never work in the battle system.
Geomancer is already in the game. It's what they call conjurers in the Far East - it won't be it's own job.

If we see something, it will likely be something new, though it seems to me that DoT's are a dying breed and I wouldn't be surprised if they were all gone next expac.

[Steelbreaker25]

Geomancer is already in the game. It's what they call conjurers in the Far East - it won't be it's own job.

That's Hingashi geomancy. There's open possibility that we could explore geomancy from a different culture, such as Nagxia, Dalmasa, or elsewhere.