Quote Originally Posted by Aztectornado View Post
I'm leveling Black Mage now since the Summoner changes made me feel like I need a different, more in-depth sorta caster class to play with, and at level 62 now I still feel a little wanting for something extra. I think that mostly stems from the fact I seem to only have GCDs outside of a few personal buffs like Leylines and Sharpcast, and no party buff to grant to others.

Which is odd since I thought BLM was historically always the offensive buff guy in the Final Fantasy series? I mean, I've not played EVERY game in the series, but in FF1, the only time when my party Black Mage didn't have the Boost spell was when I hadn't gotten to a town with it yet, and in FF9 I adored Vivi's elemental combos with Steiner. Both would be valid options for a 15-20s buff like most DPS seem to carry but-...

For some reason BLM is the 'selfish' DPS class that only contributes big damage to the group. Why is that? It has to be an intentional design choice given how long it's been in the game, but I can't imagine why this job, of all things, is the only one that lacks any sort of party utility. Especially given both the other casters get Raise somehow! (Even Blue Mage sorta does, and that's not even a full fledged job!)

When will Square let me catch my Dark Knight's sword on fire, and/or fill the Dragoon with even more bloodlust?
BLM has pretty much always just been the big exploder in the series. I think in the original they had haste and some offensive support magic, but as more jobs grew in following titles it became more of just a nuker while things like Time Mage took on a more support role. It's just the design philosophy of the game. Every dps role has synergy jobs and selfish jobs. Some people like being the big dog, and some people like being a team player. The end result (in a perfect world) is the same, as rDPS is supposed to be competitive among all jobs regardless of if they are a buffer or a selfish job. If BLM had a lot of its rDPS shifted to party buffs, then caster wouldn't really have a selfish job anymore.