Patch 6.1 - Machinist Changes Feedback

[Climhazard]

These buffs are so inconsequential it's starting to feel like an insult. They really need to figure out what they want MCH to be. If it's going to be a pure damage dealer it needs to actually be able to bring that damage, either that or give it some utility and party buffs to bring it in line with the other ranged physical DPS.
Personally I would prefer it stays as a pure damage dealer but it needs way more than these weak buffs. They seem terrified that they might accidentally over tune the job.

[IdowhatIwant]

1 - Pure dps status?
Put simply in my opinion, MCH does not deserve pure dps status. Phys-ranged + pure dps is an oxymoron in and of itself, and time and time again it's proven that it feels like the job has no direction or reason to exist. Snipped.

Why? It could easily be a pure DPS if they would allow it. I think it would actually fit well as you have more support oriented DPS in every role and more selfish DPS in every role. Why can't the physical ranged have a selfish role?

3 - Individual ability issues
Flamethrower is counter to the function of the job. Standing still, inevitably having an AoE appear under you and having to cancel the channeling isn't fun.

Bioblaster -snip

Drill/AA/Chainsaw are 3 peas in the same pod.-snip

Wildfire - I appreciate the sizable buff it's been given. However, once every 2 minutes is still underwhelming. At least let it crit, though I realise that's counter to this direction of gauranteed crit+dh abilities that's sadly getting more and more prominent. I like re-assemble though so in the context of MCH, I'm fine with it. That said, it also does not synergise with any crit-related buffs so that's a problem too (thanks to forum posters for reminding me to mention that).

Wild fire should be an aoe, that does x damage to the target and y dmg to everything else. It should also deal a % of the damage dealt to the target like it used to. It would synergize well with re-assemble and give us more options are far as holding onto / using re-assemble. Most of this I can agree with though.

Flame thrower has no purpose, if anything, I think flame thrower should have been a single target dot, and bioblaster its upgrades AOE dot or vice versa.

I like the robot, but I almost feel like battery would be used for something more interesting. At the rate we are going every expansion they are just going to add stuff to the robot, which could be fun if it were more engaging and we have more control over it vs Pile bunker and die.

4 - Ping issues
Oh boy, this again. Still no sign of addressing this whatsoever. I remember the Q&A where we were bluntly told that there isn't enough feedback regarding ping issues with combat design in general, not just MCH. This was a major kick in the teeth and I kindly ask that the devs look into this more. It's been a problem for years and countless threads have been created here, and MCH has been a job that suffers terribly from it. Heat Blast stacks would be nice. It'd be a good start at least. -snip

I would rather do away with heat blast, and have the gauge work as it did before. It's not a fun mechanic even if it was addressed to have stacks ping would be a problem still when weaving DPS differences would still come from that. Heal blast limits our capability to utilize SKS, it just over all causes nothing but problems for what it is. I think any class that has abilities that limit it's stat customization is a major issue and concern.

I think the over all direction with the tools was a fun little gimmick of ff6's Edgar. But after the summoner changes, Machinest really reminds me that we lost a lot of engagement for flair, but that flair can still be utilized if done correctly.

[Remarus]

I would rather do away with heat blast, and have the gauge work as it did before. It's not a fun mechanic even if it was addressed to have stacks ping would be a problem still when weaving DPS differences would still come from that. Heal blast limits our capability to utilize SKS, it just over all causes nothing but problems for what it is. I think any class that has abilities that limit it's stat customization is a major issue and concern.

Goodness no, unless you mean the heat mechanic at the very start of Stormblood (i.e. keep it between 50-95 for Heated Shots but don't let it overheat), but that existed for literally half a patch. Having to force overheating into specific windows and trying to manage that into Wildfire's window was a disaster for anyone with more than 150 ping. There are definitely some ways to add complexity and engagement back to the class, but let's not add the single most punishing one for folks living more than 200 miles from the Datacenter.

[Pidgeon]

Just here to help Machinist keep the good fight up amongst the Samurai threads. Who knows one day they might even explain their balance decisions!

(Also how has Flamethrower still not been buffed?)

[Serenaya]

Why? It could easily be a pure DPS if they would allow it. I think it would actually fit well as you have more support oriented DPS in every role and more selfish DPS in every role. Why can't the physical ranged have a selfish role?

I agree Physical-ranged's mystical movement tax is no longer required in current fight design which'd perhaps mean that it can be buffed to just be a stronger job. However, MCH also remains as simply designed as it is, and is subsequently woefully lacking in any meaningful optimisation that'd give it a higher skill ceiling. Since jobs are now designed the way they are, there is no use trying to make MCH a pure dps if it's not going to be given the functionality to do so, or the complexity to warrant buffing beyond a certain point. It's quite clear by now that this isn't on the cards. Call it a compromise. If our entire point is to be the epitome of freedom, then surely we could provide use in other ways rather than being a burden to overall raid dps? People would moan if we were too strong since it is a simple job to learn (and master, honestly) and if we had that simplicity and yet statistically overtook jobs with higher optimisation ceilings, whether that's due to gauge management, movement optimisation, rotational adjustment or combinations of those... surely you see the problem.

I'd be all for a design overhaul, a rework or whatever, but it seems clear that this isn't something that's going to happen if jobs are only getting made simpler collectively.

Let's not forget that we're also anti-synergistic in that we have two charges of Reassemble that functionally have the same issue that SAM sadly got slapped with, and Wildfire can't crit. Everything works against this concept of being a pure DPS, unfortunately.

(Also how has Flamethrower still not been buffed?)

It should be removed or repurposed entirely, not buffed. There's no reason to have a skill that counters the entire point of the job, and channelled abilities are not fun to use.

[Remarus]

It should be removed or repurposed entirely, not buffed. There's no reason to have a skill that counters the entire point of the job, and channelled abilities are not fun to use.

After seeing our new toys in PvP, I'd honestly be all for Flamethrower taking up the functionality of Barrel Stabilizer (generates heat), and turning Barrel Stabs into Analysis, allowing some kind of modification on our various tools similar to how Eukrasia works for Sage.

[Pidgeon]

It should be removed or repurposed entirely, not buffed. There's no reason to have a skill that counters the entire point of the job, and channelled abilities are not fun to use.

I absolutely agree. It's not even a hard stretch of the class fantasy to instead turn it into a second piece of a Bioblaster combo or something and remove the channeling effect.

It was mostly just a tongue in cheek joke about how they're misers when it comes to our potency, but also our QOL with ping issues and Flamethrower being trash.

Also as a humorous side bit, but did you scream when you read the class changes in the patch notes again?

[Serenaya]

Also as a humorous side bit, but did you scream when you read the class changes in the patch notes again?

Haha, no. Worse. I started posting on the forums...

[Fryfor]

Don't care about potency changes
The whole kit is a skeleton silly string and glue mess just torch it and start over

[Ayden]

Anyone thinks the MCH's rotation is a little unforgiving, as in any slight delay of using hypercharge will eat into the tool timers, which means drift.