2 minute meta: Rework or Remove?

[Connor]

I feel like option 2 would just cause more problems than solve them. Like what happens to Bard and Dancer if they can’t buff the party? Physical ranged can’t have dps close to casters because of ‘balance’, but if they stay as they are but with no buffs they’d be kinda useless. Then there’s the whole thing with mobility no longer being a role advantage, as evidenced by Summoner. If they boost physical ranged damage to be on par with casters though then they just cancel them out.

They could just have every job do the same damage I guess, but it’d be a bit unfair for the people who do enjoy supporting the party to just completely lose to access to it on every job. Plus it would make dps feel even more homogenised if they all reached the goal of ‘kill enemy’ the same way. Part of what makes dps enjoyable to me is having the choice of a selfish dps like Black Mage or Samurai, something more ‘middle of the ground’ like Dragoon or Ninja, or something more support oriented like Bard or Dancer.

That said I do agree that their ‘raid buff homogenisation’ has gotten way out of hand, and the ‘2-min meta’ has made it all the more apparent. Plus, it’s just kinda weird that practically everyone has a raid buff now lol. I wouldn’t be surprised if Black Mage and Samurai get ones in Dawntrail.
Personally I think it makes more sense to cull the majority of current ‘raid buffs’ but with the exception of certain skills or mechanics that are central to the job like Bard’s song buffs or Dance Partner / Technical Finish. And of course things like Chain Stratagem or Astrologian’s cards. There is of course the issue of ‘but then you always need those jobs’ , but that’s pretty much already happens because of 1% party buff anyway. It’s not like people are generally taking like, X4 melee or X4 ranged to raids. I don’t think it’s too out there to expect a party to have 2X melee, 1 caster and 1 ranged.

Ultimately I wouldn’t be sure about option 1, but I definitely wouldn’t choose 2 personally. But I would say that definitely agree that something needs to change regardless.
As an aside, I’m curious whether people feel the same about ‘non-damage raid buffs’. They’re not as consequential, but they have become fairly ubiquitous lol