As much as I am an avid supporter to a return of having up 16 buttons (excluding Sprint and Mount) and advancing each job's kit further, we need to understand that we cannot willy nilly add certain things to roles just because they're roles when each job within a role plays and feels different in approach and survival.

Most importantly, the overall amount of crowd control is actually quite high so to prevent things from going out of hand we cannot add (much of) it.

Caster
Black Mage
  • already encompasses what you describe and is highly prevalent - Freeze Mage is the most effective way to play the job with Flare Mage being very niche.
  • possible advancements could be a Thunder IV combo (Thunder I -> Thunder III -> Thunder IV) with Thunder stacks via Superflare granting x% Haste up to 10 stacks for 30 seconds. Addle maybe. based on Lv100 BLM a form of Ultima could be introduced as a high-end spell, with Fire/BlizzardIII or Despair being added. Leylines possible too, maybe Between the Lines (once per LL)
Summoner
  • also happens to have a variety of CC already (Mountain Buster = BInd + 75% Heavy + Draw-in; Crimson Strike = knockback). utilizing Slipstream & Phoenix it also has good zoning tools for point fights. It also generally doesn't exchange firepower for survival and vice versa compared to Red Mage
  • possible advancements could involve a group buff (Searing Light), Ruin IV integration, better Fester management and re-adding Painflare as a debilitating attack (damage reduction?)
Red Mage
  • Red Mage has access to a very potent AOE silence/bind depending on choice and excels in melee combat (damage, mobility, survival options). Adding more CC seems unnecessary.
  • more interesting additions would be more dual-shift tools and some independent mitigation options from White Shift. More of the weaponskills being added would also fit better. "MAYBE" Vercure.

Healer
- sounds alright but don't go overboard. Add some extra damage option to SCH, some extra heal option to SGE, make WHM less clunky with Cure II and add an extra attack and AST could use... honestly dont know about AST.

Tank
Sounds okay, but again let's not go overboard - Gunbreaker already is unbelievably tanky so we cannot give tanks the same things across the board. Here some ideas to advance the jobs:
PLD
- add Intervention with 25s recast, -15% mitigation for 8s and regen totalling 12000 HP (3x 4000).
- extra CD "Sentinel" that grants basic mitigation (lets say -20%) and grants a buff that the next Holy Sheltron or Intervention gets a bonus to their non-mitigation effects (Holy Sheltron HP shield, Knight's Benediction).
- Guardian (Cover) no longer prevents Elixir interruption, but gains -20% damage taken from transferred damage only.
- Add Holy Spirit at 2 stacks damaging for 8000, 15s recharge. Holy Spirit triggering Sacred Claim heals for double the amount of Sacred Claim (3000 -> 6000), Confiteor grants a free cast of Holy Spirit (Divine Might).

WAR
- independent mitigation tool (Vengeance, but on a relatively long CD like 30-45s),
- replace Storm's Path with Steel Cyclone for better Bloodwhetting Synergy (same damage, just 5y AOE)
- Shake it Off as a utility tool to provide a shield and interact with something from the enemy (maybe old effect from Stormblood, like reacting to CC with a bigger shield similar to Aquaveil).
- Adding Infuriate / Upheaval as possible extra actions for debuffs or a CD reset.

DRK
- add a non-Salted Earth mitigation but keeping it unique; Reprisal for -20% dmg dealt would apply well here.
- Edge of Shadow as a CD to kickstart a buff or debuff that you can build up, not necessarily to deal more damage.
- Carve and Spit as a new damage cooldown.

GNB
- more interactivity with the junctions. Make Draw & Junction reset Junctioned Cast (Nebula, Aurora, Blasting Zone) to encourage active swapping.
- Add more actions with Junction dependency like Bowshock/Fated Circle.
- An independent, weaker mitigation tool (Camouflage) maybe OR make the Junctioned Cast tools available independent of Junction, but power up with the right junction:

Tank -> Turns Camouflage into Nebula
Healer -> Turns Aurora into Heart of Corundum
DPS -> Turns Danger Zone into Blasting Zone

Melee & Ranged, no input.


More debuffs and CC is ok, but moderation is important and the game should not play like a slide-show. It is already at a point where an addition of global Fetter Ward for everyone + more damage mitigation (buff or debuff types) could be necessary to reduce the lethality of CC chaining.