2-minute meta

[ForsakenRoe]

everyone fuming about PLD feeling like GNB lite because of Divine Might/Burst Strike comparisons, I'm fuming because even after a rework we still have to press Atonement three times in a row

IDK why they couldn't have done, as an example:

Combos are all hard-combos and 4 steps long, to differentiate the PLD from other tanks and to make the combo 10s long
Rotation loop per minute is constructed from 6 of these combos, freeform based on MP management required

Combo 1: Fast Blade - Riot Blade - Royal Authority - Atonement x1. This is the MP restoration combo
Combo 2: Fast Blade - Savage Blade - Goring Blade - Holy Spirit. This is the MP spending combo, with DM Holy Spirit having a bigger potency to feel more bursty
Combo 3: Confiteor - Blade of - Blade of - Blade of. This is the burst window combo used every 60s under FOF

So you'd do Conf, Blade X3, and a HS combo as your 8 GCDs in FOF. Req could have been reworked into a hard hitting GCD (as Goring currently is), which upgrades into Conf (gaining potency and becoming AOE). Req/Conf's effect could have instead been 'reduces MP cost to 0 for 3 spells, and removes cast time', allowing for Req - HS x3 as your 'lower level' burst window, while also allowing for 3x instant Clemencies if that is required for some reason. Then the gameplay would be a 'build your rotation' style, constructing a 60s loop from these 'building blocks' as required by the fight. The optimization and depth this would allow for, would come from the fact that during downtimes, MP continues to replenish, so if you know you're going into a downtime (or you're definitely going to die and get LB3'd back up, cough Magic Number), you can purposely dump Holy Spirits more, by swapping out some Royal Auth combos and replacing them with Holy Spirit combos, to take advantage of the extra MP coming in.

IDK I've not thought much about the potencies, but I'd argue something like this would be a bit more interesting, compared to what we have now where Snoring Blade is functionally identical to Sonic Break, and we have to smash Atonement 3 times in a row. You could even swap one of the combos to not start with Fast Blade, but instead start with Shield Bash, such that it can still be spammed for it's stun effect (deep dungeons etc), but it also sees use in the actual rotation instead of being a bit of a meme button