Tales from Duty Finder: Some make you laugh, some make you cry. Let's vent. 2.0

[Cincierta]

I am carrying a stack of Hyper-Potions as a tank role, to make other healers feel useless as much as possible.

Wanna play the 'how low can you go' game?

[Bobby66]

I am carrying a stack of Hyper-Potions as a tank role, to make other healers feel useless as much as possible.

Sometimes that is the way it be.

[Silverquick]

I do have one curious question...

I've played the game since ARR days, and I've always played SMN then RDM when it came along. And I always got a lot of Comms even though playing DPS jobs primarily.

What's changed is that I used to get a lot of Coms on SMN, but nowadays the coms I get are mostly when I play RDM sometimes upwards of 3 a pop on Expert Roulettes. When I play SMN its strangely barren even though I do a lot more damage and runs are a lot faster when I play SMN. Now I admit I'm pretty skilled at RDM after playing it since it came out in Stormblood, and I can pull off a good 4 Combo Finishers in a row at times because I'm good with Accelerate. But even then RDM just doesn't have the pure DPS that SMN has and it's noticeably faster in Expert Dungeons and I've been playing that one too since the ARR days, even if it's a little simplistic now.

Yet it seems to be RDM where I get consistent Coms.

How do people see this from an outside perspective when they watch a SMN vs a RDM in group?

[Fyrebrand]

How do people see this from an outside perspective when they watch a SMN vs a RDM in group?

I don't give commendations based on what job someone's playing, but I could only guess that maybe there is a perception that Summoner is an "easy" job whereas Red Mage is more complicated to play well? Or maybe if you're jumping in and out of melee on the battlefield as Red Mage it just makes you more noticeable? Who knows. Does your Red Mage have a cool portrait? That can definitely be a deciding factor if there's no obvious reason to commend anyone in particular.

Do you play the same kinds of content on Summoner as you do on Red Mage? You mentioned doing Expert dungeon roulette on Summoner, and sometimes I find in that particular roulette I get matched with people who don't say anything in chat and just want to quickly get in and get out. Whereas, in Leveling roulette you get people who are new or are leveling, it's a more casual atmosphere, people can be more friendly/chatty, etc. I give a lot more commendations to players who are fun to play with, not so much to the silent types.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

[...]How do people see this from an outside perspective when they watch a SMN vs a RDM in group?

Speaking strictly from job choices? It pretty much boils down to the effort required to play at average degree. SMN is a low skill floor AND skill ceiling job. Rotation is set on stone. Mobility is comparable to a physical ranged DPS. Hit all the shiny buttons, and voila everything comes back up naturally every 60s. It's hard to do 'badly' on SMN. Which, at the same time it makes the job extremely easy to notice when mistakes are made such as:

1. Searing Light popping anywhere not in Bahamut? Exception to Phoenix because double SMN often does this.
2. Swift'ed Slipstream when there's no need for movement or to catch buff windows?
3. Phoenix Enkindle targeted at themselves instead of tanks who usually benefit more?
4. No "Aetherflow II" icon after phoenix phase during boss encounters?
5. A lot of Ruin III casts at lv86+?
6. Still getting hit often despite all of that mobility?

RDM just have to work harder to achieve similar degree of output, and I want them to know that I appreciate them for their effort.

Of course, like Fyrebrand mentioned, there are probably plenty other contributing factors. Friendly, chatty, fun, cooperative, etc... or if they're like me, often forgetting to comm before we bolt out of duties lol.

[Merrigan]

I do have one curious question...

I've played the game since ARR days, and I've always played SMN then RDM when it came along. And I always got a lot of Comms even though playing DPS jobs primarily.

What's changed is that I used to get a lot of Coms on SMN, but nowadays the coms I get are mostly when I play RDM sometimes upwards of 3 a pop on Expert Roulettes. When I play SMN its strangely barren even though I do a lot more damage and runs are a lot faster when I play SMN. Now I admit I'm pretty skilled at RDM after playing it since it came out in Stormblood, and I can pull off a good 4 Combo Finishers in a row at times because I'm good with Accelerate. But even then RDM just doesn't have the pure DPS that SMN has and it's noticeably faster in Expert Dungeons and I've been playing that one too since the ARR days, even if it's a little simplistic now.

Yet it seems to be RDM where I get consistent Coms.

How do people see this from an outside perspective when they watch a SMN vs a RDM in group?

I've noticed that as well with my RDM. A lot of coms, and like you I wondered why.

Apart from what's been said above, Coms aren't very representative anyway. I remember instances where I knew I'd played well, but no Coms; and on the contrary, others where I'd been more mediocre, but it rained down on me like hotcakes. In general, I give my Coms based on the dps done, general behaviour... but also, and above all, on how well they player has used the tools of their job (DRG's buff, for example).

[VictorSpoils]

WHM meta used to be Cure I spam, then Medica II spam. Now it appears to be Raise>Benediction with no upcoming damage.

[BRVV]

Was doing the Eden turn with Ifrit. One other player said we were a lala party. Not entirely true. 6/8 were lalas. At one point 6 of us (i don't think it was just the lalas) were dead but we managed. I said my farewells "gg and goodbye my fellow baked potatoes "

[Fyrebrand]

Raise>Benediction with no upcoming damage.

I mean, if it's a routine fight and I'm pretty confident I won't need Benediction in the next three minutes, I'll sometimes use it on someone I revived just for a free, instant HP top-up. Better to get some use out of it rather than not at all. Besides, I've got Stones/Glares to cast!

[VictorSpoils]

I mean, if it's a routine fight and I'm pretty confident I won't need Benediction in the next three minutes, I'll sometimes use it on someone I revived just for a free, instant HP top-up. Better to get some use out of it rather than not at all. Besides, I've got Stones/Glares to cast!

There actually was a particular case just recently while tanking in E9 after the MT died and got R+B, but I was at or below half HP for the next minute before he and the healers all got cleaved in the tile phase, leaving me about 1-2 auto's from death. Cloud eventually died a minute later right after I did with three DPS left standing.

I'd say it's almost as bad a habit as the double raises. Wasting it and needing it in the next two minutes is worse than not using it. The WHM pretty much used a single Rapture and no Solaces too, so swap that non-usage with Benediction and it's no longer a nailbiter. Even excluding that, there are other ways to heal an OT WAR with 30+ seconds of downtime.