Let's talk about the upcoming DRG rework...

[Sylvain]

I'm expecting easy and on demand positional. Which means rework of fang and claw combo mechanic.
Jump will probably be a gcd.
Nastrond phase will probably be usable during the opener.

So... I'm excited to see what it will be, but I feel it will be less fun than what it currently is because they tend to oversimplfie things. Which reduces the fun.

[Lyth]

...

I have a relatively strong suspicion that VPR will be a selfish DPS to be situated in direct competition with SAM, given that it's both the most popular Melee DPS and the one with the most unique position within the subrole. It seems logical to use a new sword job to split up the playerbase (much like SGE was used to split SCH, and a hammer tank will eventually be used to split WAR). The reskinned blue Hypercharge buff that we see is probably going to be a personal burst window, and the slide text describes it as 'imbuing your body' with the memories of ancestral hunters within your Soul Crystal. I think the devs are starting to realize that being a selfish DPS confers a raid benefit not entirely represented in rDPS balance, so we'll hopefully see more a shift in this regard.

It's hard to say what will happen to DRG for definite. I think if RPR was just being introduced now, I would have expected it to go a purely selfish route. But given the timing of this rework, I think that there's a reasonably good chance of pushing the job in a more selfish direction. It's also worth noting that the DRG rework was announced at around the same time that the Critical Hit buff controversy was under heated discussion, so it's possible that Battle Litany was originally planned to be phased out in 6.2 instead of the stopgap that they introduced instead. Either way, if they go this route it will be a fairly even split between buff providers and selfish DPS.

I think Casters are in for a bigger balance problem with three raid buff providers and one selfish DPS, but I think they plan on treating PCT as being in the same category as BLM except balanced on rDPS. The Ranged balance is going to be a mess regardless of what they do.

[Ancalagon_Blacktalon]

my biggest hope with this is that they keep its unique rotation in some way. I don't want it to become a clone of RPR or MNK or god forbid NIN. But also I've been just. super envious of Estinien getting some really cool kit in his playable segments that I don't get as the *better* Azure Dragoon.

[CidHeiral]

I think it says a lot about modern job design in FFXIV that the DRG rework has most DRG mains more terrified than excited.

[ThorneDynasty]

I think it says a lot about modern job design in FFXIV that the DRG rework has most DRG mains more terrified than excited.

Part of it definitely is that there's nothing wrong with DRG that actually warrants a rework, and SE is basically openly admitting they are only doing it to look busy. Reading between the lines it sounds dangerously like they actually want to make it worse, just to make their jobs easier improving on it in the future. Like taking two steps back just so you can congratulate yourself on taking one forward later.

I mean I obviously hope I'm wrong, but the past reworks don't fill me with confidence and I'm so tired of this infinite "just wait and see" benefit of the doubt some players have, even after they've been dead wrong the last dozen times.

[Curinteru]

Reading between the lines it sounds dangerously like they actually want to make it worse, just to make their jobs easier improving on it in the future. Like taking two steps back just so you can congratulate yourself on taking one forward later.

This sounds to me like a new episode from the series "Conspiranoic theories about SE" lol

Honestly, as a main DRG I think that while DRG is in an amazing state rn, it could definitely use some improvements:
- Spineshatter dive should have no damage and be just like close-gaps in MNK/SAM (maybe change the animation?)
- Dragonfire dive makes no sense, it serves no purpose and it doesn't interact with the rest of the kit, it's like a forgotten ability (though the animation is cool and it feels nice, not great, to push)
- Speaking of which, we need more dopamine! being fast, as cool as it is, is not enough!
- Someone somewhere in this post said: "Being able to choose between the 5th combo options", I think that's a great option in situations where you cannot true north everything
- Another player also mentioned: "less thrusting, more jumping". I think that would be perfect, jumps should be part of the gcd combined with thrusting so it would be aesthetically pleasing
- Let us have one third scale so we can decide and manage when to use it!
- Dragon sight should be removed or changed in some way, it's super clanky
- Elusive jump cd to 20s (it makes no sense for it to be at 30 secs :S)
- Make Piercing Talon relevant or at least make it so it interacts with Elusive jump or something like that.
- True thrust should be changed (as a trait) to Raiden Thrust always. We only push it once in every encounter, again, it doesn't make sense.
- Can we have an upgrade to Vorpal Thrust on Dawntrail? it's high time, ain't it?
- MORE DOPAMINE, screen shakes, sounds, I don't know, SOMETHING, PLEASE!

As for improving the job a lower levels:
- Give us aoes earlier... PLEASE (this can also be applied to the rest of the jobs). It's super annoying not having a second combo on aoes till level 62!
- Do something with it as you did for RPR. RPR feels good at lvl50, simple, but good, we DRGs want that too!

If you have made it till here, I'd like to know your constructive criticism

[Keichi]

What speaks again the point, that spineshatter has at last some damage?
It fits the name and is a nice extra attack, if you dont need to keep it for the moment. And the option to spare one unit for later is allways possible. Why removing the dmg only, because some other people say, how to include it in a rotation? If whe had a cap closer without dmg, would it be more fitting to be jump skill. At last based on the name (i want a forward jump option, whe could switch the roles of spineshatter and jump and make jump the free use forward jump, as contrast to the bachward jump).

- What did you mean with dopamine? That the gameplay should be more faster? Or that whe should make more dmg (whe dont know, if viper has any specific role, maybe the drg could be more near to the samurai^^).

- more jumps: did you mean more spineshatter uses? Whe have allready some jumps in the animations of the attacks (the third attack, the dot attack, the following attack from the dot, raiden thrust has a jump in the animation to). Would you mean more jump like spine or dragon, would it be countering your wish, that spine should lose its dmg part. And if you mean, that the drg should use more jumps in animations, is it questionable to. At last for my tast is one important part, that the animations should fit together as a combo. By to many jumps would it look like, that the drg would be a grashooper or a gummy bear.

- Raiden thrust: Yeah, it could be a pernament form, like other skills. But at last for me is it questionable. It looks more fitting, that the combo of a spearman should start with a thrust, instand of sideway slash, following up with a second sideway slash. That the moves transform to Raiden looks for me better. When i look at it in combination of the two finisher attacks of the combo.

[Curinteru]

Hey Keichi!
- I completely agree with having a jump forward option, that's why I'd like Spineshatter to be (maybe we can leave spineshatter the way it is and introduce a new jump that is a forward jump in the 60-70 levels, that'd be dope!).

- What I mean with dopamine is, for instance, screen shakes, a sound that let us hear a dragon roar or something like that, you know, something cooler! Of course a big big number as our finisher would be nice too

- With more jumps I just mean that maybe jumps should change into our core rotation instead of being gcds, tho I tbh I'm not sure how that could turn out, as you said, we have several animations with jumps already.

- With Raiden thrust I don't mean AT ALL LEVELS, just whenever you get the Raiden Thrust trait, I think is around 72-ish, from then on, True thrust shouldn't even exist.

[ZiraZ]

I still don't want DRG to change, and I still feel like there is plenty of things that can be added without bloating it.

[remiff]

Personally, when I saw what they did with the latest major reworks, like the Summoner and Machinist, and the minor reworks like Paladin and Monk,
I wouldn't be very optimistic about what they'll do with the Dragoon...