Please nerf overpowered Jobs before Chaotic Raid

[Collin_Sky]

PCT is ahead of the next best dps (DRG) by 2k rDPS (32.7k vs 30.7k, a difference of 6%).
AST is ahead of the next best healer (WHM) by 1k rDPS (17.6k vs 16.6k, also a difference of 6%)

We should also nerf AST, it's way too OP compared to other jobs in its category for FRU, clearly, yet no one is talking about that. Curious.

AST also offers far more raid buffs and has more shields than WHM, its direct competitor, a common complaint we see used against PCT. Surely we care this much about AST domination too, right?

[BigCheez]

The former. They should do the former. Because nuking the 1 interesting new job design we've gotten since Shadowbringers knee-capped job design is the absolute worst choice they could make.

I don't give a single shit if Picto is broken in ultis. If that's the price to pay for a new standard of job design, then I'll see it paid with a smile on my face.

I agree but given recent trends, I wouldn't be surprised if they just make PCT's paintings targeted attacks instead.

[Collin_Sky]

I agree but given recent trends, I wouldn't be surprised if they just make PCT's paintings targeted attacks instead.

This would break PCT in ways you do not understand.
After downtime occurs, very often in a fight people will go directly into their burst windows when the next phase starts. This happens quite often as fights often line up like this, P2 into the intermission in FRU is a good example of this.
If PCT could only paint with a target, you have 2 scenarios:
1. PCT has to pre-paint before the boss goes untargetable, potentially failing a DPS check as up to 9 seconds are spent doing absolutely no DPS.
2. PCT has to paint once the boss becomes targetable again, thereby either misaligning its raid buffs with the rest of the party, or forcing the entire party to burst around PCT.

This is not a good solution.

Once again, Ultimate is the only content in the game this is a problem. There is no reason to burn the job to the ground just because of ultimate fights being designed around excessive downtime. Hell, I'd go as far as to say ultimates would be much harder and engaging if there was less downtime.

[BigCheez]

This would break PCT in ways you do not understand.
After downtime occurs, very often in a fight people will go directly into their burst windows when the next phase starts. This happens quite often as fights line up like this. P2 into the intermission in FRU is a good example of this.
If PCT could only paint with a target, you have 2 scenarios:
1. PCT has to pre-paint before the boss goes untargetable, potentially failing a DPS check.
2. PCT has to paint once the boss becomes targetable again, thereby either misaligning its raid buffs with the rest of the party, or forcing the entire party to burst around PCT.

This is not a good solution.

Yeah, you'd need to make the decision to burst early and build again when the boss targetable or hold burst until after the boss is targetable. The same as pretty much every other job. I imagine they would also add potency to painting so that it's part of your filler and you aren't doing 0 damage by choosing to paint early/

Like I said before, they need to either make PCT fit the mould defined by the other jobs, or make the other jobs less rigid. I think it would be better to change the other jobs, but these are the 2 possible solutions to the PCT problem.

If they did this, I imagine they would add potency to painting so that it's part of your filler and you aren't doing 0 damage by choosing to paint.

[Collin_Sky]

Yeah, you'd need to make the decision to burst early and build again when the boss targetable or hold burst until after the boss is targetable. The same as pretty much every other job.

No. Not entirely.

I used the example of P2 transitioning into the intermission of FRU, so I'll continue with that. During the ~30 seconds of downtime, cooldowns for all other jobs are ticking away and are ready to go almost immediately once the crystals become targetable.
However, PCT requires extra steps to perform its burst. SCH can simply pop Chain Stratagem, WAR can activate Inner Release, and DNC can use Technical Step. While these jobs can hold their gauges, that’s not the same as requiring 9 seconds of GCDs that accomplish absolutely nothing just to set up a proper burst.

[Lyth]

PCT is the new sieve job. The development team are scared that if PCT gets nerfed, all those players will literally fall out of the game. What they don't realize is that catering to such players is much worse for the state of the game in the long run. Let them go back to SMN, they'll get over it.

[IOwn92FCHouses]

PCT is the new sieve job. The development team are scared that if PCT gets nerfed, all those players will literally fall out of the game. What they don't realize is that catering to such players is much worse for the state of the game in the long run. Let them go back to SMN, they'll get over it.

I see this from people like you so often. What slippery slope will we fall down if no changes happen? (Which there won't be because Square has demonstrated they don't know how to balance the game since the implementation of the 5% buff. Grats to everyone who have finally caught up)

Because I saw the same doomsday speak with the healer strike thread. 1k pages and no results. I saw the same doomsday speak with the story. Most people just play the game, vibing, and don't care about what the balance is like. Hell, the vast majority of players can't even play Picto right, making it's power non-existant.

So do tell. How will current state picto kill the game considering the above things haven't, and that the majority of the playerbase is unaware of the issue and/or apathetic?

[Collin_Sky]

So do tell. How will current state picto kill the game considering the above things haven't, and that the majority of the playerbase is unaware of the issue and/or apathetic?

It won't. Because 99% of the people complaining don't even enter the content PCT is a "problem" in.

[Lyth]

It's pretty simple, really.

The reason for adding new jobs is to give players more gameplay styles and aesthetics to choose from. Perhaps someone might play a tank if they had the right job fantasy available. Perhaps you could convince someone to try out melee if the right job existed. It helps attract and retain players. That's why they invest dev time into releasing new jobs each expansion.

When you have one job that completely dominates a role (and PCT most certainly does this) and is a lock to the slot, then those alternative jobs might as well not exist. Suddenly, players who would have played that role are forced to either swap to the dominant job, change roles, or if there's no role that they still want to play at that point, then they quit. And what happens at high levels of play filters down and influences perception at even the most casual levels of play (even if it shouldn't), because people talk. Why should you play a job that everyone around you perceives as unilaterally weaker? Balance drives perception, which drives job distributions, which drives retention.

That's why balance matters.

[IOwn92FCHouses]

It won't. Because 99% of the people complaining don't even enter the content PCT is a "problem" in.

Correct. People too often forget, me included, that our circles here on the official forums, on reddit, discord, whatever app or social media you go through, are a tiny portion of the community. Wanna know what's happening in Limsa right now? Tank Program is still crashing on Ultros. The weeb police are hopping to random servers. And the players are just chatting and chilling. Doing roulettes. Posing with their glam.

Picto isn't on their list of topics today, not because they don't care or don't have the game's health in mind. But because it's unimportant to them. These are the most common types of players. They log in, so whatever, log off, and ffxiv ceases to be a thing in their world.

Picto is 100% an issue in FRU, and in ultis in general, due to its unique interaction with downtime. It's only a real issue in savage if you look exclusively at x:30 kill times (and, if you don't know what that's significant, do some research into what burst does to your parse). But to go so far as to say it's killing the game? Laughable. As always, a PF locking a job out is a red flag. Picto makes the DPS checks trivial in FRU, but, you know what? My group still has to hold DPS in P1 and we have the option of holding CDs in phase 2 with a non Picto, SMN as the caster comp. FRU's DPS check is already non-existent.

character limit, removing quote

I've yet to be locked out of my Savage PF clears as Black Mage or SMN. Ive yet to be kicked from an extreme farm for not using picto when I'm caster. I've yet to experience anything negative in relation to roulettes for my job choices. The only lockouts I've seen are in FRU, which, again, is a red flag and not universal.

I'd agree with your assessment if it was reality, but it is not. You're still allowed to pick up a staff or a book or a rapier and do content. The only limiting factors your defeatist attitude.

The average player is unaware that there is a balance issue in ultimates. The average player does not do the research necessary into their jobs to find a balance issue or a hard preference based on performance.

This is a theme park mmo. Most people are here for vibes. A single job in a single role doing more than it should isn't hitting those vibes for most people. And, going off of play rates in casual content, swinging a silly paint hammer is a good vibe.