Phantom Jobs are a step in the right direction but need iteration.

[Shurrikhan]

I wish the Phantom Jobs would interact with our kit. The only one is really swiftcast into comet on Phantom Time Mage. Sure, it'd be busted in some cases, but why not let us be? If FT is so damn difficult on purpose then let Machinists guarantee a crit with Cannoneer. The determination to be balanced sucks sometimes when we could make all of them a tiny bit busted and expand on it and make it fun.

I don't think it's a concern with balance, ultimately, that prevents that. You can have a decently balanced set of interactions between each Job and Phantom Job such that each looks "broken" but is ultimately held in check due to all other choices also being "broken"-ly synergetic. See Heroes of the Storm in its heyday, for instance.

The real limiting factor is simply warrantable effort. What would make the degree of effort required for every Phantom Job to add something of competitive interest to every real Job worthwhile? We've seen by now that player satisfaction is a non-concern until it the final straw that withdraws retention (or perhaps even not until it would prevent one from coming back for major patch/new-expansion months).

[Supersnow845]

I don't think it's a concern with balance, ultimately, that prevents that. You can have a decently balanced set of interactions between each Job and Phantom Job such that each looks "broken" but is ultimately held in check due to all other choices also being "broken"-ly synergetic. See Heroes of the Storm in its heyday, for instance.

The real limiting factor is simply warrantable effort. What would make the degree of effort required for every Phantom Job to add something of competitive interest to every real Job worthwhile? We've seen by now that player satisfaction is a non-concern until it the final straw that withdraws retention (or perhaps even not until it would prevent one from coming back for major patch/new-expansion months).

To be fair lost actions hit that balance much better. Not every action was a win but every job has at least 2-3 actions that do have a massive impact on how you perform and change the way you play

It would be unrealistic to expect every lost action to have its own meta niche application but phantom actions basically substitute this with “if a tank you get a big nuke occasionally, if you are any other role kick rocks”