Fix melee leveling/sync down experience

[ThurinTurambar]

Hello, here i want to share some issues i have with lvl <60 toolkits of certain jobs, what would be an easy fix and would improve the experience of sprouts and people doing roulettes drasticly.

The biggest offender on the list is dragoon:
- aoe unlocked at lvl 40, with 2nd step at lvl 62
- aoe is akward to use (very thin line aoe, easy to miss mobs)
- low damage output compared to other dps (specifcly at low levels!!!)
Solutions:
- Move Doom Spike to lvl 25-26 to match other melees.
- Move Sonic Thrust to lvl 40
- Increase the width of base aoes or change them to cones
- Split Lance Mastery into 2 traits, 1 boosting action potencies at level 60 and lvl 76 that handles draconian fire

Ninja shares the same problem of late aoe unlock, so in short:
- Move death blossom to lvl 25-26 range, move Hakke Mujinsatsu to lvl 40

Monk's problem lies mainly in unlock order.
- 3rd aoe step before 2nd. I dont think any serious person expects players to do Opo-opo aoe -> Raptor single target -> Coeurl aoe.
- Perfect Balance unlocks without any blitzes. Using it before lvl 60 means damage loss, since it breaks your combo.
Solutions:
- Move Four-point Fury unlock to level 30, move Rockbreaker unlock to lvl 45.
- Perfect Balance has 2 possible solutions:
1) grant formless fist upon using all stacks
2) unlock Celestial Revolution at the same level, giving you an early finisher

[Karuya]

Well, basically every job should have at least something from level 50, because like you say some jobs are ridiculously empty even in single target.

Other examples : if samourai get meikyo shisui at 50 like it currently does, and monk gets perfect balance + celestial revolution like you say, then viper should get his death rattle, or vicewinder combo. Same for reaper, he should at least have his soul slice to give him some kind of new button at level 50. Because currently, both viper and reaper are just their base filler combo, and that's it. Viper literally only has 2 single target buttons at level 50, he gets serpent's tail at 55 but that's only one ogcd, and has to wait 65 to get vicewinder. At least reaper has his blood stalk at level 50. Black mage is also stupid, fire 4 should be level 50.

[ThurinTurambar]

Well, basically every job should have at least something from level 50, because like you say some jobs are ridiculously empty even in single target.

Other examples : if samourai get meikyo shisui at 50 like it currently does, and monk gets perfect balance + celestial revolution like you say, then viper should get his death rattle, or vicewinder combo. Same for reaper, he should at least have his soul slice to give him some kind of new button at level 50. Because currently, both viper and reaper are just their base filler combo, and that's it. Viper literally only has 2 single target buttons at level 50, he gets serpent's tail at 55 but that's only one ogcd, and has to wait 65 to get vicewinder. At least reaper has his blood stalk at level 50. Black mage is also stupid, fire 4 should be level 50.

I would not go as far. As in example of viper, it may seem empty, but it has all the base functionality required to perform well in all kinda of content. You can even argue that viper's base combos are exact same as monk's combos. All i ask for is base functionality like aoe and for skills to make sense in leveling

[Azurarok]

I think the idea behind VPR's lv1-50 level sync was for learning the flow of its main combo, which made a little more sense when it had Noxious Gnash. There was a mechanic to track that was more than hit glowing buttons and do positionals.

Personally I find Uncoiled Fury the most notable part of the job and it really should have 1 use of it by lv50, either by having Serpent's Ire or one charge of one of the Vice moves by then

[Carighan]

I feel this is something they best solve with a sort of "level squish" eventually, reducing the raw amount of levels massively and hence the breadth over which abilities are spread out.

Apart from, of course, giving a much larger portion of the kit in the first 15-20 levels, then only modifying this kit or replacing it as we level from there. Good combat design doesn't need 30+ hotbar buttons, it needs but a handful and depth of combat results in involved gameplay exactly because the design is as minimalist as can be (e.g. Hollow Knight, Dark Souls, etc)

[ThurinTurambar]

I feel this is something they best solve with a sort of "level squish" eventually, reducing the raw amount of levels massively and hence the breadth over which abilities are spread out.

Apart from, of course, giving a much larger portion of the kit in the first 15-20 levels, then only modifying this kit or replacing it as we level from there. Good combat design doesn't need 30+ hotbar buttons, it needs but a handful and depth of combat results in involved gameplay exactly because the design is as minimalist as can be (e.g. Hollow Knight, Dark Souls, etc)

There certainly is validity to this. Despite viper being 'empty' at level 60, i had a lot of fun clearing PotD on it, since it forces you to master your movement for the sake of defense (moving in/out of melee range on your gcd, moving away and kiting for a bit when mob is about to do a skill, stagger kiting)