Mercy Stroke

[Rhad]

Please do something else with it. We don't use it for dmg.

You can have fun with it. Make it a curse that if the target dies within 2 or 5 seconds you get the heal. You can even remove the damage or make it a brief dot with just a couple of seconds and if the target dies while the dot is going you get healed.

[Vactus]

I use it for DMG. It's off GCD so it's not even a problem to add to rotation.

[Nathan061111]

Yeh I use it in rotation the once in a blue moon it's up like I would brutal swing if I don't need stuns but it really is a waste of space at end game but I do remember using from lvl1-40 if I was soloing and in a tight spot. Gotta remember its not just endgame people playing the game. But I do agree a debuff would be better than the kill shot.

[Rhad]

I use it for DMG. It's off GCD so it's not even a problem to add to rotation.

I meant to address the healing component. More often than not you will use Mercy Stroke and the target will die a second later or a split second before you trigger the ability.

Yeh I use it in rotation the once in a blue moon it's up like I would brutal swing if I don't need stuns but it really is a waste of space at end game but I do remember using from lvl1-40 if I was soloing and in a tight spot. Gotta remember its not just endgame people playing the game. But I do agree a debuff would be better than the kill shot.

It is great for soloing, I used it myself, but trickier to use in a dungeon.

[Seidaku]

I just use it for dmg and dont even try or care to use it for the heal. Waste of time to save it and hope for the right moment.

They should increase the dmg from it however to make it actually good. I would say easily change the heal off of it since that is just stupid and make it a nice 500 potency attack.
I have yet to see a time on any mob or boss where you can use it more than twice, probably 95% of the time it is a single use ability, so it is not overpowered by any means.
Also it is a shared skill with melee dps so it should be useful to them rather than some stupid fluff that they can choose to simply ignore.

[Vactus]

True enough.

[Amyas]

I get two or three successful uses of it in a wp run on trash mobs. They should either buff the damage it does, or give it a bleeding debuff for about 20 secs with the same hp restoration if it dies while the debuff is active, whether you're the one to kill it or not. That said its free dps when you can use it, and if you're lucky may take a tiny load off your healer I guess.

[Grembo]

It's fine as it is apart from the lengthy cooldown.

I've posted this elsewhere but you should try and macro mercy stroke to each party of your enmity rotation with a small delay on it, like this all you have to do is spot an enemy with low enough hp and tab target or click them and boom the enemy dies and you get the healing bonus.

Works fine on my PLD, WAR and MNK even in end game.

[LamchopSHK]

how beneficial is Mercy Stroke for DRG?

[Shurrikhan]

It's fine as it is apart from the lengthy cooldown.

I've posted this elsewhere but you should try and macro mercy stroke to each party of your enmity rotation with a small delay on it, like this all you have to do is spot an enemy with low enough hp and tab target or click them and boom the enemy dies and you get the healing bonus.

Works fine on my PLD, WAR and MNK even in end game.

Without macros I still get the heal more often than not, though I'd also recommend Grembo's advice. I'd also agree that the main issue is its cooldown. It's a useful split-second saving-grace or buffer for a tank in long, large or rolling-dps pulls. It'd just be a lot more useful if it was actually up every 40 or 60 seconds instead.

But, that's the tank perspective. The dps perspective, if undamaged, is essentially to absolutely not use the ability when the tank could use it, so that the tank can grab the 1.4k heal. It doesn't hit for much, and you're unlikely to see it come up twice during the low enemy hp needed to use it. It's decent for groups that are good at being sloppy (the kinds where DRGs pull mobs through threat, but then just tank them without really taking damage). When that's no longer an option, it feels nearly pointless.

So:

Curse application (2-5) seconds: takes out the team management, where the party leaves the killing blow to the tank. Good, or a little bad, depending on your personal views. Certainly makes it a whole lot more useful during latency...
Making it actually worthwhile for dps with some manner of strategy attached, such as dealing a portion of the last 3-attacks' damage: wouldn't mind, though that will then seem more or less unnecessary for PLDs, who won't have the AoE to buff that damage even if AoE could contribute (more likely it would have to be the last 3 hits, rather than "abilities").
Increase base (potency): taken far enough, it could surpass the use of applying Fracture, if it comes down to a choice between the two, but for DRG the difference is already minimal.
Reduce CD: I honestly think this should happen in addition to whatever works from above. 60 seconds or less. Will make it kind of OP for leveling, I suppose, but... by that rationale the classes that wouldn't be using it are already largely advantaged for leveling. (Bard, BLM, etc.)