The Pigeonhole

[Neralyte]

So I've been seeing these posts for sometime and it's become quite apparent to me as well. All "jobs" are getting pigeonholed into playing a certain way, even though we have subclass abilities to allow us to supposedly diversify.

I've played PLD and WAR predominantly since 2.0 release (and beta), but recently I've branched out more and now also play BLM and SCH along with an up and coming BRD. My gripe, like most others is that once you pick up a job you get pigeonholed into a certain role. Now normally I'm all for specializing and focusing in on certain roles, but there's a few reasons that I, like so many others, am not enjoying it so much here.

1. lackluster subclass abilities. The cross class abilities that are on offer are either not suitable (there are to many in this category to list) or they don't provide much benefit because of missing class traits etc

2. Abilities that should be great, but aren't. the immediate abilities that springs to mind here for me is Cure for a PLD. No body expects this to be a massive heal or a complete life saver... but healing 240 HP when you have 6.5K HP on a 2 second cast is completely useless.

3. The pigeonhole. here is the main gripe that I see, SE have included a cross class system to help diversify classes and give people the ability to wield powers outside of the job they are currently playing. But to contradict this, we are so tightly pigeonholed into this job, with such a narrow role that these abilities become benign and seemingly useless. By squarely pushing these jobs into set roles, SE have denied the diversity offered through a cross class system, effectively severing any ability to make use of any cross class abilities outside of what our set roles require.

Now I love this game, and I enjoy playing because it is a great game with great things to offer. But how can I take advantage of my cross class skills when they don't fit with the role that I'm being pigeonholed into?

[Nenin]

Hey man you DO have choices!



Like, like... Like you could cross-class Savage Blade or Skull Sunder and hope that maybe in patch 2.9 (release date: December 2017) SE will let you combo it.

The customization in this game is absolutely pathetic. Everyone wears the exact same un-dyeable gear, cross-classes the same abilities, and uses identical rotations. For a game that repeatedly boasts about its revolutionary armoury system it's unreal how few legitimate options you actually have.

[Nahara]

Because that's kind of the point of Jobs. Classes are versatile and able to do other things besides it's designated role if you pick and choose the right gear and cross-class abilities. Jobs prevent such versatility but greatly improve your capacity to perform it's given role.

Conjurer can be a viable magic damage dealer, but White Mage will always be a healer. Lancer could probably pull off being a tank, but Dragoon will always be a melee damage dealer. The only problem is that such versatility with classes can't really be exploited in party settings, since you need to be really good in your role in order to not suck and die and probably make your whole party die. When you're walking into Titan EX, nobody's really going to care how good your healer Thaumaturge is when the Scholar and White Mage perform that role a thousand times better and with less effort.

[Gooner_iBluAirJGR]

Conjurer can be a viable magic damage dealer, but White Mage will always be a healer. Lancer could probably pull off being a tank, but Dragoon will always be a melee damage dealer.

Stop talking nonsense please. Conjurer as a damage dealer? Because Raging Strikes and Blood for Blood will turn them into
a viable damage dealer? Thanks for the offer but I'll have to pass.

Lancer as a tank? Skull Sunder and Savage Blade will turn them into a viable tank? Thanks for the offer but I'll have to pass.

[Nahara]

Stop talking nonsense please. Conjurer as a damage dealer? Because Raging Strikes and Blood for Blood will turn them into
a viable damage dealer? Thanks for the offer but I'll have to pass.

Lancer as a tank? Skull Sunder and Savage Blade will turn them into a viable tank? Thanks for the offer but I'll have to pass.

In low-level dungeons, I've main healed on Arcanist and tanked on Pugilist. It worked but it was nowhere near as effective as just sticking to your given role, and that's the point. Right now, it's so much more effective to just stick to your role than to try and branch out into some other role and Jobs only emphasize this by making you even better in your given role. This won't always be the case, though, as Yoshi-P apparently plans to implement a "Hybrid" role into the game at some point; how that eventually works out (if it even comes out in the first place) is still up in the air.

[Saccharin]

I feel the same about paladin cross abilities. As you stated cure is just terrible; you'll take more damage while casting it than it heals. I feel warriors got a better deal from our (gladiator) abilities but we get some of their less useful ones. I'd love an AoE damage ability before 50.

[Radkat]

If paladins have cure spells good enough to keep themselves alive, then what's the point of having healers? This isn't a single player game you know.

[Synestra]

Using this PLD Cure as an example, would it be ok if they made it possible to have a insta-cast proc in it via riot blade maybe? keep the current potency while reducing/removing cast-time to make it more usable.

[Wobi]

Using this PLD Cure as an example, would it be ok if they made it possible to have a insta-cast proc in it via riot blade maybe? keep the current potency while reducing/removing cast-time to make it more usable.

Then you give those Riot Blade spamming tanks more reasons to use it? It's bad enough watching them try and hold hate on packs of enemies. They would need to re-tool many abilities, however I'd rather they bring back the one from 1.0 where you had a half decent cure on yourself or it would be an even more potent cure on another party member and heal you for half of what it did for them as well.

[Saccharin]

Then you give those Riot Blade spamming tanks more reasons to use it? It's bad enough watching them try and hold hate on packs of enemies. They would need to re-tool many abilities, however I'd rather they bring back the one from 1.0 where you had a half decent cure on yourself or it would be an even more potent cure on another party member and heal you for half of what it did for them as well.

They could change Enhanced Convalescence to increase heals by others to 30% and self heals, ie cure, to do 200% more healing. This way you could properly self heal only during the buff so you're not a one man healing army. This way Gladiators/Paladins get a useful self heal but still need healers.

Thoughts?