Why is BLM getting a buff?

[Alistaire]

If only the capacity to understand was measured in sarcasm.

There are plenty of things that a skilled black mage can do to put out decent damage in Coil 2 to remain on par with the rest of the party. There are also plenty of things that a skilled DRG, MNK or SMN can do to put out exceptional damage in Coil 2 to exceed the rest of the party. As iLVL increases, this gap will also increase. A buff is needed.

Oh the irony...how about the capacity to understand that we're saying it's not a necessity for every job to excel in every piece of content, and not even a good thing to expect that.


It's funny how the opposite never happened, nobody looked at SMN in turn 5 and said they're so good for it, we should gimp them somehow. (tbh, knowing some of the posters here, it probably did) Point is, SMN was never nerfed for it, is still pretty damn awesome for it, is great in most fights, not as great as BLM for some things, and doesn't seem to have gathered as much attention as this "issue."

Especially when SMN is the easiest job for a BLM to gear up as an alt for those places where BLM doesn't shine. That's the real facepalm here. Well, aside from the fact the buffs incoming don't address the concerns that were voiced. It's kind of the lazy way out for SE to say "ok, black mages want to be more mobile, but for whatever reason we're against that, so we're gonna make it that when you do get your single-target spells off it'll be for more damage, we're sure that'll even things out," except that it goes overboard when there's nothing for them to worry about moving while casting.

[NyneAlexander]

Especially when SMN is the easiest job for a BLM to gear up as an alt for those places where BLM doesn't shine. That's the real facepalm here. Well, aside from the fact the buffs incoming don't address the concerns that were voiced. It's kind of the lazy way out for SE to say "ok, black mages want to be more mobile, but for whatever reason we're against that, so we're gonna make it that when you do get your single-target spells off it'll be for more damage, we're sure that'll even things out," except that it goes overboard when there's nothing for them to worry about moving while casting.

Wouldn't it be a more lazy way out for SE to say "instead of balancing BLM to be as viable as other jobs in raid content, we expect those blms to just level up arcanist and run SMN on that content." C'mon man

I really think that you aren't considering the fact that the DPS gap is only going to increase as iLVL increases. If things stay the way they are, BLM will be a "speed run" only job for non-progression content

[BloodPact]

I see them:

A) Slightly buffing BLM's single target through potency increases to main rotation and bringing down AoE damage to about other jobs level.
B) Slightly buffing BLM's single target through potency increases to main rotation and buffing AoE damage to the rest of the DPS jobs.

I highly doubt they'll buff BLM single target and still leave them with the massive advantage they have over the rest of the DPS in heavy AoE fights. That's probably why they said in the Live Letter they were not just looking at BLM with the coming changes.

Also, since the problem seems to be on movement heavy fight, the balance could be to lower the potency and casting time on spells for the single target rotation.

[raelgun]

good grief, can people get over the AOE damage, its not important, you dont design encounters to constantly aoe and so far, other then T4, there isnt any fight like this and T4 is a bad encounter by design, aoe is just there for the sake of it. Why are people so miffed about this, single target and target switching damage is the most important. IMO they should get rid of anything aoe related and nerf every aoe into the ground, sheesh, single target is what matters here.

[BloodPact]

good grief, can people get over the AOE damage, its not important, you dont design encounters to constantly aoe and so far, other then T4, there isnt any fight like this and T4 is a bad encounter by design, aoe is just there for the sake of it. Why are people so miffed about this, single target and target switching damage is the most important. IMO they should get rid of anything aoe related and nerf every aoe into the ground, sheesh, single target is what matters here.

Tell that to the monk that has to wait 40 minutes in Duty Finder because no one wants him for Brayflox runs. It is important. The Second Coil is not the only content in this game. If you want fairness, then it's to be spread across the entire game, not just to the content where your class is at a disadvantage.

[NyneAlexander]

Tell that to the monk that has to wait 40 minutes in Duty Finder because no one wants him for Brayflox runs. It is important. The Second Coil is not the only content in this game. If you want fairness, then it's to be spread across the entire game, not just to the content where your class is at a disadvantage.

This isn't because MNK isn't viable in Brayflox. This is because the community insists on speed runs. You can very easily go into Brayflox with two Monks as dps and complete the dungeon. You cannot take 4 black mages into T8 and beat the enrage.

You also have to consider that there are a myriad of ways to get tomes (the goal of brayflox runs) but there is only one way to get coil gear (the goal of coil). You can't really compare the two.

[raelgun]

Tell that to the monk that has to wait 40 minutes in Duty Finder because no one wants him for Brayflox runs. It is important. The Second Coil is not the only content in this game. If you want fairness, then it's to be spread across the entire game, not just to the content where your class is at a disadvantage.

you balance classes/jobs for end game, this is where the numbers are looked into, not 4 mans...
SE hasnt even attempted to balance anything that jobs have for 4 mans, but they have responded with balance changes to coil end game, this is why you are wrong, not even Blizzard does this in wow, its content you pass by and you dont even get the full set of full party buffs, how can you balance a class if you arent getting all the buffs in theory.

[Nukocafe]

I read on a Japanese board that while BLMs are getting single target buff - they are getting an AOE attack nerf...

[BloodPact]

This isn't because MNK isn't viable in Brayflox. This is because the community insists on speed runs. You can very easily go into Brayflox with two Monks as dps and complete the dungeon. You cannot take 4 black mages into T8 and beat the enrage.

Most of the trends and job preferences for encounters are decided by the community. Many Black Mages in many statics are clearing all of the turns of The Second Coil as we speak, so they're viable as any other DPS in there. If they aren't wanted over other jobs in Coil it's the same reason why MNKs/DRGs/SMNs aren't wanted in Brayflox speed runs. They aren't the best choice for that content according to the community. It's completely selfish to ask for a buff in single target DPS and expect development to leave BLM's AoE damage untouched.

[raelgun]

aoe doesnt break or nullify encounters, i,e BOSS fights, trash is trash, who the hell balances around trash