Break the Trinity System Please

[Rubieus]

To be honest I think Bard (currently implemented) is as close to a support as we are going to see, however; I think it could be tuned a bit more, allowing for more variety such as melee (dancer) or caster (Red Mage) yes I know, Red mage uses swords. But let's face it, Red Mage's best attributes are En/Bar spells and the ability to use healing and damage dealing spells. their melee dps will never beat a drg or mnk, but their spells are at least unique enough to make it worth having.

[Hurlstone]

I would not mind the addition of support-based jobs. I have fond memories of basically being a supporter RDM in FFXI many long moons ago. That being said, I cannot really see them being added into the game. I think what they may do, if anything, is give Bards and healers more incentive/spells to perform more supporting tasks.

[HakuroDK]

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Actually, I do recall Yoshida going on record to say that they did want to bring more Support jobs into FFXIV. I remember because that is what I really want to play. The trouble is that some people automatically assume Support = Healer when it's not. The closest jobs to Support in this game right now are, interestingly enough, Bard and Ninja. Bard is supposed to be, like, THE Support job, but somewhere in development, it did a Fusion Dance with the Ranger job and now it's a shadow of what it's truly supposed to be. Ninjas seem to have borrowed one or two Dancer abilities, but one or two abilities does not a Support job make.

My fingers are crossed for a de-fusion of Ranger and Bard, the introduction of Dancer as a branch from Rogue, or the introduction of a new support job a la DRK using any of the myriad of support jobs in Final Fantasy history, like Time Mage, Mediator, Mystic Knight, or something else.

[LeCard]

I think it could be tuned a bit more,

Bard should be a support class, but the ballads feel like more of a joke nod at support than real support. They drain mp that isn't in vast supply to start with and provide what feels like minimal help at all. Sure, they may get you out of a bind when a healer runs low on mp and needs to keep casting. Tuning the bard to have more useful songs would give them a better feeling of support without hurting their DPS too bad. and yes they do take a DPS hit when using a ballad, so even there the ballads points to being a true support job gimped. I think giving the bard ballads that could up attack speed for the party, decrease enmity for near by members or such things and not have them drain mp rapidly, but drain based on enmity blocked/each attack used under influence etc.
after all, what job type is best suited to support than a ranged job?

[Sylve]

Bard should be a support class, but the ballads feel like more of a joke nod at support than real support. They drain mp that isn't in vast supply to start with and provide what feels like minimal help at all. Sure, they may get you out of a bind when a healer runs low on mp and needs to keep casting. snip

Ironically, i got most of my currently 236 Commendations while leveling my BRD, and i got those by snapping my Tp/MP songs on and off, timing the Song uptime to one of my many (I feel for this reason) Damage increasing skills.

It drives me insane to see BRDs sing one song for their entire MP bar and then be like, well i cant sing anymore. Pewpewpew

[LeCard]

Ironically, i got most of my currently 236 Commendations while leveling my BRD, and i got those by snapping my Tp/MP songs on and off, timing the Song uptime to one of my many (I feel for this reason) Damage increasing skills.

It drives me insane to see BRDs sing one song for their entire MP bar and then be like, well i cant sing anymore. Pewpewpew

Drives me crazy too, but that is part of the problem. The ballads don't offer an easily noticeable bonuses so the average bard will pop one and leave it. The fact that the class is called "Bard" should mean that the ballads play more into the role of the job than a side boost that the best bards will make great use of while average/poor bards will kind of make use of them.

With the system now, you earned those commendations by being top tier at your job but anyone below that probably wont ever realize how to do that. (and if they do they probably wont really be able to optimize their use of it)

[Sylve]

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I think the Songs just need more visual aura when its active on people. Its incredibly noticeable on my Monk when i get the TP song, it literally suspends my TP expenditure (MY SS is too high, so i end up spending TP at an insane rate)
Likewise on my WHM, Having a Ballad active forces me to full MP no matter how hard i dump spells. Its just that if you don't look for the icon ... You don't see that its active, even if you can see the effects. I Advocate the spell effect being accompanied by a visual aura on affected people, not too obnoxious, but big enough to be seen, so when you see it, You KNOW a BRD is singing. (Personally i want the musical notes from the King Mog Trial >_>)
Also, I'm ok with a system that rewards proper use of skills. On the other hand, if they made it too powerful, BRDs would be "must haves" for all content. I think its in a good spot power wise, just needs visual help

[Rubieus]

I think giving the bard ballads that could up attack speed for the party, decrease enmity for near by members or such things and not have them drain mp rapidly, but drain based on enmity blocked/each attack used under influence etc.
after all, what job type is best suited to support than a ranged job?

(Sorry for the late reply levelling Thief) I agree that Bard songs should be more than just replacement effects. It would be nice to see a wider variety of skills but I think for balancing issues, that would not work. I propose something similar but not unbalanced,
Say instead of draining mp, the bard uses mp and casts a song that lasts for a certain amount of time. So 30sec paeon, or 30 sec ballad. Also it would be nice to see new paeons and ballads with different effects such as what you mentioned, increased sub stats or perhaps even enhances healing or hp regen

[Giantbane]

True Support Jobs would serve this game so well.

Bard, Dancer, Time Mage, mmm.

The premise behind a True Support is just exciting.

What do you all think?

If true support is anything like BRD or RDM played in FFXI, no thanks. That is the height of boring/no skill play. Buff > Buff > Buff > Debuff > Debuff > Buff > "WHAT ARE YOU DOING STOP TRYING TO MELEE" > etc

[Tupsi]

If true support is anything like BRD or RDM played in FFXI, no thanks. That is the height of boring/no skill play. Buff > Buff > Buff > Debuff > Debuff > Buff > "WHAT ARE YOU DOING STOP TRYING TO MELEE" > etc

I don't think you ever touched XI if you threw RDM into the "true support" category lol.