Yoshi P's Stance on Pld

[Shurrikhan]

Even in Coil, there's only like ADS who doesn't have adds [to use Sole Survivor on]. Kaliya doesn't have many, but they're there. I think every primal has adds too.

Also regarding DA Dark Dance, I think it really depends on whether or not they allow you to keep evading monsters. That skill is retarded broken in A4S and dungeons but that doesn't really justify its existence. I think at the least they could keep the evasion and tack on some extra parry rate or power or lower the cooldown when you DA it. Maybe have it give you a guaranteed parry or two when you Dark Arts it. Something.

Even if most fight include some way to make use of Sole Survivor, if the job is balanced around something being usable at its max rate but in fact usable at only half or less of that (e.g. usable once in a 10-minute fight despite a 2-minute CD), then it has some, albeit small, factor at issue. At least in this case it's no more niche than, say, Misery's End, excelling when something's about to die every 12 seconds, but usually just a sub-20% health dps catch-up on bosses. But at least abilities like Misery's End attempt to seek an overall encounter-dps balance in long fights, whereas DRK's version of Mercy Stroke can't even deal damage. Simple fix: give it an alternative, much like the two versions of Carve and Spit, but probably without the DA component. It should be something reasonable to hold onto, not to forget entirely (in add-less fights).

Agreed about (DA) Dark Dance. Personally I'd love it if the default CD was decreased or duration increased and I could sacrifice a bit of duration for a guaranteed parry/dodge. (Where the ability cannot be dodged, parry is used instead.) E.g. after activating, hit the ability again to consume 3 seconds of duration and a small amount based on the affected attack (+ 1 second per 150 potency on the affected attack). That or something that takes advantage of accumulating dodges and/or parries for a guaranteed mitigation type beyond Reprisal. Ideally both, so that the job has some element of costly control and perhaps something more unique (and maybe theatrical/thematic?) built into its overall mechanics.

Would still like to see Grit buffed. Either decrease the MP cost or give it something short-term that makes that cost worthwhile.

Pipedream: More DA-enhanced ability uses, and more interesting effects on the combo-enders.

[Exodus_Kenpachi]

Sole Survivor.

See here is my issue with Sole Survivor. In fights that do not have trash it is useless. Literally sitting on the shelf collecting dust. Same thing for DA Unmend... And just Unmend in general. I cannot stand moves that just take up space even 50% of the time. Those are two skills that could be so much better implemented and just feel lazy to me. SE could have added the DA Umend skill to DA Unleash and it would fit perfectly and free Unmend up to be something, ya know, unique and original?.

As for DA Power Slash, once again a lazy idea. The concept for DA is amazing however is placed on peculiar choices of moves. I guess that is my major issue with it. DA Delirium Blade should be a thing with added debuffs but instead we get DA power slash for all the dumbass tanks who cant keep hate.

[Freyyy]

DA Umend

There is no such thing as DA Unmend.

[SwordCoheir]

No fucking way. That's insanely OP.

I know, I know, but a guy can wish. :P Still just having the overhealed amount divided among nearby party members would be sufficiently and strangely powerful enough to be useful to raid without being OP, not to mention be completely unique to PLD.

[Brannigan]

Pretty sure he's got the name confused with Abyssal Drain.

[Freyyy]

Pretty sure he's got the name confused with Abyssal Drain.

Oh okay lol. Yeah DA Abyssal Drain is completely not worth using unless you're doing an enormous trash pull in a dungeon and your healer is afk.

[MeeYow]

Testing dummies at typical gear for this patch has PLDs running out at about 2:30 whilst DRKs last 3:10, I believe mostly due to the applications of scourge in that time saving TP.

Also as OT DRK can use unmend to get about 50tp back but PLD has no way of doing damage in a GCD whilst restoring TP. Also clemency is currently close to useless.

Also in terms of potency lost in that GCD with reference to TP gained, Unmend lets 40 more TP restore at the cost of only 60 potency which makes it a vastly better TP return to dps loss skill (in the region of 5x more efficient) with the added detriment of small MP loss.

From a pure TP standpoint DRK MT and OT is better off than PLD by a fair margin, it could however get a few more tools without being unreasonable. DRK is the closest tank to being in the right place, with consistently viable restoring options in MT and OT positions, PLD needs a buff to swipe and a QoL style fix to Clemency.

WAR TP management is OP and needs a change, infinite single target TP is obviously OP and in multiple mob scenarios WAR was already far more capable of AoE tanking than PLD in 2.x with steel cyclone and a well chosen number of overwhelms (and a couple flashes as backup). The current justification for it is so WAR can AoE without cyclone or completely in its DPS stance and hold hate - or if not tanking, to make sure it out AoE DPSs DRK by its current margin. None of these things seem like requirements to me and if a skill is so powerful it is making skills as good as steel cyclone redundant, it needs looking at. Between equilibrium and stack WS, WAR TP management is too easy/forgiving.

There are multiple things that can be done to WAR, no more than ONE of:
- Make equilibrium always be the heal, WAR still has awesome TP management from stack abilities.
- Make stack abilities also have a 60tp cost, leaving WAR still better off than the other two jobs but by requiring eventual TP maintenance.
- Add a TP cost to stance dancing.

One of these combined with decent PLD options would make tanks need paeon or a break at roughly the same point in the fight, ideally at the same time as most DPS.

Ref on AoE DPS: WAR is 20% ahead of DRK, 80% on PLD
http://www.fflogs.com/statistics/7#b...nks&dataset=80

[Calypsx]

I'm glad Yoshi P doesn't make the balance decisions.

[Teiren]

I was keeping up on the Blitzball blog way back when the game first came out, but that stopped being updated ages ago. So wow, I didn't know that about enmity multipliers. I don't even know what to say. That's so incredibly poor, flawed, and practically illogical that I don't even know where to start. Um, your ideas are good at the very least.

And oh yeah, I forgot that about Flash because it's been a while since I've seriously played PLD. I knew I was forgetting something, ha.

[RapBreon]

I was keeping up on the Blitzball blog way back when the game first came out, but that stopped being updated ages ago. So wow, I didn't know that about enmity multipliers. I don't even know what to say. That's so incredibly poor, flawed, and practically illogical that I don't even know where to start. Um, your ideas are good at the very least.

And oh yeah, I forgot that about Flash because it's been a while since I've seriously played PLD. I knew I was forgetting something, ha.

It made perfect sense back when the classes were designed and implemented. It only makes no sense in the context of HW + a bit of 20/20 hindsight (Savage) exacerbating the problem.

Which I'm a bit uncertain as to why it hasn't been addressed yet; possibly them delaying fixes until 3.1. The problem itself probably wasn't noticeable during the first round of adjustments (focused on the 3 newer classes).