Quote Originally Posted by Shining_Tiger_Excalibur View Post
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If you cannot comprehend that changing the cornerstone of a job's playstyle to be keyed around the building of stacking buffs that will later be spent for some benefit is a homogenization of playstyle, then there is no need for any further discussion and you should ignore the rest of this post.

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Yes, cross class skills exist. However, they are all weaker on the jobs they don't belong to, which prevents them from functioning exactly the same as you claim. They are commonly powerful enough on their native jobs that they're still brought along specifically for that skill. Virus is the most notable example here.

Yes, some classes have some similar skills. This solves the simple problem of allowing any party composition to have at least some simple necessities. But you will notice that not every job has the exact same set of tools. This is one thing that should be avoided, as the possession of some tools over others helps to provide a job its identity.

For a Tank, being forced to have a Healer carry you is far worse than being forced to have a DPS carry you. The former is a literal failure at your ability to perform your role to the most basic of specifications. The latter is just a misstep in a single aspect that can only be worried about once the basics are down. A Tank who cannot Tank needs to have his entire kit looked at. A Tank who is behind on DPS just needs a few numerical adjustments. Melee in general were behind in DPS once. They got a small boost and were fine. BLM was behind in DPS once. They got a small boost and were fine. SMN was behind once. DRG was behind once. Did they whine over "band aids" that would ultimately fail to fix a deeper rooted problem? Nope. That band aid was all they needed, because the only problem that existed was a small cut.

So, finally... yes, homogenization exists. This is why it is so important to try and prevent it from happening further. What you are suggesting would only exasperate the issue if implemented. The only jobs right now who don't have a stacking/persistent buff that requires some skill to manage are Bard, Astrologian, White Mage, and Paladin. Too many jobs have this already and are thus more similar in playstyle to their contemporaries in the same role. If you're so desperate to mess with Paladin, you should find a method that will give it more of its own identity in playstyle.

Meanwhile, I shall trust that SE knows that they're doing and that this band aid coming in 3.1 that you're so afraid of will make Paladin equally relevant again just as such moves have successfully revitalized jobs in the past time and time again.