Why does Clemency get interrupted? And why does Sword/Shield Oath reset combo?

[Februs]

2.55->3.0 for dragoon because it all got fixed back in 2.4. Actually, Dragoon got a ton of tiny adjustments over the life of 2.0 - jump animation and cooldown used to be much, much longer.

I remember, but I still wouldn't say that Dragoons were by any means broken before the adjustments.

Positional requirements are still in place for maximum combo potency, not much really changed for Drg's who were already maximizing their Dps. The only immediate benefit Drg's universally saw from that was the ability to re-apply Heavy Lance without having to re-position in the event a Flank hit was impossible. Quite frankly, if you learned how to use Drg before the change, it just felt like a Quality of Life adjustment that lowered the skill bar for new or lazy players. Seasoned Drg's were happy with it, obviously, but they still positioned to maximize Dps, so it wasn't huge or anything.

The magic defense adjustment was definitely a good thing though. Even back before Final Coil, the Magic dmg from Turns like T9 was a nightmare for Drg's, so it was a very welcomed change... That being said, I still wouldn't say that it was a make or break issue for Drg's. Healers certainly hated having to take extra special care of them, but their abysmal Magic def didn't make them unplayable. I don't think anyone was booting Drg's out of Raids because of their Defense.

You're right though. By the time 3.0 rolled around there wasn't really anything left to change. Jump animations still get debated a little (since Drg's can still eat the paste if they're not careful with their jumps), but I don't think anyone's dropping the job over it.