Thread: 4.0 abilities

I'ma just quote myself;

Originally Posted by Nalien

Since skill-bloat is something I'd really like to avoid at this point, I'm really hoping SE goes back and revamps cross-class skills for 4.0... (either that or we get traits instead of skills for 4.0, but that's somewhat boring)

Currently, I loath the cross-class system... It's clearly designed with Classes in mind (and Classes are a pointless leftover from 1.0), since they get a much nicer selection that actually does provide some degree of customization... When you get to Jobs though, you're limited to options from two Classes and those options rarely have me questioning what to pick... I can set Savage Blade on Dark Knight? Please...

Instead, I'd rather see SE change the whole system for Jobs... Rather than Ninja setting Invigorate, Ninja instead does a quest for a new skill which is essentially the same, but mechanically different (perhaps its effect is tied to Venoms like Jugulate, for example)... What's more, you don't just limit Ninja to Lancer/Pugilist equivalent skills, giving us much more options to play with... Keep the same 5 skill limit, but a system like that could provide a lot of potential for customization based on what you're doing and who you're doing it with... Party composition is something I'd really like to impact rotations more... Like, right now every DPS needs Invigorate, I'd rather have a situation where setting "Invigorate" is an option, not a requirement... Having a Bard, for example, should let me go "OK, I don't need this, I can set this for more damage instead". Can also open the door up for using other Jobs skills, too... Dark Knight, to me, should always have a HP sacrifice move and a move that does more damage with lower HP, in XIV it also has a large focus on MP... Convert and Spirits Within strike me as obvious choices here; One sacrifices HP to restore some MP, the other does more damage the higher HP is (so just reverse that for Dark Knights version). Not exactly Convert and Spirits Within of course, half this idea is changing their effects slightly rather than just out right copying other Jobs... Perhaps Dark Knights "Convert" lets it use HP for Dark Arts instead of MP, and it's "Spirits Within" isn't a Minus Strike style attack, but instead a short buff that stacks amazingly with Living Dead (since you'd be dealing more damage and thus regaining more HP from Souleater).

With a system like that, we wouldn't end up with far too many skills on our hotbar, we'd have potential for a lot of customization, and it would focus less on knowing a static rotation and more on knowing the fight/what your party can do. If I'm Dark Knight, and I'm doing a fight where I know I really don't need "Provoke", I can set something different instead. Shame SE probably thinks we're too dumb to have something like that, since it would require a "Check your skills" step before encounters, or failing that they're just out right too lazy to attempt to balance any degree of customization in this game... Would make for a much more interesting system IMO though, could potentially insert some variety into rotations, since your play style would slightly change based on what you've set, and you could/should change what you've set based on the content... You wouldn't have two wildly different rotations for two different dungeons, but you could have some small alteration, which I'd find very refreshing at this point...

Essentially, we'd gain no new skills on our hotbar, but it creates potential for a lot more "new" skills to choose from. Instead of Bard just using 5 skills from other Jobs, for example, it could have new Songs or Song related skills; Mantra/Second Wind could become a Regen Song, Invigorate could be swapped out for a skill that changes the effect of Army's Paeon (and Mage's Ballad?) to cost a lump sum and restore a lump sum instead of being an over time thing. I think that could be a lot more interesting...

Didn't mention it in that quote, but since cross-class skills were designed with the intention of having people try out different Jobs, I'd suggest making the quest for such new skills require their respective class leveled to a certain degree, sort of like how your typically require a sub-class leveled to even unlock a Job.

Actually, the easier way to fix this, is to use Macros. Unfortunately the use of Macros is a low because of how delay and actions/combats work. Me personality, the game needs to move away or revamp the idea of how rotations work.