[Suggestion Thread] Unused Mechanics (A combined effort by everyone)

[Claire_Pendragon]

The development team said they ran into issues making 3 jobs for 3.0, and getting NIN done in time.

Looking at what they resorted to, to make the classes, I feel part of it stems from a lack of "mechanic" ideas, that fit within FFXIVs limitations.

This threads purpose is to gather EVERYONE'S "MECHANIC" IDEAS.

(Not a new class you came up with, or changes to the whole system! Just unused mechanics they or current classes could use.)

I will take all ideas in this thread, and repost them in this post.

LIST OF MECHANICS

-1- Melee DPS that has nothing similar to a 1, 2, 3 combo. Same with a Tank (example being SMN not using a 123 combo. This would most likely lead to a DoT melee, with a filler attack, and more off the GCD attacks to fill in with)

-2- Ranged DPS with instant attacks. (This was nerfed, most likely for PvP, to fix it, use a buff, if any damage is taken, all abilities gain their cast bars back)

-3- Tank with a "long" range pull (same distance as caster spells, to balance it, cut its dmg, make it non damaging like flash. Possible tank with primarily ranged threat moves.)

-4- TP is under used. (Think BLM, when low on MP, they lower dmg, and build up MP, then switch to burst dmg when they have MP. Make a class bounce around with TP like a BLM does with MP, or something like it.)
-4.5- Melee Mage swaps between TP or MP like the above example to BLM. (Otherwise, we already have this with PLD and DRK)

-5- Tanks turn tank stances on or off. Rather than build up a "stance". (Think of Wrath stacks, but having to rely on it for your "stance")

-6- All tank need GLA for Provoke, have an ability that straight up takes enmity from a player. (or at least make a "provoke" that targets a player, rather than an enemy)

-7- A class/job that has 3 job stones for each role. (Could be the same job, but doesnt get soul stones, just simply a DPS/Tank/Healer item you put into the job stone slot. Doesnt need to change its abilities, just a different "stance/aura" which makes different abilities more effective at your role.)

-8- LONGER GCD ability. (yes, longer) Sacrifice speed, for more dmg, and more time for off the GCD abilities. (Be it a new class or buff for another class. Preferably an alternative option, not required, as most ppl dislike long GCDs, and dislike off the GCDs lack of responsiveness)

-9- Melee Healer
-9.5- All Instant cast healer, but balance issues would most likely prevent this from ever existing.

-10- Healer that relies mainly on TP

-11- Armor sets not used by roles, such as cloth/leather tank, or plate/chain/leather healer, chain ranged dps, etc. (not too much of a combat mechanic, but they argued how it would effect gameplay for said class)

-12- Tank that targets players to hold hate, rather than enemies.

-13- Pet tanks have been nerfed in group content, so a return of a pet tank. (Most likely some sort of HP sharing between the pet and party member, so healers can focus on healing the party member, instead of the pet)

-14- Tank w/o AoEs. (Example being every hit in the combo is high threat, including off the GCD attacks, but they generate less threat if they hit the same target more than once. Relying on tab cycling)

-15- Class made primarily of off the GCDs, and 1 filler GCD attack.

-16- Mitigation -dmg% taken buff that requires being prepared before/outside of combat. (some sort of buff that can only be used out of combat, and doesnt wear off, until they start taking dmg, then it starts to count down till it wears off. Usually if you use a buff early, it starts to wear off before you even reach the mobs, currently stoneskin is the only thing close to this type of mitigation.)

-17- Forced evasion buff for tank (example: off the GCD, every 10 seconds, apply a buff that gives a 100% evasion to the next attack received. 2nd possible example: Health slowly drains, but you gain perfect evasion, or VERY high evasion during this.)

-18- Invincible alternative, force all damage to heal the tank/class instead.

-19- Regen based Healer. (Instead of direct heals, focus on the reapplication of multiple HoTs like SMN does with DoTs)

-20- Tank stance/ability: Attack with Stoneskin effect. (Instead of an attack that heals the tank, it grants the tank temp HP. Galvanize is a slightly better version, as it would discourage spamming the attack.)

-21- 1.5s GCD fast cast Healer. (I assume this isnt done, because PS3/4 players need to switch targets, and doing so with 1 second less might be considered too hard)

-22- 1.5s GCD tank. (More likely than healer, as just like a DPS, they have the same amount of time to switch targets as a MNK or NIN would)

-23- Healer with same potency heals, with minor effects on each, to keep track of. (Adds a healing rotation)

-24- Healer with a 1, 2, 3 combo for heals. (Honestly not much more effort than spamming cure1 3 times, than to hit 1, 2, 3/repeat on your current target)

-25- AoE focused healer, who buffs a target to share a portion of their dmg to the party. (Turn the buff off, to increase AoE healing, for AoE situations)

-26- "Mudra" type of mechanic, but for Tanks or Healers. (I feel this might be stepping on the toes of NIN's identity a bit, as we already see most classes sharing mechanics with eachother)

-XX- Left open for edits-

Make sure to hit Like, to grab attention to the thread!

[Khalithar]

Evasion tanking.

Damage reflection tanking.

Damage absorption tanking.

DoT focused melee class.

HoT based healer.

DPS/Healer/Tank built around building stacks of a buff or a debuff then doing a move that consumes it for a finishing move.

Ranged weapon tank (i.e. a tank class with heavy armor and cooldowns that uses a ranged weapon).

Support melee dps.

[DarthVella]

Melee/mage - a ranged mage unit that refreshes MP by switching to a melee stance. The same abilities would be in use, but would cost TP instead, have melee-appropriate animations, refresh MP, and either buff the player or debuff the foe (to encourage tactical attacks and not just mindless spamming until MP is full).

[Shadotterdan]

Something I've been tossing around in my head is the idea of a mage tank job (I think they tried that in FFXI with rune fencer) my idea was a job called Invoker which works much like a summoner but instead of drawing the power to an outside force (evocation) they draw the power into themselves, much like Ultima weapon did. The job would use mp for it's abilities with stances like Ifrit for DPS and Titan for tanking and basing a lot of other attacks on all the primals or at least the 6 elemental ones.

[Claire_Pendragon]

Evasion tanking.

Damage reflection tanking.

Damage absorption tanking.

DoT focused melee class.

HoT based healer.

DPS/Healer/Tank built around building stacks of a buff or a debuff then doing a move that consumes it for a finishing move.

Ranged weapon tank (i.e. a tank class with heavy armor and cooldowns that uses a ranged weapon).

Support melee dps.

We have "evasion" abilities on tanks atm, so I can only assume you mean MORE evasion mechanics, which the Devs addressed with being unbalanced. (To which I feel there's more way to make it work, but they also expressed a distaste for one of the solutions.

Reflecting damage back exists on WAR atm, though I assume you also mean more focus on it. (Which isnt too bad of an idea, when balanced)

Damage absorption I assume means turning enemy attacks into heals, which sorta exists on WAR as well, but probably not in the manner you're thinking. (This would probably be best used as a new form of "invincible" for a new tank)

All of the melee have DoTs, though none focus on it (which would change the play style, but I feel this was semi addressed already)

HoT based healer, will add to the list.

Ranged tank, I feel was semi addressed, but I feel you want a tank with "more" ranged attacks. I'll leave a foot note.

Support melee DPS i feel NIN fills the role of, with Goad, slashing debuff, and enmity control. (Nothing wrong with wanting more of it)

Melee/mage - a ranged mage unit that refreshes MP by switching to a melee stance. The same abilities would be in use, but would cost TP instead, have melee-appropriate animations, refresh MP, and either buff the player or debuff the foe (to encourage tactical attacks and not just mindless spamming until MP is full).

Will place under TP not utilized enough.

Something I've been tossing around in my head is the idea of a mage tank job (I think they tried that in FFXI with rune fencer) my idea was a job called Invoker which works much like a summoner but instead of drawing the power to an outside force (evocation) they draw the power into themselves, much like Ultima weapon did. The job would use mp for it's abilities with stances like Ifrit for DPS and Titan for tanking and basing a lot of other attacks on all the primals or at least the 6 elemental ones.

Mage tank is too vague, which I feel a tank that focuses on MP usage for spells already exists, but I already mentioned classes using different gear, tanks needing ranged attacks further than medium range, and pet tanks.

If you feel I didn't address your comment correctly, please correct me, so I may add the suggestion to the list!

[Khalithar]

Snip

Reflecting damage- I meant more along the lines of it mitigates damage by consistently absorbing a portion of it and then dealing it back to the enemy and building around a tanking mechanic from there.

Damage absorption- Think more along the lines of a tank that creates damage absorbing shields in a manner similar to sch. But rather than the shield being based on the amount healed to a target it's based on the damage dealt and allows the mechanic to scale properly.

DoT based melee- It's more in a manner similar to smn. True all melee have DoTs but I was thinking of a melee class with 2-3 DoTs and a move that does more damage based on the DoT effects present on the target.

Support melee- My thought is something more akin to a buff/debuff focused class. Brd can increase the enemy's magic damage taken for example.

[Claire_Pendragon]

Reflecting damage- I meant more along the lines of it mitigates damage by consistently absorbing a portion of it and then dealing it back to the enemy and building around a tanking mechanic from there.

Damage absorption- Think more along the lines of a tank that creates damage absorbing shields in a manner similar to sch. But rather than the shield being based on the amount healed to a target it's based on the damage dealt and allows the mechanic to scale properly.

DoT based melee- It's more in a manner similar to smn. True all melee have DoTs but I was thinking of a melee class with 2-3 DoTs and a move that does more damage based on the DoT effects present on the target.

Support melee- My thought is something more akin to a buff/debuff focused class. Brd can increase the enemy's magic damage taken for example.

WAR Vengeance mitigates 30% dmg taken, and then does 50 potency back. (To prevent scaling with boss attacks, which can reach unreasonable levels of dmg)
So the mechanic exists, but you more so want to see it more.

Damage Absorption, instead of granting HP, it grants temp HP like stoneskin/galvanize. I've seen this in other MMOs before, and while the mechanic exists on healer, I'll add it to tank options. (Seems more like what 2.0 WAR shoulda had)

DoT based melee, Since melee have DoTs, the only thing preventing them from focusing on them, is the amount they have, and their 1,2,3 combo. In short, I feel I addressed the lack of a melee with no 1,2,3 combo. Which leaves DoTs/off the GCD attacks, and a filler attack (like ruin)

Support melee- while I still disagree to an extent, BRD will still be seen as more of a support than NIN. You mentioned BRDs ability to raise the parties magic dmg, while NIN effects the parties slashing damage.
In short, you want a melee with MORE support than NIN, which would rival BRD. (But not simply copy it)

[Fevelle]

Low potency, instant cast healer with faster GCD. Relies on spamming heals that have secondary buff effects.

Healer that relies on distributing damage taken by target to the whole party + AoE healing toolkit with various potencies. (kinda Arithmetician)

HP based DPS, uses HP to deliver powerful attacks (classic FF Dark Knight)

"Crafting healer" - has set combinations of skills to create and use concoctions to heal allies (think FFV Chemist using something like the Mudra System)

[Claire_Pendragon]

Low potency, instant cast healer with faster GCD. Relies on spamming heals that have secondary buff effects.

Healer that relies on distributing damage taken by target to the whole party + AoE healing toolkit with various potencies. (kinda Arithmetician)

HP based DPS, uses HP to deliver powerful attacks (classic FF Dark Knight)

"Crafting healer" - has set combinations of skills to create and use concoctions to heal allies (think FFV Chemist using something like the Mudra System)

Any time an MMO introduces an Instant cast healer (not an occasional instant cast, their primary heal) I will always play the living heck out of it lol. It's the main reason I dont play healers too often. (Might even play healer more than tank, now that I can glamour some armor on them.)

Low GCD healer. We have 1.5s GCD melee, but I dont think any caster does this now, which is a good point to bring up.
Also adding multiple heals, with identical potency, but different short term buffs is a nice idea, adds a sort of "rotation" to healing. (If you're into that sort of thing) The potency would need to drop 40%, to equate the typical potency of the current healers.

This 2nd part I also agree with, about AoE healing, I'll just need to think of a way to simplify it when I write it up. (Was originally thinking of this for a tank, but slightly different)

There has been classes that used up HP, such as THM in 1.0, but they removed these features, most likely they will refuse such an idea if presented again. (It was suggested for DRK before they switched to MP) LNC's blood for blood was far more dangerous to use before, and because players kept dieing with it on, they nerfed it to not weaken you so much.

This last one sounds like you're saying "Why not the mudra mechanic on healer?" (or tank to cover every role)
I'll put a footnote somewhere.

[Fevelle]

We could also have the original Chemist system from FFV. Since all these Key items slots are unused, a healer class that could stock special potions in the key items tab to use with a Mix skill mid battle would be pretty great. But I think a lot of people would complain, even if said items were free of charge.