Roles for Samurai, Red Mage, Dancer

[LineageRazor]

For the record, I'm of the opinion that SAM would serve VERY well as either a tank or a DPS. I'm leaning toward DPS, ONLY because we already have two sword-wielding Tanks, and I'd like to see a sword-wielding DPS. That is really my only reason.

But my hackles as a FFXI vet were raised at the following, and I felt compelled to speak up.

It was a useless trait in XI, outside of solo... so what's your point? No one uses it, just like tanks/dps/healers don't use a lot of skills/spells frequently here, as you so pointed out.

Edit: had to step away from the computer for a while, but I looked up the specific trait you were referring to (I rarely played SAM). Hoo boy... you never played XI did you? In that game, did you know that you had to build TP to do your main attacks and your TP building auto attacks weren't your primary source of damage? In other words, that function, for anyone who has played it would know, is designed to be used for Weapon Skills. What are those? They're abilities that you use once you've built up enough TP. So that means the SAM would, if they deemed it worth the risk, move to the front of the mob to do their WS and then run back to the side or behind the mob (though some HNMs made everyone stand in front... so yay full-time trait use). It was a different game from what you're thinking, given you used that as an example for the tank idea, and really doesn't apply. I actually feel stupid for not recalling that myself now too. Would have just ended that point right off the bat. Actual understanding isn't required here, I guess.

Overwhelm wasn't at all a useless trait. It was, in fact THE BEST optional trait a SAM could select, and until SE nerfed it so that points beyond the third produced diminishing returns, an SAM without 5/5 Overwhelm was either a bad SAM, or one that hadn't built up enough limit points yet. (And after that nerf, any SAM without 3/5 Overwhelm was bad. :P)

In FFXI, frontals and conal attacks weren't nearly as much a problem as they are in this game. Outside of a VERY few exceptions, there were no "cleaves" intended to kill anyone in front of the mob who wasn't a tank. Frontals and conals did ordinary damage, or inflict status. Sure, players frowned on players who stood in front of mobs for no good reason - but SAMs were an exception because they DID have a good reason. SAMs were the DPS that stood in front of the mob. It was where they performed the best. This was known and accepted - healers did not complain about the modest amount of extra damage or status they needed to clean up, because the SAMs were putting out enough hurt to make it more than worthwhile.

That model obviously would not work in this game, unless they had some special trait specifically designed to severely mitigate cleave damage - or unless they were a tank. Most likely, though, if SAMs are a DPS in this game, they will be sticking to the flanks and rear, just like other DPS. But in Final Fantasy XI, it was very much a thing for SAMs to stand alongside the tanks. (At least until the meta changed, and no one could stand anywhere near the mob EXCEPT a tank, all melee was worthless, and SAMs fired bows from a distance instead - but that is another story entirely.)