Removal of cross-skills

[Apoptomon]

Personally I didn't mind the cross-class system and I'm anxious to try out the vaunted cross-role system and new skill sets in person in a month's time (and wondering if it affects DoL and DoH too), but the recent preview-reveal of the cross-role skill system had me thinking... (hypothetically of course, since that particular ship has long since sailed to Kugane)

Since one of the biggest reasons for it was so that people didn't have to level other classes to get all the necessary kit, what if the dev team had gone a step further and excised cross-skills entirely? Instead, each class innately having the necessary actions for their roles (e.g. 3x provokes, protects, etc).

What say you (again, hypothetically speaking)?

[CharlieBlake]

It wasn't just to make it easier for people to get the skills they need to play their role, it was also to make the system simpler in general. I am sure on a side note, it is to trim the fat for additional growth later.

[Fawkes]

I'm not really sure why it exists. I expected them to do the thing you suggested and just give everyone the skills they needed.

[kattzkitti]

It reduces per-job button bloat while also giving them more options for balancing things. It's a good change, will increase the game's health in the long term.

[Ultimatecalibur]

I'm not really sure why it exists. I expected them to do the thing you suggested and just give everyone the skills they needed.

It is to reduce button bloat. 10 abilities that can be swapped in and out of 5 slots only take up 5 buttons.

[Capriana]

I'm not really sure why it exists. I expected them to do the thing you suggested and just give everyone the skills they needed.

Also balancing, and adding news skills that are shared by say 4 jobs, is far easier than balancing and adding skills to every single one separately. Also this way people can not complain, this job got this skill, but we as 'role' could have used it as well, he is OP now, we are RIP, blah blah ...

[Vhailor]

It is to reduce button bloat. 10 abilities that can be swapped in and out of 5 slots only take up 5 buttons.

Based on what we've seen of the interface, this doesn't look to be the case, unless users want to change up their hotkeys. Speaking personally, if I used 10 abilities but only five at any one time, I'd assign all 10 hotbar spots - because I would memorize where Esuna is, say, and I wouldn't want it moving around based on my spec on any given day.

[SendohJin]

Based on what we've seen of the interface, this doesn't look to be the case, unless users want to change up their hotkeys. Speaking personally, if I used 10 abilities but only five at any one time, I'd assign all 10 hotbar spots - because I would memorize where Esuna is, say, and I wouldn't want it moving around based on my spec on any given day.

yup, that's what happens with my crafters. i never move things around, sometimes i'll turn something on/off depending on the recipe but all of them end up staying on the hotbar.

[Ultimatecalibur]

Based on what we've seen of the interface, this doesn't look to be the case, unless users want to change up their hotkeys. Speaking personally, if I used 10 abilities but only five at any one time, I'd assign all 10 hotbar spots - because I would memorize where Esuna is, say, and I wouldn't want it moving around based on my spec on any given day.

Depends on if you are setting the Cross role slot or the specific ability. Both are possible ways they could do things.

[Shurrikhan]

It is to reduce button bloat. 10 abilities that can be swapped in and out of 5 slots only take up 5 buttons.

As compared to the... 5 buttons... taken by cross-class skills. The slot count is identical. And both are customizable at CD-cost whenever out of combat or no cost at all in sanctuaries. No change in those regards.

That said, hopefully we'll have a wider range of viable choices for what we assign to those 5 slots now.

Its 5 customizable buttons rather than just giving all 10 abilities individual buttons. They keep the button total down by not forcing players to find room for 5 more buttons.

The cross-role skills are not customizable any more than the current cross-class skills. It looks like Fell Cleave / Inner Beast may be getting that sort of treatment, but not the cross-role skills. You can simply equip and swap them out as you please, but that's it, identically to cross-class skills now. You have 5 abilities that you can choose 5 from among a larger number of skills, and then you can bind them to whatever hotbar slot you please.

Now, in the sense that Provoke, Convalescence, and/or Awareness might not be necessary for Paladin or Brutal Swing for Warrior, that not all healers would necessarily need their (massive and hugely effective) mana regen / threat drop CD, and this new system allows you to put something else in its place, either as a native skill or a different cross-role, I suppose in that sense there's added customization, but in every other sense they are identical.