What the patch really needed for the affected jobs:
Machinist
- Heat has been overhauled. It now generates .2% increased damage and .1% increased Attack Speed per point of Heat. Heat fades at a rate of 3 Heat + 10% of the current Heat total per second. Overheat doubles this bonus, increases the cooling rate by 50%, and prevents any manipulation of Heat until fully cooled (10 seconds' time). Cooldown and Hot Shot are unavailable during Overheat.
- Gauss Barrel has been removed, as its function is now subsumed by Smoking Gun and Smoking Gun II (see below). Hot Shot is now acquired at level 52.
- The level 20 trait, Increased Action Damage, has been replaced by The Smoking Gun. This increases damage dealt by 10% and causes your actions to generate Heat for every 20 potency dealt, and Heat in turn to increase your Damage and Attack Speed by .1% per point of Heat.
- The level 40 trait, Increased Action Damage II, has been replaced by The Smoking Gun II. This increases damage dealt by 20% and increases the Damage bonus generated from Heat from .1% to .2% per point of Heat.
- Hot Shot now increases Heat by 30. It no longer has any additional effect. It is now acquired at level 52. Its animation has been revised to be more visually apparent and attractive.
- Ammunition no longer reduces Heat generated by its consuming skills.
- Cooldown now consumes 30% of your current Heat value to enhance its own damage by twice the consumed amount's normal bonus in addition to your current Heat bonus. Does not generate Heat.
- Shot Mastery now activates at 40 Heat, rather than 50. It now also causes any Direct or Critical Hit to increase the amount of Heat gained proportionate to the increased damage.
- Barrel Stabilizer now adjusts Heat to 60, up from 50.
- Flamethrower can now be used while moving. Duration has been reduced to 5 seconds. Every half-second, scaling with Attack Speed, it will deal unaspected damage in a wide cone in front of you at a potency of 40 for the first enemy, 10% less for the second, 20% less for the third, 30% less for the fourth, 40% less for the fifth, and 50% less for all remaining enemies. Always generates 5 heat per use, even if no enemy is hit.
Bard
- Upon acquisition of Refulgent Arrow, Heavier Shot instead generates Refulgence, which automatically replaces Heavy Shot with Refulgent Arrow for the next use thereof. Straighter Shot does not exist as of level 70, and Straight Shot may be used without consuming Refulgent Arrow.
- The chance for Heavy Shot to generate Straighter Shot prior to level 70 and Refulgence thereafter has been increased from 20% to 25%.
- The cooldown of Barrage has been reduced to 80 seconds. Moreover, it no longer prevents additional effects from occurring multiple times. This has particular synergy with Empyreal Arrow.
- Songs are no longer damaging abilities, and therefore no longer require a target to be cast.
- A new ability has been added as of level 52, Dissonance, which deals 90/190/300 AoE potency. When in Wanderer's Minuet, Bloodletter is now automatically replaced by Pitch Perfect, and Rain of Death by Dissonance. Pitch Perfect and Rain of Death each display a 15-second secondary recast timer within their icons demarking the cooldowns previously of Bloodletter and Rain of Death. Wanderer's Minuet generates one stack each time their recast timer completes. If either was available when Wanderer's Minuet was activated, they is converted immediately into a Repertoire.
- Army's Paeon now also reduces the recast times of Barrage, Sidewinder, Raging Strikes, and Empyreal Arrow by 3 seconds per Repertoire generated.
Dragoon
- Gaze(s) of the Dragon now persist through loss of Blood of the Dragon, loss of Life of the Dragon, and through death.
- The potency dealt over time by Chaos Thrust has been increased from 35 to 45. This results in a maximum potency increase of 100.
- Half of the bonus potency dealt from positional conditions on most weaponskills has been moved to base potency or combo bonus potency.
Summoner
- Aethertrail and Dreadwyrm Aether now persist through death.
- Changing between pets will now automatically transfer their enmity from the previous to the next.
- Physick now always uses the greater of either 75% of one's Attack Magic Power or 100% of one's Healing Magic Power. Its potency is also increased by 50% when healing one's pet.
- Titan egi will now spawn with enmity equal or greater (if the previous pet's was) to your own.
- Titan egi now has Defense and Magic Defense equal to the greater of your Defense or Magic Defense.
- All pet abilities now deal damage based on their caster's Attack Magic Power instead. However, their potencies has been reduced to compensate. This should give a more transparent indicator of their actual expected damage.
- Following the above changes, the potency of Ahk Morn has been increased to 500 (caster potency) and the potency of Wyrmwave has been increased to 130 (caster potency).
- The potency of Ruin III has been increased by 20% (to 180), and its mana cost decreased by 20%, to merely 5 times that of Ruin I.
- The potency of Ruin IV has been increased to 220.
- The damage fall-off of Bane has been decreased from 20/40/60/80 to 15/30/45/60.