Thread: Shade Shift needs to block Magic Damage too!

This has probably been said/requested before and doesn't make much sense any way you look at it but I'll say it anyway: Please make Shade Shift a full Damage Shield! Why? Because it's awesome coverage for Ten Chi Jin. Nothing is more annoying than being hit by a knockback while using Ten Chi Jin and not all knockback attacks are physical. I'm all for Shade Shift staying as is to be completely honest, but Ten Chi Jin needs this security. Why does it need this security? Because it'll make it safer to use it anytime rather than only when guaranteed you won't be interrupted by knockback.

Or since a DPS' Damage Shield is meant to help them maintain their rotation, like Black Mage's Manaward for instance, Shade Shift can be more universal to help ensure it since we have it, thus allowing us to have a different Role Action slotted instead. Yes this isn't entirely about a rotation but it is for Black Mage.

Another reason to use Shade Shift over Arm's Length there is the fact Arm's Length knockback protection only lasts 5s whereas Shade Shift lasts 20s. Not too big a deal I know but still

I noticed the comparison to Black Mage, and that's... a bit of a stretch of a comparison. For starters, BLM only gets two forms of mitigation* total. Manaward, our "native" mitigation and Drain, a poor excuse of self-healing. Ninja gets Shadeshift, Second Wind and Bloodbath.

Also, unlike Shadeshift, Manaward is simply a damage barrier. We don't get knockback resistance except through Surecast... and our whole rotation is built on us being on solid ground. So, Ninja is still a heck of a lot safer than BLM in terms of their rotation and their "risky" ability.

*I counted self-heals as mitigation because they mitigate impending death.

Originally Posted by EllieShadeflare

I noticed the comparison to Black Mage, and that's... a bit of a stretch of a comparison. For starters, BLM only gets two forms of mitigation* total. Manaward, our "native" mitigation and Drain, a poor excuse of self-healing. Ninja gets Shadeshift, Second Wind and Bloodbath.

Also, unlike Shadeshift, Manaward is simply a damage barrier. We don't get knockback resistance except through Surecast... and our whole rotation is built on us being on solid ground. So, Ninja is still a heck of a lot safer than BLM in terms of their rotation and their "risky" ability.

*I counted self-heals as mitigation because they mitigate impending death.

I was only comparing Shade Shift and Manaward as simply the fact they are Damage Shields available to those jobs whereas others have to rely on Healers and Tanks. I wasn't trying to actually compare their utility, just the fact the 2 jobs have 1 to rely on period lol

Fair enough!

Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

Shadeshift doesn't provide knockback resistenance either. If it 0s a physical attack, then you won't be knocked back. Manaward in turn immunizes you to any physical OR magical knockback attack it 0s.

Surecast is also available a hell of a lot more often than Arm's Length.

To be fair, casters stand still way more often.

Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

Very true, and as annoying as it may be to Ninja who could have negated the knockback by 0ing its damage, I suspect Shadeshift remains as it does primarily because it's a compromised version of Perfect Dodge, which obviously couldn't work on spells, either. But, it's not as if XIV's afraid to cut its history loose whenever they feel like it, so it could go either way.

To me the real question is whether NIN deserves this boon relative to Monk, Samurai, and Dragoon. I'd argue not, especially if it could merely see a CD reduction to Shukuchi.

The fact Shade Shift is more or less like Utsusemi and whatnot is correct and why it shouldn't block magic, but Ten Chi Jin and Shade Shift would work so well together if it did, more so than it already does.