[Concept] New Red Mage Resource – Astral Shards & Umbral Shards

[Blueyes]

I normally avoid theorycrafting about how jobs could be adjusted by the development team as it can result in getting my hopes up for something that would most likely never see the light of day. However, an idea came to me pertaining to Red Mage. Having put some thought into it, I figured it was worth sharing.

[Level 68 Trait] Umbral Affinity – Casting Verthunder grants 1 Umbral Shard.
[Level 70 Trait] Astral Affinity – Casting Veraero grants 1 Astral Shard.

• Up to 5 Umbral Shards and 5 Astral Shards can be stored.

Verflare Adjustments – 5 second cast time. Require 3 Umbral Shards, consumed on use.
Verholy Adjustments – 5 second cast time. Require 3 Astral Shards, consumed on use.

• Verflare and Verholy can be cast at any time provided that requirements are met.

[Level 50 Weaponskill] Umbral Redoublement – Increasing the potency of the next Verthunder (or Verflare) by X%. (Grants 3 Umbral Shards.)
[Level 50 Weaponskill] Astral Redoublement – Increasing the potency of the next Veraero (or Verholy) by X%. (Grants 3 Astral Shards.)

• Words within ( ) are to be included once the traits "Umbral Affinity" and "Astral Affinity" have been acquired.
• Umbral Redoublement and Astral Redoublement take the place of Enchanted Redoublement.

This will require adjustments to damage numbers to ensure balance, but I'm not overly concerned about those details. This is more about identifying fun and engaging adjustments that don't require a complete rework of how Red Mage operates. Also, I think this may appear complicated on paper, but the mechanics should be easy to understand in practice. (Certain actions grant shards. Spend shards by casting strong magic.)

Current Red Mage Concerns

Truthfully, my biggest gripe with Red Mage is its simplicity. Now simplicity isn't necessarily a bad thing. A lack of engaging growth may be a better way to pinpoint my concern. For example, Samurai is very straight-forward at level 50. It basically rotates each combo and utilizes Meikyo Shisui when relevant. By level 60, the Kenki Gauge is introduced, adding a layer of depth, but kept simple with limited options. By level 70, those options expand, resulting in a job with a surprising amount of depth. By contrast, Red Mage is straight-forward at level 50 and... still is at level 70. Very little actually changes in the way the job operates.

There is one other aspect about Red Mage that bothers me, though it isn't an issue exclusive to that job. There's a concept I like which I refer to as "stored power" with Summoner being a great example of what I mean. When Summoner uses Aetherflow, the job gains access to powerful abilities like Fester. However, those abilities don't need to be used immediately. There is a window of opportunity to use those abilities which allows for strategic planning, such as waiting for a moment when burst damage is crucial. By contrast, Red Mage has little to no opportunity to strategically execute spells or abilities without outright delaying their use.

In-Depth Explanation of Concept

To address both of these concerns, I present a new concept that incorporates two new elements that are closely related: Umbral Shards and Astral Shards. The goal was to introduce a new layer of strategic depth without being overly convoluted. Shard accumulation is limited to Verthunder and Veraero to ensure that shards aren't acquired too rapidly. Furthermore, Verflare and Verholy would be given a 5 second cast time which means, outside of Swiftcast, their use would typically take the place of a Verthunder or Veraero which would further slow down shard accumulation. Aside from cutting corners with certain actions (Swiftcast, Redoublement, or a Vercure during downtime) it would take six global cooldowns to acquire the minimum number of shards, followed by two more to execute a Dualcast Verflare or Verholy.

Allowing for up to five Umbral Shards and five Astral Shards to be stored was put in place to provide that window of opportunity for strategically-timed application. Verflare and Verholy don't need to be cast immediately because there's still room to acquire more shards without them going to waste. In addition, allowing for five shards of each type provides a "safety net" when the Redoublement combo is used. To ensure that Verflare or Verholy can still be cast after the completion of a Redoublement combo, three shards of either type are granted. Without allowing for five shards of each type to be stored, there will surely be circumstances where shards are wasted due to Redoublement providing an excess amount.

Normally, after executing Redoublement, the player is given the freedom to cast either Verflare or Verholy. However, with the introduction of shards as a cost requirement, there would need to be a way to grant either shard type to preserve that freedom of choice. Technically, that could be resolved by simply allowing the next Verflare or Verholy to be cast without consuming shards, but I personally would prefer an approach that incorporates a higher degree of shard management. This is the only case where new actions would be introduced in the form of two weaponskills that branch from Zwerchhau: Umbral Redoublement and Astral Redoublement. Essentially, those weaponskills would work the same as Enchanted Redoublement, but grant three shards of its respective type.

The introduction of two new elements, Umbral Shards and Astral Sharps, also presents an avenue for further development beyond level 70. For example, it could be made possible to acquire and consume shards through the use of new AoE magic.

Conclusion

I don't actually expect this to be implemented, but my hope is that SE will take notice of the desire to see Red Mage reach a greater degree of depth at higher levels. I will also acknowledge that, although not overly convoluted, the amount of additional depth achieved through this suggestion may be minimal when weighed against the introduction of an entirely new resource management system. However, a new resource to manage could hold greater value in the long run.