Thread: 5.0 Job Abilities Wishlist/Speculation

Bard:
<Nothing new, per se. I'd just like to see the existing toolkit made more cohesive and capable of ingenuity.>

• Raid support more integral to Bard gameplay in a way present at almost all times and as capable of greater flexibility and nuance.
• Songs are again at least partially raid buffs and consume mana over time.
• Song benefits are now split among allies (with a small bonus to the total with each additional ally affected) with allotments based on proximity. Their net worth is therefore very similar both in light and full parties.
• Song no longer have cooldowns. Instead they now have an activation cost and a drain cost that ramps up over use and gradually fades back to normal when out of use, allowing for lenient but nuanced use in any given situation. (Should I cycle just two songs and a break, generalize across all four evenly for maximum overall coverage, or what?)
• Foe Requiem has been returned as song that is equally sustainable as the others, but is also mutually exclusive with them and is no less situational. Each of the four songs has a roughly equal portion of near-direct damage benefits and utility.
• Bard is now capable of further point-support through Reprise, in place of The Warden's Paean. The Warden's Paean is generated through Army's Paean, Prince's Ballad through Ballad, Zephyr's Minuet through Minuet, and Requiem for the Fall through Requiem. Each has powerful single-target effects for oneself, an ally, or an enemy, but consumes a heavy mana cost.
• Troubadour remains basically untouched, but also has an effect specific to Foe Requiem.
• River of Blood, Pitch Perfect, and Army's Paean's Attack Speed bonus mechanics are now provided through baseline mechanics that allow for specialization through its actions (e.g. choice and prevalence of skills) rather than stance and can be mixed to finely-tuned goal results.
• Straighter Shot is no longer a fixed-duration buff, but now feeds into and from unique mechanics in coordination with Heavy Shot.
• Windbite and Venomous bite are no longer fixed-duration debuffs, but can be quickened, extended, and/or effectively amplified (played off of) by other actions.
• Windbite and Venomous Bite now provide greater versatility. Caustic Bite and Stormbite are now special effects permitted by their respective traits, rather than mere duration extensions.
• Bard remains without cast times, but does take allow for optional charge times for stronger shots on Heavy Shot, Windbite, Venomous Bite, and Kill Shot. These can adjust both strength and effect.
• AoE damage now better interacts with ST damage, and ST damage with AoE damage.
• Greater interaction between Swiftshot/Magnum (Bloodletter/Pitch Perfect), Volley (Rain of Death), and Empyreal Arrow and song effects.
• New "Harmonics" and "Dissonance" mechanics attached to personal skills and victims thereof, respectively.
• Barrage reworked to quickly allow attack commands to be mounted for multiple targets, to all be simultaneously released when Barrage is released, allowing for DoT spreads and coordinate effect triggers. Unique animation combinations created.
• Traits now allow for the acceleration of both Barrage and Empyreal Arrow.
• Quick Nock now shares a slot with Wide Volley. They play slightly differently into the Focused Fire mechanic, since now Quick Nock fires over a duration as per its animation, while all Wide Volley strikes hit simultaneously and Quick Nock is capable of some spread effects that Wide Volley is not, but they are otherwise just two animations for the same damage per TP at less than or greater than 18 yards.

Buttons gained: 0
Buttons lost: 2
Ability effects gained: 17
Mechanics gained: 6

a stance for DRK that brings it back to it's 3.5 version

Originally Posted by Kkun

Purely aesthetic:
No more Stones for white mage please. Or even Aero. Instead of spamming Stone I want to spam holy/light aspected attacks like Dia (not a fan of WHM being what is essentially a druid as I envisioned it to be when I started).

Would be even nicer if it's a trait which replaces Stone (or... skill glamours, anyone?).
Perhaps it could apply a debuff which reduces the target's damage?
If they're going to add more skills, it would be a nice addition to have more choices on how to spend lilies.
I thought of spells like Bravery/Faith(combined) and Haste but they're technically already on the game (AST cards).
They could give back Cleric Stance by having a similar ability which consumes lilies and a longer duration.

Banish exists as a spell that Light Elementals cast. The Ananta enemies cast Luster also.