Suggested Role Skill Changes

[Zyneste]

In 4.4 all role skills will be available to their respective roles, instead of being limited to five.

Some role skills are necessary such as provoke, lucid dreaming, swiftcast and refresh.

Some role skills however might not even hit the hotbars of most players.

I made a list of all the under performing role skills and changed them to keep their original idea, but perform better or add a uniqueness to the role. I want to avoid straight potency buffs, vulnerability up buffs and adding damage to skills that originally have none.

Ranged Magical- Casters are supportive towards their healers, helping to mitigate magical damage and provide MP to their healers or bard. They are glass cannons and have heavy access to enmity management.

The skills I think that need adjustments and the solutions I'd make are:

Break- currently is a 50 potency 2.5 second cast skill with 0 mp cost. Heavies target by 20% for 20 seconds. Ranged physical have leg graze on a short cool down as a non-dps ability at 40% heavy.

I think since this skill is shared between healers and casters and obtained at level 12, should be an AoE to introduce them to an AOE skill. This is the equivalent of old blizzard II, but very useful when no other aoe potential is present.

Drain- currently is an 80 potency HP absorb spell that restores 80% of the damage done. This skill is only viable on summoner and still isn't worth using. The heal is just too small to make up for the damage. Instead I'd like to see it lose its 80 potency and just become a 2.5 second cast spell that places a debuff on the target for 8 seconds. 30% of damage dealt to that target by the caster is absorbed. At a price of one full GCD a DPS doing 5,000 DPS would heal 12,000 HP over 8 seconds. Numbers can be adjusted, but I feel this is the best way to incorporate design as a personal healing spell.

Erase- currently its the best of their bad skills, with a cool down of 90 seconds it removes one damage over time and heals for 200 potency based on intelligence. Most figures do not have cleansable unavoidable DoTs, but they do happen. I think the best thing for this skill would be to increase its healing potency to 400 and that's it. It becomes the equivalent of a single cure or physick at a cool down of 90 seconds and no dps loss to the caster.

Healers- healer role skills are transitional from the old class system and were already considered part of their toolkit. They provide the main mp restore of the class, access to instant cast and a party wide defense buff.

The skills I think that need adjustments and the solutions I'd make are:

Break- already mentioned suggested change in caster section. This would really be beneficial as no healing class gets a gcd aoe until after 44. AST has no aoe for all 50 and below content.

Rescue- using this ability on a party member pulls them to your side. It does not work if they are bound. I'd like to change that a little. Instead it should cleanse bind/ heavy if possible and once the skill resolves, if the party member is within 5 yalms of the healer should prevent knockback and draw in effects. This would assist classes that do not have effective access to antiknockback (tanks and ranged.)

Cleric Stance- from 2.0 to just before 4.0 cleric stance was the most powerful skill in the game. Increasing a healers dps by 400% with the mind to intelligence conversion along with a 10% dps buff. Lag and its harsh healing punishment made it an unfriendly skill to some and it was changed. I feel a 5% damage up buff just doesn't do it justice. If I could change it, I'd make it so that it worked as it did before as a toggle. While under the effect of cleric stance, damaging skills cost 20% less to cast and all non damaging skills cost 20% more to cast. Increase damage by 5%. Cool down of 5 seconds like before. They are very unlikely to make this sort of change but it'd be much more rewarding again.

Ranged Physical- BRD and MCH have very supportive role actions. Access to enfeeblements, party wide resource regain and a physical defensive buff for the tank. As a whole most of their skills work their intended purpose. I could still some easy, non game breaking changes. Their role is supporting everyone with resources and tanks with defensive utility.

The skills I think that need adjustments and the solutions I'd make are:

Arm Graze- currently it is a 2 second stun at a 5 yale range. I feel this is way too close for an effective stun. By the time the animation goes off, you'll have been whacked and staying closer to a mob could cause aoe havoc for a melee. I'd simply want this changed to 15 yalms.

Tactician- Tactician is a great skill, but pales compared to refresh. It is much more expendable. BRD/MCH have crazy burst openers and really need a 4.0 quelling strikes for themselves. I'd like to see tactician reduce current enmity by 25% and enmity generated by 25% for the ranged for its duration.

Melee- Close combat physical DPS have a sturdier role set with a focus on helping their fellow melee/physical party members.

The only skill I think that need an adjustment and the solution I'd make is:

Crutch with a 90 second cool down its only effect is to remove bind or heavy on a party member other then self. Name wise it makes sense, but heavy and bind just aren't threatening enough to warrant remembering the skill over the wardens paean or esuna. What I feel would take advantage of the melees general sturdiness from gear and other role skills would be to place a buff on the target reducing damage taken by 10% for the next 5 seconds. 80% of that damage would be placed on the melee. Like cover and shield swipe, this would proc the slow effect from arm's length, allow good use of Third eye into aggro de-escalation with merciful eyes or riddle of Earth if active.

Tanks- Tanks have a very controlling role set, focused on interrupts, damage reduction and enmity management.

The only skill I think that need an adjustment and the solution I'd make is:

Anticipation- it's essentially a lower reward less risky raw intuition at an increased parry rate of 30%. I would like to add the effect of allowing the parrying of magic attacks for its duration. This would go over the best with war, stacking it with raw intuition, but everything always works out for war anyways. Lol.

Here's a list of all current role skills for each role if anyone wants to see them in one place:

Ranged Magical:

Healer:

Ranged Physical:

Melee:

Tank:

That's pretty much how I feel about the poorer role skills and my desired role changes. Has anyone else sat down and thought about this too? Lol. Posting from Phone, mistakes will be made.

[MoroMurasaki]

What I would do for an update to Cleric Stance like that... <3

[HyoMinPark]

I’d have to input that most of the physical ranged CC skills need changed — unless the developers can actually implement a usage for CC in general content of all levels, they’re fairly useless. I’m not talking about a single mechanic in a single fight (e.g., V3S, V7S), or in niche content (PotD/HoH, Pagos); I’d prefer them to have relevance in a myriad of content. Otherwise, they’re too situational.

And BRD needs Diversion, or an equivalent of it. Refresh/Tactician are not enough for their burst. ;-;
But these are my opinions.

[Zyneste]

I’d have to input that most of the physical ranged CC skills need changed — unless the developers can actually implement a usage for CC in general content of all levels, they’re fairly useless. I’m not talking about a single mechanic in a single fight (e.g., V3S, V7S), or in niche content (PotD/HoH, Pagos); I’d prefer them to have relevance in a myriad of content. Otherwise, they’re too situational.

And BRD needs Diversion, or an equivalent of it. Refresh/Tactician are not enough for their burst. ;-;
But these are my opinions.

Eureka and HoH is becoming General content at this point. These skills really hold their weight (in eureka especially.) I think they should reevaluate all non-boss mobs and remove resistance to bind/sleep like they did in pagos for sure.

Tactician, as the ugly sister of Refresh, is used really in 3 situations:

1) TP of party, especially tanks are getting low, either from a long encounter or AOE.
2) A physical party member has died (this use will be less helpful come 4.4 with the mandatory inclusion of Goad and invigorate.)
3) Dump aggro.

When it is used its only needed once every other cool down or so, because of the myriad of TP recovery options. It really sells BRD/MCH's resource power house as being givers of TP and MP, but the skill mostly is used for an emnity dump at this point.

Thats why I think tactician could be the hybrid love child of the current resource dump aggro system with aggro reduction seen in quelling/diversion. #MakeBrdsGetLessAggroAgain

[Apoptomon]

This'll be less of an issue in 4.4 where role skills will still exist but be unrestricted (as my original motivation was freeing up role action space), but I still think that the original class-specific versions of Low Blow and Esuna should be reinstated (at the levels they are currently available as role skills, in order to avoid the original 'leeches' issue). If only for flavor, as they didn't combine the other only-different-in-name skills shared between classes.

[Gemina]

My suggestion is to do away with this system entirely. It is residue from XI's antiquated subjob system, and it's time to stop trying to rework what isn't going to work. The start of 4.0 was a major identity crisis for a lot of jobs, and remains so to this day thanks to this system. We just deal with it.

PLD/GLAs had provoke as an innate skill. Cool! Give WARs and DRKs something that do the exact same thing with unique names and animations... War Cry and Sinful Gaze for example. Even though they do the same thing, they still make the jobs FEEL unique, and that is the point.

I'd rather them fix our current nonsense than change current role skills or add additional ones.

[Zyneste]

Yeah to me thats where I disagree.

I don't think of Role skills as choices or that they are separate from your job or that they belong to one job (provoke as your example.) All role skills belong to each class that can obtain them. Just because PLD could use provoke before, doesnt make it any less a warrior or dark knight skill.

They are simply skills that all classes having their respective roles have access to. A common bond between them. They don't need to be different. The difference between them is how they interact within the toolkit.

[Gemina]

Yeah to me thats where I disagree.

I don't think of Role skills as choices or that they are separate from your job or that they belong to one job (provoke as your example.) All role skills belong to each class that can obtain them. Just because PLD could use provoke before, doesnt make it any less a warrior or dark knight skill.

They are simply skills that all classes having their respective roles have access to. A common bond between them. They don't need to be different. The difference between them is how they interact within the toolkit.

The ambiguity of the term 'role skills' is a big reason why I say to just do away with it. There is no reason to think of role skills as choices when there is already little choice in which you take.

I am one to think that it is the animation, not the skill itself that is exclusive. The animation on a skill like Rampart is clearly a PLD skill. Let's say they used the animation for Shadow Wall for rampart instead. Think of how this alone strips DRK of its identity. That in mind, how do you think many PLDs felt? Why are they the red-headed step child? What did they do? Especially considering many thought of them as utter schite in 3.0. They're in a good place now, but I would have hated to be a PLD main last summer. But WARs and DRKS still have to equip a skill making them look like PLDs when mitigating DMG. Yay? :/

I don't know. I might be alone here, but I rather enjoy job diversity and believe a good part of that is obtainable through unique animations. Think if LB3s across the board. Each of them, despite doing the exact same thing for their respective role give unique animations that really make them feel separate.

[Kurando]

I think one way to make role actions more useful is to bring in traits for them as well for every job, which each one having something unique. Ok it sounds like it could be a lot of work and things to balance around but there is potential to make them more appealing in doing so.

An example being SCH could gain back the trait for Eye for an Eye that reduced the cooldown (in HW) when they have this action equipped. Other healers wouldn't get the same trait, as they would get one on other actions. WHM could receive a trait to let it cast protect without casting time (similar to PvP) or AST has a chance to reduce the cooldown of Esuna (akin to its other time based actions).

Anyway they are just random ideas, and probably more work than they are worth. Really curious what SE have planned as a more permanent solution though.