A QoL/Balance Shortlist for DPS (Tanks/Healers only as additional context)

[Mansion]

I really like your ideas actually, especially the way you'd give viability to Spell/Skill Speed.
My two cents on the classes I main :

RDM
Dualcast not fading when you go into melee combo : that would be OP. Most of the time if you go 80/80 and have a dualcast, you want to use it to disbalance you mana and get a guaranteed proc on your verflare/verholy. While having a full combo, verholy/flare and verThunder/Aero all this squeezed in your best moments of Embolden... it's too much. And most of the time, you will be using the GCD of that second spell to move into melee range (by corps à corps or regular movement). A dualcast is never lost in that situation.
I like your idea of progressive Embolden, makes so much more sense to burst to have something going up rather than the other way around.
As an abstract addition, I'd love something to get Mana regen (as a bulk or a progressive ticking regen I don't mind), in the RDM kit. Maybe part of Embolden or something... And avoid the chain rez by making rez more expensive for RDM somehow I guess.

SMN
I'd actually hope that each pet actions can be weaved as oGCD, and not clumsily queued in that little Carbuncle's stubborn AI.

BRD
I'd add an aggro dump on that action that makes you jump back. Bards would be thankful.

[MoroMurasaki]

BRD
I'd add an aggro dump on that action that makes you jump back. Bards would be thankful.

Haven't read much else yet but BRDs would much prefer an enmity queller akin to Diversion than another dump ability. Something is better than nothing of course but if beggars can be choosers.

[Shurrikhan]

Haven't read much else yet but BRDs would much prefer an enmity queller akin to Diversion than another dump ability. Something is better than nothing of course but if beggars can be choosers.

I'd wanted to add something, but didn't want to include any ideas I hadn't yet finalized. Could I ask for your advice on an apt recipient for the effect?

I'd personally rather not bake it in passively as AST enmity reduction was with Sects.

Well, honestly, I'd rather change the way enmity works, giving all but tanks a portion of their enmity as "loose enmity" which tanks can then "steal" with their own, so that Diversion is unnecessary and tank enmity scales with their party -- rather than suffering increasingly from the AP growth gap outside of crafted-BiS tiers -- but I digress.

[MoroMurasaki]

I'd wanted to add something, but didn't want to include any ideas I hadn't yet finalized. Could I ask for your advice on an apt recipient for the effect?

I'd personally rather not bake it in passively as AST enmity reduction was with Sects.

Well, honestly, I'd rather change the way enmity works, giving all but tanks a portion of their enmity as "loose enmity" which tanks can then "steal" with their own, so that Diversion is unnecessary and tank enmity scales with their party -- rather than suffering increasingly from the AP growth gap outside of crafted-BiS tiers -- but I digress.

I admit I don't fully understand the premise but I'll try to paraphrase as best I can and give my thoughts and you can tell me if I am way off base.

Everyone is doing their opening burst and generating 90% of that enmity themselves but then the remaining 10% that would be generated (numbers here purely for example) could be taken by the tanks with some sort of ability and thus a MT would have his own enmity generation and then have 10% of everyone else's as well? Sort of like everyone casting a weak Shadewalker all the time?

I feel like while this might eliminate Diversion as a skill it just puts all the responsibility for enmity management on the tanks which frankly seems like it's letting the rest of the party off easy. Plus I would assume this skill would be a dps loss in some capacity as most enmity generators are which then leaves us with the additional issue of tanks not wanting to take any more enmity than they need to. As a dps that sometimes creeps up aggro tables at the wrong time (and a part time WHM who does so seemingly all the time) I would say this is asking for trouble, specifically with situations where you have less skilled tanks who don't know how to hold threat.

Right now if I actually use Lucid on CD I won't pull off of a tank in single target and I do respectable damage as a RDM, assuming I was able to Diversion for my opener. Leaving that management up to tanks would likely see me tanking a lot more dungeon and normal raid bosses than I would like to.

I don't know. Perhaps I've misunderstood your intent but to me this sounds like something that would make tanks lives harder which isn't what we need, or it would be overturned and trivialize enmity management even more than it already is. I agree enmity as a whole could use a fresh coat of paint but I just don't know if this is that paint, I'd like to continue to see the responsibility shared over the entire party as to mimic the rest of the potential responsibilities like mitigation and dealing damage.

[Shurrikhan]

I admit I don't fully understand the premise but I'll try to paraphrase as best I can and give my thoughts and you can tell me if I am way off base.

Everyone is doing their opening burst and generating 90% of that enmity themselves but then the remaining 10% that would be generated (numbers here purely for example) could be taken by the tanks with some sort of ability and thus a MT would have his own enmity generation and then have 10% of everyone else's as well? Sort of like everyone casting a weak Shadewalker all the time?

I feel like while this might eliminate Diversion as a skill it just puts all the responsibility for enmity management on the tanks which frankly seems like it's letting the rest of the party off easy. Plus I would assume this skill would be a dps loss in some capacity as most enmity generators are which then leaves us with the additional issue of tanks not wanting to take any more enmity than they need to. As a dps that sometimes creeps up aggro tables at the wrong time (and a part time WHM who does so seemingly all the time) I would say this is asking for trouble, specifically with situations where you have less skilled tanks who don't know how to hold threat.

Right now if I actually use Lucid on CD I won't pull off of a tank in single target and I do respectable damage as a RDM, assuming I was able to Diversion for my opener. Leaving that management up to tanks would likely see me tanking a lot more dungeon and normal raid bosses than I would like to.

I don't know. Perhaps I've misunderstood your intent but to me this sounds like something that would make tanks lives harder which isn't what we need, or it would be overturned and trivialize enmity management even more than it already is. I agree enmity as a whole could use a fresh coat of paint but I just don't know if this is that paint, I'd like to continue to see the responsibility shared over the entire party as to mimic the rest of the potential responsibilities like mitigation and dealing damage.

Sorry, I only had about 10 minutes to make all my comments before work and rushed my description there. My idea is still entirely spitball--I only just made it up then and there--but I think that effect (like a passive mass-reverse-Shadewalker), practically speaking, would be about right.

Think of it as some 20% of all non-tank enmity as dormant, latent, inactive. Whenever a tank hits, however, they instead claim that latent enmity up to a total of 25% of their own dealt. Thus, if, say, a tank and another ally were putting out the exact same nominal enmity continuously, the tank's enmity throughput would be 50% higher. (80% vs. 100% + 25% of the 80% --> 80% vs. 120% --> gap of 40% --> 40 is 50% of 80.) This would assume a removal of (enmity-based) "tank stances", though, or else the gap would have to be reduced significantly without said tank stance. These particular numbers are just spitball examples anyways; a more appropriate gap would be around 33%, or would involve applying this mechanic only to enmity skills.

It's poor bandaid fix even then, but I believe something like that would do the job. Diversion's enmity loss (though, to a much reduced degree) should honestly be the default, with the ability being replaced instead with a situational to massively enhance enmity generation. That would allow you to kite or redirect mobs, even when working with tanks, all while giving tanks a larger enmity pool to work with.

That said, in regards to the disproportionate and weirdly tiered Attack Power growth over ilvl, specifically... personally, I'd rather see tanks just get appropriate, capped attack power rewards on their accessories as not to need pentamelds. Ideally, you'd revise Vitality to grant, say, .33 Attack Power per stat, while Strength would give .66, rather than the more even AP split that therefore fully favored Vitality back in Heavensward. From there, you'd include two-thirds each of the normal primary stat value of Striking/Aiming/Healing/Casting accessories of the same ilvl to Vitality and Strength and give those accessories a shared cap of 167% same-ilvl non-Fending accessories' primary stat total, offering the choice of Strength or Vitality. Or give 75% of each and cap it there. It doesn't need to keep up completely; it just shouldn't feel awkward in growth progression, nor restrictively expensive to BiS.

[Shurrikhan]

Alright, so. Black Mage

All that MP fanangling is unneeded with just the "Independent UI tick".

UI/AF 3 do not reduce the GCD, only the cast time. The .625 Second deadzone between phase transitions would mean there's no risk of an MP deadzone.

I've not mentioned any change to the GCD characteristics. The cast time change has merely been increased to a 60% increase in cast speed, up from 50%, for symmetry with the more intuitive stack system suggested.

I'm fine with the MP deadzone being lost. Both the current MP values and the more intuitive formations suggesting here go to great care to avoid it. I believe my version simply reaches that goal more comprehensively.

Making the ice spells better at the expense of making F4 worse is horrible. We minimize Ice spells heavily. We only ever cast the one in UI: B4. Increasing B3's potency is an empty gesture beyond the very first cast. You have listed no changes regarding the damage reduction of Fire and Ice.

In the case that it is removed: We aren't suddenly going to use ice spells. There is no difference in time or cost between the two in spell tiers. Given the choice, we want to cast fire. Fire's bonus would have to be completely removed or reduced to the point of nullification to make it something to consider. Ice and Fire have the same exact cost regarding mobility, so given the choice you never choose Ice.

You will never use more Ice spells than you have to. That was the case and intent, and remains the case and intent. The problem is that the disparity reached breakpoints at which altering your rotation with anything but an earlier Fire cast to maintain AF was inviable. With the disparity decreased, it can now be mathematically worthwhile to tailor your rotation to the circumstances of the fight and your composition, offering Black Mage more flexibility, reduced deviation due to the fights and compositions themselves, and increased skill-gap in perfect performance when playing in more challenging situations (even if skill-gap may now be less obvious among poorer players).

In the case that it stays: ^^^^^^^ Double down.

Moving further towards toolkit imbalance for the sake of toolkit imbalance merely decreases flexibility, options, and upper-level skillgap. It treats performance, where varied by the spells cast rather than solely movement or a lack of unnecessary action delay, only as an absence of punishment, rather than strategy or ingenuity.

I will never use Scathe, stop trying to make me!

You do not need to use Scathe. The option is no more attractive now than previously for any form of proper play. Other means of mobile damage have been buffed just as much as it has. I simply chose not to curb-stomp it further.

Phase lengths look exactly the same. 7 GCDs + FS in fire, 6-9 seconds in Ice.

That is the intent. Nothing is to change about the rotation except that is less punishing to break from ideal rotation, thus granting more rotational options to certain fights to increase higher-level skill-gap and decrease unavoidable deviation.

Black mage turret is reduced for no concrete gain.

Again, the point is to slightly tailor in BLM maximal outputs, which currently make Samurai obsolete outside of one fight or SAM/RDM/NIN/MCH/SCH/AST perfect CD-stacking compositions, while increasing both QoL and available nuance. The point is to reduce BLM by-fight performance deviation.

The UI tick does, however, make Spellspeed a 100% damage gain compared to now though, where it doesn't influence your UI phase at all. It is possible the UI tick will reduce Ice phase further which means more Fire uptime.

I am fine with that. All other secondary stats already had this characteristic and would otherwise outperform it past the first rotational safety breakpoint if they'd been appropriately balanced from the start.

[Kabooa]

I've not mentioned any change to the GCD characteristics. The cast time change has merely been increased to a 60% increase in cast speed, up from 50%, for symmetry with the more intuitive stack system suggested.

I'm fine with the MP deadzone being lost. Both the current MP values and the more intuitive formations suggesting here go to great care to avoid it. I believe my version simply reaches that goal more comprehensively..

My point is that all the MP costs changes are unnecessary with an independent UI tick. The shortlist can be a short list in this regard.

We already tailor the rotation to the current demands. We adjust procs, cooldowns, early phase cutting, B4 skipping, and Leyline placement and timing. We already do these these things. Shifting power from Fire to the Ice spells to doesn't make it more flexible, it only makes our success working around the mechanics less rewarding.

Even in your variant, losing out on 60% bonus damage, even with Ice potencies mirroed for equity, doesn't change the final product in any comparable way to the amount lost. B3's potency increase doesn't matter, because it's cut in half when moving into AF. B4's potency increase is...alright, but if we're talking high pressure movement with unprepared procs or cooldowns, we skip B4 anyways. The intent behind the change doesn't match up with reality.

This could be a really short list without everything in the middle.

"Umbral Ice regenerates MP every .5 seconds"
"Fire 4 Potency reduced to 290".

[Shurrikhan]

Even in your variant, losing out on 60% bonus damage, even with Ice potencies mirrored for equity, doesn't change the final product in any comparable way to the amount lost. B3's potency increase doesn't matter, because it's cut in half when moving into AF. B4's potency increase is...alright, but if we're talking high pressure movement with unprepared procs or cooldowns, we skip B4 anyways. The intent behind the change doesn't match up with reality.

To preface, I don't mean this merely as a defense of what I've written. As you've said, that list could be pared down considerably by leaving the stack system in its current nonsensical state as at least people are used to it as is and nothing about gameplay over level 40 would necessarily change as a result. A shortlist has to do with immediacy available to usage/implementation, not to actually being short -- comparable to a "green-light list" or "final pass list" -- but even I'll admit we could easily go without those changes. They're there because I like intuitive design, and it has little (and, in my opinion, a solely positive) effect on BLM gameplay.

However, what you're saying here is wholly nonsensical. Losing out on potency from just a 100% modifier rather than a 160% or 180% is still 100% of the gap in base potency -- which is a gap in potency. You MUST use Blizzard III, even if as rarely as possible. Optimal play DOES use Blizzard IV. Potency buffs to either will be buffs in themselves.

If I intended merely to nerf Black Mage and call it a day, those two points would sufficient. If I intended to make Speed inferior on Black Mage after having just made it as closely balanced as possible on all others, those two points would be sufficient. But I don't.

As I said before, I don't expect the changes to be all that significant to gameplay (though, again, I do imagine what change there'd be would be beneficial). But, there is no change more easily accomplished than number-tuning, be it to potencies or buff percentiles. In terms of implementation, only one design change contains a significant hurdle -- the unpaired UI tick. I'll admit the changes seem perfectionistic -- they are, since I am -- but I think we can at least agree that there is no benefit to the current wonkiness of the UI/AF systems (save perhaps the 40% first tier on AF, which makes the Fire-obsession more obvious to a narrow band of players who can understand numbers on screen and change accordingly but cannot read tooltips). And its being made intuitive is a mere number entry each for a small span of tables.

[BucklesTrespen]

Monk:

Form shift is now instant and has a X second cooldown and puts the Monk into Chimera form for 16 seconds:
Chimera form allows the use of any ability and grants the form based benefit of that ability.
(Basically Perfect Balance but with a single use, no more spamming form shift 1-3 times before a pull, between pulls, on jumps. Just press the button once when it is needed and use any ability.

Bootshine crits from behind always grant a Chakra.

The Monk can have 7 chakra. Abilities still only use 5.

Remove the god-awful wind tackles.

Riddle of Wind - Make it an actual ability with an actual icon and remove the second charge and just allow it to refresh or grant GL on the first shoulder tackle.

Riddle of Earth now pauses the GL timer for 16 seconds until either of the following occurs:
A) We take damage, upon which time it refreshes GL.
B) We move, upon which point the timer continues from where it paused (think of how Passage of Arms ends if the Paladin moves)

Riddle of Fire. Remove the damage boost and speed reduction. Just have every ability used for the duration grant a chakra or something. Adjust duration to balance. God I hate that slowdown effect.

Remove the fist stances. Give Monk a baseline +5% dmg increase from FoF rolled into traits.

Balance numbers and durations etc.

[Shurrikhan]

Monk:

Form shift is now instant and has a X second cooldown and puts the Monk into Chimera form for 16 seconds:
Chimera form allows the use of any ability and grants the form based benefit of that ability.
(Basically Perfect Balance but with a single use, no more spamming form shift 1-3 times before a pull, between pulls, on jumps. Just press the button once when it is needed and use any ability.

I avoided this because it has a distinct DPS advantage in continuous uptime, but also a granular disadvantage during frequent downtime. I have, however, considered improving its ease of access in the same vein as Meditation (reducing it to exactly a half-GCD) in order to make it more competitive against that downtime option.

Spitball thought -- what if Form Shift "gave full access to" the next Form, rather than swapping to it, meaning you could still use the trio of skill you would have had access to before, and after a second press from Opo-opo or a third press from stanceless--all of them? At that point you could allow for Meditate and Form Shift to regenerate passively outside of combat as a comprehensive QoL change to either, so long as their power is equal to that of manual options (e.g. starting a half-GCD later than you would manually have access to, but causing no GCD refresh, thus making their readiness exactly equally quick).

Bootshine crits from behind always grant a Chakra.

With Speed now affecting ability damage, this would force a 2301+ SkS build in order to double the uses of Bootshine per Dragon Kick. The 50% increased change of generating a Chakra atop the further direct damage of the auto-crit from Bootshine (and possibly the 50 extra potency from True Strike) would more than offset the 29 potency (to 58) loss.

The Monk can have 7 chakra. Abilities still only use 5.

I included this in a previous build as I preferred the more traditional count, but this runs into the same dilemma one would have in balancing, say, Mage's Ballad or Yaten (Enhanced Enpi), even if mostly just during downtime or Brotherhood. By removing the cooldown on The Forbidden Chakra, the functional advantage has already been dealt with, but thinking back on this, I do quite like that Meditation would always have downtime value, and that you'd have a bit more room by which to bank Chakra for Internal Release or Riddle of Fire... I may yet revert back to this. Hmm.

Remove the god-awful wind tackles.

I understand where you're coming from, but it seems a playstyle enjoyed by many, so my only intent for now is to see it more tightly balanced, with its advantage compressed. At present, tests place it as 30% more powerful than its stated value, as if "double-dipping" into the GL bonus. With that bug corrected, its use should be curtailed to a far more optional level.

Riddle of Wind - Make it an actual ability with an actual icon and remove the second charge and just allow it to refresh or grant GL on the first shoulder tackle.

Admittedly, I'm not wholly satisfied with leaving it as simply a free secondary charge available from FoW and would much prefer it to be an ability of its own, though I'm not dead set on what that ability should do or how it should best be used. Any suggestions?

Riddle of Earth now pauses the GL timer for 16 seconds until either of the following occurs:
A) We take damage, upon which time it refreshes GL.
B) We move, upon which point the timer continues from where it paused (think of how Passage of Arms ends if the Paladin moves)

I understand though that my suggestion, whereby you can retrigger GL from the first attack taken and each attack taken for 16 seconds after so long as you remain in FoE, would not work with your suggested removal of Fists, but I feel this would be little, if any, better than what we have now. You'd be forced to hit the skill in the very last second in order to get through many of the current jump phases if movement is required near to the time GL would fade whereas at present the damage has been purposely aligned such as to allow RoE to get you through that phase, meaning that you can just hit RoE and not worry about it until needing to FS two to three times in preparation for Coeurl upon the boss's return. If movement likewise gave a second refresh, same as taking damage (though I'd adjust that, again, to "upon being attacked" as not to be countered by your own party's shields), it would would see much increased QoL.

Riddle of Fire. Remove the damage boost and speed reduction. Just have every ability used for the duration grant a chakra or something. Adjust duration to balance. God I hate that slowdown effect.

I understand where you're coming from, but there do seem to be plenty of Monks who do enjoy the minor variation it can bring. At high Skill Speeds even now it does offer some interesting twist-points in rotations during and following it.

Remove the fist stances. Give Monk a baseline +5% dmg increase from FoF rolled into traits.

Again, I get where you're coming from, but there are others who'd prefer instead to see them enhanced. In this case, though, I'd be firmly among that group.