it would be nice if leveling was less exploitable

[Jojoya]

I can edit in the quote if you want. I highlighted that part because for a job advertised for its soloness, it's doing an amazing job of forcing me into group content I can't even queue for.

Though, I guess you technically agreed since you're having fun with it with your friends?

Where did SE advertise it for its "soloness" as opposed to advertising it as a limited job with special solo content that can only be done by the job (Masked Carnival)? They did warn players from the start that they would need to group up with other players to learn the most powerful abilities.

[Jijifli]

Where did SE advertise it for its "soloness" as opposed to advertising it as a limited job with special solo content that can only be done by the job (Masked Carnival)? They did warn players from the start that they would need to group up with other players to learn the most powerful abilities.

"Blue Mage is the first "Limited Job" coming to FFXIV. A Limited Job is a job that is meant to be enjoyed in a solo environment and is not suited for parties. "

Right from the Letter from the Producer, Number 46 (Where it's announced.)

They said it was meant to be enjoyed in a solo environment and not suited for parties. So why is half of its content locked behind parties, and it's not capable of doing solo content any better than anyone else, and in some cases, even WORSE than other classes.

Outside of gimick shotting a boss fate, RDM is a better solo job than BLU right now.

And interestingly enough, the screenshots show the BLU soloing the primal content for the abilities...

[Evogolist]

Where did SE advertise it for its "soloness" as opposed to advertising it as a limited job with special solo content that can only be done by the job (Masked Carnival)? They did warn players from the start that they would need to group up with other players to learn the most powerful abilities.

That's taken from the fan festival live letter. Unless the local team translated it wrong, they pretty much stated right there that it was designed for solo play.

[Jojoya]

That's taken from the fan festival live letter. Unless the local team translated it wrong, they pretty much stated right there that it was designed for solo play.

Which it is. Designed for the Masked Carnival, which is solo play.

Not suited for parties? I'd argue that possibly. It has some use in parties depending on your willingness to ditch the weak 1000 Needles spam and use the ability combos that are more powerful once you get past 38. Considering most people seem to want to only spam 1000 Needles, then I agree it's not suitable for parties.

I think where the translation is flawed is saying "While blue mages can learn abilities while in parties" instead of "While blue mages will need to learn some abilities in parties".

[swiss_Momo]

people don't really enjoy levelling, more news at 11!

levelling BLU to 50 solo the 'legit' way is simply a dreadful experience because of the laughably low solo target damage output.
Water Cannon with its whooping 120 potency is the weakest base damage spell of ANY class bar Ruin I (which doesn't really count because you get your pet at lvl 4). 1k needles has a longer cast time than the log-in queues on Balmeme on a patch day, and any other skill with actually decent potency is either locked behind a lvl 50 dungeon/primal or a meme suicide spell.
This is why I too only levelled normally to lvl 20 something since all the bonus exp items made it painlessly fast. After that I decided to hit the sylphlands

[Penthea]

It appears some people are misinterpreting this image.

1: "Designed for solo play" does not mean "you should only solo" or "you can solo everything". If we were to apply this to standard classes the image would say "designed for group play" but we all know this doesn't mean you should only ever play in groups if you're playing a standard class.

The end-game content for blu is The Masked Carnivale, which is solo content. This is the solo play blu is designed for. The end-game content for standard classes are raids, which is the group content they're designed for.

Just because something is designed with a specific task in mind does not mean that's the only thing it can or should do.

2: "Not suited for parties" does not mean "you should only solo" or "you should only play with other blu players". It means that while blu is classed as a dps, it does not fit into the trinity system the standard classes are designed for.

Blu is a jack of all trades but master of none. It has a lot of utility and high damage potential, but past the point of cheesing out 1k needles, a standard dps class does more reliable damage. It has one strong heal but it can't compete with a healer's varied toolkit and it has no res. It can tank but it's not as durable or efficient at aggro building as a real tank.

On top of the above, blu does not learn abilities by lvling up which means the effectiveness of one blu player to another can wildly vary. If you have a lvl 50 standard class in lvl 50 group content, you know that the player has access to the necessary abilities to complete it. Not the case with blu. Having a blu in the party can mean having to carry a dead weight, or having a very useful team mate.

[KageTokage]

Leveling as BLU is a lot more fun if you can get access to Dragon's/Ram's Voice since it allows for mass mobbing between the former's huge radius, the latter's long-lasting freeze to mitigate damage and the combo of the two that can burn down a group surprisingly quickly.

[Lastelli]

Blu is a jack of all trades but master of none.

Doesn't "jack of all trades" mean "pretty good at everything"?

Maybe I'm still missing the most important spells, but right now it looks like BLU is just a terrible dps, a terrible tank and a underwhelming healer. Frankly, it cannot even be compared to other jobs because of how underpowered it is. Its sole reason of existence is the masked carnival, using it for anything else is just a waste of time. It might be fun if you're doing it with friends while chatting on discord, but what isn't?

I wasn't expecting much and I'm still disappointed. The masked carnival is a decent minigame, but I really don't think that alone can make a job relevant, no matter if they label it a limited job.
Also, lvl 70 players carring BLUs in instanced content to help them learn their spells gotta be one of the most absurd things I've ever witnessed in a videogame. I really hope this wasn't their intention from the beginning, because it's just bad design.

[Penthea]

Doesn't "jack of all trades" mean "pretty good at everything"?

Maybe I'm still missing the most important spells, but right now it looks like BLU is just a terrible dps, a terrible tank and a underwhelming healer. Frankly, it cannot even be compared to other jobs because of how underpowered it is.

It can actually far outpace standard dps classes in pure damage on trash, but on bosses it is often lacking. White Wind can be crazy strong as it heals equal to your own hp, but the flip side is that can also mean it's very weak. The lack of a res and a low cd cleanse can be an issue. I found it okay as a tank in 4 man content, but I suspect it won't be very good in hm and ex trials.

I personally found with blu that the skill and experience of the player has some serious impact on the class. There is no rotation. There is no fixed way to play it. I have met some blus who thought spamming 1k needles would get them through everything (spoiler: it doesn't) and they forced the rest of the party to work a lot harder, and I met other blus who were prepared to use any spell if the appropriate situation arose and they were a dream to play with. The difference between these two kinds of players is astounding at high lvl.

With that being said there are some serious holes in blu, even when you consider it's a jack of all trades class. But this could very well be due to the current low lvl cap. It could be a very different story when you can get it to 60 or 70.

Its sole reason of existence is the masked carnival, using it for anything else is just a waste of time. It might be fun if you're doing it with friends while chatting on discord, but what isn't?

I'm not going to tell you that you're wrong because liking something is a matter of opinion. I have had great fun doing The Masked Carnivale on my own. I find blu itself to be a nice change of pace from the rest of the game.

Also, lvl 70 players carring BLUs in instanced content to help them learn their spells gotta be one of the most absurd things I've ever witnessed in a videogame. I really hope this wasn't their intention from the beginning, because it's just bad design.

This one is somewhat a matter of choice. You don't need to have lvl 70 players to help you, but the other side of it is it can be very difficult to get help from someone who isn't lvl 70, given that's the current max lvl. The lack of lvl sync when you do instances as blu is very annoying. It would be great if you could get help from your lvl 70 buddies, but when you're in the instance you have the choice of all being lvl 50. Not everyone enjoys getting boosted and it sucks that right now this is the only option for most players who want skills from some lvl 50 content.

[Colino]

Whilst I'm enjoying the content for what it is, most people wouldn't need to exploit through the leveling up process if the job was actually as broken as they made it sound. As it stands solo-levelling is just dreadfully slow because of how weak most of the spells really are.