Shadowbringers RDM Wishlist

[Shurrikhan]

Just food for thought I guess.

I'm a bit biased towards even rarely used utilities, such as Repelling Shot (if it actually functioned decently) or even Earth Tackle (again, if the iteration itself had merely been decent), but I see your point here.

Though, more than that, I generally prefer that if something is badly situational, but at least impactful in that rare situation, it ought to remain... situational, rather than sacrifice its rare efficacy just to append an animation or button-press to some other capacity.

In this case, especially, I'd rather have simply seen RDM have additional melee forms and skills that would replace their ranged casted options when within melee distance of enemies. These would in some cases, or points in macrorotation, be situationally inferior (as they're compensating for mobility, a bit more decisive utility in some cases, and more immediate damage), but would nonetheless remain options, leading up until Enspell as a means to spend the B/W Mana generated. In that way, Displacement remains significant just for easily moving in and out of range, since your distance would actually... matter.

Not sure how relevant it will be, but I remembered another thought-snack of my own from a few months ago which revolved around a Phalanx trait. But first, mechanical context:

• Block and Parry are returned as (hidden) stats and now, like Stormblood Critical Hit, increase both the efficacy and chance of Block and Parry.
• Block and Parry now also diminish damage taken by a small flat amount based on weapon damage or block strength. Percentile mitigation reduced to 15%. This and the percentile mitigation are affected by Block and Parry stat.
• Given main-hand and shield item level, Block and Parry now mitigate for identical amounts. Paladin just has a passively doubled chance of RNG mitigation.
• New mechanic - Guard. Guard instantly generates a massive amount of Block or Parry (hidden stat), generally well in excess of 100%. You can consider this influx of Block or Parry stat as almost a damage-absorption barrier. As damage is absorbed by Guard, the Block or Parry stat granted will diminish in kind, thereby taking from both chance and potency of
• New mechanic - Shield. Shield guarantees either Block or Parry until having absorbed damage up to its given cap. It therefore has no aspect of chance. Shield generated is increased by base Block or Parry chance.
• Guard and Shield effects will always apply Block for Paladin and Parry for all others.

Phalanx, then, would generate rapidly and continuously fading Guard from spell damage inflicted. CaC would then convert this to Shield, which would not begin to fade until 3 seconds after your last physical attack, while Displacement would then convert lingering shield back to Guard and extra deal damage based on the amount converted.
So, you're a relatively sturdy (albeit pet-less and low-CD-throughput) caster, with guaranteed mitigation on melee approach that can be converted to damage when not consumed by would-be physical damage taken. That seemed relatively RDM-iconic to me.

[Archwizard]

These would in some cases, or points in macrorotation, be situationally inferior (as they're compensating for mobility, a bit more decisive utility in some cases, and more immediate damage), but would nonetheless remain options, leading up until Enspell as a means to spend the B/W Mana generated. In that way, Displacement remains significant just for easily moving in and out of range, since your distance would actually... matter.

I thought about something like that, but part of the concern I had was that if you're ever in the kind of closed-quarters situation where you can't Displace safely (or where Displacement just doesn't send you anywhere), you're forced into using your melee spender abilities until it's safe for you to make room. Not the ideal; same reason I'm fine with holding off on not making it any more "punishing" for ranged to be in melee, either.

Also to remember, DoT kind of replace Auto-Attack for casters, which means RDM really has nothing else outside of its spells.

My autoattacks as RDM hit for 2 digits.

I think it's a safe loss.

I'm going to have to disagree there, sorry haha. Corps à Corps and Displacement are actually powerful movement tools outside of being DPS abilities. The most recent example in my mind is Seiryu, you can cheese the wave pushes with corps à corps, Backflip out of ground AoEs, cross one half of the area that is about to be truck by the big Shiki in a second; all of that without losing any DPS uptime.

Right, and as I also said: "the escape mechanism is only of use in niche situations".

I'd love for them to be primarily movement tools, but the fact is they're both movement tools and oGCD damage tools -- that's why we got Engagement and a stronger Displacement.

[Seraphor]

My autoattacks as RDM hit for 2 digits.

I think it's a safe loss.

That's because caster autoattacks are based on STR.
So are melee autoattacks, so melee autoattacks are a significant portion of their dps, and that's why casters have DoTs to compensate.

But yeah, a mechanic tied to black/white mana would have been cool.

Something like:
Verwater/blizzard, a DoT that increases white/black mana by 3 for each tick for 24s. Shares a recast timer with Verblizzard/water. 45s cooldown.
This could be used to force an imbalance, and to maintain mana regen during downtime from mechanic dodging.

[Archwizard]

That's because caster autoattacks are based on STR.
So are melee autoattacks, so melee autoattacks are a significant portion of their dps, and that's why casters have DoTs to compensate.

But yeah, a mechanic tied to black/white mana would have been cool.

Something like:
Verwater/blizzard, a DoT that increases white/black mana by 3 for each tick for 24s. Shares a recast timer with Verblizzard/water. 45s cooldown.
This could be used to force an imbalance, and to maintain mana regen during downtime from mechanic dodging.

Something I came up with earlier: Have one DoT, but attacking a target with the DoT active grants access to your choice of Verwater or Verblizzard. Each time you swap between the two, the properties of the DoT change, causing it to give mana of the respective type, with a bonus on the first tick to encourage swapping frequently.

All numbers being examples:

[Verbio? Verscathe? Jolt III? Rattle?] (2 sec cast): Deals unaspected damage over time to the target and nearby enemies.
Potency: 30
Duration: 30 sec
Additional effect: Increases both Black Mana and White Mana by 3
Additional effect: Verfire and Verstone casts against an afflicted target have a chance to grant Aether Saturation.

Verwater (5 sec cast): Deals water damage to the target with a potency of 330.
Additional effect: Increases White Mana by 9.
Additional effect: Consumes Void Essence on the target to increase Black Mana by 4.
Additional effect: Applies Pearl Essence to the target, increasing White Mana by 1 every time [DoT] deals damage to the target.
Can only be executed while under the effect of Aether Saturation.

Verblizzard (5 sec cast): Deals ice damage to the target with a potency of 330.
Additional effect: Increases Black Mana by 9.
Additional effect: Consumes Pearl Essence on the target to increase White Mana by 4.
Additional effect: Applies Void Essence to the target, increasing Black Mana by 1 every time [DoT] deals damage to the target.
Can only be executed while under the effect of Aether Saturation.

That, or just take the first half and have Verwater and Verblizzard each apply a buff to you that give a bonus to your next cast of the opposite.

Verwater (5 sec cast): Deals water damage to the target with a potency of 330.
Additional effect: Increases White Mana by 9 and grants Pearl Essence.
Additional effect: Consumes Void Essence to increase both Black Mana and White Mana by 3.
Can only be executed while under the effect of Aether Saturation.

Verblizzard (5 sec cast): Deals ice damage to the target with a potency of 330.
Additional effect: Increases Black Mana by 9 and grants Void Essence.
Additional effect: Consumes Pearl Essence to increase both Black Mana and White Mana by 3.
Can only be executed while under the effect of Aether Saturation.

That way you have to constantly weigh the value of swapping between the two against your Mana needs in the given moment, increasing the risk-reward factor (ie having the bonus for casting Verblizzard up when your Black Mana is already higher).

And then of course advancements can include "VerX has an increased chance to proc Aether Saturation while Y Essence is active", and/or "Casting all three spells of one mana type in sequence has a chance to proc the opposing Verfinisher".
If button bloat becomes a concern, swap Verholy/flare over to occupying Verstone/fire and then just attach these to Veraero/thunder instead.

[Gruntler]

That's because caster autoattacks are based on STR.
So are melee autoattacks, so melee autoattacks are a significant portion of their dps, and that's why casters have DoTs to compensate.

No, we have strong potency abilities to compensate. You don't need a dot to compensate for auto attacks, you just need good spells. Seriously, I do not understand why people get a hard on for DoTs for no reason. RDM seriously does not need it. At all. It doesn't fit our kit or gameplay loop.

But yeah, a mechanic tied to black/white mana would have been cool.

The gameloop is to keep them close to each other, not to get whichever is superior and spend it. It doesn't fit the class fantasy and it doesn't fit the job's flow.

Something like:
Verwater/blizzard, a DoT that increases white/black mana by 3 for each tick for 24s. Shares a recast timer with Verblizzard/water. 45s cooldown.
This could be used to force an imbalance, and to maintain mana regen during downtime from mechanic dodging.

Except you have a job based on knowing exactly what your mana is after any spell you cast. You might as well just have a button that says 'Adds 24 white/black mana, 45 second cooldown' and it would accomplish the same thing but be clearer and less clunky.

[Mansion]

I am curious about the thought process behind calling it a DoT "for the sake of having one". As I explained it seems a likely course of action should they seek to add more potency to the rotation in the future as an alternative to "Jolt III", aside from just buffing every spell with one Trait, especially with how DoTs can function as easy damage-tuning knobs.

As long as a DoT has nothing tied to it except for ticking, I'm not into it. As Shurrikhan said it quite nicely. And when you think about it, there's only Bard, Summoner and perhaps Black MAge that have an interactive and engaging DoT system.
As we discussed, if we had a RDM DoT that would tick aspected Mana, it could work. Also to remember, DoT kind of replace Auto-Attack for casters, which means RDM really has nothing else outside of its spells.

Something I was thinking about last night (which may be a bit of a moot point now, but still):

Let's say the devs removed Engagement and the potency from Displacement, and put them all in Corps-a-corps or the melee combo.

Why would we ever want to use Displacement? As it is now, the backstep isn't really worth much, since the escape mechanism is only of use in niche situations. Unlike melee, there's no penalty to casters for being close to the target (aside from the increased risk of death in some instances), and the fact that we can attack from range is considered a reward in itself despite lack of incentive to really do so.

I'm going to have to disagree there, sorry haha. Corps à Corps and Displacement are actually powerful movement tools outside of being DPS abilities. The most recent example in my mind is Seiryu, you can cheese the wave pushes with corps à corps, Backflip out of ground AoEs, cross one half of the area that is about to be truck by the big Shiki in a second; all of that without losing any DPS uptime.
And it does not mean you hold these abilities because they come back quite quickly, and some fights (ainly Savage) require you to move a lot. For me it's comparable (in different proportions) to BLM movement tools, you need to study each fight to make the best of Corps à Corps and Displacement. I really enjoyed that on certain fights, so the "dumbing down" of Engagement is a bit useless for me, because I will still look for better ways of using Displacement.
As I already said, apart from Fire phase in Chaos, I can't think of a fight where you simply cannot use Displacement or wait a few seconds before using it, rather than losing potency and using Engagement. (basically, if you can do it on Suzaku, you can do it everywhere)

[Seraphor]

Something I was thinking about last night (which may be a bit of a moot point now, but still):

Let's say the devs removed Engagement and the potency from Displacement, and put them all in Corps-a-corps or the melee combo.

Why would we ever want to use Displacement? ... [snip]

Displacement should be used for movement only.
Once you tie anything useful to it, like damage... then it becomes a necessary part of the rotation, and a rotation that can kill you is a bad rotation.
But damage can be sacrificed. MP regen may not, especially if you're dangerously low from verraise.

It can be incredibly useful in some fights where you need to make distance, like say Midgardsormr where you need to dodge his radial AoE. But then fights like Omega, where you instantly die if you go outside of the circle, make it useless.

[Gaethan_Tessula]

What I would have wanted, some having already been mentioned:

1. Ver-assize (what it says on the tin).

2. Reflect/Wall cooldown (Reduce damage to nearby party members, return damage back at boss. Akin to Ifrit's counter shield).

3. Erase becoming RDM only, with a cooldown reduction and either a potency increase or a regen.

4. Chainspell (Presence of Mind + no casting time for X seconds)

5. I'd liked have to kept Mana Shift actually, but seeing as they cut out ALL non-personal refreshes that wasn't going to happen.

6. I'd liked to have kept Tether. Some of us are trying to solo Deep Dungeons or want to ignore obnoxious mobs in Diadem/Eureka Square...

7. AoE changes are fine I guess.

8. Scorch is fine I guess.

9. Engagement could have gone to the cutting floor imo.


I think when a DPS job reaches a good place, what needs to happen after that is supplemental abilities. With Red Mage being lower pDPS than BLM or SUM, expanding its support toolbox would have been the correct direction to go with that. Instead, we seem to be relegated to being "easymode Black Mage with that move that's really good for progression" even more in this expansion. At least in Shadowbringers we had the least opportunity cost to use the supportive role-actions, almost all of which are gone now.

Not particularly interested in RDM getting a DoT. If they did, interacting with the Mana system would be a bare minimum baseline to be acceptable to me over something more interesting.

[PatronasCharm]

Honestly, something that would have been neat is having spells tied to Mana Meter, maybe have a spell like:

Vermedica - AoE Cure that costs 10 white mana

Verwater - High potency Nuke maybe 400 that costs 10 White Mana triggers Verstone automatically

Or

Verblizzard - 400 potency uses 10 Black Mana automatically gives Verfire ready

Would be neat to use our manameters for certain spells.

That was just a thought though lol.

[Rongway]

Edit: nevermind, forgot to account for the cost of not generating 11 mana from a Verslowspell. Maths should be fine now.

better maths