Shadowbringers RDM Wishlist

[Archwizard]

Though, you seem to be looking at things from a "Solo Red Mage vs the World" scenario.

When in reality, the majority of Duty Fantasy XIV is in Duties.

Sure. Because within the context, we're discussing replacing the damage value with status-based CC, which is useless or inconsequential in 95% of Duty-based content because they stopped designing duties with enemies who were vulnerable to most of it, so we may as well focus on the scenarios where it's actually of use.

Like, the biggest obstacle with Displacement, isn't "Enemies chasing after you" it's Duty arenas being so small that using it will yeet you off the edge to your death.

And I've already addressed a fix for that separately -- reducing the "yeet" distance and increasing the range from which you can jump away.
But that's all for the sake of making the skill adjustable, not addressing its actual value (ie the reason you press it in the first place). The two are not mutually exclusive.

So... Speaking of which... CaC would make the most sense if it gave you a small shield. Not as strong as BLM's Manaward (Especially since Manafication gives CDR on CaC) but a little something so if you do get cleaved, you don't hug the floor. Which would also still be useful for soloing.

That's a thought I have considered, yes. However, I worry that attaching our defense to CaC would make it a virtual necessity to use it before the melee combo, which rather defeats the point of removing the damage from it. At least with a stun, not only do many enemies resist it but the diminishing returns are exactly a reason to reconsider using it, which would go a long way towards making it optional/"as needed" rather than popping it on cooldown.

Bearing in mind, this is all assuming you have a Monk or Dragoon in the group in the first place, which is a pretty narrow margin if we're talking about Duties where alternating stun-terrupts actually matters as a strategy.
In my experience that's like... one boss in Aurum Vale... and the occasional miniboss...?

I'd rather have us receive an "Oh Shit" button separate from CaC, especially since a lot of scenarios where we'd need an Oh Shit button aren't necessarily limited to melee range. Or even having a target.