I DON'T like Stormblood RDM

[Marianno]

@geekgirl101 so complaining about BLM being OP is not the way too go. It does not bring anything too the party LITERALLY NOTHING EXCEPT DAMAGE. If you have utility then there should be a tax for it. We can argue about how much but there should be a tax nonetheless. Your utility may not seem like it means anything but it does in the eyes of SE and a price has too be paid. BLM is exactly where it should be because now the performance of selfish DPS jobs have become all the more paramount. People will never be happy unless they delete selfish DPS jobs from the game and utility jobs should have the damage too outdo selfish DPS jobs plus buff the party. We have been down that road in SB...know what happened? Selfish DPS jobs were shelved.

[geekgirl101]

@geekgirl101 so complaining about BLM being OP is not the way too go. It does not bring anything too the party LITERALLY NOTHING EXCEPT DAMAGE. If you have utility then there should be a tax for it. We can argue about how much but there should be a tax nonetheless. Your utility may not seem like it means anything but it does in the eyes of SE and a price has too be paid. BLM is exactly where it should be because now the performance of selfish DPS jobs have become all the more paramount. People will never be happy unless they delete selfish DPS jobs from the game and utility jobs should have the damage too outdo selfish DPS jobs plus buff the party. We have been down that road in SB...know what happened? Selfish DPS jobs were shelved.

And now by your argument utility jobs are being shelved in favour of bringing selfish jobs just to avoid ever seeing the enrage. And yes, BLM is too OP by a huge amount and RDM has, like with NIN and SMN, literally become utter garbage!

[Marianno]

Odd because I still see people playing all the jobs even the weak ones. They even do quite well on them too. The only thing I think really needs to happen to RDM is buffs in potency. At the rate SE is going, I don’t think you’ll get anything super significant. RDM fits perfectly with melee and embolden. BLM DOES NOT. BLM is only called OP because it finally has the damage to be truly considered a selfish DPS job. HA! In SB selfish DPS jobs did not have the DPS to truly be considered selfish DPS jobs. BLM is where it should be. If you want to do big damage, play a selfish DPS job. Or better yet...give up your utility. Since the latter is likely too never happen, RDM will simply have too deal with being lower than BLM. You cannot have the best of both worlds. There must be a price somewhere and if it comes from being low in the damage totem then so be it. The fact of the matter is that RDM HAS UTILITY AND BLM HAS NOTHING. THERE ARE NO MAGICAL BUFFS IN THE GAME AND IF YOU NERF BLM, THEN WHAT GOOD IS IT? There are melee buffs galore in this game. IF BLM HAS NO UTILITY THEN IT NEEDS DAMAGE TO HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE TOO THE party. Like it or not, RDM is not going to share it’s utility because SE is not going too let that happen. In one of the live letters, Yoshi-P laughed at the idea of being asked to give BLM a raise. Whether you want too believe it or not REZ is utility by SE standards and you are taxed accordingly for having even if it’s not used. Tearing down BLM will net you nothing.

[Wayfinder3]

Odd because I still see people playing all the jobs even the weak ones. They even do quite well on them too. The only thing I think really needs to happen to RDM is buffs in potency. At the rate SE is going, I don’t think you’ll get anything super significant. RDM fits perfectly with melee and embolden. BLM DOES NOT. BLM is only called OP because it finally has the damage to be truly considered a selfish DPS job. HA! In SB selfish DPS jobs did not have the DPS to truly be considered selfish DPS jobs. BLM is where it should be. If you want to do big damage, play a selfish DPS job. Or better yet...give up your utility. Since the latter is likely too never happen, RDM will simply have too deal with being lower than BLM. You cannot have the best of both worlds. There must be a price somewhere and if it comes from being low in the damage totem then so be it. The fact of the matter is that RDM HAS UTILITY AND BLM HAS NOTHING. THERE ARE NO MAGICAL BUFFS IN THE GAME AND IF YOU NERF BLM, THEN WHAT GOOD IS IT? There are melee buffs galore in this game. IF BLM HAS NO UTILITY THEN IT NEEDS DAMAGE TO HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE TOO THE party. Like it or not, RDM is not going to share it’s utility because SE is not going too let that happen. In one of the live letters, Yoshi-P laughed at the idea of being asked to give BLM a raise. Whether you want too believe it or not REZ is utility by SE standards and you are taxed accordingly for having even if it’s not used. Tearing down BLM will net you nothing.

Just, go back and read all the page up to this point, they'll explain to you why what you're saying isn't true. Nobody here wants to tear down BLM, but are simply voicing our problems with RDM's performance and low contribution while disputing the onslaught of BLM that believe the caster balance is where it needs to be, even though BLM is 1600 dps higher than RDM on average in Eden gate savage. Thats twice as strong as it was in Alphascape where meta wise, BLM was still the meta pick alongside SMN. So in this instance, BLM just got way stronger than it needed to be and BLM players seem to forget that this is where they were when SMN was dominating. I suppose they're smelling their new found dominance too much to realize that the disparity between the 3 casters is ridiculous right now

[Kabooa]

Just, go back and read all the page up to this point, they'll explain to you why what you're saying isn't true. Nobody here wants to tear down BLM, but are simply voicing our problems with RDM's performance and low contribution while disputing the onslaught of BLM that believe the caster balance is where it needs to be, even though BLM is 1600 dps higher than RDM on average in Eden gate savage. Thats twice as strong as it was in Alphascape where meta wise, BLM was still the meta pick alongside SMN. So in this instance, BLM just got way stronger than it needed to be and BLM players seem to forget that this is where they were when SMN was dominating. I suppose they're smelling their new found dominance too much to realize that the disparity between the 3 casters is ridiculous right now

I have been giving this some thought.

Would fixing some of Red Mage's (and others) playability issues result in enough positive gain?

There seems to be a common thread that the jobs are facing some heavy alignment issues that prior could be justified with the fabled 120s alignment burst windows. My words, no one elses, but that's the conspiracy diagram I'm working on.

You have mentioned this for Red Mage, some have mentioned it for Bard, Ninja is a cavalcade of issues, so on and so forth.

For example, I know you mentioned that Melee windows are unreliable for the Red Mage and another has mentioned Embolden doesn't line up well. Do you think this following list would result in satisfactory positive results:

1. Mana Gauge extended to 160
2. Manafication is +50/+50 instead of 'doubles current'
3. Embolden is 10s of +10%, 60s cooldown, 2 charges. [This one being a straight numerical buff]

[Wayfinder3]

I have been giving this some thought.

Would fixing some of Red Mage's (and others) playability issues result in enough positive gain?

There seems to be a common thread that the jobs are facing some heavy alignment issues that prior could be justified with the fabled 120s alignment burst windows. My words, no one elses, but that's the conspiracy diagram I'm working on.

You have mentioned this for Red Mage, some have mentioned it for Bard, Ninja is a cavalcade of issues, so on and so forth.

For example, I know you mentioned that Melee windows are unreliable for the Red Mage and another has mentioned Embolden doesn't line up well. Do you think this following list would result in satisfactory positive results:

1. Mana Gauge extended to 160
2. Manafication is +50/+50 instead of 'doubles current'
3. Embolden is 10s of +10%, 60s cooldown, 2 charges. [This one being a straight numerical buff]

appreciate the attempt at compromise however this is alot more difficult to discuss and idk if those adjustments might be the way. What i do know, is that RDM and SMN would just need to have their overall contribution increased to warrant the gap between them and BLM. (RDM more so than SMN) QoL can take the form as full on buffs and some of what you're suggesting cross that line. Keep in mind, the idea isn't that BLM shouldn't be a heavy hitter and doesn't deserve it's place in high optimization, the problem is that BLM is just curb stomping RDM and bullying SMN so much, it's bleeding into the areas where they are supposed to be better. SMN already heavily invalidates RDM do to offering a bastardized version of it's primary utility, while filling it's short comings enough for players to prefer it progression and clears.

Tl;dr BLM just needs to share niches, it can't be a viable option in prog if thats RDMs only niche because SMN challenges RDM on that front. The same holds true for RDM, RDM can't be a viable option for high optimization groups because thats BLM niche and SMN already challenges it on that front. currently, RDM is playing by those rules and isn't seeing any success in high speed optimization where as BLM is being a bit greedy and dominating RDM in recorded progression runs. This is the core problem right now that BLM faced prior to their buffs in SB, and RDM faced until the same point in patch 4,4

[Kabooa]

What i do know, is that RDM and SMN would just need to have their overall contribution increased to warrant the gap between them and BLM.

I know it is hard to analyze, but the idea being that it doesn't exclude potency buffs, it just serves as an equalizer in some of the more frustrating aspects of being a caster. Having abundant overflow capacity for Mana means you could reserve a melee combo for movement where it allows, instead of having to stutter step or resort to VerScathe, or if stutter stepping is possible, more room to store more mana to prevent overflow if a raid window is opening up.

Practically speaking, this is a 'neutral' change in terms of potential DPS, but should be a notable uptick in terms of practical DPS - Which is what the Shadowbringers changes largely did for Black Mage, with the exception of Despair and even more enhanced Enochian, which is where a fair amount of its damage potential increase came from.

Manafication is largely a change to let Red Mage -get it on- like everyone else does at the start, however with this mind it would work better as a +80/80 in the 160 gauge state.

And Embolden, aside from being a straight buff, also allows the Red Mage to more readily capitalize on its own windows with more frequent use and a duration that matches (10.5 total seconds for a melee combo, though the damage is done by 8.0, so it all gets the 10% increase).

I think this serves to not only close to gap but make playing a Red Mage 'feel' better. From a hard RDPS standpoint, the Embolden changes alone should increase the "RDPS given" value by nearly double by virtue of no more decay and affecting casters, while having more individual control over Red Mage's outgoing damage and pacing should make reaching the maximum less RNG dependent. Affecting casters also means you don't have this weird case where the only two caster set up you would want auto excludes red mages.

Regarding Summoner, I've got too much "I want to change everything about it" to offer a bandaid fix, but moving Egi Assaults to the GCD and greatly increasing their potency would be the path I'd take, as well as completely turning pets into visuals and sourcing their attacks from the Summoner (AKA - no more ghosting attacks)

[kajv95]

You have mentioned this for Red Mage, some have mentioned it for Bard, Ninja is a cavalcade of issues, so on and so forth.

For example, I know you mentioned that Melee windows are unreliable for the Red Mage and another has mentioned Embolden doesn't line up well. Do you think this following list would result in satisfactory positive results:

1. Mana Gauge extended to 160
2. Manafication is +50/+50 instead of 'doubles current'
3. Embolden is 10s of +10%, 60s cooldown, 2 charges. [This one being a straight numerical buff]

This'd likely be a good first step to take. Mana gauge extension also serves to be allowed to save your burst for a better position, Manafication works better in the 160 scenario since you won't be waiting for natural 80/80 to turn into 160/160, and the embolden is a much needed straight buff, and with charges it can much more easily line up with any group.

In some aspects, it'd make some things overall more accessible and easier, yet I feel like in other aspects such a change would make the gameplay a bit deeper, e.g. wait for 133/153 to get 2 combos off (or differently when combined with manafication) while waiting for a burst phase to make full use of it, or throw it quicker? That could depend on the party composition in question.

There'd be both pdps and rdps buff in this, but it wouldn't immediately encroach on BLM's territory, and it's fine if smaller steps are taken towards an end result that is more satisfactory, with the gap being closed but not so much as to kill BLM's niche, which is what I've been saying all along...

[Kabooa]

There'd be both pdps and rdps buff in this, but it wouldn't immediately encroach on BLM's territory, and it's fine if smaller steps are taken towards an end result that is more satisfactory, with the gap being closed but not so much as to kill BLM's niche, which is what I've been saying all along...

The biggest reason it wouldn't 'encroach' on Black Mage is that we'd be removing this hostile caster relationship that exists with Embolden being a physical only booster. Allowing them to boost magic damage isn't only a general buff, but removes the unnecessary barrier that naturally existed - The Red mage -doesn't want other casters-, and other casters -don't want a red mage-.

This comes back to another post that wasn't expanded enough upon, and it's that having a fourth DPS role for the 'Cannons' would add another lever. Where you can dump Black Mage, Samurai, and Machinist, tune them in their void there, and add additional levers for tuning. In this regard you could completely tune the out-of-box damage between every DPS role to be the same.

This not only simplifies a few matters (Ninja - Dragoon - Monk no longer have to encroach on Samurai in their tuning, same with Bard/Dancer and Machinist, and Summoner/Red Mage and Black mage), but our Full House party bonus can be increased to better encourage a 4 set without crippling a 3 set. You can increase the buffing capabilities of the 3 other roles, and encourage bringing the "Cannon" by making it so they -benefit more-.

This satisfies the greater RDPS, lower PDPS dynamic that's been argued for, but isn't currently possible, since you'd be A) A Subpar support job outside 8 mans and B) there's not enough a difference between the jobs in a more acceptable balance state for Samurai/Black Mage / Machinist to be desirable.

If Black Mage gets twice the benefit from buffs brought by a team, their 'RDPS' contribution is exactly the same as out of box, but their PDPS scales exponentially which feeds back into increasing the "RDPS" value of the supporters. The lack of raise is no longer an issue - Machinist and Samurai also don't have it, and if you're a good cannon, it won't matter what Cannon you play (Well in theory at least) - You have a place.

But I doubt we'll see that happen. Potency buffs for erebody!