Concept for a Magic Melee DPS

[Shurrikhan]

Blunt weapons and fighting sticks are woefully underrepresented.

Spellblade aside, I wouldn't mind seeing a 'magic melee dps' swinging around a meteor hammer that gets imbued with the magic.

I still badly want a staff-wielding Adept job, as sort of a cousin to the Monk but built far more about weaponskills generating effects that can then be released/consumed via magic bursts.

[Archwizard]

Something I've been considering... what if the Magic Melee DPS straight-up uses a magic weapon?

Like, not just "enchanted", but an energy weapon made out of magic. Kind of like a lightsaber? "Here's a hilt with crystals orbiting it, activate to shoot a focused beam of aether from it, here's some techniques to transmute the aether between different elemental states"?

[Shurrikhan]

Something I've been considering... what if the Magic Melee DPS straight-up uses a magic weapon?

Like, not just "enchanted", but an energy weapon made out of magic. Kind of like a lightsaber? "Here's a hilt with crystals orbiting it, activate to shoot a focused beam of aether from it, here's some techniques to transmute the aether between different elemental states"?

So long as that unique advantage makes use of... its unique advantages, e.g. by shifting the form of the weapon or constantly imbuing it in accordance with other actions, that seems pretty compelling.

[Shurrikhan]

The only problem I can see with that is that it means every weapon would have to utilize a near-matching skeleton every time so that they have the same joints to execute the same transformations for the same moves, as opposed to just having multiple weapon "types" under the same umbrella (ie energy longswords, scimitars, axes, etc) like we've been seeing more of this expansion (PLDs with pickaxes and WARs with hammers). That or just expecting extra animation time devoted to one job's weapons so they can each have different behaviors, which might be a bit ludicrous.

I'd rather have the job delayed by massively increased animation costs than for it not to take advantage of its weapon's unique aspects. If it's going to have what seem truly different weapon types, those should probably come with respectively different animations as well. You can share thrusts and share one-handed slashes, but it'd make no sense to start thrusting with your magiaxe or start two-handed slashing enemies with a magirapier.

I could see it maybe going only between lightsaber, lightspear, and (essentially) a palm-blasted light-drill, which would scarcely require making a weapon-swap system integral to the job -- instead electing a far, far more straightforward but brutal use of its power. Just, again, so long as it's seeming to optimize that uniqueness.

[Archwizard]

I'd rather have the job delayed by massively increased animation costs than for it not to take advantage of its weapon's unique aspects. If it's going to have what seem truly different weapon types, those should probably come with respectively different animations as well. You can share thrusts and share one-handed slashes, but it'd make no sense to start thrusting with your magiaxe or start two-handed slashing enemies with a magirapier.

This is assuming a magirapier is part of the kit in the first place, but I would once again direct you to the examples of DRG and PLD who do precisely that, slashing with javelins and thrusting with a pickaxe. While RDM may not use two hands, it does employ reverse-gripped spinning slashes with Moulinet.

I could see it maybe going only between lightsaber, lightspear, and (essentially) a palm-blasted light-drill, which would scarcely require making a weapon-swap system integral to the job -- instead electing a far, far more straightforward but brutal use of its power. Just, again, so long as it's seeming to optimize that uniqueness.

I suppose that's more fair. Probably a limited number of joints -- far shorter than you'd expect for a request like a whip -- which just stretch or compress like an accordian, as needed by the animation?

[Shurrikhan]

This is assuming a magirapier is part of the kit in the first place, but I would once again direct you to the examples of DRG and PLD who do precisely that, slashing with javelins and thrusting with a pickaxe.

And? I obviously find both of those interactions problematic and would rather avoiding them outside of, say, a singular joke item each. That was exactly the point. I consider it important enough not to have ridiculously impractical or ill-suited animations that I'd gladly see the implementation of such a job delayed, even if I was quite looking forward to its gameplay.

I suppose that's more fair. Probably a limited number of joints -- far shorter than you'd expect for a request like a whip -- which just stretch or compress like an accordian, as needed by the animation?

I was thinking of a something even simpler than that -- literally a shaft of variable length, with the design varying from refining its ability to cut to its ability to pierce. Length, shear, and force.

[Archwizard]

So, what I've got so far:

1. All Strikes will deal base physical damage, with an additional X% elemental damage based on the strike in question. Active enchantments will scale off both, causing multiple instances of magic damage per swing.
2. En-strikes are Fire (Flametongue), Ice (Icebrand) and Lightning (Thunder Strike). Fire grants a stacking DoT on swings (reusing Flametongue will also clear the DoT, limiting the number of stacks), Ice increases burst damage and returns MP, Lightning grants cleave damage. En-strikes will enchant the next 2 weaponskills. (Fire or Ice may also be a ranged skill?)
3. Un-enchanted strikes are Earth (Break Blade) and Water (Liquid Steel), both stronger than En-strikes. Water is stronger and will amplify the effects of any active enchantments, but clears them immediately after use. Water may have increased flank damage.
4. Wind (Wind Shear) is weaker than Earth or Water, but has a reduced GCD, will clone any enchantments that were active on the previous strike, and grants Quickening. May have increased rear damage if Earth doesn't.
5. Only AoE skills have a combo attached to them (Blitz -> Area Sweep). Completing an enchanted AoE combo will grant Quickening as well.
6. Ranged attack (Strike Raid) is purely physical damage and has a low chance to grant Quickening.
7. Quickening is a prerequisite for casting instant spells, which also have a lower GCD but consume large amounts of MP (preventing Wind Shear -> Spell spam). Spells include Imperil (single-target vulnerability to your magic damage for a duration) and two burst damage finishers (Banish for single-target, TBD spell for AoE, really tempted to say Ardor though).
8. Some abilities will inherit active enchantments, without consuming charges of them (as non-weaponskills). Warp Striking (see previous writeups) to an ally will heal you and cause your next Warp Strike to crit, amplifying both physical and enchanted damage separately.
9. Each instance of magic damage dealt by you (including AoE) will grant the unique job resource; spells may generate more. Once the resource gauge is completely full it will automatically begin depleting over time, but grant your weapon a sheath of pure aether to amplify and transform your attacks into stronger skills (Break Blade -> Ivory Slash, Blitz -> Bladestorm) until the gauge is completely empty. The gauge empties as an increasing rate over time, but strikes can continue to build resource to delay the end of this enchantment.
10. Depletion can be ended by performing a powerful finisher weaponskill (Liquid Steel -> Ars Arcanum for single-target, Area Sweep -> Radiant Blade based on Alisaie's attack for AoE) only available during the latter enchantment, which increases in damage the longer the enchantment lasted.

What I find interesting about this design is that, without restricting the player to a combo, each new Strike added to the rotation would not only shake up the rotation in palpable ways every few levels, but give the flexibility to play around with making your own rotation on the fly. Sure you'll still end up with cookie cutters, but you may find a certain combination of enchantments more useful in a given scenario than others.

What I see happening is:
Single target: (Wind -> Imperil ->) EnFire -> Earth -> Water -> Wind -> (Banish or Imperil) -> (EnBlizzard -> Earth -> Water -> Wind -> Banish) x2 -> BURST PHASE: (Up to two enchantments) -> Ivory Slash, ending in Ars Arcanum
AoE: EnThunder -> Blitz -> Area Sweep -> TBD AoE spell -> BURST PHASE: EnThunder -> (Optional enchantment) -> Bladestorm, ending in Radiant Blade
... with abilities mostly saved for after enchantments and before Water or Sweep.

Toss in Runic as a mitigation skill and some attack oGCDs (perhaps one that extends enchantments by 1 weaponskill for instance or something to encourage double-stacking) and bam, I think that's a pretty unique job right there, no?

[Archwizard]

Few days old, but with regards to my previous post, a couple modifications to make could be:

- Water no longer clears enchantments, but Wind consumes them to make spell charges
- Either Earth or Water is a proc attack that extends active enchantments for an additional attack
- "Spark" (like a certain sword-wielding enemy likes casting) as a single-target attack, Banish as perhaps a cleave?