Suggestion for: RDM improvements

[Zoberraz]

Mmm. I wouldn't say that I feel overly cheated. More that the irony kind of smacks me in the face.

Seems like they thought that they had a winning chemistry with Red Mage. So, they went for more or the same; with the only true improvement being - as I alluded in my previous post - the addition of Scorch and the breadcrumb QoL we got with the traits.

It's more that I felt Scatter+Scatter wasn't something that was broken, so, why fix it? The fix, so far as I'm concerned, lessens the Red Mage experience rather than enhance it. I get that the addition of Aero 2 and Thunder 2 means that there's a choice to make for the Red Mage's player to choose what mana color to raise... but did that really need to happen? If Holy Spamming is fine, why wasn't Scatter spamming fine?

Though, more to the point, there's also extra shelf space being taken and I'm not fond of the contorsions required on the keyboard to simply cast the things (It was one thing to mash Ctrl+0 in Stormblood, but now I have to dance between Ctrl-2, Ctrl-3 and Ctrl-4 a whole lot and my left hand really resents going through those contorsions).

Where single target is concerned, the Red Mage feels snappy, powerful and overall rewarding. But the AoE current setup?

Not a fan.

I'm not going to be flipping desks over it, nor to I expect it to change during Shadowbringers' patches, but my tiny hope is that if I make my voice heard, maybe it'll get streamlined by the next expansion. In the meantime, I'll be grateful to any tank that isn't inclined to double-pull since I won't feel like AoEing while playing Red Mage. Maybe I can find a positive spin to this by reviewing my keybinds in order to make the AoE experience less of a chore to execute ad nauseum.

After all, I'm posting here because I want to like the Red Mage.

[Mhaeric]

It's more that I felt Scatter+Scatter wasn't something that was broken, so, why fix it? The fix, so far as I'm concerned, lessens the Red Mage experience rather than enhance it. I get that the addition of Aero 2 and Thunder 2 means that there's a choice to make for the Red Mage's player to choose what mana color to raise... but did that really need to happen?

Scatter spam was one of the complaints players had about RDM, myself included because it was mind-numbingly boring. I am super happy with the AoE rotation we have now since it allows for things that weren't possible in the previous version. E.g. the split into a weak and strong AoE skill means it now interacts with Swiftcast in a much more meaningful way. The only things I wouldn't mind seeing added to it are an interaction with Acceleration somehow and an AoE finisher move that procs after some number of Enchanted Moulinet (5 would be my suggestion.)

[Duelle]

It's more that I felt Scatter+Scatter wasn't something that was broken, so, why fix it? The fix, so far as I'm concerned, lessens the Red Mage experience rather than enhance it. I get that the addition of Aero 2 and Thunder 2 means that there's a choice to make for the Red Mage's player to choose what mana color to raise... but did that really need to happen? If Holy Spamming is fine, why wasn't Scatter spamming fine?

I agree with this. Though repetitive, Scatter spam was fine. Considering they went for actions replaced by other actions in the same hotbar slot depending on resources/effects, they could have gone with Scatter => Impact as you mentioned.

Additionally, they've set the precedent of Tier II Verspells being AoE, which means if they follow that to its logical conclusion AoE gameplay will likely turn needlessly complicated once Verfire II and Verstone II enter the picture.

Though, more to the point, there's also extra shelf space being taken and I'm not fond of the contorsions required on the keyboard to simply cast the things (It was one thing to mash Ctrl+0 in Stormblood, but now I have to dance between Ctrl-2, Ctrl-3 and Ctrl-4 a whole lot and my left hand really resents going through those contorsions).

I opted to commit the cardinal sin of clicking with the mouse cursor on the AoE skills. I'm not bending my wrist in a weird direction just to cast AoE. What could have comfortably fit on CTRL-4 (CTRL-5 if I stretch) if it had been one button is now on the other side of the hotbars.

"RDM- Potency Increases. RDM Acceleration has 3 stacks, increased recast time."
not sure acceleration needed to have that many stacks but ok

I agree Acceleration at most needed 2 stacks (for those instances where you procced nothing but Acceleration is still on cooldown). If I were to hazard a guess, Acceleration will likely be bumped up to 60s or 90s cooldown per charge.

[Duskane]

"RDM- Potency Increases. RDM Acceleration has 3 stacks, increased recast time."
not sure acceleration needed to have that many stacks but ok

[Rilifane]

"RDM- Potency Increases. RDM Acceleration has 3 stacks, increased recast time."
not sure acceleration needed to have that many stacks but ok

Guaranteed perfect proc opener, better control over burst phase and when your melee combo will be ready and overall dps increase through this change alone.
I think 3 stack Acceleration is a fantastic change.
Adding the potency increases will definitely place RDM in a better spot. Still below the upper half but not by as much as now. Right now RDM is a poor choice when your raid struggles with meeting dps checks but with those two changes it should be a valid choice again. Not optimal but valid.

[SaberMaxwell]

"RDM- Potency Increases. RDM Acceleration has 3 stacks, increased recast time."
not sure acceleration needed to have that many stacks but ok

This makes perfect proc opener guaranteed, which is huge.

[Leidiriv]

I just have to say, the Acceleration change is wonderful as long as we can still use it out of combat. I'm optimistic that our Verspells will end up getting buffed by Enhanced Manafication or Enhanced Jolt, but I'm really curious to see what they end up buffing. I *hope* it's not just 150-ish potency to Holy/Flare and Scorch though, because that would just make us so crazily crit-dependent it wouldn't even be funny.

[Sylvain]

They didn't mention it but it would be nice to have E-Reprise do more damage and consume more B/W mana. Too often do i find myself above 50 a few sec before Embolden + Mananifcation come back up.

I agree Acceleration at most needed 2 stacks (for those instances where you procced nothing but Acceleration is still on cooldown). If I were to hazard a guess, Acceleration will likely be bumped up to 60s or 90s cooldown per charge.

90s would be way overkill. 45s to 60s at most.

[Leidiriv]

The lrimary reason Acceleration will provide 3 stacks of the buff is because of the opener. For the 8 spell perfect proc opener, we need exactly 3 procs total. This change guarantees that we get the 8 spell opener every time. It makes perfect sense, imo.

[Archwizard]

Personally I'm still hoping Mana gets adjusted with the potency changes. I know it's irrational and largely unnecessary, but it bugs me that VA2 and VT2 generate more Mana than Jolt or Impact.