Chad Mages What else would you want right now for our class

[Kabooa]

I hardly know where to begin unraveling this.

Flare started as a finisher. Its design hasn't changed, it's additional traits that have expanded its use.

You will always finish with Flare, just as you always finish with Despair, and both of those 'finishers' maximize AF so there's no chance of dropping AF before going to UI. In every expansion prior to Shadowbringers, Flare also had small windows where it could be a finisher in single target rotations.

F2/B2 have phased out of usefulness, but they still have purposes when leveling. A trait upgrade to phase them out is no less viable than simply making them have a relevant place moving forward.

Example: F2 increasing the damage of the next spell that hits targets damaged by F2.

B2 giving the Black Mage a damage shield scaling for each enemy hit.

[Archwizard]

Flare started as a finisher. Its design hasn't changed, it's additional traits that have expanded its use..

Sure, additional traits like Improved Umbral Heart that specifically expand Flare's position in the rotation to allow for multiple casts in a row. It may have started as a finisher, that does not mean the devs consider it to be one now or continue to design accordingly.

F2/B2 have phased out of usefulness, but they still have purposes when leveling. A trait upgrade to phase them out is no less viable than simply making them have a relevant place moving forward.

Completely agreed, which has been my position since the beginning. I have largely been noting that the specific case Ferrinus has been suggesting has required imposition on our existing skills in order to force a relevant place for those skills, while existing tools already have perfectly set up a means to comfortably phase them out.

Example: F2 increasing the damage of the next spell that hits targets damaged by F2.

B2 giving the Black Mage a damage shield scaling for each enemy hit.

I apologize if what follows comes as nitpicking for off-handed suggestions, though I am trying to stay on track for vetting the value of these abilities.

The large issue with this specific example, however, is that Fire 2 consumes Umbral Hearts much as Flare does. Unless we take into account Ferrinus' suggestion to have Fire 2 also grant AF3 as a means of transitioning, then we won't be able to retain UH for casting Flare and will render the Improved trait functionally worthless.

Meanwhile, a damage shield in AoE scenarios is impractical for BLM for a number of reasons -- we aren't meant to tank packs, the purpose overlaps with Sleep in the overworld, etc. While a barrier (like... Manaward) would be practical in a scenario like absorbing a boss' group-wide damage pulses, against one target we are likely facing the issue of not having the means to generate a large enough shield to be worthwhile.
That said, I am a fan of the idea of UI spells largely being more utilitarian with regards to mobility, recovery and survivability, to make it seem as less of a punishment for not maintaining a lengthy AF phase -- which is a big part of why I advocate making Blizzard 1 take the place of Scathe as our go-to instant attack, besides a general aid to Enochian cycling. If you do everything right in AF phase between Triplecast, Xenoglossy, Firestarter, Thundercloud and all that jazz you can skip it, but otherwise, not completely screwed in lengthy movement. Maybe even give instant B1 a low chance to generate UH for that niche, though I suppose that kinda overlaps Umbral Soul.