Pipe Dreams: Chemist

[Duelle]

I like your idea but I would like to see a more typical use of Mix in a Chemist job. Not so much as using it for direct heals/damage, but in prepping for other abilities.

For example: Using Mix could pop up 3 vials that have the speed of mudras. Each of your proposed Catalyst effects could be achieved by mixing the proper 2 vials together (1+2 for healing boost, 1+3 for damage boost, 2+3 for support boost). Catalysts could have 3 tiers so that you can store them for future uses mid battle or during downtime. Catalyst buttons could switch to vial buttons after pressing Mix to prevent bloat (like DNC steps do).

There's a couple of issues I have with what you're suggesting. First that it sort of makes Catalyst as currently written pointless. One of the reasons Catalyst exists is to allow access to a quick oGDC heal (hence why it can react to Chemical Residue and said reaction heals for the equivalent of a Basic Potion) without having to burn Emergency Potion/Emergency Ampoule. It's also why I gave it 3 charges by the time CHM hits the level cap.

Second, separating the different reactions into separate Catalysts would involve more buttons to press, which personally I am not fond of. You'd need to split the Catalyst button into Healing Catalyst (this would be the 400 potency heal that reacts to Chemical Residue), Kinetic Catalyst (this would be the buff duration increase for Lifewater and Invigorator's effects), and Volatile Catalyst (to deal damage on targets under the effect of Poison or Bottled Fire/Inferno).

That said, I'm willing to consider your suggestion, but will have to make a couple of tweaks:

30 Mix (active for 10s. allows use of Abilities but not chemicals)
30 Healing Catalyst (triggers Chemical Residue)
30 Volatile Catalyst (triggers Poison & Bottled Fire/Inferno)
45 Kinetic Catalyst (triggers Lifewater & Invigorator)

When Mix is activated, Healing, Volatile and Kinetic Catalysts turn into Solutions Alpha, Beta and Gamma, which can be mixed in a certain order to create the catalysts. Mix has a 20s recast, so you have to decide which Catalyst you want to make, though you can save one of each until a later level (TBD) that allows you to store two of each catalyst for future use. Using these solutions to make catalysts increases the By-product Gauge by a higher percentage than your usual potions.

This would grant CHM access to the extra effects from the original Catalyst ability, adds Mix and increases By-product generation when used. Thoughts? (note: I've added a slightly better breakdown in my write-up under Discourse Topics)

Make the DoTs do more damage to account for more time mixing and less time nuking.

I don't think this is necessary, as I'd like the pace of Mix to be around the same amount of time AST spends on the cards. If the paradigm/design for healers changes, I am willing to come back and reconsider this.

[Marxam]

Chemist could work as a job. I imagine its gimmick would be to "amalgamate" potions for different healing effects and buffs but it also can use potions exclusively. Examples of some skills:

Amalgamate = combine two potions for enhanced effect. Duration 5 secs. Recast 30 sec.
Hi-Potion = Restore target HP 200 potency and Regen. Instant. Recast 2.5 sec Duration 15 sec.
Max Potion = Restore target HP 800 potency. Instant. Recast 60 sec, 2 charges.
Elixir = Restore HP of self and nearby party members 200 potency. Instant. Recast 2.5 sec.
Remedy = 300 potency shield. Instant. Recast 2.5 sec
Eye Drops = Restore target Hp 200 potency. Removes Blind. Instant. Recast 2.5 sec. Effect changes when under Amalgamate.
Hi-Ether = restore MP. Duration 20 sec. Recast 90 sec

Amalgamate combinations:

-Hi-Potion + Elixir = 500 potency aoe heal + regen (15 sec)
-Max Potion + Eye Drops = 800 potency heal + 5% crit up (15 secs)
-Elixir + Remedy = 500 potency aoe heal + shield
-Hi-Ether + Elixir = Mp restoration + Mp regen aoe

If they are going to take inspiration from FFT I also hope they use a satchel or bag as their weapon. Im sure many players will flock to the class just to have a bag/purse as part of their glamour. I also imagine the potions are all instant but the act of amalgamating them would require a cast time. Chemist would be the most mobile healer due to the instant nature of potions.

[lunar_seraphim]

If they are going to take inspiration from FFT I also hope they use a satchel or bag as their weapon. Im sure many players will flock to the class just to have a bag/purse as part of their glamour. I also imagine the potions are all instant but the act of amalgamating them would require a cast time. Chemist would be the most mobile healer due to the instant nature of potions.

Yesssss finally someone else who wants a satchel main hand! Gimme, please!

I would add hopes that the design of the vials used change depending on the satchel as well, but I could see them going the way of the text in grimoires and codexes. Couple varying designs but not unique, excluding relics.

[Eloah]

Remember that AST started as the Chemist job, so the card system, and Mudras are the basis for how a Mix feature would probably work; the same with Dances now.

But a few things to note:
First, I don't suggest going beyond the game in it's current form. And by that I mean, if you are making a healer, they will share healer gear and use the healer role actions. It just makes the most sense.
Second, I'm not sure if you knew this, but Chemist, or Salve-maker as it will most likely be called, usually has a high magic stat, if WHM is A than CHM is B. While the idea of them not using magic makes some sense, based on their concept, most games give them access to basic "magic" which is offset by their personal buff. Basically, they can use MP for spells is what I am getting at.
And finally, I would suggest looking up some of the ability names used by Chemist, and all related jobs, in the past, so as to get a feel for their skill set. You, and most people I feel, seem to stick to their "item usage" nature, and forget that they have a background in magic as well. So it's not wrong for them to use magic, in fact, that could be how they "mix" the items together.

[Duelle]

Remember that AST started as the Chemist job, so the card system, and Mudras are the basis for how a Mix feature would probably work; the same with Dances now.

Agreed. That ship, however, has sailed. If abilities are supposed to be "unique", Mix has already lost because of Mudras and Steps/Finishes. Beyond that, my own concerns involve the fact that a healer looking away from health bars to mix things (either to build resources or prep said heals) could cause problems in certain encounters.

if you are making a healer, they will share healer gear and use the healer role actions. It just makes the most sense.

Mechanically, yes. Concept-wise, no. As I've mentioned before, healers are shackled to jobs that have are, in concept, magic users. I'm willing to acquiesce on gear for the sake of not messing with loot distribution for raids, but giving it role actions meant for an MP-using job when the rest of the kit is designed with its own resource in mind would leave the design at odds with itself.

Second, I'm not sure if you knew this, but Chemist, or Salve-maker as it will most likely be called, usually has a high magic stat, if WHM is A than CHM is B. While the idea of them not using magic makes some sense, based on their concept, most games give them access to basic "magic" which is offset by their personal buff. Basically, they can use MP for spells is what I am getting at.

I'm going largely by FFT's version of the job (Item User) along with some rudimentary research I did on FFV's Chemist. Especially in FFT's case, we need to keep in mind that Chemist was the start of the mage tree, so a) any magic stat growth is there because of that and b) it would in theory make it beneficial to cross-class magic (provided magic was useful, which in FFT it wasn't).

[Rai_Takara]

I feel like expecting Chemist to come, let alone as a healer is setting people up for disappointment like Dancer.

It's more likely to see Geomancer first.

[Eloah]

It's more likely to see Geomancer first.

That is a recipe for disappointment too. Also I don't wanna see GEO as a healer. I prefer Tank, but I'll take a DPS as well.

[Risvertasashi]

Remember that AST started as the Chemist job

Er... no?

SE said "item user" AKA chemist was one of the candidates they considered back in HW. AST didn't start as chemist any more than Samurai was rooted in Machinist.

I feel like expecting Chemist to come, let alone as a healer is setting people up for disappointment like Dancer.

It's more likely to see Geomancer first.

Well, setting your hopes on any one thing is a high risk for disappointment. That said, there's a lot of community interesting in CHM - more than geomancer, from all indications - so I think saying Geomancer is more likely seems unlikely.

But we won't really know what jobs in what roles are being added till the announcement comes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Eloah]

Er... no?

SE said "item user" AKA chemist was one of the candidates they considered back in HW. AST didn't start as chemist any more than Samurai was rooted in Machinist.

Yes.

SE stated that Chemist was the intended healer at the time, utilizing guns as their main weapon. But since they couldn't get the mix command to function how they wanted, it eventually developed into the card system for AST. But prior to the reveal of both jobs, SE only hinted at a gun wielding job. MCH was the byproduct of that, since they "hinted" at a gun wielding job at the time, but had originally planned on it being a healer.

If you go back and scour through all of the live letters and whatnot you'll find the "official" source, but here is something I found on TV Tropes that can at least point you in the right direction, if you wanna search. Because, honestly, at this point in time, that bit of info is just common knowledge for most veteran players.

To a lesser extent, when information for*Heavensward*was buzzing about, Michael "Fernehalwes" Koji-Fox said that the expansion wouldn't have a new DPS class, but a healer one. Later in that same fan fest, he heavily alluded to a gun using class. Come the December fan fest, he showed that there was indeed a new DPS class: Machinists, and the healers he was talking about are Astrologians, an entirely new, completely unforeshadowed class. In a later Live Letter Koji admitted that when he made that statement, there really*were*plans for a gun-toting healer class based on the Chemist from*Final Fantasy Tactics. However, there were enough problems regarding mechanics during the preliminary phase of development that they scrapped the idea and made the Machinist and Astrologian instead.

[Cyrocco]

As for the idea of Chemist proposed here, I think a primary complaint from the amount of resources required just for basic healing.
Basic Potion (Heal 1) **Consumes 15% of “MP”**
Airborne Medicine (AoE Heal, Regen) **Consumes 25% of “MP”**
Advanced Potion (Heal 2) **Consumes 25% of “MP”**
Healing Ampoule (AoE Heal) **Consumes 35% of “MP”**
Phoenix Pinion (Revive) **Consumes 45% of “MP”**

With the current system, casting GCD heals 2-3 times is as punishing as reviving an ally, casting many damage spells has no impact on your resources, excluding Poisoned Syringe. This is a job that could easily maintain DPS through a raid, but when I think of situations like E4S’ Voice of the Land, Tumult, Voice of the Land, Earthen Fury combo, I don’t think it could keep up. At the very least, while this job might be attractive to DPS mains, I don’t think any healer would want to heal alongside it.