Thread: 6.0 Red Mage speculation

Originally Posted by Rongway

Out of curiosity, are you using legacy movement or standard movement?

As a legacy mover, very few things I do are ever based on my character's perspective. AutoFaceTarget handles all of my facings and I can move in eight directions at full speed regardless of facing or camera position, which makes dodging and attacking at the same time quite simple. However, it makes targetless actions much more difficult to aim; if I can't get the correct facing just by pressing the FaceTarget key, I can't guarantee I'm going to backflip (Elusive Jump) or dash (En Avant) in the direction I really mean to.

Standard... I can't really do Legacy, no matter how I try. I usually go with my mouse to turn and move.

I suppose still having a target is not exactly what I wished for the ability, but still even if it remained, it would be a huge improvement to have it just as an on-demand backflip. The choice of adding to the end of the melee combo would still be there to get into a certain position faster, which would translate in less needing of movement.

When looking at changes to RDM, there's the question of what it could use, and what you're willing to lose to get it--this balance must be maintained. Sometimes this means getting rid of something that works now, in exchange for something that provides better impact later. So, how do we jolt some life into the job for EW, to embolden it without sacrificing what makes this job a scorcher now?

1- MP costs could be removed from the single target rotation, and Lucid deleted with it. Right now it only exists to create a management look around MP that feels superfluous. Removing the MP costs means that Lucid can be removed, without removing MP's role as a Verraise-limiter. AoE could be changed as well, but in dungeon pulls, Verraise MP management isn't a thing and doesn't need to be considered. In exchange, RDM has a glaring flaw in hard content--they're the most squishy job of them all, with no defensive cooldowns whatsoever that isn't Addle. This hole in their repertoire could be replaced with either making Manawall a role-ability, or by introducing a RDM-specific cooldown with a defensive element, maybe even a healing ogcd.

2- I like Displacement and I like how it rewards knowing the fight and when to use, and not use; however if there was a button that we could sacrifice to get something more fun I'd be for this one getting axed to make room. Not decoupled--axed. However, that's because in its place, you could use something else--I'm talking about Chaincast. Obviously the damage buff would be pared down, but the idea of having a cooldown you use before Verholy/Verflare, and then coming out of your burst window throwing Verthunders and Veraeroes with impunity sounds fun.

3- Another red magic spell, long cast. Call it Jolt III or call it Ardor or something else, that doesn't matter. The spell would require both Verstone and Verfire Ready, and it would eat both buffs for damage, and provide mana to compensate. If current potencies were in play, it'd be set so that it has 40 potency above Verthunder, and provide 9/9 mana--thus it'd not actually be a loss of damage from losing the procs. It'd be a spell you'd use during Chaincast to ensure procs have value, or used if you're stuck with both procs going into melee (preventing losing a proc to verholy/verflare), benefiting from any spell damage buff Chaincast provided, and used to clear procs with a swiftcast so you can maximize use of that as well.

The other two ability gains could be dedicated to the usual potency buffs/full spell upgrades and readjusting cooldown timers a bit.

Originally Posted by Gruntler

2- I like Displacement and I like how it rewards knowing the fight and when to use, and not use; however if there was a button that we could sacrifice to get something more fun I'd be for this one getting axed to make room. Not decoupled--axed. However, that's because in its place, you could use something else--I'm talking about Chaincast. Obviously the damage buff would be pared down, but the idea of having a cooldown you use before Verholy/Verflare, and then coming out of your burst window throwing Verthunders and Veraeroes with impunity sounds fun.
.

Why not just decouple and remove the damage component? If it becomes a situational skill, it would free a spell slot, because it wouldn't be required as part of the rotation. Chaincast would also need something looked at... I think it's fine as a lost action because it's very niche content, but several insta-casts through a long period of time, you wouldn't have enough OGCDs to put between the casts. I could see it added if they, for example, turned Enchanted Reprise into an oGCD under chaincast effect, so you would have enough to keep the 'flow' of the job.

Originally Posted by Gruntler

RDM really just needs another Shadowbringers-treatment, a bit of quality of life tools to make the job play smoother

Tbf, RDM lucked out with just how little (and therefore non-invasive or mechanic-gutting) QoL it was given. The same period's "QoL improvements" on Monk and MCH gutted existing playstyles.

(No, I'm not including Leaden Fist or the MCH combos in that, but merely all the ways GL was sabotaged into a non-mechanic before being removed completely and what the simplification of removing ammo or Rapid Fire--only to replace it with an even more ping dependent version--cost those affected jobs.)

In XIV, at least, "QoL" applied to job mechanics sometimes has a serious threat of Monkey's Paw outcomes.

Originally Posted by Daws

+ Mana. What if we had a cd that returned mana but cost W/B mana? Interesting trade off for rough times.

I'm assuming you mean an Ability that converts white and black mana to MP.

What rough times though? The only time this would be used is to get more MP after casting three or four raises, and DPSwise you would be better off just spending your mana on a redoublement combo while you wait for passive MP refresh and for Dreaming to cool down. And if you wanted to use that MP on even more raises instead, this would bring up major balance issues--to say nothing of why didn't you just reset the fight long ago?

I don't see this action being anything but an illusion of utility.