Quote Originally Posted by Colt47 View Post
I like machinist the way it is and I'm going to disagree here on the choice to make it more complex. The idea of this game is to run multiple jobs, not just one job, and there are jobs in this game that are waaaaaaaaaay too annoying to figure out, like Summoner largely due to how some of the skills work, along with Ninja.

I'm still kind of laughing at how I could level jump a Black Mage or Bard and not have an issue, but then legitimately level a summoner and realize at around level 78 I was doing the entire thing wrong. Ninja was the absolute worst of the bunch to level jump into because of the freaking Mudras. I don't even know if the quest line helps with that or not, but I can't see someone stepping into ninja and figuring out that job right out the gate.
I think the problem isn't the job, it's the game that does a terrible job explaining rotations in the first place (understand, it doesn't explain anything).

SMN is fairly simple to understand if you carefully read all spells and abilities, like any other job. It's just that the game won't tell you that everything exists in a two minute cycle (110 seconds technically). Once you understand that, it's just easy to understand how the job flows because the big parts of its structure are mutually exclusive (the trances). Hitting on things when they are available is doing most of the job, the rest is optimization (and managing pet bugs).

The biggest issue in SMN right now is how each level cap brings something new that doesn't work with previous elements of its kit. Phoenix doesn't work like Bahamut, Bahamut doesn't work like Dreadwyrm Trance, Dreadwyrm Trance doesn't work like the Egi (the Egi doesn't work with Aetherflow and the DoTs).


The game should explain at least broadly what an oGCD ability is, how to use it and when. It should also have job quests (well, when we used to have them) teach you how your rotation works, especially at each level cap