SE are leaving BLM to rot by giving SMN and RDM even more utility

[Zzzlol94]

Why would anyone choose BLM for anything now? If nothing changes (Which has such a high chance of happening):

SMN has currently an 80% buff to their raidwide damage buff
RDM has a ~30-40% increase to theirs.
SMN then gets a free to use Manaward, TWICE. ON HALF THE COOLDOWN. WHAT?
SMN can now move close to 100% of the time without DPS loss, even without having Ruin 2 for movement.
RDM now has a damage reduction AND healing increase cooldown

What does BLM get? We get a free Xeno every 2 minutes, slightly increased damage in place of Fire, reduced Convert cd and another sharpcast. That's it for single target. It's a whole load of nothing in comparison!

Meanwhile we also get a nerfed Xeno for some reason, while the one thing we need to counteract SMN/RDM buffs is MORE damage.

We have lost one unique utility we had, which was Manaward. SMN technically had this with Titan-egi before, but no one used that as it did less damage. Now SMN can just use a 20% Manaward twice in the time we can do it once. Ours is actually worse now since we can only do 30% in 2 minutes, while SMN can do 40% in that time.

BLM still has no ability to raise, which is STILL the primary reason no progression group will ever accept a BLM into their party if a SMN/RDM of equal skill is available. SE has already shown they don't care about integrity of other jobs, so adding raise to BLM to keep it fair between casters MAKES SENSE.

Currently, BLM has had barely any buff to damage. Many jobs have gotten very slightly nerfed on potencies, but for BLM to even stand a chance against SMN/RDM with their non-DPS utility, BLM needs to be dealing over 25% more personal DPS just to outweigh these advantages. SE has never been able to understand how to balance casters, but they keep being completely oblivious to what's causing this to happen.

What I think should rather be done, RDM/SMN should get rid of their non-DPS utility and get rid of their raises. It makes just as little sense for SMN/RDM to have it now as it does for BLM to have it. It doesn't destroy the jobs, it would also even balance out casters much more with melee/ranged, as currently casters are taking over the 2nd melee slot more often than not. Why would you ever pick a 2nd melee, when SMN can move anywhere while dealing all the damage they can, give raid buffs, raise people and shield themselves? Answer: You wouldn't. The balance between the casters will be destroyed with the next expansion if nothing changes.


First step for Square Enix to fix this issue:


REMOVE RAISE ON SUMMONER AND RED MAGE.

[MilkieTea]

REMOVE RAISE ON SUMMONER AND RED MAGE.

No.

/10char.

[ForteNightshade]

No.

/10char.

Ironically, you'd see very few complaints from RDM and SMNs for losing their respective Raises, especially SMN as it's new rotation makes it an even bigger DPS loss. Neither wants to raise. They do it for prog sake. It's the Healers who care because they don't want to touch their raise without Swiftcast.

With all that said, OP seems to forget that BLM'S "utility" even right now is its massive damage. Hell, speed meta since Verse has brought Samurai despite Dragoon and Monk offering all kinds of buffs. Why? Their buffs aren't enough to offset Samurai's raw damage. Admittedly, there are other factors at play but sheer damage is still a major contributor. The only thing OP is correct on is statics will typically want you to play RDM/SMN for prog. While that can be understandably frustrating, the change to Embolden now means statics can more freely drop a Melee without punishing their RDM. This restriction is also only really prevalent in the more sHC and HC groups. So if you don't have those aspirations, then it really doesn't even matter. You'll find a static as a BLM.

[Archwizard]

Ironically, you'd see very few complaints from RDM and SMNs for losing their respective Raises

As a RDM main, I like having Raise, actually.

Thing is, if you're at a point in progression where resurrecting people is still a viable route to get a clear over just wiping and resetting, leaving Raise purely to the healers begs the question... who's gonna rez the healers if their squishy arses get splatted. Even if just one goes down, if the other doesn't have Swiftcast handy, someone's gotta be healing the group and the tank.
It's nice not having them all be on one role (or even on one job in a group, given the popularity of solo-heal comps).

... Plus it's just convenient to have for taking friends and lowbies through farm content, or even for casual raid roulettes, especially if I know they're going to die repeatedly their first time or two around. Not every spell or ability has to be weighed on its value for high-end content.

Now as for SMN, I have no idea. I know I detested having to urgently Mana Shift on my RDM back in SB when MP was tight, I'd guess SMNs have pretty much the same reaction of "I hate being asked to but... fine, at least I have it, better than wiping."

[Seraphor]

Ironically, you'd see very few complaints from RDM and SMNs for losing their respective Raises, especially SMN as it's new rotation makes it an even bigger DPS loss. Neither wants to raise. They do it for prog sake. It's the Healers who care because they don't want to touch their raise without Swiftcast.

With all that said, OP seems to forget that BLM'S "utility" even right now is its massive damage. Hell, speed meta since Verse has brought Samurai despite Dragoon and Monk offering all kinds of buffs. Why? Their buffs aren't enough to offset Samurai's raw damage. Admittedly, there are other factors at play but sheer damage is still a major contributor. The only thing OP is correct on is statics will typically want you to play RDM/SMN for prog. While that can be understandably frustrating, the change to Embolden now means statics can more freely drop a Melee without punishing their RDM. This restriction is also only really prevalent in the more sHC and HC groups. So if you don't have those aspirations, then it really doesn't even matter. You'll find a static as a BLM.

Rez Mage here, don't you dare touch my raise.

[ForteNightshade]

Rez Mage here, don't you dare touch my raise.

Considering the dev team seems very determined to kill Resurrection on Summoner. Verraise has to die with it otherwise Red Mage instantly becomes a guaranteed job much in the same vein Dragoon and Ninja were locked in during Heavenswards and Stormblood.

Why are people saying BLM's damage is its utility? Am I missing something?

BlackMage and Summoner do almost the exact same dps, but even by a miniscule amount, SMN actually OUTDAMAGES BLM. Look up the statistics (I'm not sure if I can link anything here).

BLM doesn't nearly do enough damage to justify the lack of resurrection, but perhaps the 3% devotion next expansion is an answer to this concern.

EDIT: Also want to add that dps requirements have been a non-issue for ages now. There's hardly any dps checks mid fight anymore and the enrages continue to be too lenient to warrant the need of a single class to make or break a run. It's always so derailing to see people constantly say "BLM's utility is its damage" when it's outdps'd by a class like NIN merely because of its incredible Trick attack utility.

Uhh... yes it does. At 80% Summoner only ever out-dpses Black Mage in Oracle. And only in rDPS. In every other fight, Black Mage is anywhere from a 100 to nearly 1000 rDPS above Summoner while absolutely demolishing it in aDPS. Ninja doesn't come anywhere close to Black Mage. So I have no idea where you got that nonsense.

[Fryfor]

Think these jobs are all fine. Gonna ignore that wall of text, sorry. Is this satire?

[Leonus]

Considering blm is still chosen when players know the fight over the other two jobs I'd wager you are complaining to just... well, complain.

[MagiusNecros]

Black Mage has damage and superior mobility. Quit your crying.

[ssunny2008]

Why would you choose SAM without ANY raidbuffs or useful utility?! Oh right, the damage is broken... What´s with BLM right now as the only class that can compete with SAM?!