Scathe

[Ferrinus]

I've long thought that BLM should start doing the F1 vs. F4 dance at a much lower level.

Specifically I'd have BLM learn Enochian and a spell called "Dark Fire" at like level 20 or 30. Dark Fire would hit harder than Fire but not refresh AF. Then at level 60, Dark Fire upgrades to Void Fire, which is just a renamed Fire 4.

This would also mean that High Fire 2 could just be named Fire 4, as well as HB2->B4. Generally, the "dark/abyss/void" etc spells could only be used under Enochian and the appropriate elemental aspect, while spells just named Fire or Blizzard could be cast without preconditions. The end result would be functionally identical to the BLM we have now, but players would learn the basic dynamic of the job much earlier.

[Grimoire-M]

No, it really doesn't Grimoire. The class pre 60 and post 60 is night and day different. And if we are fixing one ability, we may as well look at everything that can be improved. Even leveling down below 60 can be pretty jarring if you just got used to the rotation at another level, and I imagine once they new AoE rotation comes in and is actually refined to the point where you merely add things like Flare on as you go up in level, it will, too, be even more jarring when the ST rotation doesn't do that. I already still have to remember 3 or 4 separate burst openers and it's not a fun experience.

See, to me that makes low level content more engaging, not less, while also letting players get used to each bit of nuance as it comes. But again, you also think the AF timer's a mistake where I don't, and that's ultimately where the crux of your complaint falls regarding Fire IV to begin with. My point was to highlight how the rotation surrounding Fire IV has been improved to help ease the player into that transition. If this were still Heavensward and still had to juggle the 30/25/20s Enochian refresh timers or Stormblood where you also had much less wiggle room on the AF timer for a significant portion of the expansion I might agree with you that it needed major changes, and I explained my reasoning on that above, but, to put it in context:

ARR BLM doesn't deal with it so people can instead focus on getting used to how the procs function and how the MP management guides the overall rotation in the first place. I've literally sat down with new players who constantly bungle this aspect because the MP values are tuned for endgame, not levelling, and I would agree that it is actively hindered because we don't have Aspect Mastery at level 1 (which is being fixed in Endwalker). Oddly enough MP scaling on BLM pre-ShB was better at allowing you to fix mistakes in ARR in particular. Pre-Flare you usually had a clean sliver of MP to work in Blizzard I, and below level 40 that helped a lot. HW's levelling process introduces Umbral Hearts and Enochian (which, again, will become a passive in Endwalker) so you can get used to how those work in isolation, and those mechanics aren't that difficult to understand. Fire IV is a big jump, but that factor is diminished when you consider why it's bookended the way it is. Stormblood doesn't significantly alter the rotation up until you get Foul/Polyglot access, and I would agree with you if you said Shadowbringers didn't add much.

90% of your complaints about the feel of lower levels ultimately vanish in Endwalker, particularly when you start looking at the AoE rotation changes. I do not think we need to worry about it. SE's clearly aware of what is a problem and what isn't.

[Hanayumi]

Rather scathe just not cost any mp if anything, pretty much only reason why I dont use it is cause it eats up what could be F4s...