GNB QoL Change:

[NaidCaldera]

Double Down should stay at 2 cartrigdes, its an important part of the ability lore/fantasy, an easy "fix" could be to increase the cd to 120 and increase potencys of other skills so you need less cartridges per minute

[Aluja89]

Double Down should stay at 2 cartrigdes, its an important part of the ability lore/fantasy, an easy "fix" could be to increase the cd to 120 and increase potencys of other skills so you need less cartridges per minute

What.........?

[Ixon]

Double Down should stay at 2 cartrigdes, its an important part of the ability lore/fantasy, an easy "fix" could be to increase the cd to 120 and increase potencys of other skills so you need less cartridges per minute

"Double Down" in FFXIV is taken from Seifers Limit Break in Final fantasy 8 called... Bloodfest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb86P49jb1Q

It's obvious that SE took inspiration from both Squal and Seifer's move sets in FF8, but then took liberty when naming them and updating their animation. I do not think there is anything lore related about cartridges at all, so SE is at liberty to do whatever they want.

[NaidCaldera]

ofcourse they can do whatever they want

maybe i worded it the wrong way, for me it makes sense that Double Down uses 2 cartridges because you strike 2 times with it and i dont think they will change that

and i like for abilties to makes sense and be immersive (from a non balance standpoint)

[KariTheFox]

I do think there are issues with cartridge generation, especially between no mercy phases. I would just prefer if SE tried to tweak things around it. Lore and flavor considerations aside, I like that we have a more costly resource to play with, I think the job would lose something if it just turned into a way to dump a cartridge anytime it's on CD.

[Ixon]

I do think there are issues with cartridge generation, especially between no mercy phases. I would just prefer if SE tried to tweak things around it. Lore and flavor considerations aside, I like that we have a more costly resource to play with, I think the job would lose something if it just turned into a way to dump a cartridge anytime it's on CD.

The way I see it, cartridges in general have three main purposes: to press a button on cooldown(Double Down/Gnashing Fang), to expend as many cartridges as possible in your No Mercy window, and to use so you don't overcap gauge. For the sake of damage, that's about it. By this logic, I do not see this mentality changing if they were to hypothetically change Double Down to one cartridge instead of two, and instead only see net positives in the flow of the job when it comes to majority of current content. This to me seems like the easiest way to improve on the job at this time. There have been other suggestions that I think would be a far greater improvement, like someone suggesting they make Double Down it's own gauge system that fills whenever you use cartridges(think like DRG's lvl 90 ability, or like MCH's Queen), but for the immediate I still feel this is the path of least resistance.

[pastry777]

Maybe have Double Down cost a minimum of one cartridge but scale the damage up or down based on the amount of cartridges consumed perhaps?

[Shurrikhan]

I'm not sure how anyone's having trouble with Double Down, though, be that in dungeons or in raid content. You know how many spenders to use between each minute's burst (cycling between full burst, full lull, and Bloodfest lull) and the Double Down only makes it a GCD easier to deplete all possible cartridges under a full burst.

By replacing two Burst Strike casts with one Double Down, you've accelerated burst by a GCD, making up for one of two added cartridges under and full burst. And yet we're acting like it's suddenly slowed and 'clunked-up' said burst?

[Undeadfire]

By replacing two Burst Strike casts with one Double Down, you've accelerated burst by a GCD, making up for one of two added cartridges under and full burst. And yet we're acting like it's suddenly slowed and 'clunked-up' said burst?

Also Double Down is a 80 potency gain over the 2 Burst Strikes + 2 Hypervelocity.

[Ixon]

I'm not sure how anyone's having trouble with Double Down, though, be that in dungeons or in raid content. You know how many spenders to use between each minute's burst (cycling between full burst, full lull, and Bloodfest lull) and the Double Down only makes it a GCD easier to deplete all possible cartridges under a full burst.

By replacing two Burst Strike casts with one Double Down, you've accelerated burst by a GCD, making up for one of two added cartridges under and full burst. And yet we're acting like it's suddenly slowed and 'clunked-up' said burst?

I think you are getting the wires crossed. Double Down, by itself, in an absolute vacuum, is fine. It's when you take into account that you are required to have three cartridges before your burst every minute due to the cost of Double Down that slows down the flow of the job that did not exist in ShB.

An example that I gave before that I will give again. In a dungeon, on the mob pack(s) before the boss, you are required to have at least 2-3 cartridges before the last mob dies, or you will either A. Be behind the buff windows of your group, or B. Burst without Double Down or Gnashing. Both suck. This means that while you are AoEing a mob pack, instead of doing what's damage optimal, which is using your gauge to help burn down the mobs faster either through Gnashing Fang or Fated Circle, you have to focus on building gauge to not miss out on the first burst in on the boss.

This is an EW exclusive issue, as in ShB you only required one cartridge to burst for Gnashing Fang at a minimum, which you could easily build in 3GCD's and be well within the burst window. This is not a dungeon exclusive thing either, you have to do this downshift in the add phases of both EX trials instead of being able to spend it like you would have been able to do in ShB. This is made even more apparent on fights with significant downtime, forcing you to hold gauge from a minute ago, in order to not disrupt your next burst.

You can argue that it's not that bad, the end result is that this change wasn't a quality of life upgrade, but a downgrade. You can argue it's a "skill issue", but I and others see it as an annoyance. Even doing something as simple as changing Double Down to a 1 cartridge cost would be a massive improvement that would not affect those who enjoy this current iteration.

As far as the No Mercy burst, the issue is NOT with Double Down, it's with Hypervelocity and the No Mercy duration. In ShB, you could end a No Mercy on a Burst Strike, no problem. Now though, if your last GCD is a Burst Strike, the following Hypervelocity falls out of the No Mercy window because there is not enough time for a follow on oGCD. Something easily fixed with a short 2sec increase.