RDM is great

[Katie_Kitty]

New-RDM is great, but I agree that acceleration is underwhelming. I would have much rather retained the three guaranteed procs instead of turning it into another instant cast. Not the end of the world though.

[Archwizard]

Loving new RDM so far. Being able to burst three combos at the start of a boss fight, tap a couple instant GCDs and go straight into a fourth is a game-changer for the job. For all the people who wanted more melee for the job... well, you have it now, right?
Plus the Mana Stacks system actually makes me less afraid to Moulinet trash packs before a boss pull, since it doesn't feel like a waste of a single-target combo.

And the best part of the crunch to our Mana gain? Now we have room for even more spells to bump it a little faster, no more complaints about how "you can't increase the gain any more without creating big Mana imbalances." (Still want Verwater/Verblizzard and I don't care how we get them, and with WHM getting those extra water-themed skills in EW... soon, my children.)

Acceleration's change took a second to get used to, but I'm all for it now. The old version I just toggled every time it came off cooldown and forgot about it, to the point I could macro it as soon as it came up, and all it contributed was a string of bad luck protection; theoretically those procs still could have happened without it, so it wasn't particularly exciting to use outside of enforcing a specific timing for your opening burst window.
Now, not only does it actually fit its name, but it means I can hit four Longcast abilities back-to-back-to-back-to-back between it, Dualcast and Swiftcast – you can tangibly feel the difference it makes rather than just assuming one. It even adds just a little spice to the AoE rotation, especially with it boosting Impact.

Admittedly, I still think it's a failing that our AoE spells don't scale any Mana return off the number of targets hit, which would be a nice round way of evening out the time it takes to fire off three Moulinets without offsetting the single-target rotation. Even if the return was capped between 3-5 targets per cast.
Would also like to see the Mana return gap between our single target spells (at least the longcasts) and Jolt widen, just to feel more like a more impactful boost when you tap Swiftcast or Acceleration.

Tiny thing, doesn't impact our damage at all, but... I'd also have liked to see Vercure get an upgrade to do a small splash heal, like Cure III or Curing Waltz. Would pair nicely with Magick Barrier and make Vercure feel like more than just "cast this to build Dualcast when the target is gone" – especially in those scenarios where the party is stacking mitigation and topping everyone off in preparation for a nuke.
I mean, if Vercure isn't going to give us Mana during downtime because that would be too easy to abuse, boosting its utility would be the least it could do.

[StriderShinryu]

Acceleration's change took a second to get used to, but I'm all for it now. The old version I just toggled every time it came off cooldown and forgot about it, to the point I could macro it as soon as it came up, and all it contributed was a string of bad luck protection; theoretically those procs still could have happened without it, so it wasn't particularly exciting to use outside of enforcing a specific timing for your opening burst window.
Now, not only does it actually fit its name, but it means I can hit four Longcast abilities back-to-back-to-back-to-back between it, Dualcast and Swiftcast – you can tangibly feel the difference it makes rather than just assuming one. It even adds just a little spice to the AoE rotation, especially with it boosting Impact.

Yeah, that's my take on the New Acceleration as well. I know some people here are saying it used to be more "fun" but I struggle to see how it was actually fun. I mean, it was basically just a button you pressed when it went off cooldown and, even then, actually just guaranteed procs that had a reasonable chance of happening anyway. We're not talking about guaranteeing something with a 20% proc rate. I suppose I can see liking the old one better because it maybe felt less fiddly and more "powerful," but it's way more "fun" now.

[Jirah]

Just feels Samey imo, still waiting for it to explore other avenues and mechanics but so far a bulk of its prog kit is literally all evolutionary skills (Jolt II, Impact, Verthunder, Veraero) and “follow up skills” that feels rather tacked on (Verflare/Verholy, Scorch, Resolution) it’s little QoL are good but is this truly what RDM peak? Just it’s 50 base with tarted up visuals and a 1-2-3 in spell form?

[Archwizard]

Just feels Samey imo, still waiting for it to explore other avenues and mechanics but so far a bulk of its prog kit is literally all evolutionary skills (Jolt II, Impact, Verthunder, Veraero) and “follow up skills” that feels rather tacked on (Verflare/Verholy, Scorch, Resolution) it’s little QoL are good but is this truly what RDM peak? Just it’s 50 base with tarted up visuals and a 1-2-3 in spell form?

Oh don't get me wrong, I loathe the fact that every capstone ability we get is just another link in our now 6-part melee combo (7 if you count Verfloly separately), and would be sick of leveling the job if I saw they decided to add an 8th combo attack next expansion or "upgrade" (reskin) the existing ones as the next capstone; that would just show a lack of creativity with a design that (while admittedly quite polished) still has some room for growth, not unlike BLM getting Xenoglossy and then the Hi-2 spells and Paradox.
Granted, it's also unfair of me to assume they would simply leave it at that for the capstone. I can't think of any job where simple reskins come later than +4 levels into an expansion (usually +2), and for what it's worth, Resolution does have a unique relationship to our combo than the other capstones. (Namely being a line AoE, and notably that it was an AoE out of the gate.)

Of course, I'm hopeful that the name "Resolution" means this will be the last addition the combo... knock on wood.

More importantly though, I've learned to accept that the biggest pulls of the job this expansion are not necessarily the addition of new buttons at the top, but the steady revamps to its core gameplay that trickle up – like the ability to pool extra combos for a more opportune window or heavier burst, adding charges to our movement skills so we don't have to pound them on-cooldown, Mana Stacks letting us hold our combo spells, said combo spells becoming part of our AoE rotation rather than a competitor with it...
I mean clearly, the idea that they're just rehashing a combo spell so they "don't fix what ain't broke" is already defeated by the number of changes they made to the job outside the capstone, fixing what they think was broken (or at least could be improved). They are observing, and making iterative changes.

I just hope that next expansion they won't be afraid to shake up our main rotation a bit outside of the combo. Even if it's just another proc, or a timer to maintain, or tools to forcibly imbalance our Mana, or something truly bizarre yet unique to RDM.
And I also hope that they're water and ice themed because I'm basic and easy to please.

[Rongway]

I just hope that next expansion they won't be afraid to shake up our main rotation a bit outside of the combo. Even if it's just another proc, or a timer to maintain, or tools to forcibly imbalance our Mana, or something truly bizarre yet unique to RDM.

I really hope they don't. If the changes would make it significantly different, then they should have just given those mechanics to a new job instead and left RDM alone. Several jobs are in the best places they have ever been, and changing them further will have a high likelihood of either making them worse or making them different jobs all together.

[Archwizard]

I really hope they don't. If the changes would make it significantly different, then they should have just given those mechanics to a new job instead and left RDM alone. Several jobs are in the best places they have ever been, and changing them further will have a high likelihood of either making them worse or making them different jobs all together.

Oh don't be like that. It won't kill us, any more than Paradox made BLM a completely "different job."
Which I know is saying something, since BLM usually changes every 10 levels, but is almost always in "the best place they have ever been" and notably still considered iteration on the same job since HW. The day they actually make BLM "worse" is the day I stop using it as an example for this very argument.

I'm not asking them to reinvent the wheel (which, see my last post, they basically already have), just put the same amount of creativity they put into things like Polyglot and Paradox into us. Little additions sprinkled on top, in a more creatively fulfilling way than "one more spell on the cap".

[Jirah]

I really hope they don't. If the changes would make it significantly different, then they should have just given those mechanics to a new job instead and left RDM alone..

I hope they do! Yes I’m not admittedly a RDM enthusiast, but the jobs themselves are getting more shallow each expansion, and then they do get watered down like MCH and SMN they never go far with it and leave it be due to “popular vote” possibly forever stagnating. I’ve read great RDM enhancements that kept the ease of play instant while offering more flavor the jobs support and fencer themes.

What selfish main would ever desire their job to stagnate?

[Rongway]

What selfish main would ever desire their job to stagnate?

You say stagnation, I say stability. I don't need my job to change every two years. Just slap some traits on things to increase their potencies, their animations, and maybe their areas of effect or rates of activation, and I'll be happy. We have nineteen other jobs I can play if I want something different, maybe twenty or twenty-two in 7.x.

[Jirah]

You say stagnation, I say stability.

Honeyed words, but riddle me this. There are ways to enhance a job and retain its appeal, it’s been done numerous times RDM isn’t SMN where it needs to change to align with design Philosophy. You say “stability” but you can have it and have a enhanced job. It’s not yours and yours alone I’m sure many RDM would love a break from the never ending evolution skills and hollow follow up spells. RDM doesn’t need a rework, if that’s somehow crossed the threshold.