Dear Bioblaster

[ReiganCross]

Nah. I say keep it how it is. Forcing a very mobile ranged to go into NOT melee range(12y), just slightly closer, every 10sec is not that big of a deal. Wait till you have both Purify and Guard if you are that concerned. I feel forcing a MCH to get a tiny bit closer to eventually gain access to an ability that has the chance to one-shot is a fair enough price to pay. Plus you have Scattergun whose knockback isn't covered by anti-cc like the purify buff, and there are plenty of walls and corners to play around.

It's not JUST one ability though, and that's the problem. Everyone has a move that they need to close range for, WHM has Seraph Strike that allows him to protect and Cure 3, SCH has Mumify to block out healing that really makes his Biolysis shine...

But I want you to imagine a world where SCH isn't allowed to throw his DoT unless he can Mumify someone. Or imagine a Bard that isn't allowed to Pitch Perfect unless he gets into Repelling Shot range. The issue with Bioblaster isn't that he's there, it's that there's a gigantic part of his kit locked behind that one move.

SMN doesn't get his big Ifrit moves, which is his greatest hits, unless he closes into a dash, but he doesn't lose Mountain Buster or Slipstream just because he didn't use Crimsom Cyclone. SCH can just keep Mumify on his backpocket whenever he gets a chance to close on, he doesn't NEED to use it to unlock anything on his kit. And meanwhile MCH ALREADY has a close range option he can press whenever the oportunity arises, but aside from Scatter Gun he also needs to unlock his entire machinery rotation just because Bioblaster is there to clunk the whole thing up, forcing half his kit into effectively melee range because even though 12y isn't ranged, it puts you into range of every single melee gap closer in the game (So you end up in melee anyways.)

[Ixon]

The issue with Bioblaster isn't that he's there, it's that there's a gigantic part of his kit locked behind that one move.

I understand this, but I still do not see this as an actual issue. Every job for the most part has pros and cons(minus the jobs people already agree are broken like WHM), so I have a hard time agreeing that this con should be removed, as it's one of the few cons the job has. It has an 18k Drill that goes through Guard, a 36k cross map snipe(that has hit me for over 46k with buffs/debuffs), and a knockback that ignores most anti-CC, I'm sorry if you have to step up a tiny bit to the closest enemy every once in a while.

DRG's only get access to Wyrmwind Thrust by Elusive Jump, so if you wanted to use this offensively you would have to sacrifice an escape tool until it comes back off cooldown. WAR only gets access to Chaotic Cyclone through Bloodwhetting, so if you are full HP and just want the additional damage, you sacrifice a survivability tool until it comes off cooldown. Hell, half of DNC kit is 15yalms, just 3yalms longer than Bioblaster, and if BRD wants to Bind someone they have to be at least 10yalms away.

The balance could always be better, but forcing a MCH to dip in and hit the closest enemy every once in a while is a very minimal con. You are even given the option to apply a Heavy to the target, a CC that most people won't bother Purifying so they can Purify harder CC's like Stun or Silence, if you are that worried. Not to mention the map design like the entirety of the Lava map, or the ends of the Area map, should make dipping in and getting max value on the cleave and getting out incredibly easy.

[ReiganCross]

DRG's only get access to Wyrmwind Thrust by Elusive Jump, so if you wanted to use this offensively you would have to sacrifice an escape tool until it comes back off cooldown. WAR only gets access to Chaotic Cyclone through Bloodwhetting, so if you are full HP and just want the additional damage, you sacrifice a survivability tool until it comes off cooldown. Hell, half of DNC kit is 15yalms, just 3yalms longer than Bioblaster, and if BRD wants to Bind someone they have to be at least 10yalms away.

That is what I was saying, those tradeoffs are, like, 1/6th of the characters kits. I want you to imagine a DRG that couldn't do Elusive Jump (And therefore Wyrmwind Thrust) unless he High Jumps. Or a WAR that needs to Primal Rend in order to even get access to Bloodwhetting and therefore Crim. Or a BRD that wouldn't be able to use Apex Arrow unless he binds someone with Repelling Shot (And therefore also lose Blast Arrow and access to his Frontliner's March.)

That is what sealing Air Anchor and Chain Saw behind Bioblaster is doing to MCH. If he can't close in the distance with his absolute zero survivability, he only has Blast Charge to proc Wildfire and an absolutely unreliable Bioshop Turret... And NOTHING else. Overheat is unreliable at best and impossible to get off at worst (Not to mention because of connectivity, you can just get stunned into that window and end up with only a single Heat Blast anyways, even if you purify.)

My argument is that being that close-ranged blocked is unreliable for a class that can't even barrier himself unless he plants himself on a tiny ground (And then he's giving up a damage up mark, which is a terrible tradeoff just to get some pathetic shields.)

You might be judging that only by CC standards, and I'll agree that the close range of Bioblaster in there is fine for the most part because you can always get an isolated target to dump the skill in there... But in Frontlines? That is certain death.

[Ixon]

Frontlines has a bigger issue currently than MCH Bioblaster, and yes I am referring to CC because that is the only PVP mode with a Ranked structure. Again, I don't mind BRD being a mile away because they aren't going to do a 18k Drill in my face, or snipe me for 36k, so I don't care if they pew pew from a mile away as much. MCH is very much like BLM, a glass canon of sorts, focusing more on damage than support. Again, I think it's a fair tradeoff. A MCH that can just sit max range and 18k chunk me or have a chance to insta kill me every 20-30sec for free isn't very balanced.

[ReiganCross]

And now, because this goddamn action NEEDS to be bad and in their efforts to make Machinist bad everywhere they go because we're not allowed to have nice things... They removed Bioblaster as a Wildfire activator...

It's like you took my feedback and decided that I needed to hate this thing more, not less. In the name of all Machinist constantly being screwed out of being allowed to deal damage or being remotely good, I hate you, balance guy.

[Cabalabob]

And now, because this goddamn action NEEDS to be bad and in their efforts to make Machinist bad everywhere they go because we're not allowed to have nice things... They removed Bioblaster as a Wildfire activator...

It's like you took my feedback and decided that I needed to hate this thing more, not less. In the name of all Machinist constantly being screwed out of being allowed to deal damage or being remotely good, I hate you, balance guy.

Seriously, this change single-handedly makes me not want to pvp anymore… it may sound overdramatic but it’s less about the move and more about what it represents.

Bioblaster literally exists for no reason other than to make MCH weaker, bioblaster primed should really be considered a debuff, then we find one good thing about it that actually makes it kinda viable to use and SE response? “Patch that immediately!”…. Like how tone deaf can you be?

[Liam_Harper]

I agree.

Bioblaster seems to be some sort of attempt to keep MCH balanced, but it just serves as a debuff in your rotation that forces you into a bad play to "purify" it and access your good buttons again. It isn't fun. Deliberately destroying a jobs gameplay enjoyment isn't how you do balance.

[HmmmmRat]

OwO It could be nice.

[Sarevok_Thordin]

Bioblaster should be it's own button as it DOES have uses, but I'd much rather get air anchor yeah.

[ReiganCross]

Bioblaster should be it's own button as it DOES have uses, but I'd much rather get air anchor yeah.

The only reason I suggest making it rotate with Scatter Gun is because Square seems to be very inclined into giving the jobs the least ammount of buttons possible...

Otherwise I'd not only suggest Bioblaster be his own button, but also Hypercharge that then changes to Heat Blast, charged with Heat stacks that DOESN'T DECAY, so you can actually have some degree of control over your Overheat window.

But if they're gonna go with the least ammount of buttons, Bioblaster actually does have the same range of Scatter Gun so using one after the other doesn't seem that bad. If anything you'd need to cleanse Scatter Gun to be able to get Bioblaster. (You'd also need to just assume he has his primed effect by default since Analyze is designed to work with the other button.)

I've started watching enemy MCHs for Bioblaster Ready; it's depressing how much you can restrict them just by being aware of the tool combo. Unless they can sneak out of objective fights for a duel, they've got to step up eventually, so all you have to do is keep one eye open and one finger on your CC...

Exactly my point. And I hate it with a burning passion.

This wasn't a balancing decision.

They literally just lifted the skill from old PVP without changing anything.

I'm willing to bet they didn't even notice that they'd grouped a 12y skill into a rotation with 25y skills.

They simply didn't think about the implications.

Nah, I don't think it is incompetence in this case. I think the Idea is making sure that this guy is forced into a range where the other players can kill him. That's why so many ranged classes have close-ranged cones/dashes. Which in one way I get, you don't want people just permanently in the safety of their 25y just kiting players.

It's just that Machinist is uniquely disabled in the name of that. He already has Scatter Gun which would slot in the same place as SCH's Mumify, BLM's Burst, SMN's Crimson Cyclone, BRD's Repelling Shot, WHM's Seraph Strke... But he ADDITIONALLY has to deal with that on Bioblaster, on top of already essentially never being able to Scatter Gun because you need to think about dumping Bioblaster first (And you can't even weave Scatter Gun like you used to be able to Blank.)

They want to make ranged people close into melee people so they're not constantly kiting (Like happened a lot before 6.1), but they DOUBLED DOWN on Machinist. And when Machinist finally found something good about that lock, they made sure it didn't work. To make damn certain that Bioblaster is a PUNISHMENT, not an actual tool.