Thread: Please revert SAM 6.1 changes

I would like to request that the devs revert the changes made to SAM in 6.1. Burst damage is the core identity of SAM. The removal of Kaiten and redistribution of potency from the Iaijutsu, conflicts with the core identity of the class.

From day one the class was supposed to be centered around building up resources and spending them to achieve huge bursts of damage. In SB it was all about Hagakure Shinten spam. Which probably wasn't intended, but that's what happened. In ShB it was all about Midare, Senei, and later Shoha (once they fixed it). Build up resource, spend in burst. That's always... Always how it has been. If the Devs intention is to change the core identity of SAM, I would like to know. If it isn't their intention to change the core identity of SAM, the changes they made to SAM have gone too far.

Kaiten made the big hits bigger, feeding into the identity of the class, and made resource management an active part of the job. If the Devs intention was to reduce the amount of effort it took to manage kenki (which was minimal imo), removing Kaiten might have seemed like a good idea. But they removed a major contributor to the jobs identity without adding anything to fill in the gap. So, until they add something that fulfills Kaiten's role, they should leave Kaiten alone. {But seriously... what SAM main thought that kenki management needed to be simplified... whatever, doesn't matter.}

Similarly, spreading out the potencies from the Iaijutsu conflicts with SAM's core identity. SAM's identity is it's Iaijutsu. They are the only melee class in the game that has to cast any of it's abilities. The entire rotation is centered around it's Iaijutsu. Nearly every single ability that SAM possesses is connected to it's Iaijutsu. It's basic combos build up resources to utilize Iaijutsu. Three of it's off GCD abilities are tied to utilizing Iaijutsu (Kaiten makes them bigger, Meikyo gets them faster, and Ikishoten makes the biggest one available). So why would the devs deemphasize the Iaijutsu by spreading out their potency?

In order for SAM to feel good, in it's current state, with it's current abilities, the Iaijutsu need to feel big, at the very least. Now, if the devs want to change that emphasis on Iaijutsu, they need to rework SAM and clearly communicate what they think SAM's identity should be. Because everything they have done to SAM since it's introduction in SB (Removing Hagakure, Introducing Tsubame-Gaeshi, Changing Shoha, Introducing Ogi Namikiri) has been to emphasize the Iaijutsu.

So please, dev team, please revert the changes made to SAM in 6.1. They don't help. They make the class feel much worse. Please.

Well put. If they wanted to change Iaijutsu and crit variance as a whole, they should've made overhauls to all the classes in regards to synergy, not just us. All that these 6.1 changes did was make the class boring as it was during Stormblood release. Revert them please.