So...About Blue Mage

[Jaquan]

The main problem with BLU ever becoming a regular Job is that it would require removing their core identity. Learning mechanic is what defines the Blue Mage just as Edgy Armor an high jumps define Dragoon.

[Cithaerias_pyropina]

The main problem with BLU ever becoming a regular Job is that it would require removing their core identity. Learning mechanic is what defines the Blue Mage just as Edgy Armor an high jumps define Dragoon.

And? What's stopping the devs from making Blue Mage learn its kit from instanced job quests like all the other jobs do for their abilities and spells pre-level 70. I also could not care less about Blue Mage's identity I just want another caster to play already. It's been 5 years since Red Mage's release.

For the people saying it'd be a bore if it were turned into a real job it already is the most boring job. You can't do anything with it besides meme all over the place for the first week of a Blue Mage update then forget the job exists until they update it again 2 years later.

It doesn't help that this job is also the most alt-unfriendly job to unlock and level, let alone attain all 104 spells again. I am not going through that hell again just to ditch the job after the first week of its update.

[Jojoya]

It wouldn't be hard to do. You simply have select skills only usable in main PVE content while the others can be used in regular open world similar to how PVP uses select skills. Just take away it's exp boost making it fast to level up or something and let it use the same gear as the other mages.

What happens when a BLU hasn't learned most of those select skills they're allowed to use?

The XP bonus only applies to normal open world mobs so that's not an issue (the XP they get in dungeons is dismal by comparison). And they already use the caster role sets.

While were at it, I find it odd that FFXIV's Blue Mage is relegated to only wear Caster gear. While in FFV, Blue Mages can wear most armors. And the fact that they have a skill that lets them mimic roles I dont see why they arent capable of supplementing said roles with appropriate gear. Just seems like an odd choice.

This game code isn't designed to work that way and it wouldn't be worth the effort to rewrite all the code just so BLU could mix and match different role sets.

Ultimately gear is just a stat stick and BLU abilities are designed to work with and supplement what caster gear gives.

And? What's stopping the devs from making Blue Mage learn its kit from instanced job quests like all the other jobs do for their abilities and spells pre-level 70. I also could not care less about Blue Mage's identity I just want another caster to play already. It's been 5 years since Red Mage's release.

So keep asking for a new caster job instead of taking away BLU's identity and ruining the job for those who like what it is.

The nice thing about this game is that if you don't enjoy a job, you can stop playing it anytime you like to focus on the ones you enjoy with the same character. If you don't like BLU, don't play it. Nothing is lost other than access to a couple of achievement rewards if you don't already have them.

[Hasrat]

And? What's stopping the devs from making Blue Mage learn its kit from instanced job quests like all the other jobs do for their abilities and spells pre-level 70.

Just a guess, but... time and money? "Just remake the job from the ground up" is a bad argument. "Just remake the job and also keep it as is, doubling the work load" is a bad argument.

[Jandor]

Here is a BLU concept that should be possible to balance with the regular jobs, while also keeping the learning and spell selecting aspect that is key to the job.



The idea is you pick any 3 elemental spells that flow from one to the other to build your basic combo.

You get minor focus for doing the combo, and that focus can spent on a 2nd combo built on the same principle, flowing from one element to another. The 2nd combo gets a damage bonus to represent your powering up.

By doing the two combos and moving through the whole elemental wheel you can gain a major focus, those can then be spent to unleash your bigger spells.

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Could be an add on to current BLU. BLU could become a class with the job crystal being a story McGuffin, at some point in the story a job trainer (level 30 maybe?) comes along and gives you a focused job stone that be used to change the class over to this.

[Raikai]

Here is a BLU concept that should be possible to balance with the regular jobs, while also keeping the learning and spell selecting aspect that is key to the job.



The idea is you pick any 3 elemental spells that flow from one to the other to build your basic combo.

You get minor focus for doing the combo, and that focus can spent on a 2nd combo built on the same principle, flowing from one element to another. The 2nd combo gets a damage bonus to represent your powering up.

By doing the two combos and moving through the whole elemental wheel you can gain a major focus, those can then be spent to unleash your bigger spells.

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Could be an add on to current BLU. BLU could become a class with the job crystal being a story McGuffin, at some point in the story a job trainer (level 30 maybe?) comes along and gives you a focused job stone that be used to change the class over to this.

I like this idea. Looking at the current spellbook, the only spells that can really trivialize boss mechanics is White Wind and Diamondback due to how they work, so they probably need to be adjusted in the end, while not making both of them utterly useless... Instant death effects already don't work as they are, and other niche spells like Dragon Force, Cactguard, Angel Snack are all behind cast times, so to use them you'd need to sacrifice your own offensive anyways.

I feel, though, that those insta kill spells and the plethora of aoe CC effects like paralyze and stuns is probably tip the balance in favor of the Blue Mage in dungeons... so I wonder if they would care to adjust those spells too.

[Jandor]

I like this idea. Looking at the current spellbook, the only spells that can really trivialize boss mechanics is White Wind and Diamondback due to how they work, so they probably need to be adjusted in the end, while not making both of them utterly useless... Instant death effects already don't work as they are, and other niche spells like Dragon Force, Cactguard, Angel Snack are all behind cast times, so to use them you'd need to sacrifice your own offensive anyways.

I feel, though, that those insta kill spells and the plethora of aoe CC effects like paralyze and stuns is probably tip the balance in favor of the Blue Mage in dungeons... so I wonder if they would care to adjust those spells too.

Thanks

I mean the spell book would probably need quite a bit of adjustment for BLU to work as a standard job, even with the configuration proposed above. I just didn't want to do a full rework of everything, I'm more of a 'loose outline' sort of guy.

Wanted to cover all the essentials. So it still learns from enemies, it scales down in lower level content, it has a gauge to manage and play around, and I think the end result would play differently enough from the other 3 casters to justify the effort.

[ReiMakoto]

I like this idea. Looking at the current spellbook, the only spells that can really trivialize boss mechanics is White Wind and Diamondback due to how they work, so they probably need to be adjusted in the end, while not making both of them utterly useless... Instant death effects already don't work as they are, and other niche spells like Dragon Force, Cactguard, Angel Snack are all behind cast times, so to use them you'd need to sacrifice your own offensive anyways.

I feel, though, that those insta kill spells and the plethora of aoe CC effects like paralyze and stuns is probably tip the balance in favor of the Blue Mage in dungeons... so I wonder if they would care to adjust those spells too.

Diamondback and whitewind arnt even that bad in a raid setting actually.

White Wind: with the exception of snapshotting high health, the only time you would want a dps to sacrifice a gcd to help out the healers is during a heal check, and during a heal check, your health is low, if your health is low white wind sucks. Sure you could do bene + whitewind combo, but in what world is that better than the plethora of high power dps neutral healing options healers have. It doesnt even help in solo heal attempts, as the limiting factor for solo heal is mechanic targetting not healing throughput.

DB: this ability is a trap, there is not a way to make this a valuable skill on a dps which wouldnt make it just way more clunky than just having the off tank do it. Any situation where diamondback would be useful to have on a dps would be a situation where somethings gone terribly wrong or a gimmick run. Even on bosses that target 1st and second aggro having to DB will bleed so much damage to keep the blu alive that you should just have an off tank.

Edit: on the topic of dungeons im in 2 minds, on one hand yeah chain cc would be powerful in dungeons. On the other hand dungeons are broken content by design and can be literally solod by warriors/ paladins, and already optimally run with 3 dps and one tank, so its impact would be minor.