Envisioning a new Dragoon. The Hybrid Melee/Ranged.

[DixieBellOCE]

With all the talk of a rework on the horizon for 7.0, what would people think of Dragoon becoming the 'red mage' of the melee classes?

A hybrid Melee/Ranged job that executes jumps in and out of melee range while executing a melee and ranged rotation.

A basic 1, 2, 3 Combo

A continuation combo that ends in a backflip out of melee range and activates the secondary ranged combo (Overwriting the melee combo buttons)

A ranged 1, 2, 3 combo that Throws the spear and activates Life of the Dragon at the end.

Life of the Dragon burst window, where you can Stardiver every GCD and weave other jumps in-between each cast, stacking a buff each time a dive is landed. (Think enshroud for reaper)

End of burst window, Stardiver Becomes Ahk Morn, summoning an effigy of Nidhogg to expend all stacks in a bursty AOE channel.

Geirskogal, Nastrond and Wyrmwind Thrust replace the standard AOE combo during life of the dragon

Dragonsight changed to 5% damage for all party members
Lance charge flat out removed
Battle Litany remains as it is now.

Thoughts?

Dragoon is pretty boring as it is, and i feel like the use of a spear as a melee only weapon is a huge waste of potential.

[CrazyAce]

Frankly, I'd just be satisfied with them lowering the cooldowns of the jumping abilities. The long cooldowns IMO water down the job identity. I feel like my DRG barely jumps that much outside of the occasional filler oGCD and the bare minimum to use Mirage Dive to gain Dragon Gauge.

Sure, it might be a little too mobile, but RPR, NIN, and DNC are quite mobile too. So I would like Dragoon too feel more like it does in other FF games - mobile and "jumpy".

[Aco505]

Life of the Dragon burst window, where you can Stardiver every GCD and weave other jumps in-between each cast, stacking a buff each time a dive is landed. (Think enshroud for reaper)

No, it is not in our best interests to become a copy of RPR.

Dragoon is pretty boring as it is, and i feel like the use of a spear as a melee only weapon is a huge waste of potential.

It might be boring for you, but DRG right now is in the best state it's ever been. Is RPR fun to you? Plenty of people find it boring, yet it doesn't mean that the job has to be universally so.

[ICountFrom0]

Dragoon is traditionally a tank/dps blend, note the higher then standard AC on the armor.

Not that I don't think medium range class wouldn't be worth playing. I'm more likely to make it whips and put it in the hands of a beastmaster class.

[DixieBellOCE]

No, it is not in our best interests to become a copy of RPR.



It might be boring for you, but DRG right now is in the best state it's ever been. Is RPR fun to you? Plenty of people find it boring, yet it doesn't mean that the job has to be universally so.

Best state its ever been in?

Did you play it in SHB? it was perfect.

[Aco505]

Best state its ever been in?

Did you play it in SHB? it was perfect.

I did, and me as well as others have acknowledged the fact that it's in its best state ever now due to how fun and hectic the machine-gun weaving becomes during burst, without it being stale or too boring in between due to the positional dancing and the need to keep GSK/HJ on hard CD.

DRG may need to be "tweaked" a bit (I'm not fond of the idea, but the devs want to I suppose), and I don't disagree with the job having more ranged options, but I think NIN already fills that role (even if DRG can still have some of it since Piercing Talon is kinda bad). However, any suggestion to make DRG more like RPR will always be a bad idea because they're very different jobs.

The focus should be in the oGCD-focused nature of the DRG's rotation, and making GCDs and oGCDs interact more with and between themselves.

[ThorneDynasty]

Don't rework a job that does what it does near perfectly.

[Tetsujin]

Frankly, I'd just be satisfied with them lowering the cooldowns of the jumping abilities. The long cooldowns IMO water down the job identity. I feel like my DRG barely jumps that much outside of the occasional filler oGCD and the bare minimum to use Mirage Dive to gain Dragon Gauge.

Keep in mind that they jump during the finisher of the 1-2-3 combo, wheeling thrusts are jumps too IIRC, and the AoE starter ability is also a jump. They're all jumping attacks just not the classic DRG high jump.

[Amh_Wilzuun]

Some changes that wouldn't be that bad that I could see them doing:

- Remove or rework life surge: It's pretty obvious to most that is on the chopping block. It's not a very interesting buff that conflicts with battle litany (at least before 6.2) and the healing properties are just an afterthough since the move also has to be used before certain GCDs rather than for healing purposes first. One less cooldown to track. Alternatively you could make it into a defensive only cooldown like all the other melees have.

- Make Stardiver a GCD: I could honestly see them doing this because it would make burst easier and many people complain about the animation lock and clipping. Having the biggest move on the GCD will also feel more impactful.

Now as for what I think would be cool: I would love a jump that avoids AOEs because there's nothing more classic dragoon. It could be a similar tool to Monk's SSS where it is only used for more niche uptime purposes. You would go up into the air and be immune to AOEs and on the ground would be a marker you could slightly control like the PVP LB. If the target marker turns red then the AOE will still hit you (so certain mechanics) can't be cheesed.

[ZiraZ]

With all the talk of a rework on the horizon for 7.0, what would people think of Dragoon becoming the 'red mage' of the melee classes?

Absolutely awful, didn't need to rest past that part.