Red mage status in PVP

[Kathleen_]

do you really think it to be fair that the enemy has to either track your buff bar

I mean, yeah? You already do that with MCH. I think RDM is strong as is and wouldn't really remove the aura around it but I wouldn't call that unfair.

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

I mean, yeah? You already do that with MCH. I think RDM is strong as is and wouldn't really remove the aura around it but I wouldn't call that unfair.

The difference is that MCH actions are predictable. The most about the unpredictability of Machinist is when you actually use Analysis or drop a massive Wildfire combo.

Drill -> doing more damage (which you want to do most of the time anyways)
Bioblaster -> some extra damage + Heavy debuff
Anchor -> some extra damage and a stun instead of a bind
Chainsaw -> random chance of nearly one-shotting someone

Drill you enhance most of the time anyways, Bioblaster is situational but alright, Air Anchor depends if you intend to do the stun-fire combo and Chainsaw is generally a waste of Analysis beyond a complete clutch. However, it all boils down to "doing more damage" and mildly changing a CC on one of them.

Red Mage can swap on demand and stay unpredictable, like swapping to White Shift mid combo and using Resolution to Silence, then swapping back to Black Shift to continue doing more damage with melee combo / Verflare. Or vice versa for survival.

TL;DR: MCH is a lot more predictable than RDM and the options of each differ wildly.

[Kathleen_]

The difference is that MCH actions are predictable. The most about the unpredictability of Machinist is when you actually use Analysis or drop a massive Wildfire combo.

Drill -> doing more damage (which you want to do most of the time anyways)
Bioblaster -> some extra damage + Heavy debuff
Anchor -> some extra damage and a stun instead of a bind
Chainsaw -> random chance of nearly one-shotting someone

Drill you enhance most of the time anyways, Bioblaster is situational but alright, Air Anchor depends if you intend to do the stun-fire combo and Chainsaw is generally a waste of Analysis beyond a complete clutch. However, it all boils down to "doing more damage" and mildly changing a CC on one of them.

Red Mage can swap on demand and stay unpredictable, like swapping to White Shift mid combo and using Resolution to Silence, then swapping back to Black Shift to continue doing more damage with melee combo / Verflare. Or vice versa for survival.

TL;DR: MCH is a lot more predictable than RDM and the options of each differ wildly.

Yeah exactly and the predictability comes from having a big icon next to your name telling you exactly what's going to happen. Removing the aura on RDM while completely unnecessary I feel wouldn't be any different in the long run as good players will just adjust to the playstyle. Definitely not something that I would call unfair. RDM goes in? Most of the time it's on blackshift so if you see the icon change you know a silence is coming. Backflip? Gaze onto the icon to see if they're going to burst or heal and adjust accordingly, etc. Again not a change I would like to see because RDM is already strong as fuck but it'd be far from being unfair I think.