And Another Pictomancer Thread!

[SweetPete]

Yoshi-P has already said he doesn't like the rez on SMN. He said that SMN rez was planned to be cut pre-EW but they reverted that decision last minute due to the rework being too big, which makes me wonder if they are going to go forward with removing SMN rez after all in DT. I expect it will.

Without a rez SMN is as much of a support job as a MNK is, so where PIC falls in the list depends on SMN rez.

I agree with OP that it's going to be BLM - SMN - PIC - RDM.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. You’re right though it all depends on if smn loses their Rez which more than likely they will.

[MagiusNecros]

At a glance it really looks like in terms of DPS it'll be:

BLM
PIC/SMN
RDM

It's amusing to me that they haven't made another caster that competes with BLM's spot in parties.

[Sequora]

At a glance it really looks like in terms of DPS it'll be:

BLM
PIC/SMN
RDM

It's amusing to me that they haven't made another caster that competes with BLM's spot in parties.

That's because BLM is the SAM of casters. Every other melee DPS can boost party damage, but SAM has no damage utility, but the highest personal DPS.

I know Yoshi P said they wanted to get rid of Rez last expansion from SMN, but design philosophy changes. I think he was very purposeful in the way he mentioned the lack of Rez. I think he might have said that they’re rethinking Rez in terms of the caster role and that PIC won’t have it.

[MagiusNecros]

I don't mind the lack of battle rez. One less thing I'll have to worry about. Like BLM I can just go "not my problem".

[SweetPete]

I don't mind the lack of battle rez. One less thing I'll have to worry about. Like BLM I can just go "not my problem".

Lol now that’s hilarious. I was just telling my friend this yesterday. I won’t have to rez anyone anymore.

[Mecia]

Im kind of scared for what PCT might do to caster balance. Hopefully not what RPR did to melee which also bled into other roles.

[SweetPete]

Im kind of scared for what PCT might do to caster balance. Hopefully not what RPR did to melee which also bled into other roles.

Do explain what you mean by that? I’m curious.

[Mecia]

Do explain what you mean by that? I’m curious.

I recall RPR not being far behind SAM in DPS which for some reason lead to them buffing the other melee instead of nerfing a single one.

Maybe i remember wrong and the issue was just Arcane Crest.

I hope that PCT likewise has a chance to genuinely challenge BLM's position, at least from an rDPS perspective.

I didnt mind when SMN poked at BLMs toes back in Stormblood but it was real job back then. Same would go for PCT but im not hopeful itll have a high ceiling.

[Tsumdere]

Do explain what you mean by that? I’m curious.

Xenosys made a short vid about this topic I recommend checking out because he says it better. This is all assuming the balancing decisions align with EW with melee doing significantly more damage than ranged. Also it only considers high end content because that is the only content stuff should be balanced around. Job balance means absolutely nothing in dungeons/alliance/EX. PIC could do as much damage as a BTN and people would still play it in casual content with no repercussions.

In short, if SMN/RDM keep rez then PIC and BLM compete for the same caster slot and BLM will automatically be the better choice. It would not be good in a prog environment (like BLM) as it has no raise but wouldn't be good for parses/speeds because it wouldn't do high damage (like BLM). It won't be a go-to choice for hardcore raiders because of above issues and would not be a go-to choice for midcore/casual raiders because it wouldn't have the raise safety net.

If PIC is very easy like SMN and competes with BLM within a close DPS margin, then BLM becomes the screwed over job. BRD is currently in this situation where it barely pulls more damage than DNC but it's so much more difficult to play that there is zero reason to bring a BRD besides one-tricks (and people don't bring it - its the least played job in the game).

Unless changes are made to the role's balance as a whole, one of them is going to be the clear loser and will be purely a preference pick like BRD is now.

[Lyth]

...

I don't think the point here was about the balance between subroles, because RPR was specifically mentioned.

When a job is added to a subrole, it disrupts the status quo. When RPR was added this expansion, it created a lot of insecurity within the melee dps subrole. The knee jerk reaction for players on those other jobs was to claim that their preferred job was somehow more challenging than the new job that they had no clue about how to optimize on. You can already see this same sentiment building up here, as there's already tacit assumption that PCT will somehow be 'easier' than BLM despite us having no idea what the rotation or skill checks are like.

People make these claims with the expectation that if they say that their job is 'harder', they'll be rewarded with a dps advantage for no additional effort. What ends up happening in practice is that Square Enix takes these complaints literally and starts simplifying jobs. The end result was that all the pre-existing melee dps jobs were backhanded by the Monkey's Paw. SAM became Kaitenless, NIN was tricked out of their one minute raid buff, and we'll see the full extent of the DRG rework next expansion. MNK thankfully managed to get out relatively unscathed as it has already had about seven reworks by this point. I suppose the point here is, if you're happy with your job's gameplay and you don't want a rework, then be very careful what you ask for.

PCT has the potential to disrupt caster dps in a similar vein next expansion. If it is anywhere near competitive to BLM next expansion, you can bet that people will take to the forums to complain about the relative difficulty of the jobs, valid or not. But hey, it's probably high time for BLM to get reworked anyways.