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.

[Lyth]

One of the main benefits of adding new jobs is that they have the potential to be disruptive to the status quo. It gets incredibly boring when the same jobs dominate from expansion to expansion.

I think one of the biggest culprits for this is when there's a mindset that a particular job ought to always be 'the best' at a particular performance attribute. The worst offender was when WAR's 'identity' involved being the 'dps tank' across several expansions.

The one downside of a pure rDPS balance is that it generally doesn't take into account the hidden groupwide benefit of playing a 'selfish' DPS job under raid buffs. I think if you place SAM and BLM as the 'measuring stick' for selfish DPS, you risk giving them a free ride in raid balance into perpetuity. One of the reasons why I'm interested in seeing what happens with VPR is because the job may just turn out to be a selfish DPS with a personal buff window. If you introduce a second sword job alternative to challenge the 'selfish melee' position, you split the playerbase and get more diverse comps. I hope they make the job unambiguously harder in terms of positionals and APM, because we always see the same knee jerk reaction to new threats within a given role. Deny the naysayers a leg to even stand on.

I hope that PCT likewise has a chance to genuinely challenge BLM's position, at least from an rDPS perspective. I know that BLM will always tend to exist within a somewhat privileged position within the game's development given Yoshi-p's preferences, but there should not be such a disparity within the caster role group. I personally don't think utility should ever be used to argue in favor of a dps discrepancy. If raises are that big of a deal, give them to more jobs and restrict their uses per pull. Doing more damage should never be a job or subrole identity.

[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.