DT Benchmark Action Analysis

[GTK0HLK]

Dk if it was mentioned.

The "Wind" Green Bard Aoe kinda reminded me of Oschon.

And then I began thinking, what do we have. That rain from the sky.

Ah that's right, The Bards Blood Series of Skills.
Bloodletter, and The other one I forgot its nane.(dk why for a sec I thought whetting.)

<Checks Actions>

Rain of Death

So unless someone's already mentioned it.
Maybe they are finally upgrading?
That series of Bard Skills.

[Daralii]

Dk if it was mentioned.

The "Wind" Green Bard Aoe kinda reminded me of Oschon.

And then I began thinking, what do we have. That rain from the sky.

Ah that's right, The Bards Blood Series of Skills.
Bloodletter, and The other one I forgot its nane.(dk why for a sec I thought whetting.)

<Checks Actions>

Rain of Death

So unless someone's already mentioned it.
Maybe they are finally upgrading?
That series of Bard Skills.

Rain of Death still looks alright for how old it is, but Bloodletter is just Heavy Shot/Straight Shot with some red light on the arrowhead. It getting an upgrade would be very welcome.

[Zaytex]

As for the healers:

Best case scenario: AST/WHM get an animation update to their medica 2/aspected helios and this isn't an upgrade to a medica 3/aspect hel 2, which is plausible as this expansion is focusing on updating the graphics. Asp.Helios is fine, but medica 2 is pretty outdated atm. Sage gets a completely new dps button that's essentially like phlegma. Scholar gets a dot with maybe some chain strategem debuff.

Worst case, and what most likely will happen: AST/WHM get a medica 3 + aspected helios 2, Sage's new ''dps button'' is just toxikon upgrade, Scholar will just get an aoe strategem equivalent that will be useless outside dungeon trash mobs.

Considering how SE and the developers have been very ignorant and stubborn towards healer design, stripping away more and more of their dps buttons and complexity over the years, I'd be shocked if these new skills are the best case scenario, and not what is probably going to happen. The healer role desperately needs more complexity and dps buttons for them to use as no matter how pretty you make a gcd heal look, good healers will make it their mission to never use them.

And obviously, healers have bloated kits at the moment, I don't understand how adding a medica 3 / aspected helios 2 gcd heal button is even required lol

[Lieri]

They all contain e.x.p.l.o.s.i.o.n

[ty_taurus]

Given how much more prominent upgraded actions are seemingly becoming, (something we already started seeing these last couple expansions outside of just the obligatory healer basic attack spell upgrade every expansion), I think it's time we start talking about have the ability to "glamour" your actions. By "glamour" I mean choose between which animation of an action you would like to use. If this new Sage attack is Toxikon III, for example, being able to choose between the icon and animation of Toxikon, Toxikon II, or Toxikon III while retaining whatever changes come from the upgraded action at level 92.

There are already several actions that players have not liked the upgraded animation to. White mage players wanting to keep Stone IV and Aero II, Machinist players not liking how acrobatic the 1-2-3 combo became, or even things like players finding the sound effects of Broil IV to be really unpleasant to the ear (a problem especially frustrating given how Broil IV is cast more often than every other action on Scholar's hotbar combined). With so many actions with multiple tiers of animation, and seemingly even more on the way, giving players the choice between them is something that could be done with very little effort and would be a good quality of life change for a lot of people. And the system also would allow the designers to explore the idea of adding animations that don't already exist to be used as a form of customization, even if that's something that would end up on the cash shop. Like in Bozja, there's an NPC named Atori who is a dragoon mechanically, but because she's from Doma and not Ishgard, she has completely original ability effects that replace animations referencing dragons or Nidhogg specifically with cherry blossoms. I am sure there are plenty of dragoon players who would love something like that.