So, the button merging feature... did I get this right?

[GoatOfWar]

You have two enemies, one is at one HP, the other is full. You are at the end of your combo. You could use the combo finisher on the damaged mob, wasting potency or you could reset by going to the combo starter which would allow you to start attacking the second mob with the higher damage combo 2 button. DPS gained.

This is a niche situation, but there are drawbacks to forced combos. They are less interesting to play in my opinion and they take away optimization options.

Why would you not want to build resources?

[ZiraZ]

The bigger brain move would be to swap to the second, full HP target for as little time as possible between GCDs to allow the auto attacks to kill the low HP target.

Your scenario also fails to take into account any extra benefits from combo enders, for example, SAM stickers, the various PLD buffs, resource gains etc. that will be a bigger loss down the line than this simple 2 GCD scenario.

In the past, I was against putting them together, however, more recently, I am going down the path of, at least have the option to.

And, for anyone that claims, but you can miss the combo if they are on separate buttons, but you cannot on one, let me ask a question. When was the last time you seriously messed that up? I would bet, for anyone halfway decent at the game, they do not mess up that often, which means, whilst technically true, isn't a strong case against combo consolidation.

Another realistic scenario for a raid I was just thinking about would be the: boss going away on a phase change so you swap to the most instant damaging combo instead of the dot application one, so yeah that's true and I didn't think about it before even though I do this.
As for failing combos, honestly it's common people will fumble a combo now and then, I check a lot of those xivanalysis links posted on discords and you see it happen at least 2-3 times per raid night in ultimate prog, the biggest thing is even though failure rates are not high and non-branching combos are not hard at all on the surface they do still require a small amount of brain activity dedicated to keeping track of them while doing mechanics.

I do still think if their goal was to "reset" all jobs to prep for a huge rework by 8.0 to improve job identity then might as well remove non branching combos if their fate is to end up with pvp combos as an option.

[GrizzlyTank]

Because that turns it into the same braindead filler spam that healers have.
If you make it an option to turn 123 into 111 then that's the only correct one.
You remove the margin of error entirely that way.

It is functionally the same as me falling asleep on white mage, endlessly casting glares.

It does bring attention to the fact that the core rotation for a lot of classes is actually quite stale.

[vetch]

Because that turns it into the same braindead filler spam that healers have.
If you make it an option to turn 123 into 111 then that's the only correct one.
You remove the margin of error entirely that way.

It is functionally the same as me falling asleep on white mage, endlessly casting glares.

Counterpoint: who gives a crap what able-bodied people might think of disability aids?

"If we put 1-button combo options everywhere then abled people might use them!" That's fine.

"It sounds so boring in my head!" Don't use it then.

The existence of wheelchairs has not rendered marathon runners extinct.

[Mikey_R]

Another realistic scenario for a raid I was just thinking about would be the: boss going away on a phase change so you swap to the most instant damaging combo instead of the dot application one, so yeah that's true and I didn't think about it before even though I do this.
As for failing combos, honestly it's common people will fumble a combo now and then, I check a lot of those xivanalysis links posted on discords and you see it happen at least 2-3 times per raid night in ultimate prog, the biggest thing is even though failure rates are not high and non-branching combos are not hard at all on the surface they do still require a small amount of brain activity dedicated to keeping track of them while doing mechanics.

I do still think if their goal was to "reset" all jobs to prep for a huge rework by 8.0 to improve job identity then might as well remove non branching combos if their fate is to end up with pvp combos as an option.

Since we are being big brained, why did you start the DoT combo and not just use another damage combo (in DRG's case, the Power Surge buff lasts for another full 5 step combo)? Not to mention the initial damage from a DoT is going to be higher anyway. The only job this really applies to is DRG, since we are going for DoT hit the gone, I will assume no damage from the DoT itself, Chaotic Spring has a minimum damage of 260 (300 from Rear), since it is resetting combo, you don't have Draconian Fire, so it defaults to True Thrust, which is 170 potency. Even if you had Raiden Thrust, that is 280 potency, so, as long as Chaotic Spring was hit from the rear, it would still be more potency.

Just note, I am someone who probably wouldn't consolidate my combos, but I do understand why people might want to do it.

[PyurBlue]

Yeah you're right but those optimizations are so minuscule that a single extra crit would triple the combo optimizations gain, specially when the bosses are like 9 minutes long, I think the 1 button combo that can't ever be failed would outweight it on the long run.
I would rather pvp combos for weaponskills just don't exist and everyone plays on the same leveled field, a few specific abilities having a 1 button combo seems like a fine middle-ground.

The gain isn't a lot but I was trying to point out that there are benefits to breaking combos. Fight design would also influence how beneficial combo breaking is. The situation will never come up in single target fights but that could be solved by adding more enemies to fights, specifically more duo enemies since the AoE threshold is usually three.

I don't mind an autocombo function existing as an option, but it's not something that I'm interested in using.

It makes more sense in this situation to swap to the target with higher health with your combo finisher.

I was keeping things simple to avoid a long post. The enemies could be separated in a way that prevents switching target, such as one casting invulnerability on the other or large physical distance that prevents the use of gapclosers.

Resource gains also change the optimum but they may not exist in all cases.

Why would you not want to build resources?

Resources weren't part of the example. They could make it more beneficial to finish the combo, but the combo in question or the situation in which it is in use may not involve resources in the first place.

[ZiraZ]

Since we are being big brained, why did you start the DoT combo and not just use another damage combo (in DRG's case, the Power Surge buff lasts for another full 5 step combo)? Not to mention the initial damage from a DoT is going to be higher anyway. The only job this really applies to is DRG, since we are going for DoT hit the gone, I will assume no damage from the DoT itself, Chaotic Spring has a minimum damage of 260 (300 from Rear), since it is resetting combo, you don't have Draconian Fire, so it defaults to True Thrust, which is 170 potency. Even if you had Raiden Thrust, that is 280 potency, so, as long as Chaotic Spring was hit from the rear, it would still be more potency.

Just note, I am someone who probably wouldn't consolidate my combos, but I do understand why people might want to do it.

Swap I didn't mean cancel bad choice of word, and also previous phase kill speed and current position on your combo would also affect the decision making, TOP phase 1 to phase 2 to phase 2 post playstation comes to mind.

[Cynric]

I was keeping things simple to avoid a long post. The enemies could be separated in a way that prevents switching target, such as one casting invulnerability on the other or large physical distance that prevents the use of gapclosers.

Resource gains also change the optimum but they may not exist in all cases.


Resources weren't part of the example. They could make it more beneficial to finish the combo, but the combo in question or the situation in which it is in use may not involve resources in the first place.

@Invulnerability : Then you can't switch targets and do damage at all, if you can your combo finisher is still better, if you can't then you can't. Unless I'm misunderstanding.

@Too far: Then you get close enough to gap close? I'm not really sure either of these circumstances really change anything. Either you can switch targets or you can't switch targets but it won't change the math of 2 targets with a weaker skill versus a stronger one.

As for resources, combo damage takes resources into account so the math makes more sense when you account for them.

[Kohl]

Unironically they should remove unbranching basic combos, they bring literally nothing. No choice, no agency, failure state is just to misclick a skill at best.

All non-branching combos should be given the option of being a single button (for the same reason), and we should be given other WS options that have more additional effects when used in creative orders. Like a burst of sorts.

[GoatOfWar]

Counterpoint: who gives a crap what able-bodied people might think of disability aids?

"If we put 1-button combo options everywhere then abled people might use them!" That's fine.

"It sounds so boring in my head!" Don't use it then.

The existence of wheelchairs has not rendered marathon runners extinct.

We can have easier jobs.
We don't need to simplify the living hell out of everything.
''Don't use it'' Is not a valid response when it's optimal.