Improvisation

[Dyvid]

The problem comes down to risk vs reward.
You are asking the player to stand still with no actions for 10s so you need to reward that.
MCH Flamethrower should be meaningful reward as in higher DPS and building up to something.
As for DNC, you have to stop DPSing for 10s so it needs a DPS buff for the party to make up for the loss. I've seen Healers pull DNC just to stop them from using the skill so they can focus on DPS.

[Valence]

It is at best a 500 total regen, which goes down if you are using the shield prior to meaningful damage. Not really something I would be excited for with a lvl 80 capstone. In order to really get a good regen you need to channel it, which is almost never worth it over getting in a Standard or Technical during downtime. And during that channel the healers will have already healed everyone to full.

Honestly, I'd also trade the Rising Rhythm for Esprit gain again paired with the X% shield. As long as it would keep the ticks at 5/10 per tick and not rely on allies standing in it. Then you could have mit and some damage incentive for what little downtime you get nowadays. Or have the Rising Rhythm give Esprit per stack. 0-10 esprit, 1-20, 2-30, 3-40, 4-50 or so.

A 500 potency heal is about the same healing as afflatus rapture... On top of curing waltz that's already borderline busted.

Otherwise yes I don't think that adding some esprit generation from it would be a bad thing though.

You have it backwards, MCH got extra support because DNC and BRD both were more popular than it. Now that MCH got the wrench (what I most wanted for it to get back from its HW kit) it is equally valued if not more in circles for its superior dps compared to BRD and DNC.

MCH is literally in the gutter for the damage it brings compared to any other job in the game, DNC and BRD included, and has been consistently since its ShB rework. I'm happy about the wrench being back, but let's call MCH for what it is: a subpar damage dealer.

[CKNovel]

You have it backwards, MCH got extra support because DNC and BRD both were more popular than it. Now that MCH got the wrench (what I most wanted for it to get back from its HW kit) it is equally valued if not more in circles for its superior dps compared to BRD and DNC.

Warden's problem revolves around encounter design and is actually rather functional, while Improvisation suffers from both encounter design not catering to it and not functioning well for a support ability. And you know what, I want Warden's to be used more, it's also fun. Let BRDs have more usage of their interesting buttons too.

No, DNC was dominating too much the ranged role and will keep dominating the ranged role until they remove the single party utility.
Dance Partner is simply too good and now has a new potential partner, the Viper.

The problem is that you compare DNC, BRD and MCH together but you need to compare them when they're in a full team.
DNC is a job that perfectly fits in the 120s meta AND repetitive downtime design of many encounters.
DNC also works incredibly well in early savage thanks to gear funneling.

Improvisation is a 5% shield at minimum, Dismantle is 10% mitigation. Shield is often stronger than mitigation, as the more mitigation you stack the weaker it becomes, a 10% mitigation can become a 5%.
On top of that, DNC has Cure Waltz, which is the equivalent of a Medica III.

[Connor]

Honestly I feel like when it came to all three ranged physical dps, they done them last and were tired of making up ideas so they just started throwing darts at a board instead of considering actual balance. Like, don’t Bard and Dancer literally get the exact same ability but different colours? A large magical pillar of light explosion used after the ‘120 second ability’.

As for Improvisation itself I love the skill but I kinda hate that you’re only really ‘allowed’ to actually channel it when the boss is literally no longer present lol. I don’t really get the point of a skill you can channel but then never do because you can just flash-use it between the gcd like Astrologian’s Collective Unconscious. I mean, that doesn’t stop me channelling it to 4 stacks anyway I never said I was a good dancer lol don’t judge me

Lastly while Pictomancer’s healing ability does seem super powerful, it’s not like it’s the only DPS getting super powerful aoe healing. Summoner gets some Medica thing during Solar Bahamut, Monk gets Medica for some reason. Everyone gets a Medica! (Except ranged physical dps because apparently everyone is super satisfied with them already lol)

[LynxDubh]

A 500 potency heal is about the same healing as afflatus rapture... On top of curing waltz that's already borderline busted.

Otherwise yes I don't think that adding some esprit generation from it would be a bad thing though.



MCH is literally in the gutter for the damage it brings compared to any other job in the game, DNC and BRD included, and has been consistently since its ShB rework. I'm happy about the wrench being back, but let's call MCH for what it is: a subpar damage dealer.

I would not equate a 120s cooldown to an afflatus that is damage positive and on a 20 second cooldown. And if I'm not mistaken, MCH is actually above DNC and BRD since its buffs in damage since it's much more reliable.

But after thinking it over, I think the esprit generation coupled with the shield would feel much better. You get the instant punch from a slight dps gain and a useful shield. So I would revise my armchair development exercise to something like this:

Improvised Finish
- Creates a barrier around self and all nearby party members. Damage absorbed equals 10% of maximum HP of target.
Duration 30s
-Generates Esprit upon execution. Esprit generated increases with stacks of Rising Rhythm.
0 Stacks: 10 Esprit
1 Stack: 20 Esprit
2 Stacks: 30 Esprit
3 Stacks: 40 Esprit
4 Stacks: 50 Esprit

I'll edit my original post with this update.

[LynxDubh]

No, DNC was dominating too much the ranged role and will keep dominating the ranged role until they remove the single party utility.
Dance Partner is simply too good and now has a new potential partner, the Viper.

The problem is that you compare DNC, BRD and MCH together but you need to compare them when they're in a full team.
DNC is a job that perfectly fits in the 120s meta AND repetitive downtime design of many encounters.
DNC also works incredibly well in early savage thanks to gear funneling.

Improvisation is a 5% shield at minimum, Dismantle is 10% mitigation. Shield is often stronger than mitigation, as the more mitigation you stack the weaker it becomes, a 10% mitigation can become a 5%.
On top of that, DNC has Cure Waltz, which is the equivalent of a Medica III.

DNC has not dominated the role in its entirety as you claimed. It was a top choice for prog environments due to its support, and when BRD got the Nature's Minne buff in 6.3 it became its equal in prog. But once MCH got its buffs to damage and wrench back it shot up to the top of farm and clear content due to its reliable and superior damage profile paired with its potent mit. And let's not forget the start of EW where BRD was top dog due to the aiming gear's stats catering to its strengths and pushing it above the other two ranged. DNC is not the monolith of superiority that you're claiming it to be.

And Cure Waltz is good, but it is not equivalent to a Cure III (I'm assuming you mixed them up as Medica III in DT is a whopping 1125 potency with the regen) Not only is Cure III not a 30s cooldown, it also can be cast on a select target, has triple the radius, and its full potency is not beholden to a fidgety dps partner when the EW boss hiboxes allow them to melee out in Narnia.

[Valence]

I would not equate a 120s cooldown to an afflatus that is damage positive and on a 20 second cooldown. And if I'm not mistaken, MCH is actually above DNC and BRD since its buffs in damage since it's much more reliable.

But after thinking it over, I think the esprit generation coupled with the shield would feel much better. You get the instant punch from a slight dps gain and a useful shield. So I would revise my armchair development exercise to something like this:

Improvised Finish
- Creates a barrier around self and all nearby party members. Damage absorbed equals 10% of maximum HP of target.
Duration 30s
-Generates Esprit upon execution. Esprit generated increases with stacks of Rising Rhythm.
0 Stacks: 10 Esprit
1 Stack: 20 Esprit
2 Stacks: 30 Esprit
3 Stacks: 40 Esprit
4 Stacks: 50 Esprit

I'll edit my original post with this update.

MCH is and has always been since shb at the bottom of the cDPS charts (well technically we only have had those since abyssos/anabaseios, but it's not hard to do napkin math and project earlier since not much has changed anyway). As for rDPS charts, it's always been either similar to BRD/DNC, or way below depending on patches. It's not more reliable and the idea that a non proc job is more reliable is just a myth. If it dies it loses potentially as much if not more than even BRD if the gauges are filled up. DNC is and always has been the meta rphys prog job due to no harsh consequences from death beyond weakness, and the biggest amount of raid utility.

However, it does have a very versatile mitigation in the wrench, where DNC and BRD are healing focused, and we all know that nobody actually lacks healing except perhaps in prog those days, at best. But then again, once you're past prog and geared a little, or with a more optimal plan, you also need less % mitigation as well, so is the wrench such a boon? idk. And Curing Waltz is just broken, even though again I think they could remove every utility from rphys and nobody would bat an eye, because everybody and their moms those days has overbloated mitigation.

I don't disagree with this new idea for Improv though. If anything it feels more streamlined and usable, even if probably a little too strong. I liked the idea of having some constraints around it meaning you'd truly get big shields during downtime when you can have sufficient time to prepare it. But I definitely do agree that adding some esprit gauge generation could help DNC a lot during downtimes, even though it's a job that's already so versatile that nothing can virtually screw up the rotation.

[Bright-Flower]

I never really felt like it needed to be stronger. Dancer has plenty of support as is I think. And improv to me mostly feels like a filler buff handed out so we have something to do when bosses are powering up their big spectacle attacks etc, or other moments where there's nothing to hit and no mechanics we need to move for. A nice little defensive party buff to toss out while you have nothing else to do but not an especially potent or powerful part of the job's tool kit.