Greetings, I would like to preface this that I am a SAM main since it was introduced back in SB. I thoroughly enjoy the job both in fantasy and mechanics and I only wish to see the job improved. I ask the dev team kindly to review what SAM is right now.

Looking over the Job Guide and my personal experience currently in leveling SAM through the story content for Dawntrail, I find the growth lacking in comparison to other melee dps. The first thing I noticed was the lack of new abilities or weaponskills to add onto our already bloated hotbars, the condensation of Shoha(which is good), the forced interaction of Meikyo Shisui and Tsubame Gaeshi, and the capstone Tendo iaijutsu. And Gyofu(92).

I do not understand the decision of Gyofu, it is a potency upgrade to Hakaze but mechanically and visually, it is identical. No increase in kenki gain, no cool new animation, we just get a new VFX on top of a regular Hakaze. I compared it to a friend's still 90 SAM. Not only that, at lv 94 most of SAM's weaponskills get a potency increase anyways.

It does not compare to the other melee dps lv 92 reward. MNK gets a whole combo upgrade, DRG Dragonfire dive gets a new animation, NIN gets an AOE TA, RPR gets another ability to activate during Shroud. It would have been more okayish if it looked cooler or even give more kenki, something that doesn't make it feel like a slightly better Hakaze.

Aside from Gyofu, I also voice the issue I have with attaching Tsubame Gaeshi to Meikyo Shisui. Technically speaking, the rotation isn't too different from EW but it is strangely restricting. Sometimes I forget to activate Tsubame because Meikyo is more often used for Gekko and Kasha, or fixing a rotation to allow Higanbana to not clip. I'm sure people will figure out a good rotation that will fit, it doesn't feel good because the only indication we have is Ready Tsubame.

Moving on, the issue of button bloat was a hot topic back when Kaiten was removed(rest in peace), and honestly is still a topic worth discussing. Guren and Senei feel like Shoha I and II, Ikishoten REALLY SHOULD transform into Ogi-Namikiri. I would have wanted more freedom with the transforming button feature than what we currently have.

The issue I have with SAM is we haven't been getting the same level of love like our melee brethren. I understand they all need that level of change and convenience for their gameplay, but I am jealous of how cool they look with their new combos. I am disappointed in it's current form but hopeful they will change it in the future for the better.

TLDR; Change Gyofu, it's just a slightly brighter Hakaze. It sucks.