CC & The Big Four

[Vandi]

This is a vent post based on the mechanics of Crystaline Conflict. Be warned. There’s no where else to go and I’m at my wits end.

Since the golden age of 2-3.0, it feels like the dev’s have gone out their way to water pvp down. Why? Perhaps to make it easier for the typical casual to have a chance at enjoying it. Alright. Sure. This basically penalizes any individual who sat down, took the time to learn their job, and became ferocious with it. Nope, can’t have that kind of output in pvp aaany more. So let’s do all we can to scale it down.

Crits. Buhbie.
Auto attack. Buhbie
Gear bonuses. Buhbie.
Binding between the eyes. Buhbie.
Mnk, smn, drg delete buttons. Buhbie.
1-man army war (Berserk, Bloodbath, Retaliate) Buhbie
Brd 1-Shottery Burst. Buhbie.

And the list goes on. It feels like the devs are saying, “Ooh no no no no no, there’s no way in HELL we want you working individually, being a pvp hero and saving the day! This is a team game and by GOD will you play it that way.” Soooo…what THIS fundamentally does…is takes 5 of us (in Crystaline Conflict), shackles our ankles to the mast of a ship, and we get told to row like our little lives depend on it. Now here’s the thing. Because we NO LONGER have carry power, each individual HAS to pull their weight. However, because the devs have become increasingly allergic to actual damage, certain jobs, much much much more so, in the hands of a ‘casual’, not vet but average take it or leave it combatant. . .at least from my experience, feel insufferable. Meaning, no matter how much YOU do, if you get 2+ of these jobs on your team, you’re gonna do down with the ship.

[Vandi]

Before I list these jobs, keep in mind, in the right hands, they CAN be played proficiently. So if you’re an individual who uses one of them(and knows how), ignore this post and keep up the good work.

Listed from Bad to ‘throw out the plane with no parachute’:

4. Reaper- “My scythe is too heavy. Help me!”
3. Paladin- The Tickle me Elmo of pvp. “But look at my Def bruh!”
2. Dancer- “Push? Aoe?! No, no, I don’t do those. I’m ranged lolol.”

1. Brd- 100% bottom community service.


Alright, so. Reaper. Reaper, at least of late…IS actually a decent job for its utility. Very solid defensively. However, rpr is in many ways like a locomotive that needs team powered coal to get going. Watch what happens if you’re paired with rpr, pld, and a healer. 0 damage. 5 years to kill anything. Unless you’re breathing down someone’s throat, Enshroud takes 5 years to start damage, can be guarded, then run away from. Since chunks of its dps comes from assists, having any of the above jobs on team seems to always make it suffer.

Paladin. It tickles. It gets in the way. But it’s no dpsing gnb or Cc stun spamming war. It has. . .cover. 1 person cover. And some extra hp. That’s it. A decent pld will break 500k in a typical match. Some can’t break 200k. Some can’t 100. No solid aoes outside of LB.

Dancer. Every full moon, I’ll see a dnc that does stupid high damage, which lets me know the potential is there. But soooooo many times, get stuck with dncs who can’t hit the x button more than twice the whole match. Single target, no crystal point aoe support, nothing. Damage is non existent. But BOY are they good at running away.

And lastly.

Bard.

The community service janitor of pvp. Everytime mch and Brd are on the same team, mch slaps brd, pushes it to the ground, sits on its chest, effectively bottoming it, and says: “Hold my beer. The whole match. And say thankyou for the privilege.” There are those who will immediately defend Brd and say with silence it’s practically broken. No. WHITEMAGE. . .is a better bard than brd. Verses what Brd was capable of in 3.0 by the end of it, this version is a geometry pool shot playing joke. Even maximizing its line shots, it’s tickle damage. WHITEMAGE gets a hypervelocity multi dimensional rail gun LB. Brd. . .gives you gauge.

And holds your beer.

For free.


So, just saying from personal experience, whenever you get 2+ of these jobs at match start, you already got 2 feet in the grave. Sorry.

And yes, I know some of you will 100% disagree with everything said here. Perhaps you’ve been fortunate enough to have much much better experiences. I can only go off what I’ve had to very verrrry consistently suffer through.

[DallsBeep]

Paladin. It has. . .cover. 1 person cover. And some extra hp. That’s it.

That just a clear misunderstanding of what the move is actually to the game situation. It's very difficult at times for even a seasoned player to pick up on the fact they're hitting into your shield before they've used a couple of abilities. I eat stuns, LB's, and all that nullified damage does not show up in the stat sheet. Not to mention it will give the guarded player consequence free DPS or a free full heal and if they're savvy enough to know which one they should be doing it's just clutch. It's like having a great defensive centerfielder in baseball. Preventing a run is just as valuable as scoring a run. It's the big brain moneyball move for big brained Chads.

[Vandi]

That just a clear misunderstanding of what the move is actually to the game situation. It's very difficult at times for even a seasoned player to pick up on the fact they're hitting into your shield before they've used a couple of abilities. I eat stuns, LB's, and all that nullified damage does not show up in the stat sheet. Not to mention it will give the guarded player consequence free DPS or a free full heal and if they're savvy enough to know which one they should be doing it's just clutch. It's like having a great defensive centerfielder in baseball. Preventing a run is just as valuable as scoring a run. It's the big brain moneyball move for big brained Chads.

To a melee or ranged who knows what they’re looking for, cover is as noticeable/telegraphable as a sam’s full gauge chiten. Furthermore, because the current paladin is no where NEAR as durable as say 3-4.0 pld, if it gets hard focused, especially after/for covering, it melts. That particular skill is laughably punishable. Just stick a 1 over ones who are known for overusing it. Is it tactical, yes, but as I said, that’s in the hands of a decent player. Half of plds don’t even use it for their team mates to begin with. And what’s left? Tiny damage.

[Volfe]

I still don't understand how people play Reaper so consistently bad. It's not too hard of a job, I'm getting +8 kills +1m damage with it most matches. A well timed LB can easily get you a solo kill.

[Vandi]

There are a lot of subtleties about reaper a dedicated person has to learn, let alone the typical casual. For example with the lb when versing a solo target, if at all possible positioning yourself with them between you and a wall so they run into it and your combo can start quicker vs chasing em down. I think many are sitting on their abilities too long, waiting for just that perfect moment instead of just spamming.

Technically, I feel of all the melees, reaper COULD be the best. It has good utility in all areas, but paired with itty bitty nip nip jobs like dnc and brd, verses say, mnk and drg, it has to work 2-3 times as hard for decent damage. It’s getting better, but for now, it still feels too much a reflection of the team. If team is super aggressive, rpr will do damn good things. If team is a bunch of lil. . .timid individuals, it’s gonna suffer.

[Praesul]

I don't know how you can put that many top tier jobs on that list and not feel an ounce of shame, but RPR being on that list is what offends me the most.

[Vandi]

…because as I very clearly stated, top tier jobs in the hands of typical casuals who don’t take the time, sit down, and understand the fundamentals of their mechanics are a liability, but these particular jobs with their default low damage are particularly useless if not played tactically. Far as I’m concerned, Reaper MIGHT be one of if not THE best melees because it has both wonderful utility and durability. Its escape is smooth, arcane circle uptime allows it to tank anything, heavy stops lil anklebiters from zipping away for free, and enshroud, especially with its aoe conclusion is solid. But you have people brainlessly hitting X button and immediately expecting drg or smn level damage and it’s just not gonna manifest that way.

[Vatom]

I agree with RPR it needs some more dmg buffs

PLD wounds hurt to have more AOEs but other then that it’s really good

DNC I curious as to how you playing that you see dmg as the only asset DNC is actually really powerful if you aren’t looking to 0-100 someone but aid you team snipe executions and precise AOEs can turn a fight your not a liability cause you can’t 1v1 everyone and in what world of ffxiv is DNC know to be a brawler

BRD could use some dmg like RPR but not that much like RPR
But why are we comparing BRD to MCH a class that’s purpose is to get one person off the board to another that is supportive

If it’s just dmg I think your looking at things wrong if it’s job design I would luv to know what you ideal job would be (not being sarcastic)

[Vandi]

I agree with RPR it needs some more dmg buffs

PLD wounds hurt to have more AOEs but other then that it’s really good

DNC I curious as to how you playing that you see dmg as the only asset DNC is actually really powerful if you aren’t looking to 0-100 someone but aid you team snipe executions and precise AOEs can turn a fight your not a liability cause you can’t 1v1 everyone and in what world of ffxiv is DNC know to be a brawler

BRD could use some dmg like RPR but not that much like RPR
But why are we comparing BRD to MCH a class that’s purpose is to get one person off the board to another that is supportive

If it’s just dmg I think your looking at things wrong if it’s job design I would luv to know what you ideal job would be (not being sarcastic)

With respect, I’m curious to know what your priorities are in a typical team in CC, seeing as dmg doesn’t seem to be at the top of that list. Not judging. Everyone has their own style.

Far as I’m concerned, when considering any given job, there is NOTHING more important in pvp than kill potential. Killing an opponent. . .trumps every other action. It beats a 4 second stun. It beats a team mate heal. It beats 3 second silence. Why? Because when a target is lying unconscious on the ground, it contributes NOTHING to the team, so jobs that can effectively induce this state are x10 more valuable than ones that. . .support.

The current brd. . .supports. It holds the team’s beer. Even when the team isn’t thirsty. Outside of bind and silence, defensively, it is THE most vulnerable, naked job on the team. “Help meee. . .”

Mch. Kills stuff. Blows it away. From across the map. Then drinks the beer brd was holding for it. Solo target, it stands its ground VERY well defensively with its probe/bio, which doubles over as very offensive on crystal point.

That’s why we’re comparing brd with mch. One job murders stuff. The other shines its shoes. Supportively. Perhaps you find said support more tactical. That’s fine. I’ll quietly take the murder.

To clarify the point, in the hands of a casual player, based exclusively on personal experience, it all feels something like this:

Brd < Mch, Whm
Pld < Gnb, Drk
Dnc< Blm, Smn

For the categories they’re engineered to utilize, entering dmg/kill potential into the equation, other jobs COMMONLY. . .just do it better. NO, that is NOT always the case, but 8/10 times in the everyday match with casual players, not vets, that’s what I see. Perhaps your experience greatly differs. Like I said, I have no clue what your priorities are if damage potential isn’t at the absolute top of that list.