BLM feedback.

[Realfoxy]

Welcome to Black Mage. Not the fake black mage that nonstandard worshippers built up as somehow being the real class that was so flexible and freeform because of abusing bad design. The real, core Black Mage. It is a very sloppily designed class that has design decisions made before ARR even launched still present in it because the devs never bothered to actually fix the damned class. In part because of people constantly saying how much they loved the class because the class was so perfect, even though it relied on effectively turning the class into something it wasn't to achieve this. Look at the class without all the nonstandard exploits. This is Black Mage.

To give you an idea of how bad this class is, I saw the problems it has that people are complaining about right now back in 2021. Here's the thread I made where BLM mains who abused nonstandard claimed the class was perfect and I was crazy.

Personally, I don't like pictomancer. It feels like 5 core ideas roughly thrown together and called a class. It feels rough around the edges and half-baked. BLM is in a bad spot, but at least its idea is coherent, even if BLM's core is literally incompatible with DT, BLM itself is still a coherent rotation that has persisted since HW, and not just: "Random crap, go!" the class.

But I'm also going to say this, the only reason I'm happy with the state of BLM right now is that, now that the nonstandard wool has been removed from all BLM main's eyes, they can finally see just how rotten the class actually is.

I just hope that when this is all said and done, the devs revitalize the turret caster gameplay within their encounter meta. The death of turret caster gameplay will be the single largest example of homogenization the game has ever had if it finally and truly dies.

You know I actually agree with a lot of this. The AF timer is a punishing, skill floor mechanic. Turret caster gameplay is incompatible with Endwalker > Dawntrail fight design.

However, I simply disagree with your solutions. I, and many other black mage players, would prefer a return to the Endwalker style of flexibility and freedom of expression. We would prefer that the job retain the features that make it iconic - like the mastery of the AF timer, and the long F4 casts.

It's clear that you don't like the direction that BLM job design went after HW, so I suggest that you remove your BLM gearset and find another job to play.

PS: There has been nonstandard tech for BLM ever since the introduction of F4. Shortening fire phases has been a key part of the job ever since its inception.

[GartredZW]

You know I actually agree with a lot of this. The AF timer is a punishing, skill floor mechanic. Turret caster gameplay is incompatible with Endwalker > Dawntrail fight design.

The timer having a failstate is part of what makes it so fun. Mastering that 15 seconds, and fully planning out everything you need to do so you're not stuck in a situation where you've got four Fire 4s left to cast, you've got three seconds to use paradox, your DoT is about to fall off, and you're about to overcap on Xenoglossy. If you remove that aspect, you remove the fun of Black Mage, and make it into just another ranged DPS that stands still to do damage. it turns optimizations from something you're always keeping in mind to just a matter of keeping the GCD rolling.

After clearing the first extreme trial, It almost seems a bit too lenient, and restrictive at the same time. I barely ever use Triplecast because I've almost always got a movement button available. We get Paradox and Fire 3 to use whenever we need to just as long as we don't use both of them before our third Fire 4. Thunder however heavily punishes long fire phases where you use one too many xenoglossys. Dropping Fire phase in Endwalker was a simple matter of just using Fire 3, and blasting your remaining Fire 4s before Despair. Now it's a much more substantial DPS hit than it already was because of the lost Flare Star. Before, I would always keep a close eye on that timer so I made absolute sure to get three or four Fire 4s in before Paradox, then the remaining before Despair. None of the main rotation were movement tools aside from phase changes, and Ice Paradox. This means we've got to plan very closely what we use each charge of triplecast, swiftcast, xenoglossy, and even instant Thunder procs for. Now I don't feel the pressure to even bother when I know that I've essentially just got two free (reset timer) buttons to use. Also, this might be my own personal thing, but I'm finding myself gambling on timers much more now. I'll regularly try to start a cast when the timer says 3 in hopes it finishes just in time to cast Paradox at the end, and be fine. That wasn't the case in Endwalker because of how strict the paradox cast timing was. It also imbalances your fire phase to have up to five GCDs before Paradox, and three after.

It might seem like I'm just complaining that it's easier, and maybe it is, but I also thought it was better designed before, and encouraged the right kind of deliberate planning and executing gameplay.