On the Removal of Positionals

[Valence]

I... actually really like this idea for a new physical ranged job. It would be a very distinct trait compared to the rest, and would synergize well with the physical ranged mobility. Honestly, slapping this on MCH (which somewhat even works with its chess theme) and then upping its damage would be an interesting idea.

It wouldn't work well with how ranged is supposed to behave. While it's true that in theory you end up at melee-ish range with the group, you can't hit positionals reliably as soon as you disconnect for obvious angle/geometrical reasons. Unless the idea is to give true north to rphys so that they can ignore positionals when they have to disconnect from the boss in the wrong direction due to mechanics, but then... doesn't it make that a purely melee mechanic? Why slap it onto ranged instead of melee?

Ultimately while it sounds cool in idea, I don't think it would work well with rphys. If we want to model something about hitting specific parts of the target, it should probably be encompassed into the basic combo with specific mechanics, perhaps, but not the way you position yourself relative to the boss for the aforementioned reasons. I'd rather rphys to be unique on its own, and that's why I'm not super fond of cast times on it beyond iajutsu style casts (and they would not bring it back anyway, people hated them with a burning passion in HW). I'm also not convinced by the pvp slow walk casts either. Ultimately I can't say for sure how it would feel, but it would essentially turn them into casters because with such a slow motion, you wouldn't be able to dodge much more stuff than with normal casts anyway (and they're more annoying to cancel than regular casts since you need to press escape BEFORE the slide casting threshold, which is a short timeframe, and you can't just move to cancel, those types of pvp casts are actually the best way to shoot yourself in the foot and it happens in pvp a lot too when you need to react quickly). It just works in pvp because it forces ranged players to be less mobile so that melees can get to them on top of the sprint mechanic. What would it serve in pve?