BLM needs a rework because of new content difficulty

[Ferrinus]

See the issue I have with the above statements is that none of these were problems with Endwalker Black Mage. In Endwalker, we didn't have this Thunderhead system and you were much more free with your DOT refresh. In Endwalker, you didn't have a restrictive Flare Star system so you didn't have to play super conservatively with your fire phase. In Endwalker, Manafont wasn't such a major damage cooldown that drifting it didn't feel as bad. A well designed job should lead players into the standard rotation and make it feel good to execute. Dawntrail BLM doesn't do that. It has a number of traps for new players, and while free F3p helps, it has more ways to bleed damage than in Endwalker.

I should be excited about a new expansion and new things added to my job. I expect better from SE, and while sure I can settle I don't consider "oh missing DOT / unavoidable drift etc. are just part of the job now. Have fun!" to be good design. They have deliberately introduced these things into the job! They didn't have to do that!

There are lots of ways to fix things - e.g. your suggested change to Despair. For example, they could allow the thunder DOT timer to be increased to 60s and increase the proc to 40s - that would give some freedom back. However I'm not going to close my eyes and pretend the job as it is right now in 7.0 is any kind of improvement over 6.5 BLM.

They weren't problems with EW Black Mage... which is why I agree the job has gotten harder to play at a higher level. But I don't think it's gotten harder to play or more forbidding at a lower level, because it's more obvious what you're supposed to do and extra instant casts + less frequent oGCD weaving has made doing that thing more forgiving. I definitely think removing Thunderhead entirely would make things less frustrating for experienced players while either not affecting or actually helping beginner players (my assumption here is that the Thunder spells remain 0s cast time and 0mp DoTs only castable when in an elemental aspect), and some mechanic by which a Flare Star is guaranteed at the end of every astral cycle will help everybody.

I think it'd be difficult to retool the class such that Manafont doesn't drift because of the nature of what Manafont actually gives you; it's not like Amplifier or Delirium or something, after all, it actually cares about your current resource totals, and your resources are what you spend to deal damage, and you already want to spend those most efficiently whenever you've got them. Actually, it occurs to me that you could make Manafont work like an MP-based Excogitation: it'd give you a ~30s status that, upon your MP dropping below 800 in astral phase, instantly triggers and refreshes all your resources. The 100s cooldown has been working for me, but going back to a 120s cooldown and making the actual effect a delayed trigger could make everyone happy.

I've posted it elsewhere, but here's an HUD-only change I'm desperate for: instead of a separate Astral Gauge, they should just make Astral Soul stacks replace Umbral Hearts as you gain them. Then, once you've got three, those three light up one by one, and then you can Flare Star. (Then, for an actual mechanical change, dropping to 0mp by casting Flare or Despair could automatically light up any existing astral hearts with a slightly dimmer glow indicating that each one is sapping your Flare Star of 20 potency or something.)