Picto makes the game less fun

[Lyth]

Hello, Mr. Enix here. We at CBU3 have heard your complaints and decided to rework the Black Mage into a two minute burst profile job to allow it to achieve greater parity with the Pictomancer. After the great success of the Paladin rework in Endwalker, we are confident that this design decision will provide the strongest sense of player satisfaction moving forward. The Xenoglossy and Flare Star actions will now become available after the preliminary action Leylines is used. Please look forward to it, and remember to provide feedback (which will only be read after the changes go live).

Why hello, Mr. Enix. Longstanding fan of your work, especially Dragon Quest VII. I can see all the turn-based gameplay inspiration positively oozing from your PCT design. I know that you don't want to give away all of your secrets in one go, but you left out some of the most exciting changes:

• Amplifier is now a 3s cast spell with no recast that can be used instantly outside of combat.
• Foul/Xenoglossy have been merged into a single action (Kupoglossy) that now hits multiple targets for 300k damage every 120s.
• Leylines reduces spell cast times using a charge system instead of a set timer to improve accessibility. It also grants the effect Flarestruck.
• Flare Star is now instant cast and hits multiple targets for 300k damage, while healing everyone in a 30y radius.
• Scathe is replaced by a one button mallet combo that is guaranteed to Crit/DH.
• Spells no longer cost MP.
• BLM now has a one button Ice combo. Paradox converts your Ice combo into a one button Fire combo. All spell cast times have been reduced to 1.5s. Completing your combos grants you you either stacks of Umbral Thunderhead or Astral Thunderhead.
• None of this matters because all of your damage is done using instant casts at the two minute mark anyways, to allow you time to brew a cup of coffee in-between the relevant bits. The filler rotation functions like the SFX command, in homage to FFIX.
• BLM now has Sprint as a permanent trait. AM has been replaced with Shukuchi on a 20s recast.
• Getting hit with Manafont up activates the trait Manafont Grassa, which grants the effect Shake it Off to all teammates within 30y.

For the longest time, EW SMN mains dreamed of being able outperform BLM players in the caster slot. With the release of PCT in Dawntrail, you finally gave them the job they needed to achieve this. Now with these potential BLM changes, not only will they be able to surpass BLM, they can conceivably claim to be BLM players as well.

Mao sad. Is PCTs just that much betters than BLMs?

Don't be sad Mao. Just burninate the bad guys.