Pictomancer is not the issue.

[AstreaLove]

It's the fact that ALL physical ranged and SMN & RDM jobs hit like a wet noodle.
What they should do is remove the ranged tax for physical ranged, and also remove the ress from SMN & RDM, and just buff all of them to be on par with PCT.

It's silly that in 2025 things like "ranged tax" and "utility tax" still is part of the game, when it haven't been relevant for several years at this point.

At the moment it feels very unappealing to play and/or bring physical ranged or SMN/RDM to content, even though they're viable options, you'd much rather take something else.

My point is, PCT isn't really the real issue, but rahter everything else is just too weak, so buff everything else instead.

[TheMightyMollusk]

One job is out of balance with the others, so the other jobs are all wrong? That......makes no logical sense.

[Supersnow845]

One job is out of balance with the others, so the other jobs are all wrong? That......makes no logical sense.

PCT can be a problem (not saying it is or it isn’t) and the physical/rezz tax can still be stupid

There is absolutely no reason why the physical ranged and rezz casters are as far behind as they are

[Infindox]

Remove one of the reasons RDM is popular (it's not the theme of its job, duelcast is, but at this point being the "rez mage" might as well be) and remove some of the expression of the role that they seem hellbent on doing to every other job? No thanks.

[Connor]

PCT can be a problem (not saying it is or it isn’t) and the physical/rezz tax can still be stupid

There is absolutely no reason why the physical ranged and rezz casters are as far behind as they are

Yoshi-P: ‘mobility’ *mic drop*
Players: but what about all the mobility casters and melee have now?
Yoshi-P: *he’s hiding behind the stage curtain*


Jokes aside based on what I’ve seen it seems like ‘Pictomancer power’ is more culmination of various things rather than a straightforward matter of ‘potency too high’.

There’s also relative strength (maybe other jobs are too weak lol), recency of job development (it doesn’t have outdated ‘old expansion artefacts’ like certain other jobs), and encounter design in general (sometimes it’s extremely favourable for Picto, sometimes it’s very much not lol. Like ultimates vs chaotic).
Even party composition will likely have [some] effect on the extent to which Pictomancer can be ‘powerful’.

I think ‘ranged tax’ made sense at the time they started developing around it; it was/is generally applied to ‘support’ oriented jobs so they don’t end up overpowering non-support jobs (in theory lol, in practice it’s never quite worked out). In a game where like, phys ranged and SMN/RDM had valuable and accessible (i.e not 120 cool-down lol) supportive/utility/whatever abilities, I could see some justification for it. Like when Bards and Machinists could recover party MP/TP.

Naturally, that time has long passed and ‘support’ is basically a thing every job does bar some notable exceptions. Which raises the question: what are we even being taxed for ? lol. Isn’t the 2500MP cost and (potential) 7-sec cast time already tax enough for using Raise?

[Supersnow845]

Yoshi-P: ‘mobility’ *mic drop*
Players: but what about all the mobility casters and melee have now?
Yoshi-P: *he’s hiding behind the stage curtain*


Jokes aside based on what I’ve seen it seems like ‘Pictomancer power’ is more culmination of various things rather than a straightforward matter of ‘potency too high’.

There’s also relative strength (maybe other jobs are too weak lol), recency of job development (it doesn’t have outdated ‘old expansion artefacts’ like certain other jobs), and encounter design in general (sometimes it’s extremely favourable for Picto, sometimes it’s very much not lol. Like ultimates vs chaotic).
Even party composition will likely have [some] effect on the extent to which Pictomancer can be ‘powerful’.

I think ‘ranged tax’ made sense at the time they started developing around it; it was/is generally applied to ‘support’ oriented jobs so they don’t end up overpowering non-support jobs (in theory lol, in practice it’s never quite worked out). In a game where like, phys ranged and SMN/RDM had valuable and accessible (i.e not 120 cool-down lol) supportive/utility/whatever abilities, I could see some justification for it. Like when Bards and Machinists could recover party MP/TP.

Naturally, that time has long passed and ‘support’ is basically a thing every job does bar some notable exceptions. Which raises the question: what are we even being taxed for ? lol. Isn’t the 2500MP cost and (potential) 7-sec cast time already tax enough for using Raise?

The only job that has enough support to be justifiably taxed for it is (ironically) SCH and in true “square can’t balance healers if you paid them (which we do)” fashion SCH is never taxed on anything

[Connor]

The only job that has enough support to be justifiably taxed for it is (ironically) SCH and in true “square can’t balance healers if you paid them (which we do)” fashion SCH is never taxed on anything

Yeah, I’d say that’s probably the most ironic thing about the whole situation. They (claim to) do so much for the sake of ‘balancing’ then frequently ignore the things that actually need balanced lol. Too busy kicking phys ranged / smn/ rdm players in the nether regions, I guess lol.

[Nero-Voidstails]

Yeah, I’d say that’s probably the most ironic thing about the whole situation. They (claim to) do so much for the sake of ‘balancing’ then frequently ignore the things that actually need balanced lol. Too busy kicking phys ranged / smn/ rdm players in the nether regions, I guess lol.

and yet give us a broken job >~>

[Collin_Sky]

lmao at the fact that people are up in arms over one job doing 6% more damage than everything else but then say the five jobs that do 10% less damage than everything else shouldn't be touched
just lmao

Raise/Rphys tax is a terrible thing.

[Themarvin]

Just down the DPS by 25%