I don't want Pictomancer to be nerfed for one reason

[Heavenchild]

https://youtu.be/PzaOTnlxynI?si=vvFYsiMKxgpWYxK9

This is a really good video about why nerfing pictomancer is not that easy. To balance it even more, you can't just change some numbers. Picto is just very strong on bosses with downtime. So, to balance it more, it must be homogenized and you have to take its job identity away. :c

They should communicate such stuff in their live letters more, instead of showing us expensive merch. :x

[CCheshire]

https://youtu.be/PzaOTnlxynI?si=vvFYsiMKxgpWYxK9

This is a really good video about why nerfing pictomancer is not that easy. To balance it even more, you can't just change some numbers. Picto is just very strong on bosses with downtime. So, to balance it more, it must be homogenized and you have to take its job identity away. :c

They should communicate such stuff in their live letters more, instead of showing us expensive merch. :x

No, you don't understand the FINAL FANTASY XIV x LOGOS Folding Wagon is extremely important for fellow gamers to be aware of the rare chance they go outside and feel the sudden urge to go camping out of the blue.

[ForsakenRoe]

This is a really good video about why nerfing pictomancer is not that easy. To balance it even more, you can't just change some numbers. Picto is just very strong on bosses with downtime. So, to balance it more, it must be homogenized and you have to take its job identity away. :c

Yes, but no.

You go too far, and you take the identity away, yes, but I would argue that it might actually be as simple as 'just change some numbers'. Let me give the maths I did a while back:

First, we identify which part of the job's kit is causing the issue. Here, it's the ability to paint in downtime. For now, we'll focus on just the Muse/Mog/Madeen painting. I don't want to deal with the maths regarding Crit Scaling and such with the Hammer. Each of these actions is 1100p for the Muses, 1300p for the Mog, and 1400p for Madeen. This full cycle, of 4 Muses, 1 Mog and 1 Madeen, has a total CD of 160s, and deals a total of 7100p.

Next, the rough idea on how to address this issue: 'what if we move some of the potency out of these moves (so that downtime gains are lower), and move it into a different part of the kit, which requires uptime?' To take this further, let's also put it in something above level 90, such that old content balance (TOP/DSR DPS checks, for example) is also brough back under control, why not? Of course, moving so much potency to one of the few parts of the 91+ kit would mean a crazy high potency value on some actions, and create a lot of Crit Variance, so ideally, we want to limit the potency of any moves to be roughly in line with what SE has already got for the Job (eg, not higher than the 1400 Madeen already occupies).

So, the simplest way would be this: A new OGCD (so as not to interrupt the current burst window's GCD flow with regards to preparing Rainbow Drip), that can be used after casting Star Prism. Call it 'Prismatic Fantasy' or something spectacular sounding. With it being tied to Star Prism, we know that the action has a pseudo-CD of 120s. So, we find the lowest common denominator between 120 and 160 (the cycle length of the Muses), and we see that it's 480. So, whatever potency we remove from Muses, Mog and Madeen, 3 sets of 'that potency total' needs to equal 4 uses of this new OGCD. So, working backwards a bit, we juggle values until we come up with something that sounds good on one side, and work through the maths to find if it works on the other end too. Let's skip to the final result we're here for: we can make the new OGCD 900p. Multiply this potency by 4 (4x120s is 480s) to get 3600, divide that by 3 (since we get 3 sets of 4 Muses, 1 Mog, 1 Madeen (totalling 12/3/3 uses) per 480s) to get 1200p (the total amount to remove from each Muse cycle), and then divide that by 6 (because there's 6 abilities (4 Muses, a Mog and a Madeen) in each cycle) to get the reduction to each of those OGCDs we'd need: 200p.

Reducing the Potency of the Muses to 900p gives them an effective 'potency per second spent casting' of 300p (since they have a 3s cast time), whereas the next best option, Subtractive Spectrum casts, have an average 'potency per second spent casting' of around 360p. That sounds like an issue, but only because we're not factoring in the time it takes to generate the gauge to use Subtractive. If you take the average of 'two combos to build 50 Palette to use Subtractive, then a Subtractive Combo', the whole 9 GCD loop, the average drops down to 260p 'per second spent casting'. This means that in the long run, painting Muses in full uptime is still 'required' for optimal damage, and the rotation should not be impacted by the reduction in potency.

TLDR, unless I'm missing something, it's as simple as reducing Mog/Madeen and all 4 of the Muses, by 200p each, and funnelling that potency instead into a 900p OGCD that follows off of our level 100 action Star Prism. This solution A: Helps curb how much PCT gains from downtimes compared to other Jobs, while still letting it get 'some' benefit (thereby preserving its identity somewhat), B: Helps curb how good it is in older challenge content like old Ultimates (by siphoning off a portion of the available potency at level 90 and moving it to the level 100 kit), and C: Is actually a buff at level 100, ironically, as you now have more potency in the burst window compared to previously (you lose 200p from a Muse, and 200p from the Mog or Madeen, but you gain 900 on this new OGCD)

If 200p is too much fo a reduction, the numbers can be switched around pretty easily. For example, instead of 200p reduction across the board, let's say it's 150p shaved off of each Muse/Mog/Madeen. Okay, then the new OGCD after Star Prism would be 675p, and everything works as previously described. It really might be 'as simple as 'just change some numbers'' after all