The Case for Early Oblation

[bundythenoob]

Long time no see fellow DRK enjoyers! Feels good to be back in Eorzea. Endwalker was loads of fun, and the job feels better than ever to play!
Moving Stalwart Soul and Dark Missionary to earlier levels has been nothing short of a godsend for the everyday gameplay of the job,
and with 7.3 on the horizon, I was wondering if anyone else shares my sentiments regarding Oblation...

There is absolutely NO question that "bubbling" with The Blackest Night is the core of the job's defencive kit,
and when we asked for an early weaker TBN we were instead given Oblation.
As it stands, the skill is an EXTREMELY flexible alternative mitigation tool!
However... the actual shield's buff is very weak, and given to the player at WAY too high of a level to make any impact.

I actually believe this skill has AMAZING potential if it had 2 simple changes made to it:
move Oblation to level 35 with 2 charges (will help DRK protect their teammates at lower levels)
give it a "Vigilant" effect (will help with sustain and giving teammates support)

These simple changes serve to fix DRK's weaker sustain in higher level content and to allow lower level DRK players to bubble their teammates, an important aspect of the job's core gameplay.
If the dev team truly wishes to make future content harder, than we should expect future DRK players to become accustomed to bubbling party members much sooner!

I know the current DRK kit is nowhere near what it once was, and that our blood/mana economy has problems,
but if there's one straightforward change I would like to see made, it would be an Early Oblation.