machinist main crashing out

[CVXIV]

Flamethrower has never made any sense. Requires players to stand still for 10 seconds and it's only usable in dungeons against trash mobs, which are extremely boring and their only mechanic is a counter to the ability (throwing all types of AoEs at random players).

And now years after the rework, for reasons unknown, SE wants MCH to spend its gauge on single-target GCDs against up to 5 mobs instead of 2 or 3.

I could be wrong, but I think blue mages actually have a better flame thrower which is hilarious to me

I think it might be neat if bioblaster tied into flamethrower in some way
Maybe bioblaster still does its DoT, but if you use flamethrower then it ignites and removes that DoT
So you would want to maybe wait it out until it's about to expire then send out a burst of flames for big damage

[Absurdity]

And now years after the rework, for reasons unknown, SE wants MCH to spend its gauge on single-target GCDs against up to 5 mobs instead of 2 or 3.

This was the funniest thing to me when I looked into Machinist a few months ago.

It's no secret that the standard raid rotation isn't exactly complicated, but then you look at their AoE and it's the most ridiculous thing you've ever seen. With some AoE skills being a gain on 3, some on 5, some on 6, some are only a gain on X targets if you don't have a tool available that gives you battery, if you can't use Hypercharge or only if you can catch raid buffs with it.
Got a pretty good chuckle out of me how doing AoE damage on the job is somehow way more complicated than single-target.

[HyperiusUltima]

I just don't understand what they want for MCH anymore. They have all these fun tools, but don't get the power the job's supposed to have with how it plays. It underperforms consistently and hasn't had a tier where it isn't outclassed by BRD/DNC bringing in huge Raid Buffs that count for 2-3% more of a Boss's HP per 2m.

We're talking more potency on the damage applied on the raid than it is when MCH is throwing out everything it has. That's how bad it is. Even if you look at Top MCH, they're being beat out by BRD/DNC handily - and in 2+ Target situations they're even more prominent now even with the new AoE reductions that are applied to a lot of jobs after first target. MCH surely didn't deserve it, though.

Not to mention? They never are touching Auto Crossbow. That ability can stay left in the garbage since we already have two abilities that can be reset for 2 GCDs' worth. If anything, they need to take a good, long look at MCH and determine what they want to do with it because otherwise it's going to be a job that'll never see the light of day again. Even in Ultimates it's considered the worst job for prog and even just trying to clear with.

[CVXIV]

I just don't understand what they want for MCH anymore. They have all these fun tools, but don't get the power the job's supposed to have with how it plays. It underperforms consistently and hasn't had a tier where it isn't outclassed by BRD/DNC bringing in huge Raid Buffs that count for 2-3% more of a Boss's HP per 2m.

We're talking more potency on the damage applied on the raid than it is when MCH is throwing out everything it has. That's how bad it is. Even if you look at Top MCH, they're being beat out by BRD/DNC handily - and in 2+ Target situations they're even more prominent now even with the new AoE reductions that are applied to a lot of jobs after first target. MCH surely didn't deserve it, though.

Not to mention? They never are touching Auto Crossbow. That ability can stay left in the garbage since we already have two abilities that can be reset for 2 GCDs' worth. If anything, they need to take a good, long look at MCH and determine what they want to do with it because otherwise it's going to be a job that'll never see the light of day again. Even in Ultimates it's considered the worst job for prog and even just trying to clear with.

The issue is that it's a greedy DPS without the power to back it up
Why bring a machinist as your physical ranged when you could instead bring Bard or Dancer that has more utility to provide the group

It's meant to be comparable to something like Samurai, or Viper, or Black Mage but hits like a wet noodle and provides no bonuses to the party that the others can't in spades

The job is in a dire state and seriously needs a rework, and as you say it's like they don't know what they want it to be

As I said I'm not a machinist main but I do really like the job and I think aesthetically it looks really cool. It's really disappointing to see it in such a state and I hope something gets done soon

One thing I think that would be neat for them to add is the walking style casts from PvP. I've seen another user mention the same and it's a neat idea and would add a slight bit more risk to their playstyle since if they commit to an attack at an inopportune moment, they have the slower movement speed and could get clipped by an AoE. Plus, it would give their attacks more oomph and makes sense they would need to aim it.

[Valence]

When I think in retrospect that SB MCH had the most interesting AoE of almost every job but BLM back then... How far we have fallen.

They would need to dramatically up MCH's damage to justify walking casts though, otherwise it's just making the job harder to play with no actual benefit.

Even then, I don't play MCH to deal with castbars (not in PVE at least), otherwise I would just play a caster. So while I'm sure some people would like it, there's going to be those of us who don't, and it could end up another BLM situation where they're changing the job up to try and appeal to those who don't even main it, while those who do already suddenly drop in number.

Pretty much. If you want to play a caster, go play a caster. I understand those are becoming an endangered species but it's not by making rphys into more of those that it's going to fix the caster nor the rphys identity problem.

[Yeol]

[HyperiusUltima]

I remember this. MCH was really good back then(even if it needed a couple buffs here and there to compare to BRD's utility at the time) and was particularly strong due to Wildfire. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: They should uncap Wildfire Potency and let it be a % of how much damage you can shove into it. That way, MCH can actually get the big payoff it's been missing for it to be up there with the likes of Melee at minimum.

Flamethrower needs to be a Combo with Bioblaster that can apply not one, but two DoTs together instantaneously. Sure, it'll be like BRD a bit, but you're not going to sit there twiddling your thumbs for 10s while stuck in a channel at least since the thing no longer generates heat(which is asinine given it's literally fire).

Auto Crossbow? It's only good on 3+, they just have to give it the same treatment as the ST Hypercharge rotation so you aren't feeling like you're missing something in the "feel" since Hypecharge is meant to be your fast phase. Other than that, getting down to brass tacks potency for Scattergun and Auto Crossbow vs. the ST rotations is now 3+ compared to its previous 4+.

What we need damage on though are our big hits(Full Metal Field, Chainsaw, Drill, Excavator) because that's where a good chunk of our damage is if they want to keep the job selfish.

[Absurdity]

I remember this. MCH was really good back then(even if it needed a couple buffs here and there to compare to BRD's utility at the time) and was particularly strong due to Wildfire. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: They should uncap Wildfire Potency and let it be a % of how much damage you can shove into it. That way, MCH can actually get the big payoff it's been missing for it to be up there with the likes of Melee at minimum.

Alternatively they could also make Wildfire take a percentage of the entire party's damage over it's duration.
Since they clearly don't want phys ranged to deal high personal dps it would at least give Machinist something akin to a raid buff, with the added bonus of being slightly more interesting than another "everyone does X% more damage for 20 seconds".