Job Adjustments and Additions Part II (03/30/2009)

[Shinta]

I'm pretty sad for the RDMs, the last update really rallied everyone together in a way that's rarely seen. I'm hoping that it's better than it sounds. Protect and Shell lasting an hour could be pretty nice .... trying to wrap my head around this, let's see.

Assuming that all Enhancing spells are doubled in duration (which is a big assumption):

Protect I-IV: 1 hour
Shell I-IV: 1 hour
Aquaveil: 10 minutes
Sneak/Invisible: Potentially kind of nice, random duration
Regen: 150 seconds
Refresh: 5 minutes
Regen II: 2 minutes (Assuming subbing SCH now with the lowering of RR1)
Reraise: 2 hours
Stoneskin: 10 minutes (or 350+ damage)
Blaze Spikes/Shock/Ice: 6 minutes
Haste: 6 minutes
Enspells: (duration not listed)
Barspells: (duration not listed)
Phalanx: 6 minutes
Blink: 10 minutes

And yeah, if you're subbing SCH, Celerity cuts a spell's recast in half every 2 minutes, 2 charges. It's still pretty hard to see how good this will actually be with recast duration increase unknown and duration increase unknown, but seriously, hastening someone once every six minutes will feel like an eternity.

[Corrderio]

Why do I think we are going to witness a new era of retarded RDMs this update?

[Callisto]

I won't complain too much, RDM didn't need as much work as WHM so they shouldn't get as much, and this will be fun to toy with. The length boost to self-buffs will be really nice for soloing and for tanking, and the Acc boost is nice too, especially for tanking when I would be co-tanking with a PLD and could consistently make Blossom > Atonement Light.

The elemental resistance down stacked on top of Death Blossom addt'l effect could in fact be very potent as well, and it may even stack with Threnody effects.

[Araius]

Never underestimate the QQ addiction....ever.

I've been RDM for 5 1/2 years and I'm psyched for this. Enspell II + Death Blossom is just enough to make RDM melee worth doing, albeit temporarily. That's all I've ever asked for, and now I have it. Yay.

WHM needed a major overhaul. RDM did not. Quit your bitching.

Edit: Oh and the new JA seems clearly geared towards getting that Enspell II and Death Blossom stuck more quickly/efficiently in end-game situations. Acc bonus was a must. Longer recasts screws RDM/NIN, but anymore I'm soloing as RDM/BLU half the time anyway. If it makes my Cocoon and other buffs last longer, hells yes.

[geno3302]

There's far too much crying for RDM and far too little for SMN. Yes the RDM update is basically worthless, but they actually got something. SMN got nothing.

Edit for typo.

[Day]

There's far too much crying for RDM and far too little for SMN. Yes the RDM update is basically worthless, but they actually got something. SMN got nothing.

Edit for typo.

SMN got some things, didn't you read the update?

[Xno Kappa]

SMN's strike me as the biggest whiners for all the wrong reasons. Instead of asking for a core change to the job to make it suck less it's always the "we needz teh moar avatarz!" anthem they chant.

[Shinta]

Edit: Oh and the new JA seems clearly geared towards getting that Enspell II and Death Blossom stuck more quickly/efficiently in end-game situations. Acc bonus was a must. Longer recasts screws RDM/NIN, but anymore I'm soloing as RDM/BLU half the time anyway. If it makes my Cocoon and other buffs last longer, hells yes.

Maybe not.

- Composure
(Lv.50 Ability Delay: 5 min. Duration: 5 min.)
Increases accuracy and lengthens recast time. Enhancement effects gained through white and black magic you cast on yourself last longer.

[Destinye]

SMN's strike me as the biggest whiners for all the wrong reasons. Instead of asking for a core change to the job to make it suck less it's always the "we needz teh moar avatarz!" anthem they chant.

Yet the ones that say more avatars will fix the job are getting more and more of them throughout the years and still bitch. So regardless if SMN gets fixed, there will be the majority that feels more avatars = fixing.

[nitsuj]

Did I miss the part where they say "Blood Pact: Rage, when used on a target that has moved out of range will no longer deduct MP" like they promised?

[Lampoon]

Sept, you always blow things out of proportion which causes all these puppies to post same thing for 10 threads. Come on now. I thought you would be happy with en-spells. I remember way back when. You actually posted suggesting for this very same set of spells.

People forget that they have released more than what they've announced in terms of job adjustments in the past. Examples being DRG 2hr ability rework(announced) and Jump additional effects(unannounced).

[geno3302]

I have always wanted a core change to the SMN job. The way we work is bullshit. If we were as strong as we are now 4 years ago when people only did traditional PTs, then I wouldn't complain. SE has been behind on every update. And SMN got NOTHING in this update, we got fixes that should never have even been problems in the first place. The increase in merit BP damage is nice, but the update we got them is the same update BLM got AM II.

AM II: more efficient, more damage
Merit BPs: More MP, less damage.

All they've done with SMN is fix past mistakes that shouldn't have existed.

[Kenji]

SMN's strike me as the biggest whiners for all the wrong reasons. Instead of asking for a core change to the job to make it suck less it's always the "we needz teh moar avatarz!" anthem they chant.

Spoken like someone who doesn't quite understand the dynamics around SMN. SE has invested too much into SMN, to dramatically change the way it works. So the best we can expect are tweaks, LIKE WE JUST GOT, to update the job. And if we get said tweaks, we'll be fine.

And new avatars *can* dramatically change the job. Witness: Fenrir, Diabolos. With the former, we got accuracy and stat buffs, and an mp efficient source of damage. While I use garuda a lot more now, it's a situational thing, as to whether I'll use Fenrir or Garuda. A free Fenrir is a whole lot easier to get, and I don't have to switch staves to aspir.

Diabolos gave us Dream Shroud (which isn't used nearly as much as it should), and a decently strong ranged magical BP. A lot of fights were changed the day we got that.

So yes, it's fully within reality to expect new avatars to change the way we play, and to give us new valuable options. And if SE continues with the track of updating individual BP's like with hastega and the merit pacts, that could be all the adjustments we need.

Other adjustments we've got over the years that have moved us up more:
pet accuracy adjustment
BP: Rage and Ward (another splitting of BP's could be possible)
Summoning skill adjustment to further increase accuracy, and lenthen ward duration

We don't need a complete overhaul. Tweaks here and there will put us in line. I will agree with the complaints that it's taking so long for these tweaks, and SE is hesitant to do for fears of "overpowerment."

I'd like to see 1 or 2 more BP commands, and a further ward duration increase (5+ minutes for each buff). SMN improvement doesn't, and shouldn't, come from straight damage. We should be more like a COR; damage and group buffs, with a system designed to force us to do both. The BP system does that.

[Olo401]

So yeah.. I'll just skip over 13 pages of WRYYYYYYYY to say.. yeah I agree with ya these changes are lame.

[Olo401]

So yeah.. I'll just skip over 13 pages of WRYYYYYYYY to say.. yeah I agree with ya these changes are lame.

[oldoldman]

Flood control appears to have been turned off..

[dejet]

my turn to bitch and tell you how things can be better if only they did what i say!

1) give rdm en'IIs (light/dark too!) they should stack with 2x,3x and so on weps! and deal 80dmg a hit.
2)rdm gets refresh II! lasts 10min its 80mp and is 10mp/tic
3) rdm sword goes to A+
4)rdm shield goes to A-

am i doing it right?

next lets go onto smn!

1)all merited BPs that have near 100% acc on almost anything should do more dmg then the crap acc lvl BPs!
2)free pets!
3)avatars should deal close to the same DMG as a fully merited DD on HNM and merit mobs.
4)fix the range of our BPs

bam i just fixed it. everything!

ok before someone says anything ll but 4 on smn i think should not be done lol.
people really i said this like 5 pages back but im sorry you do things one way and wont try anything else(or your shell). the updates are to give people ways to play the game in odd new ways. not make your one way only shit easy.

because thats what everyone seems to want. (more haste! more STR mods WS! more DMG!)

step back a sec and think how this could help rdms that may not do things your way.

[BRP]

So yeah.. I'll just skip over 13 pages of WRYYYYYYYY to say.. yeah I agree with ya these changes are lame.

Wry doesn't work that way.

Spoken like someone who doesn't quite understand the dynamics around SMN. SE has invested too much into SMN, to dramatically change the way it works. So the best we can expect are tweaks, LIKE WE JUST GOT, to update the job. And if we get said tweaks, we'll be fine.

Given that SE has displayed complete control over recast timers, damage formulas and enchantment formulas I am going to say you are completely wrong.

[Toth]

I stand by my previous posts. Max really explained it well. RDM is not defined purely by this hallowed end-all strategy and tradition some of the BG elitist love to flaunt. There are tons of lousy RDMs out there regardless. This won't change much. Princess RDMs indeed.

Now for the person who complained that a smn is stuck doing nothing for the 45 seconds between a BP, you can always:

a) heal one or two ticks to keep a stable MP flow -or-

b) Use a BP: ward to benefit your immediate party (though sacrificing MP).

People who think SMNs just do something every 46 seconds are playing with bad SMNs.

[Raineer]

am i doing it right?

That would be a no.

Although, Refresh II defined as self-only with 3x cost and 3x the duration...hell yes

Begin and end the update with that and I'm happy. Only other thing I'd dream of is for Slow II to be closer to Elegy (even if the two didn't stack /gasp) and maybe for Blind to do something more effective than it does.

However, those last two things would overpower RDM soloing even more than it already is, which is the whole problem with adjusting RDM in the first place.