So here's another thread about the changes to Black Mage. From 6.0 until now, Black Mage has been getting changes to make it easier and easier to play, so we can assume that SE thinks that each successive change still hasn't been enough. However, throughout the entirety of Endwalker and Dawntrail (with the sole exception of 7.0 BLM which was a rushed mess), skilled Black Mage players have been able to maintain full uptime using the tools the job has, in nearly all instanced content, without issue.
I would contend that the problem isn't that Black Mage hasn't got enough instant casts, or that the timer is too unforgiving. The problem that stops people sticking with the job is that the leveling experience completely fails to prepare you for max level content, and nearly ALL of the simplification that SE has done has been at the high levels of the job. At that point, new players will likely have already quit playing it.
For example, let's take a look at Ley Lines. You get Ley Lines at level 52, but you get Retrace at level 96. By the time you reach level 96, you should already have some idea of how to place Ley Lines. You've probable figured out that you should place it right near where the MT stands, and maybe that in the middle of the arena is a good spot. So why is the skill that makes LL easier and friendlier right near the end of the leveling experience?
Here's another one. Triplecast, and managing its two charges, is one of the most important tools in your arsenal for handling the movement in a level 90 or level 100 Savage raid. Most often you'll use Xenoglossy, weave triplecast, then start running around to do Alarm Pheromones or whatever. And when you do get triplecast? You only get it at level 66, and you don't even get a nice way to weave it until level 80 when you get instant Foul. That's 80 levels of missed opportunity where you could have been teaching people how to handle the job.
And finally, let's look at Despair. Which, most recently, was changed to be an instant cast...at level 100. If anyone levels BLM to 100 they're probably sticking to the job, so why are they making it easier to play right at the very top end?
TL;DR: I still maintain that BLM's difficulty is a job is overestimated a lot by the community, it simply makes you think about the content in a different, not necessarily harder way. The issue is that leveling the job fails to prepare people for the way it plays at max level, and that is due to the fact that despite SE's repeated changes to the job, the sub max level experience remains the same.
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I would contend that the problem isn't that Black Mage hasn't got enough instant casts, or that the timer is too unforgiving. The problem that stops people sticking with the job is that the leveling experience completely fails to prepare you for max level content, and nearly ALL of the simplification that SE has done has been at the high levels of the job. At that point, new players will likely have already quit playing it.
For example, let's take a look at Ley Lines. You get Ley Lines at level 52, but you get Retrace at level 96. By the time you reach level 96, you should already have some idea of how to place Ley Lines. You've probable figured out that you should place it right near where the MT stands, and maybe that in the middle of the arena is a good spot. So why is the skill that makes LL easier and friendlier right near the end of the leveling experience?
Here's another one. Triplecast, and managing its two charges, is one of the most important tools in your arsenal for handling the movement in a level 90 or level 100 Savage raid. Most often you'll use Xenoglossy, weave triplecast, then start running around to do Alarm Pheromones or whatever. And when you do get triplecast? You only get it at level 66, and you don't even get a nice way to weave it until level 80 when you get instant Foul. That's 80 levels of missed opportunity where you could have been teaching people how to handle the job.
And finally, let's look at Despair. Which, most recently, was changed to be an instant cast...at level 100. If anyone levels BLM to 100 they're probably sticking to the job, so why are they making it easier to play right at the very top end?
TL;DR: I still maintain that BLM's difficulty is a job is overestimated a lot by the community, it simply makes you think about the content in a different, not necessarily harder way. The issue is that leveling the job fails to prepare people for the way it plays at max level, and that is due to the fact that despite SE's repeated changes to the job, the sub max level experience remains the same.
Continue reading...