Stormblood Job Review Article Planning Stuffs

The damage-dealing aspects of the Scholar have been seriously nerfed in this patch; it's lost several of its damage over time abilities (including a cross-class one, Aero), and the remainder was heavily nerfed; Miasma no longer applies half a dozen status effects, Shadow Flare runs out very quickly, and Bane, the ability that would spread three DOTs to other enemies nearby has dropped severely in potency, making it pretty much useless for three or more enemies.

On the other hand, with the changes to Cleric Stance (it's no longer a permanent status / toggle but instead a 15 second, 5% damage buff - effectively useless) and with how damage is calculated (now based on Mind instead of Int, so the previous effect of Cleric Stance, which switched the Mind and Int stats around, is no longer necessary), it's become a much simpler class to play - there's no longer a need to switch between DPS and healing mode (when the opportunity presents itself), and it plays much easier.

With regards to its main role, healing, that too seems to have been nerfed; in the current batch of Stormblood dungeons and trials, healing has become a full-time job, where one has to apply heals at all times, and maybe toss in a bit of damage here and there - but nowhere near as much as before Stormblood. It's not a very effective healer, according to a long post on reddit which I can't find atm; fairy healing was nerfed, mana and mana recovery was nerfed, its shield ability is not as effective as that of the Astrologist, its healing abiliteis not as strong as that of the White Mage, andsoforth; it's pretty much the weakest healer, with no longer as much extra DPS to make up for it, and no additional support abilities besides a 15 second damage buff (increases crit chance).

1. Your name on TLS + your name in game/what server you're on/what FC you're in + the job(s) you're going to detail

2. How long you were playing the job before SB came out (obviously the new jobs won't have been available, just say that and move on)

3. Did you read up on the changes that were going to happen to the job for SB before playing? Did it affect your decision to either stick with that job or change to a different one?

4. What do you think of the new Role abilities replacing cross-class skills?

5. What do you think of the 60-70 abilities? (I think it may be a good idea to list out each ability and react to them individually) I know that there might be a few people somewhere who don't even want spoilers for job abilities or whatever but I'll make a clear statement at the beginning of the article that the job abilities will be talked about in detail, so meh. What works/doesn't work, in your opinion? How have they changed how you play the job? Are there things you're hoping that SE "fixes" about any of the abilities in upcoming patches?

6. Personal thoughts/opinions on how the new jobs/abilities might affect the overall meta for those who take raiding UBER seriously (if you don't really have any opinions on this because you don't have much experience with serious raiding or just don't care, just say so, don't force it)

Omega
Charlotte Tenebres
Behemoth (for now)
Dark Knight, Warrior and Samurai

I found I enjoyed tanking the most somewhere around 2.3, and made DRK my main in Heavensward. That said, I spent a lot of time off-tanking as a WAR for mid-core raiding, and have done my fair share of PLD play as well. I off-main DRG/SMN and SCH/AST. SAM just came out, so that's a new one for me!


3. I found myself constantly checking for updates on job changes, new actions, and everything else I could find in the month or so before Stormblood dropped. I saw some good changes and some poor ones (farewell, Low Blow), but I still thought DRK looked very promising. That said, the job guide made it clear that PLD was about to get much, much better, and the changes to WAR seemed a bit...mediocre, I guess? It made me a bit sad because I spent my raiding time as a WAR OT. I'm sticking with DRK, but will be dabbling in PLD once again (I feel the change to Royal Authority in particular is going to make it a lot more fun to play).

Of the two new jobs, though, it was solely the reading up on them which told me I'd want to play SAM - in particular, the enormous damage of the Iaijutsu skills called me to action.


4. Well, here's the thing. I had always wished that DRK could contribute some cross-class skills to the tank sets (Dark Mind, maybe?). The new role actions for tanks are GREAT, though - everyone gets Provoke and Rampart (I hate to see Shadowskin go), and Convalescence is kept as well. This is great, because literally every tank needs these things (though perhaps not for every encounter in raiding?). The fun part is the rest - Shirk and Ultimatum are excellent skills, and Ultimatum in particular, I think, has been needed for a while (as any tank who has died during a huge trash pull or add phase can tell you - or worse, while Provoke is on cooldown). But some of the others are just really...poor. When will you ever need Interject (though it would be different if it dealt damage)? How much use will you really get out of Anticipation (it's Dark Dance, but without the sweet Dark Arts bonus, and no skills proc off of a parry anymore)? The damage reduction is nice, but it's still just a bit too niche. I think the change I dislike the most, though, is the removal of WAR and DRK's stun moves, and making the 25s oGCD stun a role action. Not only did these two moves deal damage (albeit small), they didn't use up a cross-class slot, which is pretty critical now that there are 8 very viable choices (it would've made it 7, one of them only being used for specific tank swap situations and another only being in add-heavy boss fights, for a total of 5 general purpose options). I'm also not a huge fan of the loss of Reprisal for DRK, but it's not as bad as PLD losing three (!) of its leveling abilities to the role action system, all of which are near-mandatory. So personally, I run Rampart, Provoke, Convalescence, Reprisal, and Low Blow (the last of which is swapped out for Shirk as needed, or Awareness for Warrior). Lastly, RIP Bloodbath. We will remember your service.

On the melee DPS side of things, I'm kind of undecided. It's nice to still have access to Bloodbath (sigh), Invigorate, and Leg Sweep (RIP DRG), and Goad is a godsend. I'm not a huge fan of the removal of Virus/Supervirus in favor of Feint/Addle, though. Diversion is nice, but the other melee role actions are kind of mediocre. The exception, though, is True North, which is AMAZING for classes like MNK, DRG, and NIN, which rely heavily on positionals. Fortunately, SAM only has one move with a positional requirement, and it only adds a small amount (5) to your gauge growth when this is met - not terribly earthshaking, though still useful. True North doesn't have a chance to shine here. That said, Bloodbath is the SAM MVP, allowing the player to regain most, if not all, of their lost health by continuing on their rotation (thank goodness they deal so much damage!).


5. For DRK:

Delirium - regaining a good chunk of MP and increasing the duration of Blood Price and Blood Weapon is always good. The cooldown (2m) is a bit high, though. Awesome skill, uses half a gauge.

Quietus - my favorite new addition, giving DRK a good, solid AOE damage skill. No cooldown is nice, but my favorite part is that, as a GCD move, it doesn't interrupt combos! Amazing, uses half a gauge.

Bloodspiller - similar to Quietus, except is a single target nuke. Deals very large damage, more in Grit. This just recently (yesterday) was changed, though, so it only deals slightly more damage with Grit active. Also amazing, and uses half a gauge.

The Blackest Night - the best new DRK skill, this functions as our beloved Stoneskin. However, this move is much, MUCH better, for several reasons. First, it's an oGCD, meaning you can weave it into your rotation. Second, the shield scales off of YOUR OWN health, rather than the target's (you can use this on allies, btw). This will grant an ally a shield of 10% of your max HP, or will give you one for 20% of same (tankbusters beware!). But wait, there's more! It ALSO instantly gives you half a gauge upon the shield breaking, which is exceptionally useful, and gives you the chance to build gauge while saving your healer's life (or a DPS, or the other tank...whoever). Oh, and it's only a 15s cooldown, doesn't need Dark Arts, and costs the same amount as such. I can't praise this enough.

Essentially, the changes here mean that you spend a lot more time just trying to deal damage while trying to keep MP high to spam Dark Arts. Not much has really changed, tbh, outside of the very noticeable loss of nice cooldowns (RIP Dark Dance/Reprisal). I would say that it's somewhat less fun, though, when you've contracted PLD 2.X syndrome, where you essentially spam one ability combo repeatedly, which is less satisfying than before. Overall, though, with the addition of the new Blood Gauge GCDs, it doesn't detract from the feel of the job too much. That said, I would like to see the MP regeneration of Blood Price increased somewhat (it's been reduced by approximately 83% per hit).


For WAR:

Onslaught - Plunge plus aggro generation. This ability would be great (15s cooldown!) if it weren't for the fact that it costs 20 gauge and only has a 100 potency (Plunge deals twice the damage on double the cooldown, but costs no gauge). Mediocre at best.

Upheaval - What a great skill! Dealing more damage the higher your HP is is great, and that the skill factors in HP-increasing effects like Thrill of Battle is icing on the cake. Better yet (icing on top of icing?) is that it ignores the damage penalty from Defiance - I can't praise this skill enough.

Shake it Off - This skill is awful. It removes status effects (most of them), and doesn't cost gauge, but the problem is that it is just...useless. Warrior had the Pacification status from Berserk removed, so it literally serves no purpose at all. Just plain bad.

Inner Release - A neat skill, most notable because it halves the cost of all gauge-using skills (i.e. Fell Cleave) for just 20 gauge. The major pitfalls here are twofold: first, you have to be in Deliverance; not a huge deal, but swapping stances eats half a gauge in and of itself, which means you can't stance dance and Inner Release to real effect when a tank swap is called for, or when an add phase ends. This is mostly an issue because of the second problem: it shares a cooldown with Unchained (a Defiance-only ability that removes the tank stance's damage penalty). Essentially, if you use Unchained to increase your damage output, you're sacrificing the higher damage output you would be able to put out by changing stances. Once you activate Unchained, Inner Release is put on the same 2m cooldown. A good skill bogged down by restrictions.

The changes to a ton of its skills (swapping around where its buffs and debuffs are in combos, removing the debuff on Storm's Path, etc) makes for a lot of changes to rotation and skill usage. That being said, it just doesn't feel as satisfying as it did in 3.X. Hopefully, Warrior will receive some quality of life buffs that won't make it feel so clunky (Inner Release not sharing a cooldown, maybe a potency buff for Fell Cleave?)


For SAM (covering the best skills from 50-70 out of fairness):

Hissatsu: Kaiten - For a minor gauge cost, it increases the potency of your next weaponskill by 50%. In other words, that Higanbana or Midare Setsugekka you're about to use? Yeah, it just got a lot stronger. I've already seen crits with this of over 25k, and that was before I even got to level 70.

Hissatsu: Gyoten - For a small amount of gauge, dash a huge distance to reach melee range on your target. Weak, but high in personal utility.

Hissatsu: Yaten - The reverse of Gyoten, giving you damage while backstepping. Good for an AOE dodge, especially when it triples the potency of your next Enpi (ranged attack).

Merciful Eyes - Extremely minor, but I really enjoy a 200 potency self-heal just for getting hit after using Third Eye (a damage reduction buff). It's free and is only limited by Third Eye's 15s cooldown. Nothing major, but every bit of healing helps your party.

Hissatsu: Shinten - Near-spammable, 300 potency oGCD. Uses a good chunk of gauge, but given just how quickly you generate it, it's your third priority for usage (more on that later). Excellent skill.

Hissatsu: Kyuten - An AOE version of Shinten.

Hagakure - Converts your Sen to gauge. Extremely useful for getting rid of unwanted Sen (like right before a boss fight when you're got Tenka Goken ready), or for generating huge amounts of gauge quickly. 40s cooldown makes this an excellent ability.

Hissatsu: Guren - The final skill, and one of the best. This is your first priority for gauge (followed by Kaiten and Shinten), because it is a line AOE that eats half your gauge for an 800 base potency attack. Its 2m cooldown is what keeps it from being stupidly overpowered. That said, it deals ridiculous amounts of damage, and is a "use on cooldown" ability. It also looks cool, which has to count for something.

The class flows really well, so it's a blast to play. I suppose I wouldn't mind Gyoten having a shorter cooldown, but there's really nothing that needs fixing here. Merciful Eyes 300 potency? Regardless, this class is a lot of fun and deals absurd amounts of damage, and is incredibly satisfying to play. The sounds and visuals are excellent, though the Iaijutsu sound can be a bit grating.


6. The biggest change to the tank meta is that PLD will be the undisputed god-king of MT. It was very good at this in Heavensward, but the general idea was that Dark Knight was almost as good at being tanky as PLD while dealing loads more damage, so why bother with PLD? This has changed dramatically now. I have a feeling that DRK will replace WAR as the preferred OT, though, given the actual utility that DRK offers in Blackest Night, and the increase in DPS that Delirium-backed Blood Weapon grants. Warrior's only saving grace will be the slashing debuff, but since that's an integral part of the Samurai rotation (it's literally the only skill that gives one of the Sen), it's mostly irrelevant, I think. Non-SAM parties that want NIN, though, will probably take them along anyway.

Samurai will have a huge impact on the meta, being the job with one of, if not the highest damage output of any in the game. The lack of utility (outside of a slashing debuff) is mostly mitigated by the insane amounts of damage it pumps out - like a better version of 3.X MNK, which offered next to nothing outside of damage. I have a feeling that a lot of high-end raid groups are going to be running one for jobs like DRG and RDM to stack buffs onto - Dragon Sight, Battle Litany, Balance, Embolden, Trick Attack, and a BRD song would be heaven.

I have a feeling that BLM is going to become one of the less-desired raid picks due to the heavy amounts of movement required in what we've seen in the normal mode of Omega. This will give rise to SMN, which has always had more mobility, as well as the nimble, popular, and buff-bearing RDM. NIN will, of course, be almost obligatory, and DRG will be immensely popular due to Dragon Sight and Battle Litany. The removal of cast times will also dramatically increase the popularity of BRD and especially MCN. MNK is...still MNK, sadly.

Obsidian Fire / The Engineer
Kharagal Mierqid
Cerberus

Summoner is what I usually play as. I've been maining the class since I started playing FFXIV about a year ago and am into mid-core raiding. I also play AST and have been playing quite a bit of DRK.

3.Going into Stormblood I read up on the changes to the class. For the most part it looked like it was building off the the burst aspect of Summoner more then the DOT aspect. But it still had what I liked about it which was a lack of an enforced/suggested rotation and a ton of mobility. I also knew I was going to be playing it as soon as it was revealed that Summoner was going to be summoning Bahamut.

4. The new Role Actions mostly help SMN, but they also mean it loses access to Blizzard II, the only AOE ability it had that wasn't locked behind Atherflow Stacks. So until Dreadwrym Trance is gotten, the AOE feels very lackluster.

Other then that, most of the new Role Actions are either the same, straight up buffs, or more utility. Swiftcast returns as does Quelling Strikes in the form of Diversion. SMN get a huge buff with Lucid Dreaming which essentially lets it use Ruin III outside of Dreadwyrm Trance. Addle is a reskin of Virus, and the way it interacts with Demi-Bahamut means it will be taken. The utility abilities that bear mentioning are Apocatastasis and Mana Shift. While both of them aren't useful for solo content, both can be used in party well. The other Role Actions are very lackluster which maybe the exception of erase which is an oGCD heal that removes DOTs.

5. The biggest changes to Summoner aren't even the Lvl 60 - 70 changes. Aetherflow and Attunement stacks were changed and this has a lot of impact on how the job plays even at Lvl 60. Where Aetherflow and Attunement used to be two separate buffs, one stack of Attunement now replaces one stack of Aetherflow. However, Aetherflow stacks will now always become Atunment stacks even if an Aetherflow ability does not do an effect (Fester/Painflare on invulnerable targets, Bane doesn't spread the DOTs, etc.). Refreshing Aetherflow with three Attunement stacks will not give more Aetherflow stacks unless the Attuenment stacks have been spent to go into Dreadwrym Trance. To offset this, Attunement stacks now no longer have a duration and are permanent. The other major change is that abilities that use Aetherflow have had their CDs shortened to 5 seconds.

Dreadwrym Trance has also been changed and it is now no longer possible to have Aetherflow stacks while in it. It also resets Tri-Disaster's CD, which is awesome. The end result of all of this is that Summoner can now be much more aggressive with their Aetherflow use and don't have to worry about loosing Attunement because of it. On the other hand, if they mess up on their Aetherflow usage and loose a stack, they are punished much more as their entire rotation gets set back by an entire Aetherflow CD.

Other changes would be that Ruin and Ruin II got buffed to 100 potency, Ruin III got nerfed to 150 potency, Shadow Flare is now an ability with a 60 second CD, and Tri-Disaster now provides an on-target buff that adds an extra 20 potency to all Ruin spells.

Pets also got some changes. Garuda lost her ability to extend DOTs in exchange for Magic Vulnerability on a target. Ifrit's Radiant Shield now causes Physical Vulnerability when the shield is hit. This greatly increases Ifrit's value when doing dungeons with physical DPS and if you're the only Magical DPS on bosses, he can be better then Garuda is. Long story short, Summoner can bring both their DPS pets out now instead of just one.

The Lvl 60 - 70 skills.

Ruin IV - This skill is awesome. Every single time the pet lands an ability there's a 15% chance Ruin and Ruin III will change into Ruin IV. And pets will land an ability every 3 seconds, not counting their other skills. It doesn't take up an extra slot on the hot bar and it's technically a buff not a skill proc. I end up getting to use it a lot more then the numbers made me think I would.

Aetherpact/Devotion - This is the most lackluster of the new skills. The buff itself is fine, but it's given to the party member closest to the pet, and is not targeted. Probably the best thing about it is that Ruin IV can proc off it. It could easily be improved by making it targetable. Currently, the healers are the ones who most often get the buff from it when you really want to give it to the DPS.

Bio III/Miasma III - The new DOTs combine the best parts of Bio (tick potency) and Bio II (duration) into the two different DOTs. They're also now the same length and we finally get some flashy animations for them.

Enhanced Enkindle - So technically this is a trait, not an ability, but the overall effect of it is that Enkindle is now on a psudo 2 minute CD as Ruin VI will nearly always proc more then six times in two minutes. So more damage over the course of a fight.

Summon Bahamut - Yey!

Bahamut is crazy. Unlike Deathflare, Ahk Morn does not end this phase and can be used twice. For every targeted ability the Summoner uses on an enemy Bahamut casts Wyrmwave. The catch is that Wyrmwave has an internal CD of 1.5 seconds so the summoner has to pace themselves so that they aren't losing Wyrmwave casts from casting abilities too fast. Aetherflow is not locked in this mode either so, using Fester, etc. is very much recommended.

Lke all pets, Bahamut does have some issues. Any attack (Wyrmwave or Ahk Morn) Bahamut does in the last two seconds he's summoned will not register on the target even if the animation goes off. Also, the AI prioritizes him following the Summoner instead of attacking which makes it even harder to fit this into an enemy's rotation optimally. It pretty much can't be used while anything the requires lots of movement is going on or else you loose out on a tone of potency. He also only does 80% of your damage just like all pets do, so the potencies of Wyrmwave and Ahk Morn are less in practice then they are on the tooltips.

Overall Feelings at Lvl 70

Summoner is one of the High-Risk/High-Reward classes of SB. The biggest difficulty Summoner has to overcome is not just knowing how their own priority based "rotation" works, but knowing how to optimally fit it into the enemy's rotation. It's almost like the same mindset behind tanking, but instead of knowing the correct time to mitigate damage, it's about knowing the correct time to cause damage. Other difficulties Summoner faces is that its priority "rotation" is the longest rotation in the game. Out of all the classes, they are the class that is hurt the most by dying (Dragoon is the runner up). The Aetherflow CD is the clock that runs the class and not using it on CD is a direct DPS loss.

On the flip side, Summoner is a very mobile class for a mage. Ruin II is less of a DPS loss then it used to be and given the huge amount of oGCDs it has, Ruin II gets used a lot. It's very satisfying to dodge every AOE that gets thrown your way all while knowing that your DPS is the least penalized out of all the casters. Playing the class well is a ton of fun, it just takes a lot of planning to get there as it doesn't have a clear rotation.

6. As far as the meta goes... how well does your class buff Samurai? If it can buff it, then there will be a place in the meta for it. If it can't, then it will be harder to justify it. If your class is mobile, then even better. Your healers will thank you for the time they can spend DPSing the boss instead of healing you.

1. JechtShotMK9 on the forum, Holo Wisewolf/Lyndis Caelin ingame. Main character is on Cerberus with the TLS Free Company, while I have alts on Adamantoise and Midgardsormr, as part of the Eorzean Elite and Kanzenshuu Free Companies. This review will focus on Ninja and Paladin.

2. I have mained Paladin since I first started back in 2.2, which actually came out on my birthday a little over 3 years ago. Started as Archer, hated the queues, so I switched to Gladiator early on. I've loved tanking, and always preferred Paladin to the more DPS-oriented Warrior and the always-searching-for-it's-own-identity Dark Knight. During Heavensward, I switched to Ninja for story content, and it became my favorite class. It flows so smoothly, and the speed at which I can do stuff makes it feel way more active than most other classes I've played, with the possible exception of Monk. Nowadays I use Ninja for Trials and Raiding, while I stick to Paladin for 4-man stuff.

3. it affect your decision to either stick with that job or change to a different one?
I read everything that was coming out, and it turns out my mains were insanely buffed, so sticking with them was an easy decision.

4. For tanks, I'm a pretty big fan. Sure, Paladins kinda get the short end of the stick when it comes to role abilities, seeing as the majority of the good ones were Paladin skills to begin with, but I like what we got. Shirk is a godsend for aggro shenanigans, Anticipation isn't amazing, but it's another cooldown, and nobody can have too many of those, Ultimatum I find to be kinda useless; a tank should never be lossing aggro to the extent that Ultimatum is necessary, and DPS should be expected to use their own aggro reducing methods now. Low Blow is okay, but as a Paladin, I have Shield Bash, so no real need for that one.

As for DPS...I'm not as happy there. I miss Blood for Blood and Internal Release, but what we get now isn't so bad. Diversion is a godsend in low-level stuff, and, combined with a Ninja's inherent aggro skills, makes you either one of the most useful party members....or the best troll in 8-24 man content, where you can basically dictate who tanks > Invigorate and Goad are must-haves, Bloodbath and Second Wind are nice, True North is good for solo content and ensuring that Trick Attack lands, in case of a surprise spinning boss, and OGC stuns are always nice. Still, I do miss my damage buffs....

5. Paladin is God...
...
...
Oh ok, I can go in more detail.
The single biggest problem people had with Paladin in the past was the lack of AOE damage. Flash did nothing, and Circle of Scorn, while cool looking, was lackluster in the damage department. That has been resolved, with the addition of Total Eclipse, a spammable AOE move. While it doesn't generate extra aggro, it finally gives Paladins something to do in the mega-pulls that they are designed for. It's also available early on, so you can use it in lower-level dungeons.

Before going into the post-60 stuff, a few changes have been made to the existing-toolkit. First, Blocking now affects both physical and magical attacks, and fuels the Shield Oath gauge. This is a huge buff for Bulwark, which, when combined with Awareness (as critical hits are calculated before blocking rates, and can't be blocked), makes for an excellent big trash-pull combo. Sheltron, now tied to the Oath Gauge, has had its cooldown reduced to 5%, and costs 50 gauge, and can be used in either stance, and, with the ability to block Magical attacks, has received a major buff. Also, for reasons that will be explained later, the MP boost on Sheltron going down is now much more important, making it a vital part of the Paladins toolkit. Sword Oath now adds 5 gauge upon each auto-attack. Cover also now affects magical damage, and gains a trait later on that applies a defensive buff to the target.

Now for the new stuff-
Intervention is sort of like a short-term Cover. It lasts about 6 seconds, and bestows an increased defensive buff if you have Sentinel or Rampart up.

Holy Spirit is your main source of burst damage. 430 potency, and, with the trait you receive at the same level, you can use it 5 times in a row at max mp. Best to use right after Goring Blade and Requiescat, as the time for Goring Blade's dot will be up right as you finish spamming Holy Spirit and start to reapply Goring Blade.

Also, that trait I mentioned above applies to both Clemency and Flash, cutting their mp costs in half.

Requescat needs to be used when you are at near max MP, and, when used properly, deals extra damage, and applies a buff that increase your magic potency by 20%. So, naturally, it is best used right before spamming Holy Spirit.

Passage of Arms is both a strong contender for the coolest move in the game, and a fantastic defensive cooldown for party-wide damage, which is all over this expansion. Nearly every boss in level 70 content has some manner of unavoidable group damage, and, once every two minutes, you can reduce that by 15%, as long as they stand behind you. You also get guaranteed block rates during the move, but, as you can't move while using it, it's best to save it for the big attacks.

Now for Ninja.
First, the changes to Ninja's toolkit, of which there have been many.
First, the two Venom buffs have been removed and replaced with a passive 20% damage buff trait. Mutilate and Dancing Edge have been removed, and DE's slash-debuff has been incorporated into Shadow Fang, which now procs off of Gust Slash. Jugulate's stun has been removed as well, although it retains it's silence debuff. Sneak Attack was removed, and Trick Attack is obtained much earlier, making it available in all dungeon content.

Two major buffs to Ninjutsu are that Hide will now refresh your Mudras, making it super-easy to maintain Huton between pulls and to set up an opening before bosses, and that, later on, Raiton and Katon will refresh your Shukuchi cooldown.

Also, just because Square Enix didn't think that would be enough, basically all the old Ninja moves got potency buffs

Now for the new stuff:
The new mechanic is the Genki gauge, which increases by 6 per Auto-Attack, and, after getting the trait, by 30 when you use Mug. Three new skills make use of this gauge:

The first is Hellfire Medium, which summons a giant frog that does AOE damage. This one is not on a cooldown, and will be used the most often out of these Genki moves, and costs 80 of your gauge.

The second is Bhavacakra, which is a single-target unaspected move that also costs 80 Genki.

Third, and most interesting, is Ten Chi Jin. While using this move, you cannot move or activate skills other than Ninjutsu or Mudras. While under the Ten Chi Jin status, Mudra usage will not reset upon casting Ninjutsu. In layman's terms, you can cast Fuma Shurikan>Raiton>Suiton or Fuma>Katon>Doton in a row, for double the potency. This costs 80 Genki.

6. Paladin is gonna be the best tank until something is done to either nerf it or buff the others, no question. They have the most utility, and roughly the same DPS as Warrior, but with a much simpler rotation. Honestly, the only reason that PLD/PLD compositions may not be meta is due to a Limit Break penalty. Blackest Night is cool and all, but DRK and WAR just can't compete with Paladin right now.

As for Ninja, it's guaranteed a spot in serious raiding. Trick Attack's cooldown got shortened to once per minute, it has 3 enmity management skills, a slashing debuff that is part of it's main damage rotation, and has respectable DPS for a melee in and of itself.

So yeah, I'm feeling pretty comfortable with my mains this expansion

1. Your name on TLS + your name in game/what server you're on/what FC you're in + the job(s) you're going to detail
Joe
Raya'na Arcise
Cerberus
TLS - Red Mage

2. How long you were playing the job before SB came out (obviously the new jobs won't have been available, just say that and move on)
Red Mage is new with Stormblood!


3. Did you read up on the changes that were going to happen to the job for SB before playing? Did it affect your decision to either stick with that job or change to a different one?
Though Red Mage is new, I did look at some of the moves the job would have. I wanted to get a general feel for the gameplay of the job before getting into it. Ultimately the idea of balancing black and white magic sounded very appealing to me.
I also checked out the changes to the main job I played before Stormblood, Scholar. At the time it didn't seem like the class changed much and the additional abilities added a little more variety to the tactical gameplay Scholars are used to.

4. What do you think of the new Role abilities replacing cross-class skills?
I think the inclusion of role abilities is something the game has needed for a while. Locking crucial abilities behind classes and jobs you may have no interest in playing always seemed like poor game design. Swiftcast is a more or less essential tool for healers - allowing you to instantly Raise fallen party members - yet it was previously locked behind having a level 26 Thaumaturge. I found THM to be very boring, gameplay-wise, so it seemed like a totally mindless slog levelling the class for the sake of a healing tool.
The same can be said of the ability Provoke and its Gladiator level requirement.

5. What do you think of the 60-70 abilities?
It stands to point out that all of Red Mage's abilities feel like they've been created as a package, making the 60-70 actions an intrinsic part of the job. With that in mind, I'll mention the abilities outside of the major dps rotation:

Dualcast is a passive ability that shapes how Red Mage performs on the battlefield. It allows RDM to cast a spell instantly after any spell cast in the standard manner. This means that, effectively, every second spell for Red Mage is instantly cast. In my opinion, this is what makes the job feel unique among the rest of the DPS lineup.

Vercure and Verraise allow the Red Mage to be a sort of demi-healer. They can heal themselves and the party much more than any of the other non-healer jobs. Verraise even allows RDM to resurrect fallen party members quickly and efficiently. Combined with the Dualcast passive, these supporting actions can be dealt swiftly unto party members. Red Mage can bring a party back from the brink of despair, even if both of their healers have fallen.

Embolden is a great damage buff for both the user and any physical damage-dealers in the party. Not much to say here. I like that it starts off strong and diminishes over time, with a fairly decent duration.

Corps-a-corps and Displacement act as mobility actions for when you want to switch between ranged and melee combat. This gives Red Mage that style and excitement on the battlefield, charging in with their rapier to hit a boss with their melee combo before backflipping to safety and using ranged spells. Perfection.

On top of all these abilities and the way they interact with each other, the Red Mage is just flashy as anything. Visually they truly are the most fun job to watch.

6. Personal thoughts/opinions on how the new jobs/abilities might affect the overall meta for those who take raiding UBER seriously
In terms of the meta itself, it seems like Red Mage is in a comfy place. It has high burst damage along with raid utility in its party-wide buffs and the ability to raise and cure if the situation requires it.