March 2019 Version Update

It's just comical to see them talk about "20th anniversary". At the rate it's going the entire community will be bots long before that point.

If they expect to get 3 more years with the snails pace they're doing now it HAS to be an abyssea expac for emp+3

I bet its the new UI!
Does anyone remember that on test server? I mean they were so close!

Naw, don't get your hopes up too high. :( They did show the installer off during the FP44 stream too, and I think they are just updating the config utility, and wrapping all updates up til the release into the installer to reduce the download time required. Could be wrong since I didn't pay rapt attention to the segment at the end, but don't expect anything groundbreaking like axing POL.

For the 20th Anniversary thing... I guess we can at least rest easy in the fact that they don't plan on shutting down FFXI until the 21st Anniversary then? XD

No, MBDII+30% would not be arguably weak. >_>;; Unless you are drunk, in which case all arguments will at least seem valid.

... Shoulda been affinity IMO. lol

Have you seen what the current Ambuscade weapons are like for Melee jobs? They're dishing out 50-70k weapon skills with minimal buffs lol. I'd think at least 30% MB II would have been attached to the Blm/Sch staff. xD

Even Burst 2 +100% would still be weak. They need to be able to damage without burst to be relevant again.

or a serious enmity change coupled with things that HAVE to be tanked and literally one shots DD in 50DT.

and removal of the incremental resistance... the time when that mattered is over. arguably never needed to exist in the first place.

Hence why I think the staff should've been affinity, since it would affect all damage, MB or not. It would actually be stronger than MBDII, so long as it was not a gimpy max value.

Feels like they missed a good opportunity to help BLM be a bit more viable.

Call me crazy, but fixing BLM probably shouldn't be done through an Ambuscade weapon.

#MakeBLMGreatAgain

Should of been a "Elemental Magic Damage based on TP", giving an affinity buff based on the amount of TP you have stored up. Would make Occult Acumen really useful and add a strategy element of holding TP as long as possible instead of using it to restore MP.

Apologies if this is a duplicate question but there are too many conversation to keep track: which part of the new ambu weapon also works offhand? I'm guessing everything but the WS dmg bonus?

Everything past where it says "Mainhand:" only works in the mainhand.

Anything that isn't listed under Mainhand:

Ok, makes sense, was hoping SE somehow *** up and the new special attributes could also work offhand (just like the shining one force crit on WS that shouldn't)

There's really nothing indicating that Shining One is working incorrectly.

Black mage is one of the most heavily used jobs currently for either lowman content or things like getting through early waves of dyna D with minimal fights. SCH+BLM parties are a common method of dealing with plenty of content, so theres no real need to make a viable job viable.

I must be playing another game then.

I don't know what you guys are talking about. I use black mage all the time. Gotta use that warp 2 to get that annoying party member out !

Black mage, creating the best drama since 2002

I remember getting a few pissed off rdm/whm back in the day who would chainspell teleport the whole party then rage quit

This is how I keep my ls in line during events in fact. XD

I know you got dogpiled already but no, black mage isn't really viable currently. My ls uses it for, uh, weekly Vagary. Sometimes Kei, sometimes Ru'an T3s if we are doing a bunch for drops, but both of these scenarios SMN is frankly better. Dynamis? Black mage works ok there, sure.

Scholar is in much the same boat since it's so tied to black mage. It's usable in the same places.

COR and RNG (and SMN) are simply too strong for magical damage, and black mage/scholar are too weak. We need some sweeping changes to nuking to address this. The resist wall nonsense needs to be dialed down or removed entirely, for starters.

Like what Kyte said:
Think of it in the same manner as Utu grip. Resolution is a 85% STR mod WS, but with Utu Grip: it's a 85% STR 10% DEX mod WS.

Shining one just adds "Chance of critical hit varies with TP." to each WS used.

So, I'm not saying BLM shouldn't have changes... but you ARE saying BLM works OK in current content. Legitimate current event/battle content really falls into only four buckets.

Dynamis: you said BLM works OK. IDK that it's a super popular approach, but I also wouldn't say BLM is not viable.

Ambuscade: too variable month-to-month to make sweeping judgments about any job, but BLM can conceivably be useful or monthly mechanics can be tweaked to favor BLM.

Omen: Has some use. Extremely helpful on Kei, not so much on the rest of the bosses. Non-boss farming is farming, anything works but BLM can contribute fine.

Geas Fete: Not very popular on Reisenjima T4 (a handful of NMs), but it's fine to great on the vast majority of easier fights. Also can't ignore that BLM was the meta for this content for ages when Escha/Reisenjima was the main focus of FFXI, so it's kinda hard to say BLM didn't have its day as the king of this "event".

FWIW, I actually do think that spell damage needs some real fixing, and if they don't do something it's probably likely to be a detriment to the job in whatever comes next. But I just can't agree that there's this overwhelming amount of current content where BLM just isn't viable.

I really think they will be adjusting spell damage. It will be in a way that it will also benefit Red Mage, hence the "Part 1" we received last month.

I pray you're right.... if only for the Banish spells.