[1.2.265] New mage class!

I'd disagree on that; Strikers are only marginally better in 1v1 with SE, and that's pretty meaningless since there's not a lot of situations where you'd have a Striker partied with a 4th job archer. If you do bring a Striker to Zak for some reason, the 20% damage reduction pretty much cancels out any advantage they might have had. Dragon Strike owns Shark Wave, Buccs have better mob control with Backspin and more options when attacking and Time Leap, an awesome skill for bossing. Plus like you said there's the whole actually being able to pass 120 thing.

I guess I'm used to having SE everywhere. I've had it on this character since early 7x, and I've had it on pretty much every single boss run I've ever been on.

 A little off-topic

I would argue that Shark Wave isn't dismissed as a bad skill so easily. A Striker is doing an average of 1.2*(270+(1*0.4))=372% damage per monster on Shark Wave, not including Sparks or its ability to crit. Shark Wave is a good 270ms faster than Dragon Strike and has 200 more range. I submit that a Striker doesn't really need options when he can stand on one end of a platform, use Shark Wave a few times, and go to the next platform.

Whereas even at 150 the best option most Buccs have for dealing with mobs is to Dragon Strike and Corkscrew or Backspin. They have to be pretty much inside their mobs (not that they get hit much anyway) and even then they still can't hit all 6 with anything but Dragon Strike until they start putting points into Energy Orb at 17x.

As far as single-target goes... well here's this.
Screw it, I don't feel like writing equations right now. Suffice it to say that Barrage + 2Drain (with SE) makes for a better damage than a 140 Bucc could possibly do, even at Zakum.

I'm a little disappointed that more classes won't have the combo system, at this rate. I really like it. I'm hoping the others will have something equally cool. I don't know what more they could do after Aran, though. Aran had all its bases covered with a good combo-induced crit, Archer-style weapon expertise, an element, and some pretty damn nice party skills. I guess that's why I'm not a game designer, though. I can't wait to see what else happens~