[1.2.321] Skill Balancing - Edelstein & Leben

I don't agree with the large advantage F/p's have now in mob control compared to Ice/Lightning Magicians. Paralyze will not only destroy mobs much faster but keep them completely immobilized. The slightly higher 1v1 I/L archmages have(which really hardly matters considering they're mages) hardly compensates for that.

It surprises me you're bothering to comment on this topic considering we're "just mages."

 Spoiler

True, but look at it from a GMS story perspective.

When an I/L requires blizzard, they're obtaining the highest mastery of what their
element is capable of.
*remembers using blizz for the first time*

The same can be said for F/P's meteor or Bishop's genesis.

I/L: Cold Beam > Ice Strike > Blizzard
F/P: Fire Arrow > Explosion > Meteor
Bishop: Heal > Shining Ray > Genesis

Each had their use for helping with game progression.
*of course, mist training provided f/p an easier alternative but explosion had its purpose...*

Now that they're near useless for training, what do you have to show for going into 4th job? =/

The only thing I wish to see is another elemental skill that can replace ice strike.

You want to complain about the "story" of ArchMages as part of your argument? If so, you had better siphon off some of this energy from freezing skill crap and focus it on the summon switch. In case you don't remember, the story behind ArchMage summons is that we use opposing elements because they're the next stages of magic we can learn (now that we've mastered our respective elements), but to master them without neutralizing our main elements we have to utilize them through a free-standing summoning frame that simply uses our magical power to drive the element.

Perhaps one of the most well-written and ingenious plot lines to a quest in the game, and it's completely obliterated by switching Elquines and Ifrit.

What do other classes have to show for getting 4th job? We don't get big screen-decimating attacks. You get flashy new skills called Ice Demon, Chain Lightning, Big Bang, and Elquines. And now that they don't completely suck, you actually get to use them.

"What Outlaw's Have to Show for Reaching Corsair:" Flashy 6-mob AoE with massive range and a mere 5 second cooldown, along with top tier single target DPS.

And guess what! When you hit Lv. 200, you can continue to participate in high leveled content! Isn't that swell?

/effervescent sarcasm

Who the pineapple gives a pomegranate about flashy, useful skills if there's no use for them at the end of the game. The quotes I provide below help support this point:

Meh I'm not too picky about what they change exactly, but just make it so that when people are saying "R>attackers" and a mage asks to join, there isn't that long awkward silence before the guy says R> attackers again ;_;

this i hav to agree, the arch mages had been left out from almost all HT fights in MSEA. (im from MSEA btw)

The bottom line, and take it from a large percentage of us Lv. 200 ArchMages, is that when we hit 200, we have so little to do due to our uselessness that what usually ends up happening is the ArchMage is stripped and a new character started. That should NOT be the end of a game, "Quit and start again." That's exceedingly poor game design, either in the skills that determine the viability of playing a class, or in the content that tests the mastery of such skills. Since, in my four years of playing this game, the only of the two I've seen change is skills/formulas (and that's JUST NOW, mind you), I have little hope to see high leveled content change from nonexistant and nearly all single target based. So yeah, we're going to press for skill and formula changes that make us worthwhile at the end.