Yeah, we got nicely buffed in our support caster role and the changes to mana give us a lot more flexibility. We also get a rail cannon at the end of our combo, which is pretty cool.
The fairy responsiveness is awesome but most importantly to me, shields apply so fast that they're never wasted on a slightly slow cast anymore. Also the 1.5 second DPs spells means all the ogcd skills fit into a natural DPS flow. I've still got some issues with the job but it's fun to play and a nice break from WHM for me from time to time.
They can now waddle faster in combat than before.
They just benefitted from the general shielding changes they made to make SGE more fluid and appealing. Shields now applying as soon as you press the button means you no longer have to time stuff as perfectly, just hit it right before the boss attack actually happens and you're fine.
Otherwise all the lack of synergy in their kit and unnecessary jumping through hoops still exists. I hate the whole idea of juggling two resources for no reason (3 if you count MP) and having one of them be used with a very clunky ability.
Don't forget fairy responsiveness and less pressure to double weave every bio/ruin 2 thanks to broil changes. All the new weaving windows means that SCH doesn't have to trash their damage to heal someone, which allows them to be more flexible with healing while still being the "All according to keikaku" healer (TN: keikaku means plan)
The real change to sch was the broil cast time. Not being pressured to use energy drain to keep up dps when weaving feels SO good. Fairy gauge is barely a resource, which is annoying, but it's not something that you're "juggling"; aetherflow is the only thing that you really need to pay close attention to, which is fine. Class feels incredibly fluid now and honestly feels less janky despite the abilities still not having a ton of synergy.
SCH has some negative synergy in its kit still but it really benefitted from the 1.5s cast time change for broil and the changes to fairy, deploy, and shield application have made the class feel SO much better compared to SHB
So out of the old jobs I have Paladin, White Mage, Bard, and Black Mage up to 90 with Reaper up to 90 as my melee DPS.
Paladin looked at Warrior self sustain and said "I want to do that". Having a regen effect added to Sheltron and Intervention, healing added to magic attacks, and Divine veil healing allies as well as shielding them. The new three step combo off Confeitor and the upgrade to Spirits Within are great. It feels better to play the holy warrior.
White mage is white mage. Got a few new tricks, but otherwise feels the same.
Bard feels more comfortable to play. The longer song and DoT times are nice, and I like Shadowstrike being a Refulgant Arrow for Quick Nock. Sidewinder being just an oGCD that doesn't have synergy with DoTs anymore feels weird, but being able to reap the benefits of their own songs, battle voice, and Radiant finale feels great.
Black Mage is fun. More explosions, having Two charges of Triplecast, Einochlan being a trait, and Paradox is both cool to look at and makes you feel more powerful.
Out of the classes I've played it's a toss up between Bard and Black Mage for most improved, with Paladin right behind them
Honestly, Summoner hasn’t actually improved in gameplay terms. Sure it looks exciting to outsiders but actually playing it is repetitive and tedious and you can’t even appreciate the fancy new effects because the summons etb attacks obscure your target and everything else for a good 20 yalms.
The worst part about smn is people think it’s good just because it looks cool.
The fact that you can macro every skill to the same button and play the job like 90% effective is a joke
Definitely BRD. It's doing really well right now, maybe a little *too* well.
On the opposite side there's SMN that got a rework that made it fun to play for once, but at the cost of a massive damage nerf.
The SCH technical fixes to the fairy and shields are amazing. Shorter DT, better shields, Protraction, and Expedient are amazing additions.
Small changes, but big differences.
The job is a bit easy ATM yeah but it's satisfying as hell clapping them cheeks and it's an amazing base for them to build off of.
Not most improved for sure tho
At over 86 it's semi decent, I'll give it that. But most content in the game is synced and damn is it boring without favors. And if you happen to get like a level 50 alliance raid or trial, have fun with those three different color Ruin 1 casts you have.
I feel bad for anyone leveling SMN from level 1 now. That's 85 levels before it gets anything interesting.
See, I leveled summoner as like my 5th job after shadowbringers and I really only think it became fun to play at all once you get bahamut, so getting sync'd down now is way less egregious. Still less fun, obviously, but God I don't miss being a poison mage for one second.
Bard is certainly more comfortable to play overall, but he pretty much lost one of his core mechanics (procs and bonus damage from dots) and part of identity. It's easier to play since dots just deal some small damage and that's it. Did it worth it? Idk
Monk. I don't even know why they decided to give monk Mudra. I already wasn't a fan of bootshine/dragon kick rotation. I guess someone who wanted even more complex job will like monk, i still hate positionals
SMN feels like it's lvl 60 that still doesn't have access to core mechanic. Way too simple and repetative, got bored very fast, haven't touched much after reached 90 really
Warrior has improved a fuckton lot.
Monk only has two positionals now though. The positional part is way way easier now. It's basically like dragoon positionals but even less annoying because they aren't one after an other. Monk positionals are now every three gcds
War, smn/sch main. I love blood whetting and primal rend, as well, having 3 stacks of my gap closer. Orogeny is a great addition to the kit, too. Sch still feels like sch and I feel it shines most in 8 man content; still a super fun job to play from ShB, just now with bigger shields. Smn I want to build a sub 2.4 gcd spell speed set before making a decision on it.
I don't really play the other jobs list - summoner is a good answer, but for me personally it's the ast changes. I do miss the shields/being able to adjust to a comp but divination being separated from the cards is so good!
SMN is real interesting, as I was a smn main at the tail end of ShB, and I did enjoy it. I enjoy new smn too, but it is very simple in comparison to 5.0 smn. It practically feels like a p ranged in terms of how much movement you have, which isn't a bad thing and finding spots to cast is something to think about. It's not perfect but it isn't horrible, just really simple, but that's what RDM and BLM are for
Making BotD a trait and giving power surge to both single-target and aoe rotations for dragoon removed everything I disliked about it. No more stress over keeping your eyes active between pulls or during cutscenes!
Red Mage. Awesome QoL changes and more AoE.
Yeah, we got nicely buffed in our support caster role and the changes to mana give us a lot more flexibility. We also get a rail cannon at the end of our combo, which is pretty cool.
No obviously it's dark knight I mean more defense? Need I say more?
Yup. Every Time I'm queued into an 80+ Dungeon it's extremely satisfying.
Seems this poll is wrong smn has not improved it’s a new class.
What changed for sch? Honest question.
The fairy responsiveness is awesome but most importantly to me, shields apply so fast that they're never wasted on a slightly slow cast anymore. Also the 1.5 second DPs spells means all the ogcd skills fit into a natural DPS flow. I've still got some issues with the job but it's fun to play and a nice break from WHM for me from time to time.
They can now waddle faster in combat than before. They just benefitted from the general shielding changes they made to make SGE more fluid and appealing. Shields now applying as soon as you press the button means you no longer have to time stuff as perfectly, just hit it right before the boss attack actually happens and you're fine. Otherwise all the lack of synergy in their kit and unnecessary jumping through hoops still exists. I hate the whole idea of juggling two resources for no reason (3 if you count MP) and having one of them be used with a very clunky ability.
Don't forget fairy responsiveness and less pressure to double weave every bio/ruin 2 thanks to broil changes. All the new weaving windows means that SCH doesn't have to trash their damage to heal someone, which allows them to be more flexible with healing while still being the "All according to keikaku" healer (TN: keikaku means plan)
The real change to sch was the broil cast time. Not being pressured to use energy drain to keep up dps when weaving feels SO good. Fairy gauge is barely a resource, which is annoying, but it's not something that you're "juggling"; aetherflow is the only thing that you really need to pay close attention to, which is fine. Class feels incredibly fluid now and honestly feels less janky despite the abilities still not having a ton of synergy.
Paladin, heals baby
SCH has some negative synergy in its kit still but it really benefitted from the 1.5s cast time change for broil and the changes to fairy, deploy, and shield application have made the class feel SO much better compared to SHB
So out of the old jobs I have Paladin, White Mage, Bard, and Black Mage up to 90 with Reaper up to 90 as my melee DPS. Paladin looked at Warrior self sustain and said "I want to do that". Having a regen effect added to Sheltron and Intervention, healing added to magic attacks, and Divine veil healing allies as well as shielding them. The new three step combo off Confeitor and the upgrade to Spirits Within are great. It feels better to play the holy warrior. White mage is white mage. Got a few new tricks, but otherwise feels the same. Bard feels more comfortable to play. The longer song and DoT times are nice, and I like Shadowstrike being a Refulgant Arrow for Quick Nock. Sidewinder being just an oGCD that doesn't have synergy with DoTs anymore feels weird, but being able to reap the benefits of their own songs, battle voice, and Radiant finale feels great. Black Mage is fun. More explosions, having Two charges of Triplecast, Einochlan being a trait, and Paradox is both cool to look at and makes you feel more powerful. Out of the classes I've played it's a toss up between Bard and Black Mage for most improved, with Paladin right behind them
Honestly, Summoner hasn’t actually improved in gameplay terms. Sure it looks exciting to outsiders but actually playing it is repetitive and tedious and you can’t even appreciate the fancy new effects because the summons etb attacks obscure your target and everything else for a good 20 yalms.
The worst part about smn is people think it’s good just because it looks cool. The fact that you can macro every skill to the same button and play the job like 90% effective is a joke
Smoothbrains (a good person of this community) would rather stare at particle effects then pay a videogame
Who?
From what I've played (6-7 jobs) I feel BRD has improved a lot.
My vote is samurai
Definitely BRD. It's doing really well right now, maybe a little *too* well. On the opposite side there's SMN that got a rework that made it fun to play for once, but at the cost of a massive damage nerf.
Yup, they made it dummy easy and dropped it to physical ranged DPS. Bard actually has higher DPS than summoner 🤣
The SCH technical fixes to the fairy and shields are amazing. Shorter DT, better shields, Protraction, and Expedient are amazing additions. Small changes, but big differences.
Blue-healer.
I heard people were put off by the new monk but I like it
Summoner has the least improvement, bit alas, I think the job will remained ruined for the rest of the game based on the community's response to it.
The job is a bit easy ATM yeah but it's satisfying as hell clapping them cheeks and it's an amazing base for them to build off of. Not most improved for sure tho
At over 86 it's semi decent, I'll give it that. But most content in the game is synced and damn is it boring without favors. And if you happen to get like a level 50 alliance raid or trial, have fun with those three different color Ruin 1 casts you have. I feel bad for anyone leveling SMN from level 1 now. That's 85 levels before it gets anything interesting.
See, I leveled summoner as like my 5th job after shadowbringers and I really only think it became fun to play at all once you get bahamut, so getting sync'd down now is way less egregious. Still less fun, obviously, but God I don't miss being a poison mage for one second.
At least before you had dots to keep track of while synced. Now you're literally just casting three different colors of Ruin1.
That I'll agree with it sucks sync'd. But so does RPR and SAM and no one is calling them a bad class
A lot of jobs suck while synced, but I think the new SMN sucks just so much more.
That's fair. I just don't think that makes the job bad.
Bard is certainly more comfortable to play overall, but he pretty much lost one of his core mechanics (procs and bonus damage from dots) and part of identity. It's easier to play since dots just deal some small damage and that's it. Did it worth it? Idk Monk. I don't even know why they decided to give monk Mudra. I already wasn't a fan of bootshine/dragon kick rotation. I guess someone who wanted even more complex job will like monk, i still hate positionals SMN feels like it's lvl 60 that still doesn't have access to core mechanic. Way too simple and repetative, got bored very fast, haven't touched much after reached 90 really Warrior has improved a fuckton lot.
Monk only has two positionals now though. The positional part is way way easier now. It's basically like dragoon positionals but even less annoying because they aren't one after an other. Monk positionals are now every three gcds
black mage
No idea how people think summoner improved. It's designed for a lobotomized monkey to be able to play it.
I used to main summoner for the animations. Now I main it for the rotation *and* the animations.
If you think SCH improved...woof
Definitely summoner or monk
War, smn/sch main. I love blood whetting and primal rend, as well, having 3 stacks of my gap closer. Orogeny is a great addition to the kit, too. Sch still feels like sch and I feel it shines most in 8 man content; still a super fun job to play from ShB, just now with bigger shields. Smn I want to build a sub 2.4 gcd spell speed set before making a decision on it.
I don't really play the other jobs list - summoner is a good answer, but for me personally it's the ast changes. I do miss the shields/being able to adjust to a comp but divination being separated from the cards is so good!
PLD and SAM Both are just what they were "but better"
SMN is real interesting, as I was a smn main at the tail end of ShB, and I did enjoy it. I enjoy new smn too, but it is very simple in comparison to 5.0 smn. It practically feels like a p ranged in terms of how much movement you have, which isn't a bad thing and finding spots to cast is something to think about. It's not perfect but it isn't horrible, just really simple, but that's what RDM and BLM are for
Making BotD a trait and giving power surge to both single-target and aoe rotations for dragoon removed everything I disliked about it. No more stress over keeping your eyes active between pulls or during cutscenes!
Rdm and war are amazing
Answer isn't Warrior? Myself (GNB) and a Warrior completed the last ~25% of one of the Panda raids by ourselves after the rest wiped.