I like to try out as many different jobs and classes as I can in Final Fantasy XIV. The new melee DPS job, Reaper, is super fun. The new healer, Sage, on the other hand... well, it's not NOT fun, but it's got a similar problem to all the other healers. Hotbar bloat.
I use a controller. I've given thought to switching to keyboard, but I don't own a good keyboard (the one I use to type in chat is okay, but not as snappy as I would want a "gaming keyboard" to be), and my controller muscle memory is so strong that I'm afraid if I bought a good keyboard, it would be a waste of money. But the cross-hotbar that controllers have access to is smaller than a normal, keyboard-accessible hotbar would be. Even with the expanded hold controls, all of my abilities only barely fit for some jobs. I tried the W-cross-hotbar, but my hands would sometimes randomly twitch and activate it when I didn't want to, so... that's not happening.
But back to Sage and its button bloat. Why have both Toxicon and Phlegma? Toxicon is just a slightly worse Phlegma (and even WORSE than Phlegma II), except it costs Addersting. Instead, why not just restore a stack of Phlegma whenever you get a stack of Addersting? Phlegma is stronger than Toxicon, but that would just be a bonus for the savvy players who know not to overcap their stacks.
Eukrasia upgrading Dosis, Diagnosis, and Prognosis was a great idea. So why not expand that? Why not make Holos just "Eukrasian Taurochole" or something? Instead of Soteria, "Eukrasian Zoe"? Maybe not those exact examples; the problem with the OGCD heals is they're all SO SIMILAR but with slightly varying applications, and their icons are all basically the same shade of blue. Which one shields when you apply it and which one restores MP? Oh wait, that one's partywide, not single-target.
I hope button bloat is something that's addressed in 6.1. Not just for Sage but for a bunch of jobs. Like whyyyy add two new abilities for Dancer that proc off of other abilities, and the proccing ability and the procced ability CANNOT EVER be used at the same time, but they're separate buttons??? Ugh.
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