My main is a C3 Wizard C3 Thaum FF. Odd for sure, and, at the time of rolling him, wasn’t exactly the worst idea either. It was either take FF or Warlock, or gamble on R8 and pick Linker (which, at launch, R8 wasn’t exactly something on everyone’s mind, beside the fact that we had no idea what the classes would do or be).
C3 Wiz for Quickcast attribute.
C3 Thaum for Reversi and max values on my buffs, and for Swell Brain, a unique buff in itself. Quickcast pairs with Reversi to buff all the magic circles I steal. This tactic won myself many cubes in the betas and even here at the official launch. While entire parties were vying for a top spot, I’d almost always walk away with a world boss cube by myself.
FF because everyone else went Warlock and I wanted to be a unique snowflake. That, and far before R8 was ever even hinted at, there was talk of levitation being a strong possibility. Whether this was a leak, or based on lore, I don’t know… but the information proved accurate.
So… why do I want to abandon him?
C3 Thaum is a huge waste. Swell Brain lost the rank bonuses that it held in cbt2 so instead of 300 INT you get the flat 150 from max attribute. INT, aside from summons and scaling abilities, really only offers 1:1 MATK values, which means Swell Brain is not only inferior to a C1 Priest’s Blessing (which offers damage per-line and not mitigated by high MDEF values but rather Holy Resistance), but is even inferior to Swell Left which is in the same class tree but at C1 instead of C3, since even PATK based classes benefit from that where Swell Brain is a complete waste.
By the time they add proper scaling to the class it will have been too late. Look at some of those new accessories coming out for instance. 10x your elemental damage from a single accessory? You go from dealing 1k to 10k, a difference of 1000%. Meanwhile if you get a Swell Brain you gain a flat 150 MATK that is mitigated into something more like +50-100, even at our current stage in the game. C3 Thaum is a total bust and is best left to C2 Thaum where the class really shines (but of course still needs scaling lol)
So there is 1 circle I need to get rid of.
FF forces me into either rolling C2 FF or getting rid of the character and going Enchanter to park it. A single circle of FF is not beneficial and offers nothing that can’t be done better in another tree. FF + Transpose synergy is there, sure, but unless you are soloing, then you’ll have a healer nearby anyway. Levitate may be useful but if you’re forced into C2 FF then you’ll likely be forced into C3 of your R7 pick by the time R9 hits, or sit on two circles that could have otherwise been spent on something with more utility.
Now that we know the R8 classes it makes an R7 pick of FF a waste on this character, so there is another circle gone. And nobody can always just know in advance to pick a utility filler… even now we have a lot of people planning for C2 of their R7 classes: how do they know that C3 won’t be bust? That C2 of an R8 wouldn’t be better? That a new R9 wouldn’t fit the idea they had for the character much more smoothly? They’ll pick what they can at the time and then, if they want something later at a different release, have to roll a new character and lose a ton of investment in that original character via attributes, transcendence, time, etc.
The original character concept of using C3 Wizard to buff every tile I steal pairs much better with sage. Transpose, run in, Reversi, make the AOE’s larger, etc. Sounds viable for GvG where circles are everywhere… and I could still buff mates with Missile Hole etc as well. If I were to take sage though at R8 it means that I’d have a completely and utterly wasted circle in FF within my tree, which is unacceptable to me. I either have to roll again and make him an Enchanter or I have to take FF2 because any other election will basically forfeit an entire circle (two, if you count C3 Thaum in its current state).
His primary role currently is GvG and, I’ve found, that is one aspect of the game that is still exciting. If I could then I’d roll him into something more GvG viable. I have several different builds I’d do that would retain C2 Thaum but, at this point, certainly would not waste circles in C3 Thaum or FF. So he’s very much R.I.P. and the only thing that could save him is some miracle skill @C3 FF or a revamp of C3 Thaum (via Swell Brain or another skill in the circle) and scaling.
Sorry for the book.
