Jett. A changelog. Written by Flearas. version 1.0.
As always, these changelogs target the mechanics of broken or dysfunctional classes to make them more engaging and help them do what they were intended to do. In Jett's case, he has a great number of design clashes making the class an absolute mess.
This changelog addresses the following concerns about Jett:
-Starline 1 and its successors don't function as a cohesive or efficient combo despite the class being designed around this skill.
-The high cast delays make Jett's mobility skills frustrating to lead from.
-Jett's cast delays in general make almost all his skills frustrating.
-Backup Beatdown is slow and the attack range makes the skill ineffective along with the immense cast delay caused by either disengaging the skill or using the skill too long.
-Jett's version of flash jump is depressing.
===Changelog===
-Starline 1-4: Consolidated to 1 key. Parent skill: Starline 1. Starline 1-4 are now activated based on directional inputs when activating Starline 1.
-Starline 1: Skill's effect now augmented by Starline 2-4. Damage values of Starline 2-4 removed and are now based on Starline 1 and its node. If no directional key is held, Starline will perform Starline 1 or 2, whichever takes precedence. If left or right movement keys are held, Starline will perform Starline 3 or 4 facing that direction, whichever takes precedence. Starline 1 and 2 will cancel the cast delay of Starline 3 and 4, and vice-versa.
-Space Walk: Reverted to its pre-Override state.
-Starline 2: Replaces Starline 1's effect with Starline 2. Cast delay now matches Starline 1.
Cast delay can be cancelled 70% early by Starline 3 and 4's attack.
-Starline 3: Now activated if the left or right movement key is pressed when activating Starline. Cast delay can be cancelled 70% early by Starline 1 and 2.
-Starline 4: Replaces Starline 3's effect with Starline 4. Still activated while pressing the left or right movement key when activating Starline. Cast delay can be cancelled 70% early by Starline 1 and 2.
-Cast delay of Vortex Jump reduced by 60%.
-Cast delay of Vortex Cross reduced by 60%. Direction of dash now carries in the direction pressed upon activation (like Vortex Jump.)
-Starforce Salvo: Now starts at max power instead of increasing over time. Node now grants 2% bonus damage per level instead of 3%. Damage boost from node now applied to Strikeforce Showdown as well.
-Backup Beatdown: Bonus attack now activated passively at a 10% chance whenever the skill strikes an enemy. Bonus attack no longer applies a cast delay or disengages Backup beatdown. Bonus attack no longer activated upon disengaging the skill or using the skill for a certain amount of time. Attack range of Backup Beatdown increased by 50%. Maximum movement speed while using Backup Beatdown increased from 120 to 185.
-Planet Buster: Cooldown decreased to 3 seconds. Cast delay reduced by 40%. Can now animation cancel Starline.
-Starfall: Cooldown decreased to 45 seconds. Each activation of Starline decreases Starfall’s remaining cooldown by 1 second. Can animation cancel Starline.
-Strikeforce Showdown: Damage decreased to 180%. Maximum level of this skill increased to 10 (5 SP -> 10 SP.) Activation chance at maximum level: 20%.
Hyper Skills:
-Singularity Shock: Cast delay reduced to 210 milliseconds. Now affected by transparency.
===Notes===
-Starline much easier to use and makes far more sense as a combo skill. With the new changes, Jett players can now mix and match which versions of Starline they'd like to use. Granted, only two types of Starline can be used at a time, but Starline can now be used to chain with itself on a single button (no longer four separate keys!) The old version of Starline only had one combo you never wanted to use.
-The change to Starline now continues the thematic created by Vortex Jump and Vortex Cross by allowing Jett to perform a dash with Starline 3 and 4's combo effects.
-The cast delay from Jett's movement skill end earlier allowing Jett to attack sooner. The direction of a subsequent Vortex Cross can now be changed without waiting for the cast delay to end (just like Vortex Jump.)
-Backup Beatdown is no longer ineffective. It's far easier to mob with from the increased range and increased movement speed. In addition, the attack no longer forces you to stop moving with a lengthy cast delay.
-Planet Buster is now more comfortable to use. The damage of this skill may have to be decreased a small amount to compensate, but this skill is now the only method by which to cancel Starline's lengthy cast delay.
-Starfall is now a unique FMA which encourages use of Starline over Backup Beatdown. The result is nowhere close to the ridiculousness of 0 CD Starfall, but a cooldown of 60 seconds is equally ridiculous.
-Singularity Shock no longer kills you during bosses (the old cast delay was about 4 seconds for a single target skill.)
-Singularity Shock no longer causes epileptic annoyances every 7 seconds when the transparency is turned to 0.
-Jett's post-override version of flash jump is, frankly, useless. Worse than that, it's depressing to watch. Reverting this change only made sense.
-With the level increase to strikeforce showdown, Jett no longer has 5 SP remaining in 4th job and the skill is now more consistent with the same relative damage output.
-There are some damage concerns about these changes. I’m still in the process of crafting this changelog. More specifically, I’ll be checking to see if any of these changes make Jett’s skills too powerful (like Planet Buster) but I’d like feedback to know what other people think. Jett’s current damage is underwhelming so if anything some of these changes might bring his damage up to speed.
-The power of Starline may need to be modified since all versions of Starline now deal the same amount of lines and damage. With Starline 4, this means all versions of Starline deal 425% x3 damage. With this, and the higher frequency in attacks, I recommend lowering the damage % upon acquiring the 4th job Starline if this skill turns out to be too powerful.
===Closing Remarks===
I'd play Jett after these changes. He now has three modes of attack: Starline combo, Starforce Salvo, and Backup Beatdown. They're all viable now with no gameplay-defeating drawbacks, and the Vortex dashes no longer make Jett stop moving for an obnoxious amount of time (which is what you don't want from a mobility skill.) Backup Beatdown wasn't given the ability to jump because, without cast delay, Jett can easily disengage, jump/dash upward, and continue using Backup Beatdown.
He's a lot smoother to play and the class now does what it feels like it was designed to do.
Comments
Starline 1 may receive 350% final damage from a maxed out node but ain't crap if it only reaches about 2 inches in front of you.
Way too short range.
The Starline node actually does enhance all 4 Starlines, but the description doesn't indicate that.
Backup Beatdown shouldve been something like corsairs pirate summons (not octopi but the pirates)
But why is it that I'm doing crap tons more damage from starline 1 per line than from starline 4, which does more damage overall?
(SL1= 420% (with SL 4 unlocked) & SL4=470%)
There may be something you didn't factor in, but Starline One Boost lists all 4 Starlines as being affected by the node. Did you try testing your damage with and without the node?