balishag wrote:
catwho wrote:
FFXI actuallly had seven distinct roles, most of which weren't used in regular party dynamics but which came into play on bigger NMs.
-Puller
-Tank
-Melee
-Nuker
-Healer
-Enfeebler
-Buffer
-Puller
-Tank
-Melee
-Nuker
-Healer
-Enfeebler
-Buffer
Actually, in XI and in WoW, these roles were combined or shared among the different role classes. It was still a trinity - think like a triangle... and everything else in between, whether enfeebler, buffer, or puller went in one of the 3 directions.
Right, in exp parties. But in the big alliance based NM fights the roles splintered quite a bit. As a bard, I was a puller and a buffer for a long time - now I'm usually a buffer, enfeebler, and backup healer, not so much a puller what with all the roaming Abyssea parties. In an alliance HNM fight like Dynamis Lord? All I did for a good two minutes was buff desperately - trying to get all three parties in the alliance done and then the black mages in the other alliance with 2 hour ballads meant that I had no time for any other role. In modern 99 cap alliances, I'm invited almost exclusively for buffs and BRD specific job procs. Not healing, not pulling, nothing but marches and threnodies.