[Ranylyn]

"Hybrid tax" is a term sometimes used to descibe that a Hybrid isn't as good as a specialist. A Hybrid may be able to do 4 things Adequeately well, but will never match someone who can do only two of those four things in their area of expertise.

As things stand now, the only way to be guaranteed your character will actually be good at higher levels is to Min/Max for growths. This, of course, means stacking Like Growths and grinding as that class combo, even if it's not what that character ICly is/does/wants (Example: If you're stacking Cel, you'd want to level as a VA, even if your character has immense IC reasoning for never touching that skillset with a thirty foot pole.) Time and time again, a character with 70% in a stat (Which SHOULD be considered pretty good) ends up with maybe 30-35 by level 60. On the flipside, others can attain a natural 80 by Min/Maxing. IMO, the "pure" setups are perfectly fine as is. But that also leads to less diverse builds since the hybrids aren't nearly as viable overall.

Tactician is the perfect example. Tactician/Hexer could theoretically be an incredible combination, with the FP regen on hit, enhanced attack range, Guard order and Ailments, you get the idea. But a Tactician's pitiful spread growths (10% to most stats, more to some) make it absolutely terrible to level up as. On the flip side, if you levelled as an Evoker, you'd have more Will and Skill to make those tome attacks with, More Cel to dodge, and miss out on relatively little in the way of defenses since the Tact/Hex Defensive growths aren't great anyways.

My proposal is thus: At the moment, all classes have identical TOTAL growths. My suggestion is to give MORE growths to the classes with spread growths. Before you cry about balance, think about this: Would you prefer 50% in a primary stat, or 20% in 3 secondary stats? Now consider that many classes don't even GET that 20% in stats they NEED. As such, a specialized class is perfectly fine as is, while hybrids would just get minor buffs to some of their lesser stats so they suck less. Even if a specialized class only gets 3 stats per level, if it's always the 3 they need most, they'll still be better than a hybrid who gets 4-5 every level but has them way too spread out to amount to much.

All Base Classes:

While they're technically fine as is, I do believe a few tweaks could be made. Many base classes lack the stats they need to support their promotions, leading to having desperately underdeveloped stats at level 20. As such, I'd suggest maybe a 10% Increase to MA Will, Soldier Will, Summoner Strength, Curate Strength, and a 5% boost to Duelist Strength/Cel, Archer Strength/Defense, Rogue Strength and Will, and Mage Will and Skill. Just to set up better for Tacticians using tomes and BK Will-based passives, Verglas/Monks using Will, Summoners having a Physically based skillset in Bonder, Lantern Bearers having spear stuff, Duelists, Rogues, and and Archers not having crap strength when they promote, you get the idea.


Promoted Classes:

Black Knight: They're pretty solid as is. I see no reason to tweak their growths.

Tactician: I propose a +5% growth adjustment to Will/Luck, and a 10% Improvement to Vit/Def/Res. Why should they have absolutely craptastic Will when they need to use tomes, and why should they be more fragile than their base class?

Grand Summoner: Pretty solid as is.

Bonder: The second best Strength class and a fairly solid Will class. I see no real problems with their other stats being low.

Kensei: Pretty Solid overall. No change needed.

Ghost: A 5% Strength increase would help a lot. And maybe 10-15% Will since they get some magic (Ghostwind, Gravestone) as well.

Arbalest: No change needed. They're the prime Strength specialist class in the game at the moment.

Magic Gunner: No change needed. They're the most specialised Skill growth class in the game.

Engineer: They could use a small buff, but I'm not sure where.

Void Assassin: They're fine as is, but seeing that 10% Def moved over to Will instead could be neat.

Monk: They have several Will skills, and 0% Will. I say we give them 20% Will, to match their Strength.

Verglas: Their stats are a little too spread out, and they don't need Skill. Maybe -10% Skill but +5% Str/Wil/Cel?

Evoker: Perfectly fine as is. The ultimate Will specialists.

Hexer: Slightly more skill since they have some stuff for normal attacks. Otherwise decently solid.

Lantern Bearer: Mostly fine as is, but a small Strength bonus to go with their spear stuff could be nice, too.

Priest: Perhaps a minor strength boost since Paladin-types are popular. Also maybe +5 Skill.