I notice under focus AA we have two new levels of Improved Step Pattern available. The question being, who is still using 8-Step Pattern (the last upgrade in the line)? And why? It is level 99 and seems inferior to other things on the same timer (Firewalker's Synergy).
As a rule, Focus AAs exist where they can exist. Period. Every current-leveled spell/disc that can have a focus AA just plain does. There's no value judgement to assign to the AAs existing
It's my hope that less frequently used abilities will somehow be useful in the future, if only in certain situations. Something like dual wield vs 2hb. Currently 2hb is the king for DPS, and has been for a few expansions, but maybe it'll be surpassed by dual wield if only in non-tanking situations. Maybe there will be a situation where it's more useful to use this than something else on the same timer. When that happens, it would be nice if the supporting AAs are already in place. But more realistically, it's probably just easier to put less-than-ideal AAs in and tout the expansion as having added "thousands of new AAs to make your character stronger than ever!" without worry of breaking the class. It also gives a more difficult target for maxing out AAs, which means you're playing in the content more, which means more subs.
I’ve never understood the logic of putting multiple similar skills on the same timer. If they are two damage abilities, and one puts out more damage than the other, people are clearly only going to use the better one. If you make two damage abilities that are largely the same damage output, what was the point of creating two in the first place? Literally the only reason to share a timer is to make us choose between utility, ie damage vs defense, snare vs stun, etc. But seeing as we are a DPS class, I know which choice people will generally make.
It is not going to be a huge enough upgrade to get people to not use Synergy due to how that skill also boosts the damage of our normal FK as well as the FKs in Synergy itself.
