@SalutexMO I don't understand why you've ignored almost every single productive post and only look at the ones being toxic to you. Do you enjoy hurting yourself? You don't even bother responding to something that addresses your topic.

It is okay to get hit with Hero, just because the mechanic penalises you for it doesn't make it bad design because it gives you plenty of methods to regain yourself. You have Hero Counter, Hero Refresh and Hero Will, all to make sure that when you're using this risky style you have ways of regaining your damage boost.

Even if you did have a complaint with the class, it would be a numbers issue, not a design issue (a numbers issue which SEGA has already seen fit to address). Please stop using terms you don't understand.

Last thing to note is that the way you perceive playing the class is, is a you problem. No one else is holding themselves to the standards you're setting here. If that's how you want to perceive optimal Hero play, then okay, but imposing your own standards onto something and calling it bad design is just straight up wrong.

@SalutexMO I think you have the wrong perception of what constitutes optimal gameplay. Optimal doesn't mean that in a 60 minute long quest where you're constantly fighting mobs that you'll never ever take damage. It doesn't mean that you have to constantly switch weapons when you don't need to. You can use the other two weapons when you need to, and taking the time to recognise when they are valuable isn't an unrealistic expectation. It's the same as learning when a certain PA is good for a specific thing.

In no particular order, the responses to some of your criticisms.

1. You're talking about actual game design, and not game balancing. Most people who have responded in this thread have made it clear that Hero is an enjoyable experience for what it provides. You get a multifaceted class which dynamically swaps weapons, and gains damage by avoiding it and countering enemies. That's fun for people. Whether or not the numbers need to be tuned is irrelevant to whether or not the design of the class is fun and has the potential to be rewarding. The fact that SEGA buffed Hero on JP is a sign that it was mainly a numbers issue penalising the player, not that the core gameplay wasn't fun.

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfPIF8y0-zE&ab_channel=BáPhúHuỳnh This is a random Gu/Fi Rondo. I skimmed the video, and there are points at which the player gets hit, and this is on a class which has one of the biggest mobility/aerial/dodge tools comparatively. The player is also not playing from under 50% hp, because it isn't necessary. Just because it would be optimal to "not take lifesteal or sustain" and play from <50 because it gives you Deadline Slayer or something stupid. Knowing when the conditionals you have are not feasible or needed for what you're doing is part of knowing the class.

3. Hero has safety nets, and using them doesn't reflect on the player not playing optimally for the majority of a run, especially for a long one like Endless. Hero Refresh exists, and counters build back Hero Boost. You also have the option of using your ranged skillset to avoid getting close if you're worried about using sword. Other classes don't even have this option of "becoming ranged" to avoid taking damage.

4. Because your other two weapons can be 'utility' weapons, it's literally 0 issue if they're not geared as optimally as your main weapon., You could have an Atlas TMG/Sword and nem weapons at +30 for the other two and you would be completely fine for all of our current content. You don't even need that much, but there are some reasonable 13* sidegrades which we have access to. Having decent gear for cheap/easily obtainable isn't even an excuse here.

Curious about how much time you've put into hero. Considering you had that video prepped and presumably watched through some/all of it, I'm guessing you at least wanted to get better.

1. Literally like all my MPAs are more than 50% heroes. If it's as you say, and playing it optimally is extremely difficult, but people still enjoy the gameplay style with all the 'clunkiness' that you describe, then I'd say that the designers at least mostly succeeded in achieving their goal. It really does just sound like a you problem. Not everyone enjoys Fo because they think it was boring, not everyone enjoys Fighter because "one hit and you die." Is that a design problem, or just making different class fantasies for different players? Even good Fi players get hit, get Iron Willed (assuming they're not triggering it intentionally) and therefore "are not playing optimally" but that doesn't make it poorly designed from a conceptual standpoint. If the numbers need tuning, that's a different story.

2. It's been mentioned, but you've predicated your argument that you play a class 'optimally' after having put work into it. Learning how to Blaze Parry every useful situation is part of that, how is that any different from learning boss attacks and figuring out the timing of sidestepping them? How is that different from learning how you should mob? Not saying that you'll never get hit, but there are better ways to go about things if you're taking too much callous damage.