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| Liz Maas |
Lots to cover in today's Letter!
11.22.13 - 2:14 PM
For fans of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, part one of the tenth Letter from the Producer Live aired this morning hosted, as always by producer and director Naoki Yosida (Yoshi-P). If you're like me, you didn't wake up until it ended, as the stream had begun at 4 AM Pacific time. Other than the big news - the patch's planned release date is December 17th - here is what was covered.
The letter started off with a few job balances and adjustments:
Warrior - while not covered in today's Letter, had many detailed changes outlined by Yoshida himself on the FFXIV forums just a few days ago. Several abilities will take up less TP, reduce recast times, and other changes which will bring the warrior more on par with the paladin, the game's only other tank class.
Dragoon - the animations for various Jump abilities currently locks the dragoon into place, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. These animation times and location locks will be reduced, making it easier to dodge after a jump. As well, the job gets an overall 10% DPS increase, plus adjustments to recast times.
Monk - Greased Lightning's buff effect will be increased, as well as the damage done when attacking an enemy from behind.
Bard - adjustments to which cross-class abilities they can use, will be made.
Next, Crystal Tower is a large new area and 2.1's biggest addition. The tower will require 24 players to clear, in three parties of eight. While the other two parties you're matched up with will be random, you'll be able to see their health, chat with them, and help them in larger rooms. The minimum gear level required to enter Crystal Tower is item level 55, and the loot inside will be item level 80. Players will also be able to collect Allagan Tomestones of Philosophy and of Mythology in the tower. (Currently, the Binding Coil of Bahamut - which is more difficult than the tower - drops Allagan gear, which is item level 90 loot. However, this gear's level will be increased to 95 in the patch.)
Inventory space in the armoire (accessible from your inn room) will be increased.
As for the aesthetician (beauty salon), each hairstyle change will cost 2000 gil and there are no limits as to how often you can do this. You can also change hair color, eyebrows, face paint, face paint color, facial hair, facial features, and tattoos.
Hard mode dungeons will be Haukke Manor and Copperbell Mines, which will have item level 60, Allagan tomestones, and housing-related items. The latter will also drop from the extreme-mode primals. Also, the frequency at which the hard mode primals drop housing items, will increase.
Extreme mode Primal battles for Ifrit, Garuda and Titan are being added and like the others, can be accessed via the Duty Finder. Yoshida says the item level requirement for these will likely be 70, and you will need to have defeated Titan (Hard Mode) before taking these on. These drop item level 90 weapons, and may be tied to the story or the relic weapon quest. Can we soon upgrade relic weapons to +2?
The new Primal, Good King Moggle Mog XII is making a return from version 1.0 and said to be on par with Garuda's Hard Mode fight. (Well, at least it won't be as difficult as Titan hard mode. Yikes.) As Moggle Mog is not part of the story, this fight is only available as a hard mode battle and, like the others, will drop weapons (item level 80) themed after the boss. I won't lie, I'd love to get a spear like this one.
Duty Finder changes: players will finally have the option to vote to kick someone from an instance. Similarly, there will be a 'Most Impressive Player' feature, where at the end of a dungeon players can vote on the nicest or best player in that instance. This will only be available for solo players. Duty Roulette will be added, allowing solo players to join a random dungeon of the duty finder's choosing. While this makes it a little more difficult to prepare for what dungeon you may wind up in (you will still be matched with dungeons and players on a similar level), you will be rewarded with bonuses like EXP and tomestones. Also, as many players enter dungeons with different objectives (story, speed-running, etc.), it's currently hard to match up with a desirable party or one with similar goals using the duty finder. Square Enix will be adding in more options for party recruitment to better match players up.
A new dungeon, Pharos Siruis, was shown during the event. This dungeon requires four players and will drop item level 60 gear, and will be tied to the Isles of Umbra section of the main story.
Also not from today's letter, but another recent Yoshida post: the weekly cap for earning mythology tomestones will increase from 300 to 450 with the patch.
Finally, Square Enix shared ...well, lots of video, but we don't have access to most of it yet. There is, however, this one that shows a bit of gear and (mostly) the ever-adorable minions.
Part 2 of this Letter from the Producer is scheduled for December 14th.
