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Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward


Posted by Xenor Vernix on Jun 21, 2015 - 02:49.

FFXIV News - Job & Class Abilities Updated!

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Just a quick update here to say that the new abilities from the Heavensward expansion are now on the job pages. This includes battle, crafting and gathering jobs/classes. We have also included the changes to existing abilities.

There is one minor issue with the display of icons from the new abilities however but they will be added tomorrow.

Tomorrow we're hoping to start writing guides for some of the early dungeons and Ravana Hard Mode.



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Posted by Xenor Vernix on Jun 20, 2015 - 09:11.

FFXIV News - Equipment and Item Databases Updated for Heavensward

Our equipment and item databases have been updated for the Heavensward expansion. You can now view all of the weapons, equipment and items added with patch 3.0. This also means the gear section of our job guides has been updated so you can see the tiers of gear that you should be aiming to acquire. The guides themselves still need work however.

We are working on the ability lists for jobs. It is possible that the battle skills appear before the DoH/DoL skills to get them on here faster.

The loot lists may have to wait as we take these from Libra and it has not yet updated with the new loot information. Worst case we'll go back to manually doing it, but that takes longer.

Dungeon info and maps - we of course have to level up to 60 for that but updating the website is slowing that down.

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Posted by Xenor Vernix on Jun 16, 2015 - 23:46.

FFXIV News - Heavensward Launch Trailer

With the start of Early Access only three days away and this week being E3 today was the perfect time for Square Enix to release a new FFXIV: Heavensward trailer. This one sets the scene for the expansion as well as shows all of the new limit breaks.



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Posted by Xenor Vernix on May 31, 2015 - 20:46.

FFXIV News - FFXIV Info Changes for Heavensward

Today sees some big changes to FFXIV Info, with the addition of new pages for Heavensward content as well as changes to the item database and the navigation structure.

Navigation

Until now the idea was to link everything in the main navigation bar so that pages were easy to find from anywhere, but this was not sustainable. With the release of Heavensward coming up we literally ran out of space to put pages. This meant we had to change things a little.

The idea behind the new structure is that the most popular content will still be one click away while older content is moved under a sub category. This stops the navigation growing out of control and hopefully makes it less of a pain for those on a mobile device to browse the website.

As a result we have done things like instead of listing all zones within La Noscea for example we have instead listed just the region and this page will link to the six zones. This concept was also applied to item listing and raids.

To solve the crowding on the dungeon category it was decided to group all A Realm Reborn dungeons together and create a dedicated page for them as such:



This will be done for Heavensward dungeons too, but as those dungeons will be popular they will have individual links too until the next expansion. The plan is to do the same with the trial fights listed under the guides category at some point before Heavensward.


Item Database

One other big change is with the item database. It has been reworked so that the data people care about is easier to find, so some columns have been removed and some added.



The special pages for listing items such as raid drops were also integrated better and they now display which raid they drop from. The new format allows you to filter down as such:



As you can see, I can list all BLM Final Coil gear by typing "Casting or BLM" into the items box. The reason for the "or BLM" is because the weapon would not be shown without it. You could also add a secondary filter to Location and drill down to a specific turn.


Heavensward Content

We have added new pages for the Aura race, new pages for the Astrologian, Dark Knight and Machinist jobs as well as new pages for the new areas. This is all based on confirmed information. There is a lot of information out there for Heavensward such as ability names/descriptions and dungeon names however these names have not been confirmed so we don't want to add them yet.

The plan for the launch of the expansion is to add as much information from the patch notes as we can during the E3 week prior to the launch and for things that can't be added before launch they will be done straight after in the following priority order:

Item database update.
Job abilities.
Drop lists for dungeons.

Afterwards guides for dungeons will be created along with additions of maps and screenshots to all accessible areas. This part requires leveling up to 60 and the three tasks above are going to slow that down but we'll do our best.

As a final note I came across this awesome Google document listing everything known about Heavensward:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JSCm4VBfKGnegzqWQpsNWKI_uZkSFyVZ3lI1VGvrnl0/pub

Content, names and dates listed there are subject to change but it is the best compilation of info we've seen.


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Posted by Xenor Vernix on May 23, 2015 - 13:18.

FFXIV News - New Job Abilities in Heavensward

In the Live Letter from the Producer XXI on Thursday night Square Enix went over lots of new additions and changes to the battle system for each job as we level up to 60 in Heavensward. Each job will gain around five new abilities and for some jobs it will change the way they play. This means you will have to learn a new rotation if you want to perform at your best. This post goes into detail on what we now know for each job.

Black Mage

Black Mage received the most attention during the live letter as it was the job Yoshi-p was playing as. The idea behind the additions to BLM is that you will have a new rotation at level 60 and the job will require more thought to play. The new abilities are:

Ley Lines - This is a ground circle that a BLM can place and while standing in it they will receive a 15% Haste bonus. Stepping outside of the circle will cause you to lose the buff. What this means is that you should use this skill at a time when you won't need to move far to dodge boss attacks, and it also makes sense to stack it with other damage buffs such as Raging Strikes.

Sharpcast - This causes the next Fire or Thunder spell you cast to generate a proc. The best time to use this ability will be when you know you will have to move fairly soon - such as a few seconds before a Bahamut megaflare. You can time it so that your Fire procs just before you move and have a proc to use during your dodge. This not only helps avoid a loss of DPS it also makes it easier to maintain Astral Fire. You could also use it to avoid having to hard cast Fire III if you are not under Umbral Ice.

Fire IV - A high damage fire ability, usable under Enochian.

Blizzard IV - A high damage ice ability, usable under Enochian.

Enochian - This is your level 60 ability and it will give you a 30 second buff that allows you to cast Fire IV and Blizzard IV while under Astral Fire/Umbral Ice respectively. Neither of these spells will extend your Astral/Umbral phase so you will have to maintain them by switching between Fire and Fire IV for example. Using Blizzard IV will renew your Enochian but it will decrease the duration by 5 seconds each time.

What this means is that the new BLM rotation will not simply be a case of casting Thunder/Fire III and then Fire until you run out of MP before switching to Umbral Ice. You will have to carefully weave in Fire IVs and then switch to Umbral phase with Blizzard IV to extend Enochian. As a BLM main I am excited.


Paladin

Paladin will be receiving new combo attacks which derive from Savage Blade and Riot Blade, most likely using new abilities learned on the way to 60. This gives the Paladin more options instead of just spamming the current Rage of Halone combo. This combo will still be effective for producing the best enmity but once you have maintained enmity there will be better combos to use. This also means playing as an off-tank will gives you better options. It seems damage over time effects will play a larger role too.

Divine Veil - This is a new ability that places a protective barrier around a target. If that player is cured then the barrier will spread to other nearby party members.

Another new (unnamed) action will improve the ability to block using Shield Swipe, and PLDs will also be able to increase the defense stats for all party members.


Warrior

Warrior will gain a new attacking stance called Deliverance that will increase your DPS when playing as an off-tank. Similar to Wrath stacks generated by Defiance, the new Deliverance ability will generate up to 5 stacks of Abadon. You can switch between both stances while maintaining your stacks and there will be new weapon skills and self-healing abilities that consume Abadon stacks.


Raw Intuition is a new skills that will guarantee a parry when receiving a frontal attack. If you are attacked from the side or behind it will instead guarantee a critical attack. This is a very useful ability when used right.


Paladin & Warrior note:

Actions up to level 50 have received some alterations to make them flow better with new abilities. Accuracy has also improved under Shield Oath and Defiance so you will need a bit less on your equipment.


Dark Knight

As Dark Knight is a new job it will receive many new abilities. In the live letter only a few were talked about.

Darkside - This is similar to a Paladin's Sword Oath and is designed for when you are off-tanking and aiming for more DPS. While under Darkside your MP will gradually reduce and you will not be able to receive MP healing support from party members. However the Dark Knight will have weapon skills that restore MP.

Grit - This is similar to a Paladin's Shield Oath and is the stance you should be in while tanking. This stance will make it easier to gain enmity.

Living Dead - This is similar to the Warrior action Holmgang and blocks all attacks for a short period.

DRK will also have an action where they jump towards the enemy, allowing them to use an AoE attack. This is all we know on this so far however.


Dragoon

Not much was shown in the live letter for Dragoon, other than you will now be able to do a 4 stage combo.

Blood of the Dragon - This allows you to use a new ability after Full Thrust and Chaos Thrust for a 4 stage combo. There will also be a strong action that will consume Blood of the Dragon.

Changes to the animation locks suffered while jumping will also happen.


Bard

Bards will receive a new song called The Wanderer's Minuet that can be used even while other songs are up. This effect will allow the BRD to deal high damage by charging up their bow. The downside is that it will add cast times to your abilities and remove your ability to auto attack. The cast times make it similar to casters where moving will interrupt your abilities. This song will not consume MP.

Sidewinder - This is a special physical attack that will increase the effect of your DoTs already applied to enemies.


Ninja

As Ninja was added quite recently (2.4) Square Enix have not made many changes to the job. However what they have changed is Huton in a way that allows you to maintain its effect easier. This is designed to allow you to use other ninjutsu for higher DPS.

Ninja will also receive a new ability that allows them to add enmity to another player, which is designed to help the tank in certain situations.

One other change to Ninja is to add positioning to some of their weapon skills.


Monk

Monks will gain access to a system called Chakra, which allows up to 5 stacks. Once you reach 5 you will be able to perform a high damage weapon skill or restore TP to yourself.

There will be an ability that allows you to change your form.

There have been changes designed to reduce the disadvantage a Monk gets when a boss jumps to go invulnerable for a period of time. This will come in the form of an ability that consumes Greased Lightning stacks to perform a high damage attack (you must time it right). You will also be able to change form and stack Chakra while the boss is invulnerable. This means you can begin again with Greased Lightning.


Machinist

The role of a Machinist is meant to be similar to BRD but the play style will be different. Their main speciality is to use a buff called Ammunition. This will stack and add various additional effects to weapon skills.

Reload - This will reload five stacks of ammunition. There will also be a quick reload skill which is meant for special situations.

A quote from Square Enix on how the Machinist's weapon skills will work:

"Weapon skills work a bit differently. There are weapon skill combination where you use shot 1, shot 2, and shot 3, but using shot 1 gives a 50% chance of boost to shot 2, and another 50% chance to boost shot 3. By using ammunitions you can make sure the boost procs. Furthermore, machinist has many unique actions, such as Wildfire which charges the damage and attacks at once, and turrets which will affect party members in range, so we would like for you to try it out."


Summoner

The biggest surprise for Summoner is that the job will not be receiving any new egis in Heavensward. The developers felt that it would be better to instead add new actions for Summoner. They also mentioned that in the future they will implement a type of glamour system for egis meaning you can change the egi you use but the abilities the egis have will not change.

Tri-Disaster will be renamed to Tri-Bind.

A new ability called Tri-Disaster will be added that will apply Bio, Bio II and Miasma all at once.

A new action called Dreadwyrm Trance will be added that summons the power of Bahamut. This will give the Summoner stacks of Bahamut Aether that can be spent with actions.


White Mage

The additions for White Mage focus on areas where they are currently lacking.

Asylum - A new ability that creates a healing field.

Assize - This is designed to attack and heal at the same time.

There will be a new instant cast healing ability. This isn’t an ability that compares with Benediction, it is designed as a single target heal and won’t be as powerful as Benediction.

Stone III and Aero III will be added as well as new ranged DoT spells.

The magic defense aspect of Protect will now carry over when cross classed as part of balancing for three healer jobs.


Scholar

The additions for Scholar have boss battles in mind so the way you play the job during other forms of content such as dungeons will not change much.

Indomitability - This will improve a Scholar's AoE healing capabilities.

Deployment Tactics – "This action will extend the effect of Adloquium and Eye for an Eye that is on the target player to other party members in range."

Emergency Tactics – "Instead of adding a barrier effect to Adloquium, this action will give addition healing power for the amount of the effect of the barrier."

Dissipation - This allows the Scholar to remove their fairy from battle in exchange for more magic power.


Astrologian

Astrologian is a new healing job which will have two stances. These are called Diurnal Sect and Nocturnal Sect and the difference is that one is a healing stance similar to a WHM while the other makes use of barriers like a SCH. You can switch between them.

Depending on which stance you are in the effects of your spells will differ so it will be important to learn when best to use each stance.

Cards will play a role for the Astrologian's play style as you will be able to draw cards at random that give you effects such as enhanced attack power, damage reduction and haste.

Royal Road will allow you to return your card to your deck and buff the next card you draw.

There will be an ability to set aside a good card that you drew and an ability called Shuffle that will allow you to redraw a card.


Our Final Word

More will be known on job abilities as we get closer to launch, especially once the patch notes for 3.0 are released during E3. We will bring you more information as soon as we are able to.

As a side note we will have a lot of work to do for the website come launch day and adding new abilities will be one of our top priorities.

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