Greetings,

To coincide with the November 2016 version update, Producer Akihiko Matsui held another Freshly Picked Vana'diel to go over some of the new content and discuss other topics pertinent to adventuring. The following is a digest of what was discussed.

Quote Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui View Post
Hello, everyone! Matsui here.

Thank you so much for tuning into Freshly Picked Vana’diel the other day.
This month we held the stream the prior to the version update, and we focused on an overview of the November version update as well as a bunch of other information.

For those of you who were not able to catch the broadcast live, or just simply want a recap on all of the information, the archived video is available below and I’ve organized this digest.



Table of contents:

  • Version Update Overview
    (0:02:42)
    This segment of the show focused on the big aspects of the November version update.

    • Battle Content: Ambuscade
      (0:03:26)
      Director Fujito challenged the latest Ambuscade Volume 2 battle, so be sure to give the video a watch to get an idea of the fight.

      This month’s Volume 2 enemy is a Belladonna; however, she doesn’t use charm. She will switch into a mode where she has an aura, and once this is up it will place various debuff effects on players. The key point of the strategy is determining how to remove this aura. We gave a small hint while Fujito was fighting, so check out the video is you want to find out.

      Intense Ambuscade on the other hand features Trolls. In addition to the boss, there are multiple adds that will appear as well. The adds are paladins and rangers, and depending on the difficulty the number of adds will vary. The theme of this fight is “whack-a-mole”, so try and decipher what that means by heading into the fight and giving it a try.

      (0:11:25)
      This month’s reward is an equipment set for pet jobs. Naturally, there is a +1 version as well.

      (0:12:37)
      We’ve been updating Ambuscade since April, and we’ve received a lot of feedback and requests since its release. In regard to the difficulty, we’re striving to make adjustments so that both our casual players and our hardcore players are satisfied based on the responses we have been seeing. To give an example based on past content, we feel that the right difficulty is somewhere between the taurus and the dragon. Additionally, depending on the enemy there will always be cases where certain jobs may be tailored slightly better, and while we apologize for this, we’d appreciate it if you select the appropriate difficulty if you are having trouble clearing it with a particular job.

      (0:14:23)
      During the live stream we received comments mentioning that the total amount of Hallmarks needed for the +1 equipment felt too high. The idea behind +1 is that you put effort in and are able to get the full set, and we feel that there is no issue with the current balance. The Ambuscade equipment is filled with useful stats that are quite high, but there is also high-tier equipment available through avenues such as the Geas Fetes in Reisenjima, so we’d like players to see this as an another option. As for the other feedback we received during the show, we will keep it in mind for future considerations.

    • Job Adjustments
      We gave an explanation on the job adjustments that took place in the November version update.

      ▼Pet command: Blood Pact
      （0:21:05）
      • Addition of a TP modifier for physical Blood Pacts
      • Damage adjustments to each hit of multi-hit physical Blood Pacts
      We made adjustments so that the stats of physical Blood Pacts are increased through a TP modifier. Coinciding with this, we also made changes so that each hit of multi-hit physical Blood Pacts would receive a damage modifier, and with this change even if the first hit misses the overall damage would not be greatly lowered. I’d like to note that monsters who use avatars have not been adjusted in the same way.

      ▼Adjustments to two-handed weapons and hand-to-hand
      (0:22:59)
      • The effect values of the job trait Smite have been increased
      • The damage cap for hand-to-hand has been increase through a change in the specs
      Compared to dual wielding one-hand weapons, both two-handed weapons and hand-to-hand were lacking in performance, so we made adjustments to boost the amount of damage that can be dealt while using two-handed weapons and hand-to-hand.

  • New segment: “The More You Know – Vana’diel”
    (0:25:43)
    This is a new segment of the stream that delivers some fun trivia. During the stream we had viewers guess the word should be placed in the “???” area, and then we revealed some hidden Vana’diel lore.
    If you didn’t watch the stream, try to guess the answer to the below! For the answer watch the stream and click on the spoiler box.
    • There was a possibility that Shantotto could sprout ???.
      Wings

    • ??? is not used in the Far East (though there is an exception).
      Kanji (Chinese characters)



  • Fujito’s /shout
    Fujito made announcements about campaigns and the future.
    • Campaign announcements
      (0:39:57)

      →Anniversary event: Jingle Baaas
      You can obtain a special in-game T-shirt item and other rewards.
      →”XI Day” campaign
      When logging in during the campaign period, you will receive a silver mog pell which can be exchanged for a variety of items.
      →Return Home to Vana’diel Campaign and the Discount Campaign
      Adventurers who have been taking a break will be able to log in for free during the Return Home to Vana’diel Campaign period. Additionally, the Ultimate Collection and Seekers of Adoulin are on sale during the Discount Campaign. Please use this opportunity to get back into the adventure!
      →FINAL FANTASY Record Keeper collaboration campaign
      The high-tier battle field version of the Rank 5 mission has a remixed version of Awakening for the background music, and if you beat this battle during the campaign period you can obtain the music sheet for the orchestrion. It can be obtained on any difficulty so check it out!
      →Mog Bonanza 2017
      There’s a new line up of rewards on tap. We’ll explain more on this in just a bit.
      →November 2016 Login Campaign
      Two new items are featured this month: a beetle mount and a mask item that can be seen on the NPC throughout the Rhapsodies of Vana’diel missions. There is also a fun new item, “Pungent Powder,” that will transform you into a baby version of a creature that can be reared in Mog Gardens.
      →November Appreciation Campaigns
      Eleven different campaigns are taking place at the same time. This includes an experience points campaign, so those returning should definitely take advantage! Next month we’ll have an array of campaigns geared towards returning adventurers.

    • New battle content: Omen
      (1:06:28)
      We’re currently progressing with development on new battle content geared towards parties. The difficulty will range from the regular monsters found in Reisenjima up to the very difficult version of Intense Ambuscade. The stage for the battles will be set in a secret area of Reisenjima. We’re currently creating new maps and are in our testing phases for the systems.

      In a previous broadcast, we mentioned that we really didn’t want to create new content that focused only on defeating a boss, and so this content will revolve around exploring through this secret area while defeating monsters, and then ultimately arriving at a boss which you must defeat. Additionally, the regular monsters found in the area will also drop loot, so going into this area to focus only on defeating regular monsters is a possible. Likewise, just aiming for the boss is possible as well, and you will be free to choose based on your play style.

      (1:13:24)
      Along with Omen, we will be introducing materials that will allow you to reforge your Artifact armor to +2 and +3 versions. The items needed for the +2 version will be dropped from the regular monsters, and these can be obtained with just a few people or with trusts.

      In addition to the materials for reforging, we’ll also be implementing accessories with very high stats, and we’ll talk about those soon.


    • Ultimate synthesis equipment (tentative name)
      (1:17:40)
      We are planning to implement equipment that is comparable to relics for crafters. Since the slot it will occupy is the sub-weapon slot, they cannot be used in tandem with the Kupo Shield, but they will have very good stats to compensate for this. You will need to undertake various trials to obtain and enhance this equipment, and ultimately it will become something with a unique graphic. We’re working hard on creating this and carefully making adjustments, so it will take a bit of time to finalized, but we hope you look forward to it.

The next Freshly Picked is slated for January, but I’m hearing whispers that we might do something in December as well! In any event, we would like to share the freshest information with you all in the very near future, so stay tuned!