Thread: Japan Adrealine TV 3.4 PvP Update

DRK Changes - These are definitely needed. DRK is fine in solo when they can focus on putting out damage, but they have virtually no support which becomes clear when you're doing premades against a co-ordinated burst group. Paladin reigns supreme here with stuns, cover, and testudo while warrior has the best tank burst as well as thrill, mythril tempest, and holmgang. Drk has definitely improved, but a 6s damage reduction move (that can be purified) and tar pit just don't cut it against strong burst. One suggestion some of us had early on (credit to Nikoza/Tea Pan) was a "share the pain" move that's like cover but damage is split -> the idea is it could be used to save someone against an LB much like thrill/testudo. Either way, looking forward to these changes.

No role restriction in 8v8 - Yes please... You will always have situations where there's 8 melees that end up on a team, but this will so drastically improve queue times that it's worth it. 100% agree with this change, it's 8v8 and non-competitive anyway, lets just get some matches in there.

BLM Sleep Nerfs - As an Aether group that did a lot of premade 4v4 feast last season with a BLM comp, and as far as I know possibly the only BLM team in NA (although maybe primal had one??) A I strongly disagree with these changes. I get where they're coming from looking at the JP solo queue rankings with all of those BLMs at the top, but in premade 4v4s this is just not an issue. This is them balancing around solo queue instead of around the more competitive party mode, which I get because party mode is dead, it's just a bit disappointing. BLM used to be amazing pre-heavensward when purify was 120s and sleeps lasted 30s. Sleeps rightly got nerfed to 15s, purify got nerfed to 90s due mainly to summoners in seize, and then feast came out.

Our BLM comp relied heavily on sleeps and LB. We strongly lacked in the burst department by taking BLM (and PLD), but we made up for this with LB. SE then nerfed sleep to 12s, and has since nerfed LB to do 10% less damage. We haven't started playing this season, but if we do we've already decided to drop our BLM comp in favor of BRD or MCH, and that was before they announced these further sleep changes.

Against a good team that knows how to share purifies and can communicate this, black mages aren't nearly as effective. The team can set aside a purify rotation ahead of time, they give updates when purify is coming available, and with a 90s recast they can always have a purify available for the healer during a crucial sleep time. We've seen it many times, if you're playing a good team they can counter a BLM team without too much effort. If they have a bard with paeon every 45 seconds, it's an even better counter.

Basically, this feels like a nerf that is based around solo queue instead of party queue. As party queue theoretically has a higher skill level and could be considered the more competitive mode, although I get where they're coming from as solo queue is much more active (and it's much harder to co-ordinate purify sharing across solo mode).

I think the real sign that this was unnecessary is to look at the top groups that you see playing and look at what jobs they run. I don't know any other group on Aether that uses BLM as their main range, most use machinist or brd. Likewise you don't see any groups running with a Drk, most use paladin and occasionally warrior.

BLM comp is basically the only non-burst comp right now. Summoner used to be more interesting pre-heavensward -> you used to be able to run a battle of attrition strat spreading dots which made it fairly unique, but after heavensward it too has turned into a burst role. You now have BLM with sleeps, and then BRD/MCH/SMN who are all burst. I think this change is basically bottle-necking pvp.

Originally Posted by Blubbers

One suggestion some of us had early on (credit to Nikoza/Tea Pan) was a "share the pain" move that's like cover but damage is split -> the idea is it could be used to save someone against an LB much like thrill/testudo. Either way, looking forward to these changes.

Hmm, I'd been knocking around a HP trade move for a while, given Dark Knight has no Thrill of War/Clemency equivalent at all, but a Cover equivalent would have some nice synergy with Blood Price... Still, that seems too similar to Cover IMO, even if it's technically weaker, I'd rather not homogenize Jobs like that... Could be more interesting to have it work more like a defensive/Cover version of Wildfire (which is also how Noct Sect should work, rather than being a cheap Adloquium clone...), but then it loses all synergy with Blood Price...

As broken as it'd be, I'd still quite like Minus Strike in some form... Could work quite nicely for a Cover style skill actually; Rather than defending an ally, Dark Knights cover just makes them more stronger the lower their allies HP gets, meaning you either back off that target, or power up the Dark Knight... Would be less of a defensive Cover, and more of a "If you kill my healer, yours is next" style skill... That's no doubt ridiculous though, and a straight up Cover clone technically achieves something similar by giving you more Dark Arts potential through Blood Price synergy... Could perhaps tone it down and just reverse Cover/Synastry so you use it on an enemy; So long as your near to them, they take x% of the damage you deal to another target... That would let Dark Knight apply pressure to two targets (which is kinda where I think SE is taking the Job, given the AoEs and Full Swing/Sole Survivor combo), or alternatively give the Job some pushing power... If my healer is being focused, I could use such a skill on whoever is focusing them and have my healer stick to me while I do my regular thing... Their DPS either backs off or we're really punishing their healer...

Greetings, adventurers!

You may have heard that Yoshi-P recently appeared as a special guest on the Japanese FFXIV PvP show Adrenaline Rush TV. Today we'll be bringing you the key points that Yoshida discussed in regard to upcoming PvP changes and introductions!

Job Adjustments

• Dark knight is still lacking in the support department when compared to the other tank jobs, so we're planning to make some adjustments.
  
  
• Black mage currently has many ways to immobilize players such as with bind, sleep and a slowing effect. Naturally, these crowd control actions can be highly beneficial, particularly at high levels of play, so we see a high win ratio for the job. However, imbalanced crowd control can take the fun out of PvP matches for players who are interested in fighting and find themselves consistently slept or bound. As such, we're planning to make some drastic changes here, shortening the duration of these crowd control options and adjusting job balance accordingly.

The dev. team is currently testing and fine tuning the adjustments mentioned above.

Season Two Rewards
Some players were wondering if the rewards for Season Two of The Feast are going to be the exact same as the first season as we used the same image on the ranking page. The rewards for Season Two will be another full set of gear, and the design will be somewhat different from the first season. The types of rewards rewarded to the players will be changed every two seasons, as we felt having one type of reward only for one season wouldn’t allow a larger group of players to obtain them. Using current example, this means we have two rewards with full sets of gear for season one and two, and a different type of reward for season three and four, and so forth.

Face Target and Auto-Attack Changes
While this also applies to PvE and is somewhat related to job adjustments, we found that in PvP some players were spamming face target to land auto-attacks to deal more damage against their opponents. We’re planning to make some significant adjustments to the functionality of auto-attack and face targeting in Patch 3.4. We’ll go more details in upcoming Letter from the Producer LIVE scheduled during our special 14-hour anniversary broadcast.

Fields of Glory (Shatter)
We received a good deal of feedback from players expressing that the icebound tomeliths in The Fields of Glory (Shatter) make the mode feel more PvE oriented than PvP. Additionally, we've heard that players are finding it difficult to make a comeback once a team has gotten a significant lead. We’re currently discussing how we can make adjustments to this. While we do not have any specific changes to share at this time, please note that we are looking into it.

PvP-related system and features planned for Patch 3.4
We understand some players are hesitant to jump into the pit against skilled players in a ranked match, and would like something to be done to assist with the queue times of unrated matches.
For The Feast 8v8, we’ll be removing role requirement when joining a match so that players can queue in as any roles they wish and enjoy the fight. As for the 4v4 matches, since this is the unrated version of The Feast, the time it takes to match will likely be longer while seasons are live. For this we’re planning to introduce the following new PvP features and modes of play in Patch 3.4:

• Duel Mode
  You’ve asked for it, and we’ve heard you! We’re very pleased to announce the addition of a duel mode, where players can challenge another individual to put their PvP skills to the test. The Wolves’ Den Pier is going to be expanded with a new field specifically for dueling. Players within this field can request to duel with another player through a sub-command. Once accepted, players will see a countdown to begin the match.
  
  An important note: dueling will not be instanced, and can be engaged in while waiting on a queue so long as the player is in the designated field. Additionally, surrounding players will be able to spectate on these duels live if they are in the area! You can use this new mode to practice with your fellow team mates, introduce PvP combat to newer, more hesitant players in a fun way, or even hold player-organized dueling events!
  
  
• Custom Match Mode
  Another popular request, Custom Match mode will also be added to the game. A custom match can be initiated by having two-light parties, and having one party leader request a match to the other party’s leader. Once accepted, both teams will be moved to an instanced the Feast map, and begin a match of the Feast. We believe this is another great addition to introduce players into the realm of PvP, as well as holding player organized tournaments and events.
  
  
• Spectator Mode
  Last but not least, we’ll be introducing the Spectator mode. The user interface for the spectator mode would be somewhat different from the current Feast. The layout will allow matches to be broadcasted, displaying the stats of both participating teams. Multiple cameras will be placed in the field which players can switch to and from, as well as a follow option, designed to have the camera follow a specific character. We should be able to go over some more details on this in the next Letter from the Producer LIVE as well.
  
  This mode is currently a work in progress, and further improvements are in the works, but note that the first version of the mode will require the team engaged in the match to invite the spectators. Our ideal method would be to provide an interface that displays a list of current ongoing matches, and allow spectators to select a match to watch from that list at any time during the match, but since this is a completely new server system that allows players to enter an existing instance, we’re still looking into how to best implement such a system, and ask for your patience as we work towards it. We’re currently aiming to introduce the expanded Spectator Mode in Patch 3.5, and once this new system is in place we’re certain that we can utilize this feature in other ways in-game beyond PvP.
  
  On a related note, we’d like to mention that we’re currently working on a new cross-world Party Finder feature for Patch 3.5 as well.

New map for The Feast
Playing The Feast on one map alone may get boring for some players, so we’re currently working on creating another map for the Feast.

Discussing The Feast (Rated) times
While this is still being debated internally, we’re discussing if we should restrict the hours in which The Feast can be played. For example, if such a system was implemented, we’d consider having The Feast open during each region’s peak hours.

The intent behind this idea would be to try and get more players involved in PvP content by having a specified time to queue where players could potentially get quicker matches, and once we have more players participating in PvP, then we could gradually increase the window of the time. Nothing is finalized here, it is still just a discussion we’re having within the team. We would like to hear your feedback on this as well, so be sure to let us know how you feel about this approach.

Again, I thank all of you for sharing valuable feedback on PvP content, and would love to hear from you once these features are implemented. I’m beyond excited to participate in dueling, and other upcoming community events that may come about with these new modes in place!