Reforged Empyrean Armor (AF3) - still being planned?

[Zhronne]

The last we heard about this is from the 30th of June 2014 (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/42964-109-119-Empyrean-Armor-Can-we-have-it?p=514251&viewfull=1#post514251). A lot of time has passed since then.
And even before that we only read a couple of very generic and vague posts concerning it.
My question is the following: Is reforged Empyrean Armor still in the works?
If so, can we get some further details? An approximate date of implementation? (end of 2015? First quarter of 2015?)
Is it going to be ilevel 109/119 like Reforged Artifact and Reforged Relic?


More in general a lot of faithful FFXI players are starting to feel some disheartening feelings slowly rising up.
Seekers of Adoulin is going to end up in a week, and we have not even a clue what the future holds for FFXI.

I don't think any of us demands a detailed timeline for the next few years (Matsui already explained the issues they have with releasing such information and that it won't happen anymore in the future, I understand and respect that) but getting at lest some vague information would be much reassuring.

Is support for this game going to continue in a way similar like the one we saw over the last years with Seekers of Adoulin?
Or is the game going to be put on life-support mode like what we saw in the years following the third Abyssea mini-expansion? Where only low-budget and rehashed content was getting released to keep players busy without anything really "new" or any major addition?
What do we have to expect for the future of FFXI?

Please get us hyped a bit, let us know there's a lot of good news for all of us! Make us keep playing this game with a feeling of "Can't wait for this or that to finally get released!"
We're playing this game not knowing what could happen tomorrow, it's really sad :(

[Zhronne]

Also I don't see why they would give away empyrean seals and jewels with login, unless they're going to reforge it. As wearing empyrean armor in Seekers is basically suicide, unless it gets the ilvl treatment.
I don't agree with this point in particular.
They've been giving away a lot of "useless" stuff with Login campaign. The fact they're giving Empyrean seals with Login campaign doesn't *necessarily* mean anything (as people might want to collect them for looks for instance, for collection purposes etc, and don't forget some pieces are still quite nice for JA/Spell swaps, even if you don't full-time them)

[Dale]

I farmed all my Empy+2 armor sets back in 2011, so I haven't needed the log in points ones. That said I wouldn't personally use those armor sets in Seekers for anything, unless they get ilvl.

In any case, SE have said empyrean is getting reforged. I think the login items for empyrean armor is so that people can get the base +2 sets for reforging....

I wouldn't use them for anything either. The disparity between them and ilvl 119 is just too great. And this is coming from someone who really likes the set bonuses those sets provide too. So if I thought I could get away with using them I definitely would.

Just wanted to say they also offered the salvage armor items for login points too. So that's a good hint that maybe that armor is going to get reforged too along with the Abyssea sets. Least I hope so.

[Afania]

It might be 115 and 125.

There was a post about ilvl 125 in the works. The delay with Empy reforged, maybe be pushing it back to coincide with the arrival of 125 gear. Or maybe just delayed because retooling "set bonuses" for the ilvl sets may have proved to be a lot tougher than just reforging AF which was basically extending job ability duration bonuses etc.

They did say "relic and empyrean reforged armors will not follow the same path as artifact" at the beginning, so they have confirmed they're doing empyrean. Also I don't see why they would give away empyrean seals and jewels with login, unless they're going to reforge it. As wearing empyrean armor in Seekers is basically suicide, unless it gets the ilvl treatment.

Some of the empy are still good macros!

[Ulth]

Bard still uses full empy for songs, and if you aren't making use of the sick ability of Orison Pantaloons than you should reconsider playing white mage.

[Ranky]

I've really been hoping to see the reforge for these armor sets, or at least get some sort of idea as to when they may be implemented since (as many know/said) some pieces are still viable for normal use even with ilvl gear. Aside from balance issues (should they be ~ilvl119 or 119+) would be the fact they would have to work out a new set for GEO and RUN and how to obtain those(most likely being similar how relic is obtained) and setting items for upgrades (setting new system with new drops for the higher end reforge, since no current systems seem plausible/realistic as far as drops that wouldn't be used.)

[Teraniku]

I've really been hoping to see the reforge for these armor sets, or at least get some sort of idea as to when they may be implemented since (as many know/said) some pieces are still viable for normal use even with ilvl gear. Aside from balance issues (should they be ~ilvl119 or 119+) would be the fact they would have to work out a new set for GEO and RUN and how to obtain those(most likely being similar how relic is obtained) and setting items for upgrades (setting new system with new drops for the higher end reforge, since no current systems seem plausible/realistic as far as drops that wouldn't be used.)

Remember the Adoulin storyline is finally wrapping up with the November 2014 update, so it's possible they might tie the Empyrean upgrades to whatever Expansion / Battle Area etc. that happens post Adoulin.

[Olor]

Bard still uses full empy for songs, and if you aren't making use of the sick ability of Orison Pantaloons than you should reconsider playing white mage.

Yeah... these empy sets get a lot of use for me. Did they add +1 march hands to another bard set? Cause... yeah. That's useful.

[Dale]

I totally agree that empyrean armor has useful bonuses, some of my favourite pieces in the game are empyrean armor.

For some back-line jobs you might want to swap out a few pieces of low level empyrean gear for certain bonuses, but if you want the set bonus and you are front line job, using the full set in a battle with Seekers mobs will get you killed lol.

Most of my jobs are front line, and my favourite bonuses from empyrean armors are the set bonuses. So I will wait for empyrean armor to get ilvl before I start using it against mobs that hit really hard even against 119 armors.

I used to run around in my EMP armor on my Red Mage because I liked the set bonus so much I just couldn't part with it. But eventually I got tired getting one-shotted or nearly so every time a nasty AoE came my way or I drew a monster's ire.

The difference in the amount of damage you take and do when wearing 119 armor compared to the old emp armor is like night and day. I don't see anyone can wear that old stuff and stay alive, especially in Adoulin.

[Alhanelem]

This is probably going to happen when the max ilvl increases.

[Finuve]

This is probably going to happen when the max ilvl increases.is SE really going to go through that backlash again?

[Byrth]

I still use a lot of my empyrean gear.

BLM - Head/feet
BRD - 5/5
SMN - 5/5, although I could ditch the body if I upgraded AF1+4
DNC - Head/Body/Hands/Feet
THF - Hands/Feet. I don't use the hat, body, or leg enhancements often enough to justify the inventory -3
PLD - Feet for Divine Emblem

The only piece that I use for melee TP at the moment is DNC body, and that is only when I'm doing kind of low-tier content without buffers.


I would really like to see this stuff upgraded (particularly the DNC armors).

[saevel]

Lots of Emp armor is useful, especially pieces with unique or semi unique bonus's. WAR feet come to mind as getting the perfectly augmented HQ abjuration is stupidly expensive and not even iLevel. RDM's gear is amazing for extended duration on your buffs. WHM's also enhances a ton of stuff. Practically every job has a few pieces that would be amazing to have upgraded to iLevel status.

[Draylo]

I just want the GEO AF3, its so cool

[Atomic_Skull]

is SE really going to go through that backlash again?

ilev was a terrible idea and I'm glad that they abandoned it.

[Olor]

Yeah if you're a bard you're using your AF3 a lot... and since you're singing often you're in it most of the time... and it HURTS when you get smacked.

[Alhanelem]

is SE really going to go through that backlash again?
they've said the max ilvl will increase, so if you're saying backlash in relation to that, then probably yes.


ilev was a terrible idea and I'm glad that they abandoned it. They haven't abandoned it that I'm aware of (link to proof please) . And the only reason ilvls exist is because for various reasons they can't increase the level cap past 99. Having all gear of <insert ilvl here> is meant to be essentially equivalent to your character actually being of that level.

At least they didn't totally eliminate sidegrading by having ilvl only apply to certain slots.

[Finuve]

they've said the max ilvl will increase, so if you're saying backlash in relation to that, then probably yes.Link? I remember them discussing like they would and that delve 2 would move up, but they backpedalled and delve 2 continued to be 119.

I really dont want to quit, but I can't do another gear reset

[Mnejing]

Link? I remember them discussing like they would and that delve 2 would move up, but they backpedalled and delve 2 continued to be 119.

I really dont want to quit, but I can't do another gear reset

Below quote:

The development team will be looking into upgrading R/M/E gear once they have implemented item level 120+. With that said, please understand that we have no concrete details to share in regards to when this (R/M/E upgrades & Item Level 120+) will be happening; just know that there are plans in the works!

[Alhanelem]

There have been many "gear resets" even before ilevels and the level cap rise. I don't know why people are acting like this is a new thing. Yes, they werent really hard-line resets, meaning sometimes old gear was still relevant, but if they didn't keep introducing items that could be percieved as an upgrade in some form, the game would have gotten boring more quickly, as there were no tantalizing treats to chase after. And remember, not every slot has ilvls, and there are still multiple options in those slots.

Adding new levels and new grindy systems is how you keep people in an MMO busy. There isn't an mmo in existence that doesn't have this sort of thing in some form or another.

The level cap started at 50 before the game came out in the US. It gradually increased to 75; soon after they came up with merit points. After they milked merit points for all that they were worth, they raised the level cap. then they did it again. then they did it again. Then they introduced ilevels. then they introduced job points. There have been many "resets" and progression extensions throughout the game's history and this is no different, other than the fact that they're being less subtle about it.

[Olor]

I dunno, the difference is that never before did they make most content utterly entirely useless in one fell swoop. Yeah, your really good body piece might no longer be BIS but it wouldn't be completely unwearable anymore...

With ilevel it feels like every piece of gear is practically the same but with just more or less stat vomit on it. And they have done a crappy job of ensuring that a higher ilevel is better gear (lots of 118 and 119 is not really any better than 117)

Like upgraded skirmish clothes... actually aren't really a lot better than 117 without great augments... and frankly I can't be arsed to spend millions of gil on random augments for a piece of gear that ends up being only marginally better than the coalition gear. It's not fun.

I used to be able to do a ton of events to get gear upgrades that actually felt worthwhile. Some of those events I could do solo, lots of them were causal. Now none of the events that drop gear worth getting are solo or casual except WOE stuff and wildskeeper both of which mostly drop gear that's worse than coalition gear. (Unless you counting OAT for lolcontent)

[Finuve]

Below quote:I see...recently enough too...I guess I will be done sooner than I hoped

[Atomic_Skull]

With ilevel it feels like every piece of gear is practically the same but with just more or less stat vomit on it. And they have done a crappy job of ensuring that a higher ilevel is better gear (lots of 118 and 119 is not really any better than 117)

An item could have NO stats on it except ilev 119 and it would *still* be better than literally anything lower than ilev 119. And therein lies the problem.

The grind is currently too high to expect people to keep putting forth the effort to obtain the items when they know that a higher ilev and a gear reset is always just around the corner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect

[Draylo]

Not true at all, people still use ilevel 115 gear like the Wildskeeper reive items and delve items.

[Atomic_Skull]

Not true at all, people still use ilevel 115 gear like the Wildskeeper reive items and delve items.

People use lower ilev gear because they know that it's a waste of time grinding ilev 119 when SE will just flush all their hard work down the toilet while making the trollface.

[Draylo]

Or you don't understand the concept of gear swapping.

[Raydeus]

That just means they don't understand how much ilev affects their character.

This interests me. Can you explain how exactly ilvl gear affects your character besides the stats and avg level on it?

[Shirai]

An item could have NO stats on it except ilev 119 and it would *still* be better than literally anything lower than ilev 119. And therein lies the problem.


People use lower ilev gear because they know that it's a waste of time grinding ilev 119 when SE will just flush all their hard work down the toilet while making the trollface.
http://www.lolmaze.com/pictures/459f9394f0bcd67a08a322b56db20dd3.jpg
It's because additional stats on the ilevel 115 gear make your job perform better than their iLevel 119 counterpart.
Stats make the gear, not that little number called iLevel.

There is a reason why my Thaumas coat is still my prefered TP body on most content, with the right buffs even on VD, and that thing doesn't even have an iLevel.

Neither is there a replacement yet for my Nares Trews for idle, Orison Pantaloons +2 and Orison Bliaut +2 for cures, and there's plenty of other older non-iLevel gear that still outshines iLevel gear by miles even on high level content.


Or you don't understand the concept of gear swapping.

It must be that, although I have a larger impression that it's more a case of being completely oblivious to game mechanics and not even wanting to learn.

[Finuve]

This interests me. Can you explain how exactly ilvl gear affects your character besides the stats and avg level on it?well, pet levels...but thats all I got

The fact that a few pieces of lower ilevel shine through doesnt make the fact that the vast majority of gear is dumped for higher ilvl any less shit though

[Shirai]

Absolutely not, pet level: is just another stat which physically makes your pet a certain level, which also happens to raise its stats accordingly.

ILevel itself doesn't do anything, it's the statvomit that raises your stats to that comparable to a level 119 player which is mainly helpful for defense, evasion and magic evasion.
It's the other stats on the gear that determine if a piece is good or not.

[Finuve]

Absolutely not, pet level: is just another stat which physically makes your pet a certain level, which also happens to raise its stats accordingly.

ILevel itself doesn't do anything, it's the statvomit that raises your stats to that comparable to a level 119 player which is mainly helpful for defense, evasion and magic evasion.
It's the other stats on the gear that determine if a piece is good or not.ilevel is how you make your pet level higher though...

[Malithar]

Bst and Drg with their weapons yeah. Although a melee job would very rarely ever have a use for a lower ilvl weapon, WKR OAT is all that comes to mind. Smn and Pup are both tied to their ranged slots, neither being useful as far as ilvl is concerned, it could lack that 119 in the corner and do the exact same thing. As far as gear is concerned, as that was what was being talked about, it has no bearing on anything beyond the average item lvl affecting your trusts lvl, and the stats that come with it.

Think of ilvl in this game as a rough guide, at best. Defensive stat wise, it's almost universally better to use higher ilvl, although not always. The past few updates have brought along many ilvl items that simply have higher than normal stats in one area, while forgoing a lot of the stat vomit. ilvl still means nothing, as it pretty much always has. Look at the gear and use what's best for a given situation. They could of skipped the ilvl step as some of you wish, but then done the exact same thing anyways. Would it not be weird if lvl 99 gear had all these stats? Then you'd have "why is this 99 gear so much better than the old 99 gear that we've been able to grind for the past 2 years?"

[Oakrest]

Absolutely not, pet level: is just another stat which physically makes your pet a certain level, which also happens to raise its stats accordingly.

ILevel itself doesn't do anything, it's the statvomit that raises your stats to that comparable to a level 119 player which is mainly helpful for defense, evasion and magic evasion.
It's the other stats on the gear that determine if a piece is good or not.

Pretty sure you've got this wrong. iLVL actually determines the base pet level (excluding items such as Monster Gloves for bst that augment Call Beast).

[Alhanelem]

I dunno, the difference is that never before did they make most content utterly entirely useless in one fell swoop. A lot of the content that was "made useless" was subsequently updated with new versions suitably designed for the current power of our characters, which kind of negates that issue (And in fact is better than either changing the content or leaving it alone because people can still play the original versions at their original parameters for old time's sake if they wish)


ILevel itself doesn't do anything, it's the statvomit that raises your stats to that comparable to a level 119 player which is mainly helpful for defense, evasion and magic evasion.The "statvomit" is directly calculated based on the ilvl. As previously mentioned, the stats are configured to bring yours to what they would be if your character was level 119 (or whatever level your gear is)

[Shirai]

Pretty sure you've got this wrong. iLVL actually determines the base pet level (excluding items such as Monster Gloves for bst that augment Call Beast).

No, iLevel does not determine the level of you pets.
You cannot equip a random piece of iLevel 1xx gear to make pets get a higher level, the piece of gear itself needs to say that it raises the level of your pet.

[Esma]

It should be noted that for SMNs, the only item that determines your pet's level is the sachet. Some of the 119's (like AF pants) have no gains for your avatar compared to the 109 (the "Pet:" stats are exactly the same on this piece). The increased stat vomit, however, increases the player's stats as usual.

[Demonjustin]

No, iLevel does not determine the level of you pets.
You cannot equip a random piece of iLevel 1xx gear to make pets get a higher level, the piece of gear itself needs to say that it raises the level of your pet.Umm~ no. The level of BST pets are based on the gear of the BST, there are no specific pieces that say they increase the level of your pet except the Relic Hands and those aren't even what's being talked about here.

[Shirai]

Hmmm... I was wrong here on that part then.
I was under the assumption that Beastmaster's pet levels had a similar system to Puppetmasters and Summoners, on which the pet levels are determined by the actual stat being on the gear. (Sachet/etc.)

[Malithar]

Hmmm... I was wrong here on that part then.
I was under the assumption that Beastmaster's pet levels had a similar system to Puppetmasters and Summoners, on which the pet levels are determined by the actual stat being on the gear. (Sachet/etc.)

They do. As a few said (and more seemed to disagree) it functions off of the ilvl of the main hand weapon.

Quote from the version update in July of 2013 to put this ignorance to rest.


Beastmaster

New pets that can be summoned via the Call Beast job ability have been added. (Rabbit, Chapuli, Dark Shelled Crab)
Reference attributes when calling pets over level 99 have been changed.
If at or below level 99: PC’s Level + the pet’s maximum level
If over level 99: Main weapon item level + the pet’s maximum level
The internal level will still be level 99, but the pet's stats will be raised.
If the main weapon is switched out when a pet is active, the increased stats will change based on the new main weapon.

[Shirai]

So, what you are saying (and what I am reading from the quote) is that ilevel itself doesn't raise the pet's level but the ilevel of the main weapon merely raises the pet's stats.
Correct?

[Malithar]

Correct, but part of those stats that ilvl increases is the level of the pet, up to 119. I think that part was adjusted in a later update, tbh I can't remember. They staggered so many updates, pet levels/stats, Blu stuff, etc. Pup was ahead of the curve in all this cause it got it's Animator from Delve, where as Bst, Smn, and Drg didn't get their fixes for a few more months.

I don't know the details (not a Bst), but I'm sure Dasva or Falkirk could better explain the level properties of Bst pets. Some have their cap set low enough that Beast Affinity merits will get them to the 119 cap, while other's have their cap set high enough that the merits do nothing.

Regardless, ilvl gear has absolutely nothing to do with it. It relies solely on the ilvl of the main hand weapon.

[Olor]

Umm~ no. The level of BST pets are based on the gear of the BST, there are no specific pieces that say they increase the level of your pet except the Relic Hands and those aren't even what's being talked about here.

No... the level of bst pets is determined by main hand weapon only. If you equip 119 main hand you could be in onion gear and your pet will be 119. And with pets with a natural cap of 119 or over Monster gloves/merits etc do nothing now.

Really they ought to at least change that. Allowing merits and monster gloves to raise pet over mainhand weapon level would do a lot to make our pets suck less.

Anyhoo, I see the person just above me also answered this... but yeah XD

[Oakrest]

No, iLevel does not determine the level of you pets.
You cannot equip a random piece of iLevel 1xx gear to make pets get a higher level, the piece of gear itself needs to say that it raises the level of your pet.

Yea it's not random - it's the iLVL of the weapon in your mainhand. No, the weapon doesn't need to say anything about raising your pet level.

[Demonjustin]

No... the level of bst pets is determined by main hand weapon only.While I admit I said gear and not main hand weapon, it was more or less what I meant. The main point I was attempting to get at was there not being specific pieces which increase a pets level(except hands), admittedly the detail about it being a weapon rather than armor wasn't as important to me especially due to the fact that I often times confuse BST's functionality(weapon) with Trust's(average ilevel). ><;