Letter from the Producer LIVE Part XXI Digest (06/15/2015)

*Please note that the content of this summary is based on the time when the broadcast took place, and there is a possibility it changes before the official release of Heavensward.

Greetings, everyone!

We're pleased to present the full digest from the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part XXI! If you missed the live stream, or if you just want to watch it again (and again), check it out below!

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*Don't forget to select the 720p option to watch the video in HD!

Letter from the Producer LIVE XXI Digest

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0:02:34
The title of the song we showed a video for at the start of the show is "Dragonsong." This is the main theme of Heavensward and it was created by Nobuo Uematsu. We told Uematsu about the Dragonsong story, and based on this he wrote the song for us. The video was also created as a promotional video for the song.

0:06:06
*The video shows the Heavensward title screen.

The title screen has been changed to a Heavensward theme and also features new music.

0:07:32
*The video introduces Foundation.

I'd like to begin by showing off Ishgard.

Heavensward features very dark nights and shadows overall, and the silhouettes that you encounter while in the darkness are very characteristic of this.

0:09:38
What we're seeing right now is the area known as Foundation, which is the first area you will arrive in after passing through the Gates of Judgement. The scars of war can be seen and felt clearly here. The Brume, a slum-like area where the impoverished reside, has suffered the most damage from the war. It has not been well-kept or repaired after the many onslaughts its suffered.

0:10:44
Straight ahead is the barracks of the group of Ishgardian temple knights that Aymeric belongs to.

Additionally, there is a bar known as "The Forgotten Knight."

You’ll arrive not knowing anything at all about this area, so it’ll be important to get a good grasp on the town by unlocking aethernet locations while you play through the quests.

Inside the city-state there are also three guilds for the new jobs, so if you want to unlock the new jobs, you should first head to Ishgard.

0:15:24
*The video shows off the Pillars.

There is a market in the Pillars. Heading through the markets you’ll arrive at an area full of nobles. With the addition of Ishgard we also placed market boards in this area.

The Pillars is an area where nobility resides. It's proactively protected and the atmosphere is quite different from Foundation.

0:17:41
In the center of this area is a huge building – the Holy See of Ishgard.

0:18:50
*The video shows off Coerthas Western Highlands.

Coerthas Western Highlands is an area that you were able to visit in FFXIV version 1.0, and those of your who played during that time may see some familiar geographic names pop up. In fact, the aetheryte found at Riversmeet is the same as it was in version 1.0. This area was abandoned because of a giant ice wall that was created as a result of the Calamity, however, it has been gradually reconstructed, and it is now possible to once again reach Falcon's Nest.

Using flying mounts will allow you to land in various places and locations you wouldn't be able to reach without them, including some fun, hidden discovery elements.

The field areas of 3.0 are extremely large and the distance between camps is wider, so you’ll need to travel a greater distance to reach them.

0:25:35
*The video shows the entrance to Dusk Vigil.
This is the first dungeon you will you venture into – Dusk Vigil.

0:26:49
You'll be able to obtain a flying mount quite early in the main scenario. However, just obtaining it will not allow you to fly in field areas.

There are elements known as aether currents that you'll need to collect, and you can acquire a number of them along your quest. However, some have been placed in areas that you'll need to try hard to discover, and once you locate all of an area's aether currents you will be able to fly in that area. Essentially, when you think about how the main scenario will flow, you'll explore an area's main locations, discover the aether currents, and then once you are able to use a flying mount in an area you can embark on side quests and explore locations you'll only be able to reach on flying mounts. When you first arrive in a new area and see people flying around I think you might get a little envious.

0:30:33
The existing areas in Eorzea were created to hold all of the elements planned at the time, and if we ever wanted to introduce new elements to an area it was very difficult because there were already numerous things like FATEs, sidequests, and NPCs in place. Based on this we created the areas of 3.0 to be very large.

0:33:47
*The video shows off the Dravanaian Hinterlands.

There are chocobo-type enemies in this area. You might approach them thinking they are cute and then all of a sudden they unleash an attack on you, so please be careful. According to lore, chocobos are a specialty of Ishgard, and there are villages whose livelihood is built around hunting them down.

0:35:13
As I mentioned in a previous live broadcast, compared to the existing areas in Eorzea, the areas in 3.0 are 1.5-2x larger. When you fly on a flying mount, you'll likely feel that the distance between places is closer due to the quicker speed when compared to ground mounts. However, when you explore areas on a ground mount you’ll definitely be able to feel the size of the area.

I would like to point out one thing. The public monsters that have been placed in the existing areas of Eorzea are not all that strong, and many have said that the field areas in Eorzea feel safe. On the other hand, the public monsters that have been placed in 3.0 areas are extremely strong. If you are attacked by two monsters at your level at the same time, if you don't fight with all your power or run away, you'll be knocked out. As you get closer to a beast tribe stronghold, you'll probably want to cooperate with nearby players. The detection range of monsters has been made quite large. As long as you travel around carefully you’ll be okay, but you’ll find yourself in a precarious position if you try to run through hordes of monsters while mounted as you have done until now.

0:42:59
*The video takes another look at The Pillars.

Here we have Fortemps Manor. This area of The Pillars is known as “The Last Vigil.” There are various citadels with this nomenclature such as Dusk Vigil and Stone Vigil, and as this name implies it is the last citadel.

Right in front of us you can see the Holy See, and in front of it you can see the statues of the 12 founding knights that I talked about briefly during Niconico Chokaigi 2015.

0:45:01
This is the Supreme Sacred Tribunal of Halonic Inquisitory Doctrine. The light is reflected from the floor and it is truly beautiful to see. Many things will occur inside each of these buildings. Ishgard will be one of the main areas you spend a bulk of your time in while progressing through 3.0.

0:49:09
*The video shows off the battlefield of the primal Ravana.

I won't go over the details on the battlefield, but you can see it's surrounded by a fence. Some asked if the fence will disappear, but you'll have to wait and see.

Another point I would like to mention is that we enhanced the contrast of shadows in Heavensward. If you prefer a more A Realm Reborn-like feel, you can adjust the lighting to your liking with the new character lighting settings that can be found in the system configuration.

Job-Related

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*The job actions and adjustments discussed here are still in-development and there is a possibility that further changes may occur before release.

1:06:40
*The video shows off a demonstration of black mage actions.

Black Mage

We don't have enough time to go through all the jobs with a live demonstration, and we also don’t want to take the fun away from everyone, so we'll just go over black mage to give an example of how the jobs change at level 60. Afterwards we'll give a general overview of each job.

The magic circle you're seeing are known as Ley Lines, which gives you a haste bonus while standing inside of them. It'll make a huge difference when you're fighting inside or outside of this buff. Only the player that used the ability will gain the buff effect. Though it's being adjusted, at the moment, the circle will go away once you step outside of it. Therefore, you will have to carefully consider the timing and where to place this circle, as you may have a situation where you place the ability, but are targeted by an enemy AoE on the same spot.

Another new ability called Sharpcast will grant you a guaranteed proc for the next spell you cast. For example, by using Sharpcast followed by Fire, Fire III will proc. It’ll be tough to decide when to use this ability.

Next we have an ability called Enochian. You will be able to use Fire IV or Blizzard IV while under the effect of this buff and Astral Fire and Umbral Ice, respectively. Also, Fire IV and Blizzard IV do not extend the effect of Astral Fire or Umbral Ice, so after learning Enochian your skill rotation will completely change. However, this is once you reach level 60, so it may sound difficult right now, but you’ll gradually learn all of these elements as you progress from level 50 through level 59. You’ll need to think over the rotation once you've learned all the new actions and abilities.

Furthermore, Enochian has a set effect duration, but by casting Blizzard IV you can extend the effect duration. However, every extension will make the effect duration shorter each time.

We'll show a small live demonstration of this. First we’ll use Ley Lines, then Swiftcast to cast Fire III, and with Astral Fire active we’ll now use Enochian and follow up with Fire IV. Next, we’ll cast Fire to extend the duration of Astral Fire, then cast Fire IV again. Now we’ll cast Blizzard III to gain the effects of Umbral Ice, followed by Thunder II and then Blizzard IV to extend the duration of Enochian. The key point will be to figure out when to use Sharpcast during this flow. You’ll have to stack Astral Fire or Umbral Ice, so you'll have to watch the remaining time and maintain the effects. With these changes you have more opportunities to change how you use Swiftcast. I believe everyone has been discussing about black mage's rotation once you reached 50 or after patches and adjustments, but the rotation will change depending on the content, so please try out different things.

1:22:08
Paladin

Until now paladin has mainly used the Rage of Halone combo; however, we will introduce new combos which derive from Riot Blade and Savage Blade. When tanking in Heavensward, you'll first use the Rage of Halone combo to gain enmity, and then follow up with actions which include DoT (damage over time). Once you can maintain enmity, you'll use other combos. When playing as an off tank, instead of Rage of Halone, you'll use the new combo, so how you fought until now will greatly change.

Also, there’s a new ability called Divine Veil. If the target player receives cures while under the effect, nearby party members will gain a barrier effect. There is another ability which will completely block the next attack from an enemy. By using this, you’ll be able to utilize shield swipe more effectively. Paladins are excellent from a defensive standpoint, so we have made adjustments that will make it possible to assist party members and increase their defensive stats.

1:25:41
Warrior

Until now warriors removed Defiance in order to increase DPS while playing as an off tank; however, this time we’ll be introducing a new attacker stance called Deliverance. Similar to the Wrath you gain while using Defiance, you will gain a buff called Abandon while using Deliverance. You can gain up to a maximum of 5 stacks of Abandon, just like Wrath, and this stack can be carried over when switching between attacking and defending stances.

Also, we have a new ability called Raw Intuition which will guarantee a parry when receiving an attack from the front; however, when attacked from other angles, the attacks will deal critical damage. While there is somewhat of a risk, this is a powerful ability when used properly.

Furthermore, there is a new ability to self-heal, and new actions which consume the Abandon gained from Deliverance. There will be a much clearer distinction when switching between defending and attacking stances.

1:29:22
Dark knight

Similar to the other tank jobs in the game, such as paladin’s Sword Oath and Shield Oath, dark knight also has a stance called Darkside that shrouds you in an aura of darkness. This will increase your attack power, but it will gradually consume your MP. While you are in this stance, you won’t be able to receive any support from other players to help replenish your MP. One facet of playing dark knight is managing your MP by skillfully using actions that recover your MP.

Dark knight's tanking stance is called Grit. Essentially, you’ll be using your actions to generate enmity, recover your MP, switch your stance so that you can DPS, and then switch back to your tank stance to maintain enmity. It’s a very complex job.

Nearly all of the actions for dark knight use the word "dark" in some way. And there are also actions that do not use the word, such as Living Dead, which is an action similar to Holmgang and Hallowed Ground.

Also, similar to paladin's Shield Lob, dark knight also has a pulling-type action, but they launch themselves towards the enemy which you can see in the job action video. After doing this you can generate hate on the enemies around you by performing your AoE attacks. Once you try it out, I think you’ll find it to be a very interesting job.

In regards to tank jobs overall, we’ll be making adjustments to all of the existing actions that you learned on the way to level 50. These are adjustments that focus on the fact that once you reach level 60 it will be the cap for a while and you will grow over time via item levels. For example, as a tank, you primarily fight facing your enemy, and there has been a necessity for tanks to have a high amount of accuracy. However, in Heavensward we’ll be adding an accuracy bonus while you are using Defiance and Shield Oath, and this will ease this need for a lot of accuracy.

1:38:28
Monk

The concept of monk is to continuously maintain Greased Lightning III, but instead of simply adding actions to help maintain this effect, we’re adding some technical elements and making adjustments so monk can better function while transitioning between boss phases and mechanics.

We’ll be adding a new system known as Chakra. While Chakra will not give any kind of effect on its own, you can stack this up to five times, and then use all five stacks to perform a special high-DPS action. Additionally, you can also use them to recover TP.

There are also actions which will let you change your stance and one that will consume Greased Lightning to perform a special action. You’ll be able to increase your DPS by using these actions skillfully depending on the situation and phases of content. For example, right before a boss becomes invulnerable, you can spend your Greased Lightning to perform an attack, switch your stance in the time you can’t attack, and then gain Greased Lightning once you can attack again while storing Chakra. We've evolved this job to be more useful during the times that you weren't able to do anything.

1:43:00
Dragoon

Dragoon's biggest focus will be maintaining the effect known as Blood of the Dragon. While under this effect, you’ll get a proc at the end of your Full Thrust and Chaos Thrust combo which will allow you to use a flashy action turning these combos into a 4-step combo. There are also actions that can be used by consuming this effect. We've evolved this job to allow for steady DPS through various methods.

We'll also be making minor adjustments which include reducing the time of the animation lock that occurs when using jumps.

1:45:58
Ninja

For ninja, we haven’t made any adjustments that will largely change how they fight; however, there are a lot of situations where ninjutsu other than Huton are not being utilized due to the need to maintain its effect, so we've made it possible to extend the effect duration through other means. By adding in a new action to your rotation, you’ll be able to maintain the effect of Huton and have more opportunities to use other ninjutsu, thus increasing your DPS.

In exchange for this, as ninja does not have any directional-based actions and adjustments were made to make it easier to attack from all directions, we are making adjustments so certain actions are directional-based. Naturally, it will not be from the front of the enemy.

We've also added actions that modify your party members' enmity as well as your own. Ninjas specialize in dealing high amounts of DPS as soon as the battle begins, and other jobs in Heavensward will also be able to do this, so we’re making it possible to support the tank by lowering the enmity of party members.

*The video shows artwork of new equipment that will be added in Heavensward.

1:53:34
Bard

The largest aspect for bard is the new song, The Wanderer’s Minuet. This song allows you to switch into a stance that charges up your bow. While under the effect of this song, your DPS will be boosted, but you will no longer be able to perform auto-attacks or attack while moving. MP will not be consumed when using this song and you can also have other song effects active while using it. When you want to avoid enemy attacks, even if you’re using The Wanderer’s Minuet your DPS will be reduced, so you can remove the effect, fight while you evade, and then resume the effect for more firepower if you'd like.

Additionally, a new action called “Sidewinder” will also be added, and the damage it inflicts will be boosted based on the number of DoTs you've already placed on your target. The new concept of bard is to fight while switching songs and using all of these techniques.

(*During the broadcast Yoshida mentioned that Sidewinder increases the DoT effects that have already been applied to an enemy, but this was incorrect.)

1:58:24
Machinist

Machinist's role is similar to that of a bard, but the play style and what you need to pay attention to while fighting are different. There is a unique system in place that allows you to use DPS actions and change the rates of special effects by reloading “Ammunition.” When reloading, you gain a stack of five ammunition, and by using your ammunition you can generate high proc rates and increase DPS. Additionally, you don't have to reload only once you use up all your ammunition. You can efficiently increase your DPS by reloading on the move or when you don’t need to attack. Also, when you’re in a pinch, you can use the ability known as Quick Reload to gain one ammunition. Part of your focus will be to carefully maintain your ammunition.

Weapon skills for machinist work a bit differently. For example, when using shot 1, there will be a certain percentage chance that you proc an enhancement for shot 2, and then when using shot 2, there will be a certain percentage chance that you proc an enhancement for shot 3. Also, by using ammunition you’ll be able to increase the rate in which you get a proc.

There is also a special ability called Wildfire, which allows you to store damage and deal a powerful attack. As we showed in the job action video, there are also turrets with various effects, which include those that simply attack and others that support your party members while attacking.

2:09:44
Summoner

For summoner, we will be implementing an AoE attack that consumes Aetherflow, an action that simultaneously applies Bio, Bio II, and Miasma, a new magic attack that deals damage directly, and two new actions for level 60 that will change your rotation.

We've received feedback that Tri-disaster doesn't match the effect of the action, so we changed the name of it to Tri-bind, and made Tri-disaster into a new action that simultaneously applies three effects: Bio, Bio II, and Miasma.

One important point I would like to touch on is in regards to questions about whether we will be adding new egi. The development team thought long and hard about this, but looking at the long-term they felt that adding one new egi from the many primals that can be summoned would not change the situation very much. Instead of adding a pet whose abilities and effects are not different from others, they decided it would be better to increase the amount of actions for summoner to make it a more interesting job. However, considering that Carbuncle isn't being used right now, we’re looking into a system that will allow you to change the appearance and action animations of egi while their effects remain the same.

Considering that Aetherflow is on a 60 second cool down, the first 30 seconds will be spent applying DoTs and performing various other tasks, but there is room to work in some other aspects for the remaining 30 seconds, which is why we will be adding a new action known as Dreadwyrm Trance that allows you to summon the power of Bahamut. By performing your rotation you can gain stacks of Aethertrail Attunement, and once you have a certain amount you will be able to use Deathflare, which is a special attack that harnesses the power of Bahamut.

2:17:47
White Mage

Since white mage is purely a healer job, we've made upgrades to the job similar to what we did with paladin by adding in more healing capabilities and supplementing aspects that were currently lacking. We added an ability called Asylum, which places an AoE field that adds a healing effect. We also added an ability known as Assize, which simultaneously deals magic damage and heals. Additionally, the only instant healing ability available until now was Benediction, so we’re adding another single target healing spell that can be cast instantly; however, the healing effect will be slightly weaker.

We’ll also be adding Stone III as a main magic attack as well as Aero III, which is an AoE DoT spell.

While that is it in terms of new elements for white mage, with a third healer job entering the mix we’ll be making job adjustments. Since white mage has been the only one until now that received a magical defense increase for Protect, we’ll be making it so all of the healer jobs can receive this same effect.

2:22:09
Scholar

In regards to scholar, instead of simply enhancing them, we’ll be adding actions that can be chosen based on the situation. These actions are not used much in regular instanced dungeons, so if you don’t challenge end-game content and bosses, you may not feel much of a difference in the job. For example, scholar’s AoE healing capability was weak until now, so we added a new action that lets you perform an AoE heal centered around yourself. Additionally, we added a new ability that extends the effects of Eye for an Eye and Adloquium to nearby party members, an ability that changes the barrier effect of Adloquium into bonus healing power called Emergency Tactics, and an ability called Dissipation that converts your fairy into magic power. We've made scholar into a more technical job.

2:27:00
Astrologian

Astrologian has two different stances: Diurnal Sect and Nocturnal Sect. The former is a healing stance similar to white mage, while the latter focuses on barriers much like scholar. Depending on which stance you are in, the effects of each action will change. It would be best to first get used to one stance and then start playing with the other.

Additionally, astrologian has an action that creates an AoE barrier like the one used by Y'shtola. There is also a card system that applies buff effects. There are six types of cards that can be drawn randomly, and you’ll be able to apply a buff to another player by using the card you draw. For example, you can gain increased attack power, haste, and damage reduction effects. Furthermore, there is an ability called Royal Road which will let you return the card you drew to the deck to boost the effect of the next card you draw, so you’ll be able to gain effects such as an increase in effect potency, extended effect duration, and actions can be turned into AoEs. You’ll also be able to set cards aside to use later with Spread, and redraw a card with Shuffle.

One large aspect of astrologian is how you utilize the cards you draw depending on the situation you are in.

That’s all for job actions, but this was only a brief overview for each job. I hope everyone holds discussions based on all the information announced today. While you are on the path from level 50 to level 60, each time you learn a new action you’ll have to think about how it can be used, and while you may feel some uncertainty from what you heard today, I hope you all enjoy playing with the new actions and discussing about them after experimenting with them in various ways.

2:34:32
The new jobs will also have access for Additional Actions. Dark knight, for example, will be able to use certain actions from both gladiator and marauder.

*The video shows off artwork of new equipment that will be added in Heavensward.

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