Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LI (06/03/2019)

We are pleased to present the full digest of the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LI!
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 720p option to watch the video in HD!

■Shadowbringers (Patch 5.0) Details
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The first half of the broadcast covers many of the upcoming gameplay and battle system changes, and the latter half goes over role balancing and job adjustments.

Gameplay Changes and Adjustments

■FATE System Adjustments
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With the recent increase in content aimed at leveling up, we’ve added another purpose to FATEs in the 5.0 areas. Completing FATEs in specific regions will now reward you with unique tokens, which can be exchanged at specialty shops for various rewards. Additionally, certain rewards will be unlocked at the specialty shops as you progress through each region.

This new style of FATEs will provide insight into the world and lore of each region within the First. This will all be separate from Main Scenario progression, so you’ll be able to try it out at your own leisure.

■Side Quest System Adjustments
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All side quests in the 5.0 areas will be scaled to player level starting at level 70, so even if you finish leveling up your main job, you’ll be able to use side quests to level up your other jobs.

■Role Quests
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Similar to our Warriors of Light, there were heroes on the First as well. Follow their stories in these role quests, which feature special battles and is deeply connected with the main scenario.
The development team put a quite a lot of effort into them, so we encourage you to play through each role and see what’s in store!

■Disciple of the Hand and Land Quests
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These new quests centered on the Crystarium will act as the new class quests for Disciples of the Hand and Land. As there are a large number of crafting and gathering classes, we categorized the quests into five different sets, which allowed us to focus on developing the quality of each individual quest.

This new quest system is based on Custom Deliveries. For instance, quest progression has been streamlined by making the required items and materials exclusive to these quests.


■New UI Features
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We introduced the new “light” theme, the first alternate color scheme for the in-game UI.
We’d like to gradually add more themes with future updates.

The information displayed in the Party List has been updated, making it easier to see whether a party member is at full health, among other changes.

There are many other quality-of-life changes that we didn’t cover in the broadcast, which will be available in the patch notes.

Battle System Adjustments

■Charged Action System
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Up until now, if you didn’t use an ability immediately after it became available again, it seemed like a waste of potential damage.

This new system will allow for more freedom in deciding when to use certain abilities.
Each charged action will have its own recast time, and will accumulate uses even outside of battle.

We used dancer in the live gameplay footage to demonstrate how charged actions work.

■Casting Interruption System
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With the current interruption system, players may have difficulty figuring out which enemy actions can be interrupted. The new system makes this more clear by making it easier to tell which actions can be interrupted, as well as when an action has been successfully interrupted.

The PvE status effect “Silence” has also been incorporated into this new system. Tanks and ranged DPS will receive actions for interrupting enemies, and it’ll be a part of their role to interrupt enemy actions.

■Removal of Role Action Customization
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Role actions will be revised into set abilities for each job, and the number of available actions will be reduced for each role.

■MP and TP System Adjustments
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Up until now, the upper limit of MP varied for each job. In Patch 5.0, the upper limit of MP will be set at 10,000 MP, regardless of your job or level.

The MP cost of many actions change according to your level.
We believe setting the upper limit at 10,000 MP will make it easier to determine how many more times you can use an action.
With this change, the piety attribute will be changed to affect the rate at which you regenerate MP over time instead.

On the other hand, TP will be completely removed, so you’ll be able to use those actions without worrying about resources.

■Main Attributes/Materia System Adjustments
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One point of this adjustment is to lower the difficulty of upgrading tank equipment.
The attributes of all accessories added before Patch 5.0 will be revised. Tank accessories will now include both VIT and STR, and the other roles will receive VIT on their accessories in addition to their existing attributes.

Materia that increase main attributes will no longer be meldable. In return, the attributes on the accessories themselves will be increased, so they will not be losing the effects that were previously available when melding main attribute increasing materia.

Weekly token gear, as well as savage accessories/belts, will now feature two materia slots.
This is in order to make them more powerful compared to crafted gear melded with materia.

■Pet System Adjustments
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Pet actions have been reworked into player actions, and will play a larger role in their respective jobs.

■Additional Battle System Adjustments
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As with previous expansions, we’ll be making adjustments to battle system calculations in Patch 5.0. When various media announcements and interviews reveal some of the new values, please keep in mind that they are balanced around the 5.0 battle system.
(Although the values may seem to indicate drastic differences from 4.x, we believe the actual gameplay will still feel about the same.)

Chain bonuses in dungeons have been removed to standardize EXP gain, as players were receiving more EXP when entering dungeons at minimum item level. The additional EXP that was previously obtainable through chain bonuses will be added to the amount gained when defeating enemies, so the removal of chain bonuses won’t reduce the overall EXP gained from dungeons.

The damage limit will be increased in Patch 5.0. However, we’re also aware that damage numbers are inflating very quickly, and intend to cull the rate of inflation in the future, perhaps around Patch 6.0.

Party bonuses will be adjusted, and main attributes gained through the bonus will be affected by the number of players filling a given role.

The rate at which the limit gauge fills when utilizing specific actions at critical timings will be reduced in 5.0 and later areas. The first reason for is change was that unintentional efforts would cause large variations in limit gauge gain, and made it difficult to practice around having consistent limit gauge amounts during a given point in battle. The other reason is to prevent speed runs from utilizing certain methods of gaining LB, which allowed players to circumvent the intended method of completing a battle.

* In the image above, the “▼” icon visible under the black mage indicates that their HP is not full.

Job Actions Trailer
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We’ve released a trailer showcasing some of the new actions for all jobs, including gunbreaker and dancer.
* Some of the following details are also listed in the Rebalancing Player Roles section.


Gunbreaker
Gunbreaker is designed around the concept of pulling a trigger after using a weaponskill combo to charge a cartridge. This trigger mechanic is an homage to how you would pull the gunblade’s trigger when performing a slashing attack in FFVIII.

Bard
We streamlined many mechanics of bard in order to simplify the job’s management elements.
Its overall playstyle hasn’t changed drastically, but the adjustments make it easier to move around while using actions.

Dragoon
Dragoon’s playstyle remains relatively unchanged. We reduced the number of management elements, and made Jump much quicker.

Black Mage
Black mage also remains relatively unchanged. One notable change is that you will be able to cast Umbral Ice spells with no MP cost while in Astral Fire III. Additionally, Polyglot now stacks up to 2 times and can be consumed to activate a new spell.

Astrologian
Astrologian's card effects have been reworked so that all cards increase damage dealt in some way. However, knowing which cards should be given to certain party members remains a key point in using cards effectively. There’s also a new action that changes depending on the card you combine with it.

Samurai
Samurai is mostly unchanged, though we’ve emphasized Iaijutsu as the core mechanic of the job.

Warrior
Offensive stances have been removed from all tank jobs. In the case of warrior, Deliverance has been removed. Otherwise, there are no major changes to the job's core mechanics. Using Infuriate will grant a buff called Nascent Chaos, which allows you to unleash a powerful new attack. This new attack has the highest potency of all tank job actions, and hits even harder than Fell Cleave!

Red Mage
Red mage may have changed the least of all the jobs. Displacement now shares its recast time with a new action, which allows you to perform a quick flip in place if you don’t want to perform a backstep.

Monk
Monks are now able to go into Greased Lightning IV. We’ve also made it possible to maintain Greased Lightning even without an attack target.

Paladin
With the tank stance changes, Sword Oath has been removed. Paladin gained a few new actions including a rush attack, but the overall job and playstyle remains relatively unchanged.

Requiescat grants a new buff that allows you to ignore the cast time of spells, making them easier to execute. Sheltron is now duration-based and more flexible in usage. As a side note, Rage of Halone will be upgraded into a higher level action later on.

Ninja
Kassatsu is now a charged action. Ninja's most notable addition is Bunshin, which calls out a shadow form of yourself that mimics your actions. Check it out in the job actions trailer!

White Mage
The Healing Gauge has been reworked and will now automatically accumulate Lilies over time. White mage will also be able to throw objects other than stones, and even sprout wings!

Scholar
The pet system is being reworked. The actions for Eos and Selene have been consolidated, so you can simply pick which fairy you would like to use based on its appearance. Additionally, scholars will now be able to summon Seraphim for more potent healing.

Summoner
Summon is now an instant action. You’ll be able to quickly switch between pets, allowing you to change pets based on the current situation, which may be closer to the players’ ideas of summoner. And finally, you’ll be able to call upon the mighty Phoenix!

Machinist
The adjustments have made machinist almost a completely new job. Various changes and adjustments were made to machinist, such as the removal of Gauss Barrel, and the addition of a robot companion.

Dancer
Dancer is a support-type job designed around dancing various steps to apply buffs. It’s a unique job that allows for a refreshing new style of play.

Dark Knight
Dark Arts has been removed. Dark knights unleash their inner darkness to fight alongside them, which is quite the sight to see!


Rebalancing Player Roles

■Job Synergy
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Job synergy will not be completely removed, but its effectiveness will be greatly reduced.
This will help reduce the perception that certain job combinations are essential to party composition. You may be wondering if dancer and its supportive actions will become a necessity. However there’s no need to worry, as dancer is designed around providing buffs to party members, instead of synergy with specific jobs.

■Tank Role Adjustments
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Many adjustments were made to the tank role. You can confirm the main points in the image above.

We had a long debate regarding the main tank and off tank roles. After considering role effects on party composition, we decided to make all four tank jobs, including gunbreaker, suited for both the main and off tank roles. All tanks will share three basic capabilities: providing a party-wide defensive buff, providing a defensive buff to the main tank when playing as an off tank, and a short defensive buff to themselves. The difference between the tank jobs will be conveyed through their individual playstyles.

Tank stances have been changed, and should now be active at all times when playing as a main tank. You will no longer require specific combos to increase enmity, so you can maintain the same skill rotation regardless of whether you are currently main or off tank.

Generally, the role of a tank will be to provide defensive buffs to protect party members, as well as using a skill rotation optimal for the battle in order to deal damage.

■Gunbreaker Gameplay
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We showed some live gameplay footage for gunbreaker. Gunbreaker has a rush attack, and you’ll gain cartridges after completing a 3-skill combo. The job mechanic is based around using cartridges to change your combo rotation, and feels very different from the other tank jobs.
There are also skills for self-healing and invulnerability. It may be difficult to get used to the job at first, but it’s definitely one that is enjoyable with more practice.

■Healer Role Adjustments
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We focused heavily on balancing the three jobs within the healing role.

White Mage
Many of white mage’s most potent healing actions required cast times, and consequently it felt slower than the other healing jobs. We addressed this by increasing its instant healing capabilities, and made it easier to plan ahead as well move around while healing. At higher levels, consuming Lilies will accumulate a Blood Lily, which can be used for a powerful attack.

Scholar
Most of scholar's capabilities weren't significantly changed. However, its shield-based playstyle has been shifted to include more direct healing, and makes it easier for scholar to focus more on a heal-oriented playstyle. Instead of focusing on dealing damage while relying on the other healer to provide healing, both healers will be able support each other in the healing role. Additionally, Embrace can no longer be used repetitively, as we’d like to move away from using macros to repeatedly cast Embrace.

Astrologian
As mentioned earlier, astrologian’s card effects have been completely reworked. Both stances have been adjusted, and you now have an ability that allows you to receive the effects of both stances for a short period of time. All card effects increases damage dealt in some way, but selecting the appropriate recipient for each card is still crucial. At times you may feel it would be better to Redraw in hopes for a card that better suits the situation.

Also, the recast time for Draw and using cards have been separated and will be easier to use.

■DPS Role Adjustments
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The DPS role was mostly split into two groups during adjustments: some remained relatively unchanged, while others received changes to their core mechanics.

The jobs that received changes to their core mechanic had elements that were difficult to control or manage, and in some cases weren’t very fun to play even at a high level. The scale of changes vary for each job, but some have had their mechanics reworked to the point where they may feel like entirely new jobs.

Additionally, advantages/disadvantages of job gauges were sometimes difficult to understand, especially so in the case of machinist's heat gauge. As such, all job gauges have been streamlined so that a full gauge will indicate an advantageous situation.

Monk
You’ll now be able to activate Greased Lightning IV while in Fists of Wind. We were concerned that increasing the speed of skill rotation would widen the disparity in player skill, so we decided against adding Greased Lightning IV in 4.0. However, we came to the conclusion that having fun was the most important aspect, and so we’ve added Greased Lightning IV this time around, as per popular request. In order to mitigate the disparity in skill, we have also added a new stance that allows you to maintain Greased Lightning.

Please be warned that as attainable skill speed values increase with the new gear introduced in each patch, it may become incredibly difficult to keep up with the skill rotation.

Dragoon
The skill rotation has been streamlined with the removal of Heavy Thrust. Other quality-of-life improvements include adjustments to the requirements for Mirage Dive, and the increased speed of Jump.

Samurai
Samurai was originally designed around being straightforward to use, so we didn’t change need to change much. Hagakure was making kenki management difficult, so we’ve removed it and focused on using Midare Setsugekka more often.

Ninja
As a result of the tank stance changes, actions that affected enmity have been removed. New features include access to higher tier ninjutsu under certain conditions, and the addition of Bunshin.

Black Mage
We've showed some live gameplay footage of black mage.

The new action, Umbral Soul, when used under the effect of Umbral Ice, will grant additional stacks of Umbral Ice. This makes it easier to maintain firepower even when there is no target.

Other adjustments include the addition of higher tier spells, the increased duration of Astral Fire, a new single-target spell similar to Flare, and being able to use Blizzard III even when your MP is at zero. Polyglot can now be stacked up to 2 times, which is a requirement in activating a new action.

These adjustments aim to allow black mages to continue to deal damage while still moving around. As a side note, though not limited to black mage, Mana Shift has been removed from magic ranged DPS role actions.

Red Mage
We've also shown some live gameplay footage of red mage.

Similarly to black mage, the job remains relatively unchanged. One of the new instant abilities that was shown in the job action trailer allows you to flip in place instead of using Displacement to leap backward. It shares a recast timer with Displacement, and consumes gauge to attack while moving. Other instant cast spells have also been added.

Additionally, the combo indicator for red mage’s area attacks has been made more discernible. This is also a change we’ve made with other jobs as well.

Bard
The playstyle hasn’t changed much, but we made a number of changes to make bard more straightforward to play. With the job synergy changes, we’ve removed critical hit rate increasing effects from each song. Repertoire no longer accumulates through critical hits, and will proc through damage over time skills instead. At higher levels you’ll unlock the Soul Voice Gauge, which can be charged to unleash a powerful action.

Machinist
Up until now, machinist's playstyle was heavily influenced by being a gunner. These new changes redefine machinist’s identity as a job that uses a variety of mechanical weaponry. Both Gauss Barrel and Ammo have been removed.

Summoner
Requirements for Ruin IV have been changed and it will now be usable whenever a pet uses an action. Pet actions have been reworked into player actions and are now easier to activate on demand.

Summon is now an instant action, allowing you to swiftly change pets to adapt to various situations. Also, the need to gain full stacks by using Aetherflow before each encounter has been removed.

Dancer
We've showed some live gameplay footage.

Dancer is a support-type job based around dancing specific steps to apply various buffs, and features a new system which allows you to select a party member as a “partner.” Your partner’s actions will increase your Esprit gauge, which is used to activate the powerful Devilment.

Dancer has two types of dances: Standard Step which consists of two steps, and Technical Step which consists of four steps. During these dances, you’ll be unable to use actions other than steps.

Using the correct steps as indicated will grant a buff, and you’ll be able to battle rhythmically as the steps slowly increase in speed. This new system may seem difficult at first, but you simply need to use the actions as they proc.

Dancer’s offensive options involve using an area attack centered around yourself, and a ranged attack. It’ll be crucial to know when you need to get in to close range of the target, and when you should maintain distance.