Ask Questions for Letter from the Producer LIVE Part X! (Hard Mode Dungeons)

Hey everyone!

We're pleased to announce the next Letter from the Producer LIVE Part X focusing on the many exciting updates coming with Patch 2.1! This next Live Letter will take place on Friday, November 22, 2013, from 04:00 a.m. (PST) / Friday, November 22, 2013, from 12:00 (GMT)!

In this thread we'd like you to specifically pose questions regarding the upcoming addition of hard mode dungeons. In addition to collecting your questions in real-time via Twitter, we will also use this thread to gather your questions ahead of time and answer them during the event.

When submitting your question, we ask that you follow these steps:

• Please post your question(s) as a reply to this thread
• Please limit posts to your question(s) only and do not use this thread for discussion
• If another player already asked a question you had in mind, simply click the "Like!" button instead of re-posting the question
• Please post only one question per reply (of course you are allowed to post several replies!)

For more information regarding the Letter from the Producer LIVE, please read the following: NA/EU

Please note that once the event is over, we will be closing this thread.

What item level gear will hard mode dungeons have to offer?

Will Hard Mode dungeons offer new gear looks? Or will we get a re-color of the gear it currently drops in it's normal mode?

Where will these be placed on the progression flow? It seems to flow well enough with ak > darklight > CT > coil/myth, if they lay between any of those what will be the purpose when there does not need to be a step between any of them or even another equivalent?

Do you feel this content will be enough to keep groups satisfied that have already completed Bahamut's coil? If not, are there any plans to add anything to keep those players busy in 2.1 or do we have to wait until 2.2?

which dungeons can we expect to get the upgrade to "Hard"?

Will hard modes of the previous dungeons be mobs with more hp or will there be actual differences within the dungeon itself to distinguish it apart from the normal version? Besides higher hp and harder hitting mobs.

With the introduction of hard mode dungeons, I assume Mobs will be of a higher level than normal and loot drops will be of iLvl 50+ as well. But has the dungeon design team given any thought to adding new areas to dungeons already visited? AKA branching paths.

For example when a party defeats the first boss they have a choice to go through door 1, 2 or 3. Each path leads to a previously unknown part of the dungeon. When they reach the next boss they are given a choice again.

Maybe different paths are harder than some, but rewards are greater.

the point being, each dungeon needs variety to keep things interesting.

Will there be some lore-related reason for our characters to revisit those places?

Hard mode dungeons in other mmos are frequently mean older, lower level dungeons upgraded to provide adequate difficulty and rewards for max level characters. I suppose we can expect to see such things as Satasha HM?

Will the hard modes give us access to new areas or just increase the mobs level?

Will the longer version of Tam-Tara that was in beta be coming back as a hard mode dungeon?

One of the best things about final fantasy is that many of the dungeons in previous games had puzzles attached to them. I especially enjoy questions about the lore of the game world. So my question is will the new dungeons challenge the players to actually think ? and will there be puzzles to solve in order to progress ?

Can we expect the strategy to not rely on memorizing patterns, but in order to win improvisation and a constantly shifting strategy would be needed?

Will these dungeons give tomes of philosophy and mythology at an amount that will encourage running these dungeons instead of more Amdapor Keep and Wanderer's Palace runs?

Will these dungeons vary in content? I would hate to run the same route and kill the same monsters just with more HP.

Will the maps of hard mode instances be expanded in terms of more obstacles/land?

what iLvL will be the gear that drops (if any) from these dungeons?

What is the main purpose of adding Hard Mode option to the current dungeons?

What will be added so that players that are ahead in the content get motivated to run it.

Can you please give us a few examples on the differences between hard mode and normal mode of the same dungeon? In particular:

1. Will boss mechanics be different?
2. Will trash mechanics be different? (Skills that trash enemy use.)
3. Will enemy layout and patrol paths be different?
4. Will actual terrain (paths etc) and mechanics (doors, switches) be different?

Can we have variety in hardmode dungeons such as dungeons filled with many many bosses rather than trash mobs, say 10-20 bosses per run similar to Skirmish in Version 1

Will hard mode dungeons provide tomestones? And if so, how many?

The Twister mechanic during the Twintania battle was considered to be extremely unforgiving prior to the changes. Some people considered Twisters bugged it was so difficult. My question is:

Will we ever see a mechanic in 2.1 hard mode dungeons as difficult/more difficult to overcome as Twisters(before the changes)? If possible, will there ever be something as difficult to overcome in the future?

Will there be alternate paths, bosses and new content, or will it be more of the same made harder?

Can we please get Brayflox Hard?

Are the Hard Mode Dungeons be already existing Lvl50 Dungeons (Wanderers Palace, Amdapor Keep), or will it be low/mid lvl Dungeons adjusted for Lvl 50 Hard Mode, so the content for Lvl 50 will be more diverse?

(I'd like to see a Sunken Temple of Quarn HM and/or Stone Vigil HM for example)

Will we see dungeon specific furniture from Hard mode dungeons?

It is a fact now that many players now are already geared with Darklight (Philosopher's tome items) and quite a fair amount of i90s (Allagan and Myth tome gears).
Thus if the reward for Hard Mode dungeons is still phil/myth tomes, I do not think that is going to be a strong reason for the players above to play Hard Mode dungeon.

What type of unique reward is planned in the Hard Mode dungeons for players such as above? Will there be a reward such as ADS plating, Ifrit's horn, Garuda's feather, Titan's heart type of ultra rare rewards?

***2nd question, my apologies for second reply in a row***

Hard Mode and Normal Mode, what are the major difference in terms of challenge besides the rewards? Please show us a bit of video preview on the upcoming challenge that could show us the reason that the HM dungeons is fit to be part of the endgame.

can you access hard mode dungeons through the duty roulette? and does that mean you get double extra tomes because you are doing hard + roulette?

Do you plan Dungeons where you must previously gather/craft an item(s) to enter or progress throuht doungeon?