Fate of the Squadrons & Squadron buffs

Now that SE has fully implemented Duty Support & Trust in FFXIV, I wonder will the squadron feature be removed in 7.0.

I have been playing with Duty Support more than I ever played with the Trust but the Squadron feature is my favorite despite its takes forever to get to the rank of Captain. The Trust feature to me, is slow & boring.

I have racked up a plethora amount of different squadron buffs over the years, which I use when I Data Center or World travel, since the FC buffs are not available.

I wonder if they will remove all squadron buffs that were gained if they remove the squadron feature & will the Grand Company sell via GC seals, items that are equivalent to the squadron buffs for world & data center travel?

What do you think?

Unless they want to go back and uncouple GC promotions from the squadron I don't really see them removing the system altogether, rather I think it's likely to remain in the abandoned state it's been in for years now.

If they do remove squadrons it's likely the buffs remain as legacy items if you have them, maybe some of the then-unusable ones (like recruitment bonuses) get turned into vendor fodder like they did with mainstat materia. If they're really worried about anyone then getting an unintended advantage with the buffs I feel like they're more likely to slap a level cap on the buff effect than outright remove them.

This, of course, is all conjecture but the least resource-intensive way of action is to just not touch the system again.

Why would they go to the trouble of actively removing content when they can just leave it "complete" as-is?

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Originally Posted by Astrus

If they do remove squadrons it's likely the buffs remain as legacy items if you have them, maybe some of the then-unusable ones (like recruitment bonuses) get turned into vendor fodder like they did with mainstat materia. If they're really worried about anyone then getting an unintended advantage with the buffs I feel like they're more likely to slap a level cap on the buff effect than outright remove them.

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what advantage? It’s the same as lvl 3 fc buffs. Useful for those not in an fc or if you have to travel to find parties plus the amount you can get per week is limited (edit: some like the food buff and crafting/gathering XP can be obtained through other means too and you can get even better when it comes to FT with hunts). They should just leave it as is + there are 3 fun emotes.

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Originally Posted by Hasrat

Why would they go to the trouble of actively removing content when they can just leave it "complete" as-is?

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Then why won't they just build on it then? Their more GC ranks to be gained It's a good feature. And Since Duty Support & Trust only focuses on the story dungeons, squadrons can be used in all other dungeons. As long as I can get squadron buffs, I guess it doesn't matter.

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Originally Posted by Toutatis

what advantage? It’s the same as lvl 3 fc buffs. Useful for those not in an fc or if you have to travel to find parties plus the amount you can get per week is limited (edit: some like the food buff and crafting/gathering XP can be obtained through other means too and you can get even better when it comes to FT with hunts). They should just leave it as is + there are 3 fun emotes.

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I love the Squadron buffs. My FC buffs are only lvl 2 which is great when I'm on my world, but when traveling, it's the squadron buff. I think I have 200 of each: the battle manual, aetherite travel discounts, food rations, & the spirit bonding.

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Originally Posted by Nighthawky2010

Then why won't they just build on it then? Their more GC ranks to be gained It's a good feature. And Since Duty Support & Trust only focuses on the story dungeons, squadrons can be used in all other dungeons. As long as I can get squadron buffs, I guess it doesn't matter.

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Why would they go to the trouble of actively building on it when they can leave it "complete" as-is?

It's "done" content. In an actively developed game like this, there's no end to those. Why not build on chocobo companions? Why not build on chocobo races? Why not build on the hunt log? Why not build on guildhests?

Because they're all in a "finished" state and they've moved on to other projects.

Probably wont be removed because ppl spent mutch time to lvl those commandos. Doubt they dare to destroy this achievement.

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Originally Posted by Hasrat

Why would they go to the trouble of actively building on it when they can leave it "complete" as-is?

It's "done" content. In an actively developed game like this, there's no end to those. Why not build on chocobo companions? Why not build on chocobo races? Why not build on the hunt log? Why not build on guildhests?

Because they're all in a "finished" state and they've moved on to other projects.

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I mean, Tamtara, prae/castrum, etc were in a "finished" state for years, too. And they're from the same expac. We have to get to Champion rank in the GCs sometime. I could see Squadrons getting an overhaul when new ranks are added. Hopefully it includes covering all the dungeons Trust doesn't. Maybe the 8 man trials, too, since there is no story reason to have scions in those (besides the one they ARE in). The Squadron could easily count as the "friends" you gathered.

I think that they will leave Squadrons as they are and possibly tie any future Grand Company ranks to them in some way, that is if they ever bother to add those currently unobtainable ranks at all.

Removing Squadrons would only require new means of progressing your Grand Company rank and that doesn't make any sense.

I personally love the squadrons. I think they should keep adding to them, not only levels, but new characters for the Hrothgars & Vieras. Also, increase your squad number from 8 to 12.

I wish l can d more dungeons with them. It took me a lot of effort to assemble my lala squad.

I really don't think they will get rid of them since as someone already said they are tied to GC ranks and other things. It is very possible they will just leave them as they are as well as the GC ranks even though there are ranks that we haven't achieved yet listed. It's just one of the many things that is left behind with the expansion it as introduced with.

I highly doubt the Squadrons will be removed, but they very likely won't ever see any updates... It's one of the many abandoned systems the game has.

What are the other "abandoned systems" the game has? Guildhests and...? Genuinely curious. I can't think of any others.

2.0 MSQ got reworked. Diadem got reworked.. Levequests maybe? But even they still get new ones each xpac; just became crafter/gatherer focused. Everything else I can think of gets updates or is clearly feature complete.

EDIT: Maybe chocobo companions? Though, technically, also feature complete, and it still gets new cosmetics, it could do with some love, I guess.

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Originally Posted by Alleluia

What are the other "abandoned systems" the game has? Guildhests and...? Genuinely curious. I can't think of any others.

2.0 MSQ got reworked. Diadem got reworked.. Levequests maybe? But even they still get new ones each xpac; just became crafter/gatherer focused. Everything else I can think of gets updates or is clearly feature complete.

EDIT: Maybe chocobo companions? Though, technically, also feature complete, and it still gets new cosmetics, it could do with some love, I guess.

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Depends on how you define "abandoned" I guess. I can't recall anything that isn't technically feature complete* but there are a bunch of things that just sit there and never got another look from the devs even if they could do with a little love or have effectively been discontinued.

Coils. While some might argue it's technically a "normal Raid" it is so different that it's not even in any of the Roulettes and aged really really badly. With the story it tells it could really do with a rework of some kind to make it more accessible.
The Hunting Log (which I suppose is also feature complete but then so are Guildhests and squadrons)
The obligatory mention of GC ranks.
Some of the Gold Saucer activities like chocobo racing and breeding I guess? Again, "feature complete" though (Did people ever get the costume shoes to go with the chocobo suit they've been asking for for years?)

*Save, of course, viera and hrothgar headwear

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Originally Posted by Alleluia

What are the other "abandoned systems" the game has? Guildhests and...? Genuinely curious. I can't think of any others.

2.0 MSQ got reworked. Diadem got reworked.. Levequests maybe? But even they still get new ones each xpac; just became crafter/gatherer focused. Everything else I can think of gets updates or is clearly feature complete.

EDIT: Maybe chocobo companions? Though, technically, also feature complete, and it still gets new cosmetics, it could do with some love, I guess.

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Aside from Squadrons

Guildhests, completely abandoned.
Hunt Logs, completely abandoned.
Grand Companies, tied to Squadrons which seem to be abandoned.
Chocobo Companion, last update was during HW at latest as it still has Accuracy.

The Feast was removed, although replaced with the Crystal Conflict.

Astragalos has been undergoing a rework for years.


Those at least come to mind

I'm sure it was mentioned already but they won't remove it, or improve it. It's needed for GC ranks , and the emotes. It's probably just gonna sit there forever and be a meme for eternity. Funny enough , everyone complained about how awful the squadron ai in dungeons are. Then they released duty support and it's even worse ... Sad really. My tank runs all the way back to the start of a dungeon in duty support to engage an enemy that leashed back and I can't even tell him to stop being dumb and to continue towards the objective. What a joke.

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Originally Posted by Astrus

Depends on how you define "abandoned" I guess. I can't recall anything that isn't technically feature complete* but there are a bunch of things that just sit there and never got another look from the devs even if they could do with a little love or have effectively been discontinued.

Coils. While some might argue it's technically a "normal Raid" it is so different that it's not even in any of the Roulettes and aged really really badly. With the story it tells it could really do with a rework of some kind to make it more accessible.
The Hunting Log (which I suppose is also feature complete but then so are Guildhests and squadrons)
The obligatory mention of GC ranks.
Some of the Gold Saucer activities like chocobo racing and breeding I guess? Again, "feature complete" though (Did people ever get the costume shoes to go with the chocobo suit they've been asking for for years?)

*Save, of course, viera and hrothgar headwear

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If Coils ever become MSQ required, I could see it being revamped to make it so normal df parties could complete it.

I really wish they would allow your Squadron to do the new dungeons. I took a very long time working on doing the right achievements to get my whole Squadron with the exact members that I wanted and even made uniforms for everyone. I wish that you could pick also from your squadron members even if cannot control them when you pick your trusts. I definitely dont mind leveling them and feel closer to them than leveling the characters I already know like Thancred.

I want them to give us the rest of the grand company titles rather than teasing us with something unobtainable....so I don't want them to remove it. I like my squadron members, I wish there were more races/variations too. It's weird that we just abandoned these recruits we got.

they might expand them at some point to level them up because they are technically the only option to do side-content solo on, but as it is, they appear to be abandoned, but still provide really strong buffs that can be used in dc/world travel.

See Island Sanctuary..

Yeah, feel so bad going into the Squadron room and they are only always standing around. I do feel like I abandoned them. HAHA. So much work and time went into getting the exact squad, leveling them up, and having a team that was fun to go into the dungeons with. I was personally feeling good with the time it took to get all of ones I wanted and had "my team". Just feels sad that it has literally, been a few years since done anything with them. Hoping that one day that they would just add them into the Trusts to pick as well, of course awesome to add them into the Squadron system, but I would be thrilled just to fight with them.

There's probably only like 5 people left on the team who even know what squadrons are at this point.