3.2 PvP: Feast Game Mode Discussion Thread.

[Naoki_Yoshida]

Producer and Director Yoshi-P here.
Once more, I want to thank you all for the comments we received following the release of patch 3.25.

In preparation for the beginning of Season One of the Feast’s rated matches, I'd like to talk about some of your feedback, as well as the changes we have planned for patch 3.26.

System Changes

Casting Interruptions

Following the release of patch 3.22, we received a tremendous amount of feedback regarding the changes to spell casting functionality. The most commonly expressed opinion was:

“You should reduce the damage threshold for interruption from 15% to 10% of max HP.”

It also became clear to us that, because we were using a simple calculation based on max HP, healers and casters were gravitating towards a strategy of using vitality accessories to reduce the risk of being interrupted, even if it resulted in decreased attack and healing magic potency.

However, we are concerned that merely reducing the interruption threshold to 10% of max HP, without changing the underlying design, may once more make it too easy for casting to be interrupted, as well as have little effect on the usage of vitality accessories. Therefore, after careful consideration of your feedback, we have decided to change spell casting functionality as follows:

The damage required to interrupt casting will be determined by the caster’s item level.

It is our intention that a player’s max HP will not affect this set amount of damage, which will be calculated for PvP content that is item level synced to either IL 80 or IL 150. In other words, the threshold to interrupt casting will be automatically calculated based on item and class/job level, and will be unaffected by HP boosting buffs and vitality accessories.

I understand that this may be harder to grasp than a simple calculation based on max HP. However, if we were to retain the original functionality, we believe it would have little effect on the usage of vitality accessories and other strategies to increase max HP.

While the precise calculations in use will not be made public, you may think of it as though a caster can be interrupted if you deal roughly 15% of their max HP before any increases from vitality accessories and other methods are taken into account.

As always, we welcome your feedback, and look forward to hearing what you have to say after the changes go live.

PvP Ratings and Matchmaking

We also received a lot of feedback regarding the rating and matchmaking systems. In particular, many of you were worried about being matched with opponents of a significantly higher or lower rank. I touched on this issue briefly during the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part XXVIII, when I explained how we had intentionally expanded the matchmaking range for the preseason so that players could take part in more matches.

Patch 3.26 will see the start of Season One, and at that time we will be changing the matchmaking algorithm to ensure that you are more likely to be matched with player in the same or an adjacent tier, and only within a range of three tiers (For example, a match might include players from the bronze, silver, and gold tiers only).

However, as this will increase matchmaking times, we are currently debating whether or not we should expand the range of eligible players if a given period of time passes without finding enough participants. At the moment, we do not wish to utilize this solution, as ideally we would like all matches to be held within the same tier. We are considering our options for Season Two, and would like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

We are also planning to make several adjustments to the rating system so that, when in a lower tier, a player’s PvP rating will increase by a larger amount when they win a match, and decrease by a smaller amount when they lose a match. This will make it easier for players to advance to higher tiers, and make it harder for them to be demoted.

Heavy Medal

With the release of patch 3.22, a stack of Heavy Medal went from increasing damage received by 10% to 15%─a change which many of you believed might have gone too far. Some on the dev team also thought it might be too high as well, as the flow of battle usually results in players filling their adrenaline gauges in the latter half of the match, which could place teams that gather medals early or midway through at a disadvantage, making it easy for their opponents to mount a last minute comeback.

To address this concern, with patch 3.26, a stack of Heavy Medal will increase damage received by 12% (currently 15%). We will also be adjusting the medal counts at which players incur another stack of Heavy Medal.

• 1st stack: 150 → 150 15% → 12%
• 2nd stack: 170 → 170 30% → 24%
• 3rd stack: 190 → 190 45% → 36%
• 4th stack: 200 → 200 60% → 48%
• 5th stack: 210 → 210 75% → 60%
• 6th stack: 220 → 220 90% → 72%
• 7th stack: 230 → 225 105% → 84%
• 8th stack: 240 → 230 120% → 96%
• 9th stack: 250 → 240 135% → 108%
• 10th stack: 　─ → 250 ─ 　→ 120%

Our hope is that this rebalancing will encourage players to collect medals, while still ensuring that those who carry large quantities are still impacted.

Adrenaline Rush

For patch 3.25 we made adjustments to the HP and placement of adrenaline, and many of you commented that this gave you more opportunities to use adrenaline rush. However, we also received feedback from players who wanted to use adrenaline rush more without relying on adrenaline kits. Therefore, we will be increasing the rate at which the adrenaline gauge fills.

For 4 on 4 matches, the accumulation rate will be increased by approximately 30%, and for 8 on 8 matches, it will be roughly double the current rate.

Moreover, until now, the adrenaline gauge only filled when the player was engaged in combat. As a result, when players were KO’d, they could no longer accrue adrenaline, placing their team at a disadvantage.

To address this issue, we will be making it so that the adrenaline gauge fills even when the player is not engaged in combat. Because teams will have the option to utilize adrenaline rush at roughly the same time, they will have to carefully consider the timing of their actions, which should lead to more interesting tactics.

In addition, many of you provided feedback that the duration of the animation lock following the use of Empyrean Rain was too long, and so we have decided to shorten it.

Job-specific Changes

Of course, the greatest amount of feedback we received related to various jobs and their abilities. We would like to thank you all for your many detailed suggestions.

With patch 3.26 we will be making the following adjustments:

Black Mage

• Sleep
  Duration: 15s → 12s (PvP only)
  
  
• Night Wing
  Duration: 10s → 8s (Enhanced Night Wing II: 15s → 12s)

Sleep is highly effective at turning the tide of battle, and players found it stressful to be repeatedly afflicted with sleep and unable to act. For players with Sleep Resistance, the duration will be halved (6s for Sleep and Enhanced Night Wing II, 4s for Night Wing).

White Mage

• Repose
  Duration: 15s → 8s
  Duration halved with successive uses (8s → 4s → 2s)

Fluid Aura followed by repeated Repose was judged to be overpowered, and so we decided to adjust Repose while leaving Fluid Aura as-is.

Machinist

• Between the Eyes
  Potency: 150 → 120 (Enhanced Between the Eyes II: 180 → 150)

As touched upon in the Letter from the Producer LIVE Part XXVIII, we determined that Machinist burst damage was a bit high.

Dark Knight

We received a great deal of feedback from players who felt that dark knight was lacking in both offensive and defensive capabilities when compared to paladin and warrior, and to address these concerns we will be making the following changes.

• Dark Arts
  Recast Time: 5s → 3s (PvP and PvE)
  
  
• Tar Pit
  Potency: 200 → 250 (Enhanced Tar Pit II: 240 → 300)
  Recast Time: 150s → 120s (Enhanced Tar Pit: 120s → 90s)
  HP Absorption: 20% → 150% (Enhanced Tar Pit III: 40% → 200%)
  
  
• Carnal Chill
  Recast Time: 120s → 90s (Enhanced Carnal Chill: 90s → 60s)
  Damage Penalty: 10% → 40% (Enhanced Carnal Chill III: 20% → 60%)
  Duration: 20s → 6s

Tar Pit should now function as a self-preservation technique, and Carnal Chill as a way to quickly lower the damage dealing capabilities of opponents. Also, while Carnal Chill’s duration has been shortened, recast times for these abilities have been reduced, which should enable players to employ them more effectively. These changes are intended to make dark knight function as a tank that can protect himself and his allies through debuffs and health absorption.

Warrior

• Storm's Eye
  HP recovery decrease not available in PvP areas

Warriors can be highly competitive in prolonged engagements due to their preeminent burst damage among tanks, and their ability to reduce slashing resistance with Storm’s Eye. However, these offensive capabilities, when combined with their HP recovery debuff, led us to determine that they overpowered, and so we have decided to remove this component of their attack in PvP.

Ninja

• Dancing Edge
  HP recovery decrease not available in PvP areas
  
  
• Fetter Ward
  Can now be used by Rogue / Ninja

Ninjas, like warriors, possess a strong advantage in prolonged engagements due to their HP recovery debuff, and so we have decided to remove this component of their attack in PvP as well. However, compared to other melee DPS, it is more dangerous for them to utilize adrenaline rush, which is why we have decided to make Fetter Ward available to them.

Dragoon

• Feint
  Duration: 10s → 6s (Enhanced Feint: 20s → 10s)
  
  
• Skewer
  Duration: 10s → 6s (Enhanced Skewer II: 15s → 10s)

Feint is often utilized as an additional action in PvP, and many players found it frustrating to deal with due to its effectiveness. Skewer’s INT reducing ability was adjusted as part of overall balancing.

Summoner / Scholar

• Aetherflow
  Effect can no longer be removed by enemy attacks (*Edited to clarify at 10:42 a.m.)

We received a tremendous amount of feedback from players regarding this very issue. After careful consideration, we decided that it was unacceptable that players could prevent the usage of an ability required for so many job actions.

Although Season One of the Feast begins with patch 3.26, if we determine that there are significant balance issues or differences in job capabilities, we are prepared to make adjustments immediately, even if it falls within the season.

We’re looking forward to receiving more feedback from you all throughout the course of the upcoming season. Until then, please look forward to opening day!


* French and German versions of this post will be released when they are finalized. We thank you for your understanding.