Bozja Citadel (ShB Relics) - What I would like to see

[Wind-Krysvein]

Hello there! It’s been a few weeks since the announcement of Bozja Citadel (heretofore mostly referred to as "Bozja"), the relic questline area for Shadowbringers. These weeks have given people, including me, ample time to think about our relationship with the FFXI-inspired Stormblood relic questline, Eureka, and its strengths and weaknesses. With the finale of Eureka, we perhaps reached an endpoint with the concept of paying homage to oldschool MMORPGs, so what I am going to talk about here are my personal thoughts on what I would like to see in Bozja Citadel. Here we go:

I'll be honest; I would like to see a more modern/varied take on the exploration-based formula: a touch of redoable quest/FATE content and more active exploration, instead of what I and others have seen as a tedium of killing hordes of regular monsters in efforts to summon bigger monsters, as well as FindConfluenceAvoidMonsters.ffxiv, respectively.

That is not to say any of the concepts used in Eureka have to be left out if the developers so choose. Instead, what I would propose in this scenario is content in which all of the above could function in harmony:
● Soloable Beast Tribe-esque quests with their own daily allowances, that can be redone each day to slowly but steadily make your way towards your goal.
● Soloable FATEs which work similarly to normal FATEs in the overworld, spawning independently without requirements of killing hordes of monsters, allowing for more slow yet steady progress.
● Player-personal treasure chests inside Bozja which spawn once each day and yield rewards much like the lockboxes of Eureka, plus more of the "slow yet steady" progress.
○ Notorious Monster FATEs as seen in Eureka.
○ Killing monsters for experience points, as seen in Eureka.
○ "Bunny" FATE treasure hunts, as seen in Eureka.

Now, I understand that there has already been talk of implementing a system that allows for simulatenous progression via "in-Bozja" content, and more traditional relic farming content like in earlier expansions. It's already a great idea, but what I am suggesting here is a method of making the in-Bozja content more in line with the general gameplay of FFXIV, without completely alienating the hardcore "Eureka" audience, either. I believe the combination of both concepts is the key to success.

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[Wind-Krysvein]

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Finally, I present some miscellaneous improvements I would add to enhance the Bozja experience further:
● Different music for each of the areas of Bozja: I'd be lying if I told you that the BGM of Eureka didn't start to get on my nerves after hours and hours of grinding. Even just changing the instruments a bit for each area could help keep the audio experience more fresh.
● More of Gerolt: in previous relic questlines we have seen him match his wits against two very different "partners": Jalzahn and Ardashir. This allowed for plenty of comedy relief in between steps, as well chances to learn more about Gerolt and his partner of the week in the process. In Eureka, however, there was little to none of this, to the detriment of the attachment the player feels for Gerolt and the legendary gear he dishes out. Part of this was because of the storyline of Eureka itself being the main focus of the relic questline, but why not have both? It -is- a relic questline, after all.
● Relic armor strength (this is entirely dependent on whether there will even be relic armor in Bozja): armor that eventually becomes just as good as the strongest tomestone armor... or 5 iLvls stronger, just like the relic weapon. I get that the Eureka armor was meant to mainly be the ultimate tool for exploring Eureka, but it would be nice to have the relic armor work as endgame gear for the expansion as well. Furthermore, this one is a bit of a nitpick, but perhaps the armor pieces should have purple names and item slots, just like the relic weapons?


There we have it. I apologise for the longwinded post, but as a huge relic enthusiast I believed nothing short of a thorough analysis would suffice. Please post your own opinions on what improvements you would have the developers add to make Bozja Citadel as good as it can possibly be. All opinions and input are welcome: we're here to have a conversation, not an echo chamber.


tl;dr: I would love to have more varied content for Bozja Citadel (vs Eureka). What would you like to see in the upcoming Shadowbringers relic questline and its areas?

[LaylaTsarra]

I hope we get new zones and please not the running of old content ad nauseum for tomes. I'd love to see more content similar to BA along with the use of logo's which I thought was a refreshing concept as it related to Pyros, Hydatos and BA.

[linay]

Instead of just having more FATEs, I would like them to add a variety.

So the division could be something like this:

1. Solo set of daily quests (3-5 per day, player-initiated via quest, aka beast tribe-like)
2. 1-4-player set of guildleve-like quests (3-5 per day, player-initiated via guildleve-like quest)
3. Full party FATE (Several per day, not player-initiated)
4. Full party hunt-style marks (1 per day, A/S rank difficulty, player-initiated via a hunt bill)
5. Large scale FATE (1 every 3 days, not player-initiated)

That's just for the overworld exploration side. They can also add instanced duty as well.

[Mansion]

I'm not sure I'm all in for another "exploration mission" thing for Bozja. For me, relic is supposed to be meant for everyone, and Eureka -while re-inventing the relic formula- sure locked it out of people that were not into that content. So I'd like some way where relic progress would happen through different content. Maybe some Eureka-like instances for precise steps, but the main bulk should not happen similarly. I want more variety, more control on what I build my gear into.

Eureka's main problem (outside of its design and all) for me is that it does not work with FFXIV's gameplay. We don't have real efficient crowd control for that kind of content, we don't have interesting AoE rotation for grinding, the chain system was clunky and the element grid thing was underwhelming. Sure, Eureka got better and better with each new map and with logos, but it made the relic grind especially annoying in the beginning. It was quite alien in FFXIV and I'd rather not have a clone of this content for Bojza.
If we got back to Zodiac/Anima-like weapons, uninspired as it sounds, I think I'd be ok with it.

Also, I think the weapon stats were messed up. While I get that they should not come to the level of Savage weapon until the mid of the following odd patch, Anemos and Pyros weapons were really low when they came out. And please, no more random rolls on stats.


I'm legit more interested in Bozja itself, the bigcat lore and all, more than the relic itself...

[Wind-Krysvein]

*snip*

Hmm. In trying to sound as neutral as possible to avoid pissing off the people who did enjoy Eureka, I may have come across as a bit too.. "in favor" of the whole idea of getting another one. To be absolutely honest with you, I don't want another Eureka at all, for pretty much everything you said about its flaws is more or less true.

But woe betide us, for according to what information we have, it seems we are getting a Eureka-like, whether we like it or not. The only difference would seem to be that this time they're also allowing us to work on the gear outside of the Eureka-like. In the end, I was trying to think of positive ways to fix the Eureka experience, since Yoshi-P seems so hell-bent on giving us more of it.

[Vahlnir]

If they are truly planning to add more Eureka style content, then I hope to god that they learned from the last iteration. I think it was the least fun I've had in this game since I started playing.

[Wind-Krysvein]

I think it was the least fun I've had in this game since I started playing.

And no amount of negative feedback from the community could change the direction they took with it. Almost reminds me of a certain Job they released about a year ago. Something limited and blue... hmm...


Yep, all hope is lost.

[Auryan]

And no amount of negative feedback from the community could change the direction they took with it. Almost reminds me of a certain Job they released about a year ago. Something limited and blue... hmm...


Yep, all hope is lost.

Funny. I remember them taking feedback very seriously when it came to Eureka. Which is sort of why Pyros/Hydatos was so different from Anemos/Pagos. Maybe you meant feedback less in the constructive way and more in the "no more, please" way. Which is uh, interesting feedback.
Even funnier is that I hated the Zodiac and Anima relic grinds for being a boring and uninteresting slog, while liking Eureka for giving the increasingly superfluous relics a much needed revamp in importance.

[Xion136]

Funny. I remember them taking feedback very seriously when it came to Eureka. Which is sort of why Pyros/Hydatos was so different from Anemos/Pagos. Maybe you meant feedback less in the constructive way and more in the "no more, please" way. Which is uh, interesting feedback.
Even funnier is that I hated the Zodiac and Anima relic grinds for being a boring and uninteresting slog, while liking Eureka for giving the increasingly superfluous relics a much needed revamp in importance.

But they weren't important? Only to Eureka, that specific content maybe, but not the overall game. Furthermore there barely was any sort of story for the Relics in Eureka, just Gerolt making stuff because that's what Gerolt does. I don't see how they are superfluous either, as they were a casual/midcore way to grind out a powerful weapon over time instead of Savage...?