Does FFXIV's combat system need an overhaul?

[Deceptus]

Secondarily, while FFXIV is exceptionally well balanced, it's SO balanced even a 1-2% deviation is enough to get a Job blacklisted from PF content if it is doing a bit below others. [/url]

Caveat: This ONLY happens in the highest tiers of content during progression.

This doesn't happen is Ex or lower, or on farm status.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Combat can't keep existing with the jank snapshots.

We need a godamn everything overhaul. Gimme another Calamity, I'm ready.

The snapshots generally are predicable. Cast bar finishes = snapshot, for 99% of mechanics.

[Absimiliard]

This doesn't happen is Ex or lower, or on farm status.

I dunno about that one, chief. I've been in more than a few EX and savage groups on my EU alt where the leaders were definitely blacklisting certainly classes, not to mention checking logs and actively removing people between pulls based on their parses. Granted, I'm actually perfectly fine with this behavior. There's nothing wrong with a little dose of "git gud or gtfo" when it comes to maximizing your chances of success.

[hunkygladiator]

they can design the DPS checks around them and make the checks harder to meet even for the harder core raiders

Statics and players get filtered by DPS checks every single raid tier (or they insist on playing terrible comps like double phys ranged). This isn't new.

[R041]

The snapshots generally are predicable. Cast bar finishes = snapshot, for 99% of mechanics.

It's 2023. We're the only ones with this jank shit, and it's becoming increasingly more difficult to explain it away to new players.



The fact that this is still a thing, shows their lack of foresight, knowing multiplayer games and MMOs are getting better and better mechanically.

[Oizen]

I think the 2-minute meta was meant to make raiding harder. SE could not scale DPS checks around aligned buffs because many raiders didn't care about it except statics and even some of those are probably too casual to care unless they are dying to enrage. Now that buff alignment is guaranteed in the class design, they can design the DPS checks around them and make the checks harder to meet even for the harder core raiders. As you explained, it seems to have succeeded in making it harder as well, considering even hardcore raiders were having trouble with P8S before the nerf.

SE wants the raids to be harder than they have been, but the rest of the game to be easier than it has been, from what I can see. Dungeons easier. Jobs easier. But they are redistributing that lost difficulty into the savage and ultimate raids where, some might argue, it belongs (I'm not going to say one way or the other, since I don't really care).

I wouldn't miss the 2-minute burst windows though, or burst windows in general. I loved PLD as it was without a single burst window. I loved how varied Dark Knight was with the abilities being on a variety of different cooldowns instead of now all being ready at 60 seconds.

I'm pretty sure the 2m meta was made solely so developing fights was made easier for the developers.

[R041]

I'm pretty sure the 2m meta was made solely so developing fights was made easier for the developers.

Dev: "Oh, looks like players are confused or having trouble with this thing.. What should we do?"
Yoshi: "Can't stop the MSQ train to fix every little thing, just remove it!"

Repeat 100x since HW

Literally every change they make, I put it through the lens of easy/lazy dev and it all starts to make sense.

[ASkellington]

Yes it does omg.

Just tanks and healers alone prove that they do. Other MMOs on the market have tanking and healing STYLES but here? Our mitigations and heals can pretty much be 1:1. And for what reason? PvP shows that they can make diverse tanks.

GNB has a junction function (likely inspired by FF8). We can't give that to it in some way in PvE so it feels different to its other counter parts? Like DRK being the tank that manages its HP LIKE IT SHOULD and not WAR? WAR can't be the DPS tank where in it feels like it holds all the aggro cause it face checks the enemy and says "hey, if you don't deal with me first I'mma wreck you"? PLD can't be the "traditional" tank, the safe one and most defensive, but not fall behind the other three because they have more risks that a new player may not appreciate it, yet still feels as impactful and wanted as its more dps oriented counter part?

WHY, JUST FRIGGIN WHY do we have this BS ditchonomy with healers? Regen is a healing style, PUT IT IN THE GAME AND MAKE A HEALER OUT OF IT. Congrats you gave AST more delayed healing tools (Exalt, Macrocosmos, Horoscope) WHY can't that just be HOW IT HEALS. Why does it HAVE to share its kit sub-50 with WHM?

SGE you had the change to make a never before seen healer in the game. NOPE. You decided to play it safe and make it a SCH clone with no fairy and an extra ability (Phlegma) cool.

You made casters feel different, can we get that in the other two roles please?

And that's just the classes. The fights? They're equally as dull. Where are the bosses/mobs that require movement from the tank? Where are the bosses/mobs that make a healer spot heal and drain their ridiculous amount of healing resources? What about arena hazards? SOMETHING that makes me want to be in a less ideal position be I caster/P.Ranged/melee but with tools that I have access to I can keep on the backburner and use showing my knowledge of the fight OR again, something the tank can position the boss/mob so it becomes less of an issue? Why are there so many wind up attacks at about the same length? Mix it up with instant/long/med and have fun with it!

[Jeeqbit]

I'm pretty sure the 2m meta was made solely so developing fights was made easier for the developers.

That was part of what I was saying. They can't decide on a DPS check if players are not all approaching the fight in the same way so making them all align makes it easier for them.

[Ranaku]

The jobs need overhauls, not the combat system. If one wants entirely different combat systems, there are MMOs out there who deliver on that. SWtoR or GW2 have a more action focused combat.

My personal opinion is that it is good there is variety in combat systems and not everything has to be made the same just because it would be "modern". People often don't want that, look at OSRS and Retail Runescape or WoW with Classic and Retail. People often prefer simple "old" systems.