Your Hopes and Ideas for the Battle System Changes in FFXIV 8.0

[dspguy]

I think skillchains in FFXI was a fairly unique aspect to that game, and to a lesser extent, Fellowship Maneuvers in LOTRO. I feel like this would add some sort of collaboration between players that isn't just "use these abilities during the burst window" and the position dance of many savage/extreme fights we have. Imagine there was an extra "ability" when you gauge was full (almost every class has a gauge of some sort). When those gauges are full, instead of using two Fell Cleaves or Midare Setsu or Automaton Queen - these "chaining abilities" are used in tandem for a greater effect.

At a bare minimum, players would have to think about which gauges are full so no on is holding onto a full gauge longer than they should.

I don't know - I've been playing MMOs since EQ1. This is the least collaborate MMO I've played. Other than clearing a dungeon/trial faster, there is no real difference between running content with NPCs and running it with players. Dungeon starts, people might say "hey" and then nothing until it is over and then "gg." Ditch that "collaboration" and I might as well be playing a console game.

[Zelda206]

Increase the complexity of the Jobs and give back spells/abilities that made Healers and Tanks unique.
Increase alternative chores/activities that supply gear, not exclusive to raids.
Remain intensity of dungeon fights and coordination; the game should not be simplified because people are unwilling to adapt, overcome, and push forward. It's annoying to see newer players jump immediately into a fight and then complain that no one explained it to them when they consistently do not improve because they didn't know what to do; do your homework and if you still struggle then you ask for help. You are a team member, not merely a solo player in a group of strangers. I'm a casual player with team-based expectations, nothing more.


Those are my ideas. As for my hopes, they are dashed; nothing in the current team or company suggests anything constructive will be granted in the various interviews and PR statements that have been made in 2024-early 2025. We'll see what we get when we get there and if it's enough to bring back people who have been asking for changes for the last three expansions.

[Minarisweet]

Hello,

I know this is a topic that has been debated countless times, and no matter what is said, the developers don’t seem to truly listen to the community.
If they did, the jobs wouldn’t be in the state they’re in right now.

But a little copium never hurts, and I hope the developers will one day be more transparent with the FFXIV community regarding the direction they want to take with jobs in 8.0.
This could include conducting a proper survey to determine what players would enjoy, though it’s not hard to foresee that we’ll most likely be disappointed given the current policies of the development team.

My question is: what type of changes to the combat system are you personally hoping for?

- Would you like to see the abolition of burst windows every 120 seconds?

- A return of synergies between jobs and roles like during the Stormblood era?

- An individual rework of each role? For instance, reducing superfluous healing spells in the healer toolkit while increasing the number of DPS actions?

- Shortening a very large amount of GCDs from 2.5s to 1.5s to make the battle system a little bit faster?

These are just simple examples, but feel free to share your opinions on the battle system you’d like to see in 8.0, while keeping in mind that this is purely imaginary.

They have been transparent in the sense that they already think the combat system is in a perfect state since shadowbringers its why you can see it barely has changed from that everything onwards is just repeats of shadowbringers.

[Alyko]

Bring back ARR jank. Bring back functionally useless skills like Mercy Stroke, Misery's End, or Flaming Arrow. Bring back Stormblood fight design and Duty Actions. Give us anything other than the reworked dungeon slop that EW dropped.

[Yeol]

With the number of jobs we have, I wish they introduce a variety of different gameplay. We can have beginner-friendly/entry-level jobs, and more advanced jobs for veterans who already know how to track multiple buffs/CDs/with lots of min-maxing options.

[Daralii]

With the number of jobs we have, I wish they introduce a variety of different gameplay. We can have beginner-friendly/entry-level jobs, and more advanced jobs for veterans who already know how to track multiple buffs/CDs/with lots of min-maxing options.

We used to have that with fewer jobs. Square disapproved.

[Yeol]

We used to have that with fewer jobs. Square disapproved.

Yeah we did, and I want it back

People complained and avoided playing certain jobs. The devs were not happy with the job statistics, so they made everything easier.

[ovIm]

We used to have that with fewer jobs. Square disapproved.

Reasons why I have no hopes for the job rework. The adjustments from the last few patches, paired with how the producer claimed one thing would happen and the developers doing the exact opposite, makes me be extra sceptical. Maybe I end up being wrong. I want to be wrong, to be precise. Maybe 7.2 can convince me otherwise.

[Dzian]

Remove retirement home-tier 2.5 GCD. I want to play the game not fall asleep.

The GCD really doesn't matter to much imo.

It doesn't matter how many buttons you press what matters is what those buttons do and how they interact with the encounter..

They could drop the gcd down to 1 second. But if the rotations are still the same meaningless and static crap they are now then nothing would change. It's the exact same boring impactless rubbish just a bit quicker..

How many buttons you press really isn't important. What's important is what those buttons do and how they impact the content.

[Raidoser]

Wishlist for 8.0 i will keep it short because like most people i think nothing will happen, in the past everytime they promised a cool rework you just got more homogenization.

Cleaning button bloat :

- Combine ST weaponskills/spells with their Aoe counterpart (as a DRK it would clean 50% of my hotbar just by doing that)
- Combine Cooldown together when necessary (like for Delirium and Blood weapon)
- most "Role Actions" have been combined into others skills

Cleaning combat mechanics :

- Auto-Attack deleted and replaced with an equivalent %damage trait, would also reduce server load a little.
- Old mechanic of caster having their cast broken by damage no longer exist.
- Positional no longer provide a damage boost instead positional will provide utility (like a small potency heal or speed boost) or change the CC/debuff inflicted,
example with ninja "throwing dagger" : if done on the rear it will stun, if done on the flank it will interrupt, using "True North" would proc both.
- Jobs CD changed to fit either 60sec CD burst or a 120sec CD burst,
example : Ninja and DRK would be in the "60sec" category so their 120sec DPS cd would be lowered/balanced to 60 sec CD to make things more clean.

Updating combat mechanics :(Nothing drastic)

- Changing most defensive CD to be in line with samurai, reaper and pictomancer ones in CD/interactivity
- Having movement Skill providing short I-Frame would make them more useful and fun but maybe it's just my Heavensward death-sentence Shukuchi trauma speaking.
- Movement skill should also be more thematic (Viper one is horribly bland and bad)
- BLU type mechanic which replace "Role Actions" : by doing different type of content you can now unlock ability and passive that can be used to customize your character.
As much as i speak of customization which can make people imagination go bonkers it would still be simple customization like changing your aoe circle into cone or line, changing an attack to ranged or allowing to be cast while moving, nothing too fancy even for the aging engine of FF14.

Again i didn't go too much into details since i know everything i wrote is just wishful thinking based on past experience which is sad because stagnation is death and when it come to job design FF14 is deep into it.

Edit : combining Spellspeed and skillspeed into one stat would be dope too.