Beastnaster feedback post-release

[VeyaAkemi]

While having some random drop rate for rare beast is good and fine, spent more than 4 hours with 20+ runs and still not getting Zu while watching others getting it on the first pull.

Is that really fun?

No, but if you want a guaranteed way to get any given pet, just buy them from the Kornago Merchant, every pet is purchasable, so there is actually a safety net this time.

[StriderShinryu]

Overall I'm really enjoying it so far. I hope they keep expanding the Beast roster, even just to include variants of Beast we already have, as well as growing the Crucible with more varied and randomized rogue-like elements. I don't feel the job needs to be able to go out and do stuff, or to be able to do a wide swath of content with other players as long as the Crucible and collection elements aren't left to go stale.

I will say that I do find some of the Beast choices, and non-choices, to be kind of baffling though. Some creatures that really feel like they absolutely should be capturable aren't, and some that you can capture feel very out of left field. Definitely some gaps that could be filled there even if you just look at staying within the level 50 cap for now.

[Kisshu]

I would really love for it to have a ranged attack, just something like PLD's Shield Lob and it giving 5 TP.

[Salzkartoffel]

My take on Beastmaster, now that I'm maxed, have most beasts on lvl 15+ and finished the first Mastery Board:

Positives:
- Collecting all the Beasts was really fun. It made me appreciate going out in the world and try to look what was catchable without using a guide for most of them.
- The idea of having a Pet as a mandatory companion adds new depth and potential.
- The job gear looks amazing.
- The crucible itself is a nice idea for a solo game mode.

Cons:
- The job plays like an absolute slog. Sadly the 1-2-3 combo is your bread and butter and the hits feel meaty but you're rarely pressing anything else, even on high level it is just way too slow and lacks power a limited job should bring to the table to feel different.
- The beasts read as very diverse skillwise but in the crucible, which is the real content for the job, most of them are fairly useless, aside from their basic elemental attacks and the on-use skill. I rarely ever use the Skill 'Borrow', because they are just not up to par.
- The TP System is atrocious. It is way too slow to build to the lvl 50 combo. Filling the gauge four times in order to dish out the juicy hits you want to see takes so much time that every encounter is over before you reach it.
- The Crucible is NOT a roguelite. It is the same enemies everytime, which makes the only random factor the items you get. Which are either super lackluster or very strong. There are a lot of niche items I just can't see a use for as well.
- Adding a ranked system for rewards was probably the biggest mistake made with the crucible. It adds incredible FOMO to the game everyone just dreads.

Overall:
The Beastmaster doesn't exactly feel like a Beastmaster, because the beasts mostly feel like autoattack with element. There's too little interaction between player and NPC Companion. The job is too slow for modern gameplay and feels like a step back from where FFXIV is headed. The crucible wasted a lot of potential and added FOMO that either forces people into braindead grind or to abandon it right off the bat.

[KiraRavens]

It's so sad that they went with yet another random drop thing that works first time for some people and takes 20 tries for others.

I just spent over 2 hours running Cutter's Cry, went in PF and had 6 people with me in total that all got their Chimera and for me and one other person nothing after 15+ tries.

Can we move on from this format already? It's frustrating and especially annoying if you're trying to play with friends and then everyone has to waste literal hours cause the stuff just won't capture for one person.

[AyaMinn]

There are multiple beasts that allow you to crowd control groups of mobs forever and nuke them down. You do not have to run with a chocobo to stay alive.

I'm speaking in regards to doing boss fates. And I wasn't referring to myself, but I've seen people running around with them, which speaks volumes in itself.

[Daralii]

The Beastmaster doesn't exactly feel like a Beastmaster, because the beasts mostly feel like autoattack with element. There's too little interaction between player and NPC Companion. The job is too slow for modern gameplay and feels like a step back from where FFXIV is headed. The crucible wasted a lot of potential and added FOMO that either forces people into braindead grind or to abandon it right off the bat.

Parts of it seem like a step back from changes that the XIV devs made to the job in XI after they were put in charge of maintaining it. They made the pets' self buffs apply to both the pet and the BST back in 2020, which automatically gave the job access to a lot of new offensive and defensive tools that it could really use in XIV.

[Cidel]

It's so sad that they went with yet another random drop thing that works first time for some people and takes 20 tries for others.

I just spent over 2 hours running Cutter's Cry, went in PF and had 6 people with me in total that all got their Chimera and for me and one other person nothing after 15+ tries.

Can we move on from this format already? It's frustrating and especially annoying if you're trying to play with friends and then everyone has to waste literal hours cause the stuff just won't capture for one person.

That's gross. I haven't taken the time to do, let alone unlock BST yet; mostly because I still had unfinished business in North Horn, and a lot of feedback I'm hearing paints it as fairly rough around the edges- not unlike BLU on release. Low percentage on BLU spells (looking at duty spells, especially primals) was a huge turn-off for me, and it took them quite some time to implement it as "guaranteed learn if entire team is all synched BLU" or to that effect. If I decide to pick it up, I'll probably wait until after the ARR bumrush is over or they eventually relent on their sadistic tendency to relegate these collection/progression types of things to RNG (as BLU proved). Thank goodness I haven't seen any rewards or anything from BST's content that appealed to me.

But, this is doubly vexing, because I swear I read a cliffnotes translated version of the Famitsu interview with Mr. Ozma all about Beastmaster from about a week ago, and it was stated under the topic of the 'monster capturing systems' that "-The odds are generous and quite casual since they don't want you getting stuck on the recruiting phase." Though, that's contrary to what I'm hearing from some stories.

[Arkdra]

But, this is doubly vexing, because I swear I read a cliffnotes translated version of the Famitsu interview with Mr. Ozma all about Beastmaster from about a week ago, and it was stated under the topic of the 'monster capturing systems' that "-The odds are generous and quite casual since they don't want you getting stuck on the recruiting phase." Though, that's contrary to what I'm hearing from some stories.

They're casual enough from a certain perspective, which is to say that in comparison to the absolute psycho who picks their achievements, they're a walk in the park. I agree that there shouldn't be any rng to the instance captures though.

[Moqi]

That's gross. I haven't taken the time to do, let alone unlock BST yet; mostly because I still had unfinished business in North Horn, and a lot of feedback I'm hearing paints it as fairly rough around the edges- not unlike BLU on release. Low percentage on BLU spells (looking at duty spells, especially primals) was a huge turn-off for me, and it took them quite some time to implement it as "guaranteed learn if entire team is all synched BLU" or to that effect. If I decide to pick it up, I'll probably wait until after the ARR bumrush is over or they eventually relent on their sadistic tendency to relegate these collection/progression types of things to RNG (as BLU proved). Thank goodness I haven't seen any rewards or anything from BST's content that appealed to me.

But, this is doubly vexing, because I swear I read a cliffnotes translated version of the Famitsu interview with Mr. Ozma all about Beastmaster from about a week ago, and it was stated under the topic of the 'monster capturing systems' that "-The odds are generous and quite casual since they don't want you getting stuck on the recruiting phase." Though, that's contrary to what I'm hearing from some stories.

All this yapping for something you didn't even try when there are guaranteed items to get any beast in instanced content.