Global Countdown Timer - My big concern for the future on FFXIV.

[Starlord]

TP-------------------> Less

3,000 TP MAX ------> 1,000 TP MAX

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Version 1.0: TP was 3,000 Max so of Course the cost of abilities would be high as well

Version 2.0: TP is 1,000 Max so naturally the cost to Abilities/WS will be reduced as well.

[Reika]

It is also highly likely that, because WS's will use TP even when comboing, that skills that currently take all your TP, like Spirits within, will no longer take all your TP, which will be based at 1000. The combo probably wont even be Phalanx -> Spirits Within anymore. I think enough people hate that its that anyways. It should have been Fast blade -> Flat blade -> Spirits Within, and I am hoping it changes to that.

A lot is going to be changed around to accomindate this system anyways. It's actually not going to be a 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 6 1 1 1 1 3 thing either, because unlike WoW, FFXIV has the combo system, so our button mashing is going to be more advanced

[Hulan]

If you do this, you're doing it wrong. If it's not something you can outright kill outright and that regen is a concern, it's probably not something you should be burning all your TP away on at the start.

Especially if you want your tank to actually tank and not watch helplessly as you get your face caved in.

I'm actually sort of happy about this. It will be a really easy, definitive sign of how experienced/skilled a player is at their job (or at the very least how much they care). I really miss the heyday of BLMs from FFXI, back in the day when we did unstoppable damage, sure, but the mark of a good BLM was knowing when and how to do unstoppable damage and when to sit back and just support for a bit.

[Zezlar]

If you do this, you're doing it wrong. If it's not something you can outright kill outright and that regen is a concern, it's probably not something you should be burning all your TP away on at the start.

Especially if you want your tank to actually tank and not watch helplessly as you get your face caved in.

Oh of course not. That was more of a solo perspective. We haven't really seen much party play, and obviously one doesn't want to rip hate from the tank instantly like that either. Since all weapon skills are on the same timer. Even in party play whats the point of even doing different rotations when you could simply nail a boss with your best combo. Let's use Doomspike as an example. You can nail extremely high dmg with it consistently (even higher with abilities), so why even take a chance with Chaos Thrust which could miss some of the individual hits with.

[Hulan]

Oh of course not. That was more of a solo perspective. We haven't really seen much party play. Since all weapon skills are on the same timer. Even in party play whats the point of even doing different rotations when you could simply nail a boss with your best combo. Let's use Doomspike as an example. You can nail extremely high dmg with it consistently (even higher with abilities), so why even take a chance with Chaos Thrust which could miss some of the individual hits with.

I'm personally hoping we'll see a greater synergy between WSs than in 1.x. This could take the form of longer combos that use more of your WS, or inter-player combos that use lesser weaponskills for greater effects, but only in certain conditions (other players). Take FFXI (a cliche example, I'll admit, but it's a nice common reference point), earlier WSs were almost always inferior to later WSs, but - at least early in the game's life - all WSs saw at least some use, because SCs required different combinations to make different elemental bursts.

I'm not saying it should be exactly like that, but something similar, where different WSs have greater compatibility with each other in different situations (or in all situations, but for different purposes).

[Reika]

I doubt they are going to do that tho, unless they change their mind about having Skills and spells scale to your level. That is why there are no I's, II's and beyond now.

[Hulan]

Possibly, but in general, I think we have to look at both sides of the issue. It's not just about how WSs work, or abilites, or cooldowns; but how the enemies work as well. Clever game design is often about looking at the whole picture and seeing how it fits together. Without the whole picture, we can only take shots in the dark.

For example, clever boss design could greatly effect how well or badly this system works. Garuda is a good example we already have. You need AoE combos to take out plumes, but high damage combos to take out Garuda. That alone would have me alternating my DRG combos as they are now, utilizing all of my WSs. Another example (non-existant) boss, would be a stationary monster with a shield that slowly rotated around it with only a small opening. For the first minute of the fight, combos with more Front WSs would be most effective, but as the battle progressed, different combos would become more or less effective.

[Quesse]

It seems to me that without staggered cooldowns, people are just going to be picking the best WS/Combo every time right?

You just pick your biggest/highest damage WS/combo and spam it everytime. Isn't that kind of boring?

I'm not sure I get it.

[Dannythm]

Have you considered that alongside the GDC there will still be individual CD's for certain skills? I think that will introduce more variety to the rotations. Also I think that the new combat mechanics looks more tactic, having to carefully plan how you spend your resources to deliver the best combination of hate/dps/heal/support, because if you burn your tp too fast, you may die if you cannot use, for example, Sentinel at a certain part of a boss fight.

I won't judge until I play it, but in my eyes is looking good, but I have to say, I've always liked WoW's combat mechanics, and these resemble those but a bit more slower paced.

Edit: Before anyone jumps to my throat I like 1.0 and XI combat mechanics more than wow's, but the mixture we seem to be getting in ARR seems to take the best from both sides of the spectrum.

[Andrien]

Got to play the alpha version before speculating.

The fact is tp will also be treated like mp, and we have a maximum amount of 1000 tp as a result. SE mention skillful play will play a role in whether a battle is successful or not, and we've only seen them fight easy/weak monsters in beginners area. I can't really speculate or give correct answers, but I can say I'm not worried at all.