Review of the current battle system

[Zanfire]

Final Fantasy XIV Battle System:

Good idea... bad execution.

that pretty much summed up what i was going for.

[allenshu]

lancer does work out of the range of many aoe. in the stamina system you can also move without losing dps, and lancer moves less than other classes to get out of aoe range.

It was really a playstyle thing and many people didnt take advantage because the system didnt force you, and they definitely never showed people how to take advantage of various things.

Agree.

There are many options/styles for one lancer to deal with incoming aoe.
1. Use Twisting Vice to erase the target's tp then aoe won't go (combine with Hawk's Eye for better chance hit).
2. Use Leg Sweep (for ground enemies) to stun targets then aoe won't go (combine with Hawk's Eye for better chance hit).
3. Use pierce type actions to attack the target from side to earn chance to interrupt the incoming action (seems greater damage gives better chance to interrupt, so can try combine attack-up buff).
4. Use Diversion for one 100% evade (following by casting cure on tank to guarantee his survive, or using Moonrise afterward to slow next possible incoming aoe).

For all these options, main actions are belong to lancer and some in () are from the other classes to make him perform better. If we can include other classes' actions as main move and then combine with the other different ones, then there are even more options/styles to go. Furthermore, in general, by knowing the fact that most enemies will enter action-mode after HP less than 50% and being able to read enemy's attack rhythm change, there are even more options to do to prevent a big damage aoe landing (ex. drain TP or use Paralyze around target 50% HP). Of course, running away is also a style

PS. This reminds me seeing some players complain that Paralyze is broken because it doesn't last long and has long CD. I think these complaints simply tell they don't know how to use the spell right in FF14...

[kukurumei]

Final Fantasy XIV Battle System:

Good idea... bad execution.

While it can be true, not really, in the greater scheme of things. You can't say "good idea" when there is so much wrong with it, the idea isn't even solid enough to be an idea anymore.

There are multiple levels of problems with the battle system, from balance to annoyance, and beyond.

The first problem is over redunant. It has variable animation delay, stamina, TP, MP, recast timer. All these will prevent one action into another.

Why must I keep track of every single one? They all do the same thing in the end, to prevent you from using skills in abuse.

That leads us to unbalancing problem. Skills were horribly imbalance. Why do people spam 1111? because it is the single fastest, and rapid use skill. It has the fastest animation time(meaning you can do more in the shortest amount of time) It has the no recast/MP/TP time. It's efficiency made it immeasurable compared to a good many other skills.

Skills selection is also a problem stemming from that. Most skills simply weren't worth it. It made strategy a quick sloppy mess. You are only in self delusions if you think massive micro management of skills is at all needed. You can get the same efficiency from 1 long string of "uber" rotation. I can go 111111, cure, WS ,WS ,WS, repeat knowing it has almost near perfect battle effectiveness.

This lead to annoyance of the total need for manual control which is really just mindless repetition, and zerg like timing(faster = better) that ultimately turns it into a shallow battle system (one-trick pony).

It is basically button mashing FF11. Which is why AA became a topic. I am not getting anything I couldn't get with more hassle and less depth.

They fell into the idea that more interactive meant more inputs. That was is the "core" of the flaw of FF14 battles. And it's a hard nut to crack, which is why we're abandoning it.

Skills needed to be whittled down. You do not need to be pressing massive buttons on an enemy that's basically going to react the exact same way. You need a smarter enemy to make a difference, which is sadly impossible for MMO RPGS.

You need less "down time" modifiers. Stamina or TP or even MP should go. You don't need that many. They do the almost the exact same thing.

And once it boils down to it, what are you really doing different...not much. It just feels interesting because your fingers are moving.

It's all smoke and mirrors battle system in the end. And reason Idea AND execution are both wrong.

If FF14 has a speck of creativity when it created this horrible battle system, it would play much more like Diablo 2 combat. Which emphasized, movement, position, and accurate use of skills. And have techniques such as free, slow, wall, rapid movement, etc. Anyone playing D2 will know that you don't used that many skills per "battle" in fact it's better to be using very few skills. It's all about a tactical abuse of situational ability. Not the stupidity of FF14, stand and mash buttons.

[Molly_Millions]

there are some unique things about the current battel system but, unique != good. The fact renaims that the current battle system has fundamental flaws, and if we ever want any sort of difficulty it'll need to be changed.