Element system needs changes?

[Khanscott]

I was having a discussion with some FC buddies about this about his a few days ago. Yes, I feel that they need to bring back elemental damage/resistance. The difference from past FF games however, is that it needs to be a set ceiling of damage/resistance from elements. Reworking BLM will be a pill, but having a cap on things will make things easier. Could always just go and give BLM Aero, Water, and Stone. Somehow lore Aero into Dia for WHM, or just YOLO it and pretend they never had Aero to begin with.
As for how elements would be implemented is simple (background work is Yoshida's issue :P)
-Kill respective primal of desired element for "arbitrary currency" and use this to add element to already existing gear, like materia.
-Meaner the primal, more "arbitrary currency" you get. New dual element ones give same amount, just half/half for elements.
-Elemental materia could buff these add-ons in some fashion.

[Gunspec]

Elemental stats are more of a horizontal progression type of idea, and FFXIV isn't doing that, so they might as well remove the stats from the game. Elemental materia is just junk used for challenge log bonuses and triggering faster spiritbonding, and the elemental stats on the character page are a waste of precious character data.

While I like the idea of elemental systems in my Final Fantasy, it doesn't mesh well with an mmo where every class needs to be viable in every encounter. Players who have spent their esoterics on gear for classes that are less effective on a boss would be benched.

The alternative is introducing elemental themed item sets for EACH elemental raid encounter, which would open the door for horizontal progression. But for a game like FFXIV that has such frequent new content being pushed out, forcing players to farm an elemental set just to require an entirely different set 4 months later would be overdoing it. You can use ilevel 110 gear to begin challenging ilevel 130 content, but you can't use fire element gear to begin challenging water element enemies.

I think in general they need to start trimming out the overly complicated systems that eat data. Elemental resistance, 5 grades of glamour prisms per craft, 2.X quests that unlocked basic new features which are now hidden in a sea of subquests that new players cannot navigate, etc.

Edit: The reason elemental stuff existed in RPGs was to give some depth to otherwise straight forward 8-bit turn based battles. It was the difference between making a boss fight where the strategy was just "hit with sword, heal when necessary", to "experiment with different moves to find a weakness". A boss might be impossible to handle without overleveling, unless you realize that lightning attacks hit for double damage, or equipping fire armor on your characters reduces damage by 50%.

FFXIV already HAS battle systems with depth. Nearly every raid boss, and most dungeon bosses as well, have some form of mechanics beyond "hit and heal". In comparison to how complicated many fights are, the idea of "hit ice enemy with fire" is TOO simplistic.

Now sure, there is something cathartic about hitting an enemy with a super effective hit. I've been playing FF:Record Keeper, and exploiting elemental weaknesses of FFXIV bosses was both strange and fun. But the core reason WHY elemental statuses exist, to spice up otherwise straightforward fights, is already being handled well in FFXIV through mechanics that simply weren't possible in turn based 8-bit combat.

[Averax]

I don't quite understand why this is a thing people care about. It doesn't seem to add anything fun or exciting or necessary. In fact, it seems rather annoying. Is it just because they did it in other final fantasy games, and people are just feeling nostalgic?

In a regular RPG environment this kind of stuff works out, but i'm pretty sure it wouldn't pan out in an MMO.

Someone explain, please.

[Fluffya]

Its isnt just Blm who would need twerks.

-Summoner would be useless in a dungeon like Aurim Vale.
-Drk couldnt hold aggro on a pack of void mobs.
-Paladin wouldnt do better agains holy mobs.

-ppl would want to take 10 mins to gears up accordingly to the dungeon they got as roulette.
-24 men raids would be a "lunch break" at every floor.

The elemental changes would be minimal to not destroy a job and would take time to implement.
Its just not worth it.

[Kyros]

They should honestly just scrap the whole thing. That "Resistances" tab is the most useless tab in the game. Ditto for Elemental Materia.

[Myrhn]

Its isnt just Blm who would need twerks.

-Summoner would be useless in a dungeon like Aurim Vale.
-Drk couldnt hold aggro on a pack of void mobs.
-Paladin wouldnt do better agains holy mobs.

I will agree that BLM would need work if they add the elemental wheel, but SMN/SCH/ACN deal unspeacted dmg, that like non-elemental damage. And PLD and DRK are pure physical dmg they dont have any affinity. They look holy and dark respective but they have no actions that suggest that. The only job, beside BLM, that would need to be rework would be WHM/CNJ in any case.

[Fluffya]

Right, i forgot about that.

But the wait time would still be there. Ppl already quit a duty if it take 10 mins to redo it (Step of Faith)
Im pretty sure they would do the same for an elemental heavy duty.

[AlphaFox]

Guess an idea when it comes to elementals is have it kind of like a junction to the weapon in which we can....sadly...farm or gather certain elemental spots to increase that power to a certain degree. Of course then I guess it would be mandatory for most groups then rather than a bonus to DPS. I can't really imagine how to really fix it, though I would like to see it implemented some how. I recall one FC member back on Goblin equipped all the Earth resistance he could (as a test) and said he saw almost no change in Titans attacks.

[Kazzoey]

I totally agree about what you said. But the benefits would just be minimal. It wouldn't be over powering the other equipment at all except in certain areas where it matters. Raid equipment would still be far better overall in most situations due to higher ilvl.

If you used a DF then you would equip your standard gear. If you're a tank going into Ifrit Ex you go ahead and slap in your fire gear for the extra defense. If you're in a perform party you can call out of anyone has any other gear and synergize with them.
It wouldn't be a mandatory system. It would help, but not overtake. And it would greatly benefit crafter's and their gear. An optional system to help if you got it. That was my mind set when thinking this up.

[AlphaFox]

Guess crafters would see a massive need for gear if they were allowed to use the elemental skills on any items or say have the option to use an extra elemental item in any craft to give it a fixed % increase attack/defense of that element. The truly hardcore would have the same set several times over, one for each element.