Will Parry become worthwhile in the next patch?

[dragonseth07]

Hello! I've been looking around at PLD gear discussions, and Parry seems to be considered absolute trash, on every class forever. Is this something that is likely to be changing any time soon, do we know?

[Martin_Arcainess]

Yeah Yoshida said that 4.X will bring changes to Parry, god only knows it needs it.

[ADVSS]

Supposedly, they did make big changes to it for HW which inevitably made it even less desirable, so we'll see

[Neophyte]

I don't think they ever stated exactly when, but I think they said, that they would overwork parry in 3.4(?)+ or with the next expansion.

Producer LIVE Part XXVIII Digest (2016/04/12)
0:08:17
Q: Is there any way to add a noticeable utility to the parry stat on tank equipment?

A: As of Patch 3.2 it's possible to meld materia into the new equipment sets, and we're aware that many tank players are not choosing parry when they are considering which materia to meld into their equipment, focusing on determination or critical hit rate instead. I’ve been discussing this with the development team, and they said that the parry calculation is based on a gradual curve, so even if players were to focus on parry, it wouldn’t have any noticeable effect because the rate at which enemy damage is mitigated would not necessarily increase. However, this is tied to large-scale system changes, and while I can't give an official comment just yet, we are looking into whether we can make adjustments in Patch 3.4, when the item level is increased, or around Patch 4.0.

[Kosmos992k]

I’ve been discussing this with the development team, and they said that the parry calculation is based on a gradual curve, so even if players were to focus on parry, it wouldn’t have any noticeable effect because the rate at which enemy damage is mitigated would not necessarily increase.

I love this quote, the short version is "I talked to the devs and they said that Parry is pointless too."

In the next patch I doubt any major changes, but perhaps in 4.0...

[Nalien]

Just change Parry to Counter already... People don't like Parry because it's purely a mitigation stat, they'll take Critical Hit Rate and Determination over it every time because those stats increase damage... Make Parry into Counter, and it is potentially a solid DPS increase... Suddenly you're not just mitigating 20%, you're throwing out an additional auto-attack... The amount the stat improves rate would still need adjustment, arguably more so with it also providing a light DPS increase, but I just don't think it'll ever be a popular stat without something more...

Arguably that could break tanks somewhat, but after the Vitality/Strength changes... Excuse me while I don't care... Raw Intuition might need an adjustment, would be interesting to see how Counter would function with Sword Oath as well, if that provides an additional 50 potency on Counters as well, then Paladin gets slightly more interesting IMO... Dark Knight wouldn't change much IMO, other than actually having reason to gear the stat...

Would also be nice for "Parry" and Block to not be almost functionally identical... There's an almost arbitrary distinction between the two... I suppose that's another alternative though; Remove Parry from gear, and instead make it an additional function of weapons, the same way Block Rate/Strength is solely a function of Shields...

Itemization is boned in this game whatever they do, though... Stats just don't have the kind of impact that makes specific builds rewarding, none of them do... Itemization is more of a formality in this game, a justification for two pieces of gear with the same item level to exist... People are always just going to pick the best stat, because there is no reason not to... OK, no matter what there will always be a "best" option, but if itemization does its job, and the balancing is tight enough, I don't personally care... It's more about making a build that plays the way you enjoy, but stats here just don't inform gameplay nearly enough to allow for that... They could honestly remove all the stats and just have us chase item levels, and I don't think we'd notice that much of a difference...

[Jpec07]

People don't like Parry because it's purely a mitigation stat

Nope. People hate Parry because it has a really crappy scaling rate, because the combat table sets almost everything against it, and because it doesn't provide a meaningful impact on group success (there isn't enough incoming damage outside of tankbusters for it to feel worthwhile, and tankbusters are almost always predictable). Upgrading to a piece of gear with more Def/MDef is going to see infinitely better mitigation returns than even moving from a full-Crit piece to a full-Parry piece, and when you compare that feeble amount of mitigation to the potential of killing a boss 1% faster, it isn't worth it.

I'd really like for Parry to become a more worthwhile stat, but SE would need to make a lot of changes for that to be the case. For a rundown on it, take a look at this thread: Four Ways to Die - Why the Tank Meta Feels "Off". The gist is that in a world where the biggest threat to your survival comes in the form of a single, highly-predictable period of high incoming damage, the value of passive survival is greatly diminished. Now, this is changed slightly in Midas (that thread was written during Gordias), but it is still considered best practice for tanks to get "enough" mitigation to survive the tankbusters, and then focus on maximizing damage output--there simply isn't a great enough need for extra survivability beyond that point.

It would feel good to need to be un-killable, but the game would need to take a big shift for that to happen.

[Deathgiver]

The problem with parry isn't the scaling, it's the facts that:

1. It does nothing for you when off tanking.
2. Even when MT it is only effective if you're being hit frequently
3. It only applies to physical attacks

Adding a counter-attack would be a step in the right direction, but still doesn't address the first point. I'm sure there are other reasons that make it undesirable besides these, just the top 3 off the top of my head.

[Nalien]

Adding a counter-attack would be a step in the right direction, but still doesn't address the first point. I'm sure there are other reasons that make it undesirable besides these, just the top 3 off the top of my head.

Hmm... Well, I'm incline to think they should just remove Parry outright and treat it the same as Evasion... Replace it with Counter, and just give it some synergy with tanking... Something like;

"Grants a chance to preform an additional auto-attack every time your current target attacks, with an increased chance to Counter upon blocking, parrying, or dodging an attack".

That's still worthwhile when not tanking, it's just improved while tanking...

Really though... They could remove all stats and treat them like Evasion, and I'm not sure I'd notice... Itemization is just pathetic in this game... Secondary stats really need to have a more noticeable impact, IMO... People will always go for the best option here, because that's kinda the only option... If things worked differently, I could see people going for something like Critical Hit Rate + Skill Speed, because that combination is rewarding... Critical Hit Rate + Determination might still be superior, but if these stats had more of an impact, I can see the rational that would lead someone for favoring Skill Speed instead... It's a logical combination, more of your hits are critical, and you're getting more hits in... If the result of that combination was actually noticeable, I'm sure it would be satisfying to build your character in that way, even if it's not technically the best option... I mean, gearing Skill Speed can be noticeable, but for the wrong reasons... It's a really dumb stat in that regard, if you build it specifically you'll just run out of TP quicker and it's slowing you down instead... That's like making it so too much Accuracy has you missing more than you were with too little...

There is really just no satisfaction in stats, IMO... Parry is kind of the epitome of that... A Parry build is not satisfying, because it just doesn't do anything, even if you're main tanking... If it had a noticeable impact, then I could get the desire to gear for it... You wont always be the main tank, but you geared it for the satisfaction it brings when you are the main tank...

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Hmm... Well, I'm incline to think they should just remove Parry outright and treat it the same as Evasion... Replace it with Counter, and just give it some synergy with tanking... Something like;

"Grants a chance to preform an additional auto-attack every time your current target attacks, with an increased chance to Counter upon blocking, parrying, or dodging an attack".

The problem with Parry is it's entirely RNG based. You cannot structure your build around something like that, especially not mitigation. Even changing it to a potential free auto attack wouldn't make it worthwhile because Crit/Det is guaranteed damage throughout the fight.