Level 100 and Beyond

[Amenara]

I think buggering about with level squishes or new levelling systems once we reach Lv100 is a horrible idea that tries to solve a relatively simple problem with an obtuse solution. We have an established character progression path that flows relatively smoothly (if not a bit too quickly). 50 levels on the base game and then 10 levels per Expansion, and that works fine.

Other RPG's have level caps beyond 100 and its not without precedence in FF either. The only good argument for not going past 100 I've seen is that it could be daunting to newcomers to see that they have 110 or 150 levels ahead of them. But, by that point they'll have the base game and 6+ expansions to make their way through anyway which would be a far more daunting prospect than the levels.

I think the FFXIV problem is that there is no job ability system outside of what you learn from leveling up, which means one of two things is going to happen with more and more levels being added: you are going to have ability bloat from adding new skills every expansion, or you are going to have more of the current problem where jobs get thinned out to prevent bloat which means your job won't feel complete until higher and higher levels which is a disincentive for new players as the gameplay gets more and more stale.

[Tiramu]

I think the FFXIV problem is that there is no job ability system outside of what you learn from leveling up, which means one of two things is going to happen with more and more levels being added: you are going to have ability bloat from adding new skills every expansion, or you are going to have more of the current problem where jobs get thinned out to prevent bloat which means your job won't feel complete until higher and higher levels which is a disincentive for new players as the gameplay gets more and more stale.

Sure, button bloat is a thing. But, making abilities scale intuitively (i.e. Cure > Cure 2), and consistently across jobs would help, and making future use of more upgrading abilities could help mitigate against bloat. Also cutting fluff.

[Amenara]

Sure, button bloat is a thing. But, making abilities scale intuitively (i.e. Cure > Cure 2), and consistently across jobs would help, and making future use of more upgrading abilities could help mitigate against bloat. Also cutting fluff.

I agree, I have been an advocate of redoing the level of skill acquisition for a while and I want SE to give all jobs the majority of their kit by level 50 and finish fleshing it out after that through a few new abilities and traits instead of having most jobs feel very incomplete till after level 60 or 70. It is already a problem with SE's design philosophy and without them changing that it will only feel worse as the level cap gets higher and higher.

[Tiramu]

I agree, I have been an advocate of redoing the level of skill acquisition for a while and I want SE to give all jobs the majority of their kit by level 50 and finish fleshing it out after that through a few new abilities and traits instead of having most jobs feel very incomplete till after level 60 or 70. It is already a problem with SE's design philosophy and without them changing that it will only feel worse as the level cap gets higher and higher.

I agree on this, I think we could clear a fair few buttons from jobs even without changing current skill acquisition, and clear quite a few through adjusting how skills are activated (i.e. more job gauge or job mechanics stuff). We have a tendency to throw more buttons at it through progression, often leaving obsolete buttons lying around or adding a button for something that could be an upgrade for something else, or a job a job gauge or mechanics buff.

For what its worth, here is what I'd do for a few jobs.


White Mage:
Cure direct upgrade into Cure 2
Medica direct upgrade into Medica 2
Cure 3 rename to Curaga
Swiftcast upgrade and merge with Thin Air turning the 2 buttons into 1 (they're typically used in combo anyway, and are so infrequently used that turning a 3 button combo into a 2 button combo isn't affecting job depth).
Remove Lucid Dreaming and turn it into a job gauge ability that requires activation
Could do the above with Presence of Mind too tbh.

So thats 5 or 6 buttons removed from WHM - a job that currently doesn't fill an entire 3 hotbar setup.

Then, I'd like to see them adjust the DPS skills and give us a Healer/DPS swing job gauge where we can shift power into DPS or Healing abilities and activate buffs, a bit like BLM. So shifting to healer would improve healing potency at the expense of DPS and increase MP regen, and DPS mode improves damage output at the expense of healing potency and improve cast times. Lv90+ content could then see us get new tiers of spells that replace the ones we have and expand the job gauge more. I think WHM, the quintessential FF healer, should be a low skill floor, high ceiling type job a bit like BLM - easy to pick up and play but difficult to master and optimise.



Astrologian:
Benefic upgrade into Benefic 2.
Helios upgrade into Aspected Helios
Remove Undraw (Draw already redraws a card, maybe have a timeout on the drawn card)
Make Lucid Dreaming a passive job gauge ability, different mechanics to WHM but its barely needed and again, do your job gauge mechanics right and get your buffs

4 buttons removed, but they could also turn a few abilities into Job Gauge buffs, like having Aspected Helios upgrade into Celestial Opposition via job gauge buff.


Black Mage:
A little harder because its one of the tightest jobs in the game for ability usage. But there are opportunities for upgraded spells here, and lots of them.

Rename tier II spells to -aga
Have Blizzard I upgrade directly into Blizzard II since it's never used
Have Fire I upgrade directly into Fire II (have a Fire IV chain combo reset the timer, serving the same purpose as Fire I does now at higher levels)
Scathe upgrade into Despair
Remove Lucid Dreaming (serves no purpose at all)


Personally, I wouldn't mind most personal buffs that we keep on cooldown being whooped and moved over into the job gauge where we have to activate them through job mechanics.