Do auto-attacks serve any meaningful purpose?

[Amenara]

Builds PLD gauge.

I do think it'd be cool if auto attacks had more of an interaction with your kit like with a chance for a proc of some sort or lowering CDs.

[OgruMogru]

<thwack!> 1
<thwack!> 1
<thwack!> 1!!
<thwack!> 1

[Jkap_Goat]

auto attacks work in FFXI Because you build TP to do your weapon skill, or so you can work with your teammates and Skillchain

auto attacks in FFXIV is useless

[vetch]

Do auto-attacks serve any meaningful purpose?

The current design of FF14's combat means that players are constantly doing basic bread-and-butter manual attacks even when they aren't doing big cool attacks...so also doing basic attacks that are automated seems redundant.

But that's just me; curious if others may have insights that I'm missing.

It's something to min-max when you get dumped into 1-60 content as a caster or healer. 1-60 gameplay is already sparse enough that I wouldn't be happy if yet another thing were removed from it.

[xbahax92]

Good question, will be removed by next expansion. Dont worry!

[Zadood]

Speaking of Auto Attack, I wonder will there be a class would you refresh you job action cool down by auto attacking enemy?

Ya know, like Xenoblade 2 combat, or Agnian/Agnus Character from Xenoblade 3.

[Silhart]

I would love if auto-attacks had more interaction with the job kits. Now that MNK gets 10 stack chakra during Brotherhood, I would find it fun & kinda hilarious if auto-attacks could generate Chakra on crit as well. Would open up some interesting synergy with Riddle of Wind, which right now is also kind of a weird button to press.

Removing auto attack would enable them to make our active potency higher, and it would feel like we are in control of our entire output. I agree that they are meaningless and I would describe them as archaic.

It would also mean that melee jobs end up being punished even harder for drifting their CDs or not keeping their GCD rolling. Personally I wouldn't mind that, but given how you constantly advocate for job gameplay to be easier, it's interesting--funny, yet somehow unsurprising to see you in favour of a change that would actually screw you and you specifically over. And for that reason I am now hoping auto attacks get removed

[Iscah]

But we have an example of jobs that don't do them - casters, because they are, well, casting. SMN, not so much casting but still technically a caster so the autos don't happen.

Even for a full-time casting mage like a low-level healer, you get auto-attacks hitting after every second GCD or so, and at low levels it is actually a reasonable amount of damage per turn. Not a lot, but enough that you're probably defeating things slightly quicker than you would otherwise, especially if solo.

[Enkidoh]

Well you would be wrong, they didn't have AA's in 1.0, they added them in ARR, because turns out having your character just stand there like a plumb in front of the enemy for nearly 3s in-between weaponskills is really really jarring.

Only at 1.0's launch - autoattack was added to 1.0 in a later patch, after Yoshi took over as producer and director from Tanaka, and the battle system was redesigned from the ground up, as a test bed for ARR. 1.0 autoattack actually did contribute to building the TP gauge in order to use weaponskills and the like, as 1.0 the TP gauge started at zero, like FFXI, as you said. ARR swapped the TP gauge to being full at start however, so autoattack thus lost that particular use.

ARR autoattack was useful for tanks to help keep hate on ourselves when DPS=enmity as every hit you did built up more hate. Naturally that's no longer the case.

[Azureskies01]

do you want your ninja, monk, or any small weapon/quick weapon melee to look like they are simple jack-ing around a boss because there are no autos? Sure you can make the argument that they dont have to be in the game and you'd be right but what exactly are they hurting?

This is the kinda -redacted- -redacted- that these forums have for ideas, things that don't really need changing but would be a headache for the dev team to do.

"The eye reflections are bad, change them!"

*dev changes them*

"Not like that!!!"