Hype for Final Fantasy XIV expansion Endwalker has gone straight through the roof with the new job actions and adjustments announced in the latest Producer’s Live Letter.
With Endwalker’s early access less than two months away, player hype is at an all-time high. Final Fantasy XIV’s director and producer Yoshida Naoki and global community manager Murouchi Toshio recently sat down to share (via translator Tokutake Aimi) some of the changes made to existing jobs and job actions, as well as showcase the two new jobs that Endwalker is bringing to the table.
While there is no new job system for existing jobs, some of them have gotten an almost complete overhaul. We will be covering the changes made to the roles and role actions as a whole before diving in to look at Reaper and Sage, along with the adjustments made to each existing job.
Generic changes
Starting with the general changes – the recast time of primary abilities will be adjusted to align with 60-second or 120-second timers. While not all abilities will be adjusted, it will definitely make aligning partywide buffs much easier. We will first take a look at the overall role changes before going into each job.
Tanks will get more benefits from using their mitigation-related actions. Timing will become more important, with the player getting rewarded for using their mitigation at optimal times, as well as using their mitigation along with their other actions. The individual gap closers for tanks have also been adjusted to be usable from 20 yalms away instead of the previous 15 yalms.
Additionally, to help make tank (and by extension, melee DPS) gameplay smoother, combos will no longer be broken by ranged attacks. You heard that right – no more lamenting that broken combo as you fire off a ranged attack while running out of a point-blank AoE ground marker. To help with this, physical and magical damage on weapons will be adjusted, and changes will be made to the potencies of the relevant actions.
Healers will be getting new actions that apply single-target buffs. The healer limit break’s area of effect has also been increased to 50 malms. No more Diamond Weapon LB3 memes, from the looks of it!
This is one of the few fights that reminds me that Healer LB3 has a range.
Today's Patreon cameo is @ArielTimeshrine 's WHM, who is doing their best!#FFXIV #FF14 pic.twitter.com/x799eJMHno
— N'yans ARTingway (@nyansarts) June 19, 2021
That’s not all – the cast time of their offensive actions will be reduced to 1.5 seconds to prevent it from eating into the global cooldown timer. They may be healers, but…
Melee DPS get a buff to the role action Feint, which reduces incoming physical and magical damage, though the physical damage reduction is significantly more than the magical damage reduction. As previously mentioned in the tank changes, potencies will be adjusted accordingly in order to facilitate smoother and more balanced gameplay.
Physical Ranged DPS are getting the cooldowns of their damage mitigation skills adjusted to 90 seconds. Additional damage adjustments are still a work in progress.
For Magical Ranged DPS, Addle (their equivalent of Feint) has been adjusted to also mitigate incoming physical damage, albeit at a lower rate compared to its magical damage mitigation.
In addition to role-wide changes, Endwalker has also brought with it a variety of new job actions and adjustments.
Tank
Paladin is getting a three-part combo for their job action Confiteor. Intervene, their gap closer, is having its ranged increased by an additional 5 yalms. Not only that, Requiescat’s effectiveness will remain the same regardless of your remaining MP.
Dark Knight is getting a new single-target defence buff, and Salted Earth is getting a much needed adjustment – it now affects the area around the player instead of prompting you to place it. The developers have noted that many players tend to macro the action to the target to save time instead of placing it manually, so this is a very welcome quality of life change.
Esteem will also gain a new job action on the road to Endwalker‘s level 90 cap. Delirium’s recast has been adjusted to 60 seconds, and Plunge – their gap closer – is getting its range extended.
Gunbreaker’s hotbar will hopefully become less cluttered with these changes; Savage Claw and Wicked Talon will swap for Gnashing Fang, freeing up space on the hotbar. Continuation will be able to be used after Burst Strike, and a new trait will increase the maximum number of cartridges in your gauge to three. Rough Divide’s effective range has also been adjusted to match the other tanks’ gap closers.
Warrior’s damage-up effects can now be triggered and extended by its AoE attack combo, and Onslaught/Upheaval will no longer drain the Beast Gauge. Inner Release will have its recast timer adjusted to 60 seconds, with a new action available upon execution. Onslaught will have its maximum amount of charges extended to three, also leading to a new action that allows for more mobility. Nascent Flash appears to be getting an upgrade as well.
Healers
White Mages will get a new functionally and visually distinct restorative field action. White Mage is largely considered to be the ‘pure healer’ job, with an extremely high healing output, capable of burst healing the party rapidly. Holy, their signature AoE attack that has the added benefit of stunning all mobs within its range, will also be upgraded. This upgraded Holy will also add to the Lily Gauge. Fluid Aura will be removed, and Divine Benison will become a charged action, similar to the current Astrologian’s Essential Dignity.
Astrologian’s Diurnal and Nocturnal Sect system is getting removed entirely in order to skew it towards the ‘pure healer’ end of the spectrum. As such, the basic healing actions will be adjusted to have the same effects they would have under Diurnal Sect, though Neutral Sect will still provide some shield properties.
Divination’s effect, along with the various seals, has been changed in order to make it less RNG-based. Depending on the seals you get, you may apply some enhancements to yourself. Redraw will no longer be a charged action, but you may Redraw once every time you draw a card. Minor Arcana will be adjusted, and an AoE spell with both healing and offensive properties will be added.
Scholar is getting a new unique job action that will enhance the party’s movement speed, much like the physical ranged DPS role action Peloton – except that it can be used while in combat. It should be noted, however, that the buff is not continuous, and will not overlap with Sprint. Additionally, Scholar will also receive a powerful single-target enhancement, and is being adjusted to become more of a shield-based healer.
Sage, one of the two new Endwalker jobs, has been revealed to be a shield-based healer with job actions that let you attack while healing a designated party member at the same time. It has its own unique resource for healing enhancements and damage, with the chance to inflict a DoT effect when your attacks hit an enemy. Players can also build up ‘Adder’s Gall’ in order to execute instant shields to mitigate incoming damage. The most noteworthy thing, however, is its job action Icarus, which is a gap closer – aptly named for when you need to save a party member who has flown too close to the sun. This makes Sage the first healer to have a gap closer, which greatly increases its overall mobility.
Melee DPS
Dragoon’s AoE rotation has been expanded to include a new action upon the successful execution of its weaponskill combo rotation. Blood of the Dragon is now a trait, and the actions revolving around it will be adjusted accordingly. Spineshatter Dive will be getting an additional charge, and Lance Charge’s recast timer will be adjusted to 60 seconds.
Monk bids farewell to its Greased Lightning stacks, and instead gets a lower level unlock for its Chakras. There will also be a Yin/Yang Chakra that will activate different skills. When the conditions are fulfilled, Perfect Balance will allow for the execution of a Masterful Blitz. The available Blitz depends on what weaponskills were used when the player was under the effects of Perfect Balance – sticking true to Monk’s signature style of rapidly blasting through skills.
Shoulder Tackle will be replaced with a new gap closer that allows Monks to move towards a target ally, similar to Black Mage’s Aetherial Manipulation. Another thing of note is that True Strike/Twin Snakes will not longer have a directional requirement.
Ninja will be getting additional actions linked to Raiton, Doton, and Huton, along with an action that makes it easier to apply Huton. Raijin and Bunshin will get specific actions attached to them. Ninja is already busy enough with its Mudras, so the developers are trying not to make it even busier. As such, there are currently no plans for a 4th Mudra. Shadow Fang will be removed, so players will not have to worry about applying and refreshing its DoT.
Samurai will be getting a new action stemming from Iaijutsu and Tsubame-gaeshi, and the effects granted by Jinpu and Shifu can now be applied by its AoE combos. The developers wanted to expand on a pure melee DPS in Endwalker, so a majority of the focus has been on new job actions. Tsubame-gaeshi and Meikyo Shisui have been adjusted to two charges, allowing for more wiggle room in your opener. When players are in the third part of their rotation and are under the effect of Meikyo Shisui, they will be granted the effect of the second action in their rotation.
Reaper is the second of the two new jobs made available in Endwalker. The job actions trailer shows us a good number of its appropriately edgy job actions, including a gap closer that allows you to move forwards or backwards. It is very much ‘void gate’ themed, and may take some getting used to.
Reapers use a scythe to attack alongside their avatar, and serve as the avatar’s vessel in order to unleash devastating attacks. The base combo has no positionals, but the avatar does. Reaper’s tempo is quite fast, and the pacing is very different from previous melee jobs, with a lot of resource and gauge management involved. The team had anticipated Reaper’s popularity and wanted to make it low difficulty, but also fun to play and rewarding to master.
Physical Ranged DPS
Bard’s three songs will each get an upgrade, leading to new actions and new party-wide buffs. Wanderer’s Minuet and Battle Voice have been adjusted to 120 seconds to facilitate better buff alignment, and Apex Arrow will lead to a new action after it has been successfully executed.
Machinist gets a cool chainsaw action, and the Automaton Queen will also receive a new action. Additionally, Reassemble will now have two charges. There have been some changes made to job actions, but the overall job design has not changed.
Dancer’s Technical Finish, Improvisation and Devilment will lead to new actions upon successful execution, and their weaponskill effects such as Flourishing Cascade will be shared across single-target and AoE skills. Esprit is also guaranteed to build for the Dancer themselves. Overall, the job will mostly remain the same, with the procs between its single-target and AoE combos made simpler. In order to save hotbar slots, buttons will be switched to single or AoE ‘mode’ based on the Step you have selected.
Magical Ranged DPS
Black Mages no longer have to worry about keeping up Enochian – it will become a trait that is automatically applied while the player is under the effect of Astral Fire or Umbral Ice. This will hopefully let new players grasp Black Mage’s kit more easily. Under certain conditions, swapping between Astral Fire and Umbral Ice will unlock new actions, including a flashy-looking one that appears to be a combination of fire and ice.
Similar to Samurai, the developers wanted to make Black Mage a pure magic DPS job. In order to accommodate the additional repeated steps in the rotation, the proc for Fire IV and Thunder has been extended. Fire II and Blizzard II will have one more additional step, meaning that the AoE rotation has been extended. Sharpcast will also receive an additional charge in order to match the adjustments made to the overall battle tempo.
Red Mage will be getting a new defensive party-wide buff called Magic Barrier, and a new action will be available upon the successful execution of Scorch. Additionally, Verflare, Verholy and Scorch will become AoEs, and will be available as part of the AoE rotation. Black and White mana depletion has been reduced, and there will be a lot of small-scale changes and new actions to look forward to, including weaponskill adjustments.
Manafication has been adjusted to increase the potency of the burst rotation/opener at the start of the battle, and Black/White mana accretion has also been changed due to the frequency of procs. Displacement and Engagement will now have the same potency, and Embolden’s recast will be adjusted to 120 seconds while Manafication’s is adjusted to 110 seconds.
Summoner is one of the jobs that is getting a significant overhaul in Endwalker, with many job actions being reworked, and in some cases, removed entirely. DoTs – an integral part of the Summoner kit – will be done away with, taking with them the job actions Bane and Fester, which revolve around spreading DoTs and dealing additional damage based on how many of said DoTs are on the enemy.
thank you Bane for everything all these years, rest well pic.twitter.com/R657bBPxXh
— Larryzaur (@Larryzaur) September 18, 2021
The developers wanted to focus more on the ‘summoning’ aspect of the job, so in light of that, Summoners will be able to summon Ifrit, Titan, and Garuda in Endwalker – not just as egis. ‘Ifrit Ruby’, ‘Titan Topaz’, and ‘Garuda Emerald’ can be summoned through jewels indicated on the updated job gauge, and will augment your base abilities with additional elemental properties.
Players will still be able to summon Demi-Bahamut. The rotation works as such; you summon Demi-Bahamut, get an elemental property, summon Ifrit/Titan/Garuda based on the property you have, then finish off with Phoenix once all of your elemental properties have been depleted. Ifrit/Titan/Garuda have no fixed summoning order, and their actions will be condensed, allowing for more hotbar space.
There was a lot of debate surrounding the removal of Resurrection, but it was ultimately decided that it would still be kept, along with – funnily enough – Physick, which is an almost negligible heal at level 80.
That’s all we’ve got for now, please bear in mind that all of these changes are subject to further testing and adjustments.
You can watch the Endwalker job action trailer below, and preorder the Endwalker expansion here.
