Anyone here play Final Fantasy XIV?

[Rising Phoenix]

So the story is good?

I found the story in stormblood and the new areas to be quite nice. Eventually put the game back on hiatus when I released that the end game formula is the same (and got bored).


I've mained SCH since well the very beginning. But from what I am reading now healer's have become extremely boring to play and I love being dpsing as a healer. I guess I could always go dps/tank but I hate putting my book in bookshelf.

[Grif]

So the story is good?

I found the story in stormblood and the new areas to be quite nice. Eventually put the game back on hiatus when I released that the end game formula is the same (and got bored).


I've mained SCH since well the very beginning. But from what I am reading now healer's have become extremely boring to play and I love being dpsing as a healer. I guess I could always go dps/tank but I hate putting my book in bookshelf.

SCH got the worst treatment of the three healers. While some of the QOL and buffs they given are nice, they made some really baffling design decisions that I really hope will be rolled back. Sooner, rather than later, if they don't want the class mains to dip out.

Spoiler

Show

In no particular order:
- Aetherflow now needed to cast in combat. Just WHY? Now I need to tell the tank to take it slow for the first pull because there's a very real chance that by the time I pop AF while he's pulling, he'd be already dead because none of my oGCD heals are available.
- Fairy is almost impossible to track in combat. I sure hope you're paying attention because it's very easy to lose Eos in the chaos, and there's no party list to help you see where she is. Also fairy abilities are now oGCD, rather than on the fairy's own cooldown.
- Art of War being basically Miasma II but worse. And cost more mana. And boring. It also drains your mana super quick if you don't pay attention.
- Really, SCH's DPS kit got gutted to hell, and now your choice of DPS is either Broil, Ruin, or Art of War with a dash of Bio. Maybe Chain Strategem if you didn't already pop it.
- No way to dump AF stacks, except by overhealing. Ergegious, especially when you need to do so to build Faerie gauges.

[Ignimortis]

Shadowbringers MSQ is godlike. It's incredibly well-paced (but you'll have to get a lot of EXP from other places, so I'd advise doing every single quest you see before the last zone, also do roulettes). It's mind-blowing with lore bomb and absolutely stunning with presentation. In the last dungeon I got so impressed and hyped for what's to come that I had a hard time hitting my skills.

And that's the opening act of Shadowbringers. I can't imagine how they'll surpass it further on.

Mechanical side, well...DRK got hit hard. Their numbers are fine, mind you, but they play like a WAR now - you're slow and once per 90 seconds go into "spam your best move freely" mode. Gone are the days of crazy APM and having 2.15 recast timers 50% of the time.

[DeTess]

In addition to enjoying the MSQ so far, I'd also like to give a shout-out to this expansion's music. It's unusual at times, but it allays fits so well. I've just entered Rak'Tiqa and got absolutely blown away by the zone's music.

[Wookieetank]

In addition to enjoying the MSQ so far, I'd also like to give a shout-out to this expansion's music. It's unusual at times, but it allays fits so well. I've just entered Rak'Tiqa and got absolutely blown away by the zone's music.

My only beef is some of the combat music is weird, and doens't mesh at all with the style of the zone music. I find myself avoiding combat at times just so I don't have to ruin the zone music with Surprise! electric guitar.

[DeTess]

My only beef is some of the combat music is weird, and doens't mesh at all with the style of the zone music. I find myself avoiding combat at times just so I don't have to ruin the zone music with Surprise! electric guitar.

Yeah, i do agree on this front. With the far more diverse set of music they might have wanted to create a couple of different combat themes. To solve this, you can actually turn 'random encounter' combat music off int he menu iirc.

[Wookieetank]

Yeah, i do agree on this front. With the far more diverse set of music they might have wanted to create a couple of different combat themes. To solve this, you can actually turn 'random encounter' combat music off int he menu iirc.

Groovy, I'll have to look into that once I get on.

I'm also appreciating the fantastical bits they've put into this expansion with the colors and the locations and everything. Its nice knowing SE has colors other than brown, green and white.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Groovy, I'll have to look into that once I get on.

I'm also appreciating the fantastical bits they've put into this expansion with the colors and the locations and everything. Its nice knowing SE has colors other than brown, green and white.

Although some places (avoiding spoilers) are rather low on contrast.

[Grif]

My only beef is some of the combat music is weird, and doens't mesh at all with the style of the zone music. I find myself avoiding combat at times just so I don't have to ruin the zone music with Surprise! electric guitar.

Goodness the electric guitar theme was really bad, IMO. I can get they're trying to get away from the piano/violin combo they been doing for a lot of the content, but it just doesn't mesh. It's alright on its lonesome, though.

That said, they hit it out of the park for the rest of the themes and especially(!) the dungeon boss theme, so 9/10 isn't bad.

[Hunter Noventa]

The battle music is a little out of place sometimes, but it reminds me of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which is good.

Boss and dungeon music has also been spot on too. Soken really stepped up his game and he's very much getting close to the level of Uematsu.

At 76 and working on the MSQ myself, everything is great, the MSQ is so much better than Stormblood, or possibly even Heavensward.

[PhoenixPhyre]

The battle music is a little out of place sometimes, but it reminds me of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which is good.

Boss and dungeon music has also been spot on too. Soken really stepped up his game and he's very much getting close to the level of Uematsu.

At 76 and working on the MSQ myself, everything is great, the MSQ is so much better than Stormblood, or possibly even Heavensward.

At 80 myself...it gets better still. Although the level 79 trial is...painful. Really painful.

[Rising Phoenix]

SCH got the worst treatment of the three healers. While some of the QOL and buffs they given are nice, they made some really baffling design decisions that I really hope will be rolled back. Sooner, rather than later, if they don't want the class mains to dip out.

Spoiler

Show

In no particular order:
- Aetherflow now needed to cast in combat. Just WHY? Now I need to tell the tank to take it slow for the first pull because there's a very real chance that by the time I pop AF while he's pulling, he'd be already dead because none of my oGCD heals are available.
- Fairy is almost impossible to track in combat. I sure hope you're paying attention because it's very easy to lose Eos in the chaos, and there's no party list to help you see where she is. Also fairy abilities are now oGCD, rather than on the fairy's own cooldown.
- Art of War being basically Miasma II but worse. And cost more mana. And boring. It also drains your mana super quick if you don't pay attention.
- Really, SCH's DPS kit got gutted to hell, and now your choice of DPS is either Broil, Ruin, or Art of War with a dash of Bio. Maybe Chain Strategem if you didn't already pop it.
- No way to dump AF stacks, except by overhealing. Ergegious, especially when you need to do so to build Faerie gauges.

That is very, very unfortunate then.

Guess I'll be maining Bard then. May get the expansion this coming weekend.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Just finished the MSQ (right before the server died and won't let me back on). That was...intense.

[Hunter Noventa]

Just finished the MSQ (right before the server died and won't let me back on). That was...intense.

Yeah it was certainly something all right. I was so hype through the whole ending sequence.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Yeah it was certainly something all right. I was so hype through the whole ending sequence.

I consider that last trial to be almost a pitch-perfect fight. Intense, but not because of gotcha mechanics. Everything's telegraphed but still takes effort to avoid/do. And the cutscenes/scenes in the dungeon before it and through it and after it are perfect from a story point of view.

11/10, would play again.

[Hunter Noventa]

I consider that last trial to be almost a pitch-perfect fight. Intense, but not because of gotcha mechanics. Everything's telegraphed but still takes effort to avoid/do. And the cutscenes/scenes in the dungeon before it and through it and after it are perfect from a story point of view.

11/10, would play again.

That final fight...it was like fighting a living heavy metal album cover. And it was great.

[PhoenixPhyre]

That final fight...it was like fighting a living heavy metal album cover. And it was great.

I hadn't thought of it that way, but that makes total sense now you say that.

I thought that the last area reminded me very heavily of certain parts in FFX, which was my favorite other FF (story wise).

[Grif]

Just got to level 77 (waiting on level 78 MSQ). Definitely still keeping pace, the MSQ, unlike SB, where I was actively bored in certain parts. (A significant portion of post-Doma, some parts of Azim Steppes.)

[Wookieetank]

Just got to level 77 (waiting on level 78 MSQ). Definitely still keeping pace, the MSQ, unlike SB, where I was actively bored in certain parts. (A significant portion of post-Doma, some parts of Azim Steppes.)

I think SB also suffered from being yet more war stories, after HW being a centuries long war story. ShB brings us more back to the traditional saving the world feel, with a heavy does of the fantastic, which is a much appreciated change of pace.

Just finished the 75 dungeon myself last night, and they're doing a decent job of keeping the tension up. So much ambiguity going on with a certain spoiler character, really intrigued to see where that ends up. Am kinda surprised they dropped the whole bit with a certain bit of magic causing life altering changes when you use it though.

Spoiler: Magic

Show

First time Flow was used, Y'shtola went blind and Thancred lost his ability to manipulate aether. This time....nothing bad happened? So now its a get out of jail free card, I guess?

[Calemyr]

Got to Rak'tiqa over the long weekend, and enjoyed the hell out of it. Still a ninja, though, because I hate mindless grinding and that's largely the only route to a second MSQ-viable class.

Spoiler: My take so far.

Show

Emet is probably my favorite part so far. He's a lot of fun to watch, even as he makes no bones about his role.

Thancred continues to be fascinating to watch, as he comes to grips with Minfilia's situation.

Y'shtola continues her habit of adopting impressive costumes. Didn't think I'd like her new aesthetic based on the trailer, but she wears it very well. Her behavior is off-putting, though. I'll admit I haven't seen much of her yet, but she seems to have much more of an edge to her than my favorite Scion used to.

Il Mehg is probably my favorite zone so far, given it's flat out manic fever dream aesthetic. The fact that the instance dungeon reminded me of a psychotic mini-golf course only adds to the impression.

Kind of annoyed I haven't had the opportunity to get a pixie pet or one of those four-winged birds as a mount. Looked like there was going to be a questline leading to the latter (helping the young outsider bird after he ate a no mou's familiar) and Titania all but promised the former. I'm sure they will come in time, but they gift-wrapped opportunities to hand them out and still passed over it.

I love what they've been doing with Ardbert. He's like a less pissed-off analogue of Fray, but coming from the perspective of being one of the few people more veteran and possibly more badass than the Warrior. It's not been hard to imagine that the Warrior's going to end up like him - that they'll just keep jousting larger and larger targets until something breaks them. The worst (or possibly the best) bit is the feeling I get that the Warrior fully knows that ending is inevitable and invests themselves in getting as much done before that time as possible.

[Grif]

Got to Rak'tiqa over the long weekend, and enjoyed the hell out of it. Still a ninja, though, because I hate mindless grinding and that's largely the only route to a second MSQ-viable class.

Spoiler: My take so far.

Show

Emet is probably my favorite part so far. He's a lot of fun to watch, even as he makes no bones about his role.

Thancred continues to be fascinating to watch, as he comes to grips with Minfilia's situation.

Y'shtola continues her habit of adopting impressive costumes. Didn't think I'd like her new aesthetic based on the trailer, but she wears it very well. Her behavior is off-putting, though. I'll admit I haven't seen much of her yet, but she seems to have much more of an edge to her than my favorite Scion used to.

Il Mehg is probably my favorite zone so far, given it's flat out manic fever dream aesthetic. The fact that the instance dungeon reminded me of a psychotic mini-golf course only adds to the impression.

Kind of annoyed I haven't had the opportunity to get a pixie pet or one of those four-winged birds as a mount. Looked like there was going to be a questline leading to the latter (helping the young outsider bird after he ate a no mou's familiar) and Titania all but promised the former. I'm sure they will come in time, but they gift-wrapped opportunities to hand them out and still passed over it.

I love what they've been doing with Ardbert. He's like a less pissed-off analogue of Fray, but coming from the perspective of being one of the few people more veteran and possibly more badass than the Warrior. It's not been hard to imagine that the Warrior's going to end up like him - that they'll just keep jousting larger and larger targets until something breaks them. The worst (or possibly the best) bit is the feeling I get that the Warrior fully knows that ending is inevitable and invests themselves in getting as much done before that time as possible.

Spoiler

Show

I have bad news for you. Getting the Amaro apparently requires getting all DOM/W classes to 80. Definitely one out of my reach if that requirements stay. As Tome indicated below, only ALL role quests.

[DeTess]

Spoiler: Magic

Show

First time Flow was used, Y'shtola went blind and Thancred lost his ability to manipulate aether. This time....nothing bad happened? So now its a get out of jail free card, I guess?

Spoiler: more magic

Show

I think the main thing preventing problems this time was that Y'shtola got pulled out within hours of going in, rather than staying in for days like the previous time. So its only a 'get out of jail free' card if someone's around to rescue you very quickly afterwards.

[Tome]

Spoiler: Magic

Show

First time Flow was used, Y'shtola went blind and Thancred lost his ability to manipulate aether. This time....nothing bad happened? So now its a get out of jail free card, I guess?

Spoiler

Show

There's the time factor as Detess mentioned, but also that Emet-Selch is really, really good at manipulating aether. Y'shtola getting out without additional consequences is pretty much soley down to him deciding to help you.

Spoiler: End of MSQ spoiler

Show

And since the only other un-sundered ascian remaining is Elidibus, we can safely assume that the others lack the ability as well as the inclination to help if she plays that card a third time.

Spoiler

Show

I have bad news for you. Getting the Amaro apparently requires getting all DOM/W classes to 80. Definitely one out of my reach if that requirements stay.

Spoiler: Clarification

Show

Not all jobs, just all role quests. Which means a tank, a healer, a physical dps and a magic dps. Three classes, if you choose SCH/SMN as your healer/caster.

[Hunter Noventa]

Spoiler: more magic

Show

I think the main thing preventing problems this time was that Y'shtola got pulled out within hours of going in, rather than staying in for days like the previous time. So its only a 'get out of jail free' card if someone's around to rescue you very quickly afterwards.

Spoiler: Maximum Magic

Show

Also, Emet is probably a LOT better at this kind of thing than anyone else. It was probably, in fact, harder for him to do it and cause no damage than it would be to lay some kind of trap, given what we learn later.

[Grif]

Spoiler

Show

There's the time factor as Detess mentioned, but also that Emet-Selch is really, really good at manipulating aether. Y'shtola getting out without additional consequences is pretty much soley down to him deciding to help you.

Spoiler: End of MSQ spoiler

Show

And since the only other un-sundered ascian remaining is Elidibus, we can safely assume that the others lack the ability as well as the inclination to help if she plays that card a third time.

Spoiler: Clarification

Show

Not all jobs, just all role quests. Which means a tank, a healer, a physical dps and a magic dps. Three classes, if you choose SCH/SMN as your healer/caster.

Spoiler

Show

Oh! That makes it much more manageable. I amended my post to point any future posters to your post instead.

[Togath]

Kind of random question for folks further along; why does Grade 7 dark matter seem so weirdly stable in Marketboard price? I don't think I've ever seen it dip below 280-ish on my server.
Are later vendors for it further from the marketboards than the ARR ones?

[Grif]

Kind of random question for folks further along; why does Grade 7 dark matter seem so weirdly stable in Marketboard price? I don't think I've ever seen it dip below 280-ish on my server.
Are later vendors for it further from the marketboards than the ARR ones?

I seen NPC vendors for it in Shadowbringers areas so that would explain why.

[Wookieetank]

Thanks for the points of clarifications.

Finally made it to 77 last night and Amh Araeng round 2. For whatever reason, I really don't care for the desert zones in XIV. I can tell they put a lot of effort into them, and they have all sorts of interesting features, but if given a choice I avoid them like the plague. *shrug*

[LaZodiac]

I just started (Zalera server, Lancer, just turned Dragoon) so I'll try to follow this thread without spoiling myself, cause I do want to be more active with stuff like this. I've got a question, though.

I have a really hard time mentally understanding how the other classes work, and no real time to play them. How do the other DPS classes even... do anything, when it looks like all their numbers are so small compared to my nonsense near zero-effort combos?

[DeTess]

I have a really hard time mentally understanding how the other classes work, and no real time to play them. How do the other DPS classes even... do anything, when it looks like all their numbers are so small compared to my nonsense near zero-effort combos?

What makes you think their numbers are much smaller than yours?