Class details, Beta info & Battle System Details! (Famitsu&Dengeki 3/25 issue)

[Elmer the Pointy]

I'm still working on getting all the pretty pictures up, but I know everyone just wants the juicy details.

Keep in mind that some details could change as some ideas were conjecture, some could be affected through player feedback, some will be different in the official site translation, etc.

Here's the link to the article if you want to be awesome and give it a thank you click
http://ffxiv.zam.com/story.html?story=21825

EDIT: New info from Dengeki as well!

Dengeki Class and Beta Q&A

They go over some details on the alpha/beta testing and general gameplay stuff regarding classes and battles. Like Famitsu, they also went class-by-class and got developer comments on each one.

Dengeki Games came out today and gave us just a lil' bit more. About 1/4 of the questions are reprints from the previous interview, but there's a smidgen more on the beta (testing times separated by region) and details on the UI picture.

Dengeki Games - Mini Q&A

↓This is the Famitsu article ↓

Battles in Final Fantasy XIV

- First, give us an overall image of battles in FFXIV.

Okada: Players can fight in parties or go solo in FFXIV, but the monsters can be in parties as well. There will be battles where it is "party vs. party." Battles won't be fought by pulling enemies back to a set camp, but rather we are envisioning players moving about as they fight. [Elmer Point: think nomad camp style]



- So the feeling is you rotate from enemy spawn point to spawn point with some healing in-between?

Okada: Yes. But, one of the aspects of FFXIV is that you don't recover MP. Of course, that isn't to say there is no way to do so; there will be abilities players can learn to recover MP, Aetheryte will heal both HP and MP, among other methods.

Iwao: Don't think of it as individual encounters, but as managing your MP over the course of a one, prologned battle comprised of a number of fights.

Sato: When everyone goes to a certain place to accomplish some goal, it is important to manage your MP in a way that allows it to last until you achieve that final goal. There will also be classes that serve as "MP controllers" that can help manage the MP of the party.

http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/159900.jpg

- Looking at this chart, is it safe to say each class has their own specific range from which they attack?

Sato: Yes. In FFXIV, one's position, as well as the position and orientation of the enemy, has a large effect on battles. Following that line of reasoning, there will be appropriate distances for classes that maximize their effectiveness.

Iwao: We plan to have enemy classes follow these rules as well, and also include some techniques they can use in conjunction with each other. The idea is a battle where you are constantly moving, trying to attain the best position. So when it's party vs. party, this can get really exciting. It's not about sitting in one spot and striking away at an enemy; the player needs to consider the enemy's position and act accordingly.

Sato: It's not an action game, but there's a little taste of action in there.



- So if players need to move around during battle looking for the sweet spot, wouldn't this make close-combat classes much easier to play?

iwao: Close combat classes need to more aware of their orientation, while ranged classes must pay particular attention to distance.

Sato: When fighting close combat, your orientation will have different effects. I wouldn't say fighting close up is any easier than fighting at a distance.

Iwao: Also, there is the important factor of "area of effect." This mostly comes into play with magic, but there are many techniques utilized by classes outside the Disciples of Magic that have areas of effect.

Sato: We want you to think of the area in which you do battle as really your party's space -- a place where you work together. To that end, attacks with an area of effect will be even more important this time around.

Iwao: There are several aspects to areas of effect, such as spreading benefits across party members, or blasting through a bunch of enemies from within. We hope that this, combined with distance and orientation, will make for fun, tactical battles that players will enjoy.



- Can you give us more information on how the elements come into play in FFXIV?

Okada: In the world of FFXIV, there are 6 elements: Fire, Ice, Wind, Earth, Thunder and Water. They will all have their characteristics as well, such as Water being strong against Fire, but weak against Thunder.

Iwao: Both players and enemies will be affected by their affinity with the elements. Also, there exist forces aligned to these 6 elements called "Star Poles" and "Spirit Poles." They are like the magnetic poles of our Earth, attracting different energies.

[Elmer Point: The poles are called 星極 (sei-kyoku) and 霊極 (rei-kyoku). The first means Star Pole and second means Spirit Pole. As Iwao said, "pole" refers to a magnetic pole, such as the North and South poles of Earth. These sound like Protocrystals, in that they serve as focus points for the energy of a particular element. The official names will most likely be different, though.



- What kind of effect will these elements have on the player?

Okada: Each player will have their own strengths and weaknesses regarding each element. For example, one person could be particularly strong against Fire.



- Is this decided upon during Character Creation?

Sato: No, this aspect of the player will improve along with other stats, like HP, as they grow. Depending on how you raise your character, you could be a specialist against a certain type of element.

Okada: If you are strong against Water, an enemy's water-based attacks won't hurt you so much.

Iwao: Two Conjuerers also could specialize in separate elements. One could excel at Ice magic and the other at Fire, thus serving two separate roles.



- This really heightens the individuality of players!

Iwao: One could even decide to improve all elemental resistances equally, which would make them somewhat effective against all elements at the expense of specializing in none.



- It would be funny to see cliques form between people who specialize in the same element.

Sato: Like an Association of Fire-based Players (laughs). That just might happen.

Developer Comments

Gladitor

iwao: This is a class that can really excel at defense. They call equip a wide range of defensive equipment and even large shields! They will be called upon to protect party members by drawing the enemy attack towards themselves.

Okada: As a class that excels with a shield, the Gladiator is like a "defender" job that is good at absorbing damage.

Sato: Gladitor is offense and defense rolled into one -- a class that is good at taking hits and dishing out the damage. Because of its versatility, I see it becoming a popular class.

Okada: One can choose between making slicing attacks or piercing attacks and that lets them employ some strategy towards giving their strikes the maximum effect.

Iwao: You could say this is a class with an abundance of fighting styles.

Lancer

Iwao: This class can use spears and lances to attack from a longer range and in a wider variety of styles. Besides normal attacks, Lancers can disrupt an enemy's movements and utilize other special attacks.

Sato: Lancer attacks from a farther range than most melee classes and has a wider sphere of influence. They can easily adjust their position to help out back-end members that get into trouble.

Iwao: Lancer is a class that receives a great effect from maintaining their sweet spot. They must always be checking their position relative to the enemy, as well as other party members. Strategicially, this is a class that is always on the move.

Sato: This is a class that needs to consider many factors in a battle besides just what the enemy is doing.

Pugilist

Iwao: Despite their short reach and low defense, the Pugilist is a class that can really turn the tide of a battle with their tricky techniques. They will also employ a number of "stances" that will prove effective based on the condition of the enemy and the party.

Sato: Stances will have a number of effects in battle. Offensive or Defensive -- the player has to assess the battle situation and decide which one they should select.

Iwao: The more you maintain a single stance, the more that stance improves, opening up new things you can do with it. You can change your stance at whim, but if you do so, its strength reverts to normal. The player must consider when it is appropriate to maintain a stance and strengthen it, and when they must give up that power and switch for the benefit of the party.

[Elmer Point: An assumption on my part, but I don't think this refers to giving up character growth, but rather temporary growth. As they mentioned before, they want you to consider your overall objective over individual encounters. So it's a question of "Can I maintain offensive stance and have it super buff for the boss? Or should I switch to defensive here so we can survive?" The stance improvement mentioned here sound temporary and independent from raising one's character.]

Marauder

Iwao: This is a class that can really deal out massive damage. However, if there are many enemies to deal with, they can forgo storing up that power in order to strike more often.

Sato: Marauders use battle axes, which give them more attack power than any other class at the expense of some accuracy.

Okada: While their special attacks are powerful, some require that the Marauder be stantionary while they activate. Due to this, a Marauder must be adept at reading an enemy's movements.

Archer

Iwao: More than anything, the Archer is a long-distance striker. From a range, they have to decide where to stand and what archery techniques to employ. Their defense is low, so if they catch the attention of the enemy, they could be in trouble. A good Archer needs to keep watch over the entire battle and adapt to the situation by firing off the most effective shots possible without incurring the wrath of the enemy.

Sato: Archers have a variety of abilities that are effective at various distances from the enemy. Their job is to work out how they can best contribute to the battle.

Iwao: Arrow selection is also key. It's more than just choosing the arrow with the most damage, an Archer can also use arrows to effect the status of the enemy or even support their allies.

Conjurer

Iwao: A Conjurer is a Disciple of Magic who excels at manipulating the elements.

Okada: This is a class that starts by assessing the condition of the party and the enemy and using that to consider which element to utilize in battle.

Iwao: Attack magic, defense magic, healing magic -- a Conjuerer has many different lines of spells to choose from. It's safe to say it's like an almighty magic-user that can serve as attack or support. Conjurers can also place magical effects on themselves that affect the area around them.

[Elmer Point: This sounds like an AoE spell that follows the Conjurer around, as in everyone in range of the Conjurer gets a bonus while in range. Whether that's true or not wasn't specified.]

Okada: By the way, actions you take in battle in FFXIV all accumulate TP, magic included.

Sato: That's why there are some strong TP abilities prepared for Conjurer as well.

Thaumaturge

Iwao: Thaumaturgy is filled with spells that can cause status effects on the enemy as well as your party members. Their area of effect is fan-shaped [cone-shaped for you D&D'ers] and attack power high, so when compared with Conjurers, this class needs to get relatively close to the enemy for maximum effect.

Sato: Basically, Thaumaturges have magic that does powerful damage. However, there also are great risks to balance this out. This is one particular area where we are waiting to hear feedback from the players.

Iwao: The Thaumaturge also has several spells that can steal abilities from the enemy. The key is reading the flow of a battle and deciding what kind of spell would most effectively turn the tide in your favor.

[Elmer Point: I would assume the Thaumaturge can cause *good* status effects on party member, though after reading about the "risks" involved, I'm not so sure.]

Blacksmith & Miner

iwao: Blacksmiths are Disciples of the Hand who use metals to create and repair weapons and armor. Miners are Disciples of the Land who dig up ore. These classes will have very limited battle-related abilities, but may receive other things to compensate. For example, a Blacksmith may get an ability that enfeebles a gold-based enemy or one that increases the chances of having treasure drop.

[Celeras]

You the man, Elmer. Thanks~

[Koga]

Much love for the translations Elmer! <3

[Eaglestrike]

Is it noted anywhere if these are all the classes at launch? Or are there a few more on the way? Because I'm not very happy with how Puglist sounds as a thief-job...but I guess we'll see.

[isladar]

Oh, this is wonderful, thank you!

[Siatdiat]

Okada: Yes. But, one of the aspects of FFXIV is that you don't recover MP. Of course, that isn't to say there is no way to do so; there will be abilities players can learn to recover MP, Aetheryte will heal both HP and MP, among other methods.

Does this sound as bad to anyone else as it does me? People already hated having to rest forever to recover hp and mp, not it seems when you rest you don't get mp back, so can only get mp from using job abilities and items. Someone please tell me thats not what this says.

Additionally, the part about being very strong against one element or decently strong against several, all I see is hnm ls in 14 having a tank who has capped resistance to an element for different encounters. Either that, or whatever is the hardest current content tanks will choose the most important main element for that. I also am starting to get the idea that you can skill up and change these, so people will be possibly doing "merit" skill up parties to change things for new encounters.

To try and be positive about this interview, I will say at least we won't be bored in parties, the whole distance and placement compared to enemy mattering for more than ranged attackers and SATA will be a nice addition. Also, more dynamic battles rather than sitting in one place pulling shit for hours is a big improvement as well.

[Heavencloud]

Incoming "Which element will you be?" thread...

Nice translation :D

[Celeras]

Does this sound as bad to anyone else as it does me? People already hated having to rest forever to recover hp and mp, not it seems when you rest you don't get mp back, so can only get mp from using job abilities and items. Someone please tell me thats not what this says.

It's only going to sound terrible to people who never played anything other than FFXI in mmo-land. Resting was a horrible mechanic in battles, in all other games if you can't complete the fight with your MP bar + abilities it won't be completed at all. Makes balancing easier, and makes the fights more strategic.

And for non-battle situations, I like it simply for exploration purposes. Gives it more of an adventure feel if you have to plan your routes and conserve MP to keep going.

[Siatdiat]

It doesn't say anything about it only being in battles, but if thats the case then yes I agree with you.

[Meko]

Does this sound as bad to anyone else as it does me? People already hated having to rest forever to recover hp and mp, not it seems when you rest you don't get mp back, so can only get mp from using job abilities and items. Someone please tell me thats not what this says.

I think it means that you'll have to balance or manage your MP use while doing a specific quest or encounter (boss fight or king fight etc). Other classes/abilities can replenish this (maybe more food based or potion based too) along with the crystal what-have-you that can replenish this as well.

[Araelus]

Top notch as usual, thanks Elmer! :D

[Darte]

Sounds to me items like say ethers might play a bigger role this time around than it did for FFXI.

While you may have mp recovery abilities, you may just end up carrying several stacks of ethers to go through some leves.

[Meko]

The MP usage thing reminds me of WoW a little bit (sorry for the reference to WoW but follow me). In WoW, during a battle you basically are in the battle until you win or lose so mana/MP has to be managed well to help your chances to win. There are abilities and things from other classes that can give you MP back along with your food/potions. It just allows for a more progressive and dynamic battle system versus a sit/camp group.

Also, awesome job again Elmer. Always delivering!

[Gulkeeva]

Quick translation really nice O_o

also I'm curious... archer supporting allies with ranged attacks hmmm , wonder if by something strange as healing/mp regen shots or do they mean like "keeping the mob slowed/bind" etc


randomly, looking forward to the fanart this update will bring nearing the 1000+ ffxiv fanart range on the image board!

[Kurokikaze]

I just hope it doesn't turn out too much like WoW when the mages run out of mana "ok guys thats a wipe."

Archer info has me excited. Thanks for the translation Elmer. :D

[Elmer the Pointy]

I've managed to piece together this party positioning chart from ancient texts. Added to the article above.

http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/159900.jpg

[Gulkeeva]

I just hope it doesn't turn out too much like WoW when the mages run out of mana "ok guys thats a wipe."

Archer info has me excited. Thanks for the translation Elmer. :D

I'm more worried about the constant movement... knowing some people they get.. tired really fast doing "too much" for a long period and get worn out ;/

I remember this rdm I had in ffxi... would have me on auto follow.. just has all our names macro'ed to refresh and thats all he did >.>

[Spira]

very interesting information.
it seems they're really trying to incorporate the positioning elements (barely used in XI) into every single class for XIV for a strategic mix.

This means to say besides different weapons and weapon skills, each melee class is decidedly different in its most basic way.

I like the idea that MP recovery is handled differently now. It seems to imply that they really want the fluidity of movement to extend to every class. Roaming is also better than camping, imo.

The mage classes still intrigue me tho. Conjurer is basically a whm+blm, or so it seems, but given that you can customize elemental affinity, one could probably end up with a whole range of Conjurer builds... Same probably applies to the Thaumaturge..?

edit: also lol, giant crab?

[Omniyoji]

Ugh, don't think I'll ever get used to the new BLM name, as always nice job with the translation.

Thanks!

[Warudo Ecksu]

I wouldn't assume that b/c you're on the move, you can never take a break. Also not having to rest for mp sounds like a good change. To compare, in aion through the use of abilities and potions I would almost never have to rest while soloing, and I could keep moving in instances without a lot of downtime.