Patch 7.1 for Final Fantasy XIV brought a series of significant adjustments to job potencies and gameplay mechanics across all roles. These changes aim to refine the balance of DPS within each role, enhance ease of play, and address specific user experience issues. This guide provides a detailed breakdown of these adjustments, offering insights for players looking to optimize their gameplay in preparation for future content.
Tank Role Updates
The tank role received notable attention in Patch 7.1, with a focus on improving the utility and responsiveness of key defensive abilities. A core change across all tank jobs involves abilities that prevent incapacitation, such as Hallowed Ground and Living Dead. These abilities have been tweaked to apply their status effects more swiftly, ensuring tanks can more reliably utilize them when facing substantial incoming damage. This adjustment is crucial for enhancing tank survivability in high-pressure situations.
Paladin Adjustments
For Paladins, the level requirement for learning Intervene has been reduced. This change aims to synchronize the Paladin’s mobility options with those of other tank jobs, allowing for more fluid movement and engagement in combat scenarios. Additionally, the effective range of Cover has been increased, making it easier for Paladins to protect party members effectively.
Dark Knight Enhancements
Dark Knights also benefited from a lowered level requirement for Dark Missionary, aligning it with the defensive party capabilities of other tank roles. To bolster survivability against groups of enemies, the cure potency of Abyssal Drain has been increased. Furthermore, Carve and Spit, Abyssal Drain’s single-target counterpart, now includes an additional effect that restores the Dark Knight’s own HP, enhancing self-sustain. Addressing physical defense disparities among tanks, Dark Mind and Dark Missionary have been updated to reduce physical damage taken, in addition to their existing magical damage mitigation.
Gunbreaker Improvements
Gunbreakers saw a reduction in the cartridge cost of Double Down, designed to improve ease of use and allow for more frequent utilization of Burst Strike and Hypervelocity. While the potency of Hypervelocity has been slightly decreased to balance this change, Gunbreakers are expected to experience an overall DPS increase due to the greater frequency of powerful attacks. Enhancements to survivability include an increased cure potency for Aurora. Similar to Dark Knights, Heart of Light for Gunbreakers now also reduces physical damage taken, leveling the playing field in terms of physical mitigation across tank jobs.
DPS Role Refinements
The DPS role adjustments in Patch 7.1 are diverse, targeting specific issues within melee, ranged physical, and magical DPS jobs. These changes range from potency adjustments to mechanical tweaks aimed at improving flow and reducing potential DPS loss in various combat situations.
Dragoon Optimizations
For Dragoons, Piercing Talon’s potency has been increased to mitigate DPS loss when distance from an enemy is necessary. Elusive Jump has also received an additional effect that further boosts Piercing Talon’s potency, providing more impactful ranged options. A significant mechanical change involves Nastrond Ready stacks. Players will no longer gain multiple stacks, aiming to streamline burst damage phases by reducing the number of actions required. To maintain balance within melee DPS jobs, further adjustments have been made to other Dragoon actions to compensate for the Nastrond change.
Ninja Enhancements
Ninjas received quality-of-life improvements in Patch 7.1. The effect of Ten Chi Jin will no longer be cancelled upon movement, significantly improving its usability and flexibility in dynamic encounters. Dokumori has been transformed into an area-of-effect attack, enhancing Ninja’s capability to handle multiple enemies. To address ranged DPS concerns, the potency of Throwing Dagger has been increased. However, it’s important to note that this buff is intended to supplement Ninjutsu, which remains the primary source of high ranged damage for Ninjas.
Black Mage Mobility and Flow
Black Mages saw improvements to their mobility through reduced cast times for Flare and Despair. Ley Lines has been changed to a charged action, making it more adaptable for use outside of strict burst damage windows and improving overall gameplay fluidity. While the potency of Enochian has been slightly reduced, the combination of cast time reductions and Ley Lines adjustments is projected to result in a net DPS increase for Black Mages.
Summoner Simplification
Summoner gameplay has been streamlined by removing the combo requirement for Crimson Strike. It now requires the “Crimson Strike Ready” status effect to execute, simplifying the rotation and making the action more accessible. Additionally, a correction was implemented for Inferno, Earthen Fury, and Aerial Blast, ensuring their actual potency matches their stated potency of 800, resolving a previous discrepancy.
Healer Role Adjustments
Healers in Patch 7.1 received updates focused on enhancing ease of use and resource management, particularly in MP efficiency and spellcasting fluidity.
General Healer Improvement
Esuna, a fundamental healer action, now has an instant cast time. This quality-of-life change allows healers to react more quickly to detrimental status effects and maintain party health under pressure.
White Mage Casting Refinement
White Mages benefit from reduced cast times for Holy and Holy III. This adjustment aims to enable players to weave abilities between spell casts more effectively, improving the overall responsiveness and flexibility of the White Mage in combat healing and damage dealing scenarios.
Scholar MP Efficiency
Scholars received a welcome reduction in the MP cost of area-of-effect healing actions. This change directly addresses MP management concerns, allowing Scholars to sustain healing output over longer encounters and in scenarios requiring frequent AoE heals. Furthermore, a correction was applied to Embrace and Seraphic Veil, increasing their cure potency to 180 to align with their descriptions, resolving a previous inconsistency and enhancing their healing effectiveness.
Astrologian Area of Effect Enhancement
Astrologians saw an increase in the area of effect for Gravity and Gravity II. This enhancement ensures that all intended targets are within range when dealing with groups of enemies, particularly beneficial when larger enemies are mixed in with smaller targets, improving the Astrologian’s AoE damage capabilities and consistency.
Conclusion
Patch 7.1’s job adjustments represent a comprehensive effort to refine job balance and enhance gameplay across Final Fantasy XIV. From tanks gaining more responsive defensive tools to DPS jobs receiving potency and mechanical tweaks, and healers benefiting from improved efficiency and fluidity, these changes collectively aim to create a more polished and enjoyable player experience. As players look ahead, understanding these adjustments is crucial for optimizing job performance and adapting strategies for future challenges in Eorzea and beyond. These changes lay the groundwork for the evolving meta as we approach new horizons.
