Eight Classic Classes in FFXIV

As far as Final Fantasy fans concerned, there are few things more iconic than certain battle classes. Maybe even more than chocobos, limit breaks and moogles, it’s the way that these classes work that defines a true Final Fantasy experience. However, what I must highlight here is that this post is presented by Square Enix.

Over the course of the franchise’s venerated lifespan there are a number of class types that have stood the test of time, appearing time and time again (sometimes in various guises). Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn contains more classes and class variations than any other game in the series, acting as a celebration of the many playing styles that have been possible over the years. Here are some of the more important and iconic examples to appear in the MMO, each bringing with it a unique sense of heritage.

Warrior

Warrior

Perhaps the most iconic of all roleplaying game roles, the Warrior class is a safe bet for anyone coming to Final Fantasy afresh thanks to its generally high vitality and damage – dealing stats. The class plays in a relatively simple way, concentrated on melee attacks and attracting enemy attentions away from more vulnerable allies.

The class has been a Final Fantasy mainstay since the first game, giving it a history that few of its peers can match. Within the systems of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn the warrior appears as a job, unlocked by reaching level 30 as the Marauder class.

Black-Mage

Black Mage

Another of the ever – present class options – alongside warriors and white mages – the black mage specialises in the casting of offensive magic. Therefore, it is very often the possessor of the most visually spectacular attacks.

Fire, ice and lightning spells are the core components of a black mage’s toolset, acting as the base attacks that are upgradable over time. However, they tend to come with extremely limited levels of health and, therefore, it’s vital to quickly master the art of positioning yourself on the battlefield to keep a safe distance from adversaries.

To play as a black mage you must reach level 30 as a thaumaturge.

White-Mage

White Mage

The yang to the black mage’s yin, white mages excel in healing and protecting their party allies. Aeris, Banon, Yuna. Some of the most famous characters to have ever graced this series fall into the white mage class.

Oftentimes the white mage represents the only efficient means of keeping your allies alive without having to rely on potions that, in some instances, can be very costly. However, the lack of an offensive threat means playing solo as a white mage can be extremely difficult and frustrating.

You can opt to play as a white mage in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn by reaching level 30 as a conjurer. It is advisable to have a skilled white mage in your group when attempting difficult dungeons and any sort of high – level group activities.

Dark-Knight

Dark Knight

One of the new Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn job classes to arrive in the upcoming Heavensward expansion, the dark knight works as a tank that excels in the absorption of damage and provoking of enemies.

For a number of years, between the releases of Final Fantasy IV and X – 2, the class fell out of fashion as far as the “main” releases were concerned. However, it has made constant appearances in the franchise’s spinoff titles – Bravely Default, Dissidia, Crystal Chronicles etc – and continues to enjoy popularity, not least because of its trademark black armour.

Paladin

Paladin

One of Final Fantasy’s founding classes, the paladin is a combination knight and white mage, its powerful melee attacks supplemented by a limited set of healing magic.

The paladin is one of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn’s tank options, brilliant at soaking up the pressure and affording more technical classes the time and space to make use of their own abilities.

It’s one of the most powerful classes in game, unlocked by reaching level 30 as a gladiator, and very able to hold its own as a solo class. Therefore, the gladiator is a good option for both Final Fantasy newcomers and MMO virgins.

Machinist

Machinist

A master of gadgetry, the machinist is more able than other classes to wield mechanical and high – tech gear. Naturally, then, machinists tend to be characterised by their reliance on guns and turrets.

The machinist joins the dark knight as a Final Fantasy XIV newcomer, available as a job class within the Heavensward expansion. Its ability to wield firearms makes it an effective long – range option, with many of its attacks focused on delivering damage over time – weakening your prey to allow melee specialist to finish it off more quickly.

Bard

Bard

While it didn’t first appear until Final Fantasy III, the bard has become a staple member of the series’ roster. It is very powerful in a support role, with many of its abilities revolving around the idea of singing to induce positive status effects across the party (quite a bit like the Hunting Horn user in Monster Hunter).

As a subset of the Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn’s archer class, the bard is endowed with a host of long – range moves and is best positioned on the outskirts of battle. What it gains in distance attacks, it loses in health provision – making it important for its allies to keep a close eye on its hit points.

dragoon

Dragoon

Acquired by working up the lancer class to level 30, the dragoon is a medium – range melee fighter that specialises in the in wielding of spears, trident and similar.

While not officially labelled as a dragoon, Cid Highwind of Final Fantasy VII is one of the more famous examples of a class that has been around since the second game. Many other characters of the “Highwind” name have appeared throughout the series, the vast majority of them in ownership of traits associated with the dragoon class.

Chocobo Racing Rivals is Available in FFXIV 3.25

chocobo-racing-rivals

Rumor goes that the ChocoGo ridesharing app may not be real. While a new update for the Manderville Gold Saucer’s Chocobo Racing is true. In Patch 3.25, which went live last week, the Final Fantasy XIV team added new features to the minigame including: new racetrack items, chocobo abilities, and a new mode called: Chocobo Challenges.

In this mode, players will be racing to defeat a rival designated with a red nameplate. Complete each of these challenges to unlock a large pot of MGP (that’s Manderville Gold Saucer points). Square Enix has significantly uppped the amount of MGP earned from GATEs and major attractions, so if you’re saving up for a flying Adamantoise mount or a soon – to – be – flying (Patch 3.3) Fenrir mount – now’s a good time to start socking away.

You can watch us take a spin in the video below:

There have also been a plentitude of adjustments to existing courses including the position and frequency of obstacles as well as the reduced “strength” of rival riders. You’ll also gain more experience too, which will help you experiment with the myriad new racing abilities chocobos can learn and equip. For those seeking to breed and train the ultimate chocobo, the materials needed for feeding and coverings have had their costs reduced.

For all the details on what’s changed, you can hit up the official Patch 3.25 notes here.

New Items:

Stamina Swapper: Interchanges your chocobo’s stamina with that of a forerunning chocobo. Swap is made only if the forerunning chocobo has more stamina than yours.

Spiderweb: Renders the chocobo running immediately behind you unable to use items.

New Abilities:

Choco Drain: Generates a field which drains the stamina of nearby chocobos at a rate of 15 per second.

Paradigm Shift: Swaps current item with a different one.

Mimic: Repeats any ability or item used by a forerunning chocobo.

Super Sprint: Sprint without weather or terrain penalties until all stamina is spent.

Choco Reraise: Instantly restores 60 stamina when stamina meter reaches zero.

Notes for Approaching FFXIV Heavensward

ffxiv

  • For the love of Hydaelyn be mindful of spoilers, especially in FC/LS chat. Don’t be the jerk who ends up spoiling some awesome twist or emotional moment or amazing boss fight. To which end…
  • People are going to want to run things blind. If someone asks to, and you’re already at the point of revisiting content, please respect that. Let people enjoy fresh content, let them fail or succeed on their own surprises. There are not many chances in XIV people have to do exactly that. Let them. (EDIT: This doesn’t mean don’t be willing to help them and explain mechanics if you know them. But seriously, let people have a shot at things before you do so, at least for a while. I know you want things cleared efficiently; you have the rest of the game’s lifespan to do so. Seeing things fresh is something you can only do once.)
  • The servers are going to suck. It’s common with every major MMORPG, both at launch and at expansions; and if an MMORPG doesn’t have launch day issues, it’s frankly not a good sign for the game’s future. Generally, more people are going to be playing immediately following a release/expansion than at any other time in an MMORPG’s lifespan. Prepare yourself for that reality. You will probably get more lag than usual due to massive network activity. You will probably get login queues. You will probably get 90k’d (or people you’re doing dungeons with will). Brace yourself now.
  • There will be bugs. All the beta testing a dedicated QA team can do is nothing compared to the amount of playtime the game will get when it goes live. Be ready for the possibility of some really strange things happening, both good and bad.
  • Going to make a new alt/join another server? Create the character now, so you don’t have to fight server restrictions. Once EA starts, the traffic on servers is going to pick up massively. With that comes increased character creation restrictions on servers – which, let’s face it, will inevitably be on whatever server you’re trying to get into. Create the character now to beat the rush. You can Fantasia over into an actual Au Ra once EA starts (you do get one Fantasia free from Veteran rewards) and not have to fight the system that way.
  • There will probably be an Emergency Maintenance at least once in the first couple weeks. This is simply inevitable, for hotfixes, server maintenance, etc. If this happens during the time you’re able to play, sorry. Remember that when they have to do it, it’s going to suck for someone – a different time just means a different group that gets angry.
  • You don’t have to do it all immediately. The developpers have already confirmed that, while Soldiery will be phased out, the new Tomestones for endgame content will be staggered out over the first few weeks after launch. This also includes the new endgame raid, Alexander (and even later than that, Alexander (Savage)). You don’t need to be running the final dungeon today. You can take your time. Remember this when servers are unstable or maintenance is going on.
  • People are going to suck at the game again. Sure, many players out there are fantastic. But let’s be real – after months of being able to massively outgear the content we’re tackling, a lot of people have gotten used to letting their iLvl carry them. That discrepency is going to fall off, and there are people who are going to have a hard time breaking bad habits they’ve gotten away with. Others will also be trying to get used to new techniques/classes and make mistakes because of it. Have patience.
  • The things you worked so hard to get aren’t going to be worth as much anymore. That max melded Forager’s gear? That crafting Lucis? That Zeta weapon? Those Dreadwyrm pieces? Be ready for the fact it’s not going to be the best anymore. Expect the costs and efforts involved in even making those from now on to sink as well. You should be somewhat used to this from patches as is, but the gap’s going to be even more notable. Get over this now, and remember you still have these cool things, and that you did it.
  • Rested Experience is a thing. It’s that bonus EXP you accumulate when you log out in Sanctuaries. While the exact return/amount of time is something I’ve had trouble finding, if you want to ease up the initial levelling in Heavensward, you may wish to stop levelling low-levelled classes for a couple days prior to release. Regardless of if you’re heading straight from 50 to 60, or going to start right away on one of the new classes, it’s a leg up.

Just some thoughts. If you’ve other reminders you’d like to offer people, feel free to chime in. Let’s not let our excitement be ruined by stupid mistakes or unrealistic expectations.

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward flying fat chocobos Preview

A long running gag in the Final Fantasy franchise is that fat chocobos have never been spotted flying. In fact, I don’t even think they’ve ever been seen running either. They just sit there, randomly falling from the sky on enemies or hoarding your candy until you come back for it at a later date! Get off your butt, and help save the Earth!

Well, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward is finally going to kick these lazy jerks into gear, get the rust off their wings, and put them on a treadmill in the sky. Director Naoki Yoshida skipped his birthday and instead worked on making sure everything would run smoothly when his first major expansion launches on June 23. In response to all the happy wishes, he created a little birthday magic and gave back to the people with this screenshot.

ffxiv chocobo

Yes, that fat chocobo is flying! Decades of jokes have just gone down the drain, proving once and for all that these slobs can be of bigger assistance to the Heroes of Light.

Yoshida, along with Final Fantasy XV Director Hajime Tabata, is just one of the many new faces at Square Enix hired to “keep it real” with the fanbase. The new Square Enix listens to feedback and keeps an air of transparency with fans, and it just so happens that this new style helped Yoshida turn a failure of an MMORPG in the absolute best Final Fantasy game in over a decade.

It’s only going to get bigger, too. Bigger than the backside of a fat chocobo.Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward will launch on June 23 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC.

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward PS4 bundle announced for Japan

Heavensward JP

Sony Computer Entertainment and Square Enix will release a Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward special edition PlayStation 4 bundle in Japan, Square Enix announced at Niocnioco Chokaigi in Chiba today.

The bundle includes:

A PlayStation 4 (either Jet Black or Glacier White)
Heavensward laser engraved PlayStation 4 HDD bay cover
A Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward PlayStation 4 custom theme product code
A copy of either Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward collector’s edition, or Final Fantasy XIV Online (chosen by consumer)
A price was not announced

Pre-orders begin on Tuesday, April 28 at 11:00 a.m. JST.

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward is due out for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC on June 23. Watch a new benchmark trailer below.

MMO Deals: 22% Off FFXIV: Heavensward & Tamriel Unlimited

Last month, The Elder Scrolls Online went the way of Guild Wars 2 and dropped its monthly subscription in a “Tamriel Unlimited” Edition upgrade. This 2.0 reboot of the game is free for existing customers, but if you’re looking to get in on the action now that the monthly fee has been dropped, you should know the base game is not full price everywhere. This week GMG added the title to its list of digital games on sale, with a 22% off coupon code cutting Tamriel Unlimited to $46.20.

Earlier this week, Square Enix announced it was taking pre-orders for the FFIX: AAR expansion Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward. The expansion is priced at $39.99 for all available platforms, but PC gamers can use the same 22% off discount which slashes the price on both the standard and digital collector’s edition of Heavensward. Pre-ordering will get you early access, in-game trinket, plus a chocobo pet following you around.

Beyond MMOs, there are plenty of other discounts worth checking out this week. Steam is running a 2K Games sale with a few notable titles on sale, including a 10th Anniversary 2K pack with $374.82 worth of games for only $49.99 (87% off). GMG is also still running the “VIP Gaming” sale with a discount on the recently released Cities Skylines, slapping the price down by 27% to $21.89. Despite the release of Battlefield Hardline this week, Cities: Skylines continues to be GMG’s best selling game this week.

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