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First things first: Here's a test for
you. If you can accept the content of the next two statements, continue
reading. If you can't, this game simply isn't for you. Move on and play
something else.
1. You can not jump in
this game.
2. PvP will be an
afterthought at best. PvE is heavily emphasized.
..Still here? Good.
Now to the topic at hand. The stickies on top of the forum contain
links to all the useful information you can find about this game.
However, anything specific is hard to find and a lot of information is
repeated more than once. For someone unfamiliar with the game, it may be
hard to find what you're looking for. And now that the release date of the game has been set
for September 22nd for the
Collector's Edition version and September 30th for the Standard Edition
version, I feel that it is good time to make a thread where all
the useful information is readily available.
Now to the information itself. I will list most of the information we
have found out so far based on the subject (ex. Combat mechanics,
Crafting, Character progression, Quest system). Look under the specific
subject to find more info about it.
1. Character
Progression
- As you defeat monsters and complete other
tasks, you gain Experience points. These experience points count towards
your Physical Level and once it goes up, you can
allocate points to your various stats as you see fit (Strength,
Dexterity, Vitality, Mind, Intelligence, Piety). In addition to this,
your HP and MP goes up by a fixed amount and you also gain points to put
into your Elemental Affinities. It is not yet known how exactly do the
Elements affect your character.You can re-allocate your stats after
enough time has passed.
- As you do actions such as hit the monster or craft items, you also
gain Skill Ranks. They are given to you after the fight
or synthesis process ends, although the exact amount depends on the
number of attacks and skills you used during the encounter. As your
Skill Rank goes up, you gain more abilities and spells for the specific
weapon type you have equipped. You also get to wear stronger equipment.
- Physical Level is universal while Skill Rank is weapon
dependent. This means that your Physical Level only goes up
once while every 'class' has it's own Skill Rank or even more than one
(Gladiator has Shield and Sword SR's, for example). To balance things,
Physical Level goes up slower than Skill Rank.
- By switching your weapon type, you can change your class. You
can do this anywhere, anytime, aside from one exception: You can not
change classes while in Active mode (more of that later).
- You can change
skills between classes quite freely. This means that if you
gain Bloodbath ability on Marauder class at SR4, you can equip the same
skill on Gladiator as long as it is at the same Rank or higher. There
are very few exceptions to this rule. To balance things out, you
can only equip set amount of skills at time. As your Skill
Rank goes up, you gain more and more Action Points which are consumed as
you set skills and spells to your Hotbar. Skills from other classes
potentially cost more Action Points, but their effectiveness is roughly
the same as if you were using the skill on it's "native" class. However,
there are exceptions to this:
- All classes belong to one of the 4 disciples: War, Magic,
Hand and Land. Using a skill from different disciple makes it weaker
(for example, Cure spell can only be cast on one person instead of
being AoE and it's range is more limited. In addition to this, depending
on your current weapon's stats (melee stats instead of magical), the
power of the spell may be weaker as well. Skills from the same
disciple retain most of their strength.
- There are currently 7 combat classes: In Disciple
of War there are Marauder (Great Axe), Gladiator (Sword & Shield),
Pugilist (Hand to hand), Archer (Bow), and Lancer (Spear). In Disciple
of Magic there are Conjurer (Healing, Buffing & Nuking), and
Thaumaturge (Crowd Control & Enfeebling). More classes are scheduled
to be implemented in version updates.
- There are also Class Traits with various effects.
It is not yet known what exactly do these traits do. It is speculated
that you can change traits between classes just like abilities and
skills.
- You supposedly do not need to touch any combat class to
'clear' the game. You can specialize in crafting or gathering
and enjoy the game just like that.
2. Combat Mechanics
- Active & Passive mode: Active mode is a
"battle-ready" state where you have your weapon unsheathed, move slower
and your HP regeneration is weaker. In passive mode you have your
weapon(s) sheathed, move faster and regenerate your HP much faster.
However, your Tactical Points (coming to this later) gradually decrease
as well.
- The game features a Stamina Gauge which is
depleted as you use basic attacks, skills and spells. Each action
consumes a different amount of stamina, based on the strength and type
of the action. The stamina gauge replenishes over-time.
- Basic attacks like Slash, Stab and normal magical attacks generate Tactical
Points which are used to do special skills and cast some
spells. A normal basic attack generates around 400~500 TP and most
skills use 1000~2000 TP. This means that you need to think about which
skill to use at what time and can not thus spam every skill as soon as
it is up.
- Some classes have Reactionary skills that can be
used when a specific event is triggered, ex. you evade the monster or
block it's attack. These skills do not consume the Stamina Gauge but
they cost around 200 TP.
- Your Position and Orientation in the battlefield
can give you great advantage against the monsters you're fighting but it
can also work for your disadvantage. Here's two basic examples: a) If
you hit the monster from behind or from the sides, it will take
increased damage and it's evasion will be lower. b) If you are using a
weapon with long range, such as Lance, you can potentially hit multiple
monsters at the same time by positioning yourself correctly. as long as
they're close enough to each other.
- Some classes have special characteristics to them.
For example, Conjurer's spells are almost always AoE while
Thaumaturge's spells take effect in a frontal cone area. Archer can, by
switching arrow type, deal multiple types of damage suited for every
occasion. Pugilist on the other hand has two stances to switch between:
The offensive and defensive stance. The stances become better the more
you use them, but if you change between the stances they reset. Thus you
need to consider if it is better to stay in Offensive and keep the
various bonuses you have acquired during the encounter or if it would be
more beneficial to change into Defensive stance.
- While there are some 1 vs. 1 and Group vs. 1 encounters in the
game, a lot of encounters happen in a Group vs. Group setting.
- Like players, monsters also have an Active & Passive mode. This
means that you can take advantage of the situation and do a
Pre-emptive strike against monsters currently in Passive mode.
However, monsters can also do the same to your and your group.
- You can break the monster's body parts/weapon by fulfilling
specific requirements during combat. It is not known how
exactly you can do this, but it has been revealed that in some cases
they may be unable to do certain special skills, the number of items
dropped may increase, or the drop rate for certain items will increase.
- You can not regenerate MP through normal means. Only
by visiting several 'hubs' found in the surrounding areas called
'Aetherytes' or by using few select items or skills (with long
cooldowns) you can regain some of your MP while out in the field. This
means that you need to watch out for your MP usage so you don't run out
of mana before getting to the next Aetheryte.
- Battle Regimens: BR's are cooperative actions you
can do with your group members to bestow various enfeebling effects to
the target. I will not say much about this feature at this time because
it is not known yet how the system has changed in Beta version, but
basically you queue up different attacks which enfeeble the target
depending on what the combination of skills is (ex. Archer shoots an
arrow and Conjurer follows with a Fire spell, resulting in a Burn effect
for the monster).
- Monster types behave in different ways based on family but
also individually. Some like to take distance from you, some
like to zerg one player together, some like to run away when threatened.
Some save their TP attacks for lower health, and some don't like to
stay still. For example.
3. Quest System
- The game features two type of Quests: Class Quests and
Guildleves. Class quests tell the story of Eorzea through
various cutscenes and encounters and it is the main 'storyline' portion
of the game. Large number of cutscenes feature voice acting in English,
with subtitles provided for French, German and Japanese.
- Guildleves are the 'quests' of FFXIV. They are used to
progress your character further in the game. Rewards vary from
gil (money) to equipment or items. Currently, you do not gain experience
points nor skill points for completing the leves.
- Each guildleve has 5 difficulties, based on stars.
The more stars, the harder the objectives will be and the bigger group
you need to beat the leve in question. 1 star means the leve is
soloable, 5 stars mean you will potentially need more than 10 players to
tackle the monsters. The more stars there are, the greater the rewards
will be.
- There are Guildleves for combat classes, crafters and
gatherers. Combat & Gathering leves are called "regional
leves" and they happen on the field. "Local leves" on the other hand
happen in the city or it's surrounding areas and have been created with
crafters in mind.
- Regional guildleves have a time limit to them, varying from
30 minutes to even days. The faster you complete the task, the
greater the bonus reward will be.
- Leves with time limit are Phased, meaning that you will be
out in the open field with everyone else, however the quest objectives
are claimed for you and your group and other people can not see them
until you engage the monster. This is a countermeasure to
prevent the leve from failing just because there weren't enough monsters
and you ran out of time because of it.
- Many leves have a surprise element to them. To
give you a basic example, let's say that you have to go get 5 pages of
papyrus from the nearby areas. Easy enough, right? Well, as you collect
the pages suddenly you're ambushed by a bunch of elementals that you
have to kill to proceed. To give you another example, the leve objective
may tell you to kill 2 Dodo's, so you go out and engage them... and
they decide to call for back-up! Now you're suddenly facing against 4
Dodo's. On top of that, the last Dodo whilst being overwhelmed decides
to run away to his friends. If you can't stop him in time he'll run off
and you have to chase him. The final battle would then be against 3
more, even harder Dodo's. Those are the basic examples.
- Once done with your leve, an Aetheryte node pops up which
you can use to restore your HP, MP, and teleport back to camp.
- Each Leve can only be done once in a set amount of time.
To do more leves than that, you need to team up with other people and
help them with their leves. You are rewarded for doing so accordingly.
- By completing Guildleves, you gain "cards" that you can use
to boost the rewards of the next Leve. You can also mix guildleves
together to create "campaigns" with various objectives.
- By doing leves you also generate Regional Influence points
which can be exchanged for Special type of Leves called Faction leves.
It is not yet known what do these leves do.
- In a set amount of time you also gain Guardian's Favor which
can be exchanged for something like "an amulet" of sorts you can use to
boost your skill growth for a period of time.
4. Crafting &
Gathering
- This feature is still under NDA pretty much so I can not say much
about it at this time. However, I can say that the system is
much more interactive than usually and not simply a mere
side-activity alongside combat. I will edit more info in as the NDA is
being lifted.
- To make Crafters more important, there is a weapon
degrading system. You can, in an emergency, use an NPC to fix
your equipment for you, but a PC crafter will always guarantee the best
results. The system may be used to count as a death penalty.
- Currently there are 5 crafting classes: Culinarist, Alchemist,
Tanner, Weaver and Blacksmith. There are also 3 gathering classes:
Miner, Botanist and Fisher.
5. Marketplace &
Retainers
- The marketplace is FFXIV's "Auction House" type system.
Each marketplace consists of various instances full of
player-made bazaars called "Retainers". There is supposedly a
search type feature to make looking for specific items inside the
marketplace easier.
- The retainer is an NPC you hire to sell items for you.
You can customize your retainer in various ways to make it stand out.
6. The World
- There are currently 4 city-states, 3 of them
acting as the start town for the players and the 4th being a hub for
higher level characters. In addition to this, there are also 2 'fallen'
city states and various towns.
- The world consists of 10 large regions (it is not
yet known how many are initially available to players). There are small
loading times while travelling between these regions.
- You can travel inside the region by using a teleport
system. As you explore the world and find more Aetherytes, you
can from there on teleport you and your group to that Aetheryte. The
further you go, the more it costs to teleport there (not gil, but
something else entirely). Other forms of transportation are Airships
and Chocobo's for example.
7. Misc.
- Guilds are called Linkshells in this game, while
larger, high level Linkshells are called Companies. We
don't know what the difference between these two systems is, but the
developers have said that there is a possibility for every company to
have their own website as well as every individual player also having
their own subpage. It has also been said that Companies can "level"
somehow, however what this means is currently not known.
- There will be player housing, and it is speculated
that this ties into the Company system somehow. The developers have
said that they want every player to have their "own space" but did not
go into details.
- The maximum size of a group is 15. There is no known penalty for
being in a group of any size right now. You can decide the size of the
group yourself, so group of 2 can function as well as a group of 8
without having to deal with penalties.
- Everyone plays on the same servers. NA, JP, EU,
PS3, PC.
- To prevent communication issues, there is an Auto-Translate
tool which you can use to easily translate common phrases and
words into English, German, French, and Japanese.
Well, that's it for now. I'll update it as more info is released.
I'll probably edit in "Square-Enix as an MMO developer" part in at some
point at least. If you think I missed something or have any suggestions,
do tell me.
And if you have any additional questions, I will try to answer them.
from http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/283497/page/1
you. If you can accept the content of the next two statements, continue
reading. If you can't, this game simply isn't for you. Move on and play
something else.
1. You can not jump in
this game.
2. PvP will be an
afterthought at best. PvE is heavily emphasized.
..Still here? Good.
Now to the topic at hand. The stickies on top of the forum contain
links to all the useful information you can find about this game.
However, anything specific is hard to find and a lot of information is
repeated more than once. For someone unfamiliar with the game, it may be
hard to find what you're looking for. And now that the release date of the game has been set
for September 22nd for the
Collector's Edition version and September 30th for the Standard Edition
version, I feel that it is good time to make a thread where all
the useful information is readily available.
Now to the information itself. I will list most of the information we
have found out so far based on the subject (ex. Combat mechanics,
Crafting, Character progression, Quest system). Look under the specific
subject to find more info about it.
1. Character
Progression
- As you defeat monsters and complete other
tasks, you gain Experience points. These experience points count towards
your Physical Level and once it goes up, you can
allocate points to your various stats as you see fit (Strength,
Dexterity, Vitality, Mind, Intelligence, Piety). In addition to this,
your HP and MP goes up by a fixed amount and you also gain points to put
into your Elemental Affinities. It is not yet known how exactly do the
Elements affect your character.You can re-allocate your stats after
enough time has passed.
- As you do actions such as hit the monster or craft items, you also
gain Skill Ranks. They are given to you after the fight
or synthesis process ends, although the exact amount depends on the
number of attacks and skills you used during the encounter. As your
Skill Rank goes up, you gain more abilities and spells for the specific
weapon type you have equipped. You also get to wear stronger equipment.
- Physical Level is universal while Skill Rank is weapon
dependent. This means that your Physical Level only goes up
once while every 'class' has it's own Skill Rank or even more than one
(Gladiator has Shield and Sword SR's, for example). To balance things,
Physical Level goes up slower than Skill Rank.
- By switching your weapon type, you can change your class. You
can do this anywhere, anytime, aside from one exception: You can not
change classes while in Active mode (more of that later).
- You can change
skills between classes quite freely. This means that if you
gain Bloodbath ability on Marauder class at SR4, you can equip the same
skill on Gladiator as long as it is at the same Rank or higher. There
are very few exceptions to this rule. To balance things out, you
can only equip set amount of skills at time. As your Skill
Rank goes up, you gain more and more Action Points which are consumed as
you set skills and spells to your Hotbar. Skills from other classes
potentially cost more Action Points, but their effectiveness is roughly
the same as if you were using the skill on it's "native" class. However,
there are exceptions to this:
- All classes belong to one of the 4 disciples: War, Magic,
Hand and Land. Using a skill from different disciple makes it weaker
(for example, Cure spell can only be cast on one person instead of
being AoE and it's range is more limited. In addition to this, depending
on your current weapon's stats (melee stats instead of magical), the
power of the spell may be weaker as well. Skills from the same
disciple retain most of their strength.
- There are currently 7 combat classes: In Disciple
of War there are Marauder (Great Axe), Gladiator (Sword & Shield),
Pugilist (Hand to hand), Archer (Bow), and Lancer (Spear). In Disciple
of Magic there are Conjurer (Healing, Buffing & Nuking), and
Thaumaturge (Crowd Control & Enfeebling). More classes are scheduled
to be implemented in version updates.
- There are also Class Traits with various effects.
It is not yet known what exactly do these traits do. It is speculated
that you can change traits between classes just like abilities and
skills.
- You supposedly do not need to touch any combat class to
'clear' the game. You can specialize in crafting or gathering
and enjoy the game just like that.
2. Combat Mechanics
- Active & Passive mode: Active mode is a
"battle-ready" state where you have your weapon unsheathed, move slower
and your HP regeneration is weaker. In passive mode you have your
weapon(s) sheathed, move faster and regenerate your HP much faster.
However, your Tactical Points (coming to this later) gradually decrease
as well.
- The game features a Stamina Gauge which is
depleted as you use basic attacks, skills and spells. Each action
consumes a different amount of stamina, based on the strength and type
of the action. The stamina gauge replenishes over-time.
- Basic attacks like Slash, Stab and normal magical attacks generate Tactical
Points which are used to do special skills and cast some
spells. A normal basic attack generates around 400~500 TP and most
skills use 1000~2000 TP. This means that you need to think about which
skill to use at what time and can not thus spam every skill as soon as
it is up.
- Some classes have Reactionary skills that can be
used when a specific event is triggered, ex. you evade the monster or
block it's attack. These skills do not consume the Stamina Gauge but
they cost around 200 TP.
- Your Position and Orientation in the battlefield
can give you great advantage against the monsters you're fighting but it
can also work for your disadvantage. Here's two basic examples: a) If
you hit the monster from behind or from the sides, it will take
increased damage and it's evasion will be lower. b) If you are using a
weapon with long range, such as Lance, you can potentially hit multiple
monsters at the same time by positioning yourself correctly. as long as
they're close enough to each other.
- Some classes have special characteristics to them.
For example, Conjurer's spells are almost always AoE while
Thaumaturge's spells take effect in a frontal cone area. Archer can, by
switching arrow type, deal multiple types of damage suited for every
occasion. Pugilist on the other hand has two stances to switch between:
The offensive and defensive stance. The stances become better the more
you use them, but if you change between the stances they reset. Thus you
need to consider if it is better to stay in Offensive and keep the
various bonuses you have acquired during the encounter or if it would be
more beneficial to change into Defensive stance.
- While there are some 1 vs. 1 and Group vs. 1 encounters in the
game, a lot of encounters happen in a Group vs. Group setting.
- Like players, monsters also have an Active & Passive mode. This
means that you can take advantage of the situation and do a
Pre-emptive strike against monsters currently in Passive mode.
However, monsters can also do the same to your and your group.
- You can break the monster's body parts/weapon by fulfilling
specific requirements during combat. It is not known how
exactly you can do this, but it has been revealed that in some cases
they may be unable to do certain special skills, the number of items
dropped may increase, or the drop rate for certain items will increase.
- You can not regenerate MP through normal means. Only
by visiting several 'hubs' found in the surrounding areas called
'Aetherytes' or by using few select items or skills (with long
cooldowns) you can regain some of your MP while out in the field. This
means that you need to watch out for your MP usage so you don't run out
of mana before getting to the next Aetheryte.
- Battle Regimens: BR's are cooperative actions you
can do with your group members to bestow various enfeebling effects to
the target. I will not say much about this feature at this time because
it is not known yet how the system has changed in Beta version, but
basically you queue up different attacks which enfeeble the target
depending on what the combination of skills is (ex. Archer shoots an
arrow and Conjurer follows with a Fire spell, resulting in a Burn effect
for the monster).
- Monster types behave in different ways based on family but
also individually. Some like to take distance from you, some
like to zerg one player together, some like to run away when threatened.
Some save their TP attacks for lower health, and some don't like to
stay still. For example.
3. Quest System
- The game features two type of Quests: Class Quests and
Guildleves. Class quests tell the story of Eorzea through
various cutscenes and encounters and it is the main 'storyline' portion
of the game. Large number of cutscenes feature voice acting in English,
with subtitles provided for French, German and Japanese.
- Guildleves are the 'quests' of FFXIV. They are used to
progress your character further in the game. Rewards vary from
gil (money) to equipment or items. Currently, you do not gain experience
points nor skill points for completing the leves.
- Each guildleve has 5 difficulties, based on stars.
The more stars, the harder the objectives will be and the bigger group
you need to beat the leve in question. 1 star means the leve is
soloable, 5 stars mean you will potentially need more than 10 players to
tackle the monsters. The more stars there are, the greater the rewards
will be.
- There are Guildleves for combat classes, crafters and
gatherers. Combat & Gathering leves are called "regional
leves" and they happen on the field. "Local leves" on the other hand
happen in the city or it's surrounding areas and have been created with
crafters in mind.
- Regional guildleves have a time limit to them, varying from
30 minutes to even days. The faster you complete the task, the
greater the bonus reward will be.
- Leves with time limit are Phased, meaning that you will be
out in the open field with everyone else, however the quest objectives
are claimed for you and your group and other people can not see them
until you engage the monster. This is a countermeasure to
prevent the leve from failing just because there weren't enough monsters
and you ran out of time because of it.
- Many leves have a surprise element to them. To
give you a basic example, let's say that you have to go get 5 pages of
papyrus from the nearby areas. Easy enough, right? Well, as you collect
the pages suddenly you're ambushed by a bunch of elementals that you
have to kill to proceed. To give you another example, the leve objective
may tell you to kill 2 Dodo's, so you go out and engage them... and
they decide to call for back-up! Now you're suddenly facing against 4
Dodo's. On top of that, the last Dodo whilst being overwhelmed decides
to run away to his friends. If you can't stop him in time he'll run off
and you have to chase him. The final battle would then be against 3
more, even harder Dodo's. Those are the basic examples.
- Once done with your leve, an Aetheryte node pops up which
you can use to restore your HP, MP, and teleport back to camp.
- Each Leve can only be done once in a set amount of time.
To do more leves than that, you need to team up with other people and
help them with their leves. You are rewarded for doing so accordingly.
- By completing Guildleves, you gain "cards" that you can use
to boost the rewards of the next Leve. You can also mix guildleves
together to create "campaigns" with various objectives.
- By doing leves you also generate Regional Influence points
which can be exchanged for Special type of Leves called Faction leves.
It is not yet known what do these leves do.
- In a set amount of time you also gain Guardian's Favor which
can be exchanged for something like "an amulet" of sorts you can use to
boost your skill growth for a period of time.
4. Crafting &
Gathering
- This feature is still under NDA pretty much so I can not say much
about it at this time. However, I can say that the system is
much more interactive than usually and not simply a mere
side-activity alongside combat. I will edit more info in as the NDA is
being lifted.
- To make Crafters more important, there is a weapon
degrading system. You can, in an emergency, use an NPC to fix
your equipment for you, but a PC crafter will always guarantee the best
results. The system may be used to count as a death penalty.
- Currently there are 5 crafting classes: Culinarist, Alchemist,
Tanner, Weaver and Blacksmith. There are also 3 gathering classes:
Miner, Botanist and Fisher.
5. Marketplace &
Retainers
- The marketplace is FFXIV's "Auction House" type system.
Each marketplace consists of various instances full of
player-made bazaars called "Retainers". There is supposedly a
search type feature to make looking for specific items inside the
marketplace easier.
- The retainer is an NPC you hire to sell items for you.
You can customize your retainer in various ways to make it stand out.
6. The World
- There are currently 4 city-states, 3 of them
acting as the start town for the players and the 4th being a hub for
higher level characters. In addition to this, there are also 2 'fallen'
city states and various towns.
- The world consists of 10 large regions (it is not
yet known how many are initially available to players). There are small
loading times while travelling between these regions.
- You can travel inside the region by using a teleport
system. As you explore the world and find more Aetherytes, you
can from there on teleport you and your group to that Aetheryte. The
further you go, the more it costs to teleport there (not gil, but
something else entirely). Other forms of transportation are Airships
and Chocobo's for example.
7. Misc.
- Guilds are called Linkshells in this game, while
larger, high level Linkshells are called Companies. We
don't know what the difference between these two systems is, but the
developers have said that there is a possibility for every company to
have their own website as well as every individual player also having
their own subpage. It has also been said that Companies can "level"
somehow, however what this means is currently not known.
- There will be player housing, and it is speculated
that this ties into the Company system somehow. The developers have
said that they want every player to have their "own space" but did not
go into details.
- The maximum size of a group is 15. There is no known penalty for
being in a group of any size right now. You can decide the size of the
group yourself, so group of 2 can function as well as a group of 8
without having to deal with penalties.
- Everyone plays on the same servers. NA, JP, EU,
PS3, PC.
- To prevent communication issues, there is an Auto-Translate
tool which you can use to easily translate common phrases and
words into English, German, French, and Japanese.
Well, that's it for now. I'll update it as more info is released.
I'll probably edit in "Square-Enix as an MMO developer" part in at some
point at least. If you think I missed something or have any suggestions,
do tell me.
And if you have any additional questions, I will try to answer them.
from http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/283497/page/1
