The latest Final Fantasy XIV Live Letter from the Producer stream focused on changes coming to all Jobs once FFXIV Endwalker launches, and it sure was dense. Here, we’re going to focus on the big ticket changes that were showcased and explained for Melee DPS Jobs — this includes, Dragoon, Monk, Samurai, Ninja, and the upcoming Reaper.
Director and producer Naoki Yoshida and community manager Toshio Murouchi also noted that everything that was shown is subject to change leading up to Endwalker’s launch. So, let’s get to it.
The broad changes that affect all Melee DPS Jobs include adjustments to how the role action Feint works and ranged attacks not breaking combos. Feint has been changed to reduce physical damage and magic damage taken, although the effect will be more potent for physical damage. This will mostly affect high-level play such as Savage raiding or Extreme trials where these debuffs matter more. Also, cool, we can actually use ranged attacks without breaking attack rotation combos now. Yay!
For those of you who also play the roles, be sure to check out our summaries of changes for all Tank Jobs and Healer Jobs. As for specific changes to each Melee DPS Job, the following details were either shown on the livestream’s presentation or explained by Yoshida-san and translator Aimi Tokutake.
Dragoon (DRG)
Dragoon seems to be getting some neat changes and additions while not affecting the flow of its combos and rotations.
- The AoE rotation will be expanded with new action(s)
- A new action will available upon the successful execution of your weaponskill rotation combo
- Blood of the Dragon will become a Trait
- Spineshatter Dive will have two charges
- Lance Charge cooldown timer will be reduced to 60 seconds
- Battle Litany cooldown timer will be reduced to 120 seconds
Monk (MNK)
Monk gets a more significant overhaul by changing, adding, and removing a few key abilities, but the overall flow remains the same.
- Chakras will be unlocked at a lower level
- Masterful Blitz is a new action: When conditions are fulfilled, Perfect Balance will grant the Masterful Blitz ability
- The particular Blitz granted depends on the weaponskills used while Perfect Balance is in effect
- A yin and yang Chakra will be implemented that will grant different skills
- True Strike and Twin Snakes will no longer include positional effects
- Shoulder Tackle will be removed, but a new gap-closing ability will be added and will let you target allies to jump toward them
Samurai (SAM)
Samurai hasn’t changed all that much, but maintaining combos and weaving in AoEs as needed will be easier.
- Effects granted by Jinpu and Shifu will also be applied by AoE combos
- New action similar to Iaijutsu and Tsubame-gaeshi will be available
- Tsubami-gaeshi and Meikyo Shisui will now have two charges
Ninja (NIN)
Ninja largely remains the same aside from some new abilities tied to Ninjutsu and the removal of its DoT ability.
- New actions linked to Raiton, Doton, and Huton abilities will be implemented
- A new action will make it easier to activate or maintain the Huton gauge
- Shadow Fang will be removed
- A new ability linked to Bunshin will be added
Reaper (RPR)
This was the first time we got to see Reaper being played in real-time, so a lot of this information is either new or a summary of the Reaper’s concept.
- Reapers use a Scythe and have an avatar that attacks alongside them
- There’s a phase where the Reaper serves as the avatar’s vessel for powerful attacks and party buffs
- Two bars make up the Reaper’s Job gauge: the Soul Gauge and the Shroud Gauge
- Normal attacks and other specific abilities fill the Soul Gauge which you can then expend to summon avatar attacks
- Avatar attacks then fill the Shroud Gauge which you can then expend to activate powerful attacks where you fuse with the avatar
- Tempo will require some technical skill and there’s some gauge management, but is said to not be too difficult as a new Job to learn
- There’s also a cool portal-like gap-closer ability where you can teleport between the two gates
That sums up what was detailed during the stream and, of course, there will be plenty of ways melee DPS Jobs change as you learn new abilities up to level 90 in Endwalker. If you want more details on what’s new with the critically acclaimed MMORPG, be sure to check out all our FFXIV coverage or watch the Live Letter from the Producer replay. FFXIV Endwalker is set to launch for PS4, PS5, and PC on November 19 for those who get the preorder early access and November 23 for everyone else.
If you’re interested in seeing the other job role changes outlined in the “Live Letter from the Producer”, you can find them right here!
