Final Fantasy XIV Evercold Tank Speculation, Thoughts and Opinions!
So the FF14 team decided to have a Fan Fest on the day I was out celebrating my birthday with friends and they even dared to announce a tank job at the keynote. Ridiculous! They thought they could stop my speculation! Well, I will show them! >:(
But for real, new tank job announced and some other details announced for the tanks that does help us get somewhat of an understanding what it might be. Also, I will definitely be talking a bit about the stuff we've seen for tanks with the "Evolved Mode" gameplay, since I certainly have a bunch of thoughts there too. Let's get into it, starting with the new tank!
THE NEW TANK
So, the new jobs announced are a tank and a physical ranged job. For the sake of this post, I don't care about the physical ranged job, though I will say: I hope I enjoy it! I love Machinist, so I would love to have a second physical ranged to enjoy. As for our new tank, we have a few things to get into. First: the t-shirt hint.
Hey, it is that guy you got like once a week in trial roulette that you just bum rushed in a minute before it got made into a solo instance! Also, technically this could also be the physical ranged hint (nothing says that tanks are the only ones that are allowed shields, hell Beastmaster is a melee dps with one! ...Limited job, but still!), but I do think it is the tank for a reason we'll get to.
So our hint is Rhitathyn sas Arvina and "Guess who's back?" That doesn't give us too much to work with, especially since Yoshi-P mentioned that the new jobs will be FF14 original like Viper, Reaper, etc. That still doesn't mean it can't be inspired by things in Final Fantasy history, but it does mean that it won't be called anything that we're aware of. That does strike of a fair number of things. But what does it mean? Well, the biggest conclusion people have drawn is that the new tank will use dual shields like Rhitathyn. This doesn't seem unlikely with the Rhitathyn being used to show it... but... is that it? We don't have a potential thematic direction to pull in? Like, I guess GNB was also just teased with a gunblade on Thancred's back in the very first Shadowbringers trailer, but... again like this? We got Yoshi-P wearing a TMNT shirt because the TMNT are named after artists, so artist = PCT. And this is just dual shields?
But what if it's not just the weapon? Or... well, weapons I guess. What if that tagline that both Yoshi-P and Koji Fox pointed out may have something? What... if this is a revenant-esque job? Someone channeling the spirits of the dead to enhance their attacks, protect their allies and themselves? That may have a bit of overlap with Reaper, but it is a little more... necromancer instead of linked to the Void. "Guess who's back?" makes me think of someone that died and got brought back in some way, especially since Rhitathyn was killed when we fought against him. Plus it would make it not the third "guy who just wants to protect people" tank alongside PLD and GNB. So yeah, what about a spooky tank? Give it spooky spectral powers! ...It could also be calling back to Eminem's "Without Me." If it is... I have no clue what it could be.
Oh, and to talk about the reason why I'm 100% certain it will at least carry one shield I'll have to cut ahead into something about the new versions of jobs we're gonna be playing (or least have the option to): they talked about bringing sub roles in for tanks properly. So proper main tank and off tank roles. And... the division is interesting:
So PLD and our new tank are Main Tanks while WAR, DRK and GNB are all Off Tanks. This is very interesting, because historically this is accurate to the developer's intentions. PLD was supposed to be the main tank, while WAR and DRK were supposed to be off tanks. The meta in HW and SB made this the exact opposite, since PLD was bad in HW and it couldn't generate aggro worth a damn in SB. GNB basically made this null and void, especially since ShB was the expansion tank stances died and the concept of tank divisions died with it, though there is still an argument that PLD was the best off tank since its abilities were better suited for off tanking. Regardless though, that is what they were trying to do with a return to this concept. Our new tank being intended to be a main tank that is similarly to PLD "skilled at taking direct damage" and has "actions to counter enemy attacks" gives me the big impression that they want this new tank to have some sort of shield. Whether that will be dual shield, just a single shield as the weapon or a weapon + shield.
Aside from that, that is basically all we have for the new tank. Probably, hopefully it is the job announced at Berlin in 3 months, but otherwise not much to say. Let's go into Evolved Mode!
EVOLVED MODE
So this is the big one. They basically announced that they are taking a wildly different direction for all 21 currently existing jobs via the form of "Evolved Mode". The person who did a lot (if not all) the PvP job reworks has worked on it and it is... interesting and potentially very good. Potentially is a big keyword, but what we've seen of PLD, I'm hyped for the tanks at the very least. Let's take a look at the PLD hotbars they showed off. Also, just immediately: I'll get to my opinions at the end of this section.
So... that is a huge different. Literally cut skills in half... and a bit even, since the PC hotbar doesn't show Iron Will and Intervene for some reason. But yeah, we'll basically be going to about 1 full hotbar of job unique skills and then a few more role skills. Some skills are further getting pruned, like Bulwark being gone again in Evolved Mode, though also things like Goring Blade, Holy Circle, Total Eclipse, Prominence and Circle of Scorn. Other things got changed around and combined into certain buttons.
For example, our basic combo is now 1 button that just goes through the attacks by using it, similar to how it works in PvP. Or how Holy Spirit is both Holy Spirit and Clemency in one button that changes whether you have an enemy or an ally targeted. Hell, Holy Spirit is also Confiteor when you get what we currently know as the Divine Might buff that seems to last forever, plus that same buff makes Clemency into High Clemency. Similarly, Intervene is now also Cover with an ally targeted gap closer. Oh, and the enemy targeted version now no longer has damage attached to it. Holy Sheltron is now both that and Intervention depending on whether you target yourself or someone else. It's a lot. For the slides to show them off:
In general, they seem to be pushing this new system, since all new jobs from Evercold onward are only gonna be in this new style. The currently available jobs will be able to swap between both Reborn Mode and Evolved Mode, with Reborn acting as the current version of the job... minus raid buffs. They have said that they are removing the two minute meta, so no more offensive raid buffs! Also, we will still get new stuff in Reborn Mode from the expansion, it isn't just the exact same without changes from here on out.
They also showed off PLD's Evolved Mode a bunch. Let's go over it bullet point style:
Firstly, they showed off the basic combo being on 1 button, including a new finisher named "Divine Authority" instead of the regular Royal Authority. This proc'd something called Expiacion Avowed, which made a button glow up for 30 seconds that allowed Expiacion to be used.
Then they showed off that "Divine Justice" is Holy Spirit and Clemency combined into one button that depends on the context of whether it targets an enemy or an ally/yourself. Holy Spirit still heals yourself.
Right after they showed the Requiescat/Request cat/Confiteor/Confetti/Imperator/Blade Combo. Requiescat/Imperator will now give us a buff of Divine Might, which is an infinitely lasting buff that gives us an empowered Divine Justice. On the beta UI of our job guage we saw that a stack of Honor was taken for it, that it had a recharge of 40 seconds and that you could have 2 stacks of Honor in total. All of the Blade Combo still heals yourself, though damage might be distributed slightly differently, seeing as Blade of Honor did a lot less than Blade of Valor.
Up next, they showed off Holy Sheltron applying a buff called Surcoat of Satisfaction that wore off and got replaced by Surcoat of Answer. When the PLD got hit by the enemy with Surcoat of Answer, a button lit up (that looks like GNB's Continuation, but that's work in progress for you) that made them do the skill Answering Strike, our "counter" skill, and gave them a buff of the same name. Interestingly, Answering Strike's buff icon looks like Knight's Benediction, the regen from the current version of Holy Sheltron, but this is notably NOT a regen effect, as we don't see the numbers pop up that a regen will always do. So that's already a notable nerf to our healing.
Right after they showed what happens if the PLD gets hit during Surcoat of Satisfaction, where they get to do Satisfaction instead, which is a stronger version of Answering Strike. Similarly, it also applied a buff called Satisfaction that also similarly uses the icon of Knight's Benediction and isn't a regen.
Holy Sheltron also eats up a bar on our job gauge. This one is the Defence gauge and regens for 1 stack every 20 seconds and similarly can hold 2 of them. Also, we have a Crest on our job gauge. This is just to show which counter you have access to, Satisfaction or Answering Strike
Then, in a flurry of things they showed off, they showed that the empowered Divine Justice version of Holy Spirit is actually Confiteor, which also still heals us.
Next, they showed Passage of Arms, which gives us a buff called Gathering Round, which grants us access to the follow up of Passage of Arms: Round Table. This is an AoE heal.
Then they showed Divine Veil, which is the same except it doesn't heal anymore.
They showed Hallowed Ground and Provoke, both of which look about the same.
Then they showed Intervene (or as it seems to be renamed to for the enemy targeted version, Intercession). This no longer deals damage and instead just has text flying up from the enemy called Intercession, meaning that it most likely works like DRK and GNB's current gap closers of no damage, but increased enmity.
Then they showed Shield Lob, which seems to be AoE by the look of the circle that spawned because of it. They also, right after, showed that Shield Bash is on the same button as Shield Lob, just being distance based instead. This is also an AoE, one that at least stuns the creature targeted by the PLD. Might make it interesting to swap targets between each use of Shield Bash if it doesn't stun everything the AoE hits and just the target of your attack.
Next up they showed that empowered Divine Justice targeting yourself or an ally gives you Full Clemency, a stronger version of Clemency.
Up next, they showed that Intervene now works on party members. You jump to an ally and then put Covered on them for 4 seconds and get Cover yourself.
Afterwards they showed that Holy Sheltron can now also target party members, giving them the buffs of Shield of Satisfaction, which falls off and gives Shield of Answer. It is unsure if this also triggers the counter.
Then they show off Guardian. Nothing has visibly changed about Guardian.
Lastly, they showed off that Provoke and Shirk now share the same button. Provoke when you target an enemy, Shirk when you target a party member.
So that's a whole lot of PLD info. We're still missing a few pieces, like "what are we getting in levels 101 - 110" and whether Shield of Satisfaction/Answer will also proc the counter, but we already have a good grasp on PLD.
Now, the opinion corner and I have to say: ...this is looking kind of fire. I do have some gripes and let's start with those first
One button combos make me actively sad. I don't think it is an immediate deal breaker, but unless PvE content ends up being way more engaging and active the whole way through, I think that part will get very boring, very quick for me personally. I really hope that they will add the Action Change System to allow us to split them up in separate buttons. If that's the case, I think I'm very down for this system, even if I make it technically harder for myself. Though, I also have to admit, it also depends on how much down time of just the filler combo there is whether the one button basic combo will feel worse. Plus, maybe Expiacion will already break it up, so I'm going in with a positive mind.
The tank split is incredibly interesting and I potentially think it could work great, but there are obvious concerns whether WAR, DRK and GNB will be good enough to main tank still and whether PLD and our new tank aren't active hindrances as off tanks. PLD at least does seem to have a bunch of tools to mitigate damage to other people between Clemency, Divine Veil, Passage of Arms, Round Table, Cover and placed Holy Sheltrons/Intervention, which isn't unlike the current kit, but I think that is interesting since mitigating party damage is the off tank role's thing. So unless WAR, DRK and GNB are just absolutely cracked at mitigating damage and/or the numbers on PLD's mitigations are down in the gutter when used on other targets, I wonder if this distinction will even matter and if not, why they bothered.
AoE potentially looks dreadfully boring, on PLD at least. It currently is looking like it is just spamming Shield Lob/Shield Bash, your counter whenever you get it proc'd and the Imperator Combo. That is harsh from Total Eclipse Combo, Holy Circle, Circle of Scorn, Expiacion (only way we saw it being used was after a regular combo from a proc) and Imperator Combo from the current version of PLD. That is definitely one angle I hope they improve in, even if it does seem fun to potentially have to switch targets for Shield Bashes again if you don't have a WHM in the party (or assuming Holy lost its stun).
Now for the positives:
OH MY GOOD GOLLY GOSH, PLD HAS AN ALLY TARGETED DASH. I WANTED THAT SINCE STORMBLOOD BASICALLY, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT PLD SHOULD'VE ALWAYS HAD. REST IN PEPPERONI INTERVENE, NO MORE DAMAGE FOR YOU
PLD's new rotation looks cool. I'm still a little concerned it is a bit burst heavy and would like it to be more about sustained damage, like it used to be, but at least going through the motions of this rotation looks infinitely more interesting than the current rotation, especially since there are decisions to be made! You can save up your Imperator Combos for times when the boss is out of melee range, only using them to keep them off cooldown so you're not losing damage, or you can just spend both of them right away for damage phases. It's so cool to have that flexibility, even in a bigger way than before
The new animations look so GOOD. Divine Authority is so sick, even if it does remind me of a Ninja animation. Answering Strike is great looking and then Satisfaction truly brings the satisfaction to a new level for that counter. Full Clemency and Round Table look cool too. The big jump to someone to cover them is a little funny, but still great
I freaking love counters and I'm glad we're back to them, even if I will miss Shield Swipe just a little bit, assuming we can't unlock it as an action skin. It was a goofy animation, but I liked it damn it
THE JOB GAUGE FINALLY LOOKS POTENTIALLY USEFUL AND NOT LIKE A WASTE OF SPACE ON MY HUD, EVEN IF IT IS JUST A GLORIFIED TIMER
I really do like the potential of splitting the tanks into main tank and off tank to give them more defined roles and/or abilities
THE COVER ALLY TARGETED DASH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
So yeah, you can say I'm a fan. Even with my small concerns/annoyances, this is an incredibly strong showing right off the bat for tanks imho, but we'll see when we get to see one of the off tanks and especially when we get to the live letter with the job action trailer and that will show things off more thoroughly.
CONCLUSION
The future is looking bright, honestly. A big part of how fun tanks will be during the endgame is the fight design, but I am confident they are able to make it work. Consistently has Dawntrail been some of the best Normal level content we've ever gotten with easily the best set of Normal trials, 8 man and 24 man raids. So, while there is reason to be a bit apprehensive, so far so good and I very much look forward to how Evercold ends up shaking out. Thank you for reading!
