Revamping Food and Medicine (2/10/2012)

[miokomioko]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/31779

http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...0d75f7761d2668

Revamping Food and Medicine
* The following changes are scheduled for the 1.21 patch release.
* Features are under development and subject to change or postponement.

Patch 1.21 will include a revamping of food and medicine.

In this overhaul, the role of food and medicine will be clarified and new items added. Reassessment of food and medicine effects corresponding to battle, which has been ongoing since patch 1.18, and balancing between ingredient acquisition levels and synthesis levels will be carried out as well.

Differentiating food and medicine

Food and medicine items that buff the character by enhancing physical stats, such as attack power and strength, will be differentiated as follows:

Basic Concept:
Food - Easy-to-use items with weak, but long-lasting, effects.
Medicine - Items that confer strong effects that are felt immediately but last only a short time. To be used in crucial situations.

Effect:
Food - Weak
Medicine - Strong

Duration:
Food - Long
Medicine - Short

Reuse Delay:
Food - Very short
Medicine - Long (A single reuse delay applies to all medicines)

Food and medicine items with enhancing effects can be used in conjunction with each other. For example, if a character is under the enhancing effects of a food item, takes a medicine item that also confers enhancing effects, and then immediately launches a triple combo, the character can deliver very heavy damage to the foe.

Comparison of enhancing items

Marmot steak
Physical attack +13% (maximum 15)
Strength +7% (maximum 3)
EXP bonus +3%

Jerked beef
Physical attack +7% (maximum 51)
Piety +3% (maximum 7)
EXP bonus +3%


Potion of Strength
Strength +22% (maximum 20)
Physical attack +26% (maximum 45)

Mega-potion of Strength
Strength +14% (maximum 40)
Physical attack +18% (maximum 125)

* Item effects are still under development and are subject to change.

Revamping food

Food item specs will be adjusted as follows:

• Food items will boost parameters not by fixed values, but by percentages. However, enhancements will be capped at a maximum value. (Also, some items will continue to provide a fixed-value boost.)

(Example) A player character has a physical attack of 400. The character eats a food item that provides a +10% boost, and his physical attack increases to 440.

Food items for lower level characters provide bigger percentage boosts but are capped at a lower maximum. Food items for higher level characters have low percentage boosts but higher caps. Percentage boost, fixed cap, and duration are enhanced in HQ food items.

• All food items provide experience point bonuses.

• Neither elemental nor physical attributes have any impact on the effect bonuses provided by food.

• The effect of eating ingredient items (such as raw meat and fish, fruits, and other unprocessed foods) will be changed. Eating such items will only grant an experience point bonus.

• Using Item Help will display the actual effects of the item (enhanced parameters, duration, reuse delay, and so on).

• In order to better match the synthesis level, ingredient acquisition level, and the character level where the effects are greatest, each category of food items will be equally redistributed within each level range.


Food recipes will be changed as follows:

• Synthesis of low-level items will produce a large number of finished items. As the level increases, the number of items will decrease.

• The synthesis level will be adjusted to better match ingredient acquisition levels and the character level at which effects are optimal.

• Some recipes will be changed.
Where there are multiple recipes in the same category and level range, they will be differentiated as follows, and ingredients will be trimmed from some recipes.

- Food items that require many ingredients but have powerful effects.
- Food items that require few ingredients but have weaker effects.

• New items and recipes will be added.
New items and related recipes will be added to categories that have very few items, such as mushroom and egg dishes.

• Graphics will be added when using food items.


Revamping medicine

Medicine items will be changed as follows:

• Medicine items will boost parameters not by fixed values, but by percentages. However, the enhancements will be capped at a maximum value.

• High-end recovery items, with large recovery effects, will be added.

• Recovery items will no longer be usable on other characters.

• The reuse delay spec will be changed. All medicine items will be subject to the same reuse delay counter, with more powerful medicines imposing longer delays. When a player tries to use medicine while a delay is still in effect, an error message will be displayed together with the time remaining in the delay.

Medicine recipes will be changed as follows:

• Synthesis of low-level items will produce a large number of finished items. As the level increases, the number of items will decrease.

• The synthesis level will be adjusted to better match ingredient acquisition levels and the character level at which effects are optimal. Synthesis levels for ailment recovery items will be adjusted to match the levels of monsters that have the abilitiy to inflict those ailments.

• Intermediate materials will be removed, and only basic ingredient items will be needed to synthesize finished products.

• New items and recipes will be added.
New strengthening items and related recipes will be added that boost physical attributes and attack strength for short periods of time. As with recovery items, these new items will grant percentage boosts with fixed caps.

[solracht]

Recovery items will no longer be usable on other characters.

No more silly potion spam on my friends.

[miokomioko]

Looks like they just reverted to XI's Food/Medicine system. EXP boost on food was interesting though, I wasn't expecting that.

[jwang]

...SPAM CUL TO 50, FOOD'S ABOUT TO GET AWESOME!

[Nama]

Lol exp bonus a pretty good way to get people to use food.

[Raldo]

What the heck is that Lalafell holding? Looks like either a Toblerone or a turd.

[Lucavi]

...Why did it take them this long to do this?

Nevertheless, better late than never.

[Kaelan?]

What the heck is that Lalafell holding? Looks like either a Toblerone or a turd.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qKOX3jt8Hm...400/blog20.jpg

[Seravi Edalborez]

Maybe I'm in the minority but meds seem a little underwhelming. I was expecting possibilities of cheap potion spam, but this seems like an "oh shit" button that won't be used so often unless content gets legitimately harder. But like -everything- I guess it'd be better to wait and see %s and recasts before the proper bitching begins. Food is fine, I don't know why they went with static buffs over %s to begin with but whatever.

Also what about those revive meds from companies? Won't be able to use them on others? Hilarious, another useless item (unless they make it an exception).

[TacoTaru]

I'm curious to know if the exp bonus will apply to crafting/gathering as well or if it will be DoW/DoM only.

[Raldo]

I'm curious to know if the exp bonus will apply to crafting/gathering as well or if it will be DoW/DoM only.

I don't see why they'd make a distinction between the two. I assume rested exp will apply to crafting/gathering too.

The "long" reuse delay on medicines is bullshit. I wonder if they intend to increase the stack size of them at all.

[Corrderio]

Hopefully they make potions worthwhile to use at higher levels

[Grey Jorildyn]

I like the plan for sure. Just got to working my cooking up too.

This couldn't come at a better "OMG THEY ARE BITCHING ABOUT SERVER MERGING QUICK GIVE THEM SOMETHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT INSTEAD" time.

[Crab_Cake]

No more silly potion spam on my friends.

They just now ruined FFXIV. It's not FF without being able to use potions on other characters! (Well even in FFXI, there were some items they were usable on others such as some of the temp status removal items.)

[Karbuncle]

They just now ruined FFXIV. It's not FF without being able to use potions on other characters! (Well even in FFXI, there were some items they were usable on others such as some of the temp status removal items.)

Catholicon.

Also, It seems pretty stupid to remove the ability to use potions on others... Kinda a backtrack. Oh well though , This is overall good news. So no complaints from me.

[miokomioko]

I'm guessing it was a realism issue for them since it doesn't make too much sense to force-feed a potion down someone's throat from a distance and then there's the tricky part about whom to put the medicine cool-down effect on.

Still, it would be nice to have had some of the classic status effect removel items like Gold Needles/Softs, Echo Screens/Herbs, Remedies/Panaceas, Maiden's Kisses, etc.

[solracht]

It would probably be annoying to balance content around players being able to use overpowered potions on others. Imagine a tank having 8 good defensive potions available, for example... or 8 good ethers for a mage/healer (don't think about this in terms of the existing medicines).

I guess they could've left the mechanic for fun and very limited uses by reducing the effect of potions on others by 75-50% or so, or adding a debuff that nullifies the effect of potions until the potion cooldown is off, but this was probably easier.

[miokomioko]

I don't think there's a level requirement for actually using the items, they just get capped based on who they are effecting. A Lv.1 player should still be able to use a Super Ultra Mega Fatty Big 'Ol Strength Potion on themself, but Strength +14% won't do much for them.

The theme appears to be lower % bonuses, but higher caps as the "level" of the potion/food goes up.

[Corrderio]

Still, it would be nice to have had some of the classic status effect removel items like Gold Needles/Softs, Echo Screens/Herbs, Remedies/Panaceas, Maiden's Kisses, etc.

I remember Yoshida commenting on this a LONG time ago. They said they had no plans to change the name of current items (Throat drops, nerve drops, etc.), but had plans on adding classic "curative" items in the future.

[Almalexia]

What the heck is that Lalafell holding? Looks like either a Toblerone or a turd.

Looks like some kind of grenade to me.

The moron forgot to pull the pin out, though, so it probably won't taste very good. I would know.