Letter From the Producer Live XXIII

[Jem]

I really wish they would have a difference between savage gear and the tomestone gear even if it's 10 ilvls. Having gear from the hardest endgame content be useless on release because the non-upgraded tomestone gear (or crafted gear) is better just seems silly to me.

[Kaslo]

I really wish they would have a difference between savage gear and the tomestone gear even if it's 10 ilvls. Having gear from the hardest endgame content be useless on release because the non-upgraded tomestone gear (or crafted gear) is better just seems silly to me.

Did people constantly complain about Myth gear being equivalent to BCoB gear?

[Rocl]

Did people constantly complain about Myth gear being equivalent to BCoB gear?

Anyone with a good head on their shoulders did, yeah

[lilbubbles]

In black mage's case the gear was worse... i90 wand without a shield to go with it D:

[Slycer]

They said they wanted to leave that whole rush to craft top tier gear and overmeld it as part of the race to world's first. I don't see that being a thing if the gap between Alex normal and savage gear is only 10 item levels, especially when they've explicitly stated that a buffer of at least 10% DPS is built in to the fights' tuning.

I'm guessing savage gear is 210 (215 weapon) with meldable gear at 180 and pushing slightly past 190 for effective DPS performance with perfect melds on HQ. That would leave space for Esoterics as IL 200 upgraded to 210. This would go along with their previous assertions that the level range within each max IL push would be wider than before with more steps on the ladder. Since there is no time lockout on acquiring it, I think it's safe to draw the parallel between IL180 in 3.0 and IL70 from 2.0. With that, 210 max would give us a 30 item level endgame range instead of the previous 20 and the IL190 from normal Alexander is the new step on the ladder that has no 2.X counterpart.

[Spider-Dan]

So what would that put the 24-man gear at? i200?

[Voyage1970]

200 and the upgrade items for Esoterics will come from it would be my best guess. Similar to what we had with Poetics and Demon gear.

[Shenrien]

i200, no upgarde item at release. CT tier raid provides a catalsyst to HQ the Esoteric gear to make it i210, Savage being i220.

Savage i185 entry requirement.

[Raldo]

Savage i185 entry requirement.

Unless they're actually using the DF for entry, there can be no iLv entry requirement. Now that I say that, I don't actually know why they didn't put coil in the DF immediately, and just put that "can only enter with a full party" limitation on it, so maybe they will use the DF this time around.

[Ramset]

Hang on..... so they're going to release CT gear with higher ilvl than Alex normal, but the content is easier? lol.

I understand it's going to be later down the line...but really? Makes no sense.

[Alkar]

Hang on..... so they're going to release CT gear with higher ilvl than Alex normal, but the content is easier? lol.

I understand it's going to be later down the line...but really? Makes no sense.

It's all speculation. We know nothing of the new 24-man raid.

[Shenrien]

Hang on..... so they're going to release CT gear with higher ilvl than Alex normal, but the content is easier? lol.

I understand it's going to be later down the line...but really? Makes no sense.

You're already going to likely be getting gear from Esoterics that will be higher ilvl than Alex normal, why complain about a casual raid being higher than normal when there is content that is even more casual that will be ahead of it?

[Sho]

i200, no upgarde item at release. CT tier raid provides a catalsyst to HQ the Esoteric gear to make it i210, Savage being i220.

Savage i185 entry requirement.

IMO:

"AF2" = i155
Crafted Meldable Items = i180
New Dungeon = i190
"CT" = i195 or i200, drop item for Esoteric accessory upgrade
Esoterics = i200 upgradeable to i210
Savage = i220 or i230 & drop all Esoteric upgrades

Savage Alex i182 requirement.
CT i155 requirement.

Just basing this on previous trends and previous interviews. They are making i180 a baseline minimum of an item level to have to attempt or be good at all of the current content. Craftables will be i180 and will very likely be better than any i210 they add. CT is going to be a tick better than Alex (as it will continue to be an easy access 24-man raid system that's weekly gated). Alex Normal is just for storyline, so it will forever take a backseat to everything else.

As for new relic, I can easily see it starting at i180, and being upgradeable to at least i220 for 3.1. Savage gear is going to be pretty significant from everything else, if Yoshi-P is to be believed.

[Ramset]

It's all speculation. We know nothing of the new 24-man raid.

I know. My response was intended to mock the idiocy that is Square Enix "endgame" design choices.

You're already going to likely be getting gear from Esoterics that will be higher ilvl than Alex normal, why complain about a casual raid being higher than normal when there is content that is even more casual that will be ahead of it?

Because I pay a subscription to this game and I feel entitled to an opinion about content.

It makes no sense for them to release content easier than Alex Normal at this point. Most of the premise behind the Casual Tower was a way for casuals to catch up on gear and try to bridge the difficult gap. The upgrade items weren't added until later in content life cycle when it just made sense to add incentive for good players to actually do that piece of shit content.

Now that casual players are able to clear Alex Normal which is supposed to be harder than Casual Tower... what is the purpose of Casual Tower? They spend so much time developing these 24 man raids that are literally so easy that it becomes a weekly faceroll that half the players don't pay attention to. If I was Square Enix I would be ashamed. They work so hard and spend so much time on this shit..and it's so easy everyone thinks it's a joke. It provides no challenge except to the mentally handicapped.

The game needs to slowly increase difficulty and add more midcore content. Casual Tower is pointless.

3.1 Content should be on par with or slightly more difficult than Alex Normal, but not as hard as Savage. Alex Normal should be the new baseline of "casual" content.

3.1 should drop gear that's same ilvl as esoterics (before upgrade), and should also be upgradeable by some means just like esoterics. This will provide THREE max ilvl gearsets, provide a midcore challenge, give people more options, have more meaningful content... I dunno, this is just turning into a barely coherent rant, but how does this not make sense to anyone? To Yoshi P?

Game makes no sense. There's barely any in-between. Players should be insulted that Casual Tower even exists.

[solracht]

IMO:

"AF2" = i155
...

Savage Alex i182 requirement.

AF2 isn't going to be i155 or it would've been released four weeks ago, and full party content doesn't have ilevel requirements

[Seravi Edalborez]

AF2 isn't going to be i155 or it would've been released four weeks ago, and full party content doesn't have ilevel requirements

If AF2 isn't just Esoterics, i155 isn't out of the question. Just make it Centurio Seal glamourshit.

trololol

[Niiro]

AF3 is almost surely going to be the Esoterics armor.

[Hellfury]

I know. My response was intended to mock the idiocy that is Square Enix "endgame" design choices.

It makes no sense for them to release content easier than Alex Normal at this point.

The game needs to slowly increase difficulty and add more midcore content. Casual Tower is pointless.

Game makes no sense. There's barely any in-between. Players should be insulted that Casual Tower even exists.

Respectfully, I seriously disagree with you here.

Mandatory: "Do you even DF?", being casual (this "responsible adult" thing is highly overrated) these days with no time for statics etc. I am mostly stuck in the DF to get anything done, and the horrors I met there, while being anecdotal evidence, convince me that large amounts of the game population have one or more learning disabilities.

They do need to add more "Hardcore" content with high rewards for the people who have the time for it, but with some of the stuff I've seen in Alex normal this last week, A large amount of players(edit: me included) should probably be grateful "Casual Tower" exists. Alexander mechanics weren't too bad, after the first 1-2 attempts you realised how things worked, but that's 7 other people who need to do the same (or at least understand/follow the explanations you give them), and that seems to be very rough in the DF.

[Sho]

AF2 isn't going to be i155 or it would've been released four weeks ago, and full party content doesn't have ilevel requirements

You think so? I think it's going to be glamour tier items. i160 or 165 at best, i155 at lowest.

The fact that they haven't released it yet just means they are (or were) still debating what item level to set it to. The armor itself has had it's designs complete just over a year now.

[Taim Meich]

You think so? I think it's going to be glamour tier items. i160 or 165 at best, i155 at lowest.

The fact that they haven't released it yet just means they are (or were) still debating what item level to set it to. The armor itself has had it's designs complete just over a year now.

I see it the other way: With the original AF, they had to add a recoloured version (mythic) so that the iconic armors stayed relevant for the game, specially at a moment when glamour didn't exist. Now, glamour is here and very popular, but you promote your game much better if some of the most powerful armors around have the iconic FF looks associated with the jobs (well, save from SCH's ultra-strange victorianesque look).