Final Fantasy XIV Patch 7.5 has just released its full content description. While much of the content was already known, the description also includes changes to class skills that weren't revealed in previous days.
This update aims to balance combat classes, primarily modifying two Healer classes, comprehensively buffing DPS classes, and strengthening the role of Tank classes.
Was your favorite class buffed or nerfed? If you're curious about the specific skill changes, read on.
Modifying Healer Classes
Specifically, FFXIV Patch 7.5 mainly modifies Sage and Scholar classes. Regarding the purpose of these changes, producer Naoki Yoshida stated that it's creating a more harmonious relationship between the two.
For a long time, the balance between these two classes has been very delicate. Because their abilities and roles are very similar, most players will choose one to invest their time and effort in, while the other will be abandoned by most players, resulting in a sharp drop in usage.
However, in FFXIV Patch 7.5, an official statement from the development team CS3 explicitly disrupted this balance.
They pointed out that Scholar's long-standing popularity wasn't due to outstanding healing abilities, but rather because, in addition to healing, Scholar provided the team with an extremely powerful team support skill - Expedient, which grants the entire team an AoE movement speed boost.
In high-difficulty dungeons requiring frequent repositioning, this skill is almost irreplaceable as a strategic resource. And as the mechanics of high-difficulty dungeons become increasingly complex, it has practically become an essential skill for any player team.
Therefore, all players who enjoy playing Healer Classes dedicate their Final Fantasy XIV Gil to developing a Scholar.
In response to this advantage of Scholar, CS3 opted for an unusual compensation solution: increasing Sage's damage output. They explicitly stated, "To compensate for Sage's shortcomings in team support, we've increased the damage of some of its abilities."
Therefore, they directly increased the power of Sage's Phlegma ability by 90 points, and the power of Off-Global Cooldown, usable once every 60 seconds, was also increased by 90 points. Such a buff is considerable and rare, and based on their past practices, I suspect they might make some further modifications in the next patch.
Strengthening DPS classes
In FF14 Patch 7.5, almost all DPS classes received varying degrees of power increases.
First is Samurai, a class with high operational complexity but low damage; its abilities Midare Setsugekka and Ogi Namikiri both received power increases of 680 points. Samurai fans will certainly be happy.
Next is Reaper. CS3 increased the damage of most of its abilities. Specifically, Gluttony's power was increased to 560 points, and Void Reaping and Cross Reaping were increased to 580 and 640 points respectively.
Next is Viper. Viper's situation is more peculiar. In patch 7.3, CS3 significantly reduced the class's AoE power, arguing that they might be "too powerful." However, they seem to have realized the irrationality of this change, so they increased the reduced power back.
Summoner was also buffed. CS3 admitted, "We made adjustments to Summoner in Patch 7.41, but its damage output was still insufficient in high-end dungeons." Therefore, in Patch 7.5, they increased the power of skills like Pain Flare and Crimson Cyclone.
In reality, this class was used very frequently in normal dungeons in FF14, but was often excluded from high-difficulty dungeons due to insufficient damage output. Many Summoner players spent a lot of Final Fantasy XIV Gil to develop their builds, only to find themselves unable to participate in high-end dungeons. Fortunately, CS3 discovered and fixed this problem.
Besides the aforementioned classes, Bard, Dancer, Lancer, and other classes also received varying degrees of buffs.
Clarifying Tank Roles
The changes to Tank Class focused more on emphasizing the role of each class. We know that in FF14, Tank Classes are divided into Main Tanks and Secondary Tanks (MT and ST) in dungeons, each playing a different role.
However, CS3 never explicitly stated which class was MT and which was ST. Therefore, most of the time, a player's role as a tank in a dungeon was determined through player negotiation. Generally, classes with higher defense would act as MT, while classes with higher damage would act as ST.
In FFXIV patch 7.5, CS3 buffed Warrior's power. Specifically, the power of Inner Chaos was increased to 700, Primal Rend to 720, and Primal Ruination to 800.
I suspect that CS3 is working on a clearer classification of tank classes. This could be the basis for how players assign main tanks (MT) and off-tanks (ST). The pure damage buff to Warrior in this update suggests that the development team wants players to play Warrior as the main tank in the game.
While this is just speculation, the changes in Patch 7.5 are undoubtedly good news for Warrior players who enjoy pursuing high damage output.
Overall, I believe these changes are to coincide with the release of Kefka Ultimate. As the third Ultimate raid in Final Fantasy XIV, it places extremely high demands on player gear, skill, and team coordination. Therefore, CS3 must ensure that every class, especially those that have been marginalized for a long time, has sufficient competitive damage output.
The above is a detailed summary of the skill modifications for various classes in FFXIV Patch 7.5. We hope you enjoyed the content.
