Simply put, at its core 1.18 is a game changer, in the best way possible. Is it a miracle patch that we have all hoped for? In short, almost, but it is the patch that puts us back on course, moving us toward a place that for a long time seemed unreachable.
Many of those who have followed the development of 1.18 will know that it isn’t without its controversy. As soon as the notes were released people decried the death of Thaumaturg as a god among classes, and now have to settle with the class being better balanced while having some of its godlike abilities receiving huge adjustments. For those who aren’t aware, Square-Enix is removing the AOE ability from spells, and adding new spells that are AOE exclusive.
The first round of these changes occurred in this patch with Cure and Sacrifice. Both spell families are now single target spells, and to help with curing Conjurer’s learned two more abilities; Curaga and Curaga II, both of which are AOE exclusive spells.
So the first big changes to classes are that Conjurer's (CON) now have more of a healing focus. Sure Thaumaturge (THM) can still cure with Sacrifice, but now has no AOE curing ability for the time being. This, as you might expect, has caused most THMs out there to be quite upset, being that Curaga spells can only be used by a CON, THM is now heavily regulated to DOT abilities and back up healing abilities. This is an awesome change, and while more are on the way, this has changed the way parties are formed. Now there are differences between the two magic classes in the game.
Another big change is the amount of MP it costs to cast spells, this has gone up a lot, and thus MP management is something that needs to be considered. While there are those who are upset at the rising costs of spells, there are others (like me) who find that they can no longer spam cure and that adds both a level of danger, and a level of focus to playing a healing class. With the enmity adjustments, casting an AOE cure spell at the wrong time will soon have you eating dirt because you just generated a lot of hate and now all the monsters you are fighting are coming after you. In short, “easy mode” is gone.
Patch 1.18 brings back a sense of danger, and of exploration to the game that has long been in need of it. Dying and returning will cause you to suffer some gear damage, while being raised will keep you from suffering from that penalty. To offset this, the spells raise & resurrect have been lowered to Rank 14 and new spells Raise II and rebirth have been introduced for Conjurer. I for one am a big fan of this change, I hated losing XP in XI, but losing durability isn’t that big of an issue, and at the same time does keep you trying to stay alive just a bit longer. The new buildings and locations outside the cities are exciting to see, and I for one was surprised to find that each zone is periodically invaded by waves of empire forces. This added an exciting element and some dynamic content to the zones themselves.
Having spent several hours with the game this past weekend and getting in on some dungeon runs I have to say bravo to Yoshi-P and his team on just how much fun those dungeons are, fun, and challenging. What I was hoping for was indeed what happened, Square-Enix put in puzzles, as well as secrets into the dungeons and each have a secret boss that you can fight. This adds to the replay ability of the dungeon as well as going back in for more loot or bragging rights.
Asides from dungeons this weekend, I enlisted in all three companies as a preliminary member, and ran a few quests with friends. I tested out guildleves both solo and in groups and I’m very happy with the rewards and adjustments to leves. They are no longer the focus and that is a great thing. Having the bonus at the end had everyone completing the leve, and having reasonable bonuses closed the loop hole that was created by leves in the first place. This, as you might be, or could guess has caused some people to cry “Fail” as they are now unable to make 120k SP per hour. However, most of them will soon find that forming a party, running a dungeon, or going out and killing mobs with a good group in an open field can net them plenty of SP per hour, and with future updates this will only improve. After running a dungeon for an hour getting around 200sp+ a kill I found that I netted at or around 35k+ sp for my time. Not too bad considering that we died multiple times, and I have a feeling once xp chains are introduced these numbers will only rise. And while they won’t come close to crazy SP/hour as in days of old, it was a much needed balancing issue that should have been taken care of sooner.
To say this was a small update would be a lie; it was a huge update, and a very much needed one. People will still cry and say it should have been here at launch, or should have been here X months ago, but it wasn’t ready. This just changed FFXIV for the better, the foundation has been repaired and now Yoshi-P and team can build a better game on pre 1.18’s ashes.
I give patch 1.18 a sliding review score:
A- if we can expect 1.19 within a month or a B if it’s any longer than that. (Reason: there is a lot of content that was introduced, however that can get old if not supplemented with more within a reasonable period of time. If 1.19 takes a while to be released then 1.18 gets a B for not having enough to last until 1.19)
Looking forward:
The impact that 1.18 has had on the community has been an energizing one, if Yoshi-P and team can deliver 1.19 by the end of August, with 1.20 around the one year anniversary Final Fantasy XIV will be in very good shape come it’s one year birthday. So, I for one am cheering them on (/cheer) and wishing them the best of luck.
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