Patch 2.4, Miscellany, and Expansion Packs

Oh boy, I’ve not posted in here in ages! Guess that means I’ve been keeping myself busy enough.

Anyway, today is the big maintenance for FFXIV Patch 2.4, which adds a new class and associated job, the final leg of the Coil raids, a new type of token currency, and even more main storyline.

How do I feel about this as very much a casual? Well, yesterday I finally cleared Coil Turn 5, Leviathan Extreme, and Titan Extreme, things I’d honestly been slacking on. Turn 5 ended up being not quite as difficult as I’d expected once I realized the “barrier” around the arena is fire and will kill you. Once that was done, my role as offtank was simple. Helped that I went in with an experienced group.

Levi EX I should’ve completed over the summer, but the high temperatures in the summer where I live coupled with some minor FC drama didn’t help my overall mood when we attempted. Again, went in with an experienced group and cleared it easily.

Titan EX is still a hated fight by me. I’ve gotten over the hate of Titan Hard, and of course Story Titan is a joke, but Titan EX is just frustrating because of tank-swap mechanics. I forget the specifics of the win, but I won nonetheless. Again, with an experienced group.

All that’s left for me to do from 2.3 and earlier, excepting Second Coil, is Ifrit EX, Ramuh EX, Syrcus Tower, and three dungeons: Hullbreaker Isle, Tam-Tara (Hard), and Stone Vigil (Hard). Ifrit is apparently significantly easier than Titan, Ramuh I’ll eventually do I’m sure, ST I just need to queue up and slog through, which is definitely doable now with the removal of loot lockout, and the dungeons I’ll grab help from the FC. Oh, and I’m still on the Atma stage of my relic sword and shield. Oops.

In between all this I leveled up Archer to 34 for Quelling Strikes, Lancer to 34 for Blood for Blood, and Pugilist to 30 to unlock Monk. I unlocked Bard and Dragoon as well. Bard will likely become my next 50 once I get back into the swing of dungeon spam.

And what’s this about an expansion in the Spring? Excitement doesn’t begin to describe my feeling about it. Finally foraying into Ishgard, new jobs, one of which is Dark Knight as a tank, and content dealing with the “heavens of Eorzea.” A new Tu’Lia, perhaps?

I just hope my all-time favorite Final Fantasy job, Red Mage, gets implemented in some fashion. I honestly don’t see how it can be done in this world of specialists, though. Even in FFXI where Red Mage was long the strongest job, once the content approached Lv.99, its usefulness started to taper off, which is par for the course of FF games. In both FF3 and FF5, a Red Mage is a strong asset early on, but as higher tier magic became available, switching the Red Mage to a Black or White Mage or a weapons user was a better use of the party slot. Though in FF1 a full party of them worked very well, so it really differs from game to game. However it’s implemented, if it is, I’m sure I’ll play it.

And thus the withdrawal starts… Tonight’s going to be interesting.

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