[Megathread] Final Fantasy XIV

[Veluren]

Emet-Selch comes number 6 on a Japanese poll of most popular Final Fantasy characters, beating out the likes of Kefka and even Sephiroth as the franchise's most popular villain.

Even with some recency bias, that's a crazy popularity climb to make to get to that point.

[KrazyK923]

Emet-Selch comes number 6 on a Japanese poll of most popular Final Fantasy characters, beating out the likes of Kefka and even Sephiroth as the franchise's most popular villain.

Even with some recency bias, that's a crazy popularity climb to make to get to that point.

Yessss, FFX and FF14 represent. Also FF9.

My three favorites topping every list :P

I'm a bit sad that there's no FF14 song in the top 10 though. Dragonsong (#35) and Hades' Theme (#14) are some of the best out of the entire franchise. Dragonsong makes me tear up every single time I hear it.

Also Hades #3 in greatest "Boss & Summon." Well deserved.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Emet-Selch comes number 6 on a Japanese poll of most popular Final Fantasy characters, beating out the likes of Kefka and even Sephiroth as the franchise's most popular villain.

Even with some recency bias, that's a crazy popularity climb to make to get to that point.

The Emet-Selch fandom scares me.

Sure, he is an interesting character, but he is evil! He is pathetic. He has been wallowing in his own self pity for millennia, refusing to move on with his life. He has murdered countless people. He destroyed eight worlds and caused eight devastating calamities. He founded two evil empires predicated on being as oppressive as possible in order to incite widespread chaos, two evil empires which engaged in horrific human experimentation and slavery, among other things.

Alphinaud's plea to Emet-Selch to lay down arms, lock arms, and sing kumbaya really grates on my nerves. It reminds me of the awful tendency for JRPG and anime characters to forget all of the heinous crimes committed by the villains.

[KrazyK923]

The Emet-Selch fandom scares me.

Sure, he is an interesting character, but he is evil! He is pathetic. He has been wallowing in his own self pity for millennia, refusing to move on with his life. He has murdered countless people. He destroyed eight worlds and caused eight devastating calamities. He founded two evil empires predicated on being as oppressive as possible in order to incite widespread chaos, two evil empires which engaged in horrific human experimentation and slavery, among other things.

Alphinaud's plea to Emet-Selch to lay down arms, lock arms, and sing kumbaya really grates on my nerves. It reminds me of the awful tendency for JRPG and anime characters to forget all of the heinous crimes committed by the villains.

But...in the story nobody said that he should be forgiven. All Alphinaud does is plead with him to stop. At the very best, the only person who even comes close to any kind of sympathy for him is Hythlodaeus who pities him.

He's a fantastic villain because despite all the awful things he did, at the base of it, you can at least understand his motivation, even if you dont agree with it.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

As for the best Final Fantasy game, for me it's a tie between X and XIV. X is so solid and holds up to this day as an amazing game. It boggles my mind how many JRPGs to this day ignores the innovations and design choices pioneered by X.

• Mi'ihen Highroad doesn't feel like an empty corridor, but... a road! There are traveling merchants, historians, military volunteers, priests, etc traveling on the road who you can interact with and see throughout your journey. The roads are at most three screens long, and the fixed camera angle makes the journey visually appealing to look at with the vistas and such.

• Cinematic presentation of certain fights, feels like you're playing an action movie/anime. For example, during the boat battle, the camera will cut to introduce new Sinspawn landing on the ship, or when Sin moves from one side of the boat to the other in an attempt to shake the anchor.

• Rather than summons simply acting as spells with long cutscenes, this time around summoning actually summons a monster you can control! (IDEA: wouldn't it have been cool if rather than a summon replacing the whole party, the summon instead replaced Yuna [she could still stand in the back giving order to the summon] and fought alongside your two other party members? That way, Yuna could fill in any role by summoning whichever Aeon was needed, be it a tank, a healer, buffer/debuffer, damage, accurate enough to hit flying enemies, fast, armor breaker, etc. However, having the summon replace the party gives players the option to use a summon to tank damage for a few turns.).

• You can switch party members in and out during battle with the tap of a button.

• Monster design encouraged you to use every character. Flying enemies are out of reach for the melee characters (there is a hit chance), so they can only be hit by magic or by Wakka's blitzball. Agile enemies like wolves and lizards will dodge the attacks of slower moving characters (again, not always but a high miss chance), so you need to use a fast character like Tidus. Magical enemies have high defense, so you want to bring out Lulu to nuke them with elemental magic. Due to the sphere grid, it is possible to later stack up any character's accuracy or magic stat enough so that they can reliably kill any monster. Tidus' sword will bounce off armored enemies, but Auron can shatter the armor, allowing everyone else to attack. Rikku was super effective against Machina enemies. Combined with the convenience of switching party members, you are incentivized to use every character in the party, rather than just having a "main" team. (IDEA: What if enemy types were combined? What if you had to defeat the types of protection in sequence? What if the armor reflected magic, so you couldn't just use Yuna/Lulu?)

• When you use the steal command, it is always successful the first time. Furthermore, if you use it on Machina, it is an insta kill (ripping out powercords, motherboards, circuits, etc).

The only real bad thing I can say about X are 1. the awful character designs (why does half of Spira dress like they are pornstars?), and 2. the Sphere Grid interface: the tedium of having to select every single node on every single character. It takes hours on end just to select nodes.

- - - Updated - - -

From the perspective of XIV as a JRPG (as in you sit down, play it for the story, move on from the game once you've done all of the content. Ie, you're not hanging around to level up jobs or do stuff with FC mates), XIV has a lot good, and a lot of bad. For one, the quality of the game is very uneven. The first 30-40 hours (2.0 through 2.55) are really rough, and not just because of the filler. The base ARR story is very predictable and uninteresting until the Garuda arc, at level 30ish. Once you finish 2.0, it becomes boring again, and the story doesn't pick up until 2.3 with the Ishgard and Ul'dah storylines. HW 3.0 is good up until the Vault, after which it goes downhill. HW has a solid storyline, but the villains are bad and the aesthetics of generic medieval knights and evil churches and rawr evil dragons is forgettable. The game really begins to pick up with the HW post-launch patches, when the Scions start to be characterized and we get a heavier focus on the overarching Ascian plot of the saga. Stormblood 3.0 has great aesthetics, more interesting villains, but the writing is spotty in places. 4.1 onward is very good. Shadowbringers has the magic combination of great aesthetics, great characters and villains, and good writing.

Even so, FFXIV still has a lot of inconsistencies that, to me, bring it down a little. It is frustrating that certain cutscenes are voiced and have camera direction, while other cutscenes just have the camera looking at the characters from afar, like it was thrown in with little thought. I know, it's amazing that XIV is putting out so much content, but Nihon Falcom, a 30 man studio, regularly puts out 60-100+ hour long JRPGs every year and most of the cutscenes have camera direction. This is a content problem that can easily be fixed by hiring more storyboarders/animators. It feels very immersion breaking to be in the context of the story, traveling with this band of characters from place to place, but they don't actually travel with me from place to place. They fade out when they hand me the quest, I go to the waypoint, and there they are, having inexplicably teleported ahead of me. WoW solved this problem long ago, where once you accept the quest, the NPC is stealthily replaced by a newly spawned NPC who either actually travels to the place and you follow him, hearing dialogue and doing stuff along the way, or the NPC follows you. Yes, I can get used to it, but it feels like either the FFXIV developers don't care enough to dedicate time to solving basic things like this, or Square Enix doesn't care enough to reinvest it's huge profits from the game back into the game to expand the development team.

The MMO elements of FFXIV make the game up for me. It feels like a continuation of MoP era WoW design, with a lot quality of life improvements. The designers of FFXIV focused on what normies - the majority of the playerbase - liked about WoW at the time they were making ARR, whereas the current designers of WoW (who were theorycrafters and elitists) have been alienating their normie playerbase in an attempt to appeal to theorycrafters and elitists, who make up only a small percentage of the playerbase. Thus, the majority of WoW's playerbase - the normies - have been leaving WoW. WoW was hijacked from normies who liked it because it was fun, and is now being created by people who like numbers and optimization for people who like numbers and optimization. Since the MMORPG genre is pretty much a hegemony ruled by WoW and with FFXIV down a bit, most normies just straight up quit the genre, with a few going over to the alternative, FFXIV. That's my take on why FFXIV is so successful.

Honestly, it reminds me a lot of the current situation with the American comic book industry. Decades ago, comics were HUGE. They were mainstream. However, during the 90's, a niche group of hardcore comics fans became the people running the comics industry, and they began pandering to their niche, subsection of the customerbase at the expense of the normies, who made up the vast majority of the customers. The comics medium was hijacked from people who used comics to tell a story and started using comics as a medium to please people who like comics. It became about the medium itself, and normies were no longer enjoying comics. Normies trickled out of comics, either picking up the Japanese alternative, manga (Shounen Jump series is democratic, where series live or die based on readership votes), or just dropped comics altogether. Now we have a situation where the American comic book industry is in a sorry, pitiful state, while Japanese manga is more popular than ever. (One Piece is set to soon overtake Superman as the best selling comic ever).

[Granyala]

The Emet-Selch fandom scares me.

Sure, he is an interesting character, but he is evil! He is pathetic. He has been wallowing in his own self pity for millennia, refusing to move on with his life. He has murdered countless people.

He is not evil or pathetic, he has not murdered anyone from his point of view (he does not view us as lifeforms, instead he sees us as poor reflections of what we should be).

I find the Ascians plight completely understandable and in their stead, I too would stop at nothing to reshape and reclaim my world.
Lower lifeforms be damned. Only difference is, that I would not toy with the lower lifeforms as he did. Instead I would seek the most efficient way possible to achieve the rejoining and mercilessly crush every kind of interference.

Heck you as a human saying he murdered so many is hilarious, we murder lifeforms every day in order to eat them (so do all the Eorzeans btw). To him we are no different than farm animals are to us. To be used and then discarded as necessary.

Yeah I know, rubs humans the wrong way, that someone might see us "awesome crown of creation" that way.

[Halyon]

The Emet-Selch fandom scares me.

Sure, he is an interesting character, but he is evil! He is pathetic. He has been wallowing in his own self pity for millennia, refusing to move on with his life. He has murdered countless people. He destroyed eight worlds and caused eight devastating calamities. He founded two evil empires predicated on being as oppressive as possible in order to incite widespread chaos, two evil empires which engaged in horrific human experimentation and slavery, among other things.

Alphinaud's plea to Emet-Selch to lay down arms, lock arms, and sing kumbaya really grates on my nerves. It reminds me of the awful tendency for JRPG and anime characters to forget all of the heinous crimes committed by the villains.

Sympathetic villains.

Good villains need good character setup and background to 'validate' what they're doing, why they're wrong (sometimes why they aren't), and why they must be stopped. Heroes need this as well, but to a lesser degree, as they also serve as the players vehicle of engagement, while the villain and other npc's have more 'freedom' within the confines of the storytelling.

Doesn't always need to be humanized, mind, can also be a force of nature like Kefka. Bit more boring, if you ask me.

I like Emet-Selch as a character, his motivations make sense to me, with the caveat that we can't ever really understand how eternal, previously omnipotent beings percieve and relate to the world, other than what Emet says.

Same sort of deal with Solas/Dread Wolf from Dragon Age Inquisition.

At least that's what I think, as someone who likes Emet quite a bit. On the other hand, I also like Zenos because he's understated ham, so.../shrug

I always feel like such a rebel because I just hated FFX. But it seems to be everyone's favorite.

Maybe I was just getting too old for the genre at the time. I haven't actually played a single-player JRPG since I failed to finish FFX, so that might be it.

I can see why tbh, but something the FF writers do really well is story-telling and compelling points and messages. FFX will remain one of my most beloved games I've played, despite most of the overly pristine and perfect people aesthetic having worn off. World, creature, and architecture design though, hoo boi, just IV that shit right into my veins. xD

[Wrecktangle]

after doing e6s as melee i would not care at all if they removed positionals at this point. what an annoying fight.

Preach. I've been saying they should dump them a long time ago.

From my experience, PUGs couldn't even do E1S correctly, I'm surprised anyone would try some of the harder Savages.

As someone who does frequently pug and clear savage tiers, most of the best players I've ever played with were pugs. 75% of the statics I try to play with are significantly worse than me as a player and take 2-3x as long as me to learn a fight.

If you pug and can dedicate a few hours the first week, you can get "ahead of the curve" as it were. 99% of the time I clear the first 2 bosses in pugs the first week, with enrage experience in the third. This allows you to play with a small, but very talented subset of players and makes the process much easier. However, if you miss that first week? You're fucked.

As for the best Final Fantasy game, for me it's a tie between X and XIV. X is so solid and holds up to this day as an amazing game. It boggles my mind how many JRPGs to this day ignores the innovations and design choices pioneered by X.

• Mi'ihen Highroad doesn't feel like an empty corridor, but... a road! There are traveling merchants, historians, military volunteers, priests, etc traveling on the road who you can interact with and see throughout your journey. The roads are at most three screens long, and the fixed camera angle makes the journey visually appealing to look at with the vistas and such.

• Cinematic presentation of certain fights, feels like you're playing an action movie/anime. For example, during the boat battle, the camera will cut to introduce new Sinspawn landing on the ship, or when Sin moves from one side of the boat to the other in an attempt to shake the anchor.

• Rather than summons simply acting as spells with long cutscenes, this time around summoning actually summons a monster you can control! (IDEA: wouldn't it have been cool if rather than a summon replacing the whole party, the summon instead replaced Yuna [she could still stand in the back giving order to the summon] and fought alongside your two other party members? That way, Yuna could fill in any role by summoning whichever Aeon was needed, be it a tank, a healer, buffer/debuffer, damage, accurate enough to hit flying enemies, fast, armor breaker, etc. However, having the summon replace the party gives players the option to use a summon to tank damage for a few turns.).

• You can switch party members in and out during battle with the tap of a button.

• Monster design encouraged you to use every character. Flying enemies are out of reach for the melee characters (there is a hit chance), so they can only be hit by magic or by Wakka's blitzball. Agile enemies like wolves and lizards will dodge the attacks of slower moving characters (again, not always but a high miss chance), so you need to use a fast character like Tidus. Magical enemies have high defense, so you want to bring out Lulu to nuke them with elemental magic. Due to the sphere grid, it is possible to later stack up any character's accuracy or magic stat enough so that they can reliably kill any monster. Tidus' sword will bounce off armored enemies, but Auron can shatter the armor, allowing everyone else to attack. Rikku was super effective against Machina enemies. Combined with the convenience of switching party members, you are incentivized to use every character in the party, rather than just having a "main" team. (IDEA: What if enemy types were combined? What if you had to defeat the types of protection in sequence? What if the armor reflected magic, so you couldn't just use Yuna/Lulu?)

• When you use the steal command, it is always successful the first time. Furthermore, if you use it on Machina, it is an insta kill (ripping out powercords, motherboards, circuits, etc).

FFX is by far my least favorite (of the old age of square, anything after 10 sucked unequivocally) FF. I don't care for the plot, the characters, the setting and the gameplay while GOOD compared to it's predecessors is honestly what I consider the bare minimum for turn based combat. Many other JRPG franchises do it better/more interestingly IMO.

I always feel like such a rebel because I just hated FFX. But it seems to be everyone's favorite.

Maybe I was just getting too old for the genre at the time. I haven't actually played a single-player JRPG since I failed to finish FFX, so that might be it.

FFX was the first JRPG I couldn't finish either. I just was like this game isn't good and I say that as an SE fanboi. I did later finish it when the remaster came out, and it did nothing but affirm my original belief.

[Merie]

Not to mention he had no choice about it. He plainly states he and the rest of the conclave were tempered by Zodiark. After that happened, they had no choice but to acquiesce to his will and to try to resummon him. It's the same reason why those that are tempered are always put to death.

[Katchii]

I always feel like such a rebel because I just hated FFX. But it seems to be everyone's favorite.

Maybe I was just getting too old for the genre at the time. I haven't actually played a single-player JRPG since I failed to finish FFX, so that might be it.

I can see why tbh, but something the FF writers do really well is story-telling and compelling points and messages. FFX will remain one of my most beloved games I've played, despite most of the overly pristine and perfect people aesthetic having worn off. World, creature, and architecture design though, hoo boi, just IV that shit right into my veins. xD

FFX is by far my least favorite (of the old age of square, anything after 10 sucked unequivocally) FF. I don't care for the plot, the characters, the setting and the gameplay while GOOD compared to it's predecessors is honestly what I consider the bare minimum for turn based combat. Many other JRPG franchises do it better/more interestingly IMO.

FFX was the first JRPG I couldn't finish either. I just was like this game isn't good and I say that as an SE fanboi. I did later finish it when the remaster came out, and it did nothing but affirm my original belief.

I like the mechanics of FFX (character switching and the battle system in general), some of the character designs, and some of the music, but overall the game is one of my least favorite in the franchise, and the sphere grid system can die in a fire. I still played the hell out of it, because it was the only PS2 game I had at the time and it was fun enough, but the thought of playing through the story again makes me cringe.

On another note, I've been leveling Black Mage and I still am not a fan. I love the aesthetic, and I honestly really like the game play....but trying to play it well in a dungeon with all the movement mechanics on a class that literally cannot move in order to perform well, and can lose a ton of throughput if you have to move at the wrong time because Enochian falls off, is fucking awful. I can't wait to be done with it. Serious props to those who play it as a main, because after playing mainly as either Dancer and Red Mage....I just can't cope with how immobile Black Mage is in comparison.

[Rogalicus]

On another note, I've been leveling Black Mage and I still am not a fan. I love the aesthetic, and I honestly really like the game play....but trying to play it well in a dungeon with all the movement mechanics on a class that literally cannot move in order to perform well, and can lose a ton of throughput if you have to move at the wrong time because Enochian falls off, is fucking awful. I can't wait to be done with it. Serious props to those who play it as a main, because after playing mainly as either Dancer and Red Mage....I just can't cope with how immobile Black Mage is in comparison.

Yeah, that's relatable. One of the things that pushed me out of WoW is how terrible hard casters (I played destro and SP) feel in pretty much all instanced content that constantly forces movement, especially with "gotta go fast" mentality of M+.

[Kyriani]

I truly believe the end of the original world was the ancient Ascian's own fault, though not intentionally.

The manifestations that threatened to unravel the world incited them to summon Zodiark... but what caused them? My hypothesis is that the ancients being so dense in aether and being so willing to manifest their creations began doing so subconsciously and that's what started all the problems, but being as arrogant as they were, most never considered that a possibility and summoned Zodiark with the mindset that sheer overwhelming power was what was needed to save the world when, I believe, it was that glut of power they all had that caused the problem in the first place.

I also believe that the ancients who summoned Hydaelyn to counter Zodiark understood this and Hydaelyn purposefully split the world into 13 mirrors to divide that aether enough so that the threat of what happened to the ancient world couldn't happen again. Unfortunately the surviving Ascians are trying to undo that in the hopes of restoring their home, never once even entertaining the idea that they'd only be setting their restored world up for the another fall due to the same cause.

I would love to have seen Emet's face if that were the case and he was confronted with the undisputable truth of it.

[Katchii]

Yeah, that's relatable. One of the things that pushed me out of WoW is how terrible hard casters (I played destro and SP) feel in pretty much all instanced content that constantly forces movement, especially with "gotta go fast" mentality of M+.

The funny thing is, I like hard casting classes in almost every other game, it's just the Enochian mechanic that just kills it for me here. There are ways to cope with the hard casting needs in other games (running a little ahead so the pack passes you as everyone else is running, saving up resources at the end of a pull so you can unload at the start of the next, placing AoE a tad ahead of time so the tank can run them into it, etc...) there's no "coping" with Enochian it's always there and always just as intrusive, you just end up getting used to it I suppose, but there's no "working around" it.

Being a slave to that 15 second timer just kills all the fun I have with the class because I HAVE to pay attention to it constantly, I don't even care where I'm standing, I'll purposely eat an AoE if I am mid cast and Enochian is about to fall off unless I finish it. I know I'd eventually get used to it, but it's so counter to what I usually play in FFXIV (or what I enjoy) that I don't want to. The mechanic is so pervasive that it's difficult for me to pay attention to the other things going on in a fight because I'm so focused on my Enochian timer.

[Merie]

I like the mechanics of FFX (character switching and the battle system in general), some of the character designs, and some of the music, but overall the game is one of my least favorite in the franchise, and the sphere grid system can die in a fire. I still played the hell out of it, because it was the only PS2 game I had at the time and it was fun enough, but the thought of playing through the story again makes me cringe.

On another note, I've been leveling Black Mage and I still am not a fan. I love the aesthetic, and I honestly really like the game play....but trying to play it well in a dungeon with all the movement mechanics on a class that literally cannot move in order to perform well, and can lose a ton of throughput if you have to move at the wrong time because Enochian falls off, is fucking awful. I can't wait to be done with it. Serious props to those who play it as a main, because after playing mainly as either Dancer and Red Mage....I just can't cope with how immobile Black Mage is in comparison.

What point is there even to the BLM any more? All I heard leveling through the game was that they were always "TOP DEEPS" at the cost of all else, but about all they're top dps on now is target dummies. Once you throw in crazy nutter butter savage mechanics, Summoner is going to win every time. Oh, and they have a battle rez too. Like it wasn't enough to be top dps in the game. On that matter, what is even the point to RDM??

[Halyon]

The funny thing is, I like hard casting classes in almost every other game, it's just the Enochian mechanic that just kills it for me here. There are ways to cope with the hard casting needs in other games (running a little ahead so the pack passes you as everyone else is running, saving up resources at the end of a pull so you can unload at the start of the next, placing AoE a tad ahead of time so the tank can run them into it, etc...) there's no "coping" with Enochian it's always there and always just as intrusive, you just end up getting used to it I suppose, but there's no "working around" it.

Being a slave to that 15 second timer just kills all the fun I have with the class because I HAVE to pay attention to it constantly, I don't even care where I'm standing, I'll purposely eat an AoE if I am mid cast and Enochian is about to fall off unless I finish it. I know I'd eventually get used to it, but it's so counter to what I usually play in FFXIV (or what I enjoy) that I don't want to. The mechanic is so pervasive that it's difficult for me to pay attention to the other things going on in a fight because I'm so focused on my Enochian timer.

I've always been partial to more mobile classes (except dragoon, although it's actually my favorite class that I don't like playing), but movement feels so...heavy, in 14, compared to something like wow. Same thing with GW2, but it has the dodge-roll at least, which I really like, and 14 really should get something like it...but I also think 14 is due for a new, better engine. >_>

Dancer has been tons of fun though. It just flows so well, has good mobility, and it's ok for damage.

[Katchii]

What point is there even to the BLM any more? All I heard leveling through the game was that they were always "TOP DEEPS" at the cost of all else, but about all they're top dps on now is target dummies. Once you throw in crazy nutter butter savage mechanics, Summoner is going to win every time. Oh, and they have a battle rez too. Like it wasn't enough to be top dps in the game. On that matter, what is even the point to RDM??

RDM does respectable DPS, has decent healing potential in clutch moments and has instant cast rezzes, which are great in learning parties. In groups where you need/want some wiggle room for mistakes, RDM is amazing.

I love my RDM, it's great in PuG groups.

[Halyon]

What point is there even to the BLM any more? All I heard leveling through the game was that they were always "TOP DEEPS" at the cost of all else, but about all they're top dps on now is target dummies. Once you throw in crazy nutter butter savage mechanics, Summoner is going to win every time. Oh, and they have a battle rez too. Like it wasn't enough to be top dps in the game. On that matter, what is even the point to RDM??

Red mage is fun and flashy. I personally like it, but the whole build-up phase into burst phase can be more of a hindrance than a blessing sometimes. Also backup heals in dungeons?

[Katchii]

I've always been partial to more mobile classes (except dragoon, although it's actually my favorite class that I don't like playing), but movement feels so...heavy, in 14, compared to something like wow. Same thing with GW2, but it has the dodge-roll at least, which I really like, and 14 really should get something like it...but I also think 14 is due for a new, better engine. >_>

Dancer has been tons of fun though. It just flows so well, has good mobility, and it's ok for damage.

Flexibility is the word I'd use for what I like. Red Mage is a caster too, but because it's not tied to a timer like Enochian and has instant cast all the time so it can move around pretty freely, pretty much whenever they need to with very little impact to their performance. Summoner is similar, they have a lot of chances for moving around and don't lose a ton of DPS for doing so. It's that complete lack of flexibility in combat with Black Mage that just grates on me. No other caster in any other game has that same limitation, to the same degree, as Black Mage.

Dancer has been my main this expansion and it will likely stay that way. As much as I love my Red Mage, being able to rez means that I feel like I have to do it when people in my group screw up and die. I still use Red Mage on solo stuff, but in groups I prefer Dancer.

[Granyala]

RDM is fun and feels very fluid in it's mobility and systems, charging in and out. It's my favorite caster.

BLM can be fun too, if the encounter gives you room to breathe. Triple cast + procs + swiftcast can negate some need to move. Short Enochian CD makes it A LOT less punishing if it does fall off compared to Heavensward.

SMN plays great .... except for the dumb pet skills, esp since they are on the GCD. Ugh.

Dancer plays nice too but I find it a bit boring. Being so RNG driven, you basically only mash the glowing keys.

- - - Updated - - -

I truly believe the end of the original world was the ancient Ascian's own fault, though not intentionally.

I always suspected that the cataclysm was either a consequence of too liberal a use of creation magics upsetting the aethereal balance of the star or it really was an outside threat. Impossible to tell at this point.

Only fact we know is that once the initial problems began, the Acians own creation magics combined with panicking people exacerbated the problem greatly and made finding a solution virtually impossible.

[Kyriani]

I always suspected that the cataclysm was either a consequence of too liberal a use of creation magics upsetting the aethereal balance of the star or it really was an outside threat. Impossible to tell at this point.

Only fact we know is that once the initial problems began, the Acians own creation magics combined with panicking people exacerbated the problem greatly and made finding a solution virtually impossible.

It'll be interesting to see if ShB reveals more details so we can have better context of what happened. There's hope for that since Y'shtola is currently playing with that historical repository thing in Anamnesis Anyder.