The release of Patch 7.0 and the Dawntrail expansion introduce an increased level cap, new job actions, and various job adjustments. Based on player feedback, we believe the adjustments made with this update will offer players a more intuitive and user-friendly gaming experience.

Tank

To offer more leniency while mitigating powerful enemy attacks, we have increased the effect duration of Reprisal. Additionally, we've improved tanks' overall defensive capabilities by adding an effect to Rampart that increases HP recovery via healing actions, and supplemented each tank job with an upgraded version of their damage-reducing abilities.

Paladin

To help alleviate hotbar clutter, we've changed the execution requirements for Goring Blade, which will now replace Fight or Flight on your hotbar when the requirements are met. Furthermore, new actions will replace the second and third strikes of Atonement to improve visual effects we felt were monotonous.
Finally, the upgraded version of Requiescat has been made a ranged area attack for improved ease of use.

Warrior

With the addition of Primal Wrath and Primal Ruination─actions triggered by Inner Release and Primal Rend, respectively─we've provided warriors powerful new attacks while leaving their core mechanics and rotations relatively unchanged.

Dark Knight

To reduce the number of actions executed during damage burst phases, we consolidated the Blood Weapon effect into Delirium. Similarly, we've removed Plunge and replaced it with a movement action that deals no damage.

Gunbreaker

To help alleviate hotbar clutter, we've changed the execution requirements for Sonic Break, which will now replace No Mercy on your hotbar when the requirements are met. Furthermore, to reduce the number of actions executed during damage burst phases, we've removed Rough Divide and replaced it with a movement action that deals no damage.

Melee DPS

To offer more leniency while mitigating powerful enemy attacks, we have increased the effect duration of Feint.

Monk

To streamline action management, we've changed the effects of Twin Snakes, Demolish, and Dragon Kick. Instead of each action granting separate buffs or debuffs, all three will now increase the potency of a related weaponskill. This increased potency effect will be visually represented by the Beast Chakra Gauge, a new Job HUD element that consolidates the previous Master's Gauge.
We also wanted to alleviate an issue where desired chakra couldn't be opened due to a full Chakra Gauge, so we've increased the maximum number of possible chakras to ten while under the effect of Brotherhood. Additionally, the potency for Six-sided Star will now increase for every open chakra and close them all upon execution. We hope these changes will help stabilize the usage of chakra.

Dragoon

We've reduced a reliance on positionals by changing the fifth step of the dragoon's combo to the new action Drakesbane, which has no directional requirements. To readily output maximum damage at the beginning of an encounter, Life of the Dragon can now be activated without being under the first brood's gaze. To reduce the number of actions executed during damage burst phases, we've removed Spineshatter Dive and replaced it with a movement action that deals no damage. For similar reasons, we have also removed Dragon Sight.

Ninja

To streamline action management, we've removed the Huton Gauge and changed its attack speed increase into a trait. Following these changes, Huton has been made into a ranged area attack, and the additional effect of Armor Crush now grants stacks of Kazematoi, which increase the potency of Aeolian Edge. Available stacks of Kazematoi can be seen in the newly added Kazematoi Gauge.

Samurai

To streamline the management of actions and cooldowns, Tsubame-gaeshi has been changed so that it can only be executed after Meikyo Shisui. Furthermore, to reduce hotbar clutter, Shoha has been changed to an area of effect attack, and Shoha II has been removed.

Reaper

The additional effect of Plentiful Harvest previously increased the Shroud Gauge by 50, but to help streamline combat, it has been changed to grant Ideal Host. This ensures that the benefits of Plentiful Harvest are not wasted if the Shroud Gauge is already over 50. Two new actions have also been added─Sacrificium, which can be executed while Enshrouded, and Perfectio, which can be executed after Communio.

Physical Ranged DPS

To enhance overall party support, we've increased the effectiveness of defensive buffs for all jobs.

Bard

To streamline action management and avoid redundancy with Barrage, the status effects Straight Shot Ready and Shadowbite Ready have been consolidated into Hawk's Eye, giving players the freedom to choose between executing a single target attack or area of effect attack when it is activated.
Additionally, Mage's Ballad, Army's Paeon, and the Wanderer's Minuet no longer require attacking a target to grant their effects.
Lastly, we've made Pitch Perfect an area of effect attack to improve bard's damage output against groups of enemies.

Machinist

The additional effect of Barrel Stabilizer previously increased the Heat Gauge by 50, but to help streamline combat, it has been changed to grant Hypercharged. This ensures that the benefits of Barrel Stabilizer are not wasted if the Heat Gauge is already over 50. Additionally, we've added two new actions: Excavator, which can be executed after Chain Saw, and Full Metal Field, which can be executed after Barrel Stabilizer.

Dancer

With a focus on preventing hectic burst damage phases, we've made adjustments to several dancer actions while also adding new ones. The recast time of Tillana has been adjusted to facilitate rotation timing. Furthermore, the additional effects of actions requiring Esprit have been adjusted, enabling more reliable use during burst damage phases.

Magical Ranged DPS

To help streamline combat, the recast time of Swiftcast has been reduced. Furthermore, to offer more leniency while mitigating powerful enemy attacks, we have increased the effect duration of Addle.

Black Mage

Due to the complexity of Astral Fire and Umbral Ice mechanics, we felt that the learning curve for black mage's actions and rotations was too steep when compared with other jobs. We've made a number of adjustments to remedy this issue.
For example, Umbral Ice will now grant MP upon landing blizzard spells. Thunder spells will now require the Thunderhead effect, which is granted when gaining Astral Fire or Umbral Ice from an unaspected state or when switching between the two.
Additionally, because Scathe is now the only action with a percent chance to grant an effect, we have removed Sharpcast.

Summoner

We have added a new summon, Solar Bahamut, as well as several new actions such as Sunflare and Enkindle Solar Bahamut, which affect rotations tied to summoning actions.

Red Mage

The effect of Manafication previously increased both Black Mana and White Mana by 50, but to streamline combat, it has been changed to grant Magicked Swordplay, allowing the execution of enchanted swordplay actions without cost. This ensures Manafication's benefits are not wasted if mana accrued in the Balance Gauge is already over 50.
Similar to its single-target counterpart, the area-of-effect enchanted swordplay combo beginning with Enchanted Moulinet will now be a three-step combo that consumes a total 50 Black Mana and White Mana. Additionally, two new actions have been added to replace the second and third executions of Enchanted Moulinet.

Healer

To help streamline combat, the recast time of Swiftcast has been reduced.

White Mage

The action Aetherial Shift was added to improve white mage's mobility. To increase attack variation, we have also added Glare IV, which can be executed up to three times after using Presence of Mind. Additionally, to further bolster party support, a new ability has been added to reduce incoming damage.

Scholar

To increase attack variation, we have added Baneful Impaction, which can be executed after using Chain Strategem. Furthermore, another new action, Seraphism, has been added to strategically enhance scholar's healing ability.

Astrologian

To help streamline combat, we've removed the random variance from astrologian's signature card actions. Arcana not only increase damage dealt, but also influence defensive abilities and healing actions. In accordance with this change, Astrosign effects and the action Astrodyne have been removed. Additionally, to increase attack variation, a new offensive ability has been added which can be executed after using Divination.

Sage

To increase attack variation during periods when healing isn't required, new actions such as Eukrasian Dyskrasia and Psyche have been added. Moreover, the addition of Philosophia allows sage to strategically increase the effectiveness of their healing for brief periods.

For Patch 7.01, we wanted to make adjustments based on player feedback to improve ease of gameplay, as well as address several issues that couldn’t be resolved before the release of Patch 7.0. We will continue to observe job performance as players progress through content, raise their item level, and optimize their skill rotations, and consider further adjustments accordingly. Moreover, it should be noted that additional changes to improve ease of gameplay are also planned for Patch 7.05.

Tank

An increased enmity effect has been added to area-of-effect combo actions, which should help tanks keep the attention of enemies when playing in a party.

Marauder/Warrior

By waiting until the effect of Primal Ruination Ready nearly expired, warriors were able to execute Primal Ruination twice. While an inventive and effective means of dealing high damage during burst phases, this created unintended pressure to carefully monitor the timer of this status effect. For this reason, we have shortened the duration of Primal Ruination Ready. To offset warrior’s reduced DPS as a result of this change, we have also increased the potency of Primal Ruination.

Dark Knight

We have added an increased enmity effect to Shadowstride, because its lack of damage made it difficult for dark knight to establish enmity at the beginning of encounters.

Gunbreaker

We have added an increased enmity effect to Trajectory, because its lack of damage made it difficult for gunbreaker to establish enmity at the beginning of encounters.

Monk

We’ve received considerable feedback concerning monk’s skill rotation, and how it differs from 6.x. So that their new rotation more closely resembles their old one, we’ve made adjustments to the maximum stacks of Coeurl’s Fury and Raptor’s Fury, as well as the number of stacks granted by certain actions. Furthermore, we corrected an issue wherein the potency for area-of-effect attacks, as well as the requirements to grant Opo-opo’s Fury via Dragon Kick, were not properly implemented.

Samurai

We’ve reduced the recast time of Tendo Setsugekka and Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka to 2.5 seconds. Because this change also affects the animations of these actions, we will adjust the motions and effects in a future update to better suit this reduced recast time.

Viper

We’ve increased the range of certain abilities such as Death Rattle and Twinfang Bite, which should give vipers more control over their positioning when these actions are ready to be executed.

Black Mage

To address problems with MP recovery in lower level dungeons, we’ve lowered the level at which black mage learns Umbral Soul.

Red Mage

To give red mages a little more leniency with the usage of Manafication stacks, we’ve increased their effect duration.

Astrologian

The lengthy cooldown timer of Astral Draw and Umbral Draw made it difficult to align astrologian’s rotations with burst phases, especially in situations where their timers reset while in the middle of casting spells. It’s for this reason we decided to reduce the cooldown time for these draw actions.
Lightspeed is another action invaluable during burst phases, but this usually means it’s unused during other key moments of an encounter. To help alleviate this issue, we’ve made Lightspeed a charged action and reduced its cooldown timer.
Lastly, the potency of Macrocosmos was insufficient for higher level duties, and so we’ve added it to the list of actions enhanced by the trait Magick Mastery acquired at level 94.

All Roles

We've continued making adjustments based on player feedback to further improve ease of gameplay and address issues with the overall balance of job DPS. Patch 7.05 includes extensive adjustments that raise the DPS of certain jobs rather than lower them, with considerable attention given to samurai, viper, and black mage rotations.

At present, the DPS of pictomancer is higher than we originally expected. Because they have a number of actions with long cast times, and no means of reviving others in combat, we intended for them to have comparable DPS to melee jobs alongside black mage. There is a significant gap in the DPS between these two caster jobs, however, which is why we have increased the potencies of black mage actions. That said, we also increased the potency of actions for the other magical ranged DPS jobs and physical ranged DPS jobs, to ensure there is no large disparity between jobs.

We needed to consider the balance between pictomancer and melee jobs, primarily with regards to higher level duties. Because sustaining DPS is generally more difficult in close quarters, we've made a number of adjustments to increase the potency of melee job actions.

Moving forward, we'll continue monitoring job performance, considering the balance between magical ranged DPS jobs that do and do not have reviving actions, as well as the overall balance between melee and ranged jobs.

Finally, we wanted to improve the responsiveness of movement-based actions, and so we've reduced the time between activation and character movement for certain actions.

* Because all adjustments to potencies are based on the explanation above, details for individual jobs have been kept brief.

Paladin

The potency of several actions has been increased to adjust the balance of DPS between tank jobs.

Dark Knight

The potency of several actions has been increased to adjust the balance of DPS between tank jobs. Moreover, to improve the responsiveness of Shadowstride, we reduced the time between this action's activation and character movement.

Gunbreaker

To improve the responsiveness of Trajectory, we reduced the time between this action's activation and character movement.

Monk / Rogue / Ninja / Reaper

To better address the balance of DPS between melee and ranged jobs, we've increased the potency of several actions.
* Please refer to the "All Roles" section for further details.

Dragoon

To better address the balance of DPS between melee and ranged jobs, we've increased the potency of several actions. Moreover, to improve the responsiveness of Winged Glide, we reduced the time between this action's activation and character movement.
* Please refer to the "All Roles" section for further details.

Samurai

Based on player feedback, we've removed the additional effect "Grants Tsubame-gaeshi Ready" from Meikyo Shisui, and changed the trait Enhanced Iaijutsu to grant Tsubame-gaeshi Ready after executing any iaijutsu except for Higanbana. Moreover, Tsubame-gaeshi now requires this status effect for execution, which should improve skill rotations. In light of these changes, which will see an increase in the usage of Tsubame-gaeshi in skill rotations, we've adjusted the potencies of several actions. While a number of potencies have been lowered, samurai's overall DPS has been increased.

Viper

We've received feedback that viper's unique combo system, and the managing of its combo routes, have proven relatively difficult to handle compared to other melee DPS jobs. We believe one of the reasons for this has to do with the action Dread Fangs and its status effect Noxious Gnash─more specifically, finding the most opportune time to reapply and maintain this effect on enemies. To address this issue, we've removed Noxious Gnash and replaced it with Honed Steel and Honed Reavers, effects that are applied to self. With this change, players should be able to more freely choose the timing with which they use their associated actions. This also necessitated further changes to potency, as we endeavor to maintain balance between melee and ranged DPS jobs.
* Please refer to the "All Roles" section for further details.

We previously mentioned plans to change directional requirements for certain actions. However, in light of the above changes, and the considerable feedback received from players who like this aspect of these actions, we've elected to forgo these changes. Looking ahead, we'll continue monitoring your feedback as we consider further adjustments.

Machinist / Dancer

To better address the balance of DPS between physical and magical ranged jobs, we've increased the potency of several actions.

Thaumaturge/Black Mage

The effect of Umbral Soul has been changed to help resolve issues with maintaining Umbral Ice and recovering MP outside of combat. After reviewing player feedback, we've also made changes to Paradox so that it can be used even when under the effect of Umbral Ice. Lastly, to better address the balance of DPS between physical and magical ranged jobs, we've increased the potency of several actions.

Summoner

To better address the balance of DPS between physical and magical ranged jobs, we've increased the potency of several actions.

Red Mage

In Patch 7.01, we increased the effect duration of Manafication to offer more leniency with the use of its stacks, which also helped ensure players won't lose the opportunity to use Prefulgence. After reviewing player feedback, we also extended the effect duration of Magicked Swordplay. Lastly, to better address the balance of DPS between physical and magical ranged jobs, we've increased the potency of several actions.

White Mage

The potency of Dia has been increased to keep in line with other healer jobs.

Astrologian

Because the three Play actions shared a recast timer with their corresponding card actions, it was impossible to quickly use two different cards in quick succession. To resolve this issue, they no longer share a recast timer.