Some of the most popular jobs in Final Fantasy XIV, the melee section is filled to the brim with unique classes that offer a great deal of flexibility and finesse to play. On top of Feint’s cooldown being reduced, ensuring their defensive contribution is expanded, this section might have the most changes out of any of the roles in Dawntrail, with Monk and Ninja picking up some monumental changes. We take a look at what the current melee jobs have seen modified.
This article is based on play of an in-development build of FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail and content in the final version is subject to change.
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Melee DPS Impressions
Square Enix has promised an overhaul of the beloved melee that hasn’t strayed too far from its path since A Realm Reborn, and what we have gotten is more of the same. While there have been meaningful changes to the class, this plays similar to how it has in the past, the difference being a bit smoother.
The highlight is definitely Geirskogul now immediately triggering Dragoon’s Life of the Dragon, which buffs skills by 15% during for twenty-seconds. The removal of one of the gauges is nice as Wyrmwind Thrust is now the only thing that uses stacks of Focus. Because of this, Geirskogul can only be used once every sixty seconds, which feels much better than what we currently have.
Dragonfire Dive does significantly more damage and has a follow-up OGCD attack called Rise of the Dragon. Vorpal Thrust and Disembowel have level 96 enhancements, Lance Barrage and Spiral Blow, respectively. Starcross is the level 100 ability and is simply a followup OGCD to Stardiver. Wheeling Thrust along with Fang and Claw both turn into Drakesbane after a successful combo.
Dragon Sight has also been removed. We were devastated when they removed the tether, but removing it outright brings us to tears. Spineshatter Dive has also been removed, but we aren’t too broken up seeing it gone, considering it was simply another ability to weave during bursts, so it relieves some of the button-mashing stress.
Dragoon now has a dedicated gap closer called Winged Glide that doesn’t deal any damage. The only thing we wished for was that, because it didn’t actually do damage, it could have been something like Thunderclap and could be targeted on an ally, but alas, it was solely on a combatant.
The big takeaway with the Dragoon changes is that it’s not quite the overhaul a lot of players were hoping for, but it’s simply adjusted to play smoother with fewer buttons to press during your bursts. Outside of that, it plays roughly how Dragoon plays already.
Of all the jobs at the Dawntrail Media Tour, Monk has to be one of the most unrecognizable. It still retains a lot of the changes it saw a couple of years ago, but there’s a shocking number of alterations that went into the latest iteration.
Without doubt the biggest challenge to Monk has been figuring out its rotation. Managing your buff and dot while dealing as much damage as possible wasn’t too difficult, but it was more complicated than any of the other melee. In fact, Twinsnake’s buff and Demolish’s DoT are gone completely, in favor of more damage and buffs to the new level 92 replacements of True Strike and Snap Punch. There’s also a replacement to Bootshine which is buffed with Dragon Kick. Regardless, in Dawntrail the rotation has been simplified by telling the player exactly what their next move is. There’s no confusion if you need to use Twin Snakes over True Strike or Demolish instead of Snap Punch; this is now a linear progression combo system.
Outside of the main rotation that goes in between your Master Blitzes, the elemental Riddles have received sizable changes. Riddle of Earth now has a follow-up ability that heals you and your party members. Riddle of Wind’s ability deals a large amount of damage. And finally, Riddle of Fire’s ability unleashes an attack with an immense amount of damage. It’s even more to fit into Monk’s two minutes.
While we didn’t say too much for Monk, that doesn’t mean their changes are minimal. While the main rotation is straightforward, it’s everything outside of this that has gotten more complicated, to the point a new HUD needed to be added under the Beast Chakra.
Outside of Monk, Ninja is the second most changed melee job in Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail.
The biggest change is Huton is no longer a buff you need to apply. Instead, Ninjas have a base skill speed they don’t need to maintain, and because of this, Huraijin is gone, and Phantom Kamaitachi only does damage. Huton itself is still a Ninjitsu skill, but it acts similar to Suiton in that you can trigger Trick Attack (or the newly revamped version of Kunai’s Bane) under it. The only scenario one would use Huton instead of Suiton is if there are multiple enemies, such as in a dungeon, because the damage output and its full splash damage is roughly half that of Suiton, and because Kunai’s Bane is an AOE Trick Attack, it will be useful for culling mobs.
There’s also a new system called Kazematoi, which comes in the form of a kunai HUD. Players are able to stack upwards of five kunai through Armor Crush (two every time it’s used), and in turn, this will buff Aoelian Edge. So instead of maintaining a speed buff, you’re now maintaining (and easily) a buff for one attack, something you can theoretically bank for bursts, although Ninja’s two minutes will likely stay relatively the same considering how busy it already is.
There are also a handful of procs that need to be made aware of. For example, Ten Chi Jin now has a level 100 final attack after getting through the three ninjitsu skills called Tenri Jindo, and whenever you’re under the effect of Higi, which is triggered through Kunai’s Bane, your OGCDs will be enhanced, either Bhavacakra or Hellfrog, for one use.
Outside of this, Mug has been turned into Dokumori at level 66 and Meisui increases the potency of Bhavacakra and its upgraded version. All of this makes Ninja easier to play and a lot more approachable for casual players. It’s a lot harder to mess up when not paying attention to the skill speed timer.
Released in Stormblood, Samurai has gone through few changes in comparison to the last three melee jobs.
The biggest change is to how Meikyo Shisui and Tsubame-gaeshi work. Originally, you used the former to grant you Sen without having to go through a full rotation to unleash a Iaijutsu attack such as Midare. The latter is simply a follow up to the Iajitsu attack, mainly only used for Midare or Tenka Goken is rare situations. This has been reworked so whenever Meikyo Shisui is triggered, it will give you a buff that will allow for the follow-up Tsubame attack to be activated.
On top of that, all the Iaijutsu skills and Shoha have been given upgraded versions with flashier animations, the former of which is similar to Tsubame in that it’s only available when Meikyo is used. Outside of this, though, a lot of Samurai has remained exactly the same. Ikishoten has been given a follow-up attack that deals even more damage to their burst, and it helps it’s something to weave in-between attacks and can’t be interrupted as it remains on the button for thirty seconds. Also, Hakaze, Samurai’s first weakest weaponskill that starts any of the three combos, has an enhanced version that deals more damage.
If you’ve liked Samurai, you’ll remain to like Samurai. If you didn’t care for it or wish Kaiten would come back, these new changes most likely won’t sway you to picking it back up.
Similar to Samurai, Endwalker’s Reaper job hasn’t changed all that much, with the core of the alterations being additional damage.
In fact, Reaper has received so few changes we can quickly rattle them off. When triggering Gluttony, there will be enhanced “Executioner” versions of Gibbet, Gallows and Guillotine. Enshroud has a level 92 follow-up attack called Sacrificium. And finally, there’s another attack after Communio called Perfectio, which deals even more damage.
And that’s it. Of all the jobs at the Dawntrailer media tour, Reaper might be the one that has seen the fewest changes, but considering it’s still a fresh job that is well-rounded already, it’s not like it was in need of an overhaul to begin with.
