A hotfix for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn released today seeks to address player feedback in the wake of last week’s major content update, Patch 2.3 – Defenders of Eorzea.
Alongside new dungeons, boss fights, and storylines, Patch 2.3 saw the introduction of The Hunt, wherein players accept contracts to defeat rare monsters throughout the realm. The popularity of the feature has proved detrimental, though, as players were finding it nearly impossible to hunt weekly targets, “elite marks,” with any degree of consistency, given low spawn rates, random spawn locations, and low HP.
In response, Square Enix has greatly increased the HP of all three tiers of elite mark. The lowest tier of elite monster, Rank B, is now tailored for a party of four. Rank A monsters have HP befitting an 8-player battle, and Rank S spawns–the rarest and deadliest of all–now have comparable HP to Odin and Behemoth, two rare open-world encounters that frequently draw dozens, if not hundreds, of simultaneous players.
Today’s hotfix cleans up Frontline matchmaking a bit. The large-scale PvP battles, introduced in Patch 2.3, suffered early on from difficulties getting into a full match. That’s been alleviated, with matches now able to start without the maximum number of players. Additional players will be added to fill the ranks as the fight proceeds.
Finally, a popular strategy for defeating Ramuh on Extreme difficulty has been nerfed. Faced with complex mechanics and heavy damage to tank roles, players discovered that one of the Summoner’s pets had very high resistance to Ramuh’s lightning attacks, rendering a dedicated player-tank obsolete. Square has dubbed the damage taken by pets in this fight “abnormally low” and rectified the “issue.”
For more on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, read our reviews on PS4 and PS3 and check out our latest coverage of Square Enix’s highly successful reboot.