FFXIV: Will These Job Changes In Dawntrail Expansion Bring New Life?

With just over a month left until Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail’s official release, the developers recently shared some of the big changes that will be coming to the expansion. This time focusing on a number of changes being made to every single job.

In a lengthy clip, the developers detailed a host of changes, with several jobs like Monk receiving the most radical changes. More than anything, these changes seem to be contributing to a growing feeling among some longtime players that Dawntrail will represent a reboot for Final Fantasy XIV, as well as a fresh start to attract new players.

In this guide, we’ll talk about some of the major changes that will be made to FFXIV’s jobs in Dawntrail expansion. While there may not be a lot of job changes that can be covered here, we’ll cover some of the bigger ones to help you get ready.

Of course, if you want to see everything, you can watch the entire clip on FFXIV’s official website. As we said, there’s a ton of information here, and there’s even a detailed look at the new jobs, Viper and Pictomancer. The developers even released a 20-minute Job Actions trailer showing off the new level-100 actions being added in the expansion.

If you don’t have more time, this guide will give you a basic understanding of the changes to jobs in Dawntrail. Also, I need to remind you that if you want to have a pleasant trip once you enter Dawntrail, it’s definitely a wise choice to stock up on FFXIV Gil in advance. Without further ado, let’s get started!

Monk

Monk will be the most changed job by far, as the entire rotation has basically changed. The job will no longer be centered on maintaining buffs or dealing damage over time. Instead, performing actions in a certain order will increase the effectiveness of the next action.

The developers say that while the essence of the job will remain largely unchanged, new UI elements will be introduced. These changes are mainly to alleviate the uncertainty of what to do when the rotation is interrupted, whether it’s by an enemy or trying to avoid something.

Dark Knight

On the tank side, Dark Knight is seeing the biggest changes, with a focus on streamlining the burst phase, laying the groundwork for making the job more unique in 8.0.

To that end, the job is seeing fewer inputs during the burst phase. Blood Weapon is getting an upgrade to Delirium, and effects of Blood Weapon are being added. Additionally, the developers are adding a new action for Living Shadow to use.

Astrologian

Finally, Astrologian looks to be the most significantly different as far as healers go. The biggest change here is the card mechanic, which no longer randomly draws buffs.

You’ll now draw cards with offensive, defensive, and healing effects at the same time, and you’ll be able to choose the most effective card depending on the situation. You can draw four cards every 60 seconds.

To go with this new style, Astrodyne will be removed entirely, but the new trail will increase the number of stacks of Essential Dignity.

Role Actions Changes

Every job has these changes, with some jobs changing overall and others offering only minor changes. Besides these job-specific changes, there are also some changes being made to role actions as a whole.

For example, the healer’s Swiftcast recast time will be reduced to 40 seconds across the level 90 range. DPS potency of Second Wind will be buffed across the level 90 range. The 30% damage reduction buff for tanks will also be buffed across the level 90 range.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the developers say that all of the job changes are about improving ease of use, which seems to indicate a lot of what’s going on with Dawntrail.

You could argue that a lot of these tweaks are homogenizing the job system in FFXIV, and to some extent that’s true, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

As Endwalker represents the end of a decade for FFXIV, the development team is now eager to create a foundation that they can build on for the next decade. Dawntrail is clearly intended to be a new foundation for MMO, with a massive graphical update, a brand new zone and story, and now these job changes.

While massive job changes are definitely not going to please everyone, the impetus behind these changes is to make the game easier for newcomers to learn. Especially those who want to start with Dawntrail without being limited by a decade of expansions and story.

FFXIV is a phenomenal MMO, but it's not easy to get into. If you really want to catch up, there are hundreds of hours of story missions to sift through and nearly two dozen jobs to choose from. There are rich crafting options, alliance raids, and more.

That's a ton of content, but creating a new baseline starting point with Dawntrail could help MMO attract a new group of players. It might not be the most favorite move among existing players, but ultimately, it's a smart move when it comes to making more iterations and improvements in the years to come.

What do you think of the changes to jobs in Dawntrail expansion? Which changes do you like or hate the most? Let us know what you think. We’ll see you next time!