FFXIV Ask the Devs (11/5/2010)

Ask the Devs

In the latest segment of the "Ask the Devs" feature, the development team for Final Fantasy XIV looks at the questions and concerns players have regarding bonus point allotment and quests.  Keep reading to get the details straight from the Lodestone!

Discuss in the Zam FFXIV Forums.

The development and management teams continue to address the questions and concerns of the community in an ongoing FAQ. The topics addressed this time around are bonus point allotment and quests.

Bonus Point Allotment

Q. What are these so-called "bonus points"?

A. The term "bonus point" refers to a type of point awarded to a player when his or her physical level rises. Once acquired, these points may be freely assigned to any of a number of stats, allowing players to take a more active role in their character's development. Though the amount of bonus points awarded every level will continue to go up as a player progresses, the amount of bonus points required to raise stats will also increase as the value of the stats themselves rise. Below are two charts displaying the number of bonus points awarded at each physical level, and the amount of bonus points required to raise stats at certain values, respectively.

Physical Levels and Bonus Point Awards

Physical Level Bonus Points Awarded
2 4
3-4 5
5-9 6
10-20 8
21-23 10
24-26 12
27-29 14
30-32 16
33-35 18
36-38 20
39-41 22
42-44 24
45-47 26
48-50 28

Stat Values and Required Bonus Points

Attribute Value Bonus Points Required
≤40 1
41-80 2
81-127 3
≥128 4

 

Q. I am having a hard time deciding where to allocate my bonus points. What effect will raising each of the various stats have on my character?

A. The effects for each available stat are listed below:

    Strength (STR)
  • Increases damage dealt by physical attacks
  • Increases damage prevented when blocking attacks with a shield
    Vitality (VIT)
  • Reduces damage taken from physical attacks
  • Increases maximum HP
    Dexterity (DEX)
  • Increases accuracy of physical attacks
  • Increases chances of evading physical attacks
  • Increases critical hit rate of physical attacks and resulting damage
  • Increases parry rate for certain weapons
    Intelligence (INT)
  • Increases damage dealt by magic attacks
    Mind (MND)
  • Reduces damage taken from magic attacks
  • Increases maximum MP
    Piety (PIE)
  • Reduces chances of your magic attacks being resisted
  • Increases your chance of resisting magic attacks of others
    Elements
  • Increases damage dealt by attacks of that element
  • Reduces damage taken from attacks of the opposing element

Hints as to which attributes are most advantageous to each class can be discovered in-game by speaking to NPCs or examining the stats of items purchased with guild marks. For those who simply wish to have the facts straightaway, however, we have provided the following lists.

Disciplines of War & Magic

Disciples of War rely most heavily upon the STR, VIT, and DEX attributes, while for Disciples of Magic the emphasis is on INT, MND, and PIE. This is useful to remember for players who wish to maximize their character's potential when allocating bonus points.

In addition, there are bonuses to the effect of magic spells that are also based on attribute values. Below is a list showing the general relationship between attributes and magic types. The conditions that result in such bonuses, however, varies between spells.

Magic Type Attribute
Offensive (attack/counter) INT
Healing, Defensive MND
Absorb, Damage over Time (DoT) PIE

Discipline of the Land

Indications as to which attributes are most important to classes within the Discipline of the Land can be found in-game by closely examining the gathering-related abilities obtained via guild marks. Again, for those not willing to invest that sort of time, we have listed the relationships below.

Class Attribute
Miner VIT, MND
Botanist STR, INT
Fisher DEX, PIE

Discipline of the Hand

The effect of attributes on synthesis is limited. When attempting to craft a high-quality item, however, the likelihood of success increases as the attribute most closely associated with the tool being used rises. As the attributes associated with the main and off hand tools of each class are different, players may wish to give careful consideration to the class on which they wish to focus. A list showing the attributes related with the main and off hand tools of each class can be found below.

Class Related Attribute
Main Hand Tool Off Hand Tool
Carpenter VIT DEX
Blacksmith STR MND
Armorer VIT STR
Goldsmith DEX INT
Leatherworker VIT INT
Weaver DEX MND
Alchemist INT PIE
Culinarian MND PIE

It is possible to reset allocated bonus points and free them up for redistribution by selecting Reassign from the Point Allotment screen. Players are encouraged to make use of this feature as needed.

Q. I pressed the Reassign button but did not get all of my bonus points back. Why?

A. Using the Reassign feature will reset only a certain number of allotted bonus points. The feature will then become available for use again after a short period of time. Players wishing to reset all of their bonus points will be required to use the Reassign feature multiple times.

Q. I allocated all of my bonus points to STR, but it did not increase my damage output nearly as much as I had hoped. Why?

A. Each attribute has an upper limit, or "cap," that rises whenever a character's class rank goes up. Therefore, even if a player allots all of his or her bonus points to a single attribute such as STR, it is not the case that this will yield overly dramatic results. Distributing bonus points across several attributes rather than concentrating on a single one will result in a much more well-balanced character.

Quests

Q. I am having difficulty with the rank 30 quest for leatherworker. The class rank needed to successfully complete the requested synthesis seems to be high. Is this going to be balanced?

A. Balancing of synthesis recipes, including the leatherworking recipe in question, will be part of the version update scheduled for late November. Adjustments will be made to both degrees of difficulty and required ranks.

 

Comments

Post Comment
Finally some clarification
# Nov 05 2010 at 9:40 PM Rating: Good
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97 posts
All I can say is....IT'S ABOUT TIME!
Crafting Stats
# Nov 05 2010 at 8:08 PM Rating: Decent
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205 posts
Really happy to hear them say what stats effect what DoH classes.
It 'might' help to explain why it can be easier for some people and harder for others.

Now they just need to say the uses of main hand and off hand tools.
cap...
# Nov 05 2010 at 4:13 PM Rating: Decent
would be nice to know exactly where each stat caps at per rank in a class
great but!
# Nov 05 2010 at 12:53 PM Rating: Decent
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86 posts
Nice to know that dex improve Acc but still every test have prooved that dex do nothing for acc, then i can just think that the stats is broken and need fixin
great but!
# Nov 06 2010 at 7:46 AM Rating: Decent
19 posts
According to the post above, there is a cap to the character level that corresponds to the stat.

Q. I allocated all of my bonus points to STR, but it did not increase my damage output nearly as much as I had hoped. Why?

A. Each attribute has an upper limit, or "cap," that rises whenever a character's class rank goes up. Therefore, even if a player allots all of his or her bonus points to a single attribute such as STR, it is not the case that this will yield overly dramatic results. Distributing bonus points across several attributes rather than concentrating on a single one will result in a much more well-balanced character.

This means that you can only have x stat at y level. If your level changes, then the stat cap changes, but it's definitely not broken.
great but!
# Nov 06 2010 at 10:38 AM Rating: Decent
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86 posts
good try but its defnatly not the cap
Ask the Devs FTW!
# Nov 05 2010 at 10:05 AM Rating: Decent
I am so glad how SE is handling all this, I remember the early days of FFXI where pretty much everything was left to speculation (and ultimately superstition, IE crafting during sand storms) Keep em coming SE!
Nice job Devs
# Nov 05 2010 at 9:46 AM Rating: Decent
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101 posts
Clearly the Devs have been paying attention to what the community wants to know. If there is any hope of ffxiv taking off in a big way, it'll require exactly that. Kudos to the dev team for what they're doing with the "Ask the Devs" feature.
Still have questions...
# Nov 05 2010 at 9:41 AM Rating: Decent
38 posts
They mentioned nothing about duration and potency of THM debuff spells... ie. slow, blind, paralyze, gravity
I'm just going to assume though that INT, MND, PIE will effect them.
Edit: It says PIE effects DoT spells so I guess my question is, do those debuff spells fall under a category similar to poison, bio, dia? I'm assuming so since they are on timers of how long the spell effect lasts.

Edited, Nov 5th 2010 11:49am by MisterBigglesworth
OMG FINALLY
# Nov 05 2010 at 8:49 AM Rating: Decent
OMG this is probably the most useful info that has come out in a month! FINALLY time to redo some stats :)
Yay, Stat Information!
# Nov 05 2010 at 8:12 AM Rating: Decent
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59 posts
Wow, finally some light shed on the stat questions. Have been tired of people saying Dex does nothing, and asking for proof when their statements hold no water to begin with.

Either way, it is good to see what actually benefits from what. It looks pretty much exactly like what I have seen in-game from increasing various stats, so all the hidden "stat bonuses" look to be out in the open now, finally.
Yay, Stat Information!
# Nov 06 2010 at 11:12 PM Rating: Default
There's been plenty of testing on most every forum showing that major changes in DEX showing no significant change in accuracy across hundreds of attacks, indicating that the soft cap is so low at most peoples' current ranks that putting points into it is mostly useless.

Just because SE says that a stat has certain effects, doesn't mean that adding or removing points from that stat will actually change anything in practice - which is what people are saying, and seems to be true in many cases.
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