Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Diary: Week 2

Week two of Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward is in the books. That means a whole lot of questing because the experience gap between levels is quite large. I managed to wrap at level 56 this week, giving me a chance to experience two new dungeons, along with some major story bits. There has also been a great deal of filler quests, and you'd think that being the Warrior of Light I'd be above delivering wine to people on the streets. Nope. So let's talk about my week, I could use the conversational therapy.

If there is one thing I have learned, it's that people are prone to ignoring mechanics due to their massive iLevel numbers. For those that don't know, the game has a hard level cap of 60, and in order to grow beyond that you rely on the level of your gear. This means that a lot of people who are burning straight to the Heavensward content without taking the time to learn how to actually play their class. This also means a lot of dungeons I was able to clear within twenty minutes are now taking a significantly longer amount of time to clear, and when time is at a premium, take a few seconds to teach players how certain bosses work. 

I've managed to make it to a fourth zone of the six, The Churning Mists. It is here that I've learned of major revelations regarding the Dravanian War in Ishgard. Completing the major story section here at 55 will lead into the next chapter of Heavensward's story, but not before you complete a fair number of fetch quests. Thankfully the quests reward you with the gear necessary to continue to be effective in dungeons. I'd say I'm about 14 hours in on new content, and I'm now at a point where it's going to take me about 5-6 hours just to gain one level. This means I can expect probably about another 20 hours of grinding just to make it through the main scenario of Heavensward. I'm inclined to rush at this point now that Alexander is available.

I'm still working on Bard, which means I've just gotten a few new buffs in yesterday's patch. I only had one day with them, but the early prognosis? I really like what they've done. The change to a Wanderer's Minuet to make it an instant cast stance means I get in to battle quicker. I've also found that my skill at 56; Iron Jaws, is an incredibly useful tool for maintaining the critical refreshes needed to be able to use Bloodletter. Sure I no longer have an auto-attack and I have a cast time on my skills, but overall it's giving me a variety of play styles. So if I don't like to plant myself and use skills, I still have the option to go back to the more mobile option, but right now, I like to integrate Wanderer's Minuet in to phases of combat to maximize damage in bursts. 

It's still fairly early in the Heavensward experience, but everything is moving along at a great clip and I'm enjoying the changes to my class. I've seen a lot of anger toward Square Enix about the Bard changes, and sure it has altered my play style a bit, but I am enjoying the change up. Hopefully for next week's report I'll be at 60 and can talk about Alexander!