FFXIV Crystalline Conflict and Frontline PVP Balance Changes Coming

FFXIV PVP changes are on the way, as Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida announced Crystalline Conflict and Frontline balance updates. Crystalline Conflict issues will be addressed first. Those will come in patch 6.15 on June 7, 2022. Frontline ones will show up after that in 6.18. That patch doesn’t have an exact release date yet.

Yoshida noted this response came after people expressed concerns after the 6.11a FFXIV PVP balance changes. That adjusted the Astrologian, Bard, Black Mage, Dancer, Gunbreaker, Machinist, Red Mage, and Summoner. Yoshida noted this response came after people expressed concerns after the 6.11a FFXIV PVP balance changes. That adjusted the Astrologian, Bard, Black Mage, Dancer, Gunbreaker, Machinist, Red Mage, and Summoner, with regards to their Crystalline Conflict performance. As a result, the Black Mage ended up too strong after the update.

Yoshida first went over how Square Enix will address FFXIV Crystalline Conflict balance changes. He first noted the team is watching job win rates and investigating when a class’ win rates are both much higher or lower than 50% to ensure one doesn’t have an unfair advantage. He also noted that they keep track of usage rates to try and encourage an even distribution. As the 6.11a update was based on data from up to May 6, 2022 and more of a “relatively short notice” update, and he admitted they should have waited for 6.15 to allow for more testing. As for the Black Mage, Yoshida mentioned that before the patch, “…The Black Mage was exhibiting the lowest usage and win rates across all player categories. (As a point of reference, the black mage experienced victory 14% less than the job with the highest win rates.)” This was why the rebalancing initially made it stronger. He noted that the Black Mage isn’t getting “preferential treatment” and there will be changes to its abilities, like Soul Resonance.

After that, Yoshida addressed the upcoming FFXIV Frontline PVP balance changes. He noted admitted that the team prioritizing Crystalline Conflict meant issues on that end. He briefly mentioned two fixes coming in 6.18 and 6.2. Both damage numbers and limit break frequency will be addressed going forward.

Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.