MP management and buff maintenance will be important for Dark Knight.
So dark knight will parry enemy attacks with their sword, will it also be dealing magic damage using its HP?
Y: When you activate a technique that the development team has been calling the "dark buff," MP will be consumed, and you'll be surrounded by a dark aura. A dark knight should always be fighting with this effect active. It's also possible to self-buff to increase damage by using the dark aura.
Will it also use magic?
Y: For attacking enemies, there will be both single target and AoE (ranged) magic available. Many people think that MP will be considered important to dark knights, but it will be more important to manage the dark power. However, the source of that power is MP, so in that way, MP is important. By the way, within the dark force, there is a system on another level which will further strengthen actions situationally. Tanking with dark knight is not like anything that we've had before.
With MP being important, the value of piety materia might grow in the future?
Y: Well, I guess there's some possibility it might for the people who are concerned about maximum MP on dark knight.
Are there also abilities which consume HP instead of MP?
Y: We were trying to decide for some time whether we should use HP instead of MP as the source of power for dark knight. We thought that by depleting your HP to enhance your defenses, such as Cecil in FFIV, it would be quite tricky in raids, so we decided to not adopt the idea of utilizing HP. We're still considering what support skills to implement in the future, so adjustments are ongoing.
Astrologian will fight by switching between "pure healer" and "shield" stances.
Tell us a bit more about the two styles of astrologian.
Y: The best way to put it simply is that you'll be able to switch between stances of a pure healer type and a barrier type. One way to think of it is that the healer type would be kind of like white mage, while the shield type would be closer to scholar. However, it would be too strong if you could switch frequently during combat, so there will be restrictions on how often you can change.
Can you give us an example of what the proper utilization would be?
Y: When you're doing a raid dungeon with a white mage, for example, you might use the barrier stance, and you'd use the pure-healer type stance if you were paired with a scholar.
What are the names of the stances?
Y: These are tentative, but right now they're called "Tsukiyomi" and "Hoshiyomi" [[i'm guessing these will be something like "moon caller" and "star caller" in English]]. With each stance, the spells you can cast will change.
What kinds of spells will be replaced?
Y: The actual spells will stay the same, but the effects will change with the stance.
What about actions other than magic?
Y: It's a bit hard to explain because it's quite unique. Just before the game goes on sale, we'll be publishing a video which shows all of the new job actions, so you should check there for more specifics.
So tell us about how the cards are used.
Y: Simply drawing a card might be good to buff your allies, but you can also hold the card and combine it with the next card, so you'll have to make judgments in accordance with the current situation.
Will you need MP for the operation of drawing a card?
Y: We're still making final adjustments, and we could go either way on this one.
Will MP management in general still be important like with dark knight?
Y: Yes, since it is still a healer.
Machinist will install attachments and use turrets!
Tell us about some of the characteristics of machinists.
Y: This is a bit basic, but it's a ranged DPS that can apply various effects by using turrets placed on the field. For example, you can have a turret placed in attack mode used to damage an enemy, or placed in a defense mode used to buff your party. You'll use these selectively in accordance with the current situation, while using your gun to stack your own DPS.
As a ranged DPS with buffs, the battle style sounds similar to bard.
Y: I think it will be in similar standing.
So this will be a rival for those who continue to argue that bard is a buffer (laughs).
Y: Well, you won't hear that from me, so no comment. (laughs)
How do you earn additional attachments?
Y: These will be learned as actions as your level goes up.
Is it possible to instantly change attachments?
Y: Yes, it's instant.
What happens when you install an attachment?
Y: When you have an attachment installed, there will be a reservoir that generates charge prior to firing.
Will this be kind of like casting time for a magic spell?
Y: Yes. The power will be increased with the delay, but if you move in the middle of a charge, the skill will be cancelled. Therefore, when you do install an attachment, you should plan to attack from a more stationary position.
In situations that require you to frequently avoid abilities, this might be difficult.
Y: If you need increased mobility for evasion, it might be safer to move without attachments, at the expense of some potential DPS. The action to use a gun requires a buff tentatively called "Ammunition," with an action called "Reload" which will be used to stack that buff.
So without reloading you can't just keep shooting bullets?
Y: It's simply like ammo, so your judgment of when to reload might be important. Because there's also an ability called "Quick Reload," thinking about when and where to use these abilities in the rotation might be important, and it's one of the interesting aspects about machinist.
The level three limit break for Astrologian is Celestial Stasis (Galaxy Stop)!
With Heavensward, you'll be replacing some of the limit breaks with unique ones - can you talk about any specifically?
Y: Level three limit breaks will be unique for all jobs. We plan to show the one for dragoon first, it's quite cool.
Do you plan to explain the performance of the limit breaks in something like a producer letter LIVE?
Y: I think we'll do something where we show the dragoon level three limit break at the end.
Will the level one and two limit breaks be the same as before?
Y: Yes, they'll be the same. Also, the existing level three limit breaks, like Last Bastion and Meteor, will each be one of the job-specific skills.
Normally, I'd expect the level three black mage limit break to be Meteor.
Y: Yes, even though black mage is my main, it will be a little lonely (laughs). Summoner is also a caster, but an original one will be added for it.
So Last Bastion for tanks will be specific to paladin or warrior.
Y: Yes, it'll be like that.
How will the bard's ability change?
Y: It will be changed to a DPS-type limit break. At level 3, perhaps it will look like a giant laser (laughs).
What about the ones for new jobs?
Y: For Astrologian, we wanted to somehow include Celestial Stasis (from Orran in Final Fantasy Tactics), but since the game needs to continue to advance in real time as an MMORPG, we couldn't really stop time....
So did you provide any instruction?
Y: I said that they should give it the feeling that time stopped and the allies were recovered. What actually happens is a bit over the top.