Table of Contents
Introduction
In this article, we're going to cover the HUGE changes that UnknownX from the unofficial FFEC Discord server has shared. A quick disclaimer, none of the information is confirmed, so take this with a grain of salt.
Accessories:
They can be crafted and will share crafting spots with materia. We only have 5 slots right now, so I'm thinking that we might be able to expand it to more slots if they are going to be shared. We can also increase the storage limit for materia/accessories.
Revive, provoke, and reflect are going to be added, so I'm assuming these are tied to these accessories. An accessory that has a one-time revive could be available. A provoke accessory could also be possible, as well as a reflect accessory that bounces magic back.
I knew provoke was coming, so this isn't a surprise. This will make character building much more fun, as well as party building. Now we don't need to build everyone with HP and defense if the enemy doesn't have hard-hitting AOE attacks. The unit with provoke will take the bulk of the damage. We could focus on self-buffing with the tank, like the PDEF and MDEF support weapons that they have. They will become more valuable.
Chocobos:
The current highest level/grade of chocobos is C+, and in the future, it could be at S+. There was a reference to 4* chocobos and chocobo food, but it could have been a scrapped feature.
Here are the future chocobo prices according to rarity:
- B (15k)
- B+ (20k)
- A (30k)
- A+ (50k)
- S (80k)
- S+ (150k)
That S+ rank chocobo is looking really expensive, so you might want to save your chocobo medals. The prices seem really high, but I'm assuming we'll get a way to earn more chocobo medals when this update drops.
New Buffs and Debuffs:
Haste and Slow:
Haste makes the ATB gauge increase faster, while Slow makes it fill slower. I'm assuming Haste is from a materia, and Slow is used by enemies.
Cast Time Increase and Decrease:
I'm assuming this is a new buff that we don't have in other Final Fantasy games. I might be missing something, so let me know in the comments. Sephiroth with his edged wings will rejoice at the decrease in cast time, as well as Cloud with his maritime sword.
Mirroring Buffs and Recovery:
Single target buffs and heals also buffing and healing the user. This will make the single target buffing/healing weapons a bit more useful.
Healing Boost Buff:
So, this one increases the healing potency using a buff. Quite useful when you need your healer to heal for more without investing in a lot of weapons with heal potency bonuses.
The final two tiers of buffs, which are the most potent, are called "Extra High" and "Extreme," or we can just call them mid and high.
Materia:
Materia Support Effect (boosts from weapons):
More support materia effects that are strong but have drawbacks, sort of like the trance abilities in Crisis Dungeons.
Effect Support Materia:
Possibly materia that enhance weapon skills or some way of additionally upgrading materia. This seems like special materia designed to amplify the effects of your weapon skills or possibly even enhance the materia you're using, kind of like support materia in FF7. "Effect Support Materia" may play a role in modifying or enhancing the way certain skills or materia work, potentially influencing whether they have AoE capabilities or not. -aga level spells might be single target only, and we need EffectSupportMateria to make them AoE.
Battle Mechanics:
Penetration:
I won't go into the formulas, but the gist of it is that enemies will deal more damage when they have penetration. We can mitigate the increase in damage by increasing our character's levels.
Elemental Resistances:
They are different based on the enemy. I assumed that it was just +100% for resistance and -100% for weakness, but this isn't the case. Here are the numbers for some of the bosses:
Ifrit: Elemental Resistances: 100% Fire, -100% Ice
Baloir King: Elemental Resistances: -150% Earth, 80% Water, 80% Wind
Blue Dragon: Elemental Resistances: -200% Fire, 80% Ice
Blue Elemental: Elemental Resistances: -200% Lightning, 100% Water
Shiva: Elemental Resistances: -200% Fire, 100% Ice
So as you can see, Shiva is 3x weak to fire, while Ifrit is only 2x weak to ice. This just shows how important it is to exploit the enemy's elemental weakness. It also increases the value of elemental weapons for each character. Even farmable weapons from the summon missions are valuable.
Attack, Damage Magnification, and Healing Snapshot:
This means that when a character uses a skill or ability, their attack power, how much damage they can deal, and how much they can heal are locked in at the very start of the skill animation. So, if you buff your character's attack or healing abilities right before they use a skill, it won't have an effect on that particular skill; it's set from the beginning.
Defenses, Damage Resistance, and Critical Hits Are Not Snapshot:
On the flip side, your character's defenses, their resistance to damage, and their chances of landing a critical hit are not locked in at the start of the animation. This means you can actually boost your party's defenses just before an enemy attack hits, and it will take effect. However, you can't weaken the enemy's attack in the same way because their attack is set in stone once their skill animation begins.
Now, there's a little uncertainty about whether skills that hit multiple times can be influenced midway through their animation.
New Elements:
Holy and dark might be added as elements. Dark is usually used by enemies in the mainline games, while holy is a usable skill by the party. Holy could mean that we can craft the holy materia that scales damage from healing potency.
Stamina Pots:
More stamina pots are incoming with different amounts of stamina being restored. A welcome addition for sure.
And that's it for the possible upcoming changes to the game.
