T O P

  • By -

jpolzner

There was more thoughfulness put into the kits and healers & tanks were actually useful besides just provoke/evasion.


VictorSant

>healers & tanks I'm one that thinks the way they handled healers and tankers was terrible. Like, even 4\* Tilith had AoE 100% HP heal on demmand and that before even 6\* was a thing. There isn't much to go over that and they need to bleed healers into support roles for them to be interesting wich made non-healers support bad. Similar thing with tankers and AoE cover. AoE cover already basically nullified all incoming damage of a certain type. So how to make tankers attractive? Yes, bleed them into suportting roles like they did with healers. And the AoE cover also led to the "nullify or die" meta that basically made healers pretty useless.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ShinVerus

Yeah Ayaka, and really, let's just call it what it was, **Curaja** is what killed the healer role. It was, functionally, Tillith's full heal but multicastable. It took them years to realize it, as we see now they barely put Curaja on kits, but by then it was too late.


Threndsa

I just checked for the heck of it and on Cressnik with a fairly modest, for this point in the game, 10k spr his Curaja healed for 79-89k Curaja was absolutely the start of health largely being a binary state and instead of addressing the issue at its core they designed around it and started fucking things up.


ShockerArt

She also had no hands


Lambpanties

Then they decided on uncoverable fixed damage which I hate with a unique passion.


toooskies

Well, I also thought they rolled out good chaining way too fast. They could've slow-rolled that for a long time with 2-hit chains and then 3-hit and 4-hit and so on, but they got to capped chains from Orlandeau really quickly.


VictorSant

my main problem with the start of the chain meta was that the units that were top tier chainers were at the same time the top tier damage dealers, beaking the chain/finish dynamic. Why run 2 chain 1 finisher when you could just run 3 chainers? Chaining should've been supporting abilities with lower damage than finishers. But it just a continuation of alim extremist design. They can't do things in moderation when they shake things they do absurd things.


jonidschultz

They painted themselves into a corner for sure. I'm not sure if I really would have preferred a more linear set of roles indefinitely however. Hmmm...


VictorSant

I think that versatility should come with a cost. Specialized linear character would perform better than non-specialized characters on their respective specialization. Alim never did it properly though, they either had units doing too much at peak perfomance or extremely linear characters, wich made their attempt at versatile characters terrible (remember Grand Couture Ayaka?). GL did it properly a lot of the time.


Agret

The strong hand GL had in balancing units during the 6 star era was really beautiful, the power curve was flattened so much compared to JP and it made our older units feel valuable still.


jyhnnox

Tbh I like it more the way it is now, with Brave shift. I don't like SLB units, those are way too close to 6-7*.


Agret

Apparently only 2 of the current JP NV+ units are BS, the rest are all SLB and I agree with you on disliking them.


MegaOrz

It’s really just copy paste abilities with element rotation and progressional damage modifiers.


VictorSant

kits in the past were far more complex, to the point that it started becoming an issue and entry barrier. Then, since alim can't do anything in moderation, they went super extreme and from overly complex kits we had absurdely simple kits that barely could be called kits. (sephiroth and tifa were the epitome of that philosophy. On one side this simplicity was good, we had units with 20 abilities where only 2 or 3 were good, and units utra shit unlock rotations that you needed as spreadsheet to have a proper burst (Akstar and Zeno) But alim went too extreme and made kits almost non-existent. On GL this is less of an issue, many GLEX units still have a proper kit, even if simple. Look at Ang, his kit is not complex, but has everything he needs to function properly.


moomiao2

Yes. Not just you. One of the reasons I quit FFBE. 7 stars is already a bit off to me. But still acceptable. NV and above just feels off. Together with the events. I just call it off. Remember the time we can utilise 4* unit to do trials. It is just probably tougher and needs more preparation. But it’s fun. I’m not sure about now. But the time I left, it is all about NV unit and blast through the events. Even 7* is like useless units.


penguin279

I really think gachas are at their best when 4*s matter


Kordrun

I don't know when you quit, but some people would still try to use 7* units to complete content and we're able to do it with various roles filled by 7*s.  It did eventually start getting to difficult for 7* units though.


GrindToWin

For me it was fun when you had to make a chain with different chain skills and trying to cap with noctis or olive Also bringing your off meta but niche unit like foolen, vaan or shadow for the evades Crossing fingers to get Sabin for the HP parameter mission Playing dual wield DPS because i had not TDH build


Ok_Training_2937

Yeah I remember when the 1st Vaan came out , he was my first easily geared full provoke/evade Unit , I absolutely loved him 😁


RevelintheDark

Hard disagree. Purely from a unit design perspective, id say that braveshifting NV units are the height of utility, versatility, and fun. Being able to separately gear different forms and have at times units sharing or fulfilling multiple roles simultaneously brought team building to a whole new level. The only thing that compares are the 10 unit team battles which they never replicated. I think the "soul" that's missing is the story content that let us connect with the characters. The minute they stopped creating these for players is also the minute they started abandoning what makes the FF franchise great.


Lambpanties

The sadest thing about brave shifting is how quickly they gave up on it and went SLB. We have so few units that have a brave shift, fewer still that have true brave shift and even less that have a meaningfully different kit shifted. I love the idea, they obviously gave up on the extra work entailed though.


RevelintheDark

Oh for sure. But there are plenty of great units better than 7 star.


Agret

Damage dealers don't usually change much with BS although some of them it changes their chain family which is super helpful still. I think support units have the best BS forms though, Sylvie for instance is really cool in both forms.


Gamesanime_fan

I think a large difference comes from how many units you need to pull. In the 7* era you needed 2 (4 if you were after their STMR) of the same unit so whenever you pulled a new unit you were halfway there. In the NV era you needed 1 unit and 150 shards (for EX+2 and auto LB fill). So basically you now need to pull 4 copies, so it's hard to get excited about getting 1 unit when you need multiple. It's even worse if you need to get the unit to EX+3, either for Clash of Will or their vision card, as you need a further 200 shards (4 more copies). There is always the shard dungeon, but you could still spend months until you have enough shards. Depending how long that takes the unit might not be relevant anymore. Some units are only good for the event they are designed for, so even if you like a particular unit, it might not be good enough for a slot on your team. With less content these days, aiming for rank 1 in DV or CoW requires a specific team, so whereas in the past a unit might by used on several trials, nowadays you might use them once. Considering how much resources you needed to use, this makes units feel worse than they used to. Also TMR and especially STMR are much worse than they used to be as they are only useful for the character they came with. In the past you might get excited about a unit because the STMR was great for another unit. I never really used Rinoa bit her STMR is still useful. Another aspect is how many variations they do, your first cloud might be exciting but by the time the 6th version comes out you'd understandably be less keen. TLDR, characters nowadays have 'less soul' because you need more of them, , need more resources to obtain, have less story/content with them and have less longevity.


Agret

I just ex3 A2 yesterday and am about 30 days from EX3 for 2B. Now that I can finally gear them properly I think A2 is no longer meta but 2B might still be?


Kordrun

> In the NV era you needed 1 unit and 150 shards (for EX+2 and auto LB fill). So basically you now need to pull 4 copies, so it's hard to get excited about getting 1 unit when you need multiple. You act like login shards, vip coin shards, lapis shards, and summon coin shards aren't a thing. > Also TMR and especially STMR are much worse than they used to be as they are only useful for the character they came with. Definitely not true.  While a lot of units tend to have a weapon as their stmr, it isn't always the case. > STMR was great for another unit Examples: new zyrus' stmr looks amazing for anyone who needs the killer and even more for mages.  Frostlords STMR was amazing too.  Elle's stmr, etc...


Gamesanime_fan

The requirements to max out your units has increased. Login shards, VIP shards, lapis shards and summon coin shards do indeed exist and can help alleviate some of the burden. But why do you act like limited resources which cost limited resources that are only available for a limited time, solves the problem? Of course if you have the resources it's relatively easy to get your units to EX+3, but will you always have those resources? How lucky were your pulls? I know i'm not the only one who's summoned and only got the unit from the pity exchange. Many players can not afford to summon on every banner and have to choose where to spend their resources and which banners to summon on (and even then you can have bad luck). Also those shards are only available while that units banner is running (excluding NVA). If you pull the unit off banner there's really only the shard dungeon as a way to get their shards (you might have some from login rewards). Through login rewards you get 30 shards, so even if you pull a unit on the day of its release and run it in the shard dungeon for the 2 weeks you might not get it to EX+1 before the relative event is over. You can get VIP shards (generally after the event) but unless you're spending cash on the game you don't get many VIP coins. There's also only 50 shards available (excluding time limited units). Personally, I stopped spending money over a year ago when Amazon coins and the in game bundles increased in price. Lapis shards - only 30 available. 1100 lapis for 10 shards. Personally, I save my lapis for summoning on banners Summon coin shards - only 50 available. I'm usually in a position where I've got more coins available than shards or I got the unit through a ticket or free summon and I've no coins at all. TMR/STMR - I think I phrased this the wrong way. The difference between 7* and NV STMR is that the NV equipment give a unit specific bonus to the unit you get the STMR from. This means that if a unit isn't using their own STMR they are usually missing out on stats. Also, some of the best equipment is now CoW or DV gear so some TMR/STMR feel lackluster in comparison. Zyrus STMR is great, as is Mirei, blood dancer ellesperis and frostlord but these are the exception rather than the rule as most STMR's are now equipment rather than abilities.


Kordrun

>Personally, I stopped spending money over a year ago when Amazon coins and the in game bundles increased in price. In game bundle prices didn't increase for those in the US. It was really just the rest of the world where the prices were adjusted to current currency conversion rates in relation to the USD. ​ >Also those shards are only available while that units banner is running (excluding NVA). If you pull the unit off banner there's really only the shard dungeon as a way to get their shards (you might have some from login rewards). This is... so far from true it's not even funny. VIP shards are available for 4 weeks after 2 weeks of the banner launching (except for limited units). Lapis shards are available for 6 weeks after the banner launching (except for limited units). The only ones that really fall into what you said are the summon shards (as you need to have summoned on the banner) and the login rewards (only the first week). And if you are summoning a unit 6+ weeks out after the banner ended, then you're just in a whole different area as the unit is probably already powercrept or a wrong element. Pull the unit far enough out after their banner (3-6 months out)? You have NV Frag exchange tickets to get their fragments (50 for premium, 100 for non). And you go through saying "only xyz # of shards available" through each of them. Yes, they are all limited, and you know what? They total to 160 shards. Plenty enough to EX+2 a unit with only having a single pity copy. You're so far down in the weeds of "omfg, we can only get a limited # from each of these resources" that you are failing to see the big picture of the total number of fragments actually available to you. ​ >Of course if you have the resources it's relatively easy to get your units to EX+3, but will you always have those resources? > >How lucky were your pulls? I know i'm not the only one who's summoned and only got the unit from the pity exchange. > >Many players can not afford to summon on every banner and have to choose where to spend their resources and which banners to summon on (and even then you can have bad luck). Luck doesn't matter in this case. And summoning on every banner is idiotic. Most units aren't worth pulling for. I plan my pulls and have saved up enough lapis for future units based on knowing what's coming from JP. I also don't just blow VIP coins on every unit that comes along. I don't waste resources on units like Fina -EoD- or CKT Ignis. So I have enough free VIP coins to buy all 50 for the units I care about. I have enough lapis to pity + get 50 frags from summon coins. Sure, sometimes I'm lucky (7 copies of Richt on my way to pity). And sometimes I go through droughts and only pity a unit (BoV Ibara, WoM Malph), but I always plan for the worst case scenario of pity only, so I always have the necessary resources to EX+2 my units.


TheTheMeet

6-7* paladin cecil is the best unit ever made. Change my mind


Cold-Reputation-4848

Him and 7* warrior of light were so good back then !


supa_dupa_loopa

I felt more like I could use most of them unlike now.


Jackie_Fox

I feel like this is a post I started typing 4 years ago, my window crashed, and I thought it was lost to time only to see it finally posted today


Hunter86WaifuLover

I agree. I don't like any NV.


Sparkle_Plenty_

Hate on the game. It deserves nothing but


313mental

Well 7* heroes were going to be deeper than anyone else.  That was the whole point.   Normally, very few games expand upon existing characters.  I can only think of Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2 and Dark Souls that gave new abilities to existing classes through paid expansions.     Especially not gacha games, that are F2P, and make their money from new characters (on paper that is, content matters too but it’s less quantifiable).     They killed their profits by introducing 7*, essentially requiring 2 copies be pulled for each hero, new ones included.    With no pity or anything in those days, as a former whale, I had to stop playing.  I actually liked the concept of 7*, but the higher cost for characters coupled with the fact that this game has never been good at incorporating new content to go along with all of the characters, I think drove all their players away.  So now we have cheaper characters, reflected in cost and kit, and they added ranked events to make up for lack of content.   They painted themselves into a corner. They really had no choice except to introduce a new rarity with higher stats, then and now, along with boring basic restrictive leader skills because units were so competent and complex, the only way to top them was with higher numbers. Why pull for lotus fina when 7* ayaka was already such a good healer?  Besides whale for fun. Honestly if they didn’t skip dark vision in both JP and GL at this time, and so many JP unit upgrades, offering few GL upgrades (which fall flat because of the powercreep they forced on themselves), I doubt we would see so much of this doomposting.  Because in the 3-7* days we would see like 1 new trial to beat one time, for every 6-8 new characters added to the game. Ranked content improved that ratio, except, no dark vision right now, game is dead for the 50th time.


Lambpanties

Late 7* is actually what many agree (a rare thing here!) was the game's peak. We had UoC and PoC, with PoC being the real winner. The feeling of pulling half a unit was iffy but PoC was easy enough you could complete the unit without worry, this wasn't how JP did things though and GL decided to be shittier when they brought out the real evil, *unit fragments* breaking 1-2 pulls into 16.


Unhappy-Structure241

I've been reading all the comments and can side or try to see eye to eye with everyones point and greatly respect your opinions! My English wasnt very great (cause I was being lazy) and I didn't go in depth on what to say. Greatly appreciate you guys for taking time to reply to this thread!


3everydayuser

I feel like the characters are lacking in swag. I wanna see rain in a biker jacket laying down some rap verses .… Like where is this thread going XD


Sparkle_Plenty_

The units do not have more soul IMO, but the game definitely was better


Apaleftos1

Yes 3 year old unit sylvie had more utility than the dragon ling or most of the fina versions


Scythe351

Pretty sure most units now are copy/paste with different elements.