Endwalker Ranged DPS changes: new info from the Media Tour

Last Updated on: 23rd October 2021, 10:44 pm

With the end of the Media Tour news embargo, numerous FFXIV content creators from around the world have been flooding their subscriptions’ feeds with tons of info about all the class changes, job feel, and general Endwalker news which was guarded until now. While I did write a preliminary article about each class’s changes in the Job Actions trailer, some info is either out of date or speculation that was off the mark. I plan to remedy that now, so here are the Endwalker Ranged DPS changes!

Do note that the information is subject to change between now and the release of Endwalker. This applies especially to potency numbers, but we can still glean some ideas as to how the team wishes to balance the jobs based on general potency numbers.

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Bard

The main change Bard received going into Endwalker was the extension of song and DoT duration to 45 seconds as opposed to the prior 30 seconds. The songs are mostly the same, but now give a Coda upon usage. Radiant Finale is a new party buff that functions basically exactly like old Divination. On a 90 second cooldown, a bard can give the party a DPS raid buff and its effectiveness is based on the number of Codas accumulated.

Some other nice additions are the upgraded AoE attack Ladonsbite, which replaces Quick Noct, and a second stack for Bloodletter. Better AoE performance and less overlapping on Bloodletters are always nice. Battle Voice and Barrage are now two-minute cooldowns, and Raging Strikes is now on a one-minute cooldown. Generally speaking, it seems like Bard will synergize very well with classes that have two-minute buff windows.

The last addition is a follow-up to Apex Arrow, usable when you have 80 gauge or above. Blast Arrow is a 500 potency AoE which looks to give Bards some of the damage they crave.

Machinist

Machinist may be the job with the least changes overall, though this is due mostly to its near-complete rework in Shadowbringers. In terms of the main additions to its damage kit, Reassemble now has two stacks, allowing for both Air Anchor and Drill to be Reassembled. Chain Saw is a new high potency line AoE on a one-minute cooldown and provides 20 gauge for the Automaton Queen. Speaking of, the Queen itself received a new 750 potency finisher titled Crowned Collider. As the selfish Ranged DPS, adding more guaranteed crit direct hits, high potency moves, and finishers does do the job well.

One amusing addition is the AoE upgrade Machinist received similar to Bard. It now has a shotgun. Need more really be said? Oh, and seeing as there was little to mention here, one of the Endwalker Ranged DPS changes which are universal is the cooldown reduction of Tactician, Shield Samba, and Troubadour. They all are on a 90-second cooldown now.

Dancer

As a job that felt fairly complete in Shadowbringers, Dancer didn’t receive too many changes going into Endwalker. The one mentioned most notably in the Live Letter was that the single target and AoE weapon skill procs would be one and the same. For instance, getting a proc on Cascade will now give the upgraded action for both single target and AoE, though only one of the two can be used. This, alongside the AoE actions changing to steps within Standard and Technical Step similarly to the single target actions, allows for Dancer to swap between single target and AoE much more easily than before.

Flourish has been changed based on the aforementioned changes, now on a one-minute cooldown and allowing one usage of the first enhanced single target or AoE action, the second enhanced one, Fan Dance III, and the new Fan Dance IV. This is a 300 potency cone AoE, giving Dancer some extra damage as well. Technical Step now has a follow-up action in Tillana, dealing AoE damage and granting Espirit and Standard Finish to the Dancer and its partner. Devilment also gained a follow-up action in Starfall Dance, a high damaging line AoE that will always crit direct hit.

The final addition is a combo action to Improvisation titled Improvised Finish, now allowing up to four stacks which can be spent on a shield for the party which becomes stronger based on the number of stacks. This will only be used during downtime, but it is a nice little addition nonetheless.

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While Ranged DPS had notably lagged behind in the DPS charts throughout the course of Shadowbringers, the changes coming to them in Endwalker look to address these issues by adding a good deal of potency to all three classes in ways that feel appropriate to each job.