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Dragoons get some love
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:48 pm
by Crispleaf
In the next version update, major changes are scheduled for the dragoon two-hour ability.
The development team does not consider the dragoon to be particularly weak when compared to other jobs, but we are aware that a large part of a dragoon's strength depends on the presence of his or her wyvern. After taking into account the wyvern's tendency to be quickly defeated in heated battles, and the dragoon's lack of a powerful special ability for use in missions and other critical situations, it was decided that improvements were necessary.
Simply raising the wyvern's HP and defense to increase its survivability would cause balance issues in other parts of the game. However, it was judged that improving the dragoon's two-hour ability would have less of an impact on overall balance, and so the following changes have been planned for the upcoming version update:
-New two-hour ability
The dragoon will be imbued with the strength of his or her wyvern for a fixed length of time, increasing the dragoon's power and adding special effects to "Jump" abilities.
-Call Wyvern
The recast time for this ability will be reduced to twenty minutes. This ability will only be available when the main job is set to dragoon.
-Wyvern
Wyverns will now have the equivalent of the job trait "Subtle Blow," reducing the amount of TP gained by opponents from the wyvern's attacks.
More details will be announced at the time of the version update.
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:21 pm
by Tivia
Hmm pity they waited so long to make these changes. That was a job I was intrested in but never bothered to get into due to lack of usefulness. I might have come back for that had they done it much sooner.
Step In The Right Direction
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 4:09 pm
by Sheala
Eviticus should be happy about this. This is a good thing. To many time I have seen a dragoon call his wyvern only to have it died in the first ten minutes of a party. It would have been nice to have call wyvern from a sub job. Players who sub summoner get to call half strength avatars and beast masters can still charm some monsters. These allies help with soloing while not over powering party mechanics. Still the "adjustments" as Kailea like to call them are a step in the right direction.
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 4:21 pm
by Kahvi
((three word story thread type reply))
About D@mn Time
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 5:11 pm
by Dukuji
I do believe huzzahs are in order.
HUZZAH!
HUZZAH!
HUZZAH!
Now if they would only do something about the O-Kotes ...
~~~~~~~
In other somewhat related news, I've decided not to do the FFXI version update topic post like I normally do; just too much to do with finals coming up. If somebody wants to compile this information, go for it.
~~~~~~~
Also, I love that they used the word "imbue" to describe the new two-hour. Good word.
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 6:35 pm
by Crispleaf
I'd love to see Mae do some "wyvern empowered" jumps...
Can't imagine what that will do, but it's bound to be fun to watch

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 7:59 pm
by Eviticus
Upon reading your post, my reaction was exactly as follows. To grab the ground I'm sitting on, lean forward, eyes bulge out of my head and exclaim 'What?!'
I'm a member of the crowd that thinks the Dragoon job is not broken in any way, and doesn't need 'fixing'. While I will not deny I will enjoy the added power and usefulness they are giving to my job....it's....I don't know.
I can fight Anticans or Gobbies for hours and hours at a time and not loose my Wyvern, nor pose a problem for the healer because of Spirit Link. Why? Because I know how to use my job, my WS's, and I know how to plan to keep my Wyvern alive and not drain mp at the same time. It's damn difficult, but to me I view it as the Rng nerf in reverse.
It takes skill to play Dragoon to its fullest extent at the moment....judging by what I see here, they're going to take alot of strategy out of the Wyvern survival. I do love the fact they are still making Call Wyvern a Drg main only thing, despite its 20 minute timer.
Something else I can see, is this will totally break(as far as making it awesome) Soloing Drg's. So far, one of their main concerns is keeping their Wyvern alive. Now, with this 20 minute timer, I can use Super Jump to save my skin and let Soleil tank for a while. Oops, Soleil died, Re-summon....Healing breath, spirit link, healing breath, jump away hate, re sommon Wyvern.... Jesus Christ....I just hope people don't realize what a burden is being lifted off of Dragoons. I don't want a flood of idiots to take up my favorite job....
Oooh, and now we have an "OMFGWTFKILL!!" 2-hr. Finally, maybe SE will wash away this 'stigma' some see on the Dragoon class.
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:57 pm
by Chaoskitten21
i gotta say bout f**king time!(sorry for the language)cant count how many times my poor wyvern has died in heated battle with those f**ktard gobs(again sorry for the language)spamming bomb toss even with using spirit link to cure.also i think the wyvern should have more diverser breath attacks.they have gust,sand,frost,lightning,flame,and hydro breath.how all they need is a light and dark elemental breath attack.
EDIT:Now that we have posted the board rules posted just wanna give a friendly reminder not to use the f-bomb(I realize you did apologize but we cannot have this), just ** or use other symbols
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:15 pm
by Eviticus
Have no pretenses though. This does not improve overall damage by much. A dragoon's place in a SC has not been altered. Our damage modifiers in WS's are still lower then a Drk's. While this does remove some of the restrictions that have been hovering over a Drg's head, we're still not the best DD's out there.
If you read this thread and decide to take up a Lance, keep in mind you will need to learn your job through and through. Moniter what foods are best for you given the situation. Keep your gear up to date, and mind your place in SC's. Make yourself valuable to the party.
Dragoon has been hit by the buff bat, but this does not change our position in the order of things. It just merely makes it easier for us to do our job a piercing/low-hate DoT.
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:43 am
by Ambrey
Is this official or just rumor? And where did you find this info exactly? Provide us with a link or something please.

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 2:13 am
by Kintrra
It's official, just gimme a moment to look up the linkie.
http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/information/1122.html
There ye be. ^^
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:37 am
by Keavy
One of my major gripes when it came to DRG/WHM was Wyvern death.
Also, having a 2 hour that can actually save you in an emergency is nice!
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 8:07 am
by Ambrey
Thanks for posting the link to the official source ^^
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:57 am
by Eviticus
Something that recently came to mind that this change will help is this. I was out soloing as my Sam in Yhutunga with my NPC. I was in some trouble so I 2hr'ed. Just then, a friend said she needed help in a BCNM. I said sure, so I went to go switch to my Drg/Blm for some healing breath and lance support....oh yeah, approximately an hour and a half till Wyvern.....fun...
This 20 minute recharge will make switching classes around not hamper using Drg/Mage after you'f just used another job's 2hr.
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:31 am
by Jae
Congratulations to all Drgs ^^
Very rewarding I should say... DRG Call Wyvern 2HR... Wyvern giving monster TP was way too much ; ;
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:27 pm
by Keavy
Jae wrote:Congratulations to all Drgs ^^
Very rewarding I should say... DRG Call Wyvern 2HR... Wyvern giving monster TP was way too much ; ;
I never understood why "Call Wyvern" was the 2 hour ability anyway.
No offense to the DRG's, but without the Wyvern all you kids are is a poorly armored yet surprisingly accurate WAR with a Polearm.
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:55 pm
by Crispleaf
Keavy wrote:I never understood why "Call Wyvern" was the 2 hour ability anyway.
I think it was to prevent people subbing dragoon to get a wyvern. Even with this change to the two-hour, they still prevent dragoon sub-jobs from getting a wyvern.
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:08 pm
by Shirai
It's indeed nice to see the dragoon population finally get something.
Tho I must say I'm very curious what the new drg 2 hour ability will be.
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:31 pm
by Eviticus
Keavy wrote:No offense to the DRG's, but without the Wyvern all you kids are is a poorly armored yet surprisingly accurate WAR with a Polearm.
No offense taken, as that's probably the most accurate statement I've heard all day.
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:57 pm
by Jae
I didnt quote that 1 >.>
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:54 pm
by Eviticus
My appologies, the code got mixed up. Error fixed.
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:57 pm
by Ambrey
Thats one of the things I hated about Drg when I was lvling it, the very poor selection of gear. Our amor/weapon selection was shitty at best.
I understand why we are so awesome with lances and spears but itd be nice to have more selection in our armor. Hell, look at our AF, its full plate mail but we're not allowed to wear plate armor. The I got the answer from a GM once when we were talking, he said thats not really plate mail, I said oh? what is it then? He said it was really plastic lol. Smartass GMs.

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:42 am
by Kintrra
Ambrey wrote:Thats one of the things I hated about Drg when I was lvling it, the very poor selection of gear. Our amor/weapon selection was shitty at best.
I understand why we are so awesome with lances and spears but itd be nice to have more selection in our armor. Hell, look at our AF, its full plate mail but we're not allowed to wear plate armor. The I got the answer from a GM once when we were talking, he said thats not really plate mail, I said oh? what is it then? He said it was really plastic lol. Smartass GMs.


Some GMs are great.

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 4:49 am
by Eviticus
I believe the best explination I've ever heard as far as our armor goes like this.
Dragoons have Accuracy Bonus and Jumps....why? Because they're agile. What's the only other job with Acc. Bonus as a passive trait, Ranger. Agility. A Dragoon, however, is a warrior. A Knight of San d'Oria. Their armor must suit that station. However, to wear something bulky and heavy would reduce that, make some of their abilities hampered or even cancel them.
The Dragoon Artifact armor, however, is a legendary set made specificly for Dragoons. As you can see
here, the vast majority of our AF is leather and cloth, with a few strategicly placed pieces of armor. Also it is thought the metal itself in the gear is made of a lighter and stronger material then normal iron or steel, and thus allows the Dragoon to flit about the battlefield not nearly as encumbered.
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:38 am
by odious
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 1:35 pm
by Kahvi
Eviticus wrote:I believe the best explination I've ever heard as far as our armor goes like this.
Dragoons have Accuracy Bonus and Jumps....why? Because they're agile. What's the only other job with Acc. Bonus as a passive trait, Ranger. Agility. A Dragoon, however, is a warrior. A Knight of San d'Oria. Their armor must suit that station. However, to wear something bulky and heavy would reduce that, make some of their abilities hampered or even cancel them.
The Dragoon Artifact armor, however, is a legendary set made specificly for Dragoons. As you can see
here, the vast majority of our AF is leather and cloth, with a few strategicly placed pieces of armor. Also it is thought the metal itself in the gear is made of a lighter and stronger material then normal iron or steel, and thus allows the Dragoon to flit about the battlefield not nearly as encumbered.
So.... to all of us that have D&D backgrounds... DRG AF is mastercrafted 1/4 Plate Mail
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:56 pm
by Nekiu
If you roll a one when useing super jump do you acidently stab yourself in the foot?
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 3:20 pm
by Kahvi
lol
I always thought if you rolled a 1 on super jump that you land face first....
on the monster..
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 5:14 pm
by Eviticus
A crit fail on {Super Jump} is slapping it and calling it's mama a chocobo.
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:11 am
by Holydragoon
Another opinion
While I do agree with the intorduction of a 2hr ability to boost Drg, I don't think I agree with the 20 min timer. It's too short, I think there is a great skill in keeping a wyvern alive 2 hours at a time while taking on mobs, especially mobs with AOE spells. Yes without the wyvern our dmg is weakened, but keeping it alive is part of the challnge, and its a challenge I enjoy. I hope SE tweaks the timer a little.
All in all, I agree with the changes, but 20 min? That just makes my job too easy and I for one will enjoy keeping my wyvern alive with well timed spirit links, and dismisses.