In a new written letter from Final Fantasy XIV producer/director Naoki Yoshida, the release date for patch 6.15 will be June 7, 2022. In it will include more content and updates (more on that in a bit) but the main thrust of his letter was to redress recent PvP balance updates that didn’t quite work out as planned.

For Crystalline Conflict, a new 5v5 mode that was introduced in Patch 6.1, the team heavily revamped all of the actions each job can use in all PvP modes

Elaborating further, Yoshida shared their process for reviewing the balance of each job. Should any one in particular emerge with a win rate above 50%, the team will investigate to determine whether any of the actions involved are overpowered. That goes for any job that’s far under that rate too, but the goal won’t be simply to “make the job stronger,” but to examine and change a jobs unique attributes to improve their win rate.

Another factor that’s involved is how much each individual job is used. Less popular jobs will be reviewed, but the goal isn’t necessarily to create a situation in which all jobs are used equally, but one that’s based on personal preference. That being said, the feedback on less popular jobs will drive the changes, with a goal towards preserving the individuality of each job. The team has already received a large amount of feedback and wanted to quickly implement those changes in Patch 6.11a, but after its release realized that the Black Mage’s changes went too far. In response to this Yoshida shared that, in hindsight, additional time to review these changes may have prevented this situation, and going forward they will keep this in mind when working to implement these changes. He understands players’ frustration, but is encouraged by what is “PvP’s [now] unprecedented popularity.”

“As developers, we have an ever-present desire to adjust and correct even the smallest issues as soon as they occur. However, reality dictates that any changes we make need approximately two weeks for debugging, translation and implementation checks, patch note creation, changes to the Job Guide, and more.”

Yoshida went on to talk about black mage specifically, and shared that it was put high on the list for revision as it had the lowest win rate of all jobs at 14%. In the days following Patch 6.11a, Yoshida was seen on public servers playing the job himself, which led some to joke that the producer’s favorite job had special treatment – when in reality its low performance just kicked it to the top of the revision list.

“In the following days, I would have the distinct pleasure of battling against many of you in my personal investigation of the black mage’s issues. […] By adding a heavy effect, giving Paradox multiple charges, and otherwise decreasing casting times, the black mage was granted an undeniable advantage, which we intend to revert in a future patch. We will also be reducing the level of defense granted by limit break action Soul Resonance. […] I would like to emphasize that the black mage is experiencing no preferential treatment by being specially mentioned here; we evaluate action balance for all jobs with a similarly scrutinizing gaze. I only present this instance as an example as it was particularly inconvenient and frustrating to many players, and I am truly sorry for the trouble we have caused.”

Frontline has also been a concern for PvPers since the heavy revamp, specific adjustments will be coming in Patch 6.18 and 6.2. These changes include the frequency of limit breaks and how much damage is dealt and taken by individual jobs.

In other 6.15-related news, a new Custom Deliveries client Ameliance Leveilleur will be added, as well as tribe quests featuring Thavnair’s Arkasodara, and the long-awaited continuance of Hildibrand’s adventures in… “Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures” in which the inspector extraordinaire travels to the First.

Final Fantasy XIV is now available on Windows PC, Steam, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5