While the hype for Evercold is growing, there’s still almost half a year left of patch 7.5. And the next big thing on the horizon for Dawntrail is the much-anticipated release of Beastmaster. We got an extended look at how the job plays, and the Crucible of the Ubroken system during the Letter from the Producer Live XCIII at Fanfest. The preview was showcased on the development server by CBU3’s own Mr. Ozma (who did the lion’s share of work on the job).
Unlock Requirements and Core Beast Abilities
To unlock the job, just have a Disciple of War or Magic at level 50 or above. You’ll also need to complete the 2.0 MSQ, and have Dawntrail purchased.
Beastmaster’s primary weapon is a one-handed axe with a shield on the offhand. The job plays as melee DPS, and goes up to level fifty. As the you’d expect, the job revolves around capturing beasts throughout the world. There are up to fifty to capture, and you choose up three types of beasts to map onto a horn. You start with one horn but can get two more by the time you hit max job level. There’s a heavy emphasis on customizing your playstyle with your favorite beasts.
All beasts have a set of core abilities that follow the same format:
• Parting Blow: A powerful attack done by a beast, followed by them retreating.
• Trick: Allows a beast to perform its “instinctual skill,” which feeds into the instinctual combo system (more on that later).
• Tempered Release: An action unique to that particular beast.
• Borrow: The Beastmaster can borrow some of the beast’s strength to use an action themselves.
Beastmasters will need to choose between Tempered Release or Borrow for each creature, as using one sets the other on cooldown until a new beast is summoned. Borrow provides one of eight actions to the player, based on the “type” of beast they used it on. Those types are Beastkin, Wavekin, Vilekin, Scalekin, Cloudkin, Soulkin, Seedkin, and Ashkin. And yes, this does sound very much like another popular creature-summoning franchise.
Beastmaster in Action
During the demonstration, we saw Mr. Ozma play with a horn that included a pugil, coblyn, and slime. While fighting a bomb, the Beastmaster used borrow on the pugil to give themselves Quelling Wave, providing a GCD ranged attack. They were able to stop enemy movement with a thirty second bind using the slime’s tempered release, and as the bomb was about to detonate they borrowed Soul Crush from the coblyn to interrupt it.
Meanwhile, if parting blow is used, it deals high damage to enemies, but it also sets the summoning horn for that beast on cooldown. Already we see Beastmaster is a very strategic job, emphasizing having an optimal lineup of beasts, and knowing how to juggle borrow, tempered release, and parting blow. And this is before we get into instinctual combos.
Instinctual Combos
If that didn’t sound like enough complexity, the instinctual combo system adds another layer to the job. As you fight, both the Beastmaster and their beasts earn TP on separate gauges. TP is spent on instinctual skills, which feed into a combo mechanic. The master has four instinctual skills, while the beast only has one.
The instinctual combo job gauge consists of four different affinities: colant, rampant, durant, and eldritch. One affinity leads to the next in a clockwise direction, and activating the correct colored skills in an intentional order will deal increasing damage. Players have seven seconds between instinctual skills to keep their combo rolling, and there’s a combo counter below the gauge to show the number of chained attacks. Rally and Rallying Cheer will also fill the TP gauge of the Beastmaster and the beast respectively.
If that sounds like a lot, don’t worry. The developers assured the viewers there will be a dummy to practice combos on, and the job quests will ease players into the different mechanics for Beastmaster.
Crucible of the Unbroken
Much like Blue Mage’s Masked Carnivale, Beastmaster also has a unique piece of side content: the Crucible of the Unbroken. The crucible is unlocked when the job hits level thirty, and Beastmaster gameplay shifts to focus on this versus the open world.
In this game mode, players traverse a board with branching paths to fight shades of beasts. Depending on the board and difficulty, you can choose up to fifteen familiars to take with you. The goal is to survive all the encounters and defeat the boss at end of board.
Unlike the carnivale, where stages are isolated, the crucible is a full gauntlet. You’ll need to survive all the way through with limited resources. Health for the Beastmaster and beasts does not natively regenerate during or between fights. You’ll need to use potions obtained from chests and rest, but you’ll only be able to heal a select number of your menagerie. When your beast hits zero HP, they’re knocked out of the crucible. With such strict HP management, the crucible allows you to juggle enmity between you and your beast using duty actions.
Staying Ahead
There are a number of ways to get ahead in the gauntlet. Feed purchased from shops will boost your pets’ attributes, and they can have multiple meals depending on the pet type. In addition, you can get your hands on gear and artifacts which grant stat boosts and special effects. One showcased during the live letter was the Ring of Sacrifice, which revives a downed player at the cost of sacrificing their current beast. You obtain loot both from chests and through defeating enemies on your way to the final boss.
The game mode also gives you plenty of intel on your coming fights. Board stages show what enemies you will be facing, as well as their elemental strengths and weaknesses. There’s a filtering system the feeds into this, allowing you to choose the best beasts suited for each fight. There’s also a recommended team feature which will automatically put together the best selection of beasts for the fight.
Crucible Rewards
Whether you defeat the final boss or not, you’ll get XP both for your job, and for the beasts who participated in the crucible. Beast XP builds their ranks, which in turn gives them better attributes in the game mode.
• Strength: Increases physical damage.
• Intelligence: Increases magic damage.
• Physical Damage Resistance
• Magical Damage Resistance
• Constitution: Increases HP.
Once a beast hits rank twenty-five, they will unlock a special appearance. In the Live Letter example, one beast had an alternate color scheme, but the developers said other beasts may have something other than colors to enhance their look. Additional rewards will be available to players who complete the crucible in full.
If that isn’t enough, after completing the game mode players will unlock three new difficulty tiers, called “degrees.” Each degree enhances enemy HP and damage, but the rewards are greater. For players who complete all stages of the third degree, they will win a special (and very shiny) mount.
In addition, the developers said Beastmaster content will be doled out in “seasons,” with the first one starting two weeks after patch 7.56 until 7.58. Afterwards seasons will be based on normal patch cycles. Each new season will offer new challenges and different rewards, with player rankings reset each team.
FFXIV on the Switch 2
As one final note before the live letter closed, the developers let the audience know FFXIV will be landing on the Nintendo Switch 2 on august 4th. The standard version is available, as well as the complete edition which includes Dawntrail.
Excited for Beastmaster? The job will land in patch 7.56 on September 8th.
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