FF14's new Evolved jobs won't deal a 'huge amount' more damage than their Reborn counterparts, says Koji Fox

A catgirl from Final Fantasy 14 holds her crossbow bolt out to the camera - on her back is a visible crossbow. — (Image credit: Square Enix)

Meteor Survivor from Final Fantasy 14 leaps through a portal during Evercold's new expansion trailer.

Michael-Christopher Koji Fox

"With the damage, I don't think it is a huge amount. I don't think it's like: Okay, Evolved mode is going to do 50% more damage. I think it's going to be very negligible. I think it's just because the modes are so different and some of the skill rotations are gonna be so different, that damage will be dealt in different ways," via SarahJane, kwistyy_, and Pezz on YouTube.

Final Fantasy 14's "Evolved" jobs—that is, the new redesigns—feel like a much-needed way to shake the game out of its homogenisation rut, but they're also a huge departure from the status quo, which is why Square Enix will be giving all the old jobs "Reborn" modes that function as they did before the switch-up for Evercold.

However, it's clear that Evolved jobs are the intended future path for the game, given all new jobs will be designed with Evolved gameplay in mind. As such, they'll deal a little more damage overall as an incentive to encourage players to take them for a whirl, rather than just staying with what's familiar.

Koji Fox is quick to emphasise that he's not on the battle-team after the quote above, but he is very involved in the development process—often appearing on stage at fan festivals and working very closely with game director Naoki Yoshida. So while his word isn't gospel, it's not to be dismissed out of hand, either.

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He also clarifies earlier in the interview that part of the whole Evolved project is to make these jobs—which have been drowning in hotkeys for some time now—less confusing for new players: "With so many expansions and so many level cap increases, adding new actions, weaponskills, and spells, it's a lot of things on that hotbar, and it's gotten a little bit overwhelming for, especially, new players that come in."

Personally, I'm very excited to try them out, even if I am nervous as to what they have done to my baby, Ninja. Final Fantasy 14 has been suffering from doing the same old patterning for multiple expansions now, with some systems—I'm looking at you, FATEs—not receiving significant changes in years.

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Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.