Summary
Final Fantasy 14fans are upset about the Drowned City of Skalla dungeon no longer having a mechanic that transforms them into a ghost. This change was made as a part of the expansion of the Duty Support system inFinal Fantasy 14.
Growing Light,Final Fantasy 14’s Patch 6.5, recently dropped, adding a new chapter of the Main Scenario quest, the conclusion of the Myths of the Realm raid, and content for the Island Sanctuary. However, one of the biggest changes was the completion of the Duty Support system through all ofStormblood, meaning players cancomplete theFinal Fantasy 14Main Scenario almost completely solo.
Unfortunately, this change did not come without its downsides. Like others added to theFinal Fantasy 14Duty Support systembefore it, the Drowned City of Skalla received some changes. Late in the dungeon, players must navigate across a series of chasms to reach the final boss. Previously, they would do so by stepping on a glyph that transforms them into a zangbeto – a large, jiggling ghost fought in the dungeon – and fly across. Now, defeating each group of enemies simply spawns a bridge instead.
This wasn’t the onlydungeon change in theFinal Fantasy 14patch. Several encounters in Skalla, The Burn, and the Ghimlyt Dark received some tweaks to make them less frustrating. The dungeons themselves are largely the same, though because Hien and Yugiri are now Duty Support characters, they no longer appear as NPCs in the fight. This means Lyse always uses the Limit Break on the Magitek giant near the end of the dungeon – an unfortunate case, considering Hien was the only one with a special Limit Break animation out of the three candidates that would previously be randomly selected for the role.
The change to Skalla makes sense given the circumstances. Programing the NPCs to use the ghost form was probably a nightmare, especially since players die if the buff runs out while they are over the chasm. Additionally, some players found the slow-moving form annoying once the gimmick grew old. Even so, many fans are lamenting the removal of what they considered to be one of the more unique and fun parts of the dungeon, especially since it could have just let the NPCs teleport across as it has in previous dungeons.
Either way, the changes to the Drowned City of Skalla are in line withFinal Fantasy 14’s modern, streamlined design philosophy. Players will have to keep their fond memories of jiggling ghosts close to their heart as they wait formore details about theDawntrailexpansion.
Final Fantasy 14is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5, with an Xbox Series X/S version launching in Spring 2024.
