Final Fantasy XIV update 3.3 went live today, bringing the Dragonsong War story to an end and adding new raids, dungeons, trials and more. My favorite part of the update is that little Recommended Gear button up there.
Call it Optimum, Best Equip, Optimize or Optimal, the ability to automatically assign the best equipment for your character class has been a Final Fantasy staple from the very start. It skipped several core games (III, VII, VIII and X lack such a feature, if I recall correctly) and didn’t always work as well as intended, but the option has been a godsend for RPG gamers who’d rather not sort through inventory to find pants.
It’s a feature Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has needed for quite some time. The ability to switch between any of the game’s classes or professions on the fly means the Armory Chest, which holds all of a player’s equipment, tends to become a real mess if you don’t prune it regularly.
Here’s an example of Recommended Gear in action. My level 58 (and holding) Machinist started with an Item Level of 139.
I hit the Recommended Gear button, which pops up a screen showing me the changes it would like to make.
I accept, and suddenly my Machinist has an Item Level of 141. Also he is in a different location with different hair, because I forgot to take the third screen until a bit later.
Perfect! Players who want to squeeze the very best out of their equipment will probably still want to do things by hand, but those of us with naked level 5 Leatherworkers in our roster will want to press the hell out of that button.
You can read all about the changes in today’s 3.3 “Revenge of the Horde” update over at the official update page. There’s plenty of new content for folks not hovering two levels behind the cap. The Recommended Gear button is just my favorite.
That, and this hair: