FF14 patch 7.4 is here, but its Red Mage and Gunbreaker changes have me worried that job design is going backwards

Final Fantasy 14 patch 7.4 is finally here. We've been waiting for it for a while, with all eyes on job balancing ahead of Square Enix's proposed rework, set to drop with 8.0. While the plan is to make the MMO's classes feel more distinct, following the controversial changes to Black Mage, there are rumblings that the upcoming adjustments may do more harm than good. While 7.4's new raids are going down a treat, some of the Gunbreaker and Red Mage tweaks have sparked further concerns, with the former feeling a little too easy and the latter losing some of its mobility.

Unfortunately, Final Fantasy 14 patch 7.4's job changes haven't gone down as Square Enix may have hoped, with some players growing frustrated by the developer's approach to classes.

The Gunbreaker adjustments increases your maximum number of Bloodfest charges to six, which on paper sounds like a buff but, for some, oversimplifies the entire job. We want to have to manage our skills effectively, and to have challenging elements of game design. Not everything needs to be as simple as spamming a button repeatedly to win.

Square Enix explains the change in its jobs guide, stating that it's intended to "rectify [the] irritation" of mismanaging cartridges during the burst phase. One player on Reddit has has called the decision "braindead" and another simply writes, "What the fuck man?"

The Red Mage tweak is less egregious, but the class' mobility has taken a hit. While you can still dash around with Manafication, there's no real need to anymore, which takes a bit of fun out of the job's combat.

But, putting the job changes aside, the rest of the update is going down pretty well. As we already knew from Live Letter 90, the new Mistwake dungeon is now available, complete with another train boss fight in Hell on Rails.

Personally, I'm most excited to check out Tom Morello's new tune, which soundtracks the new Arcadion raid. Arcadion: Heavyweight Division will pit us against two 'surfer bros' called Red Hot and Deep Blue, and it's just the first in a series of four. Will Morello be involved in all of them? I'm not sure, but I can live to dream.

We'll have to wait a little longer for the new variant and criterion dungeon, which will arrive in patch 7.45, but that was expected. The new raid dungeon, AAC Heavyweight Tier (Savage), will also only be available from Tuesday January 6, 2026. Elsewhere, there are bountiful new cosmetics, emotes, and more for players more concerned with the fashion of their character than any buffs or nerfs.

With perfect timing for the Christmas holidays, I can't wait to get stuck into this angry locomotion engine and raid away my winter break. I'm just glad I'm not a Gunbreaker.