There's a surprise lack of Pictomancer nerfs in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail's first major balance patch—which streamlines Viper and tries to save the suffering Black Mage

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail is getting its first tier of raids' Savage difficulty today, and you know what that means: It's time to speculate on balance changes! Imagine me clapping for emphasis between those words at your leisure.

Patch 7.05 brings with it a few neat additions—the expansion's first treasure map dungeon, for example—but it also adds the first avalanche of controversial job tweaks to help sand off some rough edges, just as statics begin their race to world first.

With...