Thought I'd point out to people that the Elemental Wheel is
not the same as FFXI.
In FFXI, we had one big wheel as such: Fire > Ice > Wind > Earth > Lightning > Water > Fire
Instead, in FFXIV, we have
two separate wheels. This is from the in-game manual "Call to Adventure":
Quote:
Fire melts ice, but is extinguished by wind.
Ice obstructs wind, but is melted by fire.
Wind extinguishes fire, but is obstructed by ice.
Earth grounds lightning, but is eroded by water.
Lightning boils water, but is grounded by earth.
Water erodes earth, but is boiled by lightning.
This equates to:
Wind > Fire > Ice > Wind
Earth > Lightning > Water > Earth
The important changes are that Wind now beats Fire instead of Earth, and Water now beats Earth instead of Fire.
Additionally, in one of SE's Ask the Devs, they pointed out how the elemental affinity works. Increasing your affinity in a particular element does not make you strong against it, it makes you strong against the element it is already strong against.
For example, if you want to resist Poison you dont need Water affinity, you need Lightning. Think of boosting your elemental affinity akin to turning yourself into an Elemental. Increasing your Earth affinity makes your Earth attacks stronger and increases your defense against Lightning. Increasing Fire affinity makes your Fire attacks stronger and increases your defense against Ice.