Eight Jobs Not in Final Fantasy XIV (For Now)

I'm behind on my gaming goals; I'm behind on my blogging aspirations; and I'm worried I might get behind on podcasts.  The main culprit for all of this is my return to Final Fantasy XIV, so naturally I'm going to solve one problem by worsening others.  Let's talk FF XIV. 

I played Final Fantasy XIV for about four or five months in late 2016 into early 2017, and truly had a blast.  The story starts slow but gets excellent once the larger plot takes shape; the world design, visual style, job system, and musical score are all outstanding; and it's loaded with Final Fantasy themes and references that are a delight for longtime fans.  I even enjoy doing my daily quests in this game because FF XIV just has great instanced encounters and I love leveling up my character's array of jobs.  I renewed my FF XIV subscription in early April, and have been playing almost obsessively in the two months since.  I beat the Heavensward main scenario three weeks ago, and currently I'm almost finished with the 3.X story (~early 2017 content). I'm going to pick up Stormblood and Shadowbringers together in early July.

I love JRPG job systems, and that list of jobs is one of the key features of Final Fantasy XIV.  The player-character in Final Fantasy XIV, The Warrior of Light, can train in up to sixteen combat jobs (eighteen counting the two jobs being added next month in FF XIV: Shadowbringers), and isn't restricted to a single class like a character in World of WarCraft.  These jobs are less customizable than jobs in Final Fantasy XI or World of WarCraft - i.e. XIV Paladins will always be tanks, while in WoW you could build a Paladin to be a tank or a healer. Basically, FF XIV allows players to be any role they want on a single character, but you're limited to the movesets of one job at a time and those movesets feel more constrictive than classes or jobs in other MMORPGs.  A solid 15 out of 16 FF XIV combat jobs are powerful and playable for endgame content (Blue Mage being the sad exception).

But before I get into the meat of this piece, I need to go into *BRIEF* detail how jobs in Final Fantasy XIV work.  FF XIV jobs fall into five roles: tank, healer, melee DPS, ranged DPS, and caster DPS.  Every job has their own weapon type, unique skills and spells, and aesthetic, but rigidly fit only a single role.  Tanks have high defenses and draw the enemies' attention.  The three DPS roles have powerful offense and attack from either close range (melee), at a distance (ranged), or with magic spells (caster), focusing on dealing as much damage as possible.  The healer role casts healing and protection spells on the whole party, especially the tank (since the tank should be taking the brunt of the damage).  A traditional dungeon team or raiding party in FF XIV is 25% tanks, 25% healers, and 50% DPS; Final Fantasy XIV has instanced content for 4, 8, and 24 players at a time.  Here are the 18 FF XIV jobs, including the two jobs being added next month:

Warrior
Paladin
Monk
Dragoon
Bard
Black Mage
Summoner
White Mage
Scholar
Ninja
Dark Knight
Machinist
Astrologian
Samurai
Red Mage
Blue Mage
Gunbreaker (shown above)
Dancer (also shown above)

Each of those jobs has different starting conditions and even some weird prerequisite class stuff for the first 10 listed above (it's complicated).  Blue Mage has a level cap of 50 instead of 70 and its own unique experience curve (and it's designated a Limited Job for these reasons), and can't run the most advanced content.  My favorite job overall is Warrior; Warrior feels particularly sturdy and powerful, and I enjoy how it manipulates enemy enmity.  My two other mains are Monk and Dragoon, which are both melee DPS; tank and melee are my two preferred roles.  I haven't tried Samurai, Red Mage, Gunbreaker, or Dancer yet, since I don't have access to Stormblood or Shadowbringers yet.

I've had a lot of fun exploring the jobs of Final Fantasy XIV, especially since they draw inspiration from the jobs of many past Final Fantasy games, but my imagination is running wild with what jobs COULD be in the game.  As a longtime Final Fantasy fan and a born-again Realm Reborn fan, I'm interested to see what other classic Final Fantasy jobs will eventually find their way into Final Fantasy XIV 6.0., but 2021 is a long ways away and 5.0 hasn't even launched yet.  Still, my imagination is running wild and I have to chase it.  So let's talk about some Final Fantasy jobs NOT in FF XIV:

Immediately Disqualified

Thief

Ranger

Berserker

The three above can't work in FF XIV because, well, they sort of are already in FF XIV.  The Rogue class (which becomes Ninja at level 30) is a Thief by another name, the Archer class (Bard at 30) is essentially the bow-using Ranger, and the axe-wielding Marauder class (Warrior at 30) even has a skill called "Berserk."  And I do mean Class and not Job, because the beginner combat classes prior to level 30 are specifically called classes and not jobs.  Regardless, the three above won't make my big list of eight.

Sorry These Are Just Too Weird

Arithmetician / Calculator

Mime

Several Jobs from Bravely Default and Bravely Second

If you can explain to me how FF Tactics Math Skill, FF V mimicry, and Catmancers, Patissiers, or Charioteers brought to life from statues can fit into Final Fantasy XIV, I'm all ears.  No?  Didn't think so.  But here are eight jobs or job types that might:

Eight Jobs Not in Final Fantasy XIV (For Now)

Viking / Pirate / Corsair

It feels like I'm breaking the rules by writing down three jobs from three games in this space, but I feel it's justified because, well, they are the three most pirate-like jobs of Final Fantasy (with apologies to the Cannoneer in FFV Advance) and FF XIV has a ton of pirate shit in it.  The Viking (FF III) is a tanky job that wields axes and uses the Provoke skill to draw enemy fire (this is one of the earliest examples of aggro generation in any RPG).  The Pirate (Bravely Default) is a hard-hitting job wielding swords and axes with several attack skills that boost damage or debuff enemies.  The Corsair (FF XI) wields six-barreled heavy pistols and has attacks that rely on randomized dice rolls. 

The reason I'm roping all three of these jobs together is because they share a pirate theme, but I think they all deserve some attention!  Viking is one of the very few FF3 jobs without representation in FF XIV (the others being Sage and the job that's 6th on this list); Pirate is a fun, powerful Bravely Default job and there's a precedent for uncommon-in-Final-Fantasy jobs to make it into FF XIV (Bravely Second's Astrologian predates FF XIV's); and Corsair is one of the most unique jobs in Final Fantasy XI, and even as a non-player of XI I admire that game's fanbase so much that I think they deserve more FF XIV representation.  Viking, Pirate, and Corsair would likely fill the roles of tank, melee DPS, and ranged DPS respectively.  So why not add some buccaneer jobs to FF XIV?

Possible fit in Final Fantasy XIV 6.0: Zero.

These three jobs have too many factors working against them.  The Viking is a little too similar to Warrior, both in aesthetic and in weapon type.  Same thing for Pirate, even though the FF3 Viking is more defensive while the BD Pirate is more offensive.  Corsair shares a seafaring aesthetic with the Marauder class, but also had gambling and RNG mechanics as its signature skills, and that is something that you don't find much in FF XIV (except for some playstyles focusing on amassing a ton of critical hits). But most incriminating of all is that Final Fantasy XIV already has plenty of axe-fighting pirate flavor in the city of Limsa Lominsa and in the Marauder class and Warrior job and another preexisting gun job in Machinist.  Final Fantasy XIV may be a little too crowded with swashbucklers already. 

Time Mage

Time Mage is a class in FF V, FF Tactics, FF XII Zodiac Job System, and several handheld spinoffs like Tactics Advance and the Bravely series.  Time Mages always feature a mix of offensive and support skills, focusing on a time/space theme instead of an elemental theme.  Classic Final Fantasy Time Magic spells like Haste, Slow, Quick, and Meteor have been represented all over the series.  Time Magic is often extremely effective within their games, because players taking more turns and enemies taking fewer turns (a focus of a lot of Time Magic spells) is an undeniable advantage, and Meteor (which is sometimes a Black Magic spell instead of Time Magic) is always strong as hell. 

Haste, one of the most ubiquitous Final Fantasy spells, is curiously absent in FF XIV (although enemies can give themselves Haste buffs).  Turn speed and attack speed are powerful effects and probably challenging to balance, but the fact that several traditional Time Mage spells aren't represented in existing Jobs is interesting.  I think Time Mage could potentially work either as a healer that buffs allies and "undoes" damage, or as a caster DPS that buffs themselves and allies, slows down or time-stops enemies, and deals a lot of damage with gravity, meteor, and other time- and space-themed spells.

Possible fit in Final Fantasy XIV 6.0: Moderate.

I think that Time Mages could definitely work in Final Fantasy XIV, but the main issue in place here is that classic Haste spell.  Anything enhancing character movement, turn speed, or spell speed is SO powerful.  Balancing the Time Mage for high-end content and relative to other Jobs would probably be a nightmare, and a Time Mage without Haste, Slow, Stop, or Meteor seems pointless.  There's also the issue of being a *little* similar in aesthetic and theme to the Astrologian, but I think that's secondary to balancing the Haste effect.  I'd love to see Time Mage eventually in FF XIV as either a caster or healer, but I have too many doubts to bet on it.

Tamer / Beastmaster

The Beastmaster job (sometimes called Tamer or Trainer) first appeared in Final Fantasy V, and later in FF X-2 and FF XI.  In the original incarnation, the Beastmaster was a whip-using attacker that could capture monsters in battle and then release them in future battles for special effects.  These effects were often powerful, but only having a single use of Release before having to catch a new monsters limited it considerably. In FF X-2 the Trainer dressphere has each heroine summoning a small companion animal to do attacks, but a cursory search of "is Trainer dressphere good?" rates it poorly in FFX-2's job selection.  In Final Fantasy XI, Beastmasters can charm nearly any enemy in the field to recruit them as an ally, or summon previously charmed beasts as familiars; FF XI Beastmasters are considered strong damage-dealers and among the stronger jobs for solo play (this took me another internet search).

Final Fantasy XIV has only the Scholar and Summoner as far as pet jobs go, but an FF XIV Beastmaster would have to go beyond Egis and Fairies to do it properly.  The developers could go two routes here: the WoW Hunter / X-2 Trainer path where players have a single pet and focus on commanding and buffing the pet (and backing them up with their own skills); or the FF V / XI route where a large number of in-game monsters can be recruited, and investing time into exploration and recruitment is a huge benefit to the player.  I think the second of those ideas fulfills the fantasy of being a Final Fantasy Beastmaster more, but the first fits more sensibly into FF XIV's role system, probably as physical DPS but possibly as a tank, but lacking the customization option of capturing the monster of your choice.

Possible fit in Final Fantasy XIV 6.0: Moderate.

I think that the Beastmaster is the best possible candidate for a future Limited Job in Final Fantasy XIV, like the recently-added Blue Mage.  Almost contradicting what I said in the previous paragraph, I value the player fantasy of the Beastmaster job more than making the job fit into FF XIV endgame content. I think the best design choice for an FF XIV Beastmaster would be for players to interact with many FF XIV monsters and borrow their powers, and the charm / familiar model from FF XI makes sense for that.  But in doing so, strengthening the Beastmaster job would have to come from exploration and alternative gameplay mechanics (like the Blue Mage) and not strictly from leveling and questing (like every other combat job).  I think the Beastmaster has a decent chance of making it into FF XIV, but that path is as a Limited Job.

Chemist

Chemist has shown up in Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy Tactics, 4 Heroes of Light, and Bravely Default (as the Salve-Maker), and some variation of Use/Drink/Mix also appears in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.  Those different versions of Chemist have their differences, but the job always involves using specialized items, enhancing the effects of normal items, and sometimes using ingredient items in battle to execute powerful spells.  The Mix skill (especially in FFV and FFX) is *exceptionally* good if you gather the right components ahead of time.  In general, Chemist jobs are always dependent on having the right items available, at worst provide decent support, and at best change the tide of battle. 

The Chemist job is occasionally called Alchemist in some older games, and, well, there's already an Alchemist class in FF XIV.  It's a crafting class for making potions and refining certain types of materials, and has no combat role whatsoever.  There's also the issue of FF Chemists always using non-renewable gameplay resources (i.e. actual items and not just MP or something that's represented with a meter or skill symbols), which would be hard to translate to FF XIV unless they ditch using items and make all of the Chemist's Drink/Use/Mix abilities represented strictly on the skill bar.  So could it work? 

Possible fit in Final Fantasy XIV 6.0: Weak.

I like the idea of a healer or caster version of Chemist wielding a few simple skills, then using something similar to Ninja Mudras or Dancer Technical Steps to combine elements for strong effects on a longer cooldown, but... there's already a class called Alchemist, and I don't think the power fantasy of Chemist matches that of a mage job.  I'd honestly upgrade that Weak to Moderate if Alchemist was called Brewer or something.  Two jobs with names so similar is something I imagine the FF XIV team wants to avoid, and even then a Chemist job design would present an odd challenge. 

Mystic Knight / Spellblade / Rune Fencer

Mystic Knight in Final Fantasy V, Spellblade in several handheld spinoffs, and Rune Fencer in Final Fantasy XI.  They're all Mahou Kenshi or Madou Kenshi in Japanese ("Magic Sword Fighter" basically), and operate under similar principles: sword-wielding fighters who cast spells on their weapons for enhanced attacks and special moves.  Think of the Saber spells in a Mana game and you're on the right track.  Mystic Knight skills in FFV were a pretty excellent damage bonus to several attacking jobs, and FF XI Rune Fencers are capable tanks with the highest natural magic defense in the game, and used a system of rune symbols to enhance their attacks.

Mystic Knight (under any of its names) would certainly be either a tank or melee DPS (I lean tank but could go either way), and has an obvious path in either direction.  Enhancement skills and off-cooldown buffs are common in both roles, and coming up with weaponskills and combos based on swordsmanship and magic attacks would be... not necessarily easy, but very *sensible* for FF XIV's designers.  Aesthetic would be armor and robes, with somewhat of a Middle Eastern theme (which is how they did it in FFV and Bravely Default).  It's a swordfighter that uses some elemental magic, right?  How hard can that be to fit in? 

Possible fit in Final Fantasy XIV 6.0: Weak.

My first issue is the sword, because FF XIV has a lot of swords already.  Paladin, Dark Knight, Samurai, and Red Mage are already sword-wielding jobs, and a sword style that differs from those four would be an annoying design wrinkle.  Also, the Red Mage already holds the corner of "sword-wielding magic fighter," as it uses black magic and white magic to increase its meter, then executes powerful magic-sword attacks using the metered resource.  That's... already similar to what a theoretical FFXIV Mystic Knight would do.  I don't think the door is closed all the way for a Final Fantasy XIV Spellblade, but it's trying to fit into a space that's already a little crowded. 

Geomancer

Final Fantasy Geomancers can't seem to decide on an aesthetic (they're wearing pajamas in FF V???), but have the second-highest number of appearances of any job on this list (after Time Mage).  Originating in FF III, wielding a unique weapon type in FF V and FF XI (bells or chimes) and unique skillset (semi-random spells determined by what terrain is nearby during combat), and even being mentioned as some kind of guild or order in FF XIV (Geomancers are mentioned in the Astrologian quest line at one point), Geomancers have gotten around. Their FF Tactics incarnation calculated skill damage with the average of the physical and magic attack stats, which is just strange.

The Final Fantasy XI Geomancer was a spellcaster that could spec into damage, healing, or support, with a skillset that included a lot of area of effect spells.  In FF XIV, a Geomancer would be limited to one role (either caster or healer), and I think incorporate wind, earth, and water skills and have a lot of wide-area options.  The possibility of skills changing depending on terrain is exciting, but also means a lot of work for the development team, heh.  A core spell needing, say, four or more different animation effects depending on a specific factor like setting?  That sounds like a nightmare.

Possible fit in Final Fantasy XIV 6.0: Strong.

I think Geomancers have an excellent chance to be in FF XIV 6.0, because: A) there is definitely fan demand for a new healing class, which could work here; B) we know that Geomancers exist in the FF XIV world already; and C) they're a classic Final Fantasy job and FF XIV loves making references and mining nostalgia.  I don't know how FF XIV would implement terrain-based magic and I think my idea of an FF XIV Geomancer is a little too similar to FF XIV White Mages (focusing on earth, wind, and water spells), but I think they're a very good guess for 6.0 in this way-too-early exercise in gameplay prognostication.

Oracle / Mystic (Onmyoushi) / Bushi (Mononofu)

These are the weirdest entries on this list, and require a bit of explanation.  The Final Fantasy Tactics Oracle job (Mystic in the War of the Lions translation, Onmyoushi in Japanese) casts status effect magic and wields long poles in battle.  The Final Fantasy XII ZJS Bushi ("Mononofu" in Japanese, an archaic word for "gentleman") wears mages' robes and wields a katana in battle.  To my knowledge, neither of these jobs has reappeared in a Final Fantasy game other than catch-all crossover titles like Brave Exvius. 

So why am I bundling these two together?  Several reasons, surprisingly.  They both have an Eastern theme: Oracles / Mystics are patterned after Japanese Taoist priests and Bushi / Mononofu refer to upper-class samurai.  Also, both are mage jobs with a melee focus: Mystics use bamboo poles that increase power with the magic stat, and Bushi have high magic stats and FF XII katanas increase in power with strength AND magic.  Mystics are most effective when attacking often with their pole weapons (their status effect magic is okay, but most of their offense is bamboo-based), and Bushi are most effective when they use Magick items (called "Motes" which I think are like spiritualists' magic paper seals) in conjunction with sword attacks.  Two different jobs with similar approaches. 

Possible fit in Final Fantasy XIV 6.0: Weak.

I really like both of these FF jobs for a variety of reasons, but mostly because they're basically melee mages, an uncommon job type I really enjoy.  Eastern aesthetic, martial arts flavor, spirit magic, and close-range magic attacks?  Definitely into it.  But would such a job be a melee DPS or a caster DPS? (my guess is caster)  What would their weapon type be? (probably a long martial arts staff like the FFT Onmyoushi, which I 100% dig) And could FF XIV sustain a short-range caster and have it feel different from other jobs? (I think so. My imagined style would be in between Monk and Red Mage.)  This is an ideal hypothetical FF XIV job for my melee-main weeb ass and I think there's space for it in the game, but I think it's too obscure a reference and too specific a type to have a realistic chance of inclusion.  But this is my blog!  I can hope! 

Puppetmaster

And here's the entry on this list with which I'm the LEAST familiar.  The Puppetmaster is a job found only in Final Fantasy XI, a game I haven't played, and even then debuting a few expansions into FF XI's lifetime.  FF XI Puppetmasters manipulate an automaton while engaging in combat themselves, upgrading and customizing their automaton outside of combat and in battle executing a coordinated, complicated fighting style.  Since FF XI characters always dual-class, Puppetmasters can use their primary job options for a variety of tactics.  For example, a player could build their character as a healer or spellcaster while the automaton tanks; or build their character as a tank while the automaton is a pure attacker.  FF XI Puppetmasters had options.

There isn't really a job like Puppetmaster in Final Fantasy XIV.  Summoners and Scholars use pets, but nothing to the degree of complexity that FF XI Puppetmasters could do.  Also, both the player-character and their pet can only fit specific roles in FF XIV.  A theoretical FF XIV Puppetmaster would definitely have to be more limited than their predecessor, probably making the automaton either a pure tank or a physical attacker.  The flow of a tanking puppet while a puppeteer attacks or the puppet and controller attacking with tandem martial arts... either of those sounds pretty cool.  It could work?

Possible fit in Final Fantasy XIV 6.0: Moderate.

Many RPG players enjoy pet classes (like I said about Beastmaster), and the Puppetmaster is a really interesting precedent for a Final Fantasy pet class.  I think it's a real possibility for a future tank or melee DPS, but... what would their weapons be?  (either dolls, strings, or some toy-like object)  Could Final Fantasy XIV's world fit in Puppetmaster lore?  (100% yes)  Is there a large demand for Puppetmaster or a large number of former FF XI players?  (I don't know, but my guess is no).  It's that last point that gives me pause.  I don't think there is any kind of serious outcry for Puppetmaster, and it would probably be extremely difficult to design and implement in a balanced manner.  I think there's a chance, but not a strong chance.

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My Final Fantasy XIV character, a level 60 Warrior

So that's that!  My thoughts on a few slightly-obscure Final Fantasy jobs, in particular their likelihood to become part of Final Fantasy XIV in 2021.  If one or more of the above actually makes it into the expansion after Shadowbringers, I'm gonna be real goddamn smug about it. You've been warned.  I also have several blog posts in draft status, but I have no earthly idea when those will be finished.  Hopefully I can sneak in a total of 10 to 15 on the year between Final Fantasy XIV trials and raids.

Around two weeks ago I got back from my Los Angeles / E3 vacation! (A significant portion of this post was written on the airplane).  Anyhow, I'm still playing a lot of Final Fantasy XIV, mixing that in with some handheld jams (Persona Q2, Trails of Cold Steel 1) and games I'm playing for the podcast (Trials of Mana, Wild ARMs 3).  And I still have some E3 preview articles to write for RPGFan.  Whew.  Busy few weeks ahead of me.  Video games.