16:20. On the topic of Dancer, Ninjas were actually known to use fans that could fold into daggers. Situations where preformers or servants fight back against their employer (Like government officials) aren't exactly uncommon throughout history. You could really go either way with Dancer or Ninja, a Ninja that can buff itself with dancing or a Dancer that can defend itself in a melee scenario.

Fun fact: In 1.0 Gladiators could actually equip a good amount of weapons like longswords and daggers, they didn't change anything outside of stats but it's an interesting feature that could have been given to other classes if the game moved closer to 11. Arcanists were also planned to use a special kind of staff as an inbetween of BLM and WHM, you could see NPCs in the planned Arcanist guild and even Urianger with them so there is actual precident for Arcanists (And Summoners by extention) using them.

Paladin --> Viper Twinblades Warrior --> Black Mage Staff (Red Mage Transition/Axe becomes magic staff after accumulating damage) Dark Knight --> Ninja Daggers Gunbreaker --> Machinist Pistols White Mage --> Dragoon Lance Scholar --> Red Mage Rapier & Arm Astrologian --> Summoner Horn(s) & wand Sage --> Gunbreaker Gunblade Monk --> Dancer Chakram Dragoon --> Dark Knight Greatsword Ninja --> Astrologian Star Globe Samurai --> Reaper Scythe Reaper --> Sages Floating Guns (Angel of Death) Viper --> Warrior's Axe Bard --> Paladin Sword and Shield (Shield is shaped like a violin and sword is the bow) Machinist --> Scholar's Book (weapon re-formatted into a high-tech command console) Dancer --> Monk's Gauntlets Black Mage --> Blue Mage wand & Mask (uses void magics and attacks instead of monster magics and attacks) Summoner --> Pictomancer brush Red Mage --> Samurai Katana Pictomancer --> Spear

For ninja i would have gone more in the kama direction tbh . ( it a small scythe whit a chain attached to it with usually a blunt object like say a small counter weigh on the other end of the chain that can be use to attack just as much as the scythe itself) it would make them range dps and would still fit there theme . Not to mention the possibility it could give the class . Like crowd control whit the chain or bleed from the scythe maybe even stunning strikes whit the blunt end . They might even use it to channel there jitsu trought the weapon itself . That would be amazing in my opinion.

Brilliant video. I had no idea what to expect and I ended up enjoying it a lot. Great intro too!

I personally don’t like how scholar has me eat my little buddy for extra dots but thems the mechanics 😂. Love Scholar!

I feel like that after Shadowbringer with the introduction Job Roles Quest: I feel the WoL is just training and learning from trial and errors of ways to improve on there job class. If we take what you said about how Solar Bahament was created, we can translate that with all of classes on how we're able to learn certain new moves set, old moves evolved and moves thats combines with another. So far Endwalker and Dawntrail is the only source i can go by since those two only have the roles class quest.

hear me out: astro with onl 1 chakram that, when not thrown, rests on their arm and they put the cards on it, a sort of disk, if you will

Before you get to monk I want us to have staffs and tonfas (better applied tonfas anyway)

Azem traveled not only through space but time. When Azem was absent, I'll bet they went forward in time to give one his relic to the Milala., and how to use the relic was lost. It makes you wonder just how powerful the seat of Azem was, Venat sundered a world, the next Azem had Emet-Selch at their beck and call not only in life, but in death. We have 6 Ancients + Azem left, should be some interesting story playing out.

Dont give monk a weapon. Theres no need. Youre already dealing with a class that can push their own aura onto others. That can self heal, and increase healing of others and shoot ranged beams out based on their training. So you swap it. Instead of being majority melee damage with some buffs. You give em a mystic alternative. Something that can focuses more on the party while secondary damaging. It wouldnt just be another healer. You make em an actual support. More debuffs to enemies and party buffs to allies. Theyll still have their melee atracks, but the instead of a combo system its more just the occasional heavy hitter. Like a five finger death punch. Turn em into a ki blaster for the majority of the actual attacks theyre doing. That way theyd have to be mobile enough to get in there when its time to deliver the devastating moves, but then they get out again cause they have to focus on supporting the team and most of their regular moves dont need them to be that close. Flip their playstyle on its head, but dont give them a weapon.

okay, Viper speaking here: I don't thing they are very well established but I could see Viper switch the blades to ranged Dual pistols. Maerlwyb technically iirc is using those but not much more... but i'd say gunslingy dual pistols would fit quite well. (am tho also a bit biased cause i really hope the next range dps will be a pistol gunslinger like that)

Reminds me of creation magic ona lesser MUCH lesser scale

The sad thing for me is that, for lack of abetter word, FFXIV says no to fun or variety. We've been trapped and stagnated in a stifling, one-dimensional 'holy trinity' system for too long for there to be anything actually fun allowed ;_;

Matoya was in final fantasy 1 in the 80s

Viper's lore is about channeling the fighting spirit of their ancestors, so why not give them one of the oldest weapons in history: a Spear? There's plenty of room for a more graceful ground-based fighting style using spears, with an emphasis on striking weak points and wearing down the target of your hunt by bleeding them dry rather than impaling them with overwhelming power as a Dragoon does.

I think giving redmage a dueling style gunblade would be an exceptionally odd choice, but it would be something worth playing around with. Forgoing it’s focus for a sleek gun rapier or a slashing gun saber and using ammunition to be catalysts for on demand spells or to project aetheric clouds to coat their blade or hold an attack while it’s being channeled. While garleans couldn’t wield magic, this idea draws from the duel between Valens Van Varro and Gaius Van Baelsar, where Gaius loads a special aetherically charges bullet and enhanced a terminus est with a third strike; an aetheric flame coming out of the barrel as he prepares the attack. The downside would definitely be that while you can empower your swings and strikes with those aether cartridges, the more delicate nature of these gunblades mean you can’t get the same raw power that a gunbreaker can impart by pulling the trigger and dumping aether and vibrating the blade in and through the target; meaning the red mage uses that effect in more precise strikes.

Pictomancer + Blue Mage could be an interesting combo. Pictomancers are encouraged to explore the world and seek inspiration for their artwork, so why not alter it a little so they take inspiration from how monsters fight as well?

As a big fan of FF3 and FF4, I really liked the times in FF when Leviathan was like a rival on equal footing with Bahamut, if a bit weaker. I'd love for FF14 to rectify this and have our next Demi-summon be Leviathan. Not only would he be back to his former glory, but then it would also allow summoner to wield water aether. (And then we just need to give it Ramuh and Shiva for lightning and ice.) Or even have Leviathan take over for Garuda, Ramuh/Ixion for Ifrit, and Shiva for Titan in similar fashion as the Demi-summons replace eachother. And then give us an Odin Demi-summon.

So it sounds like this is, "what if FFXIV classes had specs like Warcraft with unique weapons for that spec", than, what other weapons would be lore appropriate? Which is fine, of course, but I thought you'd go into, for example, starting with the starter classes: - Marauders stem from a naval boarding tradition, so not just axes, but harpoons, swords, muskets, and most uniquely, grappling hooks. Imagine a warrior that throws an anchor at their target to pull it closer so they can wail on them up close, like they do in PVP. Warriors carry that forward adding rage to empower and focus that fundamental desire to protect your crew. - Gladiatorial weapons are plentiful, but some icons are pairing a shield with a short sword, or a trident with a net for crowd control purposes. The Paladin upgrade then involves the psychological shift from "I need to protect myself!" to "I must protect others!" - Lancers are the cornerstone of any medieval army, but do you know what the counterpart to that is? The Landschenkt. Now we have two paths, the spearman meant to defend and hold the line, and the shock trooper with a greatsword meant to break that line. Dragoon marries those two ideas, you want to stay out of reach of the dragons claws, but you also need to leap into the fray when they are in range. - The Archer is a support role in a military unit, and the transition to Bard tracks, but not every one with a bow in Gridania is in the military, there are poachers, Hunters, give them spears, slings, daggers. - Pugilists also come from the gladiatorial tradition, but think cruder, think brawler, so give them clubs and knives, in addition to their fists, when they learn to control their impulses and seek harmony add in quarterstaves, or even some of the fancier kung fu weapons. - The Rogues are assassins, they are the blades in the dark that make sure a city of pirates keep to the code. So knives work, maybe add a poisonous DoT, let them into Maurader's pirate catalogue of nautical weapons, swords and muskets. But then we get to ninjas. And Ninjas. Equip. Everything. Everything is a ninja weapon. - I agree that thaumatugists should be able to cast from books. I also think that those cowardly brothers running the guild would commission shields to hide behind while they cast from magic wands. Staves, rods, wands, and ceremonial knives. The thaumaturgists are morticians, they would know how to use surgical tools, and an Athame would be part of that kit. Black Mage is just a Thaumaturgist that drifts in some void magic along with their elements, and in keeping with that, add a scythe for that grim reaper imagery. - Conjurers use staves, and wands, but they are also out among the elements tending to the whispers and needs of the forest. Give them scythes, and hatchets, and shovels. Kan-E-Senna has a pair of dirty overalls and absolutely beat-up leather gloves somewhere, i promise you. You suggested WHM be a melee healer, and I say why not? Maces and morning stars, and a shield inscribed with litanies against Darkness, the conjurer gets their hands dirty now and so must the White mage fertilize the ground with the blood of the wicked. Also, Summoners should be linked to Conjurers. THE NAMES ARE SYNONYMS! ARCANISTS DON'T USE ELEMENTAL MAGIC! - Speaking of, Arcanists are strategists, so in addition to a book, I'd say a spyglass and chart. As a Limsan class, piratical weapons are on the table, but I'd say a musket specifically. Imagine if the cast time was them quickly inscribing spells onto bullets. Their job is to hang back, observe, call out boss tells, and plan out the fight, add flares for them to toss out to direct their party. Scholar adds the faerie, and better healing, but otherwise conceptually the role is the same, support the group from the back where you can keep track of everything, so the weapons don't change. Yes, that means healing bullets.

For Samurai you could equally argue fire arms which they were known for using when they got their hands on them in the real world so any sort of rifle (which i think is sorta shown with some machinist equpment) could also be used just with aether being stored in the individual bullets

Real world samurai were actually more known for their archery than swordship in their heyday.

As a alternative to MNK i first thought of nun-chucks then i thought what if the weapon changed with the stance, like nun-chucks into batons into a staff or something along those lines, then i realized that would be more or less giving monks King Cerberus from DMC5, which i think would kinda work since DT monks are now shooting wind and fire out of their hands now like spells.

As a machinist main I would throw that gun down so fast to take the gun blade. But honestly I was thinking more small hammers or wrenches. Slow down their fighting to have them more on the fly tinker with gadgets. So yes like the head of the Manderville clan we'd run around with gold smith hammers. Dancer well the lance is my thought for a weapon change. Cause I miss the old pole dance attack Dragoons had when I started the game. Love how you used the history of the archery Samurai are known for. Makes me think bow sniper. This is a lot of fun. I would give Viper the two handed axe. Have them go for brutal bone breaking swings again bringing back an old lost skill the warrior had. This would slow down the job but the shock of slow powerful strikes to then the Reawakened state's greater speed sounds like a blast.

Ya I wish there was a “location” for our specific jobs. Like a “scholar” location in Limsa that is slowly building up for teaching and etc. would be so cool!

Machinist could get the same kit as the job trainer they have An axe and a more normal handgun Gives them a more hybrid playstyle, similar to a red mage in a way, but maybe reversed Hit things with the axe to build up some sort of charge, dump it with gun abilities

while kinda breaking the rule set already, I think Warrior could duel wield a one handed axe and mace. An axe to cleave and bleed, and a mace to crush the defenses of their enemies. Maybe replace the axe with a claw like weapon from monks kit, giving warrior the ablity to really focus on causing their foe to bleed.

Personally, I see the Viper as essentially a big game hunter. So I’d probably give them the machinist’s gun. Though I’m not familiar enough with the lore to say exactly how. Perhaps making use of their speed to constantly relocate to better positions for clearer shots, or maybe focusing on singular powerful shots somehow.

I think a Pictomancer with an enchanted sketch book could work!

If what defines a samurai is the steeping of their weapon in its storage - a holstered gun also works. Rather than resting their hand on the hilt, waiting to draw, they're resting their hand on the grip, also waiting to draw. Cowboy samurai, is what I'm saying. Arcanima-based casters favour books because they're the most compact way to store a lot of arcane glyphs. But if all you need is a few, you can tattoo them on yourself - that's what they did historically. Having your spells' power so closely integrated with your body surely enhances what spells you do have, and it frees you up to use... basically anything else. Or nothing. Monk arcanist. Monk summoner. Monk scholar. I cast ruin-fist. Mudra are arcanima through the body: you guide your aether with symbolism. A ninja might use a grimoire, or more thematically, a set of scrolls to better refine their casting. A scholar might gesture "I-heal-you" or whatever and thus deliver a Physick.

The spaghetti code this game is made of does not have the foundations in place for this to ever happen (I assume), but this is still a fun thought exercise. Viper's lore is that of a monster hunter. I suggest giving them a bow and having their combat style focus on bait and traps that debuff opponents. Venom arrows would fit their namesake. I had a few ideas for other classes, but they fell apart pretty quick. Example: Give Warrior a hammer! Sounds cool, but that won't add anything about their fighting style that an axe doesn't do already. It would just be for flavor.

PCT Grimoire - An art/picture book where the Pictomancer can bring the drawings to life. Simulacrum's of beasts or people, etc. or other phenomena like a specific enemies attack. Perhaps they'd have to go around and collect them, similar to the Blue Mage spell book.

I'm rather convinced that Solar Bahamut is the result of the dev team _intending_ to put in Hydaelyn as a summon, which would be in line with established lore around summons, but it was nixed quite late in development due to concerns of spoilers for sprouts still going through the storyline, so we got Solar Bahamut instead, and they just sorta hand-waved at the lore and said "because we said so!"

I think RDM should have the ability to use any weapon to lean into the "jack of all trades, master of none" nature.

I want to see some totally new weapon types. Give us actual warhammers instead of skins for greataxes. Maybe add maces and morningstars, or even flexible weapons like flails, chains, whips, and nunchucks. Heck, hammers and nunchucks have been in the game since FF1.

Give Dancer the viper’s twin blades for saber dancing (or the Red Mage rapier without phokus), Warrior gets the Monk’s fist weapons, Dark Knight can also use the spear (since their armor was originally modeled after Dragoon armor), and I think Red Mage would be pretty cool with either Viper blades or Dark Knight’s great sword, becoming the first total melee magic dps. (Plus rdm could use great sword in past FF games and there’s the potential for tracing glyphs and runes in the air with either option, just more up close)

I know that there are already some axes that look like hammers, but I'd still love hammers as an alternative weapon for warriors

Give the Machinist a mech suit. It's now a tank.

Warrior with two hand axes. A DPS berserker, I imagine they attack faster the more their health drops

I though of a viper with dual katars or like a pata (from real life and elden ring) Both seem pretty different enough from ninja to make it viable as alternative viper weapons, but they don’t really have much to do with the lore of 14, so idk lol

Give the White mage a gun. No good lore reason, I just think it would be funny.

It kinda reminds me of PSO2, It would be amazing to have gameplay choices. Giving an Grimoire to a Pictomancer would be nice as a sketch book, drawing chants to buff, debuff and cleanse alies would be quite special. Giving a pen would be a nice way to turn Picto into a mid to melee range mage, sharp shapes and letters would make a good collection of moviments with black ink

The idea of an astrologian with chakrams rotating around them as a sort of planetoid has immediately led me to the thought of: "Why not just upheave some rocks and use those?" that's right we're going full geomancer babyyyyyy

Surprised you didn’t mention arcanist books for pictomancer, maybe something more sketch focused or even a coloring book

for monk and viper, maybe instead of change of weapon a change of style? viper could focuse more on the dual blades on their similar to monster hunter. meanwhile monk seems to use a sort of kung fu adjacent style, maybe changing to something like taekwondo?

Warrior should also be able to use Great Sword and dual wield single handed axes. And really any other weapon like XI's. This would reflect in their, "Inner Beast" signifying its growth and change. Warrior was once able to cross class from Pugilist which fights hand to hand with different animal styles. Warrior should be able to shift weapons, shifting its Inner Beast through its own transformations. Each animal style would have its own weapon compliment, along with its own aether type compliment. Weapons in FFXI also had this type of magical compliment if you look into it, some with access to more than one element. All bound up in varying Skillchain elemental properties. Examples: Swords - Almost every Sword weaponskill has primary or secondary property of a Skillchain called Scission, which is the element of Earth. Weaponskills from sword itself could generate fire, light, and darkness. Great Swords - Great Sword was in an odd place being a versatile weapon with less weaponskills than other weapons while being allowed to be used quite well by every job that would wield one. Scission was common again, but it also had a focus on a level two Wind and Thunder property, Fragmentation. But direct elements it could generate was Ice, and then also the magical effect of Sleep. Anyway, for precise ideas, it would be to allow Warrior to use any melee weapon without really changing overall potency, while changing their appearance. Much like the current iteration of Blue Mage works in XIV, different weapons' weaponskills would be for stylization, mainly because I know for a fact the current dev team is not large and would not do a good job at balancing anything beyond aesthetic choices. Alternatively, if that's unsatisfactory for your criteria, we could perhaps implement the same sort of rotations and effects other jobs currently have while keeping unique buffs or special job class techniques isolated to specific jobs. I.E. Warrior uses Great Sword and gains access to DRK's standard rotation combos, but holds onto Inner Release and never gets things like Delirium or Carve and Spit. Or just as an example: We go completely insane and let Warrior use Ninja's weapons(daggers). Its standard combos would be replaced by Ninja but it wouldn't get Ten Chi Jin or Ninjutsus. Basically, the same way as in XI where using the alternate weapons only netted you weaponskills, never job abilities. And often times, they had Job locked weaponskills as well, sometimes not making sense (PLD has lower Great Sword skill than Warrior in XI but is allowed to use more of Great Sword's weaponskills).

Would've been funny if for reaper you just said two guns and fully embrace the Bayonetta similarities

I think giving a BLM a hand-to-hand option would create some unique aggressiveness with having the option to use some deadly magics like despair at close range. They would likely need to take advantage of magitek or embedding a focus into gloves or armor, and I think if they still had Laylines, it would suddenly be more of a gamble to try and attack a buffed BLM head on when they can punch you and cast Fire 3 at an accelerated speed

For Viper I'd give them a summoner grimoire and have them conjure weapons from it. Since they're the 'monster hunting' job it'd make sense for them to both have a list of weaknesses and strengths of various known Turali vidrael or the various creatures that they could come from and the means to counteract them on the fly.

Personally speaking, I'd give the Red Mage Noulith blades and have them be more dance like in their combat. I don't know how it would change it mechanically though