Alternative Weapons within Final Fantasy 14

[@dogboy15213]

Your "lazy choice" for Monk is something I've been wanting for ages. A bow staff martial artist with a nice fluid style would be so bad ass. Now there's two of us. Yay!

[@MH4wheel]

Hmm... a VPR with dual pistols, with their training in movement and positioning suddenly feels very much like Dante from DMC. A fast chip damage that is primarily support based to offset when they get up close and personal with their twinblades.

[@Lrbearclaw]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@Duskaria]

D0ntEEE is Gud n baaEst in GaEm

[@TraeBeaera]

PLAY DMC 2 IS DA BEST

[@yukiotacon2846]

* raises hand * Imagine giving pictomancer a far east calligraphy brush and we get Japanese ink painting pictomancy

[@vegetables.9903]

I'd like to imagine a pictomancer using a comically large chunk of charcoal to draw with :D

[@yukiotacon2846]

@vegetables.9903 you know it kind of made me think of Seiko from Dandadan and her pencil bat

[@SoraRoxas111]

Okay, but what if you got a crayon and the, art was awful and the entire job quest line is everyone pretending your art is amazing because you're the warrior of light. Obviously they're just not understanding the mystique, if they think it's mediocre

[@yukiotacon2846]

@SoraRoxas111 isn't the whole point of picto is you can be shitty at art but you can be a pictomancer so long as you have the imagination

[@sylviap155]

Imagine it just like Okami, especially with the sequel announcement

[@sold0ut210]

Some examples from RP I have seen over the years: By using a legitimate melee weapon while also being a blue mage, characters have the potential to be not too unlike Elden Ring's Crucible Knights. Bards equipped with weapons that trill and make sounds could give them a unique moveset. Dancers would work with just about every elegant or dual-wield weapon. Sage Nouliths have a ton of variation as to noulith shape. By all means, they could be knife-sharp, or be floating magitek devices for alchemy. "Unconventional red mages" used to be very common, wielding everything - including greatswords for a less precise, but still blade focused magic style. And, of course, every single job in the game can always carry a backup flintlock.

[@Darkishappy_2872]

fun fact: warrior is the only class to use their bare hands in combat with orogeny and upheaval, therefore hand-to-hand would also make sense for an alternate weapon choice

[@JoseMiranda-ol7qe]

i like the idea of a bare handed berserker

[@itsumoknight]

Give Scholar an f'ing gun. That would make them "a healer, but" and fits very well with the job's militaristic history. Heck, the Swiss Army Gun that Machinist uses has many options (I hear Scholar loves options).

[@acgearsandarms1343]

Let’s kick it up a notch. Have the Scholar’s fairy also use a gun with you.

[@raharu64]

@@acgearsandarms1343 Statice my beloved daughter..

[@teri.desu.]

Haha i actually made a gpose suggesting a "dps stance" where you pull out a revolver with the book closed on the other hand! I didn't know i wasn't the only one with such idea

[@Altarahhn]

Literal "I'm a Healer, _but..._ " energy, right there. XD

[@jackie2966]

Samurai with a revolver, cowboys and samurais are often parallels in media. You even keep the drawing motif, but instead of 3 sen, now you have 6 bullets.

[@wakkaseta8351]

Or go the Kanan Jarris/High Noon Yasuo route and give them the gunblade.

[@TheAldo531]

I like the idea of an aether charged bullets in like a special quick draw pistol they carry in addition to their normal pair of guns or rifles. Could even keep the cast time from one of their sen attacks.

[@sold0ut210]

I am just shocked we never saw any Garlean gunkatanas tbh

[@MagicScientist]

All the iaijutsu are just putting your gun back in your holster and staring down the boss for a second before quick drawing again. Mandatory eagle cry and tumbleweed as effects. Bonus points for a voiceline saying "It's high noon!"

[@wakkaseta8351]

@@sold0ut210 Zenos probably didn't let them make any.

[@sold0ut210]

Re: Monk In the Temple of the Fist, we learn that there were monks of the Way if the Spear and the Way of the Blade before the temple's fall.

[@25xxfrostxx]

I've been going on for a while about how we have physical ranged and physical melee, magical ranged but no magical melee. I'm all for mixing things up if they can fill that gap. I would love it if they said "Ok, you got Dark Knight and Black Mage to 70, you unlock Mystic Knight." or Dragoon and Paladin unlocks Templar. Mystic Knight with a runeblade broadsword and Templar with a 1-handed short spear and shield. For these, I'd say the job stone is blank. The warrior of light has reached a point in proficiency far surpassing anyone that touched the other job stones before us. It's time to become the originator of a new technique. Whenever we unlock a new ability while leveling, that is us perfecting a new maneuver and committing it to the crystal's memory. Like when Dragoon unlocks Battle Litany. As far as viper, easy. I'd give them ninja's daggers and a ton of venomous attacks. Pictomancer? Electrope Wacom tablet.

[@sold0ut210]

The thing about physical melee is that some of them already use a stupendous amount of magic. Dark Knight is basically the definition of magical melee, at that. But it would still be a nice role to see regardless.

[@GmaerXQ]

For RDM, I RP in a similar but opposite idea than you suggested. The floating focus becomes something the RDM is so attuned to, that it just floats beside the RDM and they can channel their magics through it regularly. However with a greater attunement to their focus, their martial capabilities are a lot more free, with their twin free hands. As such, double down on the RDM’s great speed and elemental capabilities; Pugilism, Viper’s Twinblades, even a Gunblade. Allow the Focus to hover beside at their beck and call, with their hands ready for weapons. Even have both viper blades have the “Connection” ability to the focus, as a means of combining them. Dual blades and elemental force with absurd speed and agility. Going a bit towards FF12’s style of Red Magic where it’s more about having access to weaker versions of all magics, and being able to have more martial abilities. The Jack of all Trades, Master of None

[@joseangel6321]

If we are bringing some FFXI weapon choices: PLD: Spear+sword is a nice combo WAR: Double Axe or Great Sword DRK: Scythe GNB: as it is WHM: Club + Shield SCH: Staff but with Light + Dark Arts and do both magicks AST: Staff SGE: Book BRD: Harp/Flute and only support MCH: Corsair buffs DNC: Daggers and more buffs like Sprint in combat, more healing spells and Haste to all party BLM: Scythe or Staff SMN: Staves RDM: Annoying debuffs as Slow, Paralyze, Dia and Haste for party PCT: As it is MNK: Staff DRG: Spears as always NIN: Spells and Kunai SAM: Great Katana + Bow RPR: Great Sword VPR: Doble Sword / double Dagger + Gun

[@kelpforest1211]

I agree with giving ninja a ranged weapon. I think having a large shuriken, like yuffie from ff7, would work well.

[@canisblack]

Digging into real world ninja lore giving them firearms wouldn't be out of order. Though I think if, instead of just "enchanted kunai" it was "Everything but the kitchen sink, and the kitchen sink is the Limit Break" it'd be a real winner. Given that, you know, the OTHER thing Ninja are known for in Final Fantasy is the throw command which lets you throw just about everything at the enemy...

[@MisoSouperstar]

VPR tradition started as monster hunters that passed down their knowledge through magical tradition, I think. So, my choice would be Warrior’s Axe. Since they’re know for being super fast all the time, I think a slower, burstier version that focused more on the Awakening aspect would be cool

[@wakkaseta8351]

Pictomancer with a pencil is just the Frankendoodle episode of Spongebob.

[@FriendlyFire818]

While I'm not sure if they've ever appeared in game, for viper, a kusarigama, or chain sythe feels like it could fit. It feels like it would be useful for fighting beasts, as the chain could allow them to swing in larger arcs, and the chain can be used to bind as well. The other end is a small club, so even that could get some value somewhere

[@GimmeTOKYO]

Samurai do indeed use bows (traditional long bows) in XI but I believe they also use Naginata-style pole-arm blades! That would be nice alternatives as well.

[@BlanchetFlaurian]

As a AST main, I would love to get a divination mirror. With it, Draw would change from drawing cards to stocking reflections of foes and allies in it, and then the AST would have the ability to release it. The reflections would work like FF6 Relm's Sketch ability. But if the AST were to get the reflection of an allied tank or healer, instead of an attack they would get a mit or a heal ^^ How and I loved to be able to use whips as a Dancer or musical instruments as weapons as a Bard in Ragnarok Online, so maybe we could have that in FF14? XD

[@austenadams8051]

For Viper, I'd actually consider giving them a spear. After all, Vipers are hunters first and foremost, the shift to the modern Viper's twinblades was made because it gave more people the versatility and speed they needed to contend with their incredibly varied marks. So why not choose a weapon that is both, by it's nature, simple to use, yet hard to master, and has a similar level of versatility as their other option? The change this would bring would be to make their normally crazy high speed attacks more of a slower, heavy hitting rotation, perhaps with a touch of extra support or defensive buffs to mix in, as a spear is capable of defending someone far more effectively than the twinblade (at least while it's combined) due to there being more room to move your hands around without fear of hurting yourself. This could also shift their style to include more ranged attacks, though rationalizing how they get their spear back would be required.

[@starbound-soul6269]

I think giving Scholar the Sage's Nouliths - or even Machinis'ts firearms - would play interestingly into their lore - as *strategists* machinist arms specifically would give them an intereting healer-sniper role, focusing on burst-healing, similar to the canes in your vision, but maybe also with DPS bursts as well - and giving them an overview of the field of battle from a distance, like the Nymian scholars of old

[@THETROOPER642]

I could see Scholar with a firearm of some variety. Maybe taking the Bioblaster from MCH and building a kit around the concept of loading it up with different concoctions ala chemist could be a direction. Or leaning back into the strategists concept with flares and target marking with more effects like chain strategem to give them Astrolo styled buffs.

[@Felrika]

Here's my thought. Rather than delving more into the *caster* side of red mage, why not go into the more *melee* oriented side of it? Their originators *were* Ala Mhigan, yes, but the use of a rapier came from an Ishgardian, as I recall. So, why not use a sword and shield, much like you suggested for White Mage? A melee red mage could easily be one who takes the close combat training that would've normally been typical of an Ishgardian Knight, but blend in some magic to deal elementally enhanced blows? You use a sword that's built *for* melee combat, but so's their rapier. You'd effectively have a blade built to be used as much as a focus as it would be a weapon, and a shield built as much as a focus as a defensive implement.

[@KalaamNozalys]

For Red Mage I'd actually give... a dagger. Replacing the foci to focus more on melee combat and spell, a special ritual dagger made tcast en-spells and such.

[@lushdontu4015]

So ninja?

[@KalaamNozalys]

@@lushdontu4015 Just one dagger along with the rapier

[@NoOne-gg5mc]

On the topic of Samurai, I believe it was stated in the lore that Samurai during the Age of Blood also used spears and bows on the battlefield, but began to mainly focus on the Katana as their role changed from warrior to peacekeeper (If you remember Moko from Mount Rokkon, he summons samurai spearmen and bowmen during his boss fight). If their current Katana focused fighting style was formed from their role as peacekeepers, then perhaps a Samurai using a spear or bow would then utilize the ancient techniques they used during wartime.

[@JohnDiPietro-up6lr]

I'd also recommend looking at Stranger of Paradise for examples on how weapons could change up jobs. Essentially, the weapon gives the options for the weapon skills, with the job giving one core skill (or a set of core spells for magic jobs), but the job trees can alter how specific weapon skills work as well. As for what I'd want to see... I'd want to revisit some of the earlier weapon options we had, honestly. Daggers used to be a Gladiator weapon (which is why Thancred fights as one in the Ul'dah starter quests until picking up a second dagger in the ARR patches when Rogue was added); a Paladin with a dagger could ditch the shield as well and use their off-hand to grab the enemy and strike harder or make more precise strikes (heck, you could even make them a secret police offshoot of the Sultansworn and give them a Condensed Libra or Chain Strategem effect to represent the ability to ferret out secrets and weaknesses). Thaumaturges and Black Mages could use shorter clubs; SoP had that as the magic base weapon, and the club skillset involved elementally-charged strikes alongside the spellcasting options. We've already seen Warrior pick up a few hammers, so seeing that as a separate fighting style would be interesting. Similarly, Gunbreaker and Dark Knight both have massive warclubs/tetsubo as PVP weapons. All of those blunt weapons could lead to fighting styles that break down enemy defenses - blunt equivalents of Trick Attack or Mug, basically. Another cool choice I've thought of was to use a crystal focus for Summoner, a la the floating focus from Red Mage. It reflects the use of crystals to summon Primals, and even calls back to the Ancients' Creation Magic which was the precursor to Primal Summoning.

[@madambutterfly1997]

As somebody who used to be a black mage main I feel screwed over you're not being allowed to have a scythe weapon in 14.

[@SherlockDaHolmie]

There is blackblossom scythe in the mogshop, but I wish there was more than just one that is kinda small.

[@madambutterfly1997]

@SherlockDaHolmie I'm aware I got it for my Dark Knight prior to Reaper

[@soldierorsomething]

Search up "Augmented Deepshadow Scythe" and you find what you need 😂

[@madambutterfly1997]

@ there’s a difference between a glamour and an actual scythe

[@SherlockDaHolmie]

@madambutterfly1997 Yeah. It would've been cool to get spell speed vs damage effects by using the different weapons.

[@Blade12113]

Adding to the Synnergy of picking the Twinblades for Dragoons is... historically, going all the way back to Cain, Dragoons have also been able to equip swords. So joining the two of them as one weapon in the form of Twinblades works perfectly

[@Mizra1985]

As a BRD, having a baton would be interesting. I still like the idea of another instrument, but "conducting the battlefield" would be interesting. I like that idea.

[@WolfysEyes]

Viper is a hunter of massive beasts and so I would posit that they get to switch between pistol and rifle. This gives them the same sort of flavor of swapping styles, but instead lets them engage dangers at long to medium ranges as the fight dictates. It would slow their rotation down somewhat, but it also leans into the hunter archetype of placed, precise shots.

[@acgearsandarms1343]

I’d be interested in seeing Ninja use more of the magic aspect of their job so I’d suggest leaning towards using talismans as a main weapon to cast their ninjutsu. Sort of like how Gosetsu uses it for the Ranged DPS role quest. For Machinist, I’d say use modified throwing knives. I say throwing knives because they can be used for close to mid range and still have versatility to be modified like explosives or incendiaries or lightning rods, etc. For Viper, I’d want to say either claws like the Monks use or a dual pointed spear. A modified version though where the spear can split and combine. Twin short spears that combine into a full length one.

[@MrSnow288]

The problem isn't you can only have one weapon. The problem is how stale the jobs and combat are in general. I will die on this hill, there is virtually no difference in any of the melee jobs. Three hit combo, positional, manage a meter for a big damage window. Only real difference is how much rng is involved in the meter. Same applies for each role. Combat is also so watered down it's not even funny. The reason multiple weapons had a purpose was because enemies had different resistances. At time it was more advantageous to use lower skill cap weapons because you C+ weapon may have had a weaponskill used in a skill chain that did a certain type of damage you couldn't do with your A+. 14 is more user friendly but has the depth of a kiddie pool. 11 was impossible without a wiki but had the depth of an ocean in comparison.

[@darkmindaustin]

See, for reaper, I went the opposite. I went harder into the Melee, by giving them either daggers or fist/claw weapons. Instead of any form of magic, even in Enshroud, they are simply manifestations of Void energy, slashing with the daggers/claws, and maintaining a high tempo combo system. Think Monk, but MORE, and less. in essence, you take the Samurai triple combos, make that how you gain Red Gauge, and then use the red gauge the same way, but again, it is a 3 part combo. And Enshroud isn't some "here are the same buttons but edgier," it is a full transformation, where you do your combos while buffed, but the combos feed between the gather and spender combos freely. So if it is a one target, stable boss fight, you use during your burst your Gather 1, Spender 1, combos; if it is one target but there may be movement, you use say, gather 2, spender 2. Etc. And instead of building downwards towards Communio, you instead build combo points, and based on how many combo points you have/were able to maintain, when you leave Avatar form, you explode with a large blast. This also plays into their lore, because they are supposed to be either bruising in your face dealers of death, or the methodical assassins. If I was to make it a magical dps... I would not use the black mage's staff, as the connotation is that of a high fallutin magi, which would be a bit eh on the lore for the reaper. I would make it... the white mage's cane. We have seen several of them look like shepherd's crooks and walking sticks, and that fits more in line with the "ground level" lore of the reaper. They are farmers who did bad things to do good things. A shepherd learning to cast dark magics from the avatar they have contracted with? More sense than some eccentric learning dark magic. I wouldn't do any form of necromancy, as that would probably go too far for the lore, but what I WOULD do, is make them a dot/drain style of support dps. Think Sage, but with far less healing, and more blasting. Much like Dancer, they have a "partner" usually the tank, but it can be the healer as well, and based on who they target, the person gets different resources. So with the tank, they gain health and damage, based on the damage and RNG dot ticks on the mobs, while the reaper gains red gauge and mana regen. The healer gains mana regen, and heal output increases in a similar fashion. Once the red gauge is filled, all those effects end until you spend your red gauge, which is spent on medium damage burst. This burst gains blue gauge, leading to obviously an Enshroud phase. In Enshroud, all members of the party get the benefits of the reaper support, but they are greatly reduced, as the reaper just unloads void spell after void spell. The interesting thing would be, that you would actually deal damage to your team, while still healing them. The faster the spell, the more health taken, the slower, heavier hitting ones take less health, but you can only get two of them in in a rotation, whereas, you can do 2 and 2, and be fine. This culminates in a Communio that is an imploding void star, and removing Enshroud and all connections to the other party members. The connection spell is OGCD, instant cast, and a 1 second CD.

[@Max44321]

Unarmed (Emperor's New Fists) for all mages! Why use a weapon when your hands are right there, and you can also power up your fists for punches with varied effects!

[@NeatNightOwl]

Would be cool. I have extreme doubts we'll ever have anything cool like that. I am such a doomer for this game now.

[@キョコ]

I feel ya

[@treebush]

Same hence why I quit ff14 now

[@leonkennedy6206]

It'd be cool if we got a job that uses a whip. Kinda like how the Belmonts use theirs in Castlevania

[@TheAldo531]

Mechanically and implementation wise, I would love if you could unlock a different role with the same job stone by changing weapon, not just the style, but making like Palading from Tank to Melee DPS. On that note, I think Pictomancer could instead of just changing from brush to pen, maybe draw armor on themself and becoming a tank role would be interesting. Viper taking up guns I think would be interesting, as they already have great movement, but could tie into the lore of learning from the creatures they hunt and adapting to hunt flying vidral as well.

[@azmakikian5400]

PLD - Halberd, focusing more on sweeping cone attacks, backed by earthen magic. WAR - Pata, or large claws. Focusing on animalistc swipes and lunges. DRK - Flail and shield. Focusing on channeling dark magiks to extend the range of the flail, and using inscriptions on the shield to defend. GNB - A Gunblade, but a Grappling Hook instead of bullets. Allowing them capture and restrain people, while increasing their mobility.

[@kitsunehanyou09]

This was a fun video, I'm definitely with that idea for Paladin with a spear, a supportive character that uses their banner to strengthen their allies, and I'd be down to be a gunbreaker with a gun shield ala Monster Hunter's charge blade but with more oomph in the shield skills. The samurai archer idea feels like the most inspired kind of sniper aesthetic for a ranged dps, bravo! Vipers are elite hunters who make it their duty to hunt powerful monsters, Turaal Vidraal, so why not make them pistoleros from Xak Tural who also hunt outlaws while also hunting large beasts with their array of bombs and bullets? Dance gets two from me: The twin swords/daggers used by either scouting job is what i was thinking of for Dancer for the same reason. And the other is the claws and knuckles/boots from Monk. Who wouldn't want to be a break dancing Dancer? Gunblade aside, warrior type of hammers and axes feel like it'd be great for Machinists who use their tools to assist in being a vanguard (also giant wrench weapon)

[@Scorchlette]

I'm with MH4wheel on this. Giving Viper twin pistols would keep the *essense* of the Job- a Job that hits fast but not necessarily hard- while changing its position and role- turning the super-sonic melee Job with no party utility into a rapid-fire mid-range Job with more supportive options.

[@Felinaxo]

On BRD: You know how performance mode has lots of instruments?... I would love to see a combat interpretation of the guitar, if you are familiar with characters like I-No (From blazblue) or Mayday from NSR, guitars can be used as a sort of mid-range weapon, focusing more on the buff aspect of bard with the trade-off beign either shorter range, or, hear me out, cast-times for the guitar attacks! Another interesting take would be giving up entirely on the buff aspect, and tap fully into longbows and crossbows for "pure" dps bard, closer to WoW's Hunter fantasy Edit: Afterwards I noticed that with Solution 9 we could have a very natural enviroment for a "rock fan" to encourage the WoL into using their guitar more as Bard! Regardless, lovely video, my brain cant stop thinking of new ideas now >

[@aboundedsumo7984]

i would almost give ninja's a machinist gun to take inspiration of real life ninjas who used black powder weaponry and smaller explosives like the smoke bomb dash that they already have in 14.

[@IRCannonFodder]

I would say give Machinist the Gun Gauntlets of Livia Junis. They would be a melee more focused stance but also having the gun element. If that wouldn't work, you could add it for Viper. It would also be dual wielding while giving them more of a ranged alternative.

[@Kyzoren]

The most simple of weapon varieties I desire most is dual greatswords for DRK & dual guns for MCH! Dark Knight could take a page outta WAR & RPR's books and have themselves a "dps mode", dipping just a little bit deeper into The Abyss, forgoing defense, spawning a second (or more) swords made of Darkness, and going full Cloud Strife (Advent Children) on enemies! Likewise for MCH, we as the WoL can remember the lore that the Aethroconverter is for people WITHOUT magic, like Garleans or untrained civilians, of which we very much are not! So we can ditch the lunchbox and pick up a 2nd gun instead!

[@michaelrowley5104]

For Viper, i would suggest the mini gun used by the last boss of Doma Castle. Instead of quick strikes, it would use a barrage of bullets.

[@elecrom_9757]

DNC as a Non-Caster Healer with a rhythmic gymnastics Ribbon AST with Nouliths for a greater DPS and buff focus (recreating constallations with the Nouliths for an AOE effect) Instead of giving WAR one alternate weapon it would also fit to make them capitalize on the versitily warriors in fiction tend to have by giving them a crossbow and a mace whose skills can be situationally used as a DPS . So WAR would have a similar niche as RDM in having a ranged and a meelee phase.

[@rezzarchkorlith2950]

Re: Viper - given that they seem to stem from being Hunters who Hunt the bigger Things from what we know, I'd make it a swap with Dragoon - they get the twinfangs in dualblade form, the Viper gears a spear/polearm. Less emphasis on the fast blurring slashes and more on lunging strikes, maybe some trickery like throwing the spear and using their speed to catch and do other things with it. Less rapidity, more heavy and intent blows.

[@JustJohn816]

Thank you very much for this, I will be using it liberally in my FFXIV TTRPG campaigns

[@gilga3554]

Hmmm, machinist could always have the magitech hammer like Nero uses, seeing black mage using enchanted ritual daggers could be fun granted I don't recall if the was anything like that in XIV's lore, seeing the white mage switch to bells like the geomancers we've fought in dungeons using the music to alter and enhance the battlefield, I could see viper going to spear/pole arms the one you train with had an appreciation for the twin adders spear use while not being the fastest still being a quick decisive strike similar to some snakes waiting for the perfect moment to strike

[@dizzyrage2783]

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

[@Wanderingsage7]

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.

[@EnishLord]

It might be interesting for red mages to have larger weapons with the focus built in. Like a great sword or scythe. It seems like it could be done, as a rapier needs to be light for the quick strikes of the style, but a larger weapon would have room to keep it permanently mounted. I think it might be quite fun to see a red mage doing their magic, then summoning their voidsent partner to aid in their melee attacks. Seeing as there doesn't seem to be any particular rules around forming packs with a voidsent. And lore wise, half of the ancestry of red mage is black mage, so perhaps one decided to do a bit of sneaky voidsent dealing.

[@SirVyre]

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).

[@JackWolf1]

I’d like to draw on some of my Pathfinder knowledge, mix it with some ideas from FF6 and FFTA, and present the following: Imagine giving Paladin a firearm and turning them into a “Holy Gun” I know this sounds nuts, but there is precedent for this. First off, Edgar from FF6, while depicted as a knight, was able to use many abilities that we now associate with Machinist in XIV. Second, Moogles in FFTA had both the Gunner job and the Mog Knight job (their equivalent to a Paladin), allowing their to use abilities from both if properly speced. This brings me to the idea of modeling the result after the Holy Gun Paladin Archetype from Pathfinder: a ranged support character capable of dishing out damage by channeling their smite (or, in this case, holy magic) through their gun to damage enemies while capable of healing and pulling damage away from allies. As such, the play style would change to something in between Sage, Machinist, and Paladin: While they’re not capable of hitting the same numbers, or as powerful healing, they would enable main tanks to mitigate a lot more damage while taking some of the burden off of healers, akin to a more defensively-minded Dancer.

[@MrMayoyama]

Dancer in FF11 used dual-wielded daggers, which seems more agile than swinging a full sword. Ironically things like bow on SAM and clubs on WHM were fun side options in FFXI, but were not used outside of fringe-case situations

[@soldierorsomething]

Great ideas, i really hope that in 8.0 we get the option for subclass specialities with many weapons for each class

[@amitenoh6152]

I could see Viper getting something like a whip and a dagger, give them a bit more range to slash with the tip of the whip, use it to control the battlefield and position their foes how they want, like how a snake can chase and be flexible around the battlefield.

[@TheZeratulsan]

I'd consider the idea of giving pictomancer a tome/book (maybe having a quill as well). You trade the pure artistic theme for something more of a storyteller that uses written accounts of various battles or events and briefly channels them into reality. Maybe one move summons an ephemeral shield wall that limits mob movement and damage from that direction for a couple seconds, they recount the tale of someone surviving against a horde which makes a character invulnerable for a duration but they die afterwards, or how an inferior army overcame a larger army because their knowledge of the terrain gave them an advantage making it so that there are specific spots around the storyteller that grant a damage buff while inside those small spots.

[@nickyb7571]

Pulling from XI again, Warrior being able to dual wield sing handed axes would be an easy move, but I'd like it to also be a little more varied. Maybe a sword and an axe, or a single hand hammer combo in there. Lots of single handed options, you could do the same in XI and it was pretty fun to mix and match.

[@Altarahhn]

Ooh, interesting choices! While most of them do fit, in my opinion, I do have some thoughts about specific Jobs' picks: *Gunbreaker:* So, basically Shion Uzuki from Xenosaga? Noice. 👌 *Bard:* Or we could make them a musical warrior that sings on the battlefield. I can think of at least 6-7 potential weapons it could use, in that case. *Machinist:* Hmm, honestly, if I were to give them a melee weapon, I do actually have an alternative to the Gunblade: Magitek Gauntlets. *Viper:* I mean, they're hunters, after all, so why not a spear? Though, this one may be shorter and lighter than Dragoon's, being more suited to a balance between melee and ranged combat. *Red Mage:* Personally, I was thinking more of a Mace (or Scepter) and Shield, much like the Red Battlemage from FFXII. Still fights in melee, but it's now more of a "Battlemage than a "Mystic Fencer."* *White Mage:* Ooh, a melee-focused White Mage would be pretty sick. However, instead of Sword-and-Board, I was thinking more of, say, a war hammer?

[@Sephirothwolf]

I'm gonna throw in giving NIN clubs/maces switching them to a PLD style tank/healer, I'll also give RDM the viper's dual blades so they channel their spells directly into their blades similar to Steiner's Mag Sword (e.g. Lightning Blade to hit harder and Wind Blade to hit faster), I've mostly decided on these based on the WHM/NIN and RDM/NIN combos from 11 which were ridiculously effective soloing jobs.

[@chickennugget6684]

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

[@void_works5573]

A alternate version of dragoon based on the eastern warlords. Instead of spear the main weapon would be naginata's as they are a weapon that focuses on slashes instead of thrusts (I know dragoon can use one) instead of jump they would have high mobility around the field as It was common for warlords to ride on horses.You would be able to unlock said job in Limsa like you would Ninja.

[@robertrappaport3610]

Gunbreaker switches to Nero's Hammergun. Gunbreaker's Bozjan arts were largely adopted by the Imperial legions through the Gunblades, but Nero made a unique weapon. As to how it would work? The goal is the build 3 cartridges (or however many we have in the future) to damage the physical defense of the enemy. In this regard, I argue Darkknight could get scythes. Their new abilities would allow them to reduce the enemy's magical damage resistance.

[@MidoriGrey]

I'd figure long claws would provide a more core-centered combat style for viper. Monk mostly just jabs, But Viper would take deliberate slashes with them. With their speed in their awakened state they could effectively become a living shredder and make mince of most foes more effectively than a pair of swords would, provided the opportunity affords the positioning for it, which is where the swords avoid the issue of.

[@rafagd]

The AST weapon is more like an armillary than an astrolabe. Both are mainly used to look at stars, mainly for navigation. So I'd say giving it to SCH instead of RDM should be a better fit, military strategy probably contains some map charting and navigation.

[@kirin1195]

For viper. I think beast sou + electrope for adaptable beast weaponsl. Lore wise they are monster hunters, what better way to hunt monster than become a monster. Swap their elegant sword moves for the feral ripping and tearing of claws. Even with claws, you would still be able to keep the snake motif since the world of 14 has multiple snakes with arms.

[@songheart1202]

I feel like something closer to the Machinists aetheric transformer/engine but styled as a drawing tablet would be perfect for Pictomancer. Rather than mental blueprints summoning intricate and lasting tools, you could simply print your boom, doom, and crimson foom right over your enemies!

[@darkzenal2593]

Hades/cerb, Zenal, samurai that focused more on great bow and polearm despite having an Empyrean/relic.was definitely fun to play lol

[@IslandFenix]

Pictomancer went from Kyle Rayner to John Stewart. 😂 As for interesting weapons swaps, a crazy one could be giving Ninja's daggers to Black Mage. At the expense of powerful one hit spells, the black mage would expand its elemental kit to all six elements and fire them off in short cast rapid fire spells, or even use elementally infused melee strikes. As arbiters of funeral rites I don't think it would be out of place for thaumaturges to have daggers as ceremonial foci hanging around, especially with the Uldahn penchant for ornamentation via goldsmithing. Given that Paladin's fighting style is supposed to be a mix of Uldah's gladiator style and Ishgard's swordplay, it might be interesting to see what Dragoon can come up with wielding a sword. But, hear me out, imagine pairing Dragoon's massive jumps with the already ground splitting power of the Warrior's axe.

[@ShxpxRok]

Monk with two mch guns they use chakra to shoot the guns and when they are closer they do more dmg so it's like RDM with the far away damage but then getting in and shooting to do high dmg.

[@williek08472]

Bard having a baton makes sense, we already use one in Radiant Encore (Lvl 100 ability)

[@Vaurnut]

My thoughts were similar to yours regarding the Dancer, though I picked daggers instead of a one-handed sword. Meanwhile, I went with Staffs for Dark Knights for more emotion driven magic.

[@marcopassera5900]

Interesting choices. Only problem is with Samurai: in the Endwalker ranged dps role quests Hien states Doman samurai don't use ranged weapons 😅 Also, I think Summoner/Scholar could also go with the Pictomancer's brush to draw out the arcanima symbols that form their spells

[@BlazingAzureTheta]

The incans were known for using maces and bolas, so maybe Viper could do dual maces for more bludgeoning attacks with bolas thrown in for tripping opponents.

[@canisblack]

I would have actually given the Dark Knight the Sword and Board that was dropped by the Paladin. Probably tweak them with buffs and attacks that sacrifice defense and health for damage like the version from Final Fantasy IV.

[@jude4195]

A PIC who uses the sage weapon to become a digital artist seems cool and also RDM and sage switching is also cool imagine dashing as red mage with four focus who and use them for melee

[@LemonedIScream13]

For DNC, a whip will be nice too, like those dancers class in Ragnarok Online

[@JDSleeper]

Imagine the PCT using a pencil or pen to produce more technical drawings creating magitek devices.

[@DycuswasHere]

If they ever went the same direction as WoW with multiple builds for a job, I could see using different weapons to match the build you’ve chosen

[@ducksoup10]

I'd say Claws would be a good fit for Viper. There are a few options for claw-like weapons for Monk, so expanding them to be separate weapons would work well. I can see Claws being more savage in fighting style, slicing and dicing while maintaining VIper's speed and having a flashy burst window. Does anybody like to build up on this idea?

[@paupascualramirez9979]

I am going to go with my OC and give samurai the drk greatsword, making them more tanky. A dark samurai, exuding a sinister aura, refusing to yield, exchanging the quickness of their iaijutsu for more slow but powerfull slashes that make you want to actually take them down.

[@lunatic447]

axe(if you wan to tap into old ARR stuff) or greatsword for DRG as a heretic hunting inquisitor, they loose rage but have more powerfull short bursts that aim to decapitate hte victim in halone trials. i was thinking about the motions of a guillotine , the DRG jumps with the edge side coming down

[@featherfox6700]

Counter offer for the Bard. Don't use White Mage staves. Instead, use Blue Mage canes! They're fashionable, flamboyant, and fit the conductor aesthetic already! Furthermore, canes are already attuned for esoteric combat which includes some performative actions (Song of Torment, Chirp, Frogs Legs, etc). Much easier to exploit for the bard than a staff that limits their selection of abilities!

[@the_cyberchill]

Given there are glamours for edda's scythe for blm, whm, drg, rpr, drk, and war and that warrior has a few hammer skins, the closes pld has to an axe is the dwarves pickaxe (which I use for my lalafell raised by goblins in a mine paladin OC) I think we can definately see more skins of differnt weapons for several jobs/classes where the animations make at least a little cosmetic sense an axe and one handed mace for paladin, more hammers for warrior, definately more heavy blocks of metal for darkknight like its cryptlurker weapon. and all number of staves for thl/blm and cnjwhm.

[@the_cyberchill]

I dont think we'd ever get a system like eso with its 3 varients of two handed, Greatsword, Greataxe, Maul, 4 varient singlehanded weapons Sword, Axe, Mace, Dagger + dual wield combo or shield, 3 elemental staves Fire, Lightning, Ice, it's sibling the healing staff with thier own skilllines. But opening up at the very least cosmetic options that fit the current job animations would be really nice, and I'm certainly hoping that beastmaster wields a singlehanded axe. or mace . maybe in combo with a chain on the end, or a whip in the offhand?

[@the_cyberchill]

I certainly want the option for blackmage and whitemage to glamour older onehanded magical weapons onto thier twohanded ones, and still cast all thier animations and spells.

[@bendonatier]

Listen I know "not a real job" but blue mage is right there. If you want to give Bard a caster tool, give it the blue mage cane and let it twirl it like a baton. For summoner I say give it the monk's bare fist, and have them channel their egi's through their body, ala the Ifrit punches they already have. Blue mage could get the summoner's book to allow them to equip more spells at a time, at the cost of picking 'chapters' of spells, various similar spells in a collection. So rather than getting the full 24, you could get the full double cross hot bar of 32, but you'd have to take the chimeara voices together, along side some other shout spells, and all of the 'conjure a weapon spells' would be glued to each other.

[@frozenalpha6942]

Better yet, Astrologian gets a giant chakram that spins around the player

[@astrealbrizbee9815]

Black Mages utilizing Reaper weapons/abilities would get it close to the Mhach version that used Voidsent, making it a sort of beast tamer class? I seriously miss XI's range of weapon choices for a class on top of subclassing to add to everything else. For Scholar of XI, I always pictured them carrying a small sword, so Red Mage always seemed like a good fit with its weapon being used as a book stand for the Scholars book. I'd love for you to cover the old FFXI classes and their creators like Gunther Shults for the Scholars. Edit: Gunbreaker with Machinist as a subclass would be neat.

[@Pesola]

Okey, I had a way different thing I thought up for rdm. Why not lean towards a full melee casting job? Give them a long Staff with a Bigger Focus on the end, a big enough to do proper blunt damage. As the enemy is boing hit with the focus, the focus would gather aether, and then release the aether for a bigger singular spell, a vermeteor, verquake or even something cooler, can't come up anything more specific at the top of my head currently. Also, no auto-attacks only abilities swing the weapon. (still salty for taking away ALL auto-attack damage in DT from rdm)

[@visoroverwatch3247]

I'm hoping the Warrior of light travels to Vanadiel especially the Audolin areas, and maybe SE will let us have FFXI's trust system and glamour system (Any job can wear any gear).

[@trabunt7111]

Maybe dual hand axes for Warrior; make them more offensive berserkers that brutally tear through enemies like a tornado of steel and fury.

[@Wanderingsage7]

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

[@kuronaialtani]

I just want combat jobs to use the offhand slot again besides paladin Viper was a perfect opportunity to have split swords we can glam separately, and relay that back on ninja (and maybe dancer) too More one-handed white/black mage weapons like they had in ARR with magic defense shields, or even red mage’s lil floaty thing

[@Lulink013]

I could see Warriors using hammers, but a greatsword works too.

[@jentomobi]

I could see a MCH with a gun version of the SGE wings. Then DRG with the RDM epee type sword and shield. Finally, VPR would have guns but have them be mini gun blades

[@gabrielhelton1823]

I think it would be cool to give the Warrior Dual axes making it faster and more damage focused Possibly swinging wildly like fire.

[@thesilentedge2123]

Giving machinist two smaller guns would be great

[@darkenai0045]

For Viper I'd give them warrior's axe since I think a better name for them would've been hunter and since monster hunter's need big heavy weapons to take down the Big beasts (and there is a monster hunter cross thing in the game already) it seems fitting for the viper who go after big game

[@HaitaniMasayuki]

I still miss my Throwing-based damage dealer NIN from 11... which was turned into a tank. Oh, and nunchucks for monks! Like in FF1 (and I guess Selphie from FF8?... although she had those weird, long three-piece nunchucks)

[@hexocshade7225]

My anime bias forces me to go with DRK with spears. Given DRK is Ishgard centric, and we know knights and lords have defected for one reason or another before, the idea of a DRG defecting and adapting the Dark Arts to work alongside Jumps just sounds like something that could feasibly have already happened in world.

[@taylorgrimm9574]

Im surprised you didnt consider giving dancer the red mage weaponry. Since redmages already use the motions of their body and weapon icrease their spellcraft it seems natural that dancers could do the same. This would still play into sword dance but also allow there to be more magic infused

[@crypto66]

Flintlocks are one of the first weapons in the game, so I don't understand why we still don't have a class using those.

[@scullzomben]

A lesson in knowing your audience - 9:00