In the FFXIV world, lore-wise which job is the strongest if there was a tourney?

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Originally Posted by The_Last_Dragoon

Lore-wise and assuming that the competitors involved are not Warriors of Light, the strongest job based character whose power is based solely on their job is Estinien. While he is essentially the "best of the best" when it comes to Dragoons, he is still on a whole other level compared to other "master level" characters based on the jobs.

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the NPC in the Stormblood Black Mage quests would destroy Estinien.

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Originally Posted by Quor

If we're going by old school FF rules, WHM and BLM. Sleep target > nuke until dead, because magic doesn't wake up a slept target.

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that's mechanics, not lore.

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Originally Posted by SendohJin

the NPC in the Stormblood Black Mage quests would destroy Estinien.

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Beware, black mage quest spoilers ahead!

I get the feeling that you're associating the Shantotto in FFXIV with the Shantotto in the FFXI universe. The Shantotto from that quest line is not only a mere echo of the person who actually created Black magic was, but once again they play second fiddle to the Warrior of Light. Not to mention that there is very little to be shown that accurately gauges exactly how much power Lalai has while fused with Shantotto. I would also deign to point out that the whole fact that Lalai is only powerful because she's fused with Shantotto is made very evident in the quest line (which means she's powerful because of something other than her job) and it's to the point where Lalai is actually limiting the power that Shantotto has. Estinien on the other hand is strong because he's a Dragoon, period.

I would argue that there is a certain equilibrium among all the classes. Which is to say, no class is weaker than another. The reason for this is that every class uses magic and their own physical abilities to empower themselves. What changes is how much they lean into these two categories.

Monks for instances use Chakra as a way to tap into a type of magic, and we see in the Stormsblood trailer (and the many times "Yda" swatted armored opponents aside) that these fist-wielding fighters rival demi-gods at the later level ranges. As for Paladins and other Tanks, their reliance on armor is not such a weakness considering that it is established that lvl 50 cobalt chainmail can stop/hamper bullets (armorcrafter storyline) which means later material can probably be expected to pull through most ordeals. Blackmages and other casters lean the most into the realm of magic, but even they rely to a certain extent on their own physical capabilities to allow them to harness this power (a lvl 70 Blackmage has more hp than a lvl 50 one etc). And of course we see Samurai pull of ridiculous superhuman feats in the game, such as cutting a steel blade in half or intercepting a bullet in midair.

Frankly if you take any of these classes out of FF14 and put them in another Fantasy setting they would likely annihilate the opposition because all classes at the later levels perform superhuman feats on a regular basis. The world of Eorzea is at times bleeding hell-hole and your lvl 70 Warriors of Light are the end result.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to the combatants. Lore-wise, a powerful monk can likely go toe-to-toe with a powerful black mage if it is a quick one-on-one and not an encounter made unequal by either party through preparation.

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Originally Posted by The_Last_Dragoon

Estinien on the other hand is strong because he's a Dragoon, period.

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Except he absolutely isnt. He was the azure dragoon, his higher powers coming directly from an eye of nidhogg, and even with that he played second fiddle to the WoL in the 50 drg questline. After that in heavensward he continues to use the eye of nidhogg for power, gets possessed and basically merges with nidhogg, and in stormblood we see he is capable of harnessing that power still, though upon destroying the eyes for good it may severely diminish his abilities.

He's still absolutely an exception and his heightened power is not because he's simply a dragoon, but because he is given (or takes) power from a being much stronger than himself. He's owes his strength to an outside source just as much as that blm NPC you just dismissed.

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Originally Posted by Shippuu

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I had to watch the second cutscene again to see it, but yeah apparently there's some leftover essence in Estinien's lance, which seems weird since the eyes are gone for good, and he definitely can't use their power unless they are in his possession. Regardless that would put him off the list, but that means that there's really only one choice for strongest class in Stormblood...

https://68.media.tumblr.com/e2a00033...31fo1_1280.gif

http://68.media.tumblr.com/13b399954...r948o1_500.gif

http://37.media.tumblr.com/cce8e3d76...p9yqo1_250.gif

http://cloud-3.steamusercontent.com/...E43C0A670DE55/

https://i.makeagif.com/media/7-25-2014/UrvMdF.gif

http://i.imgur.com/4ms8BtV.gif

The man, the myth, the legend...

^^ Goldsmith OP
Also, culinarian. See Julyan.

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Originally Posted by Mysterysword

Arrows in real-life can punch through plate mail pretty easily, so can a BLM raise a shield that's stronger than metal armour?

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If by easily you mean just barely penetrating the mail and stopping on the padding underneath (medieval English longbow vs medieval plate), or just bouncing straight off, then yes.

I would personally like to know where Ninja falls here in the lore. By that, I of course mean not Ninja as we know and play it as much as what the capstone bosses have demonstrated to us for the purpose of flavor and added mechanics. Stuff like "the forbidden fourth mudra" that comes up multiple times or all the other wackiness that goes on in the level 70 quest. As far as villains go, your Ninja progression encounters an awful lot of "imagine what you COULD be doing if Oboro wasn't the one training you!"

Basically, the Ninja's role in the tournament would be a nonstop cascade of Naruto tropes. An endless stream of "you thought you killed me but that was an illusion!" among a few dozen other Ninjitsu tricks. Pair the Ninja up with a Scholar (or hells, even an Arcanist on par with the guildmaster and his disciple) and you end up with a combination that could potentially prevail through wits and nigh-Black Mage-tier might.

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Originally Posted by Waliel

If by easily you mean just barely penetrating the mail and stopping on the padding underneath (medieval English longbow vs medieval plate), or just bouncing straight off, then yes.

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No, I mean that it is possible for a longbow archer to kill someone in one shot. The draw weight of an English longbow was at least 80 pounds. That's just based on the physical strength of the archer, not counting whatever magic an FF XIV BRD/ARC may be using to augment their draw, which could easily double it. And 80 pounds is the low end of the estimate.

I'm more curious as to why there seems to have been no history of the crossbow being invented or used in FF XIV, because here on Earth, humans had crossbows in the 6th century BC that could fire with a draw weight of 200 pounds.

It could that crossbows exist but have just never caught on, guns have existed in Eorzea for a while but because technology only recently is able to keep up with the magic wielded by Eorzeans they went largely ignored outside Limsa Lominsa and now Ishgard.