Performer (PFM)
With gaudy dress and merry movements, performers of all shapes and sizes aim to bring smiles to the peoples of the world, especially in times of hardship when happiness and joy are rare in a person's daily life.
The stars of the Mayakov Circus specialize in a form of dance with roots in the city-state of Ala Mhigo. Under the rule of a tyrant, it was illegal for ordinary citizens to practice combat, restricting martial instruction only for those in the military; undeterred, many taught themselves anyway, disguising their training as intricate dance motions. This unique style of combat specializes in fast, agile movements, literally dancing circles around enemies while rending them into ribbons with dual daggers.
The performer is a lightly-armored melee damage dealer that enters combat dual-wielding daggers and utilize a new mechanic known as Finishing Moves and Flourishes. Whenever a performer correctly executes a complete ability combo, they gain a Finishing Move, up to an initial maximum of 3. These Finishing Moves can be spent on a selection of abilities known as Flourishes that consume Finishing Moves and have a greater effect based on the number of Finishing Moves accumulated at the time the Flourish is used.
Performer Class Quests:
Performers begin their career in Limsa Lominsa. Players who begin the game as a Performer don the Thief Artifact Armor during their brief fight with Lahabrea in their dream and a new conversation option is available to them when talking with Brennon. He will ask if the player is an adventurer, but will skip to asking what drew the player to adventuring without waiting for an answer. The conversation option "I'm an entertainer." is available beneath the "..." option, prompting Brennon to correct himself and talk about the Mayakov Circus that recently moved into Limsa Lominsa. The rest of the cutscene plays as normal and the player is given the Ring of Freedom as if they had picked the "..." option.
The level 1 performer class quest introduces the player to Alexei Mayakov, the owner of the circus who acts as the "guildmaster". When prompted as to whether the player is ready to sign on as a performer, a third option labelled "Yes, but what's with the lisp?" is given. Selecting this option prompts Mayakov to ask "What lisp?" after an awkward silence, before the dialogue begins again as normal. The level 5 and 10 class quests are different "rehearsals" that Mayakov assigns to the player before giving them their first performance during the level 15 quest; this quest also introduces a rival circus that is using the Mayakov Circus signature dance style, claiming it as their own and that the Mayakov Circus stole from them. The level 20 and 25 class quests pit the player against different members of the rival circus, before fighting the leader of the rival circus in the level 30 class quest. Bested in combat, the leader of the rival circus confesses to being a former member of the Mayakov circus who stole their techniques before being taken to prison.
At level 30, Alexei Mayakov suggests that the player visit Gridania where a group of the circus's best entertainers have recently been allowed to perform in the Mih Khetto's Amphitheatre. Additionally, the player may encounter an NPC listed as "Suspicious Patron", who recommends the player visit Ul'dah to meet with some associates who "have a very lucrative proposition" for the player. Following the quest given by Alexei Mayakov unlocks the DANCER job and following the quest given by the Suspicious Patron unlocks the THIEF job.
Performer Class Abilities:
1) Dancing Edge - Low-Damage Single-Target Attack
2) Wasp Sting - Low-Damage Single-Target Attack and Poison
4) Gust Slash - Low-Damage Single-Target Attack
6) Drain Samba - Melee attacks recover HP with each attack, HP recovered increases based on number of current Finishing Moves, but does not consume Finishing Moves
8) Viper Bite - Low-Damage Single-Target Attack, Damage increases and Poison when comboed from Wasp Sting
10) Quickstep - Heavy-Damage Attack, Off the Global Cooldown, ~20 second cooldown
12) Shark Bite - Low-Damage Single-Target Attack, Damage increases and Bleed when comboed from Viper Bite
15) Climactic Flourish - Increases Critical Hit Rate based on Finishing Moves consumed
18) Reverse Flourish - Converts all Finishing Moves into a set amount of TP per Finishing Move
22) Evisceration - Low-Damage Single-Target Attack, Damage increases when comboed from Dancing Edge
26) No Foot Rise - Instantly Grants 2 Finishing Moves
30) Saber Dance - Increases the damage of physical abilities and auto attacks, ~30 second cooldown, does not stack with Fan Dance
34) Cyclone - Low-Damage Single-Target Attack, Damage increases and affects an area when comboed from Gust Slash
38) Chocobo Jig - Increases movement speed by half the potency of Sprint and Swiftsong, does not stack with Spring or Swiftsong, slowly depletes TP while active.
42) Striking Flourish - Single-Target Attack that deals 200% auto-attack damage, only consumes 2 Finishing Moves, 60 second cooldown
46) Pyrrhic Kleos - Flourish: Single-Target Attack, potency based on Finishing Moves
50) Exenterator - Low-Damage Single-Target Attack, Damage heavily increases when comboed from Eviceration
Performer Ability Combos:
Dancing Edge > Eviscerate > Extenterator
Wasp Sting > Viper Bite > Shark Bite
Gust Slash > Cyclone
Performer Class Traits:
8) Enhanced Strength - STR+2
14) Haste Samba - Drain Samba increases Skill Speed
16) Enhanced Strength - STR+2
20) Enhanced Reverse Flourish - 20% chance to retain 1 finishing move.
24) Enhanced Strength - STR+2
28) Box Step - Quickstep lowers target's DEF, target will quickly build resistance to this effect
32) Curtain Call - Increases number of available finishing moves to 5
36) Enhanced No Foot Rise - Grants 4 finishing moves
40) Stutter Step - Quickstep lowers target's M.DEF, target will quickly build resistance to this effect
44) Enhanced Chocobo Jig - Increase Chocobo Jig's movement speed bonus by 50%
48) Ternary Flourish - Striking Flourish deals 300% auto-attack damage, only uses 3 Finishing Moves
Dancer (DNC)
While the martial steps of the Mayakov Circus is the most popular, a small circle of the best and brightest entertainers have dedicated themselves to delving further into the history of battle dances, evolving their art with techniques new and old to create a brand new style of combat.
Dancers place themselves on the front lines, using elaborate and rapid motions to bewilder and mystify their opponents, dodging and deflecting their attacks with precise dagger strikes. The best dancers eventually learn to slip into a serene state of mind, blocking out all distractions and becoming an untouchable storm of steel and color.
The dancer job transforms the performer from a damage dealer into a tank, greatly increasing dodge and parry rates to avoid damage all-together and increases the threat generated by their Flourishes.
Dancer Job Quests:
The DANCER class quests are given by a woman named Portia and the quest line revolves around another dancer named Lilith, who dislikes the player and the fact that they were invited to join the dancers after such a short amount of time, while everyone else had to work for years before being allowed to join. Wanting to "prove" that the player isn't good enough to join the dancers, Lilith assigns harder and harder performances to the player in the hopes they fail and disgrace themselves. At the end of the quest line, Lilith fights the player herself and is ultimately defeated; disgraced due to her nefarious actions, Lilith is expelled from the dancers and her uniform is given to the player (if female); if the player is male, the outfit is confiscated and the player is given the male-variant, recently arrived from the weavers guild.
A Relic Reborn (Terpsichore):
The DANCER relic weapon, this dagger set is a modernized version of a pair of daggers originally wielded by a battle dancer of the same name. The original pair of daggers had trifurcated blades, designed as highly effective defensive weapons, capable of entwining an enemy's blade and rendering it near ineffective, if not disarming the opponent entirely. However, the original blade's side prongs were static, which made wearing the daggers cumbersome. Updated with a special mechanism in the hilt, at the press of a button the two side prongs extend out or collapse in, allowing the blade to fit inside traditional dagger sheaths.
Dancer Job Abilities:
30) Closed Position - Increase Dodge and Flourishes boost enmity, lasts until reused
35) Fan Dance - Increase Parry rate and the percentage of damage mitigated by parry, ~30 second cooldown, does not stack with Saber Dance
40) Animated Flourish - Low-Damage Single-Target Attack with bonus enmity based on Finishing Moves
45) Divine Waltz - Cure Potency 650 + Regen 100 potency
50) Trance - 100% Dodge rate, Flourishes do not consume Finishing Moves for the duration.
Thief (THF)
Wherever there is wealth, there are those that wish to claim it for their own, even if it already belongs to someone else. From the pettiest of pickpockets to the classy cambrioleur, thieves are masters of every back-alley ploy and elegant ruse to take from their targets anything their heart desires.
Thieves are no stranger to getting their hands dirty when carefully laid plans inevitably go awry. Using the speed and agility required for their profession, thieves can deliver devastating dagger strikes as a target's most vulnerable spots to vanquish their foes as quickly as possible and continue their escape.
The thief job expands upon the base performer class, offering more options for accumulating finishing moves which can be spent on unique flourishes that steal items or gil from enemies.
Thief Job Quests:
The THIEF class quests are given by the "Suspicious Patron", revealed to be a man named Aldo, who acts as the player's mentor. The first quest involves the player being asked to help Aldo's associates pick up and bring back some cargo if they need help; in actuality, Aldo has sent the player to salvage a heist that he knows will get botched by the amateur thieves originally sent. Upon return, the player confronts Aldo about the set-up and can either continue to offer his services or threaten to alert the authorities. If the player threatens to turn Aldo in, he takes it in stride and suggests the player think over his offer to join them. The following quests revolve around the heists of different, wealthy and corrupt individuals, with the player needing to fight off the members of a rival thieves order that wish to make Ul'dah their territory. The player obtains the pieces of the Thief Artifact Armor by hunting down these other thieves and taking it from them.
The final quest involves the player and Aldo going on a joint heist to rob a shipment of precious metals, stones, and crystals. However, the rival thieves guild has already hit the transport wagon and is about to escape when the player and Aldo arrive. Aside from defeating all the enemies in this encounter, there is a second way to win: The player can steal all the cargo containers from each enemy (five in total) using the Steal or Mug abilites; however, the chance of successfully stealing the cargo is low and can take several tries to win in this manner. If the player successfully steals the cargo, the player and Aldo escape as the Immortal Flames arrive to arrest the rival thieves, but fail to capture Aldo or the player. For a successful job, the player is awarded the Thief Artifact Armor chest piece.
A Relic Reborn (Mandau)
The THIEF relic weapon, this pair of daggers were originally wielded by Nanaa Mhigo, a notorious Keeper of the Moon cat-burgler. The weapons were uniquely shaped to incorporate different blade edges for any cutting that might be necessary on a job, able to cut through cloth, leather, and even glass. The hilts of the blades also contain a number of smaller tools for lock picking that can be slid out when needed.
Thief Job Abilities:
30) Steal - Flourish: Attempt to steal an item from an enemy
35) Sneak Attack - Next ability deals increased damage when attacking from behind
40) Trick Attack - Low-Damage Single-Target attack, damage massively increased and grants a Finishing Move when empowered by Sneak Attack, ~20 second cooldown
45) Mug - Flourish: Attempt to steal an item from an enemy and deal low-damage, steal chance is lower than Steal.
50) Perfect Dodge - 100% Dodge rate, further increases the damage boost of Sneak Attack and increases the damage of Trick Attack
