Geomancer [For-Fun] Concept Kit [and Workshopping]

Geomancer Concept and Kit Workshopping [KIT IS IN COMMENTS DUE TO CHARACTER LIMITS]

Workshopped this on Reddit and got some positive feedback and the suggestion to drop it off here.

This is a Fan-Made Concept and is Not Meant to Propose/Represent/Confirm any Current or Future Content/Implementations under the Copyright of Square Enix.

I was encouraged to flesh out this concept while watching a FFXIV Stream. I have made the following kit with a lot of work and attention to detail entirely for the enjoyment of discussion/expansion on the topic. I figure my fellow players may be glad to have outlets for their hype with ShB looming days away.

For this concept I relied on the kit-structure of both WHM and AST to balance DPS and Healing in a way that would feel different than other Healing classes, while still maintaining the core feeling of the role as a support class. For many of the Job Actions, I used Ceramics terminology to represent the Geomancer’s philosophy of manipulating Earth Aether in a way that is similar to shaping Earth in its many forms, the most malleable being clay, and so the healing abilities utilize such terms to invoke that, while the damaging abilities and mitigation abilities call to mind the resilience and power that the Earth offers in varying states. Because I wanted to toy with the idea of a Melee Healer, I wanted to play a lot with skills/traits that toy with movement, such as the positional regen AOEs that control where the party stands so it is easier to manage moving between allies, heavy armor to allow the healer the ability to stand with the tank and absorb cleaves etc. The trade-off for that is limited self-healing, so if the tank goes down, they won’t be able to mitigate being focused, in order to keep it balanced. The trait that increases combat movement and the gap-closer for allies make getting the auto-attack heals on allies fun, rather than a chore, especially since much of the time, you will be sticking with the tank and using ranged/AOE heals for the minor damage on DPS. So the class is a good mix of stop-and-go positional awareness. Both Healing and DPS have high-potential, but are kept balanced by requiring repositioning/refreshing of ground AOEs while also managing personal movement and cast timing. It sounds like a highly-technical class on-paper, but I tried to imagine how it would feel in-game and how well these ideas would makes sense on the leveling/introduction curve of current Jobs, and I think whereas the wordiness of the skills is necessary, they would come naturally in practice because of how the gauges work with intended rotation, and the only technical requirement is prioritization of targets (all healers) and aspect of Geo Fissures (Explained in Kit).

Role: Healer

Weapon: 2-Handed Hammer

Armor Class: Heavy

Gauge 1: Geo Fissures - Shows the Number and Aspect of Currently-active Geo Fissures

Gauge 2: Blood-Soak - Shows Concentration of Blood-Soaked Soil and changes to Contaminated Soil when Blood Taint is activated or Gauge reaches Maximum.

Job Actions

Because this is a concept kit, no numbers have been formulated for potency, and potency will be reflected on the scale of Min < Low < Mid < High < Max

Quake - Spell – 2.5s – GCD – Deals Earth Damage (Low) – Additional Effect: Increase Blood-Soak by 1

Knead – Spell – 2s – GCD – Restore Target’s HP (Mid) Melee Range Bonus: Additional Potency

Slurry – Spell – Instant – GCD – Deals Earth Damage (Min) – Additional Effect: Earth Damage Over Time (Min) – Additional Effect: Heavy – Duration 18s - Contaminated Soil Bonus: Increased Potency (Low)

Stoneskin – Spell – 2s – GCD – Restores Own HP and HP of All Nearby Party Members (Low) – Additional Effect: Shields the Body in Stone-Hard Skin Which Nullifies Damage Equaling 150% the amount of HP restored - Duration: 30s – Range: 15y – Removes Ironhide

Reconstitute – Spell – 8s – GCD - Resurrects Target to a Weakened State – Melee Range Bonus: Applies Stoneskin to Target

Wellspring Fissure – Ability – Instant – GCD – Creates a Wellspring Fissure in the Ground and Grants an Additional Effect to Self or Party Members Within 5y – Duration 18s - Wellspring: Regen (Low) – Duration 6s

Quake II – Spell – 2.5s – GDC – Deals Earth Damage to a Target and All Enemies Nearby it with a (High) Potency for the First Enemy, 10% Less for the Second, 20% Less for the Third, 30% Less for the Fourth, 40% Less for the Fifth, and 50% Less for all Remaining Enemies – Additional Effect: Increases Blood-Soak by 1 – Range: 5y

Luting – Ability – Instant – 60s Recast – Increases Physical and Magical Resistance of Target and Self. Effect Ends if Distance Between Self and Target Becomes Greater than 2y – Duration 20s Pillar Vault – Ability – Instant – 5s Recast – Leaps to Target Party Member

Slip – Ability – Instant – 90s Recast – Auto-Attacks Which Heal Target Party Member Fling Clay Slip Dealing Earth Damage at Target Party Member’s Enemy Target for 60% of Damage Healed – Duration 30s

Ironhide - Spell – 2s – GCD – Restores Target Party Member’s HP (Low) – Additional Effect: Shields the Body in Iron-Hard Skin Which Nullifies Damage Equaling 250% the amount of HP restored - Duration: 30s – Removes Stoneskin

Magma Fissure - Ability – Instant - GCD – Creates a Magma Fissure in the Ground and Grants an Additional Effect to Self or Party Members Within 5y – Duration 18s - Wellspring: Fire Damage Over Time (Low) – Duration 6s

(cont. in next reply)

Fettling – Ability - Instant – 30s Recast – Removes Slurry from Target and Deals Unaspected Damage (High) – Additional Effect: Increases Blood-Soak by 2 – Can Only Be Executed when Target is Suffering from Slurry

Turn Soil – Ability – Instant – GCD – Reduces Blood Soak by 1 or Contaminated Soil by 2

Wedging – Ability – Instant – 40s Recast – Performs Three Hammer Strikes that Heal Target party Member or Damage Target Enemy, each with (Min) Potency – Contaminated Soil Bonus: Attack Potency vs Enemy (Mid)

Eruption - Spell – Instant – 90s Recast - Detonates All Active Geo Fissures Dealing Healing or Damage – Wellspring Eruption: Heals all Party Members Within 5y (Max) – Magma Eruption: Deals Fire Damage to all Enemies Within 5y (Max) – Each Eruption Leaves a 5y Crater for 30s which Geo Fissures Cannot Overlap Plate Shift – Ability – Instant – 60s Recast - Swaps the Aspect of all Active Geo Fissures – Additional Effect: Extends Duration of Geo Fissures by 10s

Quake III – Spell – 2.5s – GCD – Deals Earth Damage to all Enemies (Low) in a 5y Line – Additional Effect: Creates a Geyser from any Geo Fissures in Range and Extends Duration by 10s – Wellspring Geyser Heals all Party Members Within 5y (Low) – Magma Geyser Deals Fire Damage to all Enemies Within 5y (Low) - Additional Effect: Increases Blood-Soak by 2

Terraform – Ability – Instant – 120s Recast – Reduces Recast Timer by 2s - Duration 10s - Additional Effect: Remove Geo Fissures/Eruption Craters and Reset Blood-Soak or Contaminated Soil

Sacred Soil – Removes all Contaminated Soil Stacks and Grants Enriched Earth for 5s per Stack of Contaminated Soil. Healing Potency Increased (Mid) – Additional Effect: Stoneskin and Ironhide Duration Extended by 10s. Actions do not Grant Blood Soak while Enriched Earth is Active.

Job Traits

”Enhanced” Traits and (II, III, Etc.) not included because no potencies are reflected, so this section is limited to leave room for assumed traits

Mending Blows – Targeted Party Members Receive Auto-Attack damage as Healing

Terrain Mastery – Increased Movement Speed in Combat

Landslide Blows – Grants a [x]% chance Auto-Attacks hit Twice

Rocksteady – Reduced Chance Casting with be Interrupted by Enemy Attacks.

Blood on the Sand – Grants Certain Actions the Ability to Add Stacks of Blood-Soak up to [Maximum]. Each stack of Blood Soak Increases Potency of Wellspring Fissures (Min/Stack). When Blood-Soak hits Maximum Stacks, Blood-Taint Activates. Durring Blood-Taint Blood-Soak Stacks Become Contaminated Soil Stacks and Increases Potency of Magma Fissures (Min/Stack). All Spells use 1 Stack of Contaminated Soil and cost 200% MP. Blood Soak Resets when all Stacks of Contaminated Soil are Consumed.

Please Enjoy! Discuss and Ask Questions! Constructive Input ONLY. NO TOXICITY. This is Purely a Conversation-Starter, not an Assertion that this is the Only Viable Build or that this idea is in any way intended for serious consideration.

To address the biggest critique I've received so-far, up-front, people seem to be wary of having a healer that can take damage while being next to the tank, and worry that this would result in a Healer that is OP due to survivability. The way I have proposed to balance this is by
A: Putting the GEO in the way of greater damage
B: Relying on positioning for buffs that leave the GEO vulnerable if they fail positioning
C: If the GEO focuses on its limited self-healing and defense to survive, they will not be able to keep up healing on their Team, so even though they may survive some things other healers are not able to, they have to be more attentive to their team to maintain healing, and if they over-extend by becoming overly-reliant on their higher defense, they will find themselves overwhelmed. In this way, the heavy armor etc. becomes necessary, since this class is intended to not play like the other Healers. Assuming the heavy armor and ability to take some hits to be OP based on conventional Healer expectations should be mitigated by how this Job would be played.

You may have points or thoughts that I did not consider in this regard, and often, in design, the Achilles heel of a concept is that I am blinded by intent, and people with a different perspective may find exploitable mechanics in my design. I encourage you point those out. That's what this is here for: to talk about and play around with as an idea.