Animation ideas for Advanced Jobs
Job Change Animations
I know the devs have their hands bound and whips are ready to go off if they stray away from 2.0, but as I was exping yesterday and having to change jobs to walk past tough mobs etc, I thought to myself, although the new jobs are good the equip crystal animation is …. well ….. boring. I have come up with some cool and bad ass animation ideas for each job.
PUG to MNK
We know MNK is the king of fists and with that in mind the animation will be as follows: on both scenarios the PUG will be holding the job crystal in his/her hand and i) the PUG will punch the crystal and as it shutters the shards start to surround him/her and then he/she will be a MNK. ii) the PUG throws the crystal in the air, punches it mid air and then the crystals surround his/her arm and follow it on to body in a spiral formation.
THM to BLM
Now let me start this one by saying: BLM is my main class and it has been since XI. I love the nuking feeling and the high danger that follows straight after when the tank realises that he/she no longer has any hate as I knocked a huge chuck of the mobs life :). The word thaumaturgy means miracle worker and with that in mind the animation will be as follows: the THM will have the crystal suspended between his/her hands and in front of his/her chest. The crystal will then start to spin and start to de-stabilise. At the same time a black aura will surround him/her and the screen will blank for a split second and then you are a BLM.
ARC to BRD
I will start this with a confession. I used to hate ARC / BRD in XI as I thought it to be pointless having to buy ammo and be used just for buffs but when I started XIV I thought to give it a try and oh boy oh boy wasn’t I wrong about this class. With the confession out of the way let’s continue with the animation. Archers in history have always been the first to attack as the enemy was marching towards the front lines and on the other hand bards like to create the appropriate mood from war songs to dancing. Keeping that in mind the animation is as follows: The ARC throws the job crystal in the air, quickly reaches for his/her quiver, pulls an arrow and shoots the crystal. As the crystal shutters, a melody starts to be composed with notes flying towards the BRD engulfing him/her around his/her body and then you are BRD.
GLA to PLD
This one staggered me a bit as I find the job change a bit strange. Gladiators where mainly offence and fast paced while paladins where mostly for defence and slower due to the heavy armour and claymores. But not to worry, as I still have an idea for this. Since we have a fast paced job to a slower more defensive one here is what I have in mind. The GLD grabs the job crystal and throws it in front of him/her, unsheathes the sword and shield does a forward lunge with a diagonal 360 degree spin and smashes the job crystal towards the ground. The sword is then engulfed with the PLD aura. As the GLD is slowly standing up, a surge around the body is taking place and a final pulse of the aura to signify the transformation.
MRD to WAR
I have always imagined MRD and WAR as the insanely crazy ruthless Vikings for some reason and the WAR AF kinda shows I was right. Being ruthless I want this change to vividly show the aggression of the job. Wielding an axe is already bad ass in my opinion but I want to emphasise on that. Having that is mind the animation will be as follows: MRD holds the crystal in one hand and the axe half way of the handle. As he/she throws the crystal in the air, he/she lets the axe drop and catches it at the end of the handle bringing it from behind him/her and thrusting it overhead towards the job crystal. As the axe hits the crystal and it hurdles towards the ground the shards engulfs the axe pulsating it red.
CON to WHM
Conjurers are the kind hearted nature bearers that love to live in harmony with the mother of all and yes that is mother nature and not Jenova, sorry hardcore FFers (FYI: I am one of them). Having the kind hearted theme in mind the animation will be as follows: the CON is holding the job crystal on their chest just like praying; the crystal slowly breaks up and is absorbed by the bearers’ body. The CON then looks up with the life surge aura surrounding the body and a last pulse hits as the absorption finishes and vooala WHM.
LNC to DRG
I remember seeing the AF gear for the first time on screenshots and then spending the next 2 hours removing my keys from my keyboard to clean the drool. In my opinion this is by far the best AF looking gear available on XIV at the moment. But yea let’s carry on with the animation. As we already know DRGs like to jump a lot so yea….. you guest it right. With that in mind here is the animation: LNC holds the job crystal and the lance on the other hand. He/she drops it and at the same time takes a big jump. Like a falling lance comet, the lance pierces the crystal shuttering it while the lance is digging into the ground. The shards flow in a spiral motion upwards and around the lance. The LNC then steps into the ground and the blue aura is flowing through his/her body.
I would like to say these animations should last between 3 and 5 seconds and with the option to switch it off after you have seen it at least once. I have also thought about the other way around as well. When you un-equip a job crystal the character hovers their hand over their chest and absorb the energy back into a crystal. I do understand that this post is wishful thinking but it will be cool to have something like that instead of the plain animation that we currently have.
I know that is a lot to read but if you are reading this line then you must be interested or simply you have read every other post on this forum :p. Thank you for reading and please let me know if you have any other ideas for the job crystal change animation. :D