Weapon type for a Magick/Mystic Knight

Don't expect any theorycrafting, this will basically just be about visuals (which begs the question, why post it at all? Well... why not?)

With the addition of VPR, I'd say we've (unfortunately) exhausted more conventional types of swords, and while there's nothing stopping the devs from giving this Job a mace or hammer (I'd rather that went to a melee Healer, though. A Cleric or some such), you can't really call a "spellblade" that if there's no blade involved, can you? So the type of weapon I'm thinking of is... a pata*! More commonly referred to as a "gauntlet sword"!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GVKv-j4W...name=4096x4096
Sketch I drew of how one such Magick/Mystic Knight might look

Here's a video on their history and use, for anyone curious! As far as video game examples go, the one that comes to mind to me personally is Raziel, from Legacy of Kain, though there's probably others! Dark Zealots from Starcraft, maybe? I think there's potential for some cool animations with the big, sweeping motions demonstrated (funnily enough) in both videos and, since weapon enchantment is a staple of this class (r-right...?), I gave that some thought as well. At least... as far a casting animation goes...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GVK7qcMW...png&name=large

Personally I'd make it a DPS, so that it doesn't step on either PLD or DRK's toes as a third (fourth, if you count GNB) "magic swordsman" Tank, that uses Maiming gear, to distinguish it from both RDM and SAM.

That's... about it. Nothing substantial, really, but I figured I'd share regardless.

*I'm aware there are MNK weapons using the term, though only one model (and its variants) even remotely resembles the real weapon. That shouldn't be an issue given RPR exists despite scythes being available to a slew of other Jobs previously, I don't think, and the fact it would be a single, much larger, weapon used in a completely different fashion ought to make it distinct enough, I reckon.

I liked Alisae's glowy sword that she summoned from her book before she became a RDM.

I did consider legally distinct lightsabers (there's Allagan constructs that use some) at one point, but ultimately I felt that would've still been too close to existing Jobs, especially since you can sort of get weapons of that type (i.e. Padjali, Kinna, Empyrean) already

spectrobes moment

I honestly really like the design of those weapons, and it's not something I had considered. While I enjoy red mage, I cannot deny that I would very much want/enjoy mage knight as a concept.

Battlemages are always something I enjoy in video games, versus your standard mage.


to add, I think maiming would be best for the gear so that it can still wear heavy armor since iirc maiming sets resemble fending a lot, so it can still have the identity of having that bulkier plate armor on top of using their spells

Not gonna lie, that art is damn awesome! If you drew that, Tsiron: amazing work, looks dope!

As for Patas, since some Monk weapons are more Katar Daggers than Patas, I think the concept would get a pass. Looks great nonetheless.

The frills in the neck and the poofy clothes remind me of Landsknecht. They were famous for using Arquebus and Spears. Maybe a combined magic version similar to a gunblade?

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Originally Posted by CVXIV

spectrobes moment

I honestly really like the design of those weapons, and it's not something I had considered. While I enjoy red mage, I cannot deny that I would very much want/enjoy mage knight as a concept.

Battlemages are always something I enjoy in video games, versus your standard mage.


to add, I think maiming would be best for the gear so that it can still wear heavy armor since iirc maiming sets resemble fending a lot, so it can still have the identity of having that bulkier plate armor on top of using their spells

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Oh, first I hear of Spectrobes, but it definitely looks to be the kind of weapon I'm talking about, yeah! Much as I wish there was room for a proper 2H longsword Job, I think the devs would struggle to make it (not to mention its weapons) distinct from existing ones, so going for something more obscure felt appropriate!

You and me both... There's a handful of Jobs that fulfill the basic requirements (melee+magic) like RDM, PLD, even SAM, but... none of them hit the exact concept of a "mage knight" for me either, so I think there's definitely still room for one!

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Originally Posted by ovIm

Not gonna lie, that art is damn awesome! If you drew that, Tsiron: amazing work, looks dope!

As for Patas, since some Monk weapons are more Katar Daggers than Patas, I think the concept would get a pass. Looks great nonetheless.

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I did draw it, thank you!

The MNK weapons I'm thinking of (Martial Patas) are definitely on the longer side, but... yeah, I don't think it would be particularly hard to make this hypothetical Job's weapons distinct, especially since these are the only 'proper' patas MNK ever got

https://ff14.norirow.com/wp-content/...8/img_9919.jpg

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Originally Posted by lolnotacat

The frills in the neck and the poofy clothes remind me of Landsknecht. They were famous for using Arquebus and Spears. Maybe a combined magic version similar to a gunblade?

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The outfit definitely owes them some of its inspiration, yeah! I wanted something that looked lavish, and the stuff the Landsknecht wore definitely fit the descriptor. As for the weapon... you're thinking of something like what Nael van Darnus used? I wonder if they'd be able to distinguish it from DRG (or RPR, albeit to a lesser extent), especially if we're sticking to my idea of it being a Maiming DPS

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Originally Posted by Tsiron

Oh, first I hear of Spectrobes, but it definitely looks to be the kind of weapon I'm talking about, yeah! Much as I wish there was room for a proper 2H longsword Job, I think the devs would struggle to make it (not to mention its weapons) distinct from existing ones, so going for something more obscure felt appropriate!

You and me both... There's a handful of Jobs that fulfill the basic requirements (melee+magic) like RDM, PLD, even SAM, but... none of them hit the exact concept of a "mage knight" for me either, so I think there's definitely still room for one!



I did draw it, thank you!

The MNK weapons I'm thinking of (Martial Patas) are definitely on the longer side, but... yeah, I don't think it would be particularly hard to make this hypothetical Job's weapons distinct, especially since these are the only 'proper' patas MNK ever got

https://ff14.norirow.com/wp-content/...8/img_9919.jpg

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Initially I was going to mention Edward Elric, since he does something similar for his arm but I figured that'd be too easy so I went with spectrobes instead

I agree, for me RDM doesn't necessarily scratch that same itch for my ideal mage knight. Sure, you have swordplay and magic, but it isn't really the same thing to me. I think typically they use one handed swords and enchant them with black magic, so the patas would be pretty unique weapons in that respect and still keep that sort of identity

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Originally Posted by Tsiron

The outfit definitely owes them some of its inspiration, yeah! I wanted something that looked lavish, and the stuff the Landsknecht wore definitely fit the descriptor. As for the weapon... you're thinking of something like what Nael van Darnus used? I wonder if they'd be able to distinguish it from DRG (or RPR, albeit to a lesser extent), especially if we're sticking to my idea of it being a Maiming DPS

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Differentiating would be tough. But maybe flip things on their head a little, where the Arquebus is the main weapon and the lance is secondary. This would be a contrast to the gunblade where the Sword is the primary part of the design with the gun secondary. Then there could be more focus on the magic Shells that are imparted with enchantments/runes.

How about some trinket that is used to materialized different weapons depending on your attack ?

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Originally Posted by Syln

How about some trinket that is used to materialized different weapons depending on your attack ?

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You mean like Noctis' Armiger? That could work. The main drawback is that you probably wouldn't have unique skins for each weapon, just for the trinket itself.

I think there's definitely a spot for Mystic Knight/Rune Knight in the context of Ivalician lore, with the Covosi Unyielding Blade (which shares a name with Meliadoul's sword style). I think a Striking Melee DPS job based around Thunder God Cid would be incredibly popular, especially if it referenced all the classic Holy (Judgment Blade/Cleansing Strike/Northswain's Strike/Divine Ruination) and Darkness themed (Duskblade/Shadowblade) attacks. Crush Helm would be a great choice for a raid buff. I think if they released that alongside a Corvos expansion, I would probably swap to that instantly.

There's really not a lot of "knightly" Striking armour though is the issue

It's actually much more accurate if it's not 'knightly'. Thunder God Cid and Meliadoul are dressed in light armored robes with hoods on them. Regardless, there's definitely demand for this aesthetic on melee DPS.

I want something like Loretta's Slash from Elden Ring. (I tried uploading a gif, but I got webp'd)
Maybe it would be too close to Dragoon in terms of look, but it would be really cool. They could give it striking gear to differentiate it though.

I would enjoy a Magical Melee DPS, having it wear the caster gear and whatnot. I don't know much about how the job works in tactics, but in FF5 it was just used to infuse a blade and deal a ton of damage, inflict status conditions, or insta-kill things. The concept of infusing the blades would be simple enough, and they could have each element give the mystic knight a self-buff when it's active for a short time, like 15-20 seconds or so, and do the buffs like-

Fire: 1-3% increased Damage
Earth: Gradually increasing shield as you deal damage, maybe cap the shield at 5% max health
Ice: 5-10% increased Direct Hit
Water: Kardia effect that heals you very slightly as you deal damage
Wind: 5-10% faster recast
Lightning: 1-3% increased Crit

Each time you use 3 of the elements and store up their power, you'd get either a "Holy Blade" or "Dark Blade" single use skill depending on which "side" was used the most, astral or umbral. You wouldn't get the elements restocked until all 6 are used, and each element would have a like 10 or 15 second cooldown before you can use another, or be set on their own specific 90-120 second global cooldowns after being activated, just to try and stop the job from becoming "Fire and Lightning full duration, dump other 4 immediately to restock Fire and Lightning, repeat." Given all the elements can be astral and umbral though, I suppose for something like this to work it'd all depend on how it would be viewed and implemented, like having Fire/Lightning/Wind being the "astrals" and Earth/Ice/Water being the "umbrals" for example.

Unfortunately though, given the devs when it comes to jobs recently, I get the feeling this specific rough idea of a Mystic Knight I word vomited out would be deemed "WAY too complicated" for players due to the management of the elements, and if they did make this a job I get the feeling it would ultimately just made to be a very basic melee job of flashy colored swords and a basic 1-2-3-big hit-4-5-6-big hit and repeat combo to avoid complaints about difficulty.

Just call it a Runeblade and make it longsword with magic runes on it or something.

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Originally Posted by ZXN

I would enjoy a Melee DPS

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I think we have enough melee dps for at least 2 expansion, so 10.0 for the next one x)

I would like a trident, a mace (with a magical orb in the other hand?) or a hammer for mystic knight/melee tank caster

I feel like my biggest issue with Mystik Knight was never that it's iconically associated with blades (usually one-and-a-half or two-handed swords), but that RDM and especially DRK have traditionally siphoned from its iconic features, capacities, etc., and that precluding that thematic space's use to both could still the wind from their sails for any identity-focused reworks for 8.0 and onward.

Well, the above... and just that --if there is to be a singular Mystik Knight analog-- I'd rather have a more world-specific variant on those themes, such as via a Judicar, Arbiter, Warder, Dervish, Mystic, or the like.

No reason to think they wouldn't try to anchor it in the world at least to some extent, even if 10 levels' worth of Job Quests don't give them much to work with

This is really cool! I like how you handled the weapon, and battle stance silhouette, and spreading enchantments across the blade is a very cool idea as well. Maybe the other had could be some kind of special glove or gauntlet to help aid with spreading magicks across the blade, and glove is stylized to the sword much like the RDM focus or PCT palette.

... yeah, I suppose there might be clipping issues with gloves depending on how tightly fit the weapon ends up being (real patas were very much so), so they'd probably work like some of MNK's which outright replace them entirely, in which case an off-hand becomes necessary. I'd... rather that wasn't the case though, gloves can contribute quite a bit to an outfit, especially some of the longer ones