Fencer: Red Mage and Mystic Knight Proposal

[MaverickEntity]

As much as I would love for there to be a class in Limsa Lominsa that would motivate me enough to start a character there (already have the appearance design of several characters and I want to experience the city fully), I have the feeling that your concepts would best be applied to Ul'dah.

Lore-wise if I am not mistaken:

• Ul'dah is known for its sellswords, so having fencers be like a mercenary guild for protecting targets, convoys, or whatnot makes sense.
• Perhaps fencing is something passed down from the well-off and cultured of Ul'dah (which would make the leader a lalafell?) who only recently opened up a public guild to regulate the use of their techniques.
• The connection to THM and GLA could serve as perhaps a starting reference for a new guild formed between the two of them to serve the private mercenary armies of Ul'dah (the ones we hear about lore-wise but haven't seen as the brass blades are hired muscle of the syndicate and the sultan troops probably don't have that high of numbers).
• Red Mages and Mystic Knights just seem to suit the aesthetics of the city. I suppose Red Mage would suit Gridania as well.

As for why not Gridania, even though their two DoW guilds stress finesse and technique (fitting for a fencer and so on), I just don't see this class/jobs suiting the atmosphere of it, much like with Limsa Lominsa.

All that said MartaDemireux, I do pray someone has the sense to implement your ideas someday. I'd pick you to design musketeer over anyone else so far (and I really, really, really want to play as one right now).

[GyroMaddox]

This is truly a really good idea.

[MartaDemireux]

First off, thanks very much for the kind words

I like your Ul'dah idea, MaverickEntity! Mystic Knight's appearance definitely does go well there and I bet I could whip up some lore for it as well. I'll definitely do some pondering this weekend for a good background.

Would you mind giving a look at my other thread on DRK/GEO/TIM/TMP/BRS? Would appreciate your opinion on the lore/background I thought up. Pretty sure there aren't any glaring inconsistencies with current lore but would like some extra eyes if.

[Blackryuk]

Definitely some good ideas there wouldn't mind trying those classes out.

[Duelle]

Nice to see someone else remembers Ramsey's suggestion. I've been playing around with a couple of concepts myself, so allow me to counter a concept with a concept:

Fencer
決闘士

Considered outliers among their peers in the art of the sword, fencers utilize a fighting style developed around fluid movement and quick attacks. Where gladiators and marauders bring pure strength to the fray, these shifty combatants prefer to wear their targets down and win battles by attrition, waiting for the opportune time to close in for the coup de grace.

Originally a recreational combat style of the Ishgardian nobility, the fencing repertoire has expanded as more individuals took up the rapier and saber. Crippling techniques and blade enchantments eventually became common among practitioners, allowing the fencer to close the gap with their brute force-focused counterparts that finesse alone cannot fill.

Concept: Front row fighter that can cripple opponents with sword techniques. They are also adept at bypassing their enemies' defenses with enchanted sword techniques.

Weapons: Rapier, Fleuret, Saber

Fencer abilities
01 Quick Thrust - Delivers an attack with a potency of 120.
02 Principle of Defense - Increases your parry rate by 50% and your evasion by 5% for 20 seconds.
04 Stocatta - Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Combo => Quick Thrust: 200 Potency
06 Glory Slash - Delivers an attack with a potency of 100 to all enemies in a cone before you.
08 Soul Thrust - Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Decreases target's resistance to magic damage for 10 seconds.
10 Fleche - Lunges at a target and delivers an attack with a potency of 130. Must be more than 5 yalms from the target. 10 yalm range.
12 Undaunted - Increases frequency of auto-attacks and skill speed by 50% for 10 seconds. 3-minute cooldown.
15 Burning Blade - Deals fire damage with a potency of 50. Combo => Soul Thrust: 100 potency. Damage over time with a potency of 25 for 18 seconds.
18 Hamstring - Delivers an attack with a potency of X. Decreases target's movement speed by 20% for X seconds.
22 Frozen Stab - Deals ice damage with a potency of 50. Combo => Soul Thrust: Slows target by 20% for 20 seconds.
26 Keen Eye - Increases the critial hit chance of the next two attacks by 100/50%.
30 Sanguine Pin - Delivers a three-fold attack with a potency of X. Combo => Stocatta: Recover TP and MP over 24 seconds.
34 Lightning Thrust - Deals lightning damage with a potency of 50. Combo => Soul Thrust: Paralyzes target for 15 seconds
38 Froissement - Interrupt the enemy's spell or channeled attack.
42 Graze - Attempt to dodge the next two physical or magic attacks, reducing damage taken by 25% per attack.
46 Riposte - Delivers an attack with a potency of 120. Can only be used after parrying an attack.
50 Death Blossom - Delivers a four-fold attack with a potency of 200. Doubles the duration of Burn, Frost and Shock.

Traits
08 Enhanced Dexterity (Fencer) - Increases DEX by 2.
14 Mastery of Defense - Increases Principle of Defense's parry increase to 60% and evasion increase to 10%.
16 Enhanced Dexterity II (Fencer) - Increases DEX by 4.
20 Increased Attack Speed - Increases auto-attack speed and skill speed by 5%.
24 Enhanced Dexterity III (Fencer) - Increases DEX by 6.
28 Flunge - Extends the range of Fleche to 15 yalms.
32 Enhanced Hamstring - Hamstring now decreases enemy movement speed by 40%.
36 Dauntlessness - Increases Undaunted's duration to 20 seconds.
40 Keener Eye: Keen eye now increases the crit chance of the next three attacks by 100/75/50%.
44 Glorious Slash - Using Glory Slash while targetting an enemy affected by Burn, Frost or Shock will spread their associated status ailments to all targets affected by Glory Slash.
50 Enhanced Graze - Increases the number of attacks you can attempt to avoid to four.

(suggested) Achievements
Foiled Again I-V: Achieve fencer level 10-50

Fencer notes:

- Fencer is built around a DPS with slightly more defences than what a LNC or MNK would have to compensate for their slightly lower damage. I purposely made their cooldowns very situational to drive the point home of them being focused on DPS.
- The quested skills would be Burning Blade and Sanguine Pin. Burning Blade is more of an introduction to the wider world of Fencing to give a hint of the jobs the class can go into at lv30 (I'd expect the conversation with the Fencer's Guild guildmaster to include the line "don't fool yourself into thinking a sword enchant is makes you less of a swordsman. We're not thaumaturges; we simply borrowed an aspect of their discipline and bent it to our own ends.")
- Sanguine Pin would enter the game at a point in time where FNC is starting to find themselves TP starved, which is why its combo effect involves regenerating TP and MP over time.
- Fleche is pretty much mandatory if FNC is going to branch off into a tank (Mystic Knight). Baseline FNC would be the only class (not job) that can close a distance with an enemy.
- Froissement works on a mechanic separate from what I call FFXIV's "fake interrupts". That is to say, abilities that are similar to interrupts but are basically one-second silences or stuns. If a FNC were to use Froissement on the caster mobs in AK, they would be able to interrupt their casts without triggering DRs. As I would want Froissement to be off the GCD, I think a 10-second cooldown and a TP+MP cost would be in order.
- Soul Thrust, BB/FS/LT and Death Blossom should have TP and MP costs.
- The way Graze works is that the game will have you run a dodge roll against the attack or spell in question. If you pass the dodge roll then Graze "stacks" are not consumed. If you fail the dodge roll then Graze procs and one of the 2/4 attacks is consumed.

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Red Mage
赤魔道士

Armed with enchanted rapiers and combat-caster instincts, the members of Ishgard's Order of the Crimson Blade are as recognized within the city walls as the dragoons are recognized outside its borders. Employing refined fencing skills and a slew of combat spells, these garish "magic fencers" have taken their chosen art to new levels, proudly serving as capable front line combatants with more than just a few tricks up their sleeves.

Where a traditional mage would prefer the safety of range, the red mage's talents shine in the thick of battle, swiftly crippling enemies with their blade before taking them out of the fight with a burst of magic or heal wounded allies. It is this versatility that has made them known not only for their ability to handle any situation, but to also bring things to a resolution.

Concept: Front row fighter-mage with some extra tricks and toys to bring into battle. While dealing less damage than a fencer, the Red Mage has other ways to make up for the lack of physical damage through abilities like Magic Sword and their spells.

Support Classes: THM (Thunder, Swiftcast, Sleep), CNJ (Cure, Stoneskin, Protect, Raise)

Red Mage abilities
30 Magic Sword: 20 yalm range. 3 Second cast time. Deals elementally unaspected damage with a potency of 100. Combo => Burning Blade/Frost Stab/Lightning Thrust: Instant cast. Deals additional Fire/Ice/Lightning damage with a potency of 125 (dealt separately from Magic Sword's initial damage).
35 Stun: 20 yalm range. Stuns target for up to 5 seconds. 35 second recast.
40 Chant: Sacrifice 5% of total HP to heal an ally for twice the amount sacrificed.
45 Double: Doubles the potency, cost and cooldown of the next spell or weapon skill.
50 Enflare: Decreases max MP by 20% to deal additional fire damage with 50 potency on all auto attacks and physical weapon skills. Effect ends upon reuse.

(suggested) Quests
30 The red-hatted league
35 Of rapiers and magic
40 Unrefreshing circumstances
45 Enfeebling chains
50 Walking the three-fold path
50 A Relic Reborn: Murgleis

(suggested) Achievements
Magic Fencin' Ain't Easy - Complete the red mage job quest "Walking the three-fold path"
Doing some needlework - Obtain Murgleis in the quest A Relic Reborn

Red Mage notes:

- Magic Sword was originally designed to react to the elemental debuff placed on the mob (from BB/FS/LT). I eventually decided to simply combo it to encourage the use of Magic Sword for maximum benefit.
- Magic Sword also acts as RDM's only ranged attack, allowing it to do some damage during air phases but not by much. The prohibitive 3-second cast time also plays into this.
- Double is self-explanatory. In the case of Chant, you sacrifice double the HP to heal an ally for double the normal amount.
- Chant should have a 20% HP threshold similar to BLM's Convert. Not sure on whether it should have a prohibitive cooldown or a long cast time.
- Enflare is my nod to the JP fans from the melee RDM thread on the Final Fantasy XI forums. I'm not sure on whether to make it something that should be kept on at all times (with 20% less MP your options are a bit more limited and may be more likely to go OOM faster) or maybe a self-only buff for 30-45 seconds with a 10-minute cooldown.

Mystic Knight
魔導剣士

During the era that housed the War of the Magi an empire seeking supremacy developed ways with which to ensorcel and fortify equipment using its wearer's own life energies, giving cloth and leather the sturdiness of iron and steel. Comprising the empire's armies donning these enchanted armaments were mystic knights, men and women of great magical potential that were turned into aether-fueled bastions.

Mystic knights were more than just protectors in enchanted armor. Their training allowed them to mark their opponents with aether, only to inflict great pain on their foes from within by manipulating their enemies' own life energies.

Concept: Tank job that focuses partly in parry and dodges along with some baseline damage reduction.

Support Classes: GLA (Rampart, Provoke, Flash), PGL (Featherfoot, Haymaker, Chakra)

Mechanics: The MTK soul crystals adds the "Increased Enmity" effect to Stoccata, Sanguine Pin and Fleche. Burning Blade, Frozen Stab and Lightning Thrust place an Elemental Mark on the target, which can then be spent by using Runic Blade or Shockwave.

Mystic Knight abilities
30 Mystic Armaments: Decreases damage dealt by 20% and damage taken by 10% while increasing enmity. Doubles defense and magic defense values gained from equipment. Effect ends upon reuse.
35 Runic Blade: Consumes elemental marks placed on an enemy to deal an attack for 200 potency. Increased enmity.
40 Aetherlink: Creates a 5-yalm tether between you and target party member for 12 seconds, combining both of your HP values into one HP pool but reducing healing received by 50%. Should the combined HP pool hit 0, both you and the target party member will die. 3-minute cooldown.
45 Shockwave: Detonates elemental marks placed on an enemy to deliver an area of effect attack for 150 potency on all enemies within 10 yalms. Increased emmity.
50 Magic Barrier: Places a barrier with a 10-yalm radius at your feet that reduces damage taken by you by 90% and by all allies inside the barrier by 30% for 10 seconds.

(suggested) Quests
30 Unnatural enhancement
35 Aetheric circulation
40 Highs and lows
45 Aether beasts
50 Secret of aether
50 A Relic Reborn: Durendal

(suggested) Achievements
Better....stronger....sturdier. - Complete the mystic knight job quest "Secret of aether"
My blade and I are the defenders of my country - Obtain Durendal in the quest A Relic Reborn

Mystic Knight Notes:

- I'll admit part of this was inspired by the general concept of vampires (capable of manipulating a victim once the victim has some of the vampire's blood inside them).
- MTK's Marks work separately from the debuffs associated with BB/FS/LT. If a MTK were to use Burning Blade, you would see the mob get the Burn debuff along with an Elemental Mark.
- Runic Blade's concept was basically the MTK marking their opponent with BB/FS/LT then using Runic Blade to rip the inserted aether from the foe. Think Draw Out from FFVIII but it hurting the enemy. Or if you want a more direct example, the scene from the first X-men movie where Magneto rips out the iron particles from within that prison guard.
- Aetherlink (not to be confused with Etherlink >.>) is a sort of mitigation-ish ability meant to also double as a utility cooldown. If would be the next logical step to follow abilities like Cover. Credit for this skill goes to Dioltas (though his version of this was called Blood Magic).
- The doubled armor value as well as the 10% mitigation from Mystic armaments should be enough for the job to have some baseline mitigation before you get into the cooldowns. The fact MTK scales with DEX (thus having a higher parry rating than WAR and PLD) would help set it appart.
- Having access to Rampart is a precaution on my part, as I would not want MTK to go through the mess WAR is currently going through.
- While I think Runic Blade should have a cooldown, I don't think Shockwave should have one.

[Tanaya]

I enjoyed reading both concepts so far. Marta's concept seems more balanced between Offensive and Defensive skills(though quite stance-heavy), while Duelle's definitely feels more flashy and intuitive.

The potency numbers seem quite low though, even if we're speaking about a Support-oriented DPS.

Duelle's Magic Barrier is better than a Tank's LB3.

[MartaDemireux]

The potency numbers seem quite low though, even if we're speaking about a Support-oriented DPS.

Not sure if you were referencing my concept with this but if so, mine are based on the lower end (while still higher than a GLA, relatively equal to an ARC) as they have a very good critical hit chance and combos that gain even higher critical rates.

Also, I have put in lore for FNC, RDM and MST. Thanks to MaverickEntity for the initial inspiration as I had very little to begin with. I deviated away from spellswords but loved the Ul'dahn elite idea.

Edit: Also gave RDM the healer LB to better work with the "jack of all trades, master of of none" theme that it has had going for it in the past.

Nice to see someone else remembers Ramsey's suggestion.

Hadn't even seen it prior to making my idea but someone shared it with me afterwards. Thought I'd link to it as its pretty similar in theory.

[Tanaya]

Not sure if you were referencing my concept with this but if so, mine are based on the lower end (while still higher than a GLA, relatively equal to an ARC) as they have a very good critical hit chance and combos that gain even higher critical rates.

Not quite. GLA's Rage of Halone(C) is 260 Potency, and Savage Blade(C) is 200 Potency. Riot Blade(C) is 220 Potency. I see what you're going for with the Crits and DoTs, which makes me rethink my potency concern, but speaking as a Paladin, the potency is somewhat awkward to feel comfortable with. I think what's getting me is your concept doesn't allow Fencer to get a straightforward buff without an iffy drawback (reduced accuracy makes me cringe, for example). Dragoon has Blood for Blood and Heavy Thrust, Bard has Raging Strikes and Barrage, Monk has it's stances, etc.

Duelle's fairs a bit better, but I'm not sure which ones of his attack skills are off-GCD.

[Mirron]

I definitely think a Red Mage class is the way to go, and I'm super happy to see a Mystic Knight branch off of it. Originally I was for the idea of Red Mage being a tank, and while I still like the idea (each of the three original magic classes being one of the three roles makes my aesthetics happy), it's a lot more fitting for Red Mage to be a DPS while Mystic Knight is a tank. Overall I can't say how balanced one way or the other any of it is, but the inherent concepts are fine, though I think Red Mage could fit most of the cities fine if you wanted to tweak it. I'd want it in Gridania, but that's mostly so Gridania could have a tank, even if it's not the main role of the original class.

[MartaDemireux]

Not quite. GLA's Rage of Halone(C) is 260 Potency, and Savage Blade(C) is 200 Potency. Riot Blade(C) is 220 Potency. I see what you're going for with the Crits and DoTs, which makes me rethink my potency concern, but speaking as a Paladin, the potency is somewhat awkward to feel comfortable with. I think what's getting me is your concept doesn't allow Fencer to get a straightforward buff without an iffy drawback (reduced accuracy makes me cringe, for example). Dragoon has Blood for Blood and Heavy Thrust, Bard has Raging Strikes and Barrage, Monk has it's stances, etc.


Duelle's fairs a bit better, but I'm not sure which ones of his attack skills are off-GCD.

If you meant in regard to Featherblow, there is a trait that removes the ACC penalty on my concept. For Lightning Stance the 5% ACC loss shouldn't be much of a hindrance. As DEX is the modifying stat for my FNC's skills they will be on ARC/BRD equipment which already favors ACC. So while it will make them less accurate overall, there are plenty of places where they should still be at or close to the ACC cap when using Lightning Stance. You'll still be fine for the first 4 turns in BC iirc. If you really can't suffer that ACC loss then you'd go for Fire Stance for increased overall damage or if you don't want to have a slightly less crit hits rate and its not a DPS race, Ice Stance will do the same for damage but make you hit a little slower (it's auto-attack only so your casting times and GDC aren't affected).

The Stances really shine with the jobs though as RDM will be able to pull off some good magic attacks as well as a potent DoT in combos and MST would likely want to vary what Stance it uses when certain abilities are active. Such as: Really need to maintain hate against hard-hitting members at the start of a fight -> Pop a Water Stance and Magic Sword to attack 5% faster with the additional water damage increasing your enmity (to offset the damage reduction).

I know this sort of raises the point of why bother having stats on them at all if its going to be so low but if I made the bonuses and reductions too large it could be a burden and if I don't have them at all I don't think I'd have an effective use for them. I like having stances for FNC though as a FNC in real life has to balance similarly (when to strike, what to shield etc) and dislike having FNC get elemental attacks (should be reserved for the RDM nukes and the MST Magic Sword imo) so I need to give them some incentive while still making it unique, burden free and not too powerful. Stances last for as long as you keep them active for so the buff can't really come without a debuff to maintain balance imo. PGL/MNK has their FoF but their attacks sort of rely on keeping that active to be a successful competitor. The debuffs my FNC inflicts are independent from DR which would make a higher potency attack a bit overpowered for being able to maintain the debuffs 100% of the time.