Thancred <spoilers>

[Dijana]

Maybe backtracking a bit, but I'll point out (dont think anyone else did, I skimmed part of this thread) the abilities these npc's display aren't always indicative of their class. If you start in gridania or ul'dah and do the fights where thancred/yda and papalymo help out, they're casting cure on you, despite no explanation or indication that they studied conjuration. It's just a gameplay mechanic to help out if you dont have the means to heal yourself.


Whatever thancred was meant to be in 1.0, its clear he's not a typical gladiator. He has some past he's obviously ashamed or embarrassed about, and feels the gladiator's swordsmanship is more 'refined' than the dagger style he is clearly more proficient in. Maybe he just calls himself a bard because it sounds better than 'scoundrel' while he's on this path of self improvement (seems that way to me, he's putting on acts and using skills different to what he was used to). Traditionally, aside from the singing, bards come pretty close to thieves and scoundrels often.

Gameplay wise, maybe they didnt want to show off a dagger wielding thief style class until they were ready, hence keeping thancred using gladiator animations. I also think its entirely possible that whatever thancred really is, is the base class, and yugiri's style is the job. She may introduce her ninja style to the lominsan scoundrels to further their abilities, rather than being a seperate job to 'thief.'

[PArcher]

Maybe backtracking a bit, but I'll point out (dont think anyone else did, I skimmed part of this thread) the abilities these npc's display aren't always indicative of their class. If you start in gridania or ul'dah and do the fights where thancred/yda and papalymo help out, they're casting cure on you, despite no explanation or indication that they studied conjuration. It's just a gameplay mechanic to help out if you dont have the means to heal yourself.

That's been discussed somewhere else before; it just follows in with the class system...many people will dabble in many classes (you see many helpful NPCs with Cure, for example). The Scions are all described as a class when you meet them, so it makes sense that they'd have access to the same cross-class abilities as you do.