The Machinist Thread. With Cerulean Blasters in Hand...

[Dynza]

Recent PAX East report strongly suggests that Machinists will get an off-hand item (similar to a shield) on their side. Looks very toolbox-like.

So in addition to our main gun, Machinists will be looking to having an extra slot to fill.

The curious part about all this, does it affect the design of turrets or gadgets we'll be throwing out? Time to speculate!


EDIT: As an aside, I would love it if one of you guys could pull the mock-ups from the PAX East Presentation and post them up here for further discussion.

[Dervy]

http://i.imgur.com/QsbcPBu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/frrKy9c.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ojvjujc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kj6HPgI.jpg

These are all concept art, just in case people start thinking these images will be 100% in the game.

[RiceisNice]

http://i.imgur.com/QsbcPBu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/frrKy9c.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ojvjujc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kj6HPgI.jpg

These are all concept art, just in case people start thinking these images will be 100% in the game.

The ideas with all those attachments were scrapped.

[LlenCoram]

The ideas with all those attachments were scrapped.

The guns were scrapped. Attachments are still a thing. Here's a link to a recently-released GamerEscape interview. Important stuff is here:
"The basic concept for the attachments that the Machinist can use is that they will augment your DPS, and they are continuing to tweak it, but for example when you are attaching the attachment you will not be able to move. So while your DPS may increase, for example, you will be immobile. The turret accessories will be called out as a ground target and can be used to buff allies or debuff enemies depending on the situation. Another action specific to the Machinist will be a “reload” and “quick reload” action – but Yoshida assured us Machinist does not actually consume any type of ammunition in connection with this."

[Dynza]

http://i.imgur.com/QsbcPBu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/frrKy9c.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ojvjujc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kj6HPgI.jpg

These are all concept art, just in case people start thinking these images will be 100% in the game.

Thanks for posting these.


So while the graphical attachment idea was scrapped there's a number of little ideas here that hint at the sort of weapons and turrets/gadgets that a Machinist might use. Straight up, we have this shot:


It basically indicates that Machinists will have a sort of side-pouch/gadget box where Machinists will pull attachments or turrets from. This is basically similar to a paladin equipping a shield, and Machinists will be the first new combat job to utilize the shield slot since the PLD. Pretty cool, but I wonder if it'll make our weapons a little cheaper to acquire or if it'll be more difficult to get both our weapon slots on the same item level.

Secondly, this shot pretty much confirms the type of gun we'll be using. These are the same type of guns used by Balthier from FF12 a sort-of sawed-off shotgun style gun, rather than the muskets and matchlocks used by the Musketeer guild and the yellowjackets. The Machinist relic weapon appears to be a magitek constructed gun, so in additional to more traditional guns, we'll have magitek weapons too.



This next picture shows off several mock-ups of the various turrets or gadgets we might be using in the game. It's hard to get a good idea if any of these automatons were fully realized in 3D and whether not will be restricted to just using one type or several types at once, but the number of interesting designs here shows a wealth of ideas on how they could operate and what sort of personality we might see from them. The remind me a lot of the mammets found in various parts of the game.

Now, of course, these aren't pets in the traditional mold of the summoner or chocobo, but fire and forget turrets/gadgets. You activate the ability, choose where to place it if it's required, and then the ability does its affect. Because I think these turrets will be more self-contained and automatically controlled, I don't think they'll function like Bard songs, so deploying these guys probably won't adversely affect our damage in the same way Mage's Ballad and Army's Paeon do. Rather, I believe much of the Machinist's damage may be tied to the attachments and we will trade mobility for that extra brunt of power. To this end, I think the Machinist's damage might end up being more bursty than damage over time. Similar to the Dragoon's big chunky damage off a single hit. Attachments may have a cast time or might root us in place. Video footage and screens release some months back show the Machinist leaping in the air firing a shot and the crouching down firing another shot. These may be attachment shots where a Machinist simply can't move until the attack has gone off.

Finally, Yoshi-P did mention something of a reload/quick reload ability. This is probably similar to a Summoner's Aetherflow ability, a limited set of charges to activate special attacks requiring Aetherflow. In the case of the Machinist, these might be something akin to elemental or a special type of shell or bullet that we activate with a button to stock up a set of charges which then unlocks special attacks that we can use and eat up a charge or ammo of the special type of shell or bullet. Like Aetherflow there may be a cooldowns associated with these abilities so we probably can't fire them off all at once.

As for the specifics of our support abilities, I'm at a loss. I'm not quite sure what sort of support a Machinist can provide that another class already has, but this may be a good thing if the Machinist overlaps with other support options. It means that the Machinist could focus on damage while the other class provides the support effect. For example, Ninja's can focus on using Aeolian Edge and drop Dancing Edge from the later rotations if there is a Warrior in the party using Storm's Eye. Likewise, if the Machinist's has a support ability than adds Blunt Vulnerability on an enemy, they won't need to maintain it if there is a monk on the team doing that already.

So what do you guys think?

[Velhart]

snip

Your ideas sound like something SE could do. What I am wondering is if it fits into the BRD role, or a DPS role at the level of BLM/SMN. I was hoping Machinist would be raw damage, but that might not be the case. We will see as more info comes. Also, info here from Siliconera:

http://www.siliconera.com/2015/03/13...planned-au-ra/

It’s going to be a ranged DPS. This class has different gadgets that strengthen or help itself or the party members. The first kind are the attachments, you can use these to raise your DPS to make yourself stronger. We also have turret type weapons that you can set up to buff your allies or debuff your enemies. This class is kind of like a ranged DPS meets buffer/debuffer.

There is a command that the Machinist can do to reload. It’s kind of tricky to put into words, but you may want to look out for that too. And if you’re familiar with Final Fantasy Tactics how you can aim for an arm or other areas. You might take note of that when looking at what the Machinist can do.

[Kuroyasha]

I'm not quite sure what sort of support a Machinist can provide that another class already has, but this may be a good thing if the Machinist overlaps with other support options. It means that the Machinist could focus on damage while the other class provides the support effect. For example, Ninja's can focus on using Aeolian Edge and drop Dancing Edge from the later rotations if there is a Warrior in the party using Storm's Eye. Likewise, if the Machinist's has a support ability than adds Blunt Vulnerability on an enemy, they won't need to maintain it if there is a monk on the team doing that already.

So what do you guys think?

If Mach adds blunt vul then the monk will stick to bootshine I assume, 'less Alexander is like final coil with the hard hitting magic during progression. With DRK being the magic tank, they could add something similar to int debuff to drk arsenal, who knows.