What areas of lore would you like to see more of?

[Enkidoh]

It wasn't a dreadnought, it was an assault craft. Far smaller and presumably less armed/armored. Nor was it only the one cannon or "a couple of hits". There are three or four cannons in the area, and while I don't remember the exact amount, it takes somewhere around 5-7 shots before the assault craft's hull integrity is compromised, with another two after that to ground it.

'Dreadnought' seems to be a catch-all term used for all Garlean warships, so it's still appropriate to use regardless of the actual design (after all, the real-world term comes from HMS Dreadnought, the revolutionary warship design of the British Royal Navy that precipitated the very idea of a modern heavily armed and armoured battleship to the point all battleship designs that followed were called 'Dreadnoughts').

You stated this in an earlier post, but combing over quests that Drest is involved in with Garland Tools Database shows no evidence to support your statement. Drest was part of a Garlean scout unit which was ambushed by Maelstrom forces in heavy rain, but at no point does he state that "his" juggernaut was shot down by Maelstrom cannons.

He stated he was "shot down by the Maelstrom", and even though I concede he did not specifically state it was a cannon that laid his craft low, come on, to say otherwise is just splitting hairs, a pistol shot is not going to lay a Juggernaut low, only heavy firepower like the cannons on the Maelstrom's warships could do the job.

A quest in Mor Dhona shows that the Garleans use armor plating made of cermet in their airship hulls. Cermet in the real world is a composite material composed of ceramic and metallic materials. In more relevant terms, it's basically used for ceramic armor, provided that SE intended the parallel. Ceramic armor's used for things like tanks, other armored vehicles, and personal armor, and its effectiveness as vehicle armor is such that "not a single British Army Challenger tank was lost to enemy tank fire during Desert Storm". So it's unlikely that Eorzean artillery would do anything more than dent the hull unless their munitions are far more advanced than they have any right to be.

That is a really interesting point about cermet which I admit I was not aware of (it's real world existence) - I took it to be yet another FFXI reference as cermet is a plot point in FFXI (it's an exotic material referred to by npcs as resembling 'eggshells' that the ancient Zilart civilization manufactured and built most of their structures from, such as the teleport Crags and the Crystal Line, and that it has the property of being able to conduct and channel crystal energy - FFXI's version of aether - and that the present day Republic of Bastok had apparently discovered how to produce it, given that there was a location in the Bastok Metalworks called the Cermet Refinery), which as FFXIV takes a lot of references and ideas from, it would have made sense.

Either way, the Empire being able to manufacture such a material would not be surprising, given that the materials that their soldiers' uniforms are made from appears to be synthetic and/or exotic (and which Eorzeans are incapable of manufacturing themselves). But that does not mean they're indestructible (if that was the case their troops would be literally invincible!) - when we have to source some Garlean uniforms in order to sneak into Castrum Centri we end up badly tearing them when we 'relieve them' from their former owners, the fact mere sword/spear/axe blows/arrow shots/fist hits/magic spells can damage them all but shows that their materials are not as hard wearing as they seem.

Anyway, thanks again for that info about cermet.

Another earlier post from you, but aside from it being a CGI cutscene with Cutscene Power to the Max, the spells used don't look in any way to be "mere" fire and thunder spells. The spells used are very obviously powerful with lengthy cast times (15 seconds for the BLM's second fire spell).

Again you are taking everything at face value. Yes cutscenes do often throw actual gameplay functionality to the wind, but the point is, it shows magic can be more than a match for Garlean technology (I mean, back up: why else did Garlemald develop magitek in the first place? They couldn't use magic!) That doesn't mean magitek is superior to magic after all, it just means they can fight on equal terms.

I'm sorry if it seemed like I was having a go at you as I'm not, it's just that it's pretty clear that despite their bluster the Garlean Empire's supposed superiority came from more from an element of surprise and scheming behind the scenes (which is how Ala Mhigo fell, Gaius string-pulled the Ala Mhigan people to tear their nation apart from within - he did not merely fly in with guns blazing) and relied on a fear of their advanced technological warfare and expanded army (filled with draftees from conquered nations) to browbeat nations into submission. But like all bullies, once their bluff is called, once resisted, they crumble.