Nautical Nonsense - Job Idea: Viking!

[Kalise]

This is part of a series of Nautical themed Job ideas I have been thinking about for each role.

Today's one is Viking (VIK)

Role: Melee DPS

Weapon of Choice: Greathammer

Job Gauge: Consists of a Dual Gauge system. One named Thunder and the other named Lightning.

The Lightning Gauge is built up using melee attacks and allows the use of Lightning magicks to deal devastating bursts of damage.

While the Thunder Gauge is built up using Lightning magicks and enhances your melee attacks with additional Lightning damage, at the cost of increasing their MP cost.

MP will be able to be regained by using a skill called Downburst which will expend the entirety of the Thunder Gauge to deal damage and replenish MP.

Gameplay: The general idea is to have a slower style but hard hitting mDPS class that has a natural ebb and flow to its power, with emphasis on MP management to create burst opportunities as well as maintaining sustained output.

[Seraphor]

We already have this as a Melee DPS in the form of Warrior.

[Duskane]

i feel if any role is getting hammer it would be tank

[Kalise]

We already have this as a Melee DPS in the form of Warrior.

Last I checked, Warrior had neither Lightning magicks (Or any other form of offensive magicks) nor a job gauge that empowered their melee abilities as a whole increasing their cost.

Though, I only checked a few minutes ago because I main Warrior... So maybe it has changed since then?

i feel if any role is getting hammer it would be tank

Well, Tank already has Greatsword (DRK) and Greataxe (WAR)

Having at least 1 DPS class using a big ol' weapon to smack people around with would be cool. Especially given that currently, all mDPS use light weapons and have some form of attack speed buff.

Any Tank receiving Greathammer would likely end up feeling too similar to WAR.

[briarth0rn]

I think a 5th Melee DPS would be a real pain to balance. While I can appreciate some differences between Warrior and Viking, also, Warrior just has a lot of viking influences in it already, down to certain skill names (Holmgang comes to mind) as well as their association with Sea Wolf roes, who may as well be Hydaelyn's version of real world vikings. The thematic overlap is just too much.

[Kalise]

I think a 5th Melee DPS would be a real pain to balance. While I can appreciate some differences between Warrior and Viking, also, Warrior just has a lot of viking influences in it already, down to certain skill names (Holmgang comes to mind) as well as their association with Sea Wolf roes, who may as well be Hydaelyn's version of real world vikings. The thematic overlap is just too much.

Unless they stop making new classes after ShB outside of Physical Ranged and maybe another Magical Ranged, a 5th mDPS will eventually come.

As far as influences go, much of the Warrior influences are actually of Pirate. Not only sharing skill names with Pirates from previous games, but also using the same weapons (Axes) and being heavily featured in Limsa Lominsa, a city state created by people who were previously Pirates (Some actually still are, they just work within the law now).

That isn't to say that there's a plethora of ways to differentiate the 2. Such as, one being a Tank and the other being a DPS. Down to playstyle differences too. Unless we also make the statement that Gunbreaker can't exist because it's too similar to GLD/PLD because they both use a one handed sword and both use melee combat techniques.

I tried to reflect the differences in that Viking plays more towards the Magick side of things, weaving in magick with their hammer strikes - An homage to Thor and Norse mythology. As opposed to the Pirate-Turned-Militia-Turned-Berserker theme of Warrior.

If anything there's more merit to saying that Viking wouldn't work in the stated way because RED MAGE, not Warrior. Given that RDM currently uses melee and magick too.

[Seraphor]

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki...al_Fantasy_III)

The Viking job is traditionally a tank that uses Provoke.
Provoke of course being a WAR native skill before it became a role skill.

WAR is already based on Viking, plus Berserker.

This is just as likely as us ever getting a Time Mage job. Which is to say not at all because Astrologian is our Time Mage.

And I'm not sure where you get the idea that Axes = Pirates, or that Pirates and Vikings are so dissimilar in the first place.
Limsa pirates ARE Vikings, especially the Sea Wolves, they come from the north sea and have Scandinavian names.

AND like you say, this system is just ripped straight from RDM, so...

[Kalise]

-Snip_

Viking (Job):

Final Fantasy III

The Viking is a job is gained from the Water Crystal. Vikings swing giant hammers and axes with ease. Their only drawback is that they develop slower than other melee jobs. Vikings are mainly used as a "tank" for their Provoke ability and access to the strongest armor.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

Viking is a job exclusive to the seeq race. It relies on using primarily axes and Lightning-elemental magick, and it is the closest that the seeq have to a magickal job. Viking shines for having the highest magickal defense for a seeq job, and can damage and steal items, gil, and even equipment, which is exclusive to it.

Final Fantasy All The Bravest

The Viking is a character available to the party, he uses the Thwack ability during battle. It unlocks at level 47.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper

A seafaring warrior who shields his allies from enemy attacks. What the Viking lacks in speed, he makes up for in defense, making him the perfect companion to take the blows for the party.

While many of the previous iterations are Tanks, I'm basing the design of FFXIV Viking on the Tactics A2 version which focuses more on Lightning Magick.

As far as Axes = Pirates, it comes from:

The Pirate Job in Final Fantasy Bravely Default and Bravely Second.

Which featured "Pirates are proficient with swords, greatswords, and shields, with axes being their specialty."

With skills such as:

* Provoke
* Shell Split which is noted as "Deal the same damage as a conventional attack to one target, and for four turns, lower the target's P.Def by 25%." (Not unlike the Warrior skill Maim)
* Berserk which raises physical attack temporarily
* Skull Bash

Warrior is based on Pirate and Berserker. With Pirate sharing origins with Viking in FFIII.

That isn't to say, that it's not possible to differentiate the classes. Or are we never getting RDM since it'd just be a copy of BLM or WHM?

Time Mage is possible, but unlikely because AST already uses many of its notable spells. So unless a design can be thought up to feel like Time Mage without relying on already used skills, it will not be implemented.

However, with VIK vs WAR, I've already thought of a design that differentiates the 2. DPS vs Tank. Hammer vs Axe. Magick hybrid vs Phys. Of all the incarnations of VIK, the only skill shared by WAR is Provoke. Which is not even necessary when the idea is VIK being a DPS not a Tank.

In the terms of "Limsa Pirates ARE Vikings" they are in terms of geography and naming conventions, less so about the actual Job. What with not every Limsa Pirate using an Axe (Some use Swords, Gladiator style, others use Pistols such as notably, Merlwyb).

There's plenty of freedom to put in lore that would let a Viking Job co-exist with WAR and Limsa Pirates. Given that Vikings weren't focused as much on naval warfare which is what Limsa Pirates are all about, sailing on the seas with their cannon filled ships going from port to port. Vikings merely used sailing as a means to travel between countries (Notably, the UK).

Finally, as far as the quip about the system being "Ripped straight from RDM" that is not true. Merely the base concept of "Melee + Magick" is shared by RDM with a lesser extent of filling a gauge with spells (But if you consider THAT "Ripping" from alternative classes then RDM ripped "Filling a gauge" from WAR/PLD...)

In terms of gameplay, they're drastically different. Where RDM simply fires off spells until they can pull off a single melee combo, this VIK would be doing melee combos until they can pull off Spells, which would improve their melee combos while making them more expensive and keep repeating that until the ideal time comes to regain MP and dump their gauge.

[briarth0rn]

I mean, you can nitpick about the specific differences between pirates and vikings, but "Sea-faring fighter that pillages stuff" still is still indicative of a big thematic overlap. Compare any two other jobs in the game, and they'll be a lot more distinct than a Warrior and a Viking. I certainly like the idea of a physical/magical hybrid and it'd be nice to get melee DPS with a heavier weapon and perhaps shared armor with Dragoon, but it just doesn't really seem like something SE would be likely to do. I really don't dislike your idea at all, I think it's cool and I'd love it if as many people as possible can achieve the class fantasy they want in this game, I just feel it's unlikely based on how we've seen the development team work over the years and what we can infer from them based on that.

[Eloah]

Provoke of course being a WAR native skill before it became a role skill.

In FFXIV Provoke was Gladiator/Paladin cross class skill, before it became a role skill.

My main question is; you are making nautical themed jobs, but where is the water element? Nautical means the sea. So water should be a give. Also wouldn't a Water gauge and a Lightning gauge working together make more sense. The Water could augment physical attacks, coating the enemy in water aspected aether, which would increase the damage dealt by Thunder spells.