Next new job better be heals

[BasicBlake]

I was hoping either RDM or BLU would be the caster tank back in the day. (depending on how they handled it of course) But I doubt SE would ever make one. Instead we have PLD becoming a more "Spell Blade" style tank, and thats probably SEs idea for a melee mage, so I doubt we'll ever see one.

I was really betting on a blu caster tank. Ugh the missed opportunities.

[BasicBlake]

It will be Geomancer, theyve been setting it up so hard in the Astro Story line it cant be anything other than that.

If it's not, they'll likely pull from FFT:A2, as every job weve ever gotten has been a Tactics based Job.

But but... Geomancy comes from the Tengu in 14 lore. Ganen wasn't known as a benevolent man healing his way across Yanxia.

[Claire_Pendragon]

I was really betting on a blu caster tank. Ugh the missed opportunities.

There's a lot of stories we don't hear, when it comes to which jobs are picked, and how they became what they did. Such as SMN was actually meant to be a completely different class, something akin to a Necromancer, but Yoshida decided to reskin the job as SMN, and thats why it was a DoT focused class in 2.0. Plus the whole "Linkshells will be allowed to summon primals in the open world, but we'll limit it to one LS per server, due to how broken it would be." I feel this influenced a need to implement SMN somehow, since this plan was clearly abandoned. But based on some of the stories we did hear, they usually change a lot about a job, all the way up until release. (In the example of BLU, it was changed into a Limited job at the very last minute. It was intended as a real job, But this wasnt based on interviews, but this info comes from the leaker.)

From what we know;
BLU was intended to be a real job.
BLU was intended to be released for Stormblood, along side SAM and RDM.
BLU was taking more time to finish.
When the leaker leaked BLUs role, much later into stormbloods lifespan, it was planned to be a melee support DPS (stating it would be more akin to NIN, where NIN was a melee support)
RDM is the 1st DPS job in the game, where they dont have to deal with a timer ticking down. IF they were to stop attacking, and instead heal, they would still be at the same place in black/white mana.
ShB brought about the simplification of Healers and Tanks.

So where am I going with all this?
I think SE intended for SAM to be the DPS, RDM to be the healer, and BLU to be the tank. (in early concepts.) We already knew yoshida didnt want a tank SAM, when he took that title away from SAM, and gave it to DRK. He also mentioned making it a DPS w/o armor, wanting to call it a Ronin, but knew the players wanted "Samurai", not "Ronin". (Probably based on how ppl reacted to THF being renamed Rogue)
Maybe SE was literal in wanting to balance healers and tanks, and changed their mind on both. Maybe RDMs playstyle looked too interesting for a DPS playstyle. Im inclined to assume the former. (Its also possible they saw the lack of ranged DPS options, and that either contributed to the decision, or is the primary one, who knows) If the former is what holds true, then if BLU was too far along as a tank, and didnt have the playstyle to be a DPS, it needed more time to adjust, while RDM was much easier to just slap it together.
But to continue WHY I think this... Gunbreaker.
They also made the same excuse to why 'no healer' in the expansion, as they did for 'no tanks', and yet we got Gunbreaker. So here is where things get awkward for SE. (if this is all true)
They decided the best way to get casual players to play Tanks and Healers, was to change them into the current ShB styled tanks/healers. (Over simplified healers, and Tanks are just DPS now) So if a complex tank like BLU was going to be a tank, it needs to be reworked into a DPS instead. The Leaker said all the animations were nearly done since Storm Blood Launch, which was the #1 time consuming part of making the jobs. (Deciding how they play is actually a very short process. I forget what Yoshida said, but my memory THINKS it was something like a single day. Dont quote me on that lol) If it was a melee job, did it have a weapon? If so, was it removed? Were the animations repurposed for another job? I know I would, if I did that.

So here we are, the excuses we heard for why BLU wasnt a real job (despite being told it wasnt a real job, it was intended to be one from the start) werent actually true. Plus the logic was only applied to BLU, but not other classic jobs, including DNC. This sounds like damage control, since a lot went wrong in the process of making BLU.

I feel BLU was a tank, and actually used the Gunblade. The animations for basic attacks, and some others, were probably given to GNB, while they gave BLU a basic wand, and didnt have to make sets of BLU weapons. (This is why they changed to the caster role last minute) They slapped together a limited job out of what remained from the BLU job. (Only partly trying to do what they said, which was make it more like "Classic" BLU, since it was going to be a limited job.) Yoshida might have intended to just straight up abandon it and said they were never going to attempt BLu again, but someone suggested they dont throw away what they made, and do a limited job. Yoshida decided to give it a try. And in turn tried to justify a limited job, but it was never something thought out enough in the first place. (I also feel this is why the GNB AF is defaulted to the color BLU, and not colored White/Black to match Seifer, or Squall. But that MIGHT also be why Thancreds version is white, to try and make it reference ff8. Not a 100% sure, but I feel its quite possible)

I also Feel DNC was probably hurt in the same process, since it has cast animations, and the questline was about healing others. But SE wanted to simplify healers, so the over simplistic DNC rotation was modified at the last minute, to be a DPS, since it would be too complex by Healer standards. (Probably why basic stuff like "does it wear scouting or aiming gear?" wasnt decided till the very last minute)

Of course I can be wrong on all, or most of it, but its the only thing that makes sense to me, regarding the inaccurate info we've been given about BLU, plus other small oddities.
(EDIT: And No, i have no intention of looking up old info to provide links. You're on your own lol. Its ok if u plan to ignore every word I typed. Its too much a pain in the butt to find super old stuff. Heck, I cant even find patch notes for content between 2.0 and 2.1, but I was there when they made hotfixes/minor patches)

[FoxCh40s]

Finally, someone who speaks english and did the reading last night.

[FoxCh40s]

But but... Geomancy comes from the Tengu in 14 lore. Ganen wasn't known as a benevolent man healing his way across Yanxia.

Geomancer was also a Tactics job, it matters not where they came from or what they should be.

Astro was a one off job of an NPC in one singular fight in Tactics, and Machinist was Mustadio's job. Every iteration of a job weve gotten has been a Tactics job, but 14 inspired.

The connection between Sharlayan Astrology and Geomancy is strong, yet she says she cant get it to work no matter how hard she tries, that they are too separate in practice despite how beneficial and synergistic they work together.

My belief is they plan to return to the old ways, White Mage <-> Scholar, Astro <-> Geomancer; beneficial pairs that complement each other and make up for each others weaknesses.

That's what I hope for and see in the writing, yet it's clear, for whatever reason, that the Writing team, combat team, and final decision makers dont talk to each other, as everything always comes out a jumbled mess.

[BasicBlake]

Geomancer was also a Tactics job, it matters not where they came from or what they should be.

Astro was a one off job of an NPC in one singular fight in Tactics, and Machinist was Mustadio's job. Every iteration of a job weve gotten has been a Tactics job, but 14 inspired.

The connection between Sharlayan Astrology and Geomancy is strong, yet she says she cant get it to work no matter how hard she tries, that they are too separate in practice despite how beneficial and synergistic they work together.

My belief is they plan to return to the old ways, White Mage <-> Scholar, Astro <-> Geomancer; beneficial pairs that complement each other and make up for each others weaknesses.

That's what I hope for and see in the writing, yet it's clear, for whatever reason, that the Writing team, combat team, and final decision makers dont talk to each other, as everything always comes out a jumbled mess.

Saying that Geomancer was also a tactics job doesn't strengthen your case for it as a healer though, since it was an axe wielding caster in it. There has not been an iteration of Geomancer that even had access to healing magic.

The quest you are referring to says that the practices are similar in that they draw power from a star(s), and Aspected Benefic when cast in Nocturnal Sect worked as a "temporary" solution to fix a barrier spell.

But back on the Tactics thing vs what I said, I'm not talking about lore from a different game, I am talking about story in place in this current game that we are playing. That would be like me saying "Yeah this is the story of where white mages come from" and someone saying "yeah but they were a class in this other game". The first famous Geomancer learned Wind, Earth and Water magic from tengu in the mountains. They were dispatched with the shinobi to the moon gates to use mastery of wind magic to bring down airships. The few examples of Geomancer classed monsters in the game are also not healers.

They are also not fortune tellers as the quest would have you believe. They exorcise spirits, and thus were rumored to bring good fortune. The only Geomancers that have anything with fortune telling are the groups of fake geomancers that are common in Kugane.

[Claire_Pendragon]

There has not been an iteration of Geomancer that even had access to healing magic.

(1) pretty sure it did in FF3 and FF6 (Only if u count mog in FF6)
(2) Prior iterations of RDM didnt use Stone or Aero as their White Magic. This game will make up reasons why something is possible. And will retcon lore reasons why YOUR character/teacher, is the exception to the rule, when the games current lore prevents something.

So none of the arguments for and or against it hold any real merrit honestly. The best argument would be if a job could reasonable fit the role, based on the current roles limitations. (Such as Healers only being allowed 1 DoT, 1 nuke, and 1 AoE nuke. Any more complexity to DPS wouldnt be acceptable under current healer design, which might change again next expansion)

[Shurrikhan]

Thats exactly how I feel, and why I brought that all up. By having categories of "Physical Ranged" and "Magical Ranged" We now have an issue where the creators dont want a hybrid, who's half of each, or 33/66% of each, etc. (Though I never actually stated thats my reason. But it leads down that rabbit hole, if we let the conversation go on long enough) BUT, I also brought it up, just to point out ppl werent being consistent with it.

Sorry, I missed that last post before. And I see now. I'm sorry I missed that subtext before; it feels so obvious on the reread that I'm wondering where I went stupid there.

[BasicBlake]

(1) pretty sure it did in FF3 and FF6 (Only if u count mog in FF6)
(2) Prior iterations of RDM didnt use Stone or Aero as their White Magic. This game will make up reasons why something is possible. And will retcon lore reasons why YOUR character/teacher, is the exception to the rule, when the games current lore prevents something.

So none of the arguments for and or against it hold any real merrit honestly. The best argument would be if a job could reasonable fit the role, based on the current roles limitations. (Such as Healers only being allowed 1 DoT, 1 nuke, and 1 AoE nuke. Any more complexity to DPS wouldnt be acceptable under current healer design, which might change again next expansion)

In 3 they didn’t have access to any healing terrain abilities, and in 6 one of the dances healed. So Mog did have access to a healing dance. So we have them as a class in 8ish different main title and off title final fantasy games where the only heal they ever have access to is a Mog dance in 6. As for Red Mage I played as one for a very long time in XI who had access to both Aero and Stone from quite an early level.

I do agree with you on how they tend to warp lore around the WoL and job history when it comes to quests. But let’s pretend Black Mage isn’t in the game yet. And they have a whole expansions worth of story for them (albeit you REALLY have to look for it or buy it), and they are established as what they have always done, elemental casting, would they really try and warp that to fill a healer roll when there are other options without the extra effort that would be needed?

I hadn’t even thought about what you had brought up about healers getting a nuke and a dot for their damage abilities. I would hate to see my favorite class in the franchise stuffed into a single element cast, a dot and some heals. Now I’m scared

[Videra]

I just want HW SCH and AST back, man. I feel like that might be a common enough sentiment.