My “Next job” predictions: “Scouting” and “Fending”

[Velvet_Lunarfang]

I say one would be a mdps. Last one was Red mage and that was the last one so it's overdue. I like a magical knight class that channels magic abilities through their sword and be like a melee mdps. Something akin to temple knight or mystic knight or a necromancer mdps

[Velvet_Lunarfang]

They've cited multiple times that too many jobs are the reason why we're getting fewer weapons (newer jobs don't get older crafted weapons, and now they're reusing more assets for dungeon weapons), and why we're not getting individual job quests anymore and have moved to role quests instead.
Each new job increases the workload of the team responsible for items/assets exponentially. One Expansion they have 9 jobs to cater for, then 12, then 14, then 16, then 20, next it'll be 22, that's more than twice the workload.

Alternatively they could just stop giving us crafted weapons, or have every other EX give us accessories instead of weapons like the mid-expac trial, or maybe every single dungeon weapon going forward will be a recolour of an existing weapon.

I'd rather fewer jobs, especially as they're getting more and more homogenised. What's the point in having 6 Tanks if they all play the same?

sounds like they need a bigger team. So with all this money they make they should have a bigger team right?

[Jonnycbad]

There's only 3 ranged but there's 5 melee. We don't need a 6th melee while there is still 3 casters and 3 ranged.

Geomancer: Handbell
Hunter: Uses crossbows/traps

[Iyrnthota]

sounds like they need a bigger team. So with all this money they make they should have a bigger team right?

That's in daddy Squenix's hands, I doubt CBU3 can unilaterally assign profit to their own budget.

[SenorPatty]

The safe bet is scouting. Could be Hunter/Ranger or Beastmaster. Striking is a dark horse. Healing and Maiming is a no show. Casting and Aiming are tied as runner up and Fending is retired.

[Shurrikhan]

There's only 3 ranged but there's 5 melee. We don't need a 6th melee while there is still 3 casters and 3 ranged.

Wait...

The game was released with a clear intent that roughly half of dps would be melee and half of dps would be ranged (DRG, MNK, NIN vs. SMN, BLM, BRD by the end of ARR, with their wanting to have that extra melee, whatever its form, on release, but settling for a 2.4 release instead), even if those halves may each break into sub-groups thereafter...
...and yet you're pretending that counting either of singular sub-groups against the whole of another group is legitimate comparison?

The melee sub-groups have perhaps been under-differentiated since 2.45, but there are still 6 ranged DPS opposite 5 melee DPS, for a total breakdown across all roles of...

• 4 Fending
• 4 Healing
• 3 Casting (discounting BLU)
• 3 Aiming
• 2 Striking
• 2 Maiming
• 1 Scouting

We therefore shouldn't expect that each of the 3 melee DPS gear types would have as many jobs as each of the 2 ranged DPS gear types, but we certainly don't need to reach 5 physical ranged and 5 magical ranged each before allowing for a 6th melee of any sub-type. That's not remotely how this was directed from the start.


Our best bet right now is Scouting, as that is the only gear type without a single other job available to it and the DPS job count is currently skewed towards ranged.

[RitsukoSonoda]

Meh, Lets just end all the hair splitting and call it a new Melee job that does magic damage with a new "Mystic" gear set that has caster stats with melee defense stats...

[Rymi64]

Wait...

The game was released with a clear intent that roughly half of dps would be melee and half of dps would be ranged (DRG, MNK, NIN vs. SMN, BLM, BRD by the end of ARR, with their wanting to have that extra melee, whatever its form, on release, but settling for a 2.4 release instead), even if those halves may each break into sub-groups thereafter...
...and yet you're pretending that counting either of singular sub-groups against the whole of another group is legitimate comparison?

The melee sub-groups have perhaps been under-differentiated since 2.45, but there are still 6 ranged DPS opposite 5 melee DPS, for a total breakdown across all roles of...

• 4 Fending
• 4 Healing
• 3 Casting (discounting BLU)
• 3 Aiming
• 2 Striking
• 2 Maiming
• 1 Scouting

We therefore shouldn't expect that each of the 3 melee DPS gear types would have as many jobs as each of the 2 ranged DPS gear types, but we certainly don't need to reach 5 physical ranged and 5 magical ranged each before allowing for a 6th melee of any sub-type. That's not remotely how this was directed from the start.


Our best bet right now is Scouting, as that is the only gear type without a single other job available to it and the DPS job count is currently skewed towards ranged.

Caster is pretty much guaranteed since it's been 6 years since we got a non limited one. The second job is up in the air since Scouting is in need of a partner but they could better balance range phys with a 4th. And scouting is strictly for melee so giving range phys scouting left side won't and shouldn't happen.

[Rymi64]

Meh, Lets just end all the hair splitting and call it a new Melee job that does magic damage with a new "Mystic" gear set that has caster stats with melee defense stats...

You really want to cause chaos i see, tryna introduce another gear set to melee when scouting literally fulfils that purpose

[Shurrikhan]

Caster is pretty much guaranteed since it's been 6 years since we got a non limited one. The second job is up in the air since Scouting is in need of a partner but they could better balance range phys with a 4th. And scouting is strictly for melee so giving range phys scouting left side won't and shouldn't happen.

And it's been 9 years since we got a Scouting job, which remains the only sub-role with only a single job therein.

Moreover, is recency really worth making the primary criteria here?

I mean, let's look at the job distributions for each expansion:

(Bold marks the roles most recently added to.)
(Underlines mark roles with relative job-scarcity.)

• ARR: 2 tanks, 2 healers, 3 melee, 3 ranged
• HW: 3 tanks, 3 healers, 3 melee, 4 ranged
• StB: 3 tanks, 3 healers, 4 melee, 5 ranged
• ShB: 4 tanks, 3 healers, 4 melee, 6 ranged
• EW: 4 tanks, 4 healers, 5 melee, 6 ranged

Sure, melee and healers were added to most recently, but only because they were the roles with the fewest options compared to their intended slots. You'd still have to add 1 more just to reach a balance point.

I could see why we'd want Role X to be the last to get another job if the distribution were already balanced, but it isn't; we're still 1 melee short of even that.

Given that there's only one role and sub-role each (Scouting, within Melee) that have disproportionately few options, it's fine for Scouting to be among the jobs added to next expansion.