Quote Originally Posted by Sorel View Post
Let's see if I get it. Again, I am obtuse at times. Please take no offense at my ignorance.

So Gladiator (Sword User) can at a certain Swordsmanship rank (say Rank 25) have the option to complete a quest that makes a specific job tree available. Paladin, Dark Knight, Samurai, Soldier, and/or Thief comes to mind.

The same character also has Marauder and Pugilist at Rank 25, and therefore have the option to complete quests that make the job trees for Dark Knight, Thief, Monk, and Soldier available as well.

So the character can be a Thief (i.e. use abilities from the Thief Job Tree) whether wielding an ax, knuckles, or sword. If the character decides to start ranking up Thaumaturge at 1, he will not have access to any of the abilities of the Thief Job Tree while wielding either a wand or radical (conjurer weapons), even if he gets Conjurer to Rank 25, because Thief is not an available job tree to Conjurers.

As I type this out I think I'm remembering why I do not like specialization trees. But let me reserve judgment until you have a chance to respond. Like I said before, I can be mistaken.
In order to be a THF, a character must have achieved level 20/25/XX of the base class Pugilist (PUG would be the foundation for all branching classes). Then, by completing the correct class quest, they are rewarded with a dagger that can only be used by THF. In order to change classes to THF, they would need to equip the appropriate arm. They can only access THF abilities by equipping a THF appropriate weapon. Since THF is an specialized class, most (if not all) of their actions can only be equipped on the action bar by the class THF. This would, however, require some reworking as to which class can equip which weapon.

If you look at PUG right now in FFXIV it actually shares traits from MNK/NIN/THF.
MNK: Uses martial arts. (Pummel)
NIN: Uses debuffing tactics to debilitate enemies (Concussive Blow)
THF: Uses evasive tactics and attacks enemies from vulnerable spots (Blindside, Featherfoot)

So if a player has a goal of becoming a THF (under this system we would have player development goals), they would need to start out with PUG, reach the branching point, and complete the quest to develop THF.