Astrologian Cards - Titles and Possible meanings

[Clawtooth]

Hey all.

So I'm super excited about the new Astrologian job in Heavensward (I love the idea of it so much), and on one of the slides they showed some of the card designs for the job. I went to the liberty of translating the (somewhat blurry) Eorzean script into readable english and this is what they say:


Image not mine, belongs to themmogamer.tumblr.com

From left to right they say:
Balance
Ewer
Bole
Spear
Arrow
Spire

Interesting that they'd have both Spear and Spire as they might get mixed up by players a bit considering how similar they sound.

As far as the depictions on the cards go - especially since some of these words are a little archaic as is FFXIV's style - let me explain them, these cards also contain depcitions of the Twelve which I just noticed halfway through doing this..

Balance, we all know, and the card depicts a woman who looks a little bit like a red version a Garuda holding a fan - Azeyma. I can't find Nald'thal's symbol but sondiering the theme of the card is balance I wouldn't be surprised.

Ewer (a Ewer is a name for a vessel for carrying water like a Vase or a jug) has a picture of a person carrying a container of water and Thaliak and Nymeia's symbols are seen.

Bole (an a Middle English borrowing from Old Norse) is a word meaning the bottom part of a tree, specifically the roots and trunk I think. The image depicts just this, the bottom part of a tree. I don't think if I can see them but I'd bet money on Nophica and Althyk being on this one.

Spear shows a woman carrying a spear and a shield (Halone?????). Also Menphina's symbol is seen in the top left corner.

Arrow shows an Archer is Oscon's symbol next to it. Llymlaen's symbol is also seen.

Spire shows a scenic view of Ishgard (I think maybe Byrgoat's spire?), with both Byrgoat's and Rhalgr's symbols seen.

I'm not one for speculation based on so little, but it might be fun to look at these and see what we can glean about the possible functions of these cards in game.

Balance: Fire-aspected card. Perhaps to do with life and therefore HP-MP ... maybe you can use this to divide the total percentage life of the group evenly? Like if the tank if on 60% and everyone else is on 100% in a 4 man dungeon, you can use this to make everyone at 90% health? Would save on healing and dividing damage is pretty neat as a mechanic.

Ewer: Water aspected card. A vessel for holding water ... maybe you can allow another person to share your MP pool for a small amount of time?

Bole: Earth Aspected card. Defence buff probably ... maybe a small Heal over time?

Spear: Ice aspected card. Considering Halone is the godess of battle and the card is called spear, I'm gonnna guess a Physical damage buff like Foe's but for Physical damage.

Arrow: Wind aspected card. Accuracy/Crit buff?

Spire: Magic damage buff like Foe's but working slightly differently perhaps?

In any case please post your thoughts on these and anything I may have missed while franticly trying to type this.

EDIT 1: I just noticed some really cool mirroring on the cards. Balance and Spear look like the reverse of oneanother (lone figure facing either left or right with either the Sun or the Moon behind). Spire and Bole looks opposites (Nature/tree vs artifice/lightning). Ewer and Arrow both have that + sign of light too.

[Terrini]

I think you're on to something for sure, but I really hope that the quests will have a lot of lore in them about the Twelve and Constellations... in fact... I am anticipating that every job quest will be just that since it will be levels 1-60 and 60 divided by 5 is 12, and thus they should have 12 card abilities that associate with each constellation associated with the 12... ahhh loregasms...

[WellFooled]

I wonder if these can be matched with constellations we can already see in the Eorzean night sky.

Edit: Which Terrini already suggested, I should read more.

[Kaiser-Ace]

I wonder if this will be a healer or yet abouther DPS. Seriously we already have 6 Dps to 2 Tanks and 2 Healers. We need some balence on that considering Dark Knight will be a Tank,

[D-Gold]

I wonder if this will be a healer or yet abouther DPS. Seriously we already have 6 Dps to 2 Tanks and 2 Healers. We need some balence on that considering Dark Knight will be a Tank,

Astrologian is a healer.

[Kaiser-Ace]

Astrologian is a healer.

Yes!!! Now I'll have a healer I'll actually like astetically!!! Using (For all practical purposes) Final Fantasy's version of tarot cards as a hearlers weapon will be awesome!!!

[Kaiser-Ace]

Just foun the reddit posts with the vid clips. Astrologen looks cool, Dark Knight looks just as bad ass as I was hopeing, and as for the Mechanist IT'S THE F***ING GUN CLASS!!!!!! BO YA!!!

Also when it comes to the Au Ra, CALLED IT!!!! I knew Yugiri was a Dragon Lady from the moment I saw her scaly tail. But honestly, the Female Au Ra are kinda cute, in a total waifu bait kinda way. The males, meh, Just hope they can be customized a little better (Not to mention they're at least twice as big as the females O.O)

[Malrend]

Dat hat tho.



Seriously, I need that hat in my life.

On topic.. I wonder why Ramuh is depicted on the Spire card, as the only Primal that seems to make an appearance.
Yes, it could also be a "common depiction" of the Archbishop of Ishgard, but I like to think that it is Ramuh, because reasons.

[NoloeTazier]

Dat hat tho.



Seriously, I need that hat in my life.

On topic.. I wonder why Ramuh is depicted on the Spire card, as the only Primal that seems to make an appearance.
Yes, it could also be a "common depiction" of the Archbishop of Ishgard, but I like to think that it is Ramuh, because reasons.

With Astrologian being an Ishgardian Job (the hints being there) it's clearly not Ramuh lol.

For Balance: In her (female characteristics) left hand it looks like she has the Atrologian "weapon." She also appears to have black angelic wings which are symbolized has being imperfect. And still trying to figure out what the purple and gold things are around her head. The sun and clouds in the back might be a reference for life needing both the sunshine and rain to live, thus a balance. This is probably an Ishgardian religious view, thus angel wings.

For Ewer: I'm thinking this is a guy as the outfit reveals quite a uh *cough* a lot. But I think this probably depicts the various rivers in Coerthas, in the background it looks like mountains with clouds. I'm not sure what the upper right symbol/creature? is as it seems out of place for the picture as everything is a hue of blue and then there's this object that is going from blue to browns and reds. Maybe water being pure and this symbol is some kind of toxin?

For Bole: It's the Life Tree. The golden orbs are representing a few aspects of the tree. (Top) The Crown (Upper Left) Understanding (Upper Right) Wisdom (Lower Left) Strength (Lower Right) Mercy. It can also represent the World Tree, from which Nidhogg (a known enemy dragon is Ishgard) gnaws on it's roots.

For Spear: Like you said, it's a representation of Halone. On the upper right it looks like a winged creature, dragon or gryphon maybe?

For Archer: An Archer usually represents conquest (thanks google). Behind the Archer is a large mountain, Abathia's Spire maybe? This card represents Ishgard's "conquering" Coerthas maybe? Llymlaen is the watcher of seas and guardian of navigation. Probably an Ishgardian view that the Twelve led them to their current home. Divine right so to speak.

For Spire: Clearly Ishgard. The Holy See seems to viewing the castle almost as if his image is a cloud, maybe a little presumptuous of himself.

[Balipu]

Maybe the cards are tied to city states. Of course now we only have 4, but for example Ala Mhigo did exist for a time. I could see number three being Gridania and the last is clearly Ishgard. All have a guardian deity as well.

On an unrelated note, I did speculate months ago that the time is ripe for a card using class.
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-in-the-future...
Looks like I was sorta right. I'm normally a DPS al the time but Astrologian has me really intrigued.