A Blue Mage Beastiary

[shintashi]

I think the Beastmaster could be its own class, similar to Arcanist template. Blue Mage, can go with a Fisher/Crafter Template, with only 8 core skills, instead of 10 cross class skills, they would have 20 "slots" for enemy skills. Some abilities could be taught as part of their Class Quests, so that they have at least one Monster power by level 15 (Like Fleece Butt or Goblin Punch).

Several score or even 100+ enemy powers are possible... BUT you would only be able to put a max of 20 into your hot bars at a time.

Many monsters have overlapping powers, the total power number should be lower than the number of creatures. Each of the 5 categories has a max, like 12-24, for a total of say, 60-120 different powers possible to learn (like Crafter Recipe Lists).

Cross Class actions from the Blue Mage: Azure Lore, and the Utility Spell "Scan".

P.S. A friend suggested using "Saber" instead of "Sword" for their weapon.

[m3eansean]

I like your ideas, but sadly, I see them never really working with this game design. They can't give BLU more abilities than other DPS, period. The complaints would be endless, not to mention that half of them would be immediately shunned by the playerbase as weak and ineffective in most if not all cases of battle -- (see already tri-disaster).

[Cariborne]

See, the way FF14 works is that nearly every skill is useful. If you gave a Blue Mage something weird like 100 skills, then there are going to be abilties that aren't used, and there will be a lot of them. Thats why I think Beastmaster and Blue Mage will be kind of mixed, the class itself will be self sufficient while the Companion will be a bit of extra DPS and maybe used for some skills, but the customization comes from you choosing the look overall playstyle of the pet. Basically a Hunter from World of Warcraft with a Whip instead of a Bow. The typical Blue Mage wouldn't work well in FF14, hard to balance, hard to keep relevant. Especially since each Job only fills one role, atleast with the way I think of it we'd get another Support-y DPS.

[shintashi]

Cariborne claimed nearly every skill is useful. For Blue Mage, it would be similar. That is to say, the % of useful skills for Blue Mage would be similar to that of other classes.

m3eansean stated you can't give a Blue Mage more abilities than other classes. I agree. The level 50 Blue Mage has exactly 28 abilities. The key difference is they have more dormant abilities that can be swapped out, but also less automatic (quest free) abilities.

Even if you are in a dungeon, a DPS can use any ability in their tree, by going to the menu, even if it's not on the hotbar. When crafting, a crafter is stuck with whatever slots they chose, and they can lose their mats by canceling half way and starting over with a new action, but also sacrificing another good action.

Meanwhile, the Arcanist Class. has @99 actions, counting Summoner, Scholar, and Cross class. PVP puts them at over 100. Once locked into place and entering a Quest, they are stuck with a core list of actions.

[shintashi]

It seems logical that if the blue mage action is copying the enemy's stats that the relevance of some powers would wane as they "grew out of" them. I kind of like this feature for some powers because in addition to being a low level power, it should also retain a low level MP cost. This is particularly useful when you run low on MP. Sure, the power does 12 damage, even at level 38 or even 88, but it only costs 4 MP.

About Control for Blue Mage
(Control is your approximation of doing that, if control is < enemy healing/attacking potency, then your spell costs more MP than normal and/or has a % chance of fail, if Control is equal or Higher, then the MP cost is normal and % chance to fail is 0. "Mastery" comes from repeated use of a skill; it lowers the % chance of fail, but doesn't lower the MP inflation, only increasing Control will do that)

[shintashi]

What this means is Enemy powers would be treated more like Gear with Item levels. Meaning you grow out of some powers and stop using them as often. Some Enemy powers could have a Prerequisite for a similar, but Weaker power to learn. The Best example is the Cactaur Needle Attacks. From 100 to 20,000+ needles, we have attack levels ranging from Beginner to Endgame Content. Speaking of which, some of the Signature moves of Boss attacks could be put into the Blue Mage's "Limit Break" Box. Basically, unless they have limit break charged to 1, 2, or 3 (depending on the power scale), they can't imitate that particular attack.

Which Role would a Blue Mage Take? Arcanist turned into a DPS-HEALER split, with DPS Base. By assigning them Shields and High Vitality, Blue Mage Could be a TANK-DPS split, with TANK Base. This is less absurd than one might think, as the first goal of a blue mage is to get hit by enemy attacks.

[Asheilin]

Which Role would a Blue Mage Take? Arcanist turned into a DPS-HEALER split, with DPS Base. By assigning them Shields and High Vitality, Blue Mage Could be a TANK-DPS split, with TANK Base. This is less absurd than one might think, as the first goal of a blue mage is to get hit by enemy attacks.

Blu in XI had many ways to build blue mage, but wasn't very well built to tank; though it was easily done. I tended more often then not to be a dps/off healer with /DNC or /SCH subbed. The very idea of BLU though would make tanking a possibility; so long as it still has a dps build :: since so many abilities wouldn't make sense as a tank or they'd be gimped potency wise to equal it out ;(

[Allistar]

Really, really, really love this post op...good job...I could see something like this working.

[shintashi]

The most common blue mage styles are spell caster and gun mage. There is a gun class coming in Heavens Ward which would make a good DPS "secondary" class for Blue Mage, allowing for a "Gun Mage" to use "Blue Bullet". Such a Class would definitely be a DPS.

A High Vitality isn't unknown in Blue Mage History. A handful of Enemy Traits or Powers can make them quite tough. Particularly, the monsters where you have to use a hp_down type potion/poison to actually have a solid chance, despite their level being similar to yours. These types of powers, as well as Shrinking powers, and damage down mixes would allow a blue mage to collectively tank quite well, though somewhat non traditionally.

I suggest the Blue Mage's best defense features be Magic Defense, Magical Defenses, and Vitality Boosters, if we are talking about a Tank base.

[Wintersandman]

There is a gun class coming in Heavens Ward which would make a good DPS "secondary" class for Blue Mage, allowing for a "Gun Mage" to use "Blue Bullet".

I doubt this will be able to happen. Since most likely the new jobs will be based off of the existing classes.