I decided to write this post after giving both classes a work out in a few dungeons and soloing out in the world, I will say ahead of time I'm not very fond of either as far as their animations go, as far as mechanics go I think both are largely fine. I can't speak to what they're like at high levels. Note that the artistic taste is purely subjective

Dark Knight:

First off let me say I love the story behind them, I'm really digging the lore and their story setup.

My first issue with drk is the very first thing I noticed, in that their greatsword stance looks really awkward, I get that they were going for the sephiroth stance with it but I really don't think that works with such a large weapon, if you were going to go for a two handed battle stance from FF7 I believe Cloud's would have been a better choice, the stance and the run with the weapon out on drk both look really awkward.

Secondly, there is the graphic with Darkside, that red graphic swirling around the eyes constantly is obtrusive and distracting, I'd have preferred a smaller graphic around the weapon instead. Next comes the issue I have with hard slash and spinning slash, the animations definitely convey the weight of the weapon being swung, but it's done in a way that makes it look too heavy.

I feel as though it's being done in such a way that makes it look as though the character is letting the momentum of the weapon carry them instead of maintaining control over it. I believe that is the design decision but it's not one I am particularly fond of. Especially with moves like Power Slash and Scourge that show the drk perfectly in control of their weapon and it's weight.

Animation issues aside, I do enjoy the feel of the class, it feels like a more offense based paladin that trades off being a little squishier which is fine with me.


For Machinist my issues are the animations as well, specifically the animation for the basic shot, again this is purely subjective, but the main shot looks really awkward with the recoil and the way your character's left hand (at least as an elezen male) just sort of flails around. It looks really awkward with the character sticking their left hand out like that all the time, I would have preferred a stance more like the elvaan male or hume gun stance from FFXI:



I believe either of these stances would have worked better for what the machinist is trying to be with it's carbine. I doubt they will change it of course, but I'm going to post the feedback here anyway. Another issue with the Machinist is the 2.5 second global cooldown, instead of making rapid fire a buff with a cooldown, I believe it might be better to make similar to the mnk/pug's rolling thunder where once you get going with your shots you get a shorter gcd, I believe that would feel better, the slowness 2.5 gcd combined with the gun makes it a rather dull class.