New Tank (Beastmaster)

[Welsper59]

Beastmaster has always been associated with the manipulation of the enemy, particularly monsters/beasts. BST in FFXI is essentially the prime example of how the job works in an MMORPG. It's about charming wild beasts, where types will determine effectiveness for a given role (better suited for tank/damage), and unleashing them on the target. The idea of a Druid/Shaman-like hybrid CAN work, but it honestly seems to diminish the core symbolism behind the Final Fantasy job. The pet pretty much has to be similar to the companion chocobo, in that it's almost like another player with abilities and strengths/weaknesses, otherwise it's just some generic job that already exists without it. The pet has to be a significantly huge and active part of BST and unique in the sense of diversity through their pets. Think a melee SMN with a diverse selection of pets to use to fulfill certain needs (though generally that just means strongest pet for max damage).

Without the focus on the pet and it being active for everything a BST does, it'd be like taking away signature things that define a job in the FF world. Like if DRK did not utilize dark magic or sword-type weapons, or if PLD could not use shields. Even SMN in XIV is rather borderline in terms of being an FF SMN lol. The only plausible reasons they're considered a SMN is that Carbuncle was an actual full-fledged summon in starting the class, followed by the fact you have a pet and they're just named after summons of the series. Remove the primal/summon names and... well... the identity of the FF Summoner is lost, simply because of how little the Egi actually make you feel like the traditional job.