Attempt at making a case for Psychic as future Job

[manamoppet]

It's not (directly) magic, and thus a bit un-conventional for FF, but I don't think it's that farfetched. If I may, below is my case. Please let me know if there are any opinions or anything disagreeable, or if you like the idea of having a Psychic job please. Feedback is appreciated. What's important isn't my direct ideas, but if you could see Psychic as a possible future Job, maybe not next expansion, but maybe after that? Why isn't a Psychic Job a good idea? What would make it good? What intrigue you about a Psychic/Esper job?

Disclaimer (if necessary): Everything discussed in this thread is free for Square Enix to use for their own purposes.

Precedent:
Previously a job available in FFX-2, albeit hidden, making it a part of the Final Fantasy
franchise. See: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Psychic



Why and where it fits:

• In/Near the Garleand empire.
• Garleans have no magic.
• Garleans use magitech (most likely) powered by crystals.
• Garleans can therefore use science to manipulate crystals.
• Crystals and magitech can be fixed to circlets and coronets.
• Garleans are interested in Allagan technology.
• Hypnocrown has not made an appearance yet (as far as I know).
• Time and space can be manipulated with magic. Garleans may think attempting to master this can be used as weapon.

Speculation:
Some Garleans might have tried to attempt to use or access powers similar to magic, or experimented with it. Maybe opened a "fourth eye", or "inner eye" as a result. Maybe a hermit or sage. Maybe a scholar. Many possibilities. The player could awaken their "inner eye".

Below is how some of it could work, some of it based on the abilities from FFX-2. I've mostly imagined PSY as a DPS with support capabilities and light armor. Could work as Off-Tank with support capability because of the heavy guard ability? I realise there might be need for balancing the abilities or change them out, but they are after all just suggestions.

Base could be similar to mix of Pugilist and Thaumaturge/Arcanist, while using a combination of hand-to-hand combat, and abilities. Maybe a circlet or glasses/visor are the "main weapon" keeping the third eye open, due to Garlean science based off an ancient Allagan artifact (a.k.a the Hypnocrown). Could maybe use a pendulum dowser as secondary weapon. Primary attribute is INT.

In no particular order:

Actions:

• Punch (placeholder name?):
  Hand to hand combos, strengthened by psychic energy. Different kinds of (floating?) punch attacks. Physical attack.
  
  
• Kick (placeholder name?):
  Kick combos, strengthened by psychic energy. Floating and flying kicks. Physical attack.
  
  
• Maser eye:
  Shoots a small bolt of psychic energy at one enemy. Deals unaspected damage.
  
  
• Maser eye II:
  Shoots a large stronger single bolt of psychic energy at one enemy. Adds effect. Deals unaspected damage.
  
  
• Maser eye III:
  Shoots a large continuous bolt of psychic energy which explode into a vortex, damaging surrounding enemies. Deals unaspected damage.
  
  
• Psychic Bomb:
  Similar to Holy, Gravity, Flare, or something else. Of course, there's floating while casting.
  
  
• Telekinesis:
  Repel enemy a distance away with some damage. Binds enemy. Similar to Fluid Aura. May be combined in rotation with Blink.
  
  
• Placebo (shares ability slot with Nocebo):
  Mind control/empathy that capture and ease pain of target. Restores HP gradually. Becomes Nocebo. CD and return as Placebo if Nocebo isn't casted. May be used with Mind Link to increase "Pain pool" of Nocebo.
  
  
• Nocebo (shares ability slot with Placebo):
  Single-target DOT. Cast at enemy. Pain stored through Placebo is unleashed onto a single target enemy. CD. After CD, becomes Placebo again.
  
  
• Hypnosis:
  Causes target to sleep.
  
  
• Nightmare:
  Psycho-somatic DOT to one enemy. More effective on sleeping or confused enemies.
  
  
• Mind break:
  Surrounding enemies suffering from Nightmare suffers high damage. Ends Sleep and Confusion. Stuns unaffected enemies. Enemies become immune for 1 minute afterwards to Nightmare, Sleep and Confusion. Long CD.
  
  
• Brainstorm:
  Inflict Confusion, Stun, Paralysis, and Silence on all enemies in a designated area (or other CCs).
  
  
• Blink:
  Instantly move behind enemy. Similar to a DRG's Jump ability, except without damage. Some CD.
  
  
• Express:
  Increase skill/spell speed for self. May be used with Mind Link.
  
  
• ESP:
  Buff accuracy and evasion for self. May be used with Mind Link.
  
  
• Mind link/Telepathy:
  Share effects equally with friendly target. Share the burden, as de-buffs and their times are divided equally to reduce penalties. Middle CD.
  
  
• Telepathy II:
  Share effects equally with nearby party members. Shares the burdens between party, as total time and effect of detrimental effects are divided equally. Middle CD.
  
  
• Psychic Barrier/Guard:
  Make a (cushioning) telekinetic barrier around one friendly target, similar to Manawall, Manaward, or Aspected Benefic.
  
  
• Mind Wipe:
  Reduces enmity toward self. Medium-long CD.
  
  
• Overwrite:
  Take X% enmity toward an ally and apply to self. Adds confusion to enemy. Medium CD. Similar to Smokescreen.
  
  
• Pressure field
  Designates an area with a cylindric field with downward telekinetic force, applying Heavy and (some minor) DOT to enemies inside. Enemies exiting the field no longer suffer from Heavy. Similar to Asylum/Sacred Soil, only without regen and defence increase.
  
  
• Excellence
  Remove detrimental effects. Similar to Esuna. Some CD. May be used with Mind Link.
  

Traits:

• Empathy I-II: Stronger mind link. Actions including mind link is more effective. Penalties from de-buffs acquired through Mind Link are reduced.
  
• Enhanced Intelligence I-III: Stronger attacks and psychic abilities.
  
• Stronger ESP I-II: Better accuracy and evasion when using ESP.
  
• Shortcut I-II: Better Express.
  
• Mass Hypnosis: Hypnosis causes surrounding enemies within a radius of target to also sleep.
  
• Shared Nightmare: When casting Nightmare on target, enemies in radius of target and suffering from Sleep or Confusion, also suffer from Nightmare.
  
• Phasing: After using Blink there is a chance that you Phase for a short time, making your next physical attack cause a critical hit.

PVP:

• Heavy Guard (probably not viable):
  For a limited time, gain more heavy telekinetic defence against attacks. Heavy to self and surroundings while ability is active (heavy effect to self cannot be removed while ability is active). Can be de-activated. Cannot Teleport Blink while active. Long CD. Cannot be used with Aura.
  
  
  
• Aura (placeholder name, also probably not viable):
  Places a thin psychic aura of armor around yourself for a time. Increases melee damage, while reducing ranged. Slightly increased defense. Can be de-activated. Long CD. Cannot be used with Heavy Guard.

Probable Adrenaline Rush:

• Trance: ???

Probable Limit Breaks:

• Time trip: Stop time for all enemies. Do something which damages the enemy, like sprinting through enemies in a flash of light, and teleport back?
  
• Warp: Teleports all party members to a target area, causing AOE splash damage on re-appearance. (Possible to misuse by trolls. Game breaking if moved to PVP.)
  
• Reality Break: Float up and warp reality in targeted area, causing a temporary rift and large AOE damage. Similar to magic dps LB3.
  
• Imaginary Construct: A nightmarish beast appears and slashes/pounds at surroundings. Similar to DPS and Dragoon LB3.
  
• Overmind Beam: Float up and shoot a devastating stream of psychic energy. Similar to BRD/MCH LB3.
  
• Overmind Bubble: For a short time nullifies damage. Similar to tank LB3.
  
• Vacuous Bomb: Similar to Reality Break, but instead has a large ball hovering over user that explodes with psychic energy, possibly with light like a disco ball.
  

[liljramos88]

I really like the idea. Love the fact that in ff14 that science and magic are so intertwined. Some of the time spells may not work as we already have astro. But other than that it's great

[manamoppet]

Thank you
You're absolutely right about that time 'ability' would be redundant with Astrologian in place. I simply took it as-is from the FFX-2 wiki page. What do you think about a huge psy-/chrono beam instead similar to BRD/MCH?

[Osteichthyes]

I actually made a thread a while ago about Psychic. I really see this as being viable, especially if we are going to go to the Garlean Empire/Doma (which should happen at some point). They could draw inspiration from FFXIII when it comes to using technology to aid in battle (think of the gravity thing at the start that allows Lightning to basically fall from an infinite height and be fine).

You can check out my ideas if you so desire. http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...8Caster-DPS%29

Also a thing that I should mention is that for legal purposes you may want to add a disclaimer at the start giving permission for SE to use any part of this thread for their own purposes. Something that I thought of while writing this.

[manamoppet]

Ooh! Tried to see if there was others who had started a Psychic thread, but didn't find anything. I see we had some similar ideas. Really liked that floating is a cosmetic trait, but it might not pair up well with the Crystal Towers raid, and some of the mechanics there, as it would seem a bit weird to be hit by a quake or electric floor when you're floating. May just be me (but it would look really cool if done properly, like when one uses Gravity or Holy).
Gravity manipulation seem to have been moved to Astrologians and possibly the Sharlayan country, so I'm not sure if Garleans will have that technology. But I'm all for more technology oriented aid to the Garleans.

Added disclaimer now too to OP per your suggestion.

[Blueyes]

Years ago I actually pitched the idea of a Psychic class on what might not have been the official forum, I don't really recall, but it was something I had an interest in seeing added to the game. I know FFX-2 isn't everyone's favorite game in the series, but that isn't to say that isn't to say that the concept and idea of a Psychic wasn't an interesting or unique. And as we know, Astrologian (or jobs similar to it) is something that has scarcely appeared in the series. Psychic is another such job they could introduce as long as they come up with the lore to back it up. Having their roots stem from Garlean or Allagan makes logical sense.

Personally it is something that I would like to see. As much as I want certain classic jobs to be introduced, I also want to see them add new or unconventional job ideas. This is certainly one of them and I know it's a job I would like to experience.

[Connor]

I actually thought that Psychic would be an interesting job to add too simply because it's pretty unique. I love the idea of more unconventional and unique jobs being added too. I think it'd be kinda hard to make it 'special' relative to other jobs though. Telekinesis (the actual phenomenon, not an ability :P) would probably be a large part of the Psychic but neither floating nor Telekinesis are anything new in Eorzea (Sometimes I spend more time off the ground than on it as an Astrologian!). Not to mention, like others have said, time-space manipulation is already Astrologian's territory.
I think if Psychic were to be added it'd probably be related to the echo and using the abilities it causes offensively, since the echo is pretty much 'being psychic' to some extent.

[manamoppet]

Hmmm... The Echo was stated in patch 3.1 to be different for everyone who has it. We might see other uses for the Echo later, e.g Krile said she had the ability to commune with animals if I remember right. Seeing as the Echo is a gift from Hydaelyn and possibly the Crystal of Dark, I'm not sure about the Echo being directly tied to Psychic would be the best path. It would depend heavily on how lore expands in the future. But, I could see Psychic as a way for the Garleans/Allagans to imitate some of the Echo's capabilities.

In a sense we're already sort of using the Echo offensively in the game, at least in my headcanon, as we see where attacks are going to land before they happen and can counter them.

[Mimilu]

I like the idea of this job.

A few points though:
- I would focus on one Offensive Stat, it will make it less complicated when gearing up and assigning Bonus Attribute points.
- If there skills aren't spells, I would stick with Pugilist and Arcanist. Thaumaturge wouldn't give you anything you would need then.
- Reality Break or Vacuous Bomb sound the most promising of the LBs. :P
- Maser Eye III could potentially become obsolete once a player gets Psychic Bomb.
- With Telekinesis's effect, it would make using your melee skills annoying. I would suggest deciding if this job is going to predominantly ranged or melee.
- I love the idea of Placebo and Nocebo but I don't think Placebo should have the regen-effect as well.
- Mass Hypnosis would do better as a trait for Hypnosis, like Thaumaturge's Deep Sleep trait.
- Nightmare could be very situational and couldn't be used during boss fights. I might suggest making it a regular DoT and have it get stronger if the target is asleep.
- I would suggest renaming Teleport (we already have it). Try something like Escape or Telepor.
- For Telepathy, I don't think it needs to give Debuffs.
- Overwrite could end up being very trolly, with it's ability to steal aggro from Tanks. >A>()
- I'm a bit torn with Heavy Guard. On the one hand, it could be an interesting PvP skills, allowing you to set up a bunch of targets for your team to get. On the other hand, this will leave you a sitting duck for all the melee that was in range and it doesn't effect ranged/casters at all. This skill would almost never see use in PvE. >A>

[manamoppet]

Thank you for the input
Very much appreciated!

- I'm not really sure what would make sense to scale damage to. Most sensible would probably be INT though, based on the flavour of the job.

- Telekinesis: I want to clarify that it binds enemy, not self. Intention was for it to be combined with Blink (former Teleport). Ranged attacks could be fired too before teleporting for close-combat. (Edit: But now that I think about it, the Bind could be negated with Excellence.)

- Mass Hypnosis: Moved to traits as you proposed, probably for the best as it would unnecessarily take an ability slot.

- Overwrite: Changed it so only a certain % gets transferred. The intention was to do something similar but different to the Ninja smokebomb. Maybe change name to Mind Haze? Sadly there will always be trolls who take enmity from tanks, with or without an ability.

- Telepathy I-II: Changed text to clarify the intention.

- Teleport: Hadn't thought of that. Thanks! Changed to Blink for now. The intention was to be able to combine Blink with Telekinesis.

- Placebo: Removed restoration.

- Heavy guard: I'm conflicted on this ability myself :/
Moving it to PVP. I'll strike it out for now.

- Nightmare: Oops! Changed it. Thank you

- Maser Eye III: Could also make Psychic Bomb obsolete, depending on which would come first.

- Aura: Added. I'll leave it strikethrough for now. Not sure about it :/