Is there absolutely ANY indication on where a Xaela might start, or what class?

[Terin]

There are already rumors about a new expansion being announced, and I've still not experienced Heavensward. I absolutely despise living with OCD, and being unable to enjoy the game, so I'm truly desperate for any nugget of information -- no matter how trivial it may seem -- that would indicate where my (eventual) Xaela Dark Knight should begin his journey.

Gladiator of Ul'dah, or Marauder of Limsa Lominsa? And whichever city he starts, I would likely choose that Grand Company as well (at least initially, as it affects where the following quests take place).

I'll take anything. Random NPC's, artwork or official screenshots that might indicate a preferred origin, anything.

[Terin]

Also, I'd even be happy with more "meta" connections, like if one City is more important in the Heavensward story, or if any of them are based on anything Mongolian (which the Xaela are supposedly based on, right?).

[Atoli]

Why not just drop the whole "I need to restart as a Xeala" idea as a whole? You can't adjust starting city anyway even when you use a fantasia potion, so you'll have to start at level 1 again, level to 50, do the entire main scenario and the like JUST to start the DRK quest as a Xaela with your preferred starting city.
And as you have made several of these threads already and time and again ignored all the info people have found there for you, I doubt this thread is going to be different.

Just stay Miqo'te and play HW already. DRK is an ISHGARDIAN job anyway, they always consider you as an Eorzean who wandered in and stumbled upon the DRK jobcrystal by accident anyway, so there is absolutely no need or reason for you to do this as an Au Ra.

[Terin]

True, it's a lot more work, but I'd actually be happy to put in the time... if I was confident in my starting choice. It probably sounds dumb, but it's the type of thing that bothers me, a nagging thought of "Where would a Xaela have started out? Which makes more sense?". Even though there really isn't a "right" answer, it prevents me from really enjoying the game.

[Anonymoose]

Going through the threads, I believe the biggest contributions to your problem are the presumptions made about the Au Ra and Dark Knights.

Au Ra weren't invented until years after the Five Races and Eorzea as a whole, and they went through several stages - from bunnies to wolves to dragons to demons and eventually pulling [what the dev. team believed was the] best attributes of each. And then they had them come from a continent we've never seen, starting with an NPC who felt that Au Ra were so rare in Eorzea that she shouldn't even feel comfortable showing her face for fear of yet another novelty to explain. It's not like Dunesfolk Lalafell, which are implied to have adapted to Thanalan, or Duskwight Elezen, which are implied to have adapted to deepwood caves. Once an Au Ra (or their ancestors) left Othard, they could go anywhere for any reason.

Images released for Heavensward public relations ("PR Stills") feature Dark Knights as Au Ra not because the two are meant to go together in any way, but because they wanted to show off as many 3.0 assets as possible at the same time. New expansion - new race - new jobs. If 4.0 suddenly brings Red Mage and Bunny Boys, you can bet your cottontail what race the RDM in the reveal video and art will be. But that doesn't imply any connection or "meant-to-be-ness".

Jobs and classes change over time. For example, Allag (Third Astral Era) had arts that were remarkably similar (if not identical) to conjury, but Conjurers as we know them today developed only 500 years back from using what simple charms survived the persecution of mages after the War of the Magi to commune with the Elementals of the Twelveswood. Dark Knights are an Ishgardian job that arose from the fact that the clergy are seen as righteous while, in truth, the highborn of the faith are often corrupt and prey upon the commonfolk. Some knights turn against this binary, seeking "true" justice by defending the "right" people by any means necessary. They harness Darkness, fight dirty, and forsake honor and glory in exchange for being true to themselves and getting the job done: defend the meek, punish the wicked.

At the time Dark Knights arose in Ishgard, Au Ra weren't even really around. Some of the few that did show up were killed for being a tad too dragon-like.

The Au Ra have such a small presence about which there is so little information that no one thing works better than anything else. All that changes is how that particular Au Ra fit into that particular place after they'd already gotten there. Honestly, if it's taken this much of your time, I would just take a random number generator, such as this one, and set it to roll between 1 and 999. [1-333] Limsa Lominsa [334 - 666] Ul'dah [667 - 999] Gridania. Whatever it lands on, take that as meant to be and forge your own path. Worst case scenario, you defy the RNG if you finally realize what you want while the coin is in the air, so to speak.

SERIOUSNESS ENDS HERE

And by all of that I mean Limsa Lominsa. You should choose Limsa Lominsa. I mean, Gridania isn't very fond of outsiders, right? You'd have to prove yourself to stuck-up Elezen and live by the Elementals and avoid the woodsin all to move to Ishgard and harness Darkness. And Ul'dah banned the beast tribes entirely fifteen years ago. If Ishgardians give Au Ra the stink-eye for being a bit too dragon-ey, I bet those black scales and tails would remind more than a few desert-dwellers of the Amalj'aa. But Limsa? Limsa is where you can do you, and if anyone takes issue with it you kick them right in the jimmy and everyone says it was the right decision. Plus you could start as a Marauder (aka Executioner) and work your way up to the guillotine greatswords of the Dark Knight, stopping by Ul'dah just long enough to get your cross-class actions.

Till Sea Swallows All! TILL SEA SWALLOWS ALL!
<is dragged out of the thread, still screaming>

[Atoli]

*kicks the ones away who were doing the dragging*
Never realized you were a Limsa person, Moose-sensei °-°
The more you know..

[PArcher]

*kicks the ones away who were doing the dragging*
Never realized you were a Limsa person, Moose-sensei °-°
The more you know..

I wouldn't be surprised if he has "Til Sea Swallows All!" tattooed on his back IRL :P

[Cilia]

If you absolutely must restart...

Having sampled all of the Tank jobs, and knowing all Au Ra are implicitly refugees, I would highly recommend MRD and Limsa by extension.

There is no canon background for the Warrior of Light beyond your opening snippets. However, as MRD/WAR is much more brutal in style, and the Xaela are nomads who likely do not have martial arts a la gladiator combat, MRD is much more suited to their culture. Furthermore given the plight of the Au Ra, any arrivals would have to be by ship; Ul'dah and Gridania have you arriving via carriage. Therefore, if you absolutely positively must start as a Xaela, doing a tank class, MRD is the way to go. (You'll probably definitely have to get GLD/PLD up so you can get Provoke, but I digress.)

I cannot vouch for how well their culture meshes with Limsan, but.

Alternatively you could start as an ARC, as Xaela are based on Hun-style Mongols and they were renowned for their archery. I'd suggest a mounted combat class, but those don't exist (and probably never will).

DRK is somewhat centered around Ishgardian culture (though the 30-50 line isn't - no spoilers!), so it doesn't really matter what class you start as if you transition to DRK after getting there. Tank classes still recommended for their cross-class skills, but.

Really, anywhere is fine. Xaela probably aren't well-versed in arcane arts so a magic class is unlikely, but all three city-states have reasonably close ports so regardless of what class you want to start as it's fine. You're asking for very specific information that doesn't exactly exist and continue to do so despite being given the best answer possible, much to the consternation of others.

Psychological disorders are no excuse. I have one too.

[Yuella]

when in doubt, Ul'dah & wanting to prove him/herself in the Bloodsands is the character background you need ^^

[Cilia]

when in doubt, Ul'dah & wanting to prove him/herself in the Bloodsands is the character background you need ^^

Not necessarily for a Xaela Au Ra. They are by culture nomads who live hunting and gathering, most of whom barter for what they do not have or cannot find. Money is likely a largely foreign concept to them. The honor and glory maybe, but fighting in the Bloodsands isn't exclusive to GLAs, and PLD's devotion to duty has little bearing on the Hun-like mentality most Xaela implicitly have.

It's probably part of why Sidurgu has problems utilizing the full power of darkness in the DRK 50-60 line and it takes being told verbatim by moogles for him to realize the way to true mastery.

MRD, on the other hand, is half-rooted in vengeance, something likely familiar to the warlike Xaela. The glory you fight for as a WAR is also likely familiar to them. Furthermore GLA/PLD is much more finesse in style, while MRD/WAR relies on pure brute force (visually speaking). Even from a gameplay standpoint I'd recommend MRD/WAR over GLA/PLD if you're going to be switching to DRK, since WAR and DRK both have fighting game-esque mechanics (WAR builds up their "super meter" and burns it all at once or keeps it for passive benefits, while DRK can repeatedly use "supers" as long as they have "meter" and can keep it above 0) that the almost purely defensive PLD does not.

(I gotta say, while I may still favor DRK's flavor, I've found WAR to be much more enjoyable. Maybe it's just the novelty, but being able to switch without penalty between defensive and offensive stances is amazing (especially if your healer is good and can keep you up in Deliverance), and Fell Cleave is boss.)