What areas of lore would you like to see more of?

[Wyssahtyn]

He stated he was "shot down by the Maelstrom", and even though I concede he did not specifically state it was a cannon that laid his craft low, come on, to say otherwise is just splitting hairs, a pistol shot is not going to lay a Juggernaut low, only heavy firepower like the cannons on the Maelstrom's warships could do the job.

Allow me to clarify, I was contesting your quoting of a statement that the NPC never made. I have once again gone over all of Drest's dialogue with Garland Tools and at no point does he even hint that he was "shot down by the Maelstrom". He and his men were only ambushed by them and with Castrum Occidens literally being down the road, it's just as, if not more, likely that his unit was a simple ground patrol, if they were even deployed from there. Drest has been a deserter for three years by the time you meet him and a journal entry suggests that he had eventually found his way to his shack in Vylbrand some time during that period. I don't know where you're getting the conclusion that the juggernaut wreckage in Eastern La Noscea is specifically linked to him aside from the coincidence of proximity.Is it from 1.0 dialogue? A sightseeing log? Because with the absence of dialogue to support your quote it's equally likely that the juggernaut was there before Drest came along or even succumbed to mechanical/pilot error before subsequently being abandoned when they couldn't get it out of the marsh rather than enemy fire.

Either way, the Empire being able to manufacture such a material would not be surprising, given that the materials that their soldiers' uniforms are made from appears to be synthetic and/or exotic (and which Eorzeans are incapable of manufacturing themselves). But that does not mean they're indestructible (if that was the case their troops would be literally invincible!) - when we have to source some Garlean uniforms in order to sneak into Castrum Centri we end up badly tearing them when we 'relieve them' from their former owners, the fact mere sword/spear/axe blows/arrow shots/fist hits/magic spells can damage them all but shows that their materials are not as hard wearing as they seem.

Uh. You're referring to light infantry armor which, by that fact alone, is going to be nowhere near as effective as vehicle armor. The durability example was specifically referring to vehicle armor; not that I said it was indestructible either. I stated that Eorzean artillery would have little effect against the armor plating because I assume that their cannons fire round shot or some sort of explosive or shrapnel shell since shaped charges akin to anti-tank rounds are a little too modern to be believable for the Eorzeans to have. Sustained fire would eventually get through the armor. A lot of hits, since I believe their propellant, firesand, is supposed to be analogous to black powder, which shouldn't be able to reach the velocity necessary to penetrate the armor. Round shot would literally bounce off.

Back to the infantry armor. By the time of the WoL's infiltration of Castrum Centri, he's killed two primals and has (hopefully) picked up at least one job crystal, thus making him a far more fiercer, and effective, combatant than your average Eorzean sellsword. In addition to that, provided that the Garleans follow typical standards of balancing mobility and protection, there are going to be weak points, generally the joints, groin, armpits, neck, etc. Also their armor doesn't protect against blunt force trauma with the exception of the helm. To a point.

Their uniforms are made of "carbon and cermet fibers", which confuses me somewhat given that from what I've read, carbon fiber is a skin irritant even with the resin coating and also prone to damage. I assume that SE meant Kevlar/aramid fibers rather than carbon fibers. But in any case, sustained hits would eventually be effective and blunt force trauma, from fists, shields, sword pommels, axes, books, or what have you, would not be protected against to any great effect.

Again you are taking everything at face value. Yes cutscenes do often throw actual gameplay functionality to the wind, but the point is, it shows magic can be more than a match for Garlean technology (I mean, back up: why else did Garlemald develop magitek in the first place? They couldn't use magic!) That doesn't mean magitek is superior to magic after all, it just means they can fight on equal terms.

To clarify once more, I was contesting your word choice, not magic's efficacy against magitek. It was and is obviously effective, my issue was with the use of the word "mere" downplaying the shown necessary magical power (they look like -ga/III level spells) to decisively eliminate Garlean armor in one attack.