Chemist job idea

[Jonnycbad]

Chemist!

They would be "casters" but rather than casting spells, they use their cast time to mix up Salves/Poisons/Potions/Drinks that allow them to infuse Aether (MP) into items for special effects that are not otherwise available to normal items crafted by Alchemists (this is how they can handwave the similar names). So although they aren't casting actual spells, their casts would still cost MP (to keep things uniform between healers). Weapons would be Maces.


Their gimmick could be "Mix", which would be similar to Mudra/Ninjutsu. Basically you learn 4-5 "Mix Components" (similar Jin, Chi, Ten) and mixing in certain order creates a "Charge" of a specific effect (similar to drawing a card, but not random) that you can use at any time during a fight (rather than Ninjutsu, which needs to be used immediately. So you can mix say 3-2-1 which gives a "charge" of a Megalixir (AoE oGCD heal), then in 15-20 sec or whenever "Mix" comes off CD, you can mix a 1-2-1 and get a charge of "Bacchus Wine" which is single target Damage+10%. Then during the fight when you need these skills, you pop the abilities. Maybe you can store 2 at a time for tactical use.

GCD Spells:

Salve=Basic heal
Hi-Salve=Strong heal
Mega-Salve=Moderate AoE Heal
Poison Fang= DoT
Venom Powder= AoE DoT
Bomb Fragment= Basic damage spell (Ruin)
Phoenix Pinion= (Revive)
Arctic Wind= Basic damage spell (instant cast; Ruin II)
Red Fang= Upgraded damage spell (Broil)
Spider Silk= AoE Bind(Tribind/Tether yo!)
Stardust= AoE 200~ potency diminishing (equivalent of Holy/Gravity)


Mixes (could probably rename these so they sound more sophisticated than their FF5 counterparts)

These are your "mudras"

Power Drink
Speed Drink
Magic Drink

P-S-M= Megalixir (oGCD AoE heal)
M-S-P=Lilith's Kiss (Damage+HP/MP Drain)
P-M-S=Bacchus Wine (single target damage+10%)
S-M-P=Triple Star (Next 3 GCD are instant cast)
S-P-M=Light Curtain(AoE damage-10% bubble)
M-P-S=Lunar Curtain (AoE regen)

oGCD's

Itemagnifier=Boost next Hi-Salve/Mega-Salve potency
Pharmacology= Basically kissatsu for CHM (reset Mix CD)
Chocobo Feather= Haste+5% on target

Hero's Drink= Healer LB3


Obviously it would need to be tuned to be balanced but it would be sort of a blend between NIN's Mudra system and AST card system, while utilizing familiar items from throughout the FF series for a wide range of effects.

[inhaledcorn]

Some other things you could use:

Dark Matter: Increases the potency of the next "Mix" action.

Not only the Drink actions go into the Mix command. Using your other spells can also affect what you can Mix. While this will mean a lot of memorization may need to go into what a Chemist can do, this does give them a high degree of flexibility.

Also, for origins, we could say that this was an Allagan creation that was revived by the Garleans upon discovery of the Soul Stones. It's canon that Omega taught them much about Aetherochemistry, and I wouldn't put it past them to use it in a practical, combat setting. Modern day Alchemists are probably an evolution of the ideas first put forth by the Chemist, but bogged down by ethics and other legalities.

[Lynesse]

Chemist is a great idea! They should use guns like they did in FFT. xP

[inhaledcorn]

Some further thoughts:

Ninja Mudras don't necessarily need all 3 button presses to work, and I don't know if you want that same idea here. The drinks used straight up are buffs on yourself, but if you use a single-target heal, the Mix will affect a single target. Using an AoE heal will make the Mix affect all allies in range. However, using a damaging spell could make the Mix a debuff that affects a target, and likewise with an AoE damage spell turning the Mix into an AoE debuff on all enemies nearby the initial target. This still keeps it similar to the Ninja Mudra idea, but changes it enough so that's it's not a direct copy.

I was thinking Power Salves would make Regens, Magic Salves make Shields, and Speed Salves make buffs.

You could make the Fang items the basic spells (Fire Fang is single target, Thunder Fang is Multi-target, and Blizzard Fang is instant-cast), though I'm not sure how Mixes would affect the offensive spells. Maybe Strong+Fang just increases the damage, Speed turns them into a DoT, Magic makes a Debuff?

I know this will draw heavy comparisons to the other healing Jobs we currently have, but it doesn't seem like they want to make a job that does something other than regens and shields. I'm not sure if they should be able to mix into each other, and if so, if the effects should stack. Maybe another cooldown will allow multi-Drink mixing to get out multiple effects on the next Mix action. (Call it Distill or something, I dunno)

[Sieben79]

Chemist is a great idea! They should use guns like they did in FFT. xP

and bags as secondaries!

[Trufrost]

I'm not going to lie I like where this is going. I hope the devs read this

[inhaledcorn]

and bags as secondaries!

Or make a briefcase their main weapon filled with chemicals and beakers and stuff.

[VitalSuit]

Chemist is a great idea! They should use guns like they did in FFT. xP

FFX and FFX-2 were my first introductions to the series so Chemist is immediately brought into my head as the Alchemist Dress Sphere from FFX-2 which used large guns.

[Lambdafish]

Chemist = Healing mudras is something I have wanted since Ninja was a thing, I think it is a great idea and works for XIV. The weak arguments I have heard against it are A) Alchemist already exists - which is countered by calling the job Salve Maker, and B) Mix just makes it a harder to play healer with the same payoff, which is why I think that Mix should be purely for buffs/debuffs/damage, like AST. The megalixers/X potions etc. should simply be cooldown heals like Lustrate and Benediction.

To further refine your idea, I would name their raise "Revive" instead (as it is in FFV) and make their LB3 "Final Phoenix" (named after the mix command from FFX).

I think Chemist is a great idea because of the lore implications, the job could be tied to the NPCs of the alchemist guild, and the weapon itself could have an interesting design. I always imagined it as a kind of "aetherial grenade launcher" that the chemist uses to mix the salves and shoot them at allies and enemies.

Edit: Oh, and the Job gauge holding the mix commands works perfectly (imagine a cauldron filling up)

[Kwoon]

I'd play it. Would be pretty interesting learning the mixes and how to weave them in when a savage boss is murdering your face.