New DPS Job Idea - Time Mage!

[Valdegarde]

It paints them as the same job with different coat of paint, to be honest.

Something I felt too and was afraid of, because I would like to see a fully developed Geomancer job in the future, much as I imagine the topic creator would have liked to see Time Mage apart from Astrologian and many who wish Ninja didn't imply the Thief job too. I think it's a little early to tell, since for all we know there's a separate Geomancer sect as different from Kugane's as Sharlayan's are from Ishgard, but I do admit feeling some pessimism.

[Eloah]

It paints them as the same job with different coat of paint, to be honest. They even outright state a few times that the 6 constellations are the same as the elemental representations Geomancers use. E.g. geomancer's Tree of the earth is equivalent to astrologian's bole, etc. The only thing different about them aside from the heavenly energy vs earthly energy (which was also explicitly stated by the npcs in the quest as feeling similar) is that Geomancers don't currently have the same spell effects, which itself is not really special at all since neither did the Ishgardian astrologers until the Sharlayans showed them the power that they were missing out on. It's pretty darn clear cut to me that Ishgardian Astrologers = Sharlayan Astrologians = Kugane Geomancers.

While what you say has some credence, it is not altogether accurate. True there are similarities true: 6 constellations/6 elements, heavenly energy/terrestrial energy, time & space/earth & water, but fundamentally that's comparing apples and oranges; they are both fruits but not the same thing. The different coat of paint concept you described is nothing new, look at superheros and their abilities; one may use fire another ice, etc, look at television shows, cop shows, dramas, comedies, even real life; if you have a sibling(s), together aren't you classified as your parents children, but are you the same? A concept that is especially true for twins/triplets. The only thing that the quests do is paint Geomancers as protectors. Now protection can have a variety of interpretations, but within the context of the game that could either mean a healer or a tank, though it doesn't outright mean a DPS is not possible either. Plus as Valdegarde mentioned there could be a sub sect or an entirely different sect that we'll learn from in the future; they did this with both Machinist and Astrologian, and to a lesser degree Red Mage.

And then players used ninjas to tank via Utsusemi and samurai as DPS because Seigan and Third Eye were bad for being a main tank? And then blue mages were made so overpowered that they could do anything without drawing their swords at all, including tank?

So you see my point then.

[Ceallach]

So you see my point then.

But I feel like you aren't seeing mine. Look at all the jobs that are in the game right now. None of them deviate very far at all from their original versions. You'd have a better point to make if we had machinist as a tank or something like that, but actually the jobs are quite within what they've always done. Literally the only Disciple of War tank left that there could be is the viking, and that would have to have a play style similar to Exdeath in the Dissidia series (block and counter using shields only) to avoid being too close to the warrior. You can't have a job that plays just like another job, which is probably why we won't have a healer geomancer; as Mhaeric pointed out, it would just be another astrologian.

[Eloah]

snip

I see your point just fine. But it's been shown to you again and again that any job could be implimented anyway the developers see fit. The point is if the devs want to do it, they can and they will.

[Mhaeric]

While what you say has some credence, it is not altogether accurate. True there are similarities true: 6 constellations/6 elements, heavenly energy/terrestrial energy, time & space/earth & water, but fundamentally that's comparing apples and oranges; they are both fruits but not the same thing. The different coat of paint concept you described is nothing new, look at superheros and their abilities; one may use fire another ice, etc, look at television shows, cop shows, dramas, comedies, even real life; if you have a sibling(s), together aren't you classified as your parents children, but are you the same? A concept that is especially true for twins/triplets. The only thing that the quests do is paint Geomancers as protectors. Now protection can have a variety of interpretations, but within the context of the game that could either mean a healer or a tank, though it doesn't outright mean a DPS is not possible either. Plus as Valdegarde mentioned there could be a sub sect or an entirely different sect that we'll learn from in the future; they did this with both Machinist and Astrologian, and to a lesser degree Red Mage.

Did you even do the 60+ quests? The whole story was about how Astrologian and Geomancer were the same thing underneath the hood. It even started out with the main actor's arrogance that they couldn't possibly be the same and was quickly proven wrong. Could the Geomancer be released as something completely different down the road? Anything is possible, but it's a huge stretch of logic to get there from what we have now.

[DRKoftheAzure]

Too bad AST exists with some abilities that sound like they belong on a time mage... so time mage is never going to happen...

[arctanx]

Interesting discussion concerning the future of DPS jobs in the game, guys. I think there are only a few areas left in "traditional" FF lore to choose from. Soon, they're gonna have to branch out and do something unique. For those that like my style (if maybe not implementation), I've posted a Healer job suggestion (Maestro) as well if anyone wants to give feedback here, all posts welcome.

[Ceallach]

If they did that, the job would have been named a chemist rather than a machinist, though, I'd think. Machinists have always been damage-focused while chemists have always been item-focused for both offense and support. Just because two jobs wield a gun doesn't mean they're both machinists.

[arctanx]

Interesting discussion guys. I do think Time Mage would compliment geomancer nicely, though.

[Komaru_Tatoro]

kinda pop in to my head.
give time mage a few dot spells. then give him a cd ability called "time dilation" basically this ability will make any dot spell casted during its active duration all go off the moment it lands.
example: dot spell #1 does 60potency on land and 20potency ea tick. the dot stays for 12s making it total 140 potency for whole 12sec.
with time dilation active, as soon dot spell #1 lands on target, all the damage goes off at the point making it a 120 potency no dot spell.
maybr make time dilation shareable to party??
thought just came to my head so forgive me if the potency i choose is too low etc. just want to bring up an example.