New Idea: Elite Classes - A FFXI players Idea for the new FFXIV Armory

[MistressAthena]

Warning: This post will be long

Prologue to my Idea

Before I begin, I just want to say that I played FFXI all the way from the first expansion, to the final (current) expansions. I remember the days when a lvl 75 advanced class was the Elite of the server, simply because it took alot of dedication, time, and effort to achieve it + with its final AF/Relic gear and so on. A proper and well earned bragging rights, that added alot to the community, role-playing, and just sheer fun of the game. This is before FFXI got overly easy, solo-able and a WoW like rip off (In my opinions). It got to the point, where having a top lvl Paladin for instance, was no different than another players. The difficulty of the game was destroyed, and suddenly my high lvl relic wearing, paladin was nothing special.. A sad day indeed

My Reasoning for laying out my idea below is simply.. to add that "Elite" strut-your-stuff feeling of having a character you can really be proud of. One that DID take alot of effort and time to achieve its status, and one that maybe, not every player will achieve, unless effort is put forth. This will add that feeling of your character being one of the tops, not just for yourself but others who see it too.

My second reasoning behind it, is to add yet another thing for "team-play" that FFXI was so epic and famous for up until the final Expansions.

Now for my Idea...

The Idea: Elite Classes

My idea came with the new Armory system, which I am very much enjoying. But also with the lack of the above mentioned in my Prologue to my idea. The idea is simply to have "Elite" status characters. Characters with a class that you had and have to work towards, focus on, and commit yourself too. One that if fully completed, you can truly and honestly feel awesome about it, and will make others say "wow, and awesome" too as well, just like the old days of lvl 75 full artifact gear advanced classes.

How it will work, is exactly how it does already, you take 2 sub classes and combine them to make an advanced class. However the next step would be to take 2 advanced classes to make an Elite class.

For example:

Gladiator/Conjurer ---> Paladin/White Mage ---> Holy Knight
Gladiator/Thoumatuge --->Shadow Knight/Black Mage ---> Dark Knight

Just for 2 examples. (Obviously there would be alot more as they release more advanced classes and basic classes)

Now at the moment, Gladiator/Conjurer makes Paladin, and then thats it.. However with my idea of Elite classes, you'd then need to raise the classes required for White Mage then level white mage up, and once the final levels of those 2 advanced classes are met, you Do a series of quests for Holy Knight. When completed, you unlock Holy Knight.

Levels

At the moment levels however are not sufficient. I believe a lvl 75-80 cap is the minimum needed if Elite classes were to be added. Which of course is no problem. I believe the levels will get to this stage eventually. I believe a lvl 50 Paladin and lvl 35 White Mage would be a good level set to unlock Holy Knight. Reason being again, To focus on it being a class you really need to work towards, and also being one that will take time and effort to make it something to really be proud of.

Abilities

The Abilities would again take parts of the 2 sub classes. But be more focused on being the "elite" perhaps with additional effects etc. Making your class truly "elite" and stand out.

Quests/Additional Abilities/Artifact Equipment

I'm adding the 3 above into one category because they all tie into each other.

Anyone who has played FFXI back in the day when it was hard to do anything, remembers trying to unlock special abilities, Artifact Armors, etc. It was fun, adventurous, sometimes even got your blood pumping, and was always something fun to do with your Linkshell and friends. It was also a major contributing factor to making your character truly stand out above the rest.

I believe, The Elite Classes should bring that back full force at least for Elite Classes. Again making the Elite class truly feel exceptional, something to be truly proud of, and not just another class on another player the same as all the others.. But something that truly stands out to show you achieved something that is not easy.

1) The Quests for Artifact Armor/Weapon: The Quests would be for your Artifact Armor/weapon, A special series of quests designed to tell a story and have you live the part of being whatever Elite Class you are. For Example.

The Holy Knights Quest line may be a story of darkness creeping into the land from every corner, and as you slowly go about helping the leaders of the main cities a deeper story unravels of a demon who is behind all of this, the other quests focusing on bringing down this demon, and finally at the very end, an epic "mass party" instance where you need a full party or more to help bring down this Demon. Once you do, you obtain your final piece of Artifact Armor/weapon, and obtain a special title.

2) Quests for "special" abilities exclusive to that Elite class only:

I 2nd storyline for the abilities of each Elite class I believe would do the same as the artifact armor. Making your Elite class truly stand out by having these abilities, etc. Showing you put alot of effort and time into the class.

Quest line could be as an example for Holy Knight: A Quest to "purify" yourself, Doing a series of quests, felling series of dark beasts, etc. Unlocking a few special abilities as you go through the quest line. The Final Quest being another epic battle, where in the aftermath you learn the ultimate move for Holy Knight. For this example we'll call it Holy Wrath. A unique ability that ONLY Holy Knight can use (Meaning you cannot use it if you switch classes and equip it). These special ultimate abilities would only be able to be obtained by a very high level Elite Class. And the ability itself would be exceptionally powerfull over any other ability of other sub classes, and abilities. Since the move is an "ultimate" move that is exceptionally powerfull due to it being not only obtainable by an Elite Class, but each and every Elite class having their own unique ultimate move that fits with that class. I.E. Holy Wrath, on a Holy Knight. The Move would also require alot of MP and TP to unleash with a significantly high cool down. Of course the sheer amount of damage this move is capable of is the counter balance. (And have alot of "sparkle" to the ability too, just to make it look exceptionally grand :3 )

For Example Holy Wrath, could do a tremendous amount of AOE damage in a wide area to all enemies with significant Holy damage + Non element damage (Due to how the attack looks which I'll explain in a second).

The ability itself should look pretty awesome too, in my opinion, since its the last ultimate special move exclusive to that Elite class. Perhaps something like, your character unleashes light from it, and points it at a monster, a beam of light flashing from your sword to it, where as then a long beam of light shoots down from the sky and envelopes the area in a white light as you hear a rumble as though something is building up where as the light around the area of effect then explodes dealing tremendous Holy damage + non elemental damage, as if the Holy Knight called upon the gods themselves to smite the monsters.

Elite Class Levels

Someone asked below how the levels would work, and I realized I never even thought about that, so I put my mind to it, and came up with this....

Levels would come off of a completely new level, For instance (Gladiator50) White Knight 1 (Similar to how sub classes worked in FFXI)

(Or could even be White Knight 1/Gladiator50)

The level of your Elite class would effect the amount of extra skill points you obtain and certain levels, including slightly increasing the damage of your special Elite specific skills as a whole (Though not by much, just fractions a level), while the quests to obtain the special armor/abilities, and storyline for your Elite Class is obtained at certain Elite Class levels.

The exp would be gained through the normal way of Questing, and killing mobs while being an Elite Class.

Side-notes, and other "possibilities"

(The Below are subject to change, and are not set in stone for my over all idea, but either things that clarify more towards what I'm leaning towards, or off-hand ideas that could add more depth and detail to the over all Elite Classes)

* A few people mentioned to make it truly unique to have 1 Elite class per character. Meaning you cannot have both Holy Knight and Dark Knight on the same character. This would really make who YOUR character is.
* Elite Classes would take at least a year or even more of focusing just on those side-quests to fully unlock everything for that class. Again making it something that you truly can be proud of when you achieve it. It would also again be something to really put effort towards.
*Mid-Way through the Quests there would be a secondary quest where you need to obtain items of a certain type, which are very rare to come across. (Anyone who's played FFXI will know there were several of these quests where you had to get so many items which could cost you 100's of millions of gil and years of playing just to obtain that 1 item, obviously I dont want Elite to be THAT hardcore... but just as an example). Either way, special specific Items that are key for that quest line but take a very long time to obtain them all, and would also require parties, and friends.

Conclusion

I believe setting up this "Elite" Class with special abilities, and "Artifact Armor", all of which will require parties, and serious time and effort involved to achieve a fully fledged and fully suited Elite class, will not only make FFXIV that much more grand, but also achieve what I feel FFXIV is missing that made FFXI so wonderous for both new and old players.

Something to look forward too, something to strive towards, and something for new players to look up to older players for. First playing FFXI I couldnt help but to nearly drool over lvl 75 Paladins in their Artifact Gear, knowing it took alot of effort, trials, and time to achieve it, and made them look that much more cool. It also in an off set, made the world itself feel more "real". It also made classes that much more unique. To have a back story to each for their armors, etc.

And like I said above, will make your character feel that much more "unique" and not like how all other MMO's of today's gaming is. One character no different or any special than another, because of how easy it is to achieve a high level in any class.

Other "Possible" Elite Classes

(Just a few other "Elite" Classes I came up with, just having some fun, but please dont rate my over all post by these, these are just me brain storming)

Thief-----------|
------------------Dancer-------------|
(?)Conjurer----|
----------------------------------------Gypsy
Pugilist---------|
------------------Ninja---------------|
??????----------|

I think having "Gypsy" as an Elite class would be fun and a cool twist. A class that focus's on dances and disorienting his/her enemies through seduction and "mis-guided" movements. A class that utilizes dances like in FFXI Dancer of buffing/ demoralizing the enemy, while using the Ninja's dual blade and ability to go stealth. The "stereotypical" Gypsy. Would also have an ability to "steal" and get better drops as a "passive" trait which would be a slight boost from the "thiefs" passive trait of increased drop rate, and chance of finding rare items.

The Ultimate ability could be something like a very intricate dance, which magical bolts lash out at near-by enemies giving it a certain % chance to inflict that enemy with a status ailment, these bolts flash out from the Gypsy as she dances for the set period period (max period being something like 20 seconds). Every 4 seconds, multiple status ailments could stack ontop of each other, and if it gets inflicted with a status ailment all current status ailments on that target reset. The Gypsy cannot take any other actions while dancing, but can end it at anytime.

[Asiaine]

Hello,

I like your ideas a lot but a couple of things still poke at me:

It will only seem 'unique' until 'a lot of people' do it. The suggestion you have put forth is not very future-proof. Perhaps a tiny bit of a modification?

For example, a person can have only one Elite Class? (This will prevent everyone from having all Elite Classes 2 days after they are released).

Perhaps a quest can be given such that you can 'abandon' your elite class and move to another 'elite class'. (With no loss of Exp or skills, just no longer able to sue the old elite class until you re-do the quest. And maybe this can only be done once a month or so).

But yes, further increasing the possible 'roles' that one can take will increase diversity.
Limiting the number of roles one can be, will also increase diversity.
Making it harder to fullfil those roles, will also increase diversity.
(If you can not get 7/7 on elite roles in 2 days, but it takes 2 years, you will be much less likely to see clones of you everywhere).

[MistressAthena]

Hello,

I like your ideas a lot but a couple of things still poke at me:

It will only seem 'unique' until 'a lot of people' do it. The suggestion you have put forth is not very future-proof. Perhaps a tiny bit of a modification?

For example, a person can have only one Elite Class? (This will prevent everyone from having all Elite Classes 2 days after they are released).

Perhaps a quest can be given such that you can 'abandon' your elite class and move to another 'elite class'. (With no loss of Exp or skills, just no longer able to sue the old elite class until you re-do the quest. And maybe this can only be done once a month or so).

But yes, further increasing the possible 'roles' that one can take will increase diversity.
Limiting the number of roles one can be, will also increase diversity.
Making it harder to fullfil those roles, will also increase diversity.
(If you can not get 7/7 on elite roles in 2 days, but it takes 2 years, you will be much less likely to see clones of you everywhere).

Actually someone else in my linkshell mentioned only having 1 possible Elite Class. Which I do like this idea.. My over all plan or goal is to have Elite Classes take at least a year of dedication to fully unlock and make fully powerfull. Lots of dedication and things to that need to be accomplished to unlock all of the armor and abilites.

I'll try to touch up the post a little bit to further clarify, but I do like the idea of only 1 Elite Class being available on any 1 char.

[Razorboi82]

Hello,

I like your ideas a lot but a couple of things still poke at me:

It will only seem 'unique' until 'a lot of people' do it. The suggestion you have put forth is not very future-proof. Perhaps a tiny bit of a modification?

For example, a person can have only one Elite Class? (This will prevent everyone from having all Elite Classes 2 days after they are released).

Perhaps a quest can be given such that you can 'abandon' your elite class and move to another 'elite class'. (With no loss of Exp or skills, just no longer able to sue the old elite class until you re-do the quest. And maybe this can only be done once a month or so).

But yes, further increasing the possible 'roles' that one can take will increase diversity.
Limiting the number of roles one can be, will also increase diversity.
Making it harder to fullfil those roles, will also increase diversity.
(If you can not get 7/7 on elite roles in 2 days, but it takes 2 years, you will be much less likely to see clones of you everywhere).

I like the Idea, One mo is too long though. I would say, a week? also allow you to modify your AF in different styles to lessen the clone feel you get from seeing others with your same job.

[Loony_BoB]

I think this is the kind of thing that could be great, but only after a couple of years down the line when there are enough classes/jobs and a high enough level cap to justify it. I would hate it if the level cap jumped to 80 in the next year. I would never catch up. Some casual players such as myself simply don't have that kind of time available.

[MistressAthena]

I think this is the kind of thing that could be great, but only after a couple of years down the line when there are enough classes/jobs and a high enough level cap to justify it. I would hate it if the level cap jumped to 80 in the next year. I would never catch up. Some casual players such as myself simply don't have that kind of time available.

Yea again, with my Elite classes, their for hardcore players to pursue, but casual players will still be able to do their part in parties, etc. without feeling like their falling behind, since Elite Classes just have a few exceptionally powerfull abilities, but are still using the other classess abilities.

[MistressAthena]

Any comments/thoughts by anyone else?

[Fiosha_Maureiba]

I overall have mixed feelings about this. I think it stems from me wanting to see improvements and tweaks to the current system and attempting to future-proof any additional layers of character advancement. And one of the major things attracting me to FFXIV is the one-character-does-all-policy.

The key factor to fit in with FFXIV is the ability to undo a choice that affects a character's abilities. Whether that comes with the penalty of having to redo the quest or pay a hefty sum of anima (similar to waiting, except for those that play would have to manage their anima if they wanted to change).

If an ability like Holy Wrath will be as awesome and powerful as I think it will, I think it should also consume anima (life force in a sense) to perform. So even if it had a shorter cooldown such as once an hour, the anima requirement would make you only want to use it in worthwhile situations (or before vacation).

In terms of Elite or more distinct, I was thinking perhaps there could be a repeatable series of quests that can improve/enhance the existing abilities. To prevent one character from having all abilities/traits simultaneously, perhaps the quests would represent the character's devotion toward their job. When you fully devote yourself to the one job, you will unlock all the traits/abilities of that job (a rank 10 ability being Holy Wrath). Let's say we arbitrarily set the rank of devotion at 10. If you decide to gain one rank in Black Mage, you have to exchange up one of your other ranks (as you can have no more than 10 ranks). Once bumped down to a rank 9 Paladin, you lose access to Holy Wrath.

Players that want to specialize fully into one job can do so. Players who wish to be flexible to fill out two roles, such as a tank role and an attacker role, can do so, possibly being 5/5 between their favored jobs.

Example of some traits/abilities could be (traits only active while using the job):
Paladin, rank 1: Enhanced Tempered Will also removes Stun, Silence, and Paralysis. May be used while stunned.
Paladin, rank 2: Enhanced Cover causes Aegis Boon MP gains and Outmaneuever TP gains to affect covered target.
Paladin, rank 3: Swift War Drum reduces the cooldown of War Drum by 30 seconds.
Paladin, rank 4: Enhanced Enmity, increases enmity by 20.
Paladin, rank 5: Enhanced Cover II causes Cover to trigger against ranged and magic attacks.
Paladin, rank 8: Swift Cover reduces cooldown of Cover by 90 seconds (from 180 seconds to 90 seconds).
Paladin, rank 9: Enhanced Hallowed Ground extends immunity to ranged and magic attacks (this does not protect against Astral Flow)
Paladin, rank 10: Holy Wrath - massive astral and physical damage, AoE, generates massive enmity, consumes all MP, requires 3000 TP, cooldown of 3600 seconds.

To artificially increase the time it would take to master abilities, if this were limited to one quest per day (at most), extending the ranks out even further (say 50) to cover additional nuances of specialization, such as reduced ability cooldowns, lowered MP/TP costs, increased chance of status effects, increased effectiveness of status effects, etc. It would be a hassle if someone went into a specialization half-hearted. If extended this far, then perhaps only major ranks such as 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 would have unique quests and everything in between would be a universal quest (clearing the suggested dungeon of the day, defeating a primal).

And then balancing content enough that a team of specialized Black Mages with one healer and a tank doesn't trump every challenge out there. Magic-resistant bosses, bosses that are able to reflect magic during a phase or up to a certain amount of damage, environmental hazards that consume MP, etc.

[MistressAthena]

I overall have mixed feelings about this. I think it stems from me wanting to see improvements and tweaks to the current system and attempting to future-proof any additional layers of character advancement. And one of the major things attracting me to FFXIV is the one-character-does-all-policy.

The key factor to fit in with FFXIV is the ability to undo a choice that affects a character's abilities. Whether that comes with the penalty of having to redo the quest or pay a hefty sum of anima (similar to waiting, except for those that play would have to manage their anima if they wanted to change).

If an ability like Holy Wrath will be as awesome and powerful as I think it will, I think it should also consume anima (life force in a sense) to perform. So even if it had a shorter cooldown such as once an hour, the anima requirement would make you only want to use it in worthwhile situations (or before vacation).

In terms of Elite or more distinct, I was thinking perhaps there could be a repeatable series of quests that can improve/enhance the existing abilities. To prevent one character from having all abilities/traits simultaneously, perhaps the quests would represent the character's devotion toward their job. When you fully devote yourself to the one job, you will unlock all the traits/abilities of that job (a rank 10 ability being Holy Wrath). Let's say we arbitrarily set the rank of devotion at 10. If you decide to gain one rank in Black Mage, you have to exchange up one of your other ranks (as you can have no more than 10 ranks). Once bumped down to a rank 9 Paladin, you lose access to Holy Wrath.

Players that want to specialize fully into one job can do so. Players who wish to be flexible to fill out two roles, such as a tank role and an attacker role, can do so, possibly being 5/5 between their favored jobs.

Example of some traits/abilities could be (traits only active while using the job):
Paladin, rank 1: Enhanced Tempered Will also removes Stun, Silence, and Paralysis. May be used while stunned.
Paladin, rank 2: Enhanced Cover causes Aegis Boon MP gains and Outmaneuever TP gains to affect covered target.
Paladin, rank 3: Swift War Drum reduces the cooldown of War Drum by 30 seconds.
Paladin, rank 4: Enhanced Enmity, increases enmity by 20.
Paladin, rank 5: Enhanced Cover II causes Cover to trigger against ranged and magic attacks.
Paladin, rank 8: Swift Cover reduces cooldown of Cover by 90 seconds (from 180 seconds to 90 seconds).
Paladin, rank 9: Enhanced Hallowed Ground extends immunity to ranged and magic attacks (this does not protect against Astral Flow)
Paladin, rank 10: Holy Wrath - massive astral and physical damage, AoE, generates massive enmity, consumes all MP, requires 3000 TP, cooldown of 3600 seconds.

To artificially increase the time it would take to master abilities, if this were limited to one quest per day (at most), extending the ranks out even further (say 50) to cover additional nuances of specialization, such as reduced ability cooldowns, lowered MP/TP costs, increased chance of status effects, increased effectiveness of status effects, etc. It would be a hassle if someone went into a specialization half-hearted. If extended this far, then perhaps only major ranks such as 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 would have unique quests and everything in between would be a universal quest (clearing the suggested dungeon of the day, defeating a primal).

And then balancing content enough that a team of specialized Black Mages with one healer and a tank doesn't trump every challenge out there. Magic-resistant bosses, bosses that are able to reflect magic during a phase or up to a certain amount of damage, environmental hazards that consume MP, etc.

I really like most of these Ideas, while my original post was the basics, I like how you added more to it. I really hope someone from SE looks at this :3

[MistressAthena]

I hope someone else can think of another great thing to add to balance this idea out <3