Next Jobs

[Beddict]

I just want Necromancer. I know it probably won't happen, and even if it does, not in a way I'd approve. But I still want it.

Necromancer - Healer (Scythes and Sickles): A dark cleric of Belah'dia who uses sacrificial magic to pull allies from the brink of death. Weave damage-dealing with healing through Drain spells and risky transfusions. Turn allies into undead to give them temporary survival bonuses, or curse foes to receive more and deal less damage.

So I would love to see a Necromancer as well because it's just an archetype I really enjoy. My favourite class in D&D 3.5 was Dread Necromancer, my favourite class in Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 was Necromancer, it would be real cool to see it in FFXIV and I love the ideas presented whenever I read them. However, the chance of it happening is probably incredibly low just because of the lore surrounding it.

Consider the two big Necromancers that we actually know about already: Mumuepo and Edda. Mumuepo was part of the elite in Ul'dah, head of the Thaumaturge Guild and member of the Order of Nald'thal, and I'm 50% sure he was their representative on the Syndicate before Dewlala took over. Point is, the guy was living the life. When it was discovered that he was messing around with necromancy though, he was stripped of his position as head of the Thaumaturge Guild, booted from the Order of Nald'thal, possibly kicked off the Syndicate (if he was actually on the Syndicate to begin with, again, not entirely sure), and then sentenced to a life in solitary confinement with his only reprieve being the occasional bout as an indentured slave on the blood sands of the Colosseum. That's a pretty massive fall for someone in Ul'dah high society, and all he did was make a dagger that may or may not raise the dead. As for Edda, she went bonkers, started kidnapping people and killing people, summoned Voidsent, crammed said Voidsent into corpses, and was generally an unpleasant nutjob. She may not have been a prominent member of society like Mumuepo, but her fall was pretty glaring and cases like hers are why there's such a stigma against Necromancers in Eorzea.

Edda also highlights one of the other problems associated with Necromancy in FFXIV: summoning Voidsent. Think about those old ARR Leves, the Necrologos ones. Collect some ancient book, read it aloud and hey, a Voidsent popped out. Necrologos, Word of the Dead, and there it is summoning Voidsent, and as seen with Edda, those Voidsent can be crammed into corpses to create undead. Copies of the Necrologos are burned on sight because messing with the Void just isn't something that sane people do, and that demon summoning falls under the domain of Necromancy.

So yeah, I love the idea of a Necromancer Job. It's got history in the entire Final Fantasy universe as a whole where it appeared as a Job in FFV. There are plenty of great ideas on how it could be unique mechanically. Unfortunately, Necromancy falls into the category of "don't you dare mess with that shit" in the actual lore of FFXIV. If the WoL starts taking up Necromancy and raising the dead then there are gonna be problems. The Order of Nald'thal would pitch a fit, there would be fear over the summoning of Voidsent, of the desecration of deceased loved ones. It would be a nightmare to work in Necromancer when all the lore we have has clearly established that it's taboo and that practicing it will absolutely destroy a person no matter their station. I imagine the writers could do it, but I think it would be a massive stretch to make it lore friendly.