Why does everyone want Chemist as a new job?

[BasicBlake]

Oracle was a mixed healing and damage job in FFV actually. And Geomancer was part healer/support in FFXI.
And yes Devout is basically just better WHM, which is why I mentioned the overlap between existing classes. Really that list is just mentioning all the jobs that could fit the new healer, while fully acknowledging that only two would really work.

That I did not know about Oracle! So that’s always good to know!

Though Geomancer in XI wasn’t part healer. You got access to Indi-Regen at 15, and that’s it, that’s the healing capabilities. You could waste merit points at end game to “pop” your Luopans once every 5-10 minutes for a small burst heal, but at the expensive of actually useful merit points. You had no inherent healing capabilities. You were just support. Bard and black mage had a baby. They definitely meant for Geomancer to cast more than it ever did, considering they gave it an exclusive line of elemental magic and a passive that buffed your elemental casting capabilities depending on where you stood in relation to the target.

[Morningstar1337]

Oracle was a mixed healing and damage job in FFV actually. And Geomancer was part healer/support in FFXI.
And yes Devout is basically just better WHM, which is why I mentioned the overlap between existing classes. Really that list is just mentioning all the jobs that could fit the new healer, while fully acknowledging that only two would really work.

Devout was used as Lamitt/Lamimi's title implying that they are the First's equivalents to WHM, and thus knocking them out of the running for future jobs, (thank the Twelve).

[Hycinthus]

Out of all the jobs that have been seen in the FF series they could still use:

• Oracle
• Devout
• Sage
• Geomancer
• Songstress (Only because FF14 lacks a dedicated support role. Though you could make a case for it being another Ranged DPS like Dancer.)
• Chemist/Salve Maker
• And if they REALLY want to be trolls they could pull from Bravely Default's Merchant class because it does have healing mechanics. (IT HAS A SKILL CALLED BIG PHARMA)

There's a few others that can also heal (I'd die of laughter if they gave us Mime as a healer) and a few of these overlap with existing classes. Due to the overlap Chemist and Geomancer are the most likely, though Geomancer currently has a lore overlap with Astrologian in 14.

Beastmaster from FFXI

[Mhaeric]

Beastmaster from FFXI

FFXI BST wasn't a healer at all except that they could feed their pet treats to recover some of their hp since there was no other way to heal them.

[xxvaynxx]

Out of all the jobs that have been seen in the FF series they could still use:

• Oracle
• Devout
• Sage
• Geomancer
• Songstress (Only because FF14 lacks a dedicated support role. Though you could make a case for it being another Ranged DPS like Dancer.)
• Chemist/Salve Maker
• And if they REALLY want to be trolls they could pull from Bravely Default's Merchant class because it does have healing mechanics. (IT HAS A SKILL CALLED BIG PHARMA)

There's a few others that can also heal (I'd die of laughter if they gave us Mime as a healer) and a few of these overlap with existing classes. Due to the overlap Chemist and Geomancer are the most likely, though Geomancer currently has a lore overlap with Astrologian in 14.

There will never be a pure support so I wouldn't bother even thinking about.
Ffxiv and the way combat is, it wouldn't fit.
Debuffing bosses continuously won't ever be a thing.
Astro was the closest thing to support and now their cards are pure dmg boosts because everything else was inferior.
Tp,sks,mp(situational)
Every job in this game has some sort of support anyway.

[Barraind]

Its something that in other FF games is a healer, or can be a healer, for that role we need a 4th of.

With Bard (this is still the biggest why? for 14) and Dancer being stuffed into the ranged dps pile, and Scholars being the "healy summoners, but not really" option, we're running low on established in-universe classes that can heal.


Unless they decide to go with Sage/Seer/Magus/Lunarian/Epopt (apparently you need a lot of names to mean "red mage but actually good at magic") or Oracle/Mystic (since theres no place for status effects as a class in 14) as a healer option, Chemist is the only thing you have left.

I don’t think Oracle or Geomancer have ever been a healer in a single Final Fantasy game though. With the caster gear from the Ivalice raids even being the Oracle’s gear from tactics in look and name.

I never played some of the tactics knock offs but isn’t Devout just Whm+?

Oracle is weird. Its best known appearance made it a green mage without time magic. It was also completely overshadowed by the guy who could use those magics instant cast with his sword. In 5, it still handled most of the status magic, while also getting to be a red mage.


Devout in 3 was White Mage +, and was, if I remember FF4TAY right, the base version of Red Mage that Lenoria was before she got dualcasting and became Epopt, the Teenage Girl Red Wizard class (where Sage is Old Man Red Wizard, and Lunarian is Old Alien Man Red Wizard).

[Hazama999]

I wouldn't mind chemist but honestly, and speaking as a medical student, the idea of throwing potions, bottles or vials at a target to heal them seems so... so stupid. Like this ain't even a "that's so unrealistic" argument, no. It just sounds idiotic to be hurling glassware at people.

If they could perhaps come up with some other delivery method. Idk. Darts or some other projectile that'd be more precise and... not as likely to cause blunt trauma? lol

[Soge01]

To shake up things in terms of how healers heal. Having a healer that relies on a different method to heal instead of through MP and burst heals seems interesting to me.

[Avalon304]

If this was setting up Chemist or something similar, then why do it on the First? While it's 'possible' we'd get a new job tied to the First, new jobs tend to be tied to new areas in the expansions, with the exception of SHB because it's set on another world so they drew from things back on the Source rather than tie new job lore to Norvrandt.

So any apothecary/chemist lore...would be entirely separate from this kid we talked to. I think the point of the kid wasn't to foreshadow a job so much as to just show someone else inspired to be a hero in their own way, tying into things thematically with the patch.

Spoiler for 5.3 msq.

Basically, Elidibus draws his strength from people inspired to be heroes in order to become the 'Warrior of Light' and this is providing an example of someone like that at the start of the 5.3 msq. That makes more sense to me for why it's there as opposed to them setting up a job that will probably have its roots back on the Source rather than Norvrandt if added.

Because thats where the story currently is. As you pointed out the two new jobs from this very expansion werent directly tied to areas in it (though both of the first major characters to have those jobs were people on the First (Thancred and Lyna)).

Theres nothing that says Chemist would be tied to Norvrandt any more than Dancer or Gunbreaker were (in fact if next expansion goes to Garlemald as people think it will, then Chemist, as a non-magic job ties in very nicely with that area). But if they werent trying to hint at this they spent a very large amount of time on us helping her and her story as a whole.

[BasicBlake]

I wouldn't mind chemist but honestly, and speaking as a medical student, the idea of throwing potions, bottles or vials at a target to heal them seems so... so stupid. Like this ain't even a "that's so unrealistic" argument, no. It just sounds idiotic to be hurling glassware at people.

If they could perhaps come up with some other delivery method. Idk. Darts or some other projectile that'd be more precise and... not as likely to cause blunt trauma? lol

I don't know, being able to chuck potions and items at your team was fantastically fun in Tactics.

I honestly thought we were going to go the "medic" route play on chemist due to the leader of the Bozjan front being a well performing Garlean medic before he defected. Would have been a fun way to implement chemist fantasy without throwing glassware.