Discrepancy in lore (spoilers)

[Lusavari]

So after Delubrum Reginae we got to see one of the empire’s “star destroyers” arrive and I couldn’t help but feel a bit disconnected.

Not that I mind that sort of weaponry but supposedly Eorzea has been resisting invasion and fending off the empires advances for some time now and... well we have Gridania’s spears and archers, some mercenaries in uldah, and wooden ships with cannons in Limsa?

There’s even a grounded airship in the sea of clouds that they can barely keep moving...

I know we have magic on our side but that’s not enough. I mean given the scope of our spells in game the empire should have destroyed us long long ago. And it doesn’t make sense to me how a civilization in the space age is having trouble with colonial era (at best) weaponry...

And with the arrival of the ruby/emerald weapons and the G-warrior there’s even less of a case to have jobs with swords and shields or axes... GNB and MCH fit a bit better but I liked the fact that we were in the imperial age and not in cyberpunk 2077.

I’m sure there’s a way to reason out all of these issues but to me the game is falling apart in terms of cohesiveness. I wonder if people share the same thoughts.

I find it less jarring that the WoL is on the moon than the fact he is wearing medieval armor in the trailer when obviously there’s space ships zooming around and even scrappy resistance movements like Bozja look like world war 1 outfits.

Superior weapons don't insure victory. Just like how the wars in the middle east are still going on after a Decade. Or the fact the US Lost the Vietnam war. A lot more goes into war than superior weapons. The Empire has such a large swathe of area to take care of, they're spread thin, and the Ala Mhigan and Doman uprising combined with Zenos's activity has destabilized the empire. The whore story at this point is that several of the legates have gone rogue. When your chain of command is unstable that also puts even the most technologically superior forces at a disadvantage. Morale plays a huge role in wins and losses.

Eorzea is (barely) able to fend of Imperial assaults only because they only ever send one legion at a time, and even then it's a very close shave. The VIIth had all but routed the Alliance at Cartenau before the Calamity, and without the PC's intervention (and Hydaelyn's assistance in the endeavor) the XIVth would have won. The only reason the XIIth didn't overrun the Ala Mhigan Resistance was because Zenos wasn't interested in actually winning, and after our escapades in Othard liberating Doma (which took the assistance of both the Confederate pirates and most if not all of the Azim Steppe's Xaela tribes) couldn't call on reinforcements.

(Then again the Bad Future Crystal Exarch G'raha hails from suggested the Alliance could not just hold its own, but actually beat back the Empire.)

Superweapons like the... Weapons are one-of-a-kind prototypes that demand a massive amount of resources for R&D; they can't just throw the things around like mass production units, and even if they could the materials for making one probably cost a fortune. Likewise the G-Warrior is only refurbished Allagan tech; the Ironworks didn't make it, probably don't have the resources to make another, and are just using the captured Imperial maintenance facility in Terncliff to house and repair it since Eorzea more than likely doesn't have somewhere suitable. (Maybe Castrum Marinum, now that it's been cleared out.)

The Empire's got advanced tech, but it's best stuff is one-off superpowered prototypes they can't regularly deploy. It's day to day units, such as Magitek Reapers and Predators, can be defeated with the right strategies (Raubahn mentions having to learn how to deal with them late in Stormblood) or enough firepower (see the Legacy ending / ARR opening cinematic where a BLM blasts a Reaper with a fireball and destroys it).

As advanced as the Empire's tech is, it's a bit tough to fully overcome people who can pull meteors out of thin air. Plus, everyone other than Garleans (and poor Thancred) are capable of subconsciously using magic to reinforce and empower their bodies, which is implied to be how non-Garleans pushed them to inhospitable territory and why they need magitek power armor to help close the gap. An axe in the real world can cut through wood; an axe in XIV's world can cut through stone, used properly.

P.S. The IVth having an Agrius sized vessel when it's supposed to be sorely strapped for resources irked me too; but it's XII fanservice, so they'll do it anyway.

I love all the points you bring up as they were things I was also going to bring up. But also building on what you say about the empire. I would point out Emperor Solus Yae Galvos intentionally built the Empire to fail. Let's not forget that conversation with Varis where Varis accuses Solus/Emet-Selch of carelessness in dying without naming a successor, to which Emet-Selch retorts "Do you how carefully timed my death was? Throwing the empire into chaos was the intent!" Emet-Selch as Solus knew full well what he was doing. He built an empire that quickly grew under very competent and powerful leadership, and handpicked people loyal to him and no one else who then ignored orders to return the second the chain of command crumbled. Think. Gaius went rogue and refused to return when Solus died, believing it was his job to continue his mission as assigned and he wasn't going to take orders from anyone till a new emperor was selected. He went MIA Presumed Dead before Varis took the throne. Solus wanted something like that as having Legates who would go rogue, like Gabranth, Gaius, even Zenos and Valens. All of this was done to cause a calamity. This level of instability would have resulted in the release of Black Rose in the original time line, and the collapse of the Garlean Empire and all the deaths from the gas, it would have lead to the First being absorbed when originally the Light consumed it. The shortcomings of the empire are entirely by design but its creator.


For your P.S. point I would say though that every legion has 1 giant flagship and let's not forget Gabranth has gone rogue. Even if they're resource strapped, that 1 dreadnaught is still within the resources available to Gabranth.