Future jobs speculation: Mystic/Rune Knight thread

[Kalaam]

So back on the idea of a segmented whip-sword thing like Seven in type-0 ?

[ItMe]

So back on the idea of a segmented whip-sword thing like Seven in type-0 ?

I'm feeling that it will be something wholly new, like how the AST globe or the SGE nouliths aren't just some preexisting weapon somewhere else in Final Fantasy.

[Kalaam]

I'm feeling that it will be something wholly new, like how the AST globe or the SGE nouliths aren't just some preexisting weapon somewhere else in Final Fantasy.

Maybe, whip-segmented sword would be pretty nice, we only have Seven with something like that, plus she is the Spellblade of the game if I recall. And Garland in the dissidia games I guess.
Or it could be something simpler and going for a dual-wield setup with 2 swords, maybe attaching into a staff alà Gabranth.

Names could be stuff like: Materia Blades of X, Spellblades of X, Runic Swords of X... (like we have Manatrigger, Gunblade and Baillonette for the different gunblades)

[Narigo1]

I think Mystic Knight or Rune Fencer could stlll work as Magic DPS if it was close-ranged caster.

[Kalaam]

I think Mystic Knight or Rune Fencer could stlll work as Magic DPS if it was close-ranged caster.

Maybe but then it causes an issue of encounter design.
Casters are supposed to stay at a distance most of the time to deal with mechanics (like baiting AoEs) so melees can stay close to the bosses.

[ItMe]

I think Mystic Knight or Rune Fencer could stlll work as Magic DPS if it was close-ranged caster.

Maybe?
But, like...

Having them just be a ranged caster feels like a waste of the knight aspect of the job.

RDM already has the caster style dash-in dash-out pseudo melee design going so I'm not sure they'd make a second class that does that.

Having a class that is both melee range AND has cast bars on their moves sounds like a nightmare to play.

Maybe there's other options out there, but I feel like making them a caster might be difficult...

[Grimoire-M]

Maybe there's other options out there, but I feel like making them a caster might be difficult...

Honestly, I played Melee BLU, and it's more than doable, but it can't have melee positionals or combos and work consistently. Half-casting does work in melee range just fine. SAM has infrequent full casts too. I don't think range is the issue here as much as disengage/gapcloser integration. It needs to be short to work.

As for Mystic Knight/Spellblade/Rune Knight/etc, I think we just need to settle on a distinct theme and lore to build around. Red Mages are environmentally-friendly duelist sorcerers, which cuts into one of the major themes we could go down, but it doesn't upend everything. Mystic Knights, Spellblades, and Rune Fencers touch similar ground mechanically but each have distinct identities.

For example, in pretty much every iteration we see a Mystic Knight they're styled after Arabic/Persian warriors, relying on Scimitars and Sabres. But their core mechanic is one that Red Mages already use with their melee combo, enchanting weapons with magic. Thankfully it's easy to tie back to the world. Ul'dah would fit fairly well as the quest-giver zone. And it is way more likely that we'll see Mystic Knight npcs in Thavnair during 6.0, which makes it easy to justify how they make their way to Ul'dah. There is room to style its fighting around more Dexterous combat befitting a Scouting DPS too, but I think the biggest struggle here is coming up with an appropriate weapon and name, and a unique spin on its kit.

This is why I personally lean towards Rune Fencer when thinking about how to frame the job's theme in a unique manner. To me, this is a job whose quest giver should appear in Ishgard. And the reason for that is because Rune Fencers have themes that can be tied back to Norse and Pagan mythology, with slight nomadic leanings. I don't necessarily think we'd see the job quest NPC originate from Ishgard, but it would likely be from a similar environment on the other side of Dravania (The Farreach? There's some islands north of that which might be suitable, otherwise I'd say its origin is somewhere from Northern Ilsabard). They tend to lean on greatswords (longswords are acceptable), which again leaves us at want for a weapon, but not for a mechanic. Runes, whatever they are, will be the core. The name would need to change though. Runeseeker is acceptable regardless of the weapon or role and would be my vote.

In summary, we have two options: A Norse/Pagan vagabond which utilizes Runes as a guide for a core mechanic but needs more lore development, or a mystic scouting persian/arabian warrior with potential lore and worldbuilding coming in 6.0, that needs a unique core mechanic to help it break away from its overlap with Red Mage.

Imo, everyone should pick one of those two, based on preference, and roll with it.

[ItMe]

In summary, we have two options: A Norse/Pagan vagabond which utilizes Runes as a guide for a core mechanic but needs more lore development, or a mystic scouting persian/arabian warrior with potential lore and worldbuilding coming in 6.0, that needs a unique core mechanic to help it break away from its overlap with Red Mage.

Imo, everyone should pick one of those two, based on preference, and roll with it.

An excellent and insightful post.
And... it makes me wonder if this couldn't be a job to share gear with Nin...

[ChazNatlo]

Imo, everyone should pick one of those two, based on preference, and roll with it.

Probably but it's not like they're going to go "Well, more people like the Turbaned middle eastern Mystic knight to the Norse Rune knight, I guess we should go with that." They'll develop it based on what they think is the best option. Making a dichotomy doesn't help much. Maybe the Middle eastern design uses their own variation of sigil (rune) based sword magic Or they'll make up something

Mid post edit: I'm not saying that those aren't the two most likely choices (Although it wouldn't be outside expectations for the developers to treat any form of sigilmancy as Rune magic, so the Norse influence isn't a must) just that the Dichotomy isn't neccesary for us as random fans pitching random ideas.

That said, as an old FFV player, Middle Eastern Minwu looking Sword Mage is my go to... Much as I like my Whipsword idea, if they let me go Dual wielding Quad strike Flare blade, my year will be made.

[Beddict]

I'm partial to the Tactics version of Rune Knight. Dycedarg Beoulve has heavy armour, uses Knight Swords, has the Swordplay Job Command which lets him use both Agrias's and Meliadoul's moves (2/3rds a TGC right there), and can pop off high level Black Magic as well. It's incredibly different when compared to the FFXI Rune Fencer which wears light armour, uses defensive magic including White Magic such as Protect and Shell, and is a Tank focusing on magic damage reduction. Celes from FFVI is similar to Dycedarg, sporting the heavy armour and offensive Black Magic of the Rune Knight, but the Runic Job Command that lets her absorb magic to regenerate MP so that's kinda Rune Fencer-ish. Rune Knights also differ from Mystic Knight/Spell Blades in that Rune Knights don't imbue their weapon with Black Magic, nor do they wear light armour or use Scimitars. If SE really wanted to they could probably get away with making three new Jobs, though they might need to rename Rune Knight to something different, and Dark Knight kinda already stole what Rune Fencer does as a Tank with defensive runes (look at TBN or LB3), and originally all the Evasion and Parrying mechanics (that have since been gutted).

Really I just want Rune Knight, those abilities are cool.