Sage and its circumstances surrounding it sort of comes off as the final nail in the coffin for Chemist, truth be told. It thematically fills the science-esque look a Chemist probably would have had. Yet it still retains some semblance of "magic" in the DoM that I would expect something being associated with the other healers (casters) to have. The fact that they said they couldn't figure out a suitable weapon for Chemist (honestly, things like daggers and any firearm are redundant) and didn't get behind the idea of something throwing potions around yet still made a more technological-based healer with Sage effectively puts it in the same boat that people like to put Geomancer in when it comes to Conjurer Whitemage existing.

For all intents and purposes I would consider XIV's Sage the closest thing to Chemist the devs are willing to make. Not unlike how Astrologian for the longest time is/was Timemage's distant cousin.