Druid archetype

[Raikai]

I've been wondering, the classic DnD idea of a Druid archetype, as in a nature aligned mage that controls vegetation and/or shapeshifts, is somewhat absent not just from XIV, but from FF franchise in general, either by being a job or a character that represents a job.

I feel that this archetype is interesting enough to warrant it being a caster job post Endwalker, and a nice way to introduce a brand new job to the franchise. And given the fact that the storyline will go towards a completely new direction, it may be just about the perfect chance to introduce such a thing.

[silverdragontyr]

The job you're thinking of is Geomancer. There was a strong thought among the forums it would be in EW because they traditionally use hammers and people thought Gaia using one was setting up for it. Alas was not the case. It's not to say it will never happen but as it stands right now with EW we have 5 melee DPS, 3 ranged physical dps and 3 ranged magical dps. Who knows what they will do in the future.

[Enkidoh]

Technically that's what CNJ was meant to be (back in it's original 1.0 incarnation it had spells from all elements of nature along with the healing spells that you were borrowing from the elementals that exist in all of nature), but when Jobs were added it was altered to revolve around purely wind, water and earth spells to be a better fit for WHM while retaining it's healing abilities - fire, ice and lightning spells were given instead to THM, and gradually CNJ/WHM started to become more of a 'holy' spellcaster and healer than a 'nature' spellcaster, something that is now more or less complete.

Incidentally lore-wise Conjury is actually called 'geomancy' in Doma - the Swallow's Compass actually has GEO enemies in there who cast their own unique versions of water, wind and earth spells, but there really isn't much that sets them apart from CNJ anyway so that's why GEO hasn't been added, it's already technically in the game anyway (and ignore Gaia, her use of a hammer was simply a mistake on Tetsuya Nomura's part who was unaware there wasn't a hammer using class in the game, which Yoshi just left in simply "because it's cool").

[Raikai]

Technically that's what CNJ was meant to be (back in it's original 1.0 incarnation it had spells from all elements of nature along with the healing spells that you were borrowing from the elementals that exist in all of nature), but when Jobs were added it was altered to revolve around purely wind, water and earth spells to be a better fit for WHM while retaining it's healing abilities - fire, ice and lightning spells were given instead to THM, and gradually CNJ/WHM started to become more of a 'holy' spellcaster and healer than a 'nature' spellcaster, something that is now more or less complete.

Incidentally lore-wise Conjury is actually called 'geomancy' in Doma - the Swallow's Compass actually has GEO enemies in there who cast their own unique versions of water, wind and earth spells, but there really isn't much that sets them apart from CNJ anyway so that's why GEO hasn't been added, it's already technically in the game anyway (and ignore Gaia, her use of a hammer was simply a mistake on Tetsuya Nomura's part who was unaware there wasn't a hammer using class in the game, which Yoshi just left in simply "because it's cool").

Yeah, I was aware of that type of CNJ and yet Geomancer lore, but I feel that taps into one aspect of nature's power, which is controlling the elements. The thing I had in mind was more likely towards magic that manipulates vegetation itself and commune with wild animals, even shapeshifting into them.

[Anahlise_Auhn_Giinslai]

Lucky for us, Sage was not given the name of Druid, and White Mage did ditch nature magic for light and holy magic, so although I have no idea if it would happen, I could see Geomancer and/or Druid to appear in FFXIV...

The FF franchise likes to change the name, and partial change the identity, of fantasy archtypes a bit, such as Black Knight, Dark Warrior, and Death Knight, in other places, to have seen a bit of change and given the name Dark Knight, in the FF franchise; so I could also see a Druid subclass given the name "Geomancer", despite the fundamental differences between the two archtypes, and despite what the Geomancer is like in other places that is not the FF franchise...

And then, also.. there is the debate of what role Geomancer and/or Druid would have, in FFXIV... Both of those subclasses are half Healer and half Damager, but FFXIV will never allow the lousy Damager-Healer-Tank "Sacred Trinity" triumvirate design to be broken, so either or both archtypes would have to lose a large part of its identity; whether that be as a Healer that lacks the Damager half, or a Damager that lacks the Healer half.

in my personal opinion... I could see Geomancer as Caster or Healer, while Druid.. I think, would better fit as a Caster than a Healer.
Last, as a side note, I have no idea at all what the FF franchise Geomancer is like... I only know Geomancer from other sources, where-in Geomancer subclass is much not like the Druid subclass, so I regard the two as being different subclasses...

[Zeich]

Last, as a side note, I have no idea at all what the FF franchise Geomancer is like... I only know Geomancer from other sources, where-in Geomancer subclass is much not like the Druid subclass, so I regard the two as being different subclasses...

For what it's worth, Geomancer has had many iterations over the course of the FF series, though the general idea is "a caster attuned to nature who uses the terrain/weather to their advantage."

FF3 was the first, to my knowledge, and they were offensive spellcasters who wielded Bells as a weapon and used the ability Gaia to conjure an ability based on their current environment. In caves you'd see Earthquake, in deserts you'd see Quicksand, etc. The 3D version had multiple effects per area on a % chance, but the same general idea.

FF5 took that same idea and upgraded !Gaia a bit, with multiple pulls that were level-dependent as well as environment-dependent.

FF Tactics had Geomancer as a mixed melee/caster, using Axes and Swords as well as learning Attack Boost, but also learning each of its individual Geomancy abilities, which did a hybrid magic/strength damage attack based on the tile they were standing on and often inflicting a status effect as well.

FF Tactics Advance 2 had them back as a full caster, with Geomancy abilities dependent on either the tile they were standing on or the weather in the area.

Finally, FFXI had Geomancer in a different spot than before - they'd still be nature attuned, but they were more a support class, with large buffs/debuffs granted by Indi-spells (an aura around them) and Geo-spells (summoning a Luopan "pet" that radiated its buff/debuff aura). They had a good amount of elemental magic of all six major elements including unique access to the -ra tier spells (Black Mages, conversely, had Fire, Fire II, Fire III etc through VI, as well as -ga versions through III) and traits that would give them various advantages in their casting depending on the cardinal direction that they were positioned in relative to the enemy. The majority of the time, they were there for buffs/debuffs though.

So yeah, Conjurer covers what Geomancer has traditionally done throughout the FF series, though with the changes to White Mage being more holy/light magic I'm hoping to see that we get Geomancer at a later point, and preferably as an offensive caster with some small support abilities. Seeing another job with a range of all six astral and umbral elements would be nice.