Tired of my Dragoon looking like she got the boot from the Tanks Only Society

[TeraRamis]

This is a long-term nit that I'm picking, and obviously nothing is going to fix this overnight.

However, simply put: I'm tired of maiming gear - particularly high-end maiming gear (like pretty much all the raiding gear) - being either a lazy recolor or a cheap remodel (like, SE cut off the arms on a coat, or something) of the fending armor. As just one example of this, the Ivalician Royal Knights armor is just a darker palette-swap of the fending Ivalician Holy Knight's armor... which is, itself, Agrias' (a Holy Knight) gear:



And, frankly, cool as Agrias was... she wasn't a dragoon.

Adding to this, while Kain from FFIV was definitely a heavily-armored dragoon, he isn't the only example of the class to exist in Final Fantasy - Freya Crescent, from FFIX (the, uh, Burmecian girl) - basically wore no heavy armor at all. Both the male and female dragoons from FFT had some armor, but half of their gear looks like it was leather (or, in the case of a girl, a boobs-high dress [no, I am not exaggerating]).

Because a lot of the other jobs that share drops make a lot of sense (say, SAM/MNK on the striking, or BRD/MCH on aiming), the crossovers appearances for their respective gear are pretty sensible - you wind up with Samurais who look far eastern; Bards who look like they're wearing leather. But Maiming gear always seems to be a plate cast-off, and, as a result, Dragoons really lack much distinct flavor in their attire... outside the MSQ class sets, which all seem to be Kain-derived (so, more plate look-alikes).

All I'm saying is: this is an iconic job - as iconic a 'Final Fantasy' role is you have in FFXIV. And it should have a look and style all its own, rather than constantly borrowing cheap recolors from four other jobs that share gear, or a single - albeit well-known, but not the only Dragoon out there - archetype from the series' past.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

DRGs have higher physical defense than other jobs, and they could kind of tank and wear full plate in 1.0.

Also, scouting tends to be a copy of aiming or striking. Mnk and Sam share appearances while being vastly different thematically. Healer/casters share gear appearances.


Your FFT DRG is also covered in plate except where the cloth is, but the cloth could simply be hiding more plate... It's not very clear imo.

[TeraRamis]

DRGs have higher physical defense than other jobs, and they could kind of tank and wear full plate in 1.0.

Also, scouting tends to be a copy of aiming or striking. Mnk and Sam share appearances while being vastly different thematically. Healer/casters share gear appearances.

I don't really feel like monk/sam are that different thematically at all, provided that your given monk is of the eastern variety.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I don't really feel like monk/sam are that different thematically at all, provided that your given monk is of the eastern variety.

And DRG is a heavy armor job. Thematically tank gear fits it.

[Zsolen]

Paladins, Dark Knights, and Dragoons are all knights. Having similar armor between them is not crazy. Reaper may change that though.

That being said, variety would be nice sometimes.

[TTiscancer]

Dragoons have always been heavily armored in FF games. I mean, did you ever watch the Heavensward trailer?

The first appearance of a Dragoon was in FF2 and he was armored from head to toe.

[SnowVix]

List of heavy armored dragoons in other FFs
Ricard (FF2)
Dragoon job (FF3)
Kain (FF4)
Dragoon job (FF5)
Dragoon job (FF11)
Lightning garb (Lightning Returns)
Dragoon job (FF14)
Bangaa-exclusive job (FFTA & FFTA2)
Barbara & Dragoon job (Dimensions)

FF games where they are not
Edgar/Mog (FF6 - yes, a stretch, but both can equip spears and the accessory which gives access to jump does extra damage if the user has a spear)
Cid Highwind (FF7)
Freya (FF9)
Kihmari (FF10 - giving this one as well because lancet reappears as a Dragoon ability in 11 and his first overdrive is jump)

So yeah, Dragoon is iconically a heavily armored class.

Plus the dragoons of real life from which they took their name were armored infantry who ride into battle on horseback but fight on foot with blunderbusses called "dragons".

[Barachim]

I can forgive it most of times, but it really annoyed me during the Ivalice Arc. I was excited thinking I could run around dressed like a Final Fantasy Tactics Lancer. Instead we got nothing but Tank hand-me-downs.

I still can't believe we missed out on the chance to get this armor set in the game.

[ICountFrom0]

This isn't always up to date

https://imgur.com/a/9EgLj

but it gives quite a few of the dragoon looks

Yes, quite a few sets are clearly tank hand me downs.

On the other hand



There's some very iconic drg sets in there.

On the other, other hand

[TeraRamis]

List of heavy armored dragoons in other FFs
Ricard (FF2)
Dragoon job (FF3)
Kain (FF4)
Dragoon job (FF5)
Dragoon job (FF11)
Lightning garb (Lightning Returns)
Dragoon job (FF14)
Bangaa-exclusive job (FFTA & FFTA2)
Barbara & Dragoon job (Dimensions)

FF games where they are not
Edgar/Mog (FF6 - yes, a stretch, but both can equip spears and the accessory which gives access to jump does extra damage if the user has a spear)
Cid Highwind (FF7)
Freya (FF9)
Kihmari (FF10 - giving this one as well because lancet reappears as a Dragoon ability in 11 and his first overdrive is jump)

So yeah, Dragoon is iconically a heavily armored class.

Plus the dragoons of real life from which they took their name were armored infantry who ride into battle on horseback but fight on foot with blunderbusses called "dragons".

You're conflating dragoons with cuirassiers. While IRL dragoons did take their name from the blunderbuss and dismounted to fight, they were generally lightly armored (they were, in fact, considered light cavalry). Cuirassiers were the pistol/sword-equipped, plate-armor-wearing heavy cavalry of the Napoleonic Wars.

If anything, Dragoons of FF have the most in common - unsurprisingly - with lancers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancer (which were also light cav).