Maining a job you don't find the class fantasy particularly appealing?

[SeverianLyonesse]

I totally understand where OP is coming from.

The Dark Knight fantasy really doesn't do much for me. Some of the armor is cool, I guess. But I'm one of the few people who don't find the job questlines *amazing*. I find the ability theming to be kind of generic, ill-defined gothy. I never really like "darkness within" shadow clones, they are way overdone in Japanese media and are a pretty shallow, empty concept at this point.

But despite all of that I main DRK (I am a tank and swap between DRK/GNB depending on MT/OT) because the rotation just works for me. It feels the "tankiest" of the tanks, but only due to one ability, TBN. And even outside of combat I default to DRK because they have the best looking swords in the game. But I still often feel weird wearing a bunch of "not very dark" glams on top of the edgelord class. I'm a very bright DRK.

To sum it up, I can relate to OP. I couldn't justify, say, getting a DRK tattoo, because even though I main a DRK, I don't really identify much with the job fantasy at all.

[Arkdra]

So my question is: How many of you main a job where you really enjoy the gameplay but the fantasy for you was a bit "Meh"? And in that case, did that bother you or you just kinda ignored it?

I don't currently, but I did main dragoon back in ARR before NIN came out in 2.3 (which gave way to SAM in 4.0 and may give way to RPR in 6.0). I thought poking things with the spear was cool, but the lnc and drg story sucked, I never cared about the lore or series history of the job, because I always thought it was a trash job with a really boring gameplay gimmick. The AF was cool, but jumps were a real pain back then before the animation got progressively more nerfed over time.

Still, I loved it. It was the most fun job to play in the game at the time to me and that's all that really mattered. That's still kind of true today honestly. While I main SAM, I don't often have typical samurai outfits glam'd. The story sucks (well ok, 50-60 is ok, 60-70 sucks, 80 was fine). I am definitely into the class fantasy of weeb anime nerd cutting down jerks with hanzo steel, but I am still holding a grudge that drg gets more flower petals on chaos thrust than I do on my flower attacks. But that all aside, it's just the most phone job for me to be playing right now.

[_Koneko_]

My main gripe with Ninja in FFXIV is that its base class is Rogue. Thief is just as much of an iconic job in the FF series as Ninja.

I know I know... in FFI Thief upgrades to Ninja, but in other titles they have also both existed as separate identities, including FFXI (the other MMO) and FFVI.

I just wish the Thief/Rogue could have been a separate job.

they may have "upgraded" to ninja but why are 90 % of the weapons are just regular daggers where are all the Wakizashi's and Kunai's outside of the relics you have the upgrade be a ninja but don't provide the iconic weapons wth SE

[Jirah]

As a former MCH main in 5.0-5.25 it bugged how it’s just gadgets 90% of the time and the worst aspects, it being the heat spam and the mundane rotation, being the Gun aspect. Even the augmentation you do to your gun doesn’t involve it. But that was a minor nitpick to the shitshow

Transitioning to BRD it feels like it has the opposite issue, it’s more engaging elements are all arrows where songs and ballads are more on the sidelines. Yes they enhance attacks and all but they can do more of engagement to the gameplay. But a Fun kit is a fun kit regardless, but again we main the jobs mostly for the fantasy. Hopefully BRD gets more impactful songs, like it’s nice to do wardens paean someone’s PARA away but it’s sooo rare and Minne CD is too long for it to be fun.

[kaynide]

If you liked them in another FF game I guess that makes sense. And nothing against people who tried it and liked it.
From a class fantasy point of view though? I just can’t imagine the appeal of bards. A bard sounds like someone who sings the tale of the hero instead of being one.

Yeah; it's janky to be honest. When I think "Bard" I never would have thought "Archer". I'm not really sure why they didn't utilize things like flutes/drums/general musical instruments as the attack/skill animations and use the archer archetype for something else. I guess more in line with FF4 where the bard literally shoots music notes.

It's a lot like how Rogue becomes Ninja. It works, and I guess there is precedent somewhere like FF1, but traditionally these have always been two separate jobs.

[VictorTheed]

My advice is 2 things.

1. Don't a main a job you can't identify with, like see yourself in the class fantasy thinking man I look cool as a PLD, SAM, etc, yeah it might have cool gameplay but if you can't see yourself as a PLD, SAM,etc, then just have that as one of your 2ndary jobs, cause it's boring if only play one job.

2. You don't have to have a main, find a collection of jobs u enjoy for whatever reason and play them, each new gear cycle, which is usually 2 patches, you can tombstone gear PLD this time or SAM in the next cycle, etc, plus the HQ crafted gear will do u just fine in this game.

I don't raid so maybe things are different in that atmosphere but from what I hear people alot of times choose a role and bring one of those jobs in that role, but other then raiding just find u a collection of jobs u enjoy or learn to make compromises.

[Gemina]

I wasn't sure how to answer this question until I read another person's comment about SMN. That would be the job that best qualifies to answer OPs question. My SMN is 80 because my SCH is 80. Oddly enough though, I actually decided to progress the main story to ShB as a SMN. I felt that a caster was a fitting opposition to Emet for our final clash, and since I did not have a 80 BLM, I went with my SMN. I also wanted to play around with demi Bahamut and Phoenix.

Nothing about SMN appeals to me though. The aesthetic, the lore, the gameplay, even the EW showcase. None of it grabs me. My short time playing it this expansion reaffirmed that it is the job I have the least affinity with. I still keep it geared though. It is currently i520 unmelded.

As for NIN. I am a big fan of western pop culture, accurate eastern representation, and anime versions of ninja; so they could've gone any of these directions with it. They've mostly gone the anime route, and are even tripling down on it next expansion. Someone over there is a huge Naruto fan for sure. Makes me wonder which of the God abilities granted by the Rinnegan they could give to NIN.

[Liam_Harper]

I main AST and have no interest in the class fantasy or Astrology in general. It's simply the best healer with the most enjoyable gameplay from the current 3 options. That's more than enough for me.

On the other hand, I love the class fantasy of DRK and don't enjoy the class at all because the gameplay just isn't fun.

[MoofiaBossVal]

When I tank, I play Gunbreaker, as it is the only tank job that has an actually fun rotation. Unfortunately, I don't like the aesthetic. It would have been cool if I could act like Squall, a skilled swordsman from FF8, almost like a fencer. But in FFXIV, Gunbreaker is a brute who holds his weapon behind his back, constantly overswings, and has to rely on explosions that obfuscate my character rather than any finesse or precision.

White Mage is the only healer job I find tolerable. I liked the shaman aesthetic early on when tossed rocks at enemies or cast wind spells, but then in ShB your spells are replaced by bland priest looking spells. Fortunately Sage is coming out which has a cool aesthetic and seems to have fun Mistweaver Monk gameplay from WoW.

Conversely, I liked the aesthetic of Dragoon, but I hate the positionals and they clash with the aesthetic IMO. Moving back and forth while carrying that huge weapon doesn't feel good. Feels more natural when wielding a smaller, lighter weapon like a katana.

I just wish the Thief/Rogue could have been a separate job.

Archer and Bard should have also been separate jobs as well. The end result is that you neither feel like a skilled bowmen, nor like a bard (ie Ministrels from LotRO), but instead like some guy who flicks a bow to send out a barrage of particle effects, and it feels very bland and forgettable.

I can definitely feel this with Paladin but sort of in reverse. I've always loved the concept of paladins, and I've always been a fan of sword and board "styles," but I just can't get into the way paladin's play. The low level play actually felt pretty good but once you start getting into your magic phase it just lost me. Something about that just feels so clunky and, frankly, ugly to me visually. I love the way it looks in the EW job trailer now but I just don't know if it will "feel" better to me. Right now if I tank, I much prefer gunbreaker (which, ironically, I love the feel of playing but just like but not love the visuals of).

So, yeah, love the concept of Paladin but don't really like the way FF14 Paladin feels to actually play.

Coming from WoW, paladins in FFXIV feel very... bland. They don't feel like a powerful melee/magic hybrid. They feel like they have a dozen different variations of swinging a sword that hits like a wet noodle, and they can throw out a ranged spell that you'll hardly ever use and it isn't very impressive either. Only thing really memorable about paladin are the glassy angel wings that were borrowed from GW2's Guardian.

Who actually wants to be a bard? Someone will tell me they do, but who?

If you liked them in another FF game I guess that makes sense. And nothing against people who tried it and liked it.
From a class fantasy point of view though? I just can’t imagine the appeal of bards. A bard sounds like someone who sings the tale of the hero instead of being one.

Ministrels really fit well into LotRO. LotRO leans into the mythic feel of the setting, of larger than life heroes who inspired others and uplifting songs, and terrifying foes. Instead of "health", you have "morale". Standing near magically powerful heroes like Gandalf or Aragorn empowers and soothes you. Being near supernatural monsters like Balrogs or Nazgul terrifies you and causes screen effects to happen. There is a lot of singing in Tolkien. So when the heroes are desperately holding off the minions of evil, and you have a Bard singing music in the back to uplift their spirits, it ends up working well.

Ofcourse, LotRO isn't a setting where you casually fling around anime superpowers with every attack like in FFXIV or WoW. It's mostly people just mundanely firing their bows or thrusting their spears. So the shouts and the songs stand out more. I can't imagine that implementation ever working in FFXIV; the setting and aesthetics are too different. A "bard" in FFXIV would probably be closer to Lang Wu Yao from Thunderbolt Fantasy, ie a guy who flicks his talking lute to send out magical blades, or flicks his lute to create superpowerful sound waves that send mobs back.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I may pick up RPR for my raid group if its good enough, I'm not thrilled with its presentation, but eh. I have the most flexibility in my group in terms of jobs I can play so....