Beastmaster: Can it work?

[ty_taurus]

A fringe idea I've been warming up to would be to introduce a Rinoa-inspired physical ranged Beastmaster into the game with her pinwheel as a weapon and a "Pet" that doesn't act on their own, but rather reacts to your actions or has specific actions that are ultimately stemming from you. You can see this in Angelo's gameplay a little in this trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-qrbXF-fKM

[Brixy]

Beastmaster could definitely work. How well it would work though depends on the chosen limitation they put on the job itself. Are we talking about a full blown pokemon master where we can tame everything as a pet? That would most likely have to be a limited job, which I honestly wouldn't like to see more of. Would that version of BST be fun to play? Absolutely! Limited jobs leave more to be desired though since they can't be used in relative content. What they could do is impliment a "base" set of skills that all pets could work off of and allow the BST to capture a chosen pet for those attacks to use their animations for. Basically all pets would do the same damage and same attacks, the only thing that would differ is how they looked. Option B would be something similar to SMN or RPR where you summon temp pets and they do their thing then disappear. Not exactly what a beastmaster should feel like, but it would give them options to add different pets into our attacks. Think of something like GNB's continuation string, but each one adds a different pet for a zoo barage lol.

BST is too big of an idea to get a justified version that we all want to see. Ideally, having multiple pets for different roles of play is probably what a lot of people want. The way FFXIV is balanced wouldn't really work with that sort of base without a ton of careful thought put into the job though. I'd love nothing more to have a job added with fun and flexability. Have 1 pet that works as a pure DPS with the BST alongside them, 1 pet that weakens your personal damage output but buffs someone else like a DNC for example, and maybe 1 pet that acts like a caster with slow attacks, but big damage. They could also try something similar to BRD where you have multiple pets for a set amount of time like song phases.

[MagiusNecros]

Beastmaster is more likely to take lessons from Lyon Helsos and become a 5th Tank class. Probably.

[Duskane]

I think Beast master could just be a normal job and a pet class
nothing about beast master screams limited job to me anyway

yes SMN and SCH still have there issues but they are plagued with 2.0 coding so most certainly a harder issue to fix
but with how far game has come they could make a reasonable and Functional pet AI.

[Raikai]

To everyone wishing that BST is a regular job "pet class", the game needs to have its code/platform improved before they add a job fully dedicated to control a second or third separate entities in combat.

The SCH fairy is better now in EW, but could you imagine how frustrating it would be if 80% of the SCH's actions would happen issuing commands to it?

Said that, I'm not sure if they have something to improve that structure in their radar though, else why would the SMN's base carbuncle would end like it is today? Not even a "glorified dot" anymore, it just stays idle all the time. Actually it does something: makes Radiant Aegis usage less reliable.

Then they could make it work like the RPR avatar, but this would fulfill the desire of the "pet class"? Whose premise seems to be micromanaging a separate entity. Plus it would be cool to have yet another job very similar in mechanics to SMN or RPR?

I'm not opposed to the idea of BST being a limited job focused solely on pet x pet combat, however if they choose to do that they must ensure that they create "endgame" content that would have people engaged. To me the only flawed aspect of BLU implementation is how its endgame activities bear little to no incentive to the general playerbase.

[aveyond-dreams]

To everyone wishing that BST is a regular job "pet class", the game needs to have its code/platform improved before they add a job fully dedicated to control a second or third separate entities in combat.

The SCH fairy is better now in EW, but could you imagine how frustrating it would be if 80% of the SCH's actions would happen issuing commands to it?

Said that, I'm not sure if they have something to improve that structure in their radar though, else why would the SMN's base carbuncle would end like it is today? Not even a "glorified dot" anymore, it just stays idle all the time. Actually it does something: makes Radiant Aegis usage less reliable.

Then they could make it work like the RPR avatar, but this would fulfill the desire of the "pet class"? Whose premise seems to be micromanaging a separate entity. Plus it would be cool to have yet another job very similar in mechanics to SMN or RPR?

I'm not opposed to the idea of BST being a limited job focused solely on pet x pet combat, however if they choose to do that they must ensure that they create "endgame" content that would have people engaged. To me the only flawed aspect of BLU implementation is how its endgame activities bear little to no incentive to the general playerbase.

I just want to see a hunter class with (preferably) a wolf/bear/tiger/any "normal" animal that follows-up my attacks or does its own thing. I am not asking for another micromanagement job. New SMN or RPR style would be perfect from a functional perspective, and as long as its not limited I can actually justify investing time into it since I can use it in the current content I want to do and not stuff I already beat years ago and already got all the rewards from.

[SeverianLyonesse]

I just want to see a hunter class with (preferably) a wolf/bear/tiger/any "normal" animal that follows-up my attacks or does its own thing. I am not asking for another micromanagement job. New SMN or RPR style would be perfect from a functional perspective, and as long as its not limited I can actually justify investing time into it since I can use it in the current content I want to do and not stuff I already beat years ago and already got all the rewards from.

What you want is a wolf/bear/tiger companion then. We already have the system in place for that waiting to be fleshed out.

The hunter class could still be developed completely independent of the companion system with its own agency and direct appeal (as opposed to heavily relying on a pet element), and then you could have both your hunter fantasy and your animal companion(s).

I am still irked that people propose stuff like this as if the game doesn't already have several duplicative systems in place that could be expanded instead of making even more parasitic bloat.

[WiccaP]

Yes, we already have the companion system. SO using that as a base model, it wouldn't be that far of a stretch to create a job that revolves around and expands on its premise. I would make it a melee job that utilizes whip(like in previous games) and shared gear with NIN and use a pretty standard combo rotation, and its OGCDs could mainly be buffs to your "pet". Have the Job quests revolve around collecting beasts and limit the number of beasts you can get. Maybe have like 3 or 4 outside of starting beast that you can collect and can choose to use. I would personally go for the beasts that are very iconic in FF such as a mini malboro or Cactaur. Or you could potentially create a "glamour" system for the beast, where its 1 beast that you can make appear to be a select number of looks. While creating a potential item catagory for the online store, like the character clothing sets. Granted I dont know the coding side of things, but given that theres already a functioning base model in game and several examples of MMO's utilizing the concept effectively, it stands to reason that the job is a viable and functional option.

[aveyond-dreams]

You have not understood me. I do not want a chocobo companion that I can only use in the overworld. I want a crossbow and a normal-looking animal that does attacks with me as I am playing with other people in the content of my choice.

[SeverianLyonesse]

You have not understood me. I do not want a chocobo companion that I can only use in the overworld. I want a crossbow and a normal-looking animal that does attacks with me as I am playing with other people in the content of my choice.

So you want a pet job in a game that can't do pet jobs. And even if it could be implemented would likely fall somewhere between an inept fairy, a sluggish, inconsistent DoT shadow-clone, or a mousefox that stands there doing nothing. So purely aesthetic and probably mechanically disappointing if not outright detrimental. And if not to you, then certainly to your 8-man trial party because of either visual clutter or inconsistent DPS.

And also you would rather have some sort of fourth kind of animal sidekick system: on top of mounts, minions, and companions. Instead of just adjusting the already perfectly functional companion system to be available in duties.

AND you would want to limit the availability of having a wolf/bear/tiger companion tied to a specific weapon, probably something boring like two axes or a crossbow. So everytime I want to have a tiger, I need to *put away* my greataxe/claymore/scythe/claws/longbow (or any other weapon, not just "feral" weapons), and all the fun I am having with those weapons, just to have my tiger instead of a chocobo fighting next to me while I passively stand on the sidelines Pokemon mastering or maybe do some weak 1-2-3 combos that feel ripped straight from better melee/pranged jobs. I also get to enjoy the sheer awkwardness of having both a chocobo and an animal companion out at the same time and wonder why the animal world is divided into a caste system.

No thanks. To have the development resources for an entire job be put into this just to have so many downers associated with it is an utter waste. If that is your job fantasy, go play Guild Wars 2 which just is a better natural fit for that kind of job archetype. It would be just more parasitic, redundant bloat in FFXIV.