What classes/jobs would an average Garlean be capable of performing? [spoilers]

[NegativeS]

Hark, children, and lend thine ears unto a post of middling purpose and extensive subjectivity, whose existence only serves to clog the forum and sate mine own curiosity on a topic none asked about.

It has been stated that most Garleans are wholly unable to manipulate aether, for reasons. This is likely the main reason why we haven't had them playable, as most jobs either explicitly or implicatively manipulate aether in the majority of their actions.

The thing is, 'manipulating aether' isn't super well defined in this context. All living things are made of 'usable' aether (or dynamis, but I think I can safely assume there aren't any Meteions walking around Garlemald), but is manipulating it or environmental aether an active or a passive process? Would absorbing aether from food be considered manipulating it? What about wielding another being's aether in the case of the Reaper?

Because it's a Sunday morning and I'm dead-bored of levelling jobs, I figured it might be a fun thought excersize to go through all the jobs and try to reason whether or not a Garlean would be able to perform them in any meaningful capacity.

Note that this is for pure-blooded Garleans and not just any member of the (now-defunct) empire, as the empire was known to conscript those of other races from conquered territories who could manipulate aether (and have been showcased doing so many times).

Feel free to let me know if you disagree with any of these.

Tier 0: Entirely Incapable
Jobs in this tier are entirely based around manipulating environmental aether, and no pure-blooded Garlean would be capable of performing them in any capacity reminiscent of the real job. Kind of obviously, this includes most DoM jobs.

• Dark Knight

A standout in this tier, a Dark Knight's abilities from the very start seem to harness their weird umbral power to enhance their strikes, visible even in the Lv. 1 skill Hard Slash. Perhaps if every Garlean had a Fray to evoke their deepest emotions, they might be able to squeeze something out subconsciously, but an average Garlean picking up a greatsword would probably be closer to a neutered Warrior than anything else.

• Astrologian
• Black Mage
• Blue Mage
• Pictomancer
• Summoner
• White Mage

For obvious reasons.

[NegativeS]

Tier 1: Barely Capable
Jobs in this tier might be adoptable by a Garlean, but they wouldn't get very far before encountering a major roadblock.

• Monk

You can punch, and you can change your stance, but what happens when your trainer tells you to meditate and open your Chakras at Lv. 15? If they're aetheric in nature, would a Garlean be able to manage their ability to manipulate aether by opening them? What even is a Chakra in the context of Final Fantasy? I'm going to err on the side of "no" for Garleans.

• Paladin

Any Gladiator can swing a sword, but there's something very fundamental to being an actual Paladin (namely, their holy magic, which can be assumed to augment their abilities) that would be beyond the godless, aetheric-less Garleans. Learning Riot Blade at Lv. 4 would be awkward considering a Garlean has no MP to restore, and they would probably lose all their momentum at Lv. 30 with Spirits Within.

• Red Mage

Despite being a mage, 2 of RDM's first 10 learned abilities are actually basic weapon attacks with their rapier. Being their unenchanted versions, it might not be too far out of the realm of imagination for a Garlean to wield such a sword... but good luck getting a Jolt off.

• Sage

Sage nouliths are odd, because it's a bit difficult for me to tell if they are a conduit for the Sage's abilities, or if they are independently manipulating aether while the Sage commands them. Either way, a Garlean would likely not get far, as while they might be able to get off a Dosis by simply commanding the nouliths to do it, anything beyond that would require too much knowledge and sense of aetherology.

• Scholar

If I'm recalling the Scholar job quests correctly, Eos just kind of appears when the WoL picks up the job stone, and isn't explicitly summoned by them. So, assuming she can take verbal commands, a full-power Eos would be capable of doing some healing alongside a Garlean handler, but nowhere near enough to heal in any decent capacity.

[NegativeS]

Tier 2: Decently Capable
If you saw a low-level Garlean using a class/job from this tier, you'd probably be able to accurately peg what class/job they were using. However, similarly to last tier, they'd hit a pretty big roadblock at a certain point, but not before actually getting a rotation under their belt.

• Bard

The placement of Bard on this list mainly has to do with the nature of how their songs work. A fantasy Bard in the more classical sense might buff their allies through the simple act of inspiration through their music, which gives them a lot of leeway in how far in their class they might be able to go. Most Archer abilities boil down to different ways of shooting an arrow, and I'm sure any Garlean would be able to inspire through song given enough practice. But when you get to having said songs directly alter your rotation, things start to get a little muddy. Also, Windbite lulz

• Dancer

In all honesty, I didn't know where to place Dancer. The flamboyancy of their kit lends itself to both being mundane enough and also wildly aetheromatic. Conservatively (e.g. "How do you get the chakrams to come back to you without aether?) they'd be dead in the water in Tier 0. Liberally (e.g. Dancing makes you do more damage by pumping you up, and you somehow carry an infinite amount of fans and feathers on your person), they could be in Tier 3 or 4. As a tradeoff, they go here.

• Dragoon

The majority of Lancer abilities up to Lv. 45 are just different ways of stabbing someone with a spear. However, as Estinien tells us, most of a Dragoon's strength comes from the aether of the Eye of Nidhogg (or some secret second thing after the events of Heavensward), and... well, there you go.

• Ninja

Ignoring Shade Shift at Lv 2., you can stab, slash, and mug until your arms fall off. Then you're expected to become Naruto at Lv. 30 and things get a bit complicated. Poor Thancred had to abandon more than you might think...

• Warrior

A lot of Warrior abilities are just either swinging the axe (Heavy Swing, Maim, Overpower, Tomahawk, Mythril Tempest...) or being built different in fun and unique ways (Berserk, Infuriate, Equilibrium). Because these abilities are suggested (at least in the Warrior job questline) to be tied to one's emotion, one could assume that the more aetheric Warrior abilities just happen, the same way absorbing aether from food just happens. A Garlean Marauder might be able to tank up to Darkhold and live to tell the tale. Things start to fall apart pretty quickly after that, though.

• Viper

Don't know a ton about the Viper or its abilities, but it can be assumed that while one would be able to hack and slash with swords, a big glowing dual-blade would be beyond the ken of the average Garlean.

[NegativeS]

Tier 4: Fully Capable, Given The Right Circumstances
With a few minor changes to how the class works, or given extraordinary circumstances, a Garlean would be capable of performing this job to its fullest.

• Machinist

Everything with Machinist weighs on the aetherotransformer, the root of the class. It is stated that it is "a device which converts the wearer's innate mana into the lightning-aspected energy". Now, if this is a passive act and doesn't require the Machinist to manually funnel their aether into the device, then boom, Garlean Machinists for days. One might also be able to handwave creating a ceruleum aetherotransformer analogue, as is the case for most magitek. Then, we just have to assume that every Machinist action solely uses the aetherotransformer with no manipulation from the Machinist themselves, and you're set.

• Samurai

We see Zenos, a Garlean pureblood, adopt something that resembles the Samurai job. However, it is implied that his use of this job mainly comes from the very shiny blades he has attached to his hip at all times, which have unique aether-manipulating abilities inherent in them. There you go! Find the right sword, and you too can be a Mentor Roulette weeb.


Tier 4: Fully Capable
The two jobs in this tier have full lore reasons for being able to be used by the aetherically-stunted.

• Gunbreaker

Several times in the MSQ, we see Garleans use something akin to a gunblade, though it's never entirely confirmed if this is the same technology used by the Hrothgar that eventually became the WoL's job. Thankfully, we have Thancred. After his misadventures with Lahabrea and Y'shtola's funny spell, Thancred is no longer capable of manipulating aether. However, this does not stop him from adopting a gunblade in Shadowbringers, capable enough in the job to fully tank or DPS alongside the WoL. He does have to get his cartridges from an outside source (as opposed to the WoL making them by hand, I guess?), but considering there are numerous Garlean machinations capable of condensing aether, this wouldn't be too far of a stretch.

• Reaper

The entire basis of the Reaper's lore is that Garleans looked to voidsent to manipulate aether where they were not able to. Again, Zenos is the standout example of this, though he only became a Reaper after his fusion with Shinryu, so he probably isn't only using Zero. Nevertheless, the lore confirms that Garleans can be Reapers.

[MikkoAkure]

All classes manipulate aether to a certain extent except for Reaper and the Gunbreaker who can do it if they have a friend. Garlean gunblades are specifically something entirely different than Bozjan gunblades and are a mockery of theirs because Bozjan gunblades don't actually shoot bullets.

Almost every single job ability is imbued with aether and people even use aether for hitting things harder or lifting things heavier than they should normally be able to do so.

As for Machinist, the Machinist is calling forth the aether stored in their transformer to do things so while the conversion may be passive, the use of it isn't necessarily so.


That all said, I would like to see more Garleans show up randomly in stories now that they no longer have to be a traitor to be a good guy and it would be nice to see a questline that's a Garlean trying multiple different jobs like Tataru.

[Daralii]

All classes manipulate aether to a certain extent except for Reaper and the Gunbreaker who can do it if they have a friend. Garlean gunblades are specifically something entirely different than Bozjan gunblades and are a mockery of theirs because Bozjan gunblades don't actually shoot bullets.

Almost every single job ability is imbued with aether and people even use aether for hitting things harder or lifting things heavier than they should normally be able to do so.

As for Machinist, the Machinist is calling forth the aether stored in their transformer to do things so while the conversion may be passive, the use of it isn't necessarily so.


That all said, I would like to see more Garleans show up randomly in stories now that they no longer have to be a traitor to be a good guy and it would be nice to see a questline that's a Garlean trying multiple different jobs like Tataru.

There's probably still enough of a stigma surrounding them, especially in places like southern Ilsabard, that they'd stay undercover like Lucia or the refugees in the RPR quests. I don't think many apart from Nero would be willing to walk around with their third eye uncovered.

[Asdif_Laoeg]

I would call Ninja Tier 3.5. The reason is in the Ninja Questline we fight against Garlean Ninjas that use Abilities that mimic the Ninja Mudra Abilities like Katon.

[WantlessYoYo]

Dragoon uses aether for it's jumps and relieve their falls to begin with, Nidho eye is not an aether battery we are taking it from, which is gone after SB btw so don't know how it works, it resonates with us giving us access to said abilities, but it's nothing THAT direct, and even then Garleans issue is aether manipulation to begin with

On DT trailer you see Estinien use an enchanted jump with Aether, on SHB trailer Derplander uses it to stay in the air and make several dashes
Tldr: DRG rely on Aether same as the others, mainly to jump, stay on air and relief their falls

So outside of Lancer, Garlean DRG is highly impossible

[mallleable]

I think Bard could be moved into fully capable given the right circumstances tier. Garleans very likely have access to audio recording, and engineering technologies, and they absolutely have access to radio broadcasting. A magitek bard could play their music through a portable cerulium powered amplifier that charges the soundwaves with aether, and be just as capable. They also likely have access to composite material technologies to allow them to make extremely high draw weight compound bows so the archery bit is also covered.

[Sacae]

A Garlean Bard class with a Magitek boombox would be amazing.