Beastmaster speculation.... some spoilers possible....

[WiccaP]

Ive been extremely excited about Beastmaster since its announcement. And unless Ive missed it, they have spoken vary little about it, and if I have please let me know.

My husband and I have been taking DT slowly and last night we were doing msq you Heritage Found, and did the quest that introduces us to Strika and how the head devices work.

My immediate thought during the conversation after the Strika fight scene, was that this could be a teaser for how Beast will work. They discussed the use of animal souls and how it would affect the user.

So my current speculation is, that as a Beastmaster, we are going to hunt enemies that give specific souls that are then mixed to create abilities. It would be an interesting take on the job and a way to incorporate it without it being a pokemon knockoff. It would still allow for the same idea as the Bluemage book.

Does anyone have any other ideas or what you think about my theory?

[W00by]

It would certainly be interesting to go with the soul imbuing mechanic, but (SPOILERS FOR ANYONE NOT FINISHED WITH THE DAWNTRAIL 7.0 MSQ AND THE FIRST ARCADION TIER)

The story seems firmly in the camp that using Souls to fight is a bad thing, especially via regulators. If they found another way to do it, it could be a grand idea, but our character has taken an ethical stand against regulator use and the use of souls for energy in combat.

I wonder what weapon it's going to use! Since FFXIV is tied to "main-hand = class," it's gotta have one. I'm really excited to learn! Any theories for that kind of thing?

[Aco505]

If that was the case instead of taming pets, my interest for the job would just plummet. I know FFXIV isn't good with pets but I'm trying to be hopeful, even if some of the beasts work more like SMN summons.

[Azebra]

Thats an interesting thought, but i think as Wooby said it seems storywise they've decisively made the WoL against utilizing souls for their own gain, for obvious reasons if you've played the Archadion quests.

Personally my hope for it is that it'll be related to one of the sidequests in Xak'Tural (which spoilers if you care about literally one sidequest in that area) because there are individuals there that train beasts to fight alongside them. I imagine it'll still be a pet job so they can reuse animal assets they've already made in some way.

Since the game has had a rocky history with actually commanding pets I wonder if they'll take a route more like DRK's Fray or Machnists Mech (idk what the name of it is) where they just act independently, and maybe the player's gameplay side of it is choosing which are active at the same time or something, while only giving direct commands for big burst attacks

As for a weapon, honestly I can't think of anything either, my first thought was a whip, but that just seems cruel more than anything. Maybe a magic cattle prod or lasso lol.

[Aco505]

On the other hand, the thought of assuming an animal/beast form could be the foundation of a future druid-like job. I just don't want it to be part of beastmaster itself.

[WeakestZenosEnjoyer]

Beastmaster should absolutely be the pet job they're too cowardly to put into normal content, not limited Summoner with a beast gimmick,

it would also massively step on Blue's ground, since having abilities based on the monsters you've slain is literally already their thing

[Chasingstars]

Beastmaster needs to differentiate itself from blue mage. Not just from gameplay, but job fantasy and lore. As blue mage, in FFXIV, currently is the druidy-shaman who learns from and reveres nature, going out on hunts deemed as sacred as a rite of passage and in order for to expand ones techniques and therefore be more spiritually connected to natural world. (That explanation is a mix of the available blue mage lore)

The best way for beastmaster to be different from blue mage is to utilize pets and therefore show a mastery over commanding the very animals and monsters. As this would also be reminiscent of old final fantasy games where the point was to catch creatures and then use them later. It should

[Ramiee]

I hope it's very different from blue mage but I'm not holding my breath. When it comes to XIV they don't like new systems, look at deep dungeons all the dungeons are basically the same at but at different levels. I wouldn't be surprised if they copied blue mage and made it physical themed without magic.
Here's hoping it's actually more related to MMO hunter where you tame pets mixed with Pokémon/pet battles.

[WiccaP]

I'd be fine with a style based off pokemon and have disagreed with ff14s appeared hatred of pet jobs. I miss carbuncle actually doing things and as a mch main I miss the old turret system. Other games have successfully implemented pet classes. I just thought it would be an interesting and somewhat unexpected way of doing it.

[Raikai]

I think I'll stick with my original take:

BST is a striking job wielding a whip, and with a very basic dps/survival innate action kit and the most 'special' of their actions come with their unique tamed pets. Over-world content is mostly dungeons where you need to go solo and tame the monsters there making up for an unique collection system. They can still team up with other limited jobs for duties, but they can only tame solo.

The main entice of the job, though, is competing in a BST only tournament where you actually control the pets themselves in an arena. Unlike Blue Mage's Masked Carnivale, this one is a PVP feature against other players in teams of 1x1, 2x2 or 3x3.