Let's talk Magitek

[Endemerrin]

I know I'm probably not alone in the love of Magitek, so I figured it might be worth it to get a conversation going here on the subject in hopes of maybe having some questions answered on the subject.

I know I personally have a whole load of questions that I'd love to see answered. Magitek has always been one of my favorite concepts in the Final Fantasy series, and FFXIV's iteration is no different. I'm eager to learn more! (And absolutely stoked for the Magitek Armor. Been drooling over than since they first announced it. Goodbye Chocobo~)

We know Magitek runs off Ceruleum, but is there something else to the equation that gives it such potency? Is it simply machinery that happens to be powered by a fuel source with a magical composition? Or is there another element to the equation that makes it such a destructive and powerful form of technology?

Now, we also know that Magitek is an important part of every day life in Garlemald, as put by Fernehalwes -

Magitek is the foundation of their civilization and the main reason behind their quick rise to power. Though most of the technology is developed by and for the military, many of the inventions are reworked for civic/public use.

What kind of technology does this really entail? Does Garlemald have both it's research and engineering divisions within the military, as well as civil engineers that maintain it's cities?

Which brings another question. What do Garlean cities look like? Are they entirely fused with Magitek? are they something akin to giant sprawling metropolises? Or are they small cities not unlike Eorzean towns, but with a sort of "Magitek" accent to them?

Above all else, my absolute favorite idea that falls in line with Magitek is in regards to different fields. Does Magitek have different applications? For example, is there a field of study that focuses on what might be considered bio-magitek? The fusion of man and machine?



I know there's always been rumors abound on this one. People speculating that Van Baelsar or Van Darnus may have had modifications done to their respective bodies.

Does this technology really exist? If it does, to what extent does it really go? For example, I like to run with the idea that my own character has a Magitek prosthesis. Is that within the realm of possibility? If so, is it something that military routinely enhances their elite soldiers and leaders with?

Maybe something like what Barret had in Advent Children?

[Naria]

A Magitek job would be cool, although I always thought that would be Arcanist. Not that I'm upset about them being summoner/evoker. A book super weapon will be awesome.

[Celia]

If I had to speculate I would say that the Garlean Ultima Weapon would be some sort of fusion of man and machina.

[Endemerrin]

A Magitek job would be cool, although I always thought that would be Arcanist. Not that I'm upset about them being summoner/evoker. A book super weapon will be awesome.

I would be all over an Engineer class/job. Gunblade as it's main weapon. Make it some sort of mixed ranged/melee damage dealing class. Grenades and other Magitek trinkets for debuffs or snares.

Yes please.

[NoloeTazier]

I'd say Magitek is basically the Garlean's answer to Magic. Since it's stated the Garleans themselves cannot use magic, they go around this with the ability to use Magitek. As far as we know there's no real side-effects to it, but what happens to those Legatus once they dawn the armor and infuse themselves with the Magitek? As far as Magitek weaponry like the Mounts we see from the CS, they're weaponry that have no feelings and merely do their job. They can use the Magitek in war and not have to worry about the side-effects that come with a person killing a person...which is probably why they opted to use brainwashed Ala Mhigans and Magitek Armor for most of the dirty work vs the 3 City-States.

It all comes down to transforming Aether into Ceruleum. The Garleans use it for weaponry, the people of Eorzea mostly use it to power the Airships.

[Endemerrin]

Well, it was mentioned that Garleans were extremely inept at using magic, not that they can't period. I don't want to use Van Darnus as an example, since near the end he was basically being fed power by Dalamud. However, Bahamut's corruption didn't appear to have completely taken root when you first encounter him in the story after defeating Ifrit. He uses some sort of aether-based magic and it ends up being extremely potent. But as a whole, you're right with Garleans having resorted to Magitek because they lacked the ability to grasp magic to the extent the other nations could.

I'm not so sure if Darnus and Baelsar were necessarily fused with their armor, rather it simply had Magitek on it. The question of whether or not they themselves (not their armor) had Magitek infusions/prosthetics is another topic entirely.

Your post did stir up another question, though. How exactly do their Vanguards and Juggernauts function? While the Juggernauts are big enough to be piloted, the Vanguards aren't. Are they remotely controlled? Or has Garlemald managed to successfully integrate AI into Magitek?

[Enkidoh]

Well, it's stated on the new ARR website that the Vanguards are actually autonomous, meaning either they're piloted by remote control (through a linkpearl signal?), or, most interestingly, they're actually run using some kind of AI. In any event, they're basically robots:

The main duty of the autonomous vanguard is to use its cermet drills to bore through castle gates and defensive bulwarks. True to its name, the vanguard is also employed as an advance troop unit, as well as fulfilling the role of base sentinel by destroying enemy siege weaponry.

As for the Juggernauts, it's unclear whether they're autonomous too, although I'm liable to think they're controlled by an actual pilot (during the original opening when Derplander wakes up on the back of one of them you can see what looks like an entrance door and porthole window behind him, suggesting some kind of cockpit). Curiously for their size though, it's actually stated that they can fit a 'whole squad of soldiers within them' - a little far fetched to be honest:

This flying magitek machine consists of an upper cylindrical section for aerial propulsion and a lower bipedal section for terrestrial locomotion. The juggernaut can transport an entire squad of soldiers, and is often used to land troops in enemy terrain.

[Leonesaurus]

I remember talking with a couple friends about a made-up engineer class, and it being a new DoH. Cid would be your instructor throughout the class quests teaching you the ways of building, researching and repairing machina and teaching you of it's history and origin.

They would be able to craft automatons for players to use, possibly to support a new job playing field (i.e. Puppetmaster, for example) when Garlemald or more Imperial areas open up.

Since Airships are powered by Ceruleum, I could see them having a strong hand in developing them as well when it comes to levequests, FC built airships, or for special quest events as well. Smiths would also play a part in crafting them, but I figured that engineers could possibly have a hand in the mix somewhere down the road, if possible.

Also having a hand in special gear similar to Van Darnus and Van Baelsar would be an interesting addition (plasma wrist cannon as a rewarded gear upgrade for stronger, farther reaching melee ranged weaponskills). Upgrading swords and weapons to become gunblades could also be a possibility for engineers to perform, although I'm no engineer expert, so I don't know if that would be optimal or favored by the majority. But alas it's still a simple idea being tossed around!

There's a lot of other ideas I had tossed around with engineer and magitek, but these are just a few I remember us talking about a few times.

[Yrusama]

I say this not as an FFVII bandwagon fanboy, but as someone who has considered all possible games Garlemald's technology alludes to:

While the technology alludes to Magitek in name and in style (see: Magitek Armor), it is more closely related to Mako. As mentioned above and on the wiki, Ceruleum is refined Aether, exactly like how Mako is condensed life energy. The primary difference is that Aether exists in all things, and isn't specific to life forms. It's also hard to know how vast their cities are, because it's hard to know how much of their Ceruleum supply comes from the Ceruleum Field in Thanalan (which strongly resemble Mako reactors).

It's very possible that Garlemald can create Magitek prosthesis like Barret's gun-arm, but mostly a matter of whether or not they have. They're able to at least make simple robot legs, so prosthesis in its more basic form is not at all out of the question. I'd imagine this is reserved for their more important personnel, if not restricted to the Imperial family and military leaders.

As for Vanguards having AI, I'd prefer to say this is the case, but my theory depends heavily on how Mammets get their AI. Mammets are able to speak, of all things, but they might be a case of advanced Thaumaturgy, so it's hard to know if Garlemald could do the same. By the way, Enkidoh, "autonomy" equates to "independence" last I checked, meaning a remote pilot is unnecessary (though it wouldn't hurt if you could override the AI at any given time).

I agree that I think they should include a Gunblade class at some point. A friend of mine really wants this, and I can't say I wouldn't level it. Perhaps RDM can be derived from it. We Eorzeans already have started to borrow Garlean technology, especially in that we now have Cid on our side. As dangerous as it might be (see: Leatherworker Cutscenes from 1.0) handled with care it can make a powerful weapon.

[Enkidoh]

As for Vanguards having AI, I'd prefer to say this is the case, but my theory depends heavily on how Mammets get their AI. Mammets are able to speak, of all things, but they might be a case of advanced Thaumaturgy, so it's hard to know if Garlemald could do the same. By the way, Enkidoh, "autonomy" equates to "independence" last I checked, meaning a remote pilot is unnecessary (though it wouldn't hurt if you could override the AI at any given time).

You're right - I knew what autonomy meant but I kind of lumped in 'remote control' with 'independent control' together under the 'autonomy' banner, even though they're separate things. Thanks for that clarification.