TL;DR: Red Mage = sword&magic DPS. Mystic Knight = Tank
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RDM doesn't fit the tank archetype. Spellswords/sword&magic never really does. RDM would be better served as DPS with utility (off-heals, maybe 1 range nuke, some debuffs). My alternative is, assuming Fencer would parent RDM, is having Mystic Knight sprout from Fencer as a tank job.
Class
Fencer: Considered outliers among their peers in the art of the sword, fencers utilize a fighting style developed around fluid movement and quick attacks. Where gladiators and marauders bring pure strength to the fray, these shifty combatants prefer to wear their targets down and win battles by attrition, waiting for the opportune time to close in for the coup de grace.
Originally a recreational combat style of the Ishgardian nobility, the fencing repertoire has expanded as more individuals took up the rapier, foil and epee. Crippling techniques and blade enchantments eventually became common among practitioners, allowing the fencer to close the gap with their brute force-focused counterparts that finesse alone cannot fill.
Concept: Front row fighter that can cripple opponents with sword techniques. They are also adept at bypassing their enemies' defenses by utilizing brands; sword enchantments that deal magical damage in addition to the blade's own damage.
Mechanics: Fencer can only keep one brand active, and is limited to two elements (Thunder, Earth). The activated brand reduces the Fencer's max MP by 15% until cancelled.
Sample Abilities
Earth Brand: Toggle effect. Your auto-attacks deal additional earth damage. Increases your damage resistance by 2% and your chance to parry an attack by 5%.
Thunder Brand: Toggle effect. Your auto-attacks deal additional lightning damage and ignore up to 10% of your target's armor.
Lunge: Delivers a melee attack.
Reprise: Delivers a melee attack. Can only be used if an attack misses.
Flick: Delivers a melee attack. Combo => Lunge: Slows target enemy's movement by 50% for 15 seconds
Sting: Delivers a melee attack with a poisoned blade. Poisons target enemy.
Reveal: Delivers a physical attack that reduces target enemy's defense by 4%.
Notes:
- As always, this is a general guidelines. Fencer should obviously be more offense-oriented but I can't really come up with weapon skill names for it.
- The point of brands is to create a reasonable price to pay for the extra damage. Not quite sure how brand damage should scale.
- The enfeebling attacks like the snare from combo Flick, Sting and Reveal are merely samples and not all the class should get.
- As far as why I limited the class to two elements...well, you'll see in a bit.
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Job
Red Mage: Armed with enchanted rapiers and combat-caster instincts, the members of Ishgard's Order of the Crimson Blade are as recognized within the city walls as the dragoons are recognized outside its borders. Employing refined fencing skills and a slew of combat spells, these garish "magic fencers" have taken their chosen art to new levels, proudly serving as capable front line combatants with more than just a few tricks up their sleeves.
Where a traditional mage would prefer the safety of range, the red mage's talents shine in the thick of battle, swiftly crippling enemies with their blade before taking them out of the fight with a burst of magic or heal wounded allies. It is this versatility that has made them known not only for their ability to handle any situation, but to also bring things to a resolution.
Concept: Front row fighter-mage with some extra tricks and toys to bring into battle. While dealing less damage than a fencer, the Red Mage has other ways to make up for the lack of physical damage through abilities like Magic Sword and their spells.
Mechanics: Equipping the RDM crystal reduces the MP reduction from brands by 5%. Brand effects enhance weapon skills as well as auto attacks. Auto attacks have a chance to grant the buff Combat Casting. Sting's poison effect increases damage taken by the mob from magic for its duration (including spells and Magic Sword).
Sample Abilities
Fire Brand: Toggle effect. Your attacks deal additional fire damage and place the debuff "Burn" on your enemy.
__Burn: Deals damage on target enemy over 15 seconds. Can stack to 3 stacks and is refreshed by all attacks while Fire Brand is active. Increases damage taken by enemy from your attacks by 5% per stack.
Double: Doubles the potency, cost, and cooldown of the next weaponskill or spell.
Stun: Incapacitate target enemy for up to 4 seconds.
Chant: 4 second cast time. Sacrifice HP to restore twice the amount sacrificed to an ally.
Magic Sword: 4 second cast time. Casts an elemental spell on target enemy based on the most recent brand activated.
Combat Casting: Passive trait inherent to RDM soul crystal. Your auto-attacks have a 25% chance to grant you Combat Casting, allowing your next Chant or Magic Sword to be instant cast.
Notes:
- Part of why RDM is only getting Fire Brand is because I don't want to give room for "brand-twisting". As in "Start in Fire Brand, do WS then cancel Fire Brand and activate Lightning Brand then do two WS then Switch back to Fire Brand" etc.
- The idea behind Combat Casting affecting only Chant and Magic Sword is to give RDM the choice in combat whether to use their procs to add to their DPS or if instead they should use it to help offheal if things get ugly.
- The prohibitive 4-second cast time (outside of Combat Caster procs) on Chant combined with the HP and MP cost should be enough to leave the decision to offheal on the RDM themselves instead of causing groups to force it to do the healer's job.
- Magic Sword follows a similar principle, where using it outside of procs is terribly inefficient and should ideally be reserved for when CC procs. Of course, Magic Sword is also RDM's only real ranged attack, and as such could be used during air phases if those are ever implemented.
- The RDM soul's effect on Sting and the Burn debuff are meant to encourage the RDM to keep both debuffs on the mob at all times to help maximize their damage.
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Job
Mystic Knight: Though Red Mages embody the ultimate marriage between martial prowess and magic, there are others who bend the concepts behind magical combat to different ends. In the case of the mystic knights, the end is protection of their allies and surviving the onslaught of their enemies.
Forsaking the lighter side of fencing, these individuals instead ensorcel their blades and now-famous "gants", allowing them to use a very basic, yet effective, level of magic to the benefit of those around them. Though basic, the magic used on the mystic knight's armaments are more than up to the task of protecting their allies and ensuring the enemy does not stray from them.
Concept: Tank that uses brands and gant enchantments to shield themselves as they keep the attention of their enemies.
Mechanics: Equipping the MKT crystal allows the player to have a second enchant called a "gant" (glove). While brands still reduce your max MP by 15%, gant enchants reduce your max MP by 5%. Assuming no buffs, your second activated brand will become your gant enchant. You cannot have a brand and gant of the same element. In addition, Reveal's debuff now stacks (maximum of 3 stacks) and increases generated enmity per stack.
Sample Abilities
Ice Brand: Your auto-attacks deal additional ice damage and increases enmity generated by all actions by 35%.
Gant-Lightning: Increases your parry rate by X%
Gant-Earth: Increases defense by X%.
Gant-Ice: increases resistance to status effects by X%
Riposte: Delivers a melee attack that generates additional enmity. Can only be used after you parry or dodge an attack.
Backhand: Consumes your gant enchant to deliver a melee attack with your offhand that generates high enmity but low damage. Grants an additional effect that depends on the gant enchant you have active:
* Ice: binds target to the ground
* Lightning: Knocks target back
* Earth: Slows target's attack and casting speeds
Arcane Discharge: Smash your fist into the ground, spending your gant enchant and hitting all enemies within 10 yalms of you with a discharge of magic that deals light damage but high enmity.
Arcane Shield: Spend your Brand and gant enchants to reduce all damage taken by 75%.
Notes:
-I originally wanted Gants to be a separate piece of equipment, but I know the devs have a rule against special equipment that is completely different from what the classes can equip. To illustrate the point with Gants, I would design the MKT AF gloves to reflect this by having the off/left hand be covered by a bulky gauntlet while the main/right hand is wearing a thinner glove to facilitate movement.
- The way activating brands works with MKT is that the first brand will affect your weapon like normal. The second and all following brands will affect your Gant.
- In the event GLA is one of MKT's support classes, I would think shield abilities from GLA can be used while a Gant enchant is active.
- MKT gameplay should ideally involve blending Gant abilities with sword WS.
Originally Posted by Kitru
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