The intention of this thread is to differ from the usual "What jobs would you like to see added?" kinds of topics, which generally devolve into some "X job already has that" or "SE needs to fix other jobs before we get new ones." If you fell compelled to post something of that fashion, stop,

I'd like to see people post a yet-to-be-introduced job from the FF main series and how they would apply its functions to the FFXI world at large. Artistic liberites are encouraged, but directly lifting the abilites of other jobs is not. If there is something to be used from another job, let's make it so it doesn't take away from another job directly by making it function differently.

And now, lets start ^^

Dancer History

Dancers have made their appearances in Final Fantasy V, FFVI, FF Tactics and FFX-2. Their role has varied somewhat from game-to-game but their common function was AoE Status Ailments as well as confusing the enemy with thier charm and beauty. They were also capable of using swords, but generally a back-row kind of job.

Mog's take on Dancer, as well as Dancer's Functions in FFT are the most appealing to me. Mog learned his dances by performing "Dance" on various Terrians not unlike how a Geomancer would use their abilities. This resulted in a damaging attack, a status ailment or a buff for the party. FFT Dancers were not only capable of AoE status infliction, but also able to deal poison-like damage to enemy MP.

FFX-2 had a job called Songstress, which was more or less a Bard/Dancer hybrid. Dances did standard status ailments at no MP cost, but they had a couple songs that would be interesting to apply as dances since their function is radically different from what BRD has in FFXI.

Now, the image of Dancer would be hard to swallow for the male players, so I'm also gonna throw in some more unique functions, some of which have been dimensions of other jobs in other MMOs, but they're going to be tailored to FFXI's realm and other dimensions of the game.

Role of Dancer

Dancer would be a support/melee role not unlike we see in Corsair or Red Mage.

Their dances would be free of MP cost, but only able to do them once a minute. They would learn these dances based on the terrain they worked in, but would be unable to influnce the results or effect duration of these dances until they eventally learn the dance (which for arguments sake will be affected by skill level, equipment and CHR).

Once a Dance is finally learned, they can choose it directly, but its effects would still be subject to terrain and weather conditions. There would be three "Dances" for each element: one a status ailment, the other a buff and the other a damage or utility spell. Here are some examples:

Earth Dance:

Breakdance: Temorarily petrifies a enemy. Duration based on TP.
Cave-in: Stone spell that damages enemy TP.
Confidence: Ally Defense up

Fire Dance:

Flamewalker - Puts enemy in a state of Berserk. Duration Based on TP.
Engulf - Fire Spell that damages MP.
Ring of Fire - Allies may intimidate enemy.

Dark Dance:

Abyss: Bio Damage dealt to enemy MP over time.
Dark Lash: Dark damage that inflicts Defense Down.
Thriller: Allies may terriorize enemy occasionally

Light Dance:

Confuse: Causes beastmen to confuse friend with foe, possibly even attacking itself.
Trance: Draws temporary attention of a beastmen on the Dancer, but is unable to attack.
Entourage: Negates beastmen aggression toward allies.

Now, those are just off the top of my head, made as differnet as possible from what has come before, but to make these spells really cook, it takes more than just knowing them. And if you'll note, I made a point of beastmen effects in the Light department.

Currently we have no job that can communicate with the beastmen, but Dancers have been able soothe their aggression, learn their tounge and even able to live amoung them. Some dancers seek friendship, others are spies for the allied nations, assassins even. But to do this early, they must learn beastmen customs and dress accordingly.

So enter the ability we'll call Visage. This ability would allow the player to equip various beastmen accessories to make themselves more acceptable to beastmen. As they're collected, a Dancer would be able to set them in a "Beastmen Wardrobe" and this inventory would be not unlike a PUP's Automation inventory. The ability would be an umbrella ability just like Phantom Roll except for these beastmen sets replace JAs. Visage would be similar to Hasso or Seigan as these wardrobes may need changing.

Dancers would be able to collect these accessiories through a trait called Converse - an ability to open a diologue with a beastmen on the field. This ability would not be available in combat or aggro, nor would the ability allow for combat while engaged in conversation.

Converse must be initiated by the Dancer before mob aggression and may or may not result in aggro. So Conversing early on would be with weaker beastmen. If the beastmen takes to the Dancer and likes them, they might give up a little Rare/EX trinket. Converse may also have the same effect on town NPCs. These accessories would be placed in the wardrobe and affect not only the effects of Dances but lower or eliminate Beastmen aggression (though True Sight beastmen and NMs would aggro all the same, they're not that stupid).

Some accessories would have to still be quested or NM drops, but general ones can come from beastmen.

As far as the melee side goes, Dancers could be allowed to wield the renged chakarams as main and sub hand weapons and also able to throw through various weaponskills, some of which may seek out MP or TP damage rather than HP.

Statistically, they'd have as much DEF as BRDs generally have

Other job Traits:

Fame - Dancer enjoys one addtional level of fame over thier usual fame.
Beastmen Affinity - Beastmen become more willing to Converse.
Lady/Mankiller - Dancer deals more damage based on gender of mob.
Resist Slow

Abilities:

None beyond Visage, they got enough going for 'em as is on Dances.

Oh man. I was totally going to post my Dancer idea, since no one has ever put the idea out there before and I think they are a totally awesome job.

Beaten to the punch, I guess. :(

Can i say they should add a Super Sayian ability to warrios...lol just kidding.

Honestly...its really hard to think of something that isn't in the world of vanadiel...WoW and Diablo have their Druids why can't FFXI. but instead of the conventional bear and wolf morph...maybe take on the roles of vana's Avatars. Maybe a over exhaulted Smn...i dunno...

Since we have 2 Eastern jobs "Samurai and Ninja" add another.

Daimyo/Shogun


Ability to weild a Great Katana and a Wakizashi.

Weapon Skill: Will combine GK and Waki weapons.

Traits:
Hasten Limbs: When wearing traditional armour (has to wear more than 3 peices) Dly is lowered by 150.
Quicken: Movement speed increases with the raising of fame in home nation. (Won't be faster than flee but more than the rank 10 aketons)
Dual Wield: Same as Nin
Chain knowledge: Ability to use a spear ended chain. (ranged skill also will act like Links chain gun in Zelda)

a lil run through how i think the quest to get the job should be.

required: Both Sam and Nin lvl 30+ and high tenshodo fame.

Kagetora asks for you're council. When meeting with him he tells you a story of a mutany years ago when coming from the far east. Then he askes you to consul with Gilgamesh in Norg to continue the story of the mutany. Gilgamesh feeling a bit weary about continuing the story and why Kagetora decides to tell you out of know where, asks you to collect for him a new Gold Obi and must be from a well known tehnshodo crafter. (Find someone with same or higher tenshodo fame and have them use a Terra Crystal to sign it as well.)

After presenting the new obi Gilgamesh continues with the story. (enter Takauji new NPC) Takauji wanted to have the Tenshodo help Jeuno with its mass knowledge of the ocean and their mystic ways but Gilgamesh thought otherwise. Infiltrate Jeuno quietly from the inside out. So after the mutany insued Gilgamesh feels the remorse of betraying a fellow brother in arms just for the head seat in their domain and the name of Daimyo/Shogun.

Fadding back into norg after cutscenes, Gilgamesh askes you to travel to worlds end to sooth Takauji's soul with the Gold Obi. Trade the Gold Obi to the burning circle in Fye'In for a BCNM between you and 5 others and Takauji's soul. When defeated Takauji asks you to tell Gilgamesh he excepts his apology and forgives him for what he did and before he slips away into the afterlife for good he murmers " The Tenshodo is looking great!"

return to Norg and speak with Gilgamesh. Now you can become a Daimyo/Shogun!

OH! Job abilities:

2Hour: Glory and Honor: Same as Majin Gakur but causes 1/2 damage and grants a 20% exp bonus to party if mob is defeated and no exp is lost to Daimyo/Shogun.

Frieghtful glare: When faceguard is equiped has the ability of para. (New armour peice and equip slot is needed or added to Kubutos "Faceguard".
Tastful treasure: Enhances effects of Riceballs and adds Treasure Hunter.
Meditate: Same as Sam

if anyone would like to add please do so... :)

Also i think for dancer...i think thats a Blah name...maybe like a Harlyquin like the villian in the Batman series she had the agility, elegance and movement like a dancer but dangerous and quick like a monk and thief.

Reposting my, slightly edited, Geomancer and Chemists ideas

Classicly speaking, Geomancers have always been DD/Debuffers who's strength literally changed with the weather. Having attacks based on the zone you were in or terrain you were on, they've always had a randomness to their effectiveness. But in FFXI's world, a DD who's abilities are random at best will suffer when competeing with 'full time' DDs who never lose their power. If you were fighting an Earth monster in an Earth elemental area, it could potentially weaken your damage output and make it difficult for a Geo to keep up.

But as a tank, it could use the powers of the world around it to defend itself from all types of attacks. It would use the powers of the six circular elements (with light and dark being special) in a defensive fashion based on the zones they are in. Their main ability would call forth special one time buffs that occur randomly through out the fight, similar to Counter or Double Attack procs. They would also gain abilities and items to increase the effectiveness or outright change the elemental attributes of the elements that affect them giving them a small measure of control over the terrain itself.

Two Hour(better name suggestions are welcomed)
Earth Shifter*: Utilizing the three strongest elemental influences to deal massive damage and enhance the caster.
Basically this would be a one time, instant attack that would be made of three different elements. The Dmg wouldn't be too great, about as strong as a decent WS, but it would also provide a short duration, sustained version of the Gaia Wall buffs from those three elements to the Geo. So in addition to doing decent damage it would also add some defense to the Geo.

Job Traits:
lvl 10 - Gaia Wall: Random defensive elemental buff
Basically this will be the back bone of their tanking ability, the way they mitigate Dmg. What this does is, based on the two natual elements found in the zone, will create a random one time defensive buff. For example if you're in an area with fire and earth ele this trait has a chance to either create a random Stoneskin effect or a random Blaze spikes effect. The effects can not stack so you can't have a stoneskin/blaze spikes effect in one hit, but they can stack with external buffs like titan's stoneskinga. Also each affect would have a different natual proc rate, so you'll see some effects more then others.

The elemental effects would be:
Fire = Blaze spike like effect with high Dmg and High proc rate. Dmg increased by Str
Earth = A Stoneskin like effect that nullifies a set amount of Dmg with a low proc rate. Dmg absorbed increased by skill/Vit
Wind = Blink like effect that can absorb single hits and magics as well, with a low proc rate. Proc rate increased by Agi
Water = Percentage Dmg and interrupt reduction with high proc rate. Dmg/Interrupt percent based on Mnd
Lightning = Chance to temporarily stun an enemy, has a medium proc rate. Stun effect increased by Dex
Ice = Dmg reflection ability that will return a percent dmg back to the mob, works on some spells. Has a medium proc rate and is enhanced by Int.
*Light = A strong auto regen/refresh (20hp/2mp per tick) that stacks with other Regen/Refresh spells and effects. Would increase by 10 hp/1 mp per increase of 'Elemental' lvl through gear and JTs and would be given a +2 increase in regen under light weather effects.
*Dark = A 'bio-spike' like ability that would deal a small amount of dark ele dmg when hit while inflicting a dark ele DoT and att down. Unlike the real Bio spell though, this would stack with Dia.

lvl 15 - Elemental Resistance Bonus: Increases elemental resistance
Kinda like perma Bar-spells

lvl 20/60 - Max HP boost:

lvl 30/50/70 - Elemental II/III/IV: Increases all elemental enhancements and skills
This would increase both the proc rate and effect of all Gaia wall effects, ele resistance and any offensive JA effects a Geo uses. The higher the level the more it's enhanced.

*lvl 40 - Spectrum Mastery: Allows the influences of Light and Dark elemental skills
This would basically add light/dark to the list of elements that can affect your elemental abilities.

Job Abilities
lvl 15 Enrage:Increases enimity on all actions taken [5 minute recast/3 minute duration]
En-voke, so they can hold hate better.

lvl 30 Elemental Shield: Forces a random elemental enhancement [3 minute recast/varying duration]
This ability lets you instantly cast a longer lasting version of one of the 'Wall' type buffs. Duration of each buff depends on Skill and any stats you have on when you cast the ability. Though random, you can increase the chances of a specific buff if there's enough ele influence in the way of weather/zone/equiped stats.

lvl 45 Elemental Burst: An instant random elemental attack [3 minute recast]
Much like the shield, this can be influenced to use a certain element by the same attributes.

lvl 60 Prism Shift: Randomly changes the elemental attributes that are in effect [5 minute recast/20 minute duration]
This ability will let you change weather affects that influence you and you alone. For example if you're in a wind/water zone and you use this ability you would no longer gain the wind/water effects. Instead you would randomly get two new elemental attribute effects such as earth/fire or thunder/ice or any combination of the four remaining elements.

Spells
5 - Twister: Deals light Wind damage to one target and lowers the target's evasion
8 - Resist Thunder: Lowers Thunder resist of target
12 - Charge: Deals light Thunder damage and lowers critical hit rate of target
15 - Resist Fire: Lowers Fire resist of target
19 - Chill: Deals light ice Damage and interrupts spell casting
23 - Resist Earth: Lowers Earth resist of target
27 - Downpour: Deals light Water damage and gradual HP reduction
31 - Resist Ice: Lowers Ice resist of target
35 - Blaze: Deals light Fire damage and lowers str of target
38 - Resist Water: Lowers water resist of target
41 - Rubble: Deals light Earth Damage and immobilizes target
45 - Resist Wind: Lowers Wind resist of target
47 - Resist Light: Lowers light resist
49 - Resist Dark: Lowers dark resist
51 - Hurricane: Wind dmg stronger eva down
54 - Electrocute: Thunder dmg w/ stronger crit down
57 - Avalanche: Ice dmg, more spell inturrupts
60 - Torrent: Water Dmg, w/ stronger HP down
64 - Inferno: Fire Dmg, bigger Str down
69 - Fissure: Earth Dmg, stronger bind
71 - Radiance: Heavy Light ele Dmg that induces Intimidation of the caster
71 - Nightfall: Heavy Dark ele Dmg that inflicts Sleep

These spells would be used similar to a nin's spells in that they are more to hold hate and enhance tanking then to Deal Dmg. Each spell would be greatly affected, both positively and negatively moreso then current spells, by the elemental effects of the zone and any enhancements, including the JT 'Elemental'. The first tier would have minor MP costs and cast times, but the higher ones would have higher costs in accordance to their scale. Similar to the elel debuffs of Blm, these would not fully stack and you could only have two effects at most active at a time.

Skills and Gear
A+ Geomancy Skill which affects their buffs/attacks and spells
A+ Staff with access to mage and melee staves
B Gaxe with access to great axe and Voulge types
C+ Axes with access to Tabars and battleaxe types
C- Sword with access to Scimitars and shortswords
D+ Clubs with access to DD clubs

With a B+ Gaxe a geo could easily be similar to a war tank in the early lvls. As it got higher and it's traits, abilities and spells got stronger, it would be able to switch to staves, most likely the earth staff to enhance tanking. It would be able to equip gear similar to a Bst, including the Haubergeon and Byrnie, though Hauberk and Adaburk would be excluded. This would give them a decent Mp/Def/DD set of gear to choose from and use for different situations. Meaning it could easily bust out a Gaxe, even in the later lvls, if it's needed to DD something.

In addition to all that, a special JSE ammo type item would be introduced. These items, or 'Bells' would each have different elemental proporties and would act to enhance/enable different elemental attribute. For example if your in an Ice/Thunder area and you equip an earth bell, you'll be able to get the Earth affects as well as the Ice/Thunder effects. Or if your in a Fire area and you equip the fire bell, it would enhance the proc rate an potency of the Fire effects, both offensively and defensively. This way a Geo still has it's terrain based history, but players are still able to get the spells and effects they want.

Chemist
Chemists have been in FF's history since the first potion was used to heal those 4 nameless heros. Item based healing has been something used through out FF's history and is only now something that is seen as difficult and ineffective through out most of the game. Chemist would be a job class that could re-envision the concept of itemized healers by using their own special brand of item manufacture and distribution.

Masters at the art of manipulation, manufacture and dispensing of items and medicines. Unlike the guild of Alchemy, a Chemist uses their knowledge of the base components of materials found in the world around them to break down and reform them into powerful chemicals without the use of crystals. Focusing mainly on healing and defense, Chemists use their scientific knowledege to heal the wounds of their allies. But many of their potions can be used for powerful offensive purposes.

Using seemingly random assortments of items, a chemist can create numerous types of Base Chemicals. Each Base Chemical stacks to 99 and is used in various Recipies, each type corresponding to a different purpose. Blue Chemicals are used in curative Recepies, Green Chemicals for defensive Recepies, Red for damaging Recepies and yellow for enfeebling Recepies. The more powerful the Recepie the more chemicals are used, some Recepies even require mixing Base Chemicals with a fifth rarer White Chemical to allow for incredible results.

Two Hour
Melting Pot: The Chemist is granted access to numerous, powerful and rare combinations of medicine.
Basically this would be similar to Astral Flow. Once active you have XX amount of time to mix numerous base chemicals to create a strong and unique recipe. But unlike AF, this ability could be used for healing, support or debuffing as well as damage. Though it's duration won't be nearly as long as AF, you would still have time to get off a few good mixes, the amount of which depends on what combinations of chemicals you use. Stronger results would take longer to use then weaker ones, allowing you a choice during your two hour.

Job Abilities:
lvl 1 Mix: Creates powerful Chemicals using raw materials [30 second recast]
This is what makes the Chemist a Chemist and not just an item using job. Using basic, stackable, easily available items, a Chemist mixes them in the correct combinations to create one type of their five basic Chemicals. Each mixture creates a random amount of a specific Chemical type based on the Chemist's Mix Skill and Int.

lvl 5 Forage: Searches area for usable matierials. [3 minute recast]
This is basically like a Rng's Scavenge JA, it allows a Chemist to find base mats to use in creating their Chemicals. Though it can randomly find normal medical items as well.

lvl 20 Vapor Seal: Allows next Chemical used to affect all targets within range [1 minute recast]
This is only works on some curative and defensive Recipes. Unlike Whm, Chemist's don't have natural AoE cures and buffs so they would use this ability to simulate Curaga type cures. The trade off for not being able to spam AoE cures and such is that a Chem can make many other defensive buffs or DD recipe AoE.

Job Traits
lvl 5 Use:Allows use of items on others.
This allows a Chemist to use normal, non-r/e, alchemy made items like eye drops and such on other people. This in the end is nothing more then a nod to chemist jobs of the past.

lvl 15/30/45/70 Resist Paralyze I/II/III/IV: Increases resistance to Paralyze.
Speaks for itself, anyone who's ever tried to use an item while Paralyzed can easily understand why this would be helpful.

lvl 20/40/60 Double Stack I/II/III:Allows conservation of supply space by compression of stackable items.
This ability can only be used on items that stack to 12, and only affects items in a Chem's inventory. Items can not be bazaared, traded, sold to NPCs, set on AH or equiped in any way while in stacks of more then 12. The reason behind this trait is to help alieviate a chemist's inventory problems as they would need to carry supplies to create their Chemicals in addition to needing space to store the Chemicals. Being able to carry 48 items, each of which can make 1-99 of a specific Chemical, in a single slot would certainly reduce their Inven strain.

lvl 30/70 Medic I/II: Enhance the effects of potions and items used.
This would allow for greater effects from any and all items used, Chemist made or not. For example using a normal Potion, which restores 50 HP, would restore an additional 10HP per Medic lvl. Or using an Eye Drop would also add bar-Blind to the target. Not all items would be affected by this trait though, things like I-Wings won't have any special affects. But all Chemist based items will have much more noticable results.

lvl 35 Throw: Enhances range and accuracy of usable Recipies
Another nod to past Chemists in name, this ability allows a chemist to get more distance between them and their pt while also giving better Racc for their DD recipies.

Recepies
This is basically a Chemists spell list. Though instead of drawing on MP to use their cures they rely on the numerous Base Chemicals they can create. Stronger spells have higher cast times and use up more Base Chemicals. DD and debuff type spells are cast similar to how a War's Tomahawk or a Drg's Agnon JA works in that an item needs to be equiped in the ammo slot, either a Yellow or Red Chemical, for the Recipe to be Cast. All offensive Recipes will only take effect if thrown item connects, meaning Racc gear will be highly prized by Chemists. The
proc and effect of the thrown item however will be based on Int.

Skills and Gear
A Throwing to help them land their DD/Debuff chemicals
A- Mixing, used to determine the success rate of a 'Mix'. Higher lvl means more base chemicals per attempt.
B- Club with access to some DD and most mage clubs
C- Dagger with access to knives, Daggers and Basilards

They'd be able to equip gear similar to a Whm/Smn in that they'd mostly use doublets and robes. This would include some of the thf/rng/cor racc+ JSE gear like the Noct set. They could use round shields and Racc knives. Since there are no Throwing WS, switching to an Archer knife for a ranged attack then back to a Mnd or Int+ wand for heals/mixes wouldn't be too much of a problem. Mnd would be mainly used for enhancing the effects of the 'Medic' JTs, which increase potency of used items, and Int would assist in more successful Mixes and Forage.

Recipies list to be added later.


I also started working on a concept for Time mage and have ideas for Morpher, Mystic Knight, Mime, and thanks to some idea inspired by a poster in a different topic, Dancer. I'll post them here when(if) I write them up and just forgoethe other job concept topics as this one seems to be more direct in it's request for specific examples of job possibilities.

As for this dancer idea, the concept is ok, but still is a bit iffy IMO. There were only 12 abilities really listed, it would require changing a ranged weapon into a melee one and all of the beastmen related abilities seemed to be based on assumptions. Beastmen for the most part can communicate with the player races just fine. Yagudos as a nation have a 'treaty' with Windurst. Goblins are known merchants, they're just naturally violent towrads everyone. Quadav were a peaceful, very advanced race that even held an alliance with an Elvaan tribe pre-San d'oria against windurstan forces near rolanberry. Most beastmen are capable of communicating with PC races they just don't due to a natural hostility and aggressive nature.

I undestand the desire for such an innovative job concept, but I don't think it would really work with the way FFXI is played.

Also, there are three 'eastern' jobs, you forgot Mnk. And a Harlequin is a type of clown and has nothing to do with dancing. Harley is just nimble because she's nimble.

Oh man. I was totally going to post my Dancer idea, since no one has ever put the idea out there before and I think they are a totally awesome job.
Beaten to the punch, I guess. :(
Dancer, while not one of the most requested jobs, was often requested as one of the new jobs for ToAU.

I wish I didn't have to point out that I was being sarcastic.

Beastmen for the most part can communicate with the player races just fine. Yagudos as a nation have a 'treaty' with Windurst. Goblins are known merchants, they're just naturally violent towrads everyone. Quadav were a peaceful, very advanced race that even held an alliance with an Elvaan tribe pre-San d'oria against windurstan forces near rolanberry. Most beastmen are capable of communicating with PC races they just don't due to a natural hostility and aggressive nature.

Well, there's one character that shoots a hole in that theory - Verona. She was described as having the unique ability to communicate with the beastmen. Some beastment talk and some don't, but she knew how to speak thier own languages.

We have the Goblins and Qiqirin, the high-ranking beastmen, beastmen generals that speak, but not many others.

I guess it wouldn't have to be called Dancer, either, as Gambler is currently called Corsair... but its still Gambler >.>;

I wish I didn't have to point out that I was being sarcastic.

Sarcasim sometimes fails on the internet :P

Ehh, there is a lot about it the concept that I'm just not so sure about. Lot of the concept doesn't even have a large hold to even being related to a dancer style. The whole dancer part of it seems like the smallest part and therefor not giving the job due justice.

Remove the dance stuff but keep the visage and converse with the other workable stuff and this fits more to a peacekeeper, not a dancer.

The intro reading was intresting and parts of it's concept I are ok, it seems to go a totally different route pretty early. If they do a dancer type I can agree with it being an AoE style of effects. The idea of the dancer being assassin like is also intruging, but it feels like your wanting this make peace with the beastmaster part to just justify this visage and beastman wardrobe concept.


If anything the concept I could see more for Dancer is to make them a job with major strength on focusing against Beastmen Types with BRD/BST like focus towards them.

So the concept range of dances I had seen was more like, the dancer has effects they can do and they can create a "Dance sequence". This would be using a bit of something similar to the Blue Mage's slots for the alotted sequences. The dance function would kick in and the dancer's effects would inflict or buff the party in accordance to two things. One would be the effect would only last as long as the dancer is able to maintain that dance, the second is the effect starts when the dancer starts that sequence.

So basically if the dancer starts with a dance that inflicts the opponent then the longest effect will be infliction. Each dance has a set length and a small intermission period, the current dance can be interrupeted for a new one, it will not cancel it's affect since you are still dancing but you've reduced the total time the dance could of affected.

So for example Dance 1 (Effect: Paralysis) Length 3:00 Reuse: 7:00 Slots 2, Dance 2 (Effect: Party Haste) Length 2:00 Reuse: 5:30 Slots 4. So the total potential dance sequence with these two chosen dances is 5:00 minutes. This means that 1 dance will get 5:00 minutes total of an effect while another will get only 2:00 or 3:00 total effect.

Put into use it would go:
1.) Activates Dance (Request which to start with, Chooses Dance 1)
2.) Dance 1 ends 3:00 later, got 10 sec. to start next dance to keep effect of Dance 1 going. Activate Dance 2
3.) Dance 2 ends, got 8 sec. to start next dance (Dance 1 still has 2:00 minutes timer left, and dance 2 has 3:30 left)
4.) Dance ends due to not other sequences currently available effects from dances end.

To also reduce the abuse though of someone just spaming a group of dances and having the longest one done last to have all affects go the effect you get from the dance is you get the normal 100% effectiveness while you are dancing and keep that 100% only if you complete the dance. If the dance is interrupted effectiveness becomes how ever far the dance mad it through. So if the dance is 2:00 length and you went only 0:10 sec. then the effect will only be 5% of normal.

This also provides the potential that a mob can interrupt your dance from an AoE but doesn't stop the sequence if you can start another right after.


Then the dance concepts I had, funny because I could swear writting this some time before.

Morris Dance: AoE, Mobs lose use of Special Attacks for set amount of time if inflicted.
Dance of the East: Mob loses control of self and does as dancer bids. (Charm like effect)
Mazurka: Party gains haste effect
Redowa: Party gets evasion bonus
Cumbia: AoE, causes confusion for set time to mobs
Minuet: Party gets improved chances for ciritical hits
Lock Step: AoE, Bind effect
Waltz: Party gains a low level Regen/Refresh
Sword Dance: AoE, Mobs lose HP per tick
Bachata: AoE, Mobs lose MP per tick
Jive: Party gain a small amount of TP per tick
Rumba: AoE, Mobs lose TP per tick

Just to start a few, of course being able to interrupt the dance will be about as easy as interrupting Ninjutsu or probably easier because of the possible power this could have.

For added abilities was thinking stuff like Quickstep, next dance in sequence gains 1.5 effectiveness and can be interrupted without the interrupt penalty.

Anyway though that was sort of my concept, as far as elements affecting it would tie to the day and effect the dance's effect in some way.

I wish I didn't have to point out that I was being sarcastic.

Maybe I should post my job idea.

The Murphie Knight (formerly known as The Aelathir Crusader). :P

It would use Sarcasm related abilities to confuse enemies (and allies) and inflict status effects. (Sarcasm Accuracy) and (Fast Irony) would be part of the job traits.

I still have to work on the idea though, but hopefully for the next expansion. :biggrin:



PS > WB Murphietaru :thumbsup:

I wish I didn't have to point out that I was being sarcastic.
Maybe now I'm wishing he was dead.
...

It's ok. I get that a lot. :o

It's ok. I get that a lot. :o

The way I work it is assume everything he says is sarcastic, then work it out from there. Makes life easier...

Well, there's one character that shoots a hole in that theory - Verona. She was described as having the unique ability to communicate with the beastmen. Some beastment talk and some don't, but she knew how to speak thier own languages.
We have the Goblins and Qiqirin, the high-ranking beastmen, beastmen generals that speak, but not many others.
I guess it wouldn't have to be called Dancer, either, as Gambler is currently called Corsair... but its still Gambler >.>;


True, but there are still plenty of NPC beastmen we can converse with that have no rank. I always saw that as more of her willingness to listen as opposed to difficulty communicating. Most beastmen have examples through out their history of being able to peacefully interract with other races. Though most of that info would be found through offline stories and tales which may be difficult to dig up. But then again it could just be a plot hole created by oversight on SE's part.

I really don't see Dancer as the type to make peace with beastmen. That seems more like a Mediator's, from FFT, type of ability. As classically speaking, that was the job that soothed and converesed with enemy creatures. And any job that has it's best abilities focus on one group of monsters would be severely limited in effectiveness. If it were to be fully effective, it would need more abilities that could work on a wider range of enemies.

Someone on another topic here(I forgot the name atm but will go back and edit it in a bit later) thought up an idea for how dances should work that I found to be very effective and balanced. Similar to it's classic style, a Dancer's abilities would be mainly damage and debuff with some buffs and such for minor versitility.
When a dance was used, the dancer would keep doing that dance until manually stopped. As long as the dancer was dancing, the effect would still be active. But when you stopped dancing, the effect would slowly diminish over time. Meaning you'd have to constantly switch between certain dances to keep them up. This concept of how dances could work was not created by me.

Basically this is similar, yet different, to how Brds spells work. A Dancer could keep one dance constantly active or do numerous dances to juggle different effects. All the while they dance they can still melee, but have a slightly increased delay in synch with the dance. With their main focus on debuff and DDing, they'd be similar to Cor as a 'hybrid' job, good at two things without excelling in either. For weapons they could use Dagger type daggers, kunai and sai type katanas*again, this idea was suggested in the other topic. and maybe even a new JSE ring/fan type weapon, based on the ops suggestion of using chakrams as melee weapons, with low dmg low delay and it's own WS. Give it innate dual wield at 20 and DW 2 at 50 and it should become a rather decent DD while being a useful debuffer.

Here's my idea :)

Geomancer (GEO)
A hybrid class that harnesses the power of the terrain to enhance, enfeeble foes, and devastate enemies through manipulation of the terrain. Abilities influenced by a particular element are strengthened on the day of the week associated with that particular element. Additionally, weather effects that correspond to the element of an ability affect the strength of that ability.

Job Traits
Ability (Level) : Description
Resist Bind (10) : Increased resistance to Bind
Defense Bonus (25) : Increased defense
Resist Bind II (30) :
Elemental Killer (40) : Occasionally intimidates elementals
Defense Bonus II (50) :
Resist Bind III (55) :
Spirit Talker (65) : Allows the GEO to call forth a spirit of nature to inflict heavy damage associated with the day's element
Defense Bonus III (70) :
Resist Bind IV (75) :

Job Abilities
Ability (Level/Recast/Duration) : Description

Divination (1/2:00:00/2:00) : Greatly enhances all four light/dark attributes depending upon the element of the day (e.g. Windsday boosts Fire/Wind/Thunder/Light attributes : i.e. STR/AGI/DEX/CHR/Attack/Evasion/Accuracy/HP)

Shield Ritual (25/5:00/2:00) : Enhances resistance associated with the element of the day

Elemental Ritual (35/5:00/2:00) : Enhances spells associated with the element of the day

Divine Ritual (45/5:00/1:00) : Enhances light or dark spells depending upon the element of the day

Dowsing Rod (55/5:00/0:30) : Further exposes the weakness of an enemy

Spells
Spells are acquired and not purchased, as with BLU. However, spells are not learned from mobs, but are learned from energized crystals. To energize crystals, the GEO must take crystals of the corresponding element and expose them to their respective weather. This works in a similar manner to the Carbuncle's Ruby. Once the GEO has obtained the appropriate level, the energized crystal of the correct element can be used to learn a spell. Note: energized crystals stack and are Exclusive, but not Rare

Spell (Level/MP/Recast) Element-Skill-Type : Description

Obscure (8/6/0:10) Dark-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Blinds an enemy, lowering accuracy

Enrage (10/8/0:30) Fire-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Generates a large spike in enmity

Numb (12/8/0:10) Ice-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Paralyzes an enemy

Quicksand (14/12/0:10) Earth-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Slows and enemy

Rockfall (16/12/0:10) Earth-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals earth damage

Torrent (18/14/0:10) Water-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals water damage

Mistral (20/16/0:11) Wind-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals wind damage

Earthen Mail (20/30/0:30) Earth-Geomancy-Enhancing : Absorbs damage from physical attacks. Additional effect: Slow

Blaze (22/18/0:11) Fire-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals fire damage

Snowstorm (24/20/0:12) Ice-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals ice damage

Zephyr Cloak (24/20/0:40) Wind-Geomancy-Enhancing : Generates 2~4 shadows, each absorbing one hit. Additional effect: Gravity

Blazing Hauberk (25/15/0:30) Fire-Geomancy-Enhancing : Deals fire damage when hit. Additional effect: Blind

Thunderstorm (26/22/0:12) Thunder-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals lightning damage

Frozen Aegis (27/15/0:30) Ice-Geomancy-Enhancing : Deals ice damage when hit. Additional effect: Paralyze

Tremblor (28/18/0:20) Earth-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT earth damage and lowers accuracy

Bubble Field (28/24/0:30) Water-Geomancy-Enhancing : Absorbs damage from magical attacks. Additional effect: Regen

Bolt Bracer (29/15/0:30) Thunder-Geomancy-Enhancing : Deals thunder damage when hit. Additional effect: Stun

Current (30/20/0:20) Water-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT water damage and lowers attack

Whirlwind (32/22/0:20) Wind-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT wind damage and lowers defense

Entrench (33/30/1:00) Earth-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances VIT and defense of the caster

Scorch (34/24/0:20) Fire-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT fire damage and lowers magic attack

Draught (35/30/1:00) Water-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances MND and magic defense of the caster

Spring (35/30/0:10) Water-Geomancy-Healing : Heals target

Chill (36/26/0:20) Ice-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT ice damage and lowers evasion

Breeze (37/30/1:00) Wind-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances AGI and evasion of the caster

Storm (38/28/0:20) Thunder-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT lightning damage and lowers magic defense

Cooldown (39/30/1:00) Ice-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances INT and magic attack of the caster

Syphon (40/30/0:30) Dark-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Steals a target's HP

Jolt (41/30/1:00) Thunder-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances DEX and accuracy of the caster

Glare (42/32/0:30) Light-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Blinds and enemy, greatly lowering accuracy

Landslide (43/34/0:30) Earth-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals earth damage and lowers resistance to thunder

Shine (44/35/1:00) Light-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances CHR and HP of the caster

Flashflood (45/36/0:30) Water-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals water damage and lowers resistance to fire

Guardian Angel (46/24/0:20) Light-Geomancy-Enhancing : Adds to damage mitigation

Typhoon (47/38/0:30) Wind-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals wind damage and lowers resistance to earth

Shade (48/39/1:00) Dark-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances MP and adds a refresh effect for the caster

Inferno (49/40/0:30) Fire-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals fire damage and lowers resistance to ice

Glacial Shift (51/42/0:30) Ice-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals ice damage and lowers resistance to wind

Electrical Storm (53/44/0:30) Thunder-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals thunder damage and lowers resistance to water

Fortify (54/40/1:00) Earth-Geomancy-Enhancing : Greatly increases defense, lowering attack

Soften (56/40/1:00) Water-Geomancy-Enhancing : Breifly negates enmity loss at the cost of no damage

Altana's Shield (55/35/1:00) Light-Geomancy-Enhancing : Mitigates physical damage

Accelerate (58/42/1:00) Wind-Geomancy-Enhancing : Greatly increases attack speed, lowering accuracy

Frenzy (60/42/1:00) Fire-Geomancy-Enhancing : Greatly increases attack, lowering defense

Promathia's Shield (60/38/1:00) Dark-Geomancy-Enhancing : Mitigates magical damage

Channel (62/44/1:00) Ice-Geomancy-Enhancing : Greatly increases magic accuracy, lowering defense

Precision (64/44/1:00) Thunder-Geomancy-Enhancing : Greatly increases accuracy, lowering evasion

Divine Intervention (65/200/1:00) Light-Geomancy-Healing : Fully heals the caster

Spirit Calling (65/100/5:00) Light-Geomancy-Elemental : Calls forth a spirit of nature to inflict heavy damage associated with the current day of the week.

Reinvigoration (70/50/1:00) Dark-Geomancy-Healing : Restores 100~150 MP to the target

Skills
Skill : Rating
Geomancy : A+
Staff : A
Evasion : B
Hand-to-Hand : B
Great Axe : B-
Axe : C+
Parrying : C
Dagger : C-
Club : D
Throwing : E

Artifact Equipment
Slot (Level) Item : Description

Main (40) Aura Bell : VIT+1 AGI+2 Enhances elemental correlation

Feet (52) Alluvial Cossacks : DEF:14 HP+10 VIT+3 Enhances "Elemental Shield" effect

Hands (54) Torrid Gages : DEF:17 STR+2 Enmity+3 Enhances "Elemental Ritual" effect

Head (56) Dynamic Cap : DEF:22 MP+10 DEX+2 Enmity+3

Legs (58) Irriguous Bells : DEF:34 MND+2 Geomancy skill+5

Body (60) Hiemal Plate : DEF:46 MP+10 VIT+2 INT+2 Enhances "Dowsing Rod" Geomancy skill+5

Traditionally, geomancers were offensive spell casters, focusing on magic DD and enfeebling. Contrary to most mage jobs their spells are governed by the terrain in which they fight in. With respect to FFXI, this would hinder the GEO since only a limited number of spells would be available at a given time. This type of dependence would exile the GEO class from the start and lead to a lolGEO mentality. Another related issue is that in many areas, the mobs you find are strong to the element of the terrain (e.g. leveling on Anticans in Quicksand: Ants are strong to earth, which would predominantly be the element of QC’s terrain).

Due to these limitations, I propose that the GEO have access to all spells in the GEO arsenal. However, spells of a given element are cumulatively enhanced based upon the day’s element and weather effects. Much like BLU, spells are learned instead of purchased; however, unlike BLU, the GEO learns his spells from the terrain/weather.

The procedure by which spells are learned, has some similarities to gaining the effects for Carbuncle’s Ruby. This procedure entails having a bell (GEO only) equipped in the ranged slot, and having a crystal of the desired element you wish to acquire in your inventory. Then, the GEO must travel to a zone where the weather effect associated with the desired element is present, much like the Carby Ruby. The crystal will become “energized” when exposed to the weather effect, and can now be used to obtain a spell. It is important to note that the effect can be gathered at any level, but the energized crystal cannot be used until the GEO is the appropriate level. It is also useful to note that these energized crystals are Exclusive, but not Rare. Therefore, it is possible to collect stacks of energized crystals at one time.

Example:
Suppose I’m a level 10 GEO from San d’Oria, but want to go ahead and gather energized water crystals. I can equip my bell and head out to La Thiene, ensuring I have water crystals in my inventory. Now I zone in to La Thiene and wait for rain (water weather), then quickly zone back out and in to obtain an energized water crystal. I, however, have to wait until level 18 before I can use the crystal to learn Torrent.

This class is intended to primarily be a tank with its Defense Bonus traits, enmity generating spells, and damage mitigation spells. In the early levels, the GEO only has virtually no spells, but has a decent rating in Great Axe (B-). Thus, the GEO can use his physical damage to muscle his way through levels 5-10. At level 10, the GEO gains the spell Enrage, which is basically Provoke, but uses MP to cast. Through his teens, the GEO can use Enrage, a Great Axe (much like a WAR), and the various elemental spells (similar to NIN tanks) they learn to maintain hate.

With level 20 comes the first in the line of the GEO’s damage mitigation spells: Earthen Mail. This sort of gives the GEO the effect of Stoneskin, thus negating physical damage for a set amount. Additionally, throughout the 20’s, GEO obtains a Blink/Utsusemi ability (Zephyr Cloak) and another zero damage buff that negates magical damage (Bubble Field). At level 24, the GEO will receive 2 shadows from Zephyr Cloak, 3 at 48, and 4 at 72 (with capped Geomancy).

Through the 30’s the GEO gets access to elemental enfeebling spells that lower enemy attributes (much like the BLM elemental enfeebles). These enfeebles follow the same rules of application that the BLM enfeebles do in that only certain spells can be stacked on a mob. Additionally, in the 30’s, the GEO gains the ability to enhance his attributes, but only two of these spells can be active at the same time with a bell equipped, much like BRD songs. Also, like BRD songs, only one of these spells can be active if no bell is equiped.

At higher levels, the GEO gets access to Protect/Shell/Phalanx type abilities, additional enhancing magic (Fortify, Accelerate, etc.), and more offensive/enfeebling spells (Spirit Talker).

With regards to GEO as a support job, I see it being capable of enhancing PLD quite a bit. For EXP, PLD typically subs WAR for Provoke; however, with a GEO sub a PLD has access to Enrage at level 20; Earthen Mail, Zephyr Cloak, and Bubble Field from 40-60; and Entrench at 66. Additionally, the PLD can benefit from having more MP since the GEO has natural MP, whereas WAR doesn’t.

If we peeled it back to just the Dance element, I think steering heavily toward a homage to Mog would definately be what was best.

I could see Dance as being an umbrella ability similar to COR's Phantom Roll but having Elemental Dances right at the beginning like a PUP has Elemental Manuvers from the start. Dancer could have Elemental Dances in their JAs from the beginning, but could only truely learn them at certain levels and in certain zones. To skew things a bit, changing weather could also influence things. Because if we left Fire Dances open from the beginning, you'd never be able to learn them until you can get to Ifrit's Cauldron or Halvung and live. But fire element appears in Yuthunga and Valkrum on occasion.

They wouldn't be able to learn or control the resulting effect of an Elemental Dance at first, but once one was learned at a particular level, it would become selectable. But Dancer would still be able to chose Earth Dance to get random results until they learned all their Earth Dances.

Only problem is it would step all over Geomancer, possibly ruining any potential for that job to be added because Dancer would be a Geomancer in many respects.

Well maybe if that was involved with a series of Dances, such as the threnody series, and not be the main deal for all the dances. Then you could also give them other, directly controlled Dances to fill in for where the elemental Dance's randomness kicks in. Like say the Fire Dance could do a number of effects randomly providing one at first but slowly growing stronger over time. Like it could have either a DoT, Str down or paralyze like effect and when used at lower lvls would only have one effect proc, but at higher lvls or zones with strong fire unfluence, would have two, three or even more effects of that one dance go off. It would certainly be unique in it's implimentation and effect while still reflecting the Dancers elemental origins.

Here's my idea :)
Geomancer (GEO)
A hybrid class that harnesses the power of the terrain to enhance, enfeeble foes, and devastate enemies through manipulation of the terrain. Abilities influenced by a particular element are strengthened on the day of the week associated with that particular element. Additionally, weather effects that correspond to the element of an ability affect the strength of that ability.
Job Traits
Ability (Level) : Description
Resist Bind (10) : Increased resistance to Bind
Defense Bonus (25) : Increased defense
Resist Bind II (30) :
Elemental Killer (40) : Occasionally intimidates elementals
Defense Bonus II (50) :
Resist Bind III (55) :
Spirit Talker (65) : Allows the GEO to call forth a spirit of nature to inflict heavy damage associated with the day's element
Defense Bonus III (70) :
Resist Bind IV (75) :
Job Abilities
Ability (Level/Recast/Duration) : Description
Divination (1/2:00:00/2:00) : Greatly enhances all four light/dark attributes depending upon the element of the day (e.g. Windsday boosts Fire/Wind/Thunder/Light attributes : i.e. STR/AGI/DEX/CHR/Attack/Evasion/Accuracy/HP)
Shield Ritual (25/5:00/2:00) : Enhances resistance associated with the element of the day
Elemental Ritual (35/5:00/2:00) : Enhances spells associated with the element of the day
Divine Ritual (45/5:00/1:00) : Enhances light or dark spells depending upon the element of the day
Dowsing Rod (55/5:00/0:30) : Further exposes the weakness of an enemy
Spells
Spells are acquired and not purchased, as with BLU. However, spells are not learned from mobs, but are learned from energized crystals. To energize crystals, the GEO must take crystals of the corresponding element and expose them to their respective weather. This works in a similar manner to the Carbuncle's Ruby. Once the GEO has obtained the appropriate level, the energized crystal of the correct element can be used to learn a spell. Note: energized crystals stack and are Exclusive, but not Rare
Spell (Level/MP/Recast) Element-Skill-Type : Description
Obscure (8/6/0:10) Dark-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Blinds an enemy, lowering accuracy
Enrage (10/8/0:30) Fire-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Generates a large spike in enmity
Numb (12/8/0:10) Ice-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Paralyzes an enemy
Quicksand (14/12/0:10) Earth-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Slows and enemy
Rockfall (16/12/0:10) Earth-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals earth damage
Torrent (18/14/0:10) Water-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals water damage
Mistral (20/16/0:11) Wind-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals wind damage
Earthen Mail (20/30/0:30) Earth-Geomancy-Enhancing : Absorbs damage from physical attacks. Additional effect: Slow
Blaze (22/18/0:11) Fire-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals fire damage
Snowstorm (24/20/0:12) Ice-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals ice damage
Zephyr Cloak (24/20/0:40) Wind-Geomancy-Enhancing : Generates 2~4 shadows, each absorbing one hit. Additional effect: Gravity
Blazing Hauberk (25/15/0:30) Fire-Geomancy-Enhancing : Deals fire damage when hit. Additional effect: Blind
Thunderstorm (26/22/0:12) Thunder-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals lightning damage
Frozen Aegis (27/15/0:30) Ice-Geomancy-Enhancing : Deals ice damage when hit. Additional effect: Paralyze
Tremblor (28/18/0:20) Earth-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT earth damage and lowers accuracy
Bubble Field (28/24/0:30) Water-Geomancy-Enhancing : Absorbs damage from magical attacks. Additional effect: Regen
Bolt Bracer (29/15/0:30) Thunder-Geomancy-Enhancing : Deals thunder damage when hit. Additional effect: Stun
Current (30/20/0:20) Water-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT water damage and lowers attack
Whirlwind (32/22/0:20) Wind-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT wind damage and lowers defense
Entrench (33/30/1:00) Earth-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances VIT and defense of the caster
Scorch (34/24/0:20) Fire-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT fire damage and lowers magic attack
Draught (35/30/1:00) Water-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances MND and magic defense of the caster
Spring (35/30/0:10) Water-Geomancy-Healing : Heals target
Chill (36/26/0:20) Ice-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT ice damage and lowers evasion
Breeze (37/30/1:00) Wind-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances AGI and evasion of the caster
Storm (38/28/0:20) Thunder-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals DOT lightning damage and lowers magic defense
Cooldown (39/30/1:00) Ice-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances INT and magic attack of the caster
Syphon (40/30/0:30) Dark-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Steals a target's HP
Jolt (41/30/1:00) Thunder-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances DEX and accuracy of the caster
Glare (42/32/0:30) Light-Geomancy-Enfeeble : Blinds and enemy, greatly lowering accuracy
Landslide (43/34/0:30) Earth-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals earth damage and lowers resistance to thunder
Shine (44/35/1:00) Light-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances CHR and HP of the caster
Flashflood (45/36/0:30) Water-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals water damage and lowers resistance to fire
Guardian Angel (46/24/0:20) Light-Geomancy-Enhancing : Adds to damage mitigation
Typhoon (47/38/0:30) Wind-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals wind damage and lowers resistance to earth
Shade (48/39/1:00) Dark-Geomancy-Enhancing : Enhances MP and adds a refresh effect for the caster
Inferno (49/40/0:30) Fire-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals fire damage and lowers resistance to ice
Glacial Shift (51/42/0:30) Ice-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals ice damage and lowers resistance to wind
Electrical Storm (53/44/0:30) Thunder-Geomancy-Elemental : Deals thunder damage and lowers resistance to water
Fortify (54/40/1:00) Earth-Geomancy-Enhancing : Greatly increases defense, lowering attack
Soften (56/40/1:00) Water-Geomancy-Enhancing : Breifly negates enmity loss at the cost of no damage
Altana's Shield (55/35/1:00) Light-Geomancy-Enhancing : Mitigates physical damage
Accelerate (58/42/1:00) Wind-Geomancy-Enhancing : Greatly increases attack speed, lowering accuracy
Frenzy (60/42/1:00) Fire-Geomancy-Enhancing : Greatly increases attack, lowering defense
Promathia's Shield (60/38/1:00) Dark-Geomancy-Enhancing : Mitigates magical damage
Channel (62/44/1:00) Ice-Geomancy-Enhancing : Greatly increases magic accuracy, lowering defense
Precision (64/44/1:00) Thunder-Geomancy-Enhancing : Greatly increases accuracy, lowering evasion
Divine Intervention (65/200/1:00) Light-Geomancy-Healing : Fully heals the caster
Spirit Calling (65/100/5:00) Light-Geomancy-Elemental : Calls forth a spirit of nature to inflict heavy damage associated with the current day of the week.
Reinvigoration (70/50/1:00) Dark-Geomancy-Healing : Restores 100~150 MP to the target
Skills
Skill : Rating
Geomancy : A+
Staff : A
Evasion : B
Hand-to-Hand : B
Great Axe : B-
Axe : C+
Parrying : C
Dagger : C-
Club : D
Throwing : E
Artifact Equipment
Slot (Level) Item : Description
Main (40) Aura Bell : VIT+1 AGI+2 Enhances elemental correlation
Feet (52) Alluvial Cossacks : DEF:14 HP+10 VIT+3 Enhances "Elemental Shield" effect
Hands (54) Torrid Gages : DEF:17 STR+2 Enmity+3 Enhances "Elemental Ritual" effect
Head (56) Dynamic Cap : DEF:22 MP+10 DEX+2 Enmity+3
Legs (58) Irriguous Bells : DEF:34 MND+2 Geomancy skill+5
Body (60) Hiemal Plate : DEF:46 MP+10 VIT+2 INT+2 Enhances "Dowsing Rod" Geomancy skill+5
Traditionally, geomancers were offensive spell casters, focusing on magic DD and enfeebling. Contrary to most mage jobs their spells are governed by the terrain in which they fight in. With respect to FFXI, this would hinder the GEO since only a limited number of spells would be available at a given time. This type of dependence would exile the GEO class from the start and lead to a lolGEO mentality. Another related issue is that in many areas, the mobs you find are strong to the element of the terrain (e.g. leveling on Anticans in Quicksand: Ants are strong to earth, which would predominantly be the element of QC’s terrain).
Due to these limitations, I propose that the GEO have access to all spells in the GEO arsenal. However, spells of a given element are cumulatively enhanced based upon the day’s element and weather effects. Much like BLU, spells are learned instead of purchased; however, unlike BLU, the GEO learns his spells from the terrain/weather.
The procedure by which spells are learned, has some similarities to gaining the effects for Carbuncle’s Ruby. This procedure entails having a bell (GEO only) equipped in the ranged slot, and having a crystal of the desired element you wish to acquire in your inventory. Then, the GEO must travel to a zone where the weather effect associated with the desired element is present, much like the Carby Ruby. The crystal will become “energized” when exposed to the weather effect, and can now be used to obtain a spell. It is important to note that the effect can be gathered at any level, but the energized crystal cannot be used until the GEO is the appropriate level. It is also useful to note that these energized crystals are Exclusive, but not Rare. Therefore, it is possible to collect stacks of energized crystals at one time.
Example:
Suppose I’m a level 10 GEO from San d’Oria, but want to go ahead and gather energized water crystals. I can equip my bell and head out to La Thiene, ensuring I have water crystals in my inventory. Now I zone in to La Thiene and wait for rain (water weather), then quickly zone back out and in to obtain an energized water crystal. I, however, have to wait until level 18 before I can use the crystal to learn Torrent.
This class is intended to primarily be a tank with its Defense Bonus traits, enmity generating spells, and damage mitigation spells. In the early levels, the GEO only has virtually no spells, but has a decent rating in Great Axe (B-). Thus, the GEO can use his physical damage to muscle his way through levels 5-10. At level 10, the GEO gains the spell Enrage, which is basically Provoke, but uses MP to cast. Through his teens, the GEO can use Enrage, a Great Axe (much like a WAR), and the various elemental spells (similar to NIN tanks) they learn to maintain hate.
With level 20 comes the first in the line of the GEO’s damage mitigation spells: Earthen Mail. This sort of gives the GEO the effect of Stoneskin, thus negating physical damage for a set amount. Additionally, throughout the 20’s, GEO obtains a Blink/Utsusemi ability (Zephyr Cloak) and another zero damage buff that negates magical damage (Bubble Field). At level 24, the GEO will receive 2 shadows from Zephyr Cloak, 3 at 48, and 4 at 72 (with capped Geomancy).
Through the 30’s the GEO gets access to elemental enfeebling spells that lower enemy attributes (much like the BLM elemental enfeebles). These enfeebles follow the same rules of application that the BLM enfeebles do in that only certain spells can be stacked on a mob. Additionally, in the 30’s, the GEO gains the ability to enhance his attributes, but only two of these spells can be active at the same time with a bell equipped, much like BRD songs. Also, like BRD songs, only one of these spells can be active if no bell is equiped.
At higher levels, the GEO gets access to Protect/Shell/Phalanx type abilities, additional enhancing magic (Fortify, Accelerate, etc.), and more offensive/enfeebling spells (Spirit Talker).
With regards to GEO as a support job, I see it being capable of enhancing PLD quite a bit. For EXP, PLD typically subs WAR for Provoke; however, with a GEO sub a PLD has access to Enrage at level 20; Earthen Mail, Zephyr Cloak, and Bubble Field from 40-60; and Entrench at 66. Additionally, the PLD can benefit from having more MP since the GEO has natural MP, whereas WAR doesn’t.

No offense, but a lot of that seems rather familiar O.-

No offense, but a lot of that seems rather familiar O.-

Great Minds think alike :thumbsup:

...I can live with that >_>

I've enjoyed reading this thread, and I keep checking it periodically. And although I've taken this month off from FFXI, I have become completely preoccupied with the idea of this thread and building a pretty full job idea.

That being said, I am here to issue a warning: this will be the first in a series of replies to this thread, wherein I may become quite boring and long winded. Hopefully, my series of replies can culminate in a reasonable build for Geomancer. After the last two GEO concepts by Ziero and Jugil (which were very well thought out and presented :thumbsup: ) this may seem like beating a dead horse, but my whole basis for GEO stems from a different feeling about the origins and traditions of the class than what has been presented so far.

But before we get into any of that, I want to talk about something that seems to have a good deal to do with most of the posts here: Mog.

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Mog (FFVI) has been mentioned quite a bit here, all in reference to his precedent concerning not only Geomancer, but Dancer as well. As most of you here have done with your particular job of choice, I have been reviewing Geomancers throughout the series to try to nail down their specific feel and function in order to understand where they could fit in FFXI. And let me say, Mog is such a damned anomoly. Let's look at all different aspects of Mog and hopefully walk away with a more clear definition of who he is, and who Geomancers and Dancers are as well so we can avoid stepping on each others' toes.

Appearance: Well, we didn't get any visual help here. He's a damn moogle and doesn't look markedly like a GEO or a DNC (or however you wanna abbreviate).

Weapon Choice: Mog liked spears and daggers. Neither GEO nor DNC used spears at any time, but both have used daggers/knives as their main weapons in different games. Not a lot of help here either.

Abilities: This is the real doodoo. Mog is officially classified as a Dancer. His moves are called 'Dances.' But arguably, he seems to use Geomancy spells and effects exclusively. We all know this already.

---How Mog functions like a Dancer: The only Dancer class before Mog was in FF5. They equipped knives, and their "Dance" command would randomly produce one of four effects. Mog functions in the same way, except that he gets to select a set of four based on terrain. But at this point in the series, Dancer was like a magical Berserker. They just danced and danced, choosing their moves willy-nilly. Mog did the same. He would keep dancing his selected set and cycle through those moves on autopilot. The elemental nature of Mog's dances seem to have nothing to do with Dancers. Even after FF6, Dancers never again had their dances based in an elemental nature. They have traditionally had debuffs of various sorts and the occasional direct damage dance, but never again of an elemental basis.

---How Mog functions like a Geomancer: Mog had a set of 4 different spells generated from each terrain style. Geomancers in FF5 acted similarly, drawing one random effect from the four for that terrain (sounds similar to Dancer already). {GEOs in FF3 had only one effect for each terrain, so there had been no random <not counting blasting yourself with a Backfire> nature to the job originally. This aspect of GEO returned in FFT, with the distinction of having many more types of terrain to attach to each move.} Anyway, Mog generated elemental attacks, buffs or debuffs, in true GEO fashion.

---How Mog functions like a Hunter?!? (FF5)
If you look at the specific geomancies that Mog produces, you'll see something very nonelemental in each terrain set. One of the four moves for each terrain was an animal that popped out and did something strange. With the exception of Antlion (which never actually appeared, only a swirly vortex did) and Harvester (which seems to be a being of light or some such crap) they were: Cockatrice (which looks like a cockatoo), Wombat, Kitty (more like a meerkat really), Tapir (they pee backwards! yay), Whump (arguably it's a grizzly bear's testicle with eyes), Wild Bear, Poison Frog, and that ol' Ice Rabbit. I don't need to explain how this is like a FF5 Hunter. If they hollered "Critt!" a seemingly useless woodland creature would swoop in and make an ass of himself. Truly a key move for any self-depricating Dancer/Geomancer hybrid warrior of light.

---How Mog functions like no other...
None of the jobs that Mog borrowed from ever got a chance to choose what set of moves they used. Geomancer got crapped on if he was standing in the wrong terrain, and Dancer always just went nuts with the few moves they had. Once these jobs made their way into Tactics the whole thing was rectified. Well, for Dancers anyway.

That's all the hair splitting I do on Mog for now. I will continue to work on that GEO build and hopefully return before too long to take a detailed look at the history of GEO in particular. I'll shut up now.

No offense, but a lot of that seems rather familiar O.-
None taken :).

Bells/Axes/Daggers/Spears have been traditionally used by Geo's in FF games: Geomancer (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/geomancer.shtml). So, kind of hard to get away from that. I chose Staves for the GEO's main as a replacement for Polearms due mainly to the elemental staves (a major focus being Earth/Terra staff).

I selected GEO to be a tank, because that's what FFXI needs: we have an overabundance of direct DD, a handful of support/healing jobs, and only two dedicated tanks that rely on their sub for a major aspect of the tank job. I feel creating another job that relies heavily on a WAR sub to tank is pointless. And to be honest, the idea of a GEO tank has been bouncing around on forums for quite awhile.

PLD focuses on damage mitigation and healing, while NIN focuses on dealing damage and completely negating damage. I tried to strike a balance with these two methods, as well as give PLD a sub that would further enhance its own abilities (MP and VIT/Defense boosts). Additionally, I've given GEO little healing capabilities and focused on magic DD/enfeebling to help keep hate (much in the way NIN uses powders). Everyone complains how expensive NIN is; so, instead of using gil, GEO uses MP :).

Just my thoughts on the job: What if RDM could tank :P

Edit: Also, I got a lot of my names (Dowsing Rod/Ritual/Spirit Talker/etc.) for Abilities/Traits/Spells from the real world interpretation of Geomancy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomancy) being a divination/occultism tradition.

Just my thoughts on the job: What if RDM could tank :P

I don't know if any of what you just said was directed at me, but I'll go ahead and assure you that I agree with many of the aspects of your and Ziero's ideas. I think the details of where my idea differs from yours is in the JAs, JTs, spells, etc.

And I'm really with you on the piece I quoted here. To oversimplify, PLD always seemed like a WAR+WHM, and NIN seemed like a WAR+BLM. I was approaching it from the aspect of a tank that didn't focus on curative abilities like PLD or elemental/enfeebling like a NIN, but purely on self-enhancing skills. If I could just come up with 2-3 more really solid abilities, I'd just post the damn thing and get it over with.

None taken :).
Bells/Axes/Daggers/Spears have been traditionally used by Geo's in FF games: Geomancer (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/geomancer.shtml). So, kind of hard to get away from that. I chose Staves for the GEO's main as a replacement for Polearms due mainly to the elemental staves (a major focus being Earth/Terra staff).
I selected GEO to be a tank, because that's what FFXI needs: we have an overabundance of direct DD, a handful of support/healing jobs, and only two dedicated tanks that rely on their sub for a major aspect of the tank job. I feel creating another job that relies heavily on a WAR sub to tank is pointless. And to be honest, the idea of a GEO tank has been bouncing around on forums for quite awhile.
PLD focuses on damage mitigation and healing, while NIN focuses on dealing damage and completely negating damage. I tried to strike a balance with these two methods, as well as give PLD a sub that would further enhance its own abilities (MP and VIT/Defense boosts). Additionally, I've given GEO little healing capabilities and focused on magic DD/enfeebling to help keep hate (much in the way NIN uses powders). Everyone complains how expensive NIN is; so, instead of using gil, GEO uses MP :).
Just my thoughts on the job: What if RDM could tank :P
Edit: Also, I got a lot of my names (Dowsing Rod/Ritual/Spirit Talker/etc.) for Abilities/Traits/Spells from the real world interpretation of Geomancy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomancy) being a divination/occultism tradition.

Actually, my comment was about how similar your ideas were to mine that I posted in this very same topic, similar names and all. Guess that means I'm not the only crazy mofo who thinks staff wielding Geos would be good tanks. :evil:

Actually, my comment was about how similar your ideas were to mine that I posted in this very same topic, similar names and all. Guess that means I'm not the only crazy mofo who thinks staff wielding Geos would be good tanks.
I just like the idea of tanking with an Earth/Terra's Staff (+4/5VIT, -20%DMG taken), and getting a nice chunk of MP back on Spirit Taker :D.

OK, I must keep my word. I promised to give a detailed lead up to my own GEO build, and I shall deliver. For this entry, I will tackle the bare information of...

The History of Geomancer

Let's take this one section at at time. I'm not getting into how x or y would need to change for an FFXI GEO. Just the facts.

Weapons: A rundown of what they've used and when.

Bells: This weapon is often cited as a true Geomancer hallmark, being that when it has appeared, only Geomancers were able to use them. In the tradition of old-school FF abstract weapons, similar to harps, bells weren't used to run up and conk a goblin in the head; a stream of music notes would fly out and harm the enemy. Maybe it has something to do with the old belief that the sound of bells repels evil spirits. Maybe it's supposed to remind the enemy of Christmas time, the time of year with the highest number of suicides, and prompt the monster to take his own life. The world may never know.

Bells first appeared as a Geomancer weapon in FF3 where they were the only weapon type GEO could use.

In FF5, bells appeared again, though they weren't the only weapon usable by GEOs. I can't remember if there was a 'Legendary' bell in the sealed castle or not. Hmmph. There was a Giyaman Bell, Earth Bell, Rune Bell, and...TinkerBell. >.<

Total times featured: 2
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Knife/Dagger: Boring. Many jobs can use, have used, and will use again, knives.

GEO used knives in FF5, and in FF6 in the form of Mog, though it had no exclusivity or special significance to the Geomancer.

Total times featured: 2
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Spear: Wow, that's a bit more in line with manly toughness. Sadly it was only weilded in FF6 by the enigma Mog. Maybe he's just a little rougher than a standard, pure-blood GEO. Maybe he's just show-boating.

Total times featured: 1
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Axes: Here is the one standard weapon type that people seem to think is the most trusted weapon of the Geomancer. That's probably because the FFTactics GEO used it well. FFT also happened to be the first time we in the states actually saw a GEO at all, barring any fan-translated emulated versions of older FFs that we never had. That's probably the reason for all the nostalgic feelings people have for axe-weilding Geomancers. Sadly, it seems that axes are not even as favored by GEO as a puny dagger is.

Total times featured: 1
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Swords: Go back to the axes section and read it again, this time replacing the word "axe" with "sword." FFT again. Kind of oddly thrown in. The FFT GEO wasn't a sword master; other classes gained access to stronger sword types. But all in all, it's better than swinging your tinkerbells in a monsters face.:o
It might be worth mentioning the FFTA Elementalist here. While similar to GEO, it's not exactly a GEO. Anyway, they used rapier type swords, so if you're feeling froggy, bump that total to 2 appearances.

Total times featured: 1
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Summary: So in the long run, GEOs love them some bells and knives. Maybe love isn't the right term. They get along OK. But the GEO has had fleeting romances with axes, spears, and swords. Well, enough of that. On to the next.
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Armor: Not much to say here really. GEOs have traditionally worn light armors, comparable to a mage's gear. FFT GEOs could actually use shields, along with vests, leather crap, and mage robes.

Uhhhh.....

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Appearance:
Here we go. Let's get a good look at this weirdo, cuz the GEO rarely looks the same. This would probably be relevant to FFXI in terms of AF gear, but I won't go into it in this post.

FF3: This is the first time GEO reared its funky head, and honestly, it's a little hard to see what Square was going for. He's got a sombrero with a long, floppy night-cap type hat and a loose, Roman wizard looking blue robe. He also seems to have been stricken with the common BLM affliction, "Gun-shot cartoon soot face."


http://www.ffcompendium.com/jobimages/3-geomancer-o.gif

I like how SE has this whole revisionist view of their own games history. With the release of FF3 DS, we get to see how they try to tie the GEO to a more iconic image meant to encompass all the looks it's had over the year. In this form, it has the basic look of the original, but tightened up a bit. The floppy hat has been changed to a hood with a bobble on top, reminiscent of FF5's mountain-climber look. The colors have been changed to reflect the blue and white scheme featured by the FFT male-version GEO. All in all, I think it's a pretty good summary of the GEO style.

I couldn't find a good screen, so here's the art. (http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2006/177/924897_20060627_screen020.jpg)

FF5: With better graphics came a little clarification. The GEOs looked similar to the FF3 version, but with better detail. It's a little less hodge-podge, and a little more ice climber. The problem with making each character look different in every damn job, is that you still get a kind of scattershot view of what the job quintessentially looks like. The colors were all over the place, but seemed to feature green and teal mostly.


http://www.ffcompendium.com/jobimages/5-geomancer-o.gif

...I hope they picked up some eggplants and lettuce with faces along the way.

FF6: It's Mog. He's a moogle. He looks like a moogle.

FFTactics: Now where did this hard-ass come from? Of course, neither the male nor the female GEO looked very tough, but they were way tougher than the old beddy-bye time GEO. The art looked quite different from the actual characters in-game. According to the art, the male was an arian Aztec hippy, and the female was decked out some ass-stomping boots and a nice friar-meets-wizard shirt, with no pants! Look:

http://www.ffcompendium.com/jobimages/t-geomancer-a.jpg

But the tiny character models didn't show as much detail. The male looked more like a Trojan soldier in some nice blue & white duds, and the poor female looked like somebody stuffed her into a potato sack.

http://www.ffcompendium.com/jobimages/t-geomancermale-o.jpg http://www.ffcompendium.com/jobimages/t-geomancerfem-o.jpg

and for the sake of argument, I will include-

FFTA Elementalist: What would happen if you took away the GEO's reliance on the terrain? You could practically just cast your earthen magic anytime, anywhere. That sounds like a doodoo version of BLM! But it's called the Elementalist, a psuedonym used by GEO in some translations of some games...somewhere. Don't ask.

http://www.ffcompendium.com/jobimages/ta-elementalist-f.jpg andhttp://www.ffcompendium.com/jobimages/ta-elementalist-o.jpg Blim- Blam.
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Special Skills:
Oh, Geomancer, you. Some people hate you because they think you'd be "just another BLM" if you were here in FFXI. Some people hate you because they think you're job is not useful in any facet. Nobody hates you for being beautiful. Let's look at the geomancy behind GEOs' unique place in the FF universe.

It's almost common knowledge that GEOs used a spell-type ability that was based on the element/theme of the different types of terrain in the game. Without going into too much detail, we'll have a look-see at the way GEO worked in the past.

FF3: In this version of GEO, each terrain only had one corresponding effect attached to it. There were 7 types of terrain, and 8 total "spells" (they didn't use MP, so they aren't really spells). I don't know why I put that into parentheses; that is an important aspect of geomancy. Although it looks like a spell, it didn't cost MP to use. This puts "Terrain" more in line with physical job skills than it does magic per se. In modern terms, it would be like a Job Ability than anything else. The 8th effect was "Backfire" and it wasn't attached to any terrain. It would happen randomly and it hurt the GEO. How crappy.

FF5: "Terrain" got a lot better in this game. Now for each terrain, you would randomly use one of four different skills attributed to it. There were some skills that would appear in more than one setting, so some skills overlapped. Again, there were 7 terrain types in this game, and a total of 23 different effects generated. This game included Job Traits for each job as well, so GEO got a few new skills not associated with battle. "Pitfall" let you see holes and trap-doors that would normally wreak havoc on your dungeon exploring. "DmgFloor" let you move over lava, spikes, and the like, without taking damage from them. This helped flesh out the concept of GEO as less of an elemental mage type, and moved them closer to an explorer/outdoorsman type.

FF6: I've already explained the Mog/GEO relationship earlier in this thread, so I'll keep it short. This game had 8 different terrain types, with a total 24 different spells. Again, some overlapped to be included in more than one terrain. It may be worth noting that until FF6, geomancy only attacked. This game included many healing and curative geomancy effects.

FFT: Geomancy was a little backwards in this game. You would learn a certain spell, then to actually use it, you had to be on the correct type of panel. There were 12 spells, but there were many types of terrain to use. Of all the different things you could possibly be standing on, these were grouped into smaller categories and attributed to a spell. This sounds confusing. You only chose "Elemental" from your menu, and if you had learned the spell for that ground type, you would use it. If not, you got nothing. After learning a butt-load of spells, you would just roam around and use them willy-nilly, much more akin to the other versions of GEO. Some cool additions in this game were "Counterflood" where you would react to being attacked by using geomancy from the tile you were attacked on. You could also walk on lava, and your movement wasn't limited while moving on rough terrain.
One special thing here is that one of the support abilities for the GEO was "AttackUp." For GEO to get an attack boost, that was even further movement away from GEO as a mage class and into a more physical role.


That's it for now. Not much else to say about the history of Geomancers in FF. Next time I post in this thread, we'll take a look at how FFXI differs from old FFs, and what GEO would have to abandon/adopt to actually survive in such a game. If you read it all up to here, you are about to fall asleep. I'll leave you to it.

Hantz totally broke the table (for himself). Interesting background info tho.

Hantz totally broke the table (for himself). Interesting background info tho.

I'm a moron. Please explain "broke the table."

You're all squished up there. But it's still within the constraints of the page, so I should have used a different term. Anyway, I was just saying nice info! You focused on the wrong part. XD

Oops! Thank you Murphie. I couldn't tell if "Broke the table" was like "jump the shark." So I was a little sheepish about accepting a complement. But Never Again!

Now let's think about something useful to the specific purpose of this thread: How a job changes when translated to FFXI. This would be a good topic of thought for anyone that wanted to draw up a job concept for this game, no matter what class it is. Now, I am not, by any means suggesting that I am some kind of expert on the topic, but I have done a bit of reflection on the subject. If anyone here can think of other evidence/examples that I don't hit upon, feel free to bring it to my attention. I think there should only be 3 or 4 big changes that jobs undergo to fit into FFXI, so this shouldn't take too long.

1. Fundamental Changes to Role
I think the most glaring change a job class can undergo when brought into FFXI, is the role a job plays in a group. Pretty self explanatory, but let's look at some specific examples. Tanking is a good example. I've heard people say that they played FFBlah over again, and they had so and so tank, but c'mon. In those older games, all you could do is stick the punies in the back row and pray that they didn't get annihilated. So back in the day, a PLD like Cecil (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/paladin.shtml#FF4) could knock the crap out of things AND have killer defense and cures. PLD has been made all about pure survival in FFXI.

BST may be the best example. This "never meant to solo" back-tracking doesn't fool anybody. Old BSTs (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/beastmaster.shtml) were marginally useful in older games (IMHO). All the 'adjustments' to BST put them more in line with old role. But undeniably, BST is very different in FFXI than it was in days of yore. Gambler (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/gambler.shtml) underwent pretty massive changes to find its way here. Random effects of all sorts needed to be refined to fit some kind of reason. So when the dust settled, COR was a support job. I would never have thought of a job that could wipe out your entire party as support, but we all know how valuable a COR can be to a party. Which leads us to....

2-A. Fundamental Changes to Actions
COR is the best example, for the reasons given above. Some things just don't make sense in the context of an MMORPG. Kicking your own ass and the asses of your PT makes absolutely no sense in FFXI. So the entire way that the Gambler class worked needed to be changed. You're still playing a baby casino game to get your job done, but not like before. DRK needed to be fattened up to be useful as well, gaining black magic and some unique spells along the way. DRG just hopping up and down is pretty one dimensional. That's all fine and good in a game like FF4. But if you want to be something that stands on its own two feet in a game where everybody needs the tools to do more than just stand there and fight, then you get a wyvern. This aspect of the game is common knowledge and a pretty common topic of discussion. Balance is a huge issue in this game and games similar to it. Just look at any PLD vs. NIN discussion. Balance probably summarizes rules 1 and 2 pretty well in one fell statement. A job has to operate well but not too well, regardless if it has to undergo some fairly large changes from what it was. Period.

2-B. Avoiding Difficult Concepts
When the last expansion was being leaked to us, piece by piece, just about a year ago, speculation on the new classes was high. Threads like this were popping up everywhere, with any FF job you can imagine, no matter how obscure. But 90% of us could look at a job concept and tell you that there was no way in high hell job X could make it into our game. Some things just don't translate, and if you can't twist a job using rule 1 and/or 2A, then you'd probably end up here.
Prime example: Mime (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/mime.shtml). As much as I loved me some Gogo, this just would not work in FFXI. First off, it's probably overly complicated to program a guy using a JA or spell from the full arsenal of either (maybe not?). And secondly, this class would basically supercede and rules of balance and usefulness. He could range from overpowered to completely useless at any given time.
A Geomancer (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/geomancer.shtml) needing input for every inch of terrain he/she was standing on, for every effing zone in the entire world is insane. It would never work. But jobs like Geomancer, Dancer (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/dancer.shtml), or Chemist (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/chemist.shtml) could probably use a bit of rules 1 and 2A and come out pretty well as long as they had a little of 2B going on first. This rule is a tool, not used solely to exclude jobs, but to make some more viable in the long run. If you're sitting around scribbling job ideas on a legal pad just to show us andSE how feasible it could be, and you've got the word "MIME" scrawled hugely across the top of the page, I suggest you look pretty heavily at the way SE has used 2B in the past. If you're left with just a skeleton of a job, might I suggest trying....

3. Absorbing Other Jobs.
Another reason some jobs get shot down before they start, is that they have been nearly completely encased in a job we already have. Usually, this is for a good reason too. Some jobs' definitive aspects are just paper thin. In older games, you could get away with giving any old fighter one unique move and make that a class of its own. That's not fooling anybody these days. "But Hantz, I love the Berserker (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/berserker.shtml), I think blahblahblah." I'm sorry to break it to you, but every aspect of Berserkers has already been included in FFXI. Berserk was given to WAR, and since we all auto-attack anyway, the attack boost that went with it is what it gives. WAR may have used all kinds of weapons in the past (they still do), but instead of focusing on swords, the Berserkers mastery of axes was attributed to WARs. What's left; the sabertoothed cat-skin unitard? Well, we have that covered too. (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Tiger_Mask) Really, there's not even a scrap at the table left for a Berserker to gobble down.
Something like Time Mage (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/timemage.shtml)*might* have a hind teet to suckle on, but it would be a tight squeeze. Haste, Slow, Gravity, Teleport- all job defining spells of the Time Mage- are already used by existing jobs. Higher tiers of those spells might be perfect fodder for a Time Mage, but they would just as likely be damn near game breaking.
But as far as rule 3 being inclusive, if you have a job that is almost reasonable, but just a little on the thin side, absorbing a more minor job would be a boon. Let's look at COR again (I love COR, OK?). The gambling abilities are pretty cool, and a good basis for a job. "But what do they do while they aren't gambling? Hmmm, use darts and crap like Setzer? Nah. Oh, let's add in the aspects of the wafer-thin Gunner (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/gunner.shtml) class. They used guns, and, uh, well they used guns. Let the Gambler suck up the useful part of Gunner and we'll call the whole thing Corsair. Booya."
Likewise, RDM took the best of Magic Knight (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/magicknight.shtml) (En-spells). Time Mage was drawn and quatered, then split amongst RDM, WHM, and BLM (one oculd argue that Time Mage was originally just given a group of spells that had belonged to these classes anyway). PUP took the basic concept of a Necromancer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FraHyISCheI) (humanoid type pet that fulfills similar roles to jobs we already have) and given aspects suspiciously similar to classses like Edgar's (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/ff6.shtml#edgar) (FF6) machinist (a crapload of tools and mechanisms).
There are many jobs in older FFs that are ripe for the picking. If we do get new jobs in the future, I would put money on SE giving them at least 1 or 2 JAs from some job that has fallen by the wayside (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/scholar.shtml).

4. Defining Theme of the Job
Lastly, whatever SE does to a job, they are going to wrap it up in a tidy, pretty package. All the things the job has going for it need to make sense. This is where the AF gear, JAs, JTs, weapon specialization, and background info all come together to form an underlying theme behind the job. Look at any job we have, and you'll see it. I promise. I think this is a huge part of "fleshing-out" a job. It's the sales pitch SE uses to make the job appealing to us. These themes are usually very specific as well. RNG, for instance, isn't just "I gots a bow. I'm Legolas (http://www.tolkientown.com/images/legolas-elephant%20thmbnl.jpg)! I'ma gonna surf down that Marid's nose (http://lilithlotr.ejwsites.net/articles/luomo-vogue/elephant-slide.jpg)!" No, no. It is set up to be like an outdoorsy, survivalist (http://www.voanews.com/serbian/images/Survivalist.jpg)type. Tracking, hunting, scavenging, conserving, camouflage. And they get a woodsman style outfit. Hell, they even main-hand an axe. It all makes sense.
We're not going to see a guy who turns into a chainsaw maniac (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/gunner.shtml#FF7vincent)in this game. Just as how BLU aren't running around weilding a giant fork. (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/bluemage.shtml#FF9) In this game, they have a middle-eastern flair, use scimitars, etc. because they have one unifying theme applied to them. I think any reasonable "Fleshed-out Job Concept" should have one.

Okay. I think I'm done. That's about all I can come up with in regards to how a job should be shaped to fit into a FFXI-shaped hole. I'll get right on to posting my GEO concept so everyone can tell me how bad it is.:thumbsup:

I have to agree with the 4 basic rules Hantz described while talking about creating a new job class, though I do disagree that Mime and Time Mage wouldn't work, but that's another discussion which I'll address at a later date.
But just to compare my concept of Geo with the 4 rules:

1) Fundamental Changes to Role:
In previous FFs, Geo was always a semi random, elemental DD/supporter. This means that the majority of their actions were out of reach of their full control and were intended to deal damage and weaken monsters. In FFXI, having your damage be based on such random abilities is fully considered to be a bad idea. Making it into a DD or even a debuffer would severly limit it's potential if it couldn't control it's own effects. Thus why I felt a auto-self-buffing tank concept would work so well with them. It keeps their classic randomness without hindering their usefulness as the elemental corrilation of mobs has very little, if any, effect on self buffs and defensive actions.

2) Fundamental Changes to Actions and Avoiding Difficult Concepts:
The main change is that their main ability would occur naturally without their input, it would just happen like DA or Counter. They would also get a list of 'full time' MP dependent, weak elemental spells, which is another thing they've never had(except Elementalist from FFTA). Though they would have a JA to simulate the 'Elemental' ability from FFT, it would be no more then a sort of nod to the past. And with their main ability happening naturally, based on current in game mathmatics and zone effects, and other abilities being similar to other jobs, nothing about this concept is too difficult to implament or ustilize.

3) Absorbing Other Jobs:
This doesn't happen so much with my concept, rather it's more a big blend of all classic concepts of Geo rolled into a tanking job. Their random elemental nature, the debuffs from 5 and Tactics, Bells and Axes from all their previous lives etc. Everything else about the idea is more or less FFXI based 'original' concepts.

4) Defining Theme of the Job:
To me, the defining theme of Geomancer is that of a rugged, outdoors-ey, type 'mountainman' who is spiritually linked with nature itself. And as a buff and rugged character, his vit and HP should be high enough to take hits and just shrug them off, but as one who lives with nature would be wise enough to use magical arts. A class that can mix melee and magic type stats in perfect harmoney. Unlike Rdm or Blu, who's magic clearly surpasses their melee or Drk who's melee clearly surpasses their magic, Geo can use both styles fairly well but not be outstanding in either. Their main weapons, Staves and G Axes, would reflect their outdoors-ey, physical nature while their JSE style weapon, the Bell, would assist in their 'spirit of nature' style. Though the main basis for this concept can be found in FFT's take on the class, I tried to incorporate concepts from other versions as well.


As for the aforementioned Mime and Time Mage classes, I can and will be posting what i feel would be decent working versions for both jobs. Time Mage is obviously the easier of the two, but I feel i have a great idea to make a useful, balanced and unique version of Mime for this game.

I have to agree with the 4 basic rules Hantz described while talking about creating a new job class, though I do disagree that Mime and Time Mage wouldn't work, but that's another discussion which I'll address at a later date.

Word. I was merely citing those jobs as examples of avoiding difficult concepts. I'm sure there could be sensible builds for each of those jobs; they would just require more reworking than most. Like, off the top of my head, Mime could have a short list of usable skills like BLU, but fill it with things used by recent party members. Like one spot for action JA, one for support JA, etc.

Not trying to discourage anybody. I'm not a pro on the math of the game, so maybe Time Mage would work, but then again maybe not. But not definatively "yes" or "no."

Well, I'll go ahead and post my Geomancer idea. I'll try to explain my process along the way, and point out any of those 4 guidlines an area might fall under. I'll have to say right off the bat, I'm not a master of the game's math and modifiers and such, so don't get too bent out of shape about something being too powerful or not. These are just the ideas for how the job could work, and not being able to test these abilities in the real game, I can't be sure how strong/weak they should be. As long as the idea gets across, that's my goal.

I gave the history of the Geomancer. I gave some guidelines for adjustments older jobs need to undergo to work in FFXI. I hope they blend here.

I'm not sure how to begin here. I went for a tanking role with my concept, like many others, because there's room for another tank, and Geomancer has had a pretty varied style. Pretty much anyone would agree that we have enough DD, and there is a good little spread of Support. Another healer would probably be my top choice for a new job, but Geomancer wasn't going that way in my head.

Where I think my concept is different is that I didn't think GEO could have his cake and eat it too. Instead of many abilities that caused slight elemental damage and enfeebles, with some tanking abilities worked in, I tried to make it so that, to get the most out of their abilities, a GEO would need to be the one being attacked by the mob.

I also feel that, with such a wide spread of what mage jobs could already accomplish, the Geomancer would need to distance itself even further from BLM, RDM, WHM, BRD, and Avatar abilities. So I dropped most of the direct damage and enfeebling skills. I went back to the physical style of the FFTactics GEO, but felt that it still wasn't stacking up to the tanks we have now. Let me get to the point.

----------------------------

I made up these stat ratings a while back, rather unscientifically. I looked at a large list of all the jobs' ratings and said "More HP than this job," "Not as much STR as that job," and so on. It might be a little crappy now, but this is not even the most vital part of the concept so:

Base Stat Ratings:
HP --> C
MP--> none
STR --> C
DEX --> D
VIT --> B
AGI --> B
MND --> D
CHR --> E

Maybe that part could use some work, but who cares.

-------------------------

We reviewed the strange spread of weapons that GEOs have used, but I went further with weapon selection. To Ziero's credit, his view of the GEO is that of an outdoorsman, a mountain man. But I thought to thicken this job up, I would add elements of a previously thin job: Rune Knight (FF6). GEO already seemed like it was kind of like an Eskimo, and that they seemed to be decked out for survival in harsh, cold environments. So it makes sense to me to add in a Rune Knight, which reminds me of Norse warriors (the birthplace of runes and all), another dweller of harsh, cold environments. This helped me get to a good place to make a weapon spread for GEO. I'll get into the overall theme, which will play a little bit into this later. But since we don't have any AF Great Sword, nor is one class showing an A+ superiority. So:

Combat Ratings:
Great Sword (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Category:Great_Swords) --> A- (equal to a DRK, not stronger, but GEO doesn't have as high a STR rating or Attack Boosts)
Great Axe (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Category:Great_Axes) --> C
Dagger (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Category:Daggers) --> C
Polearm (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Category:Polearms) --> D
Parrying (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Parrying) --> A-
Evasion (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Evasion) --> B-

GEO had daggers and polearms in the past. Since I was going for a physical, tanking take though, I took their previous use of sword & axe, and bumped them up to the Great versions. I gave them a lower rating in GA, a higher damage weapon class, to keep them from encroaching into DD territory. GS isn't currently anyone's favored weapon overall, since A.) WAR can use dual axes or higher damage GA, which they are better with anyway, B.) PLD has an A+ in sword and they can pair that with their ever useful shield skills, and C.) DRK can get higher damage scythes than even the strongest GS, at earlier levels too, and DRK's goal is damage. So there was a pocket IMO for GEO to scoop up GS. The weapon skills for GS (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Category:Great_Swords) seemed to fit the style of GEO well too. And I didn't give them staff skills, which seems to be a huge focus of most GEO builds, to keep them from turning mage.

------------------------

So for the underlying theme of this version of GEO so far; GEOs originated in a cold, arctic environment where survival was difficult (thus the look). They invented Geomancy by trying to manipulate their living conditions through channeling the energies of the world (hence the abilities). This made it possible for GEOs of old to survive where they did, and it also kept the rest of Vana'diel from stumbling upon this job until recently (whenever the next expansion releasing new jobs comes out). They dress to withstand the cold, decked out in hooded tunics made of leather and furs. The white bobble on the hood of the GEO is to signify their shamanistic status in society (like a wizard hat or something). They carried bells made of earth or metal to help with their geomancy. And they swing Great Swords like a Scandinavian warrior. That all helps explain...

AF gear to present an iconic appearance:
Like all the other jobs, GEO has to look the part. I'm going to go with the basic look of the FF3 DS version (http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2006/177/924897_20060627_screen020.jpg), but made to fit the kind of gear we have in FFXI. The pieces could be something like:

Weapon: Stalactite (somekind of mineral/rocky looking GS)

Hands: Gnome Mitts
Legs: Gnome Slops
Feet: Gnome Galoshes (not made of rubber, but thick, white boots)
Ranged Slot: Rune Bell (could have some kind of boost to certain JAs)
Head/Body (combined): Gnome Tunic (the hooded kind that fills both armor slots)

Of course the tunic's hood would have a white puff on it, not as big as the one from the pic I linked. The combo of head and body AF pieces into one is offset by the Rune Bell being an AF for the ranged slot (notice I didn't give the GEO any ranged weapon abilities so nobody would feel bad about leaving that bell in the slot). I think the blue and white color combo is nice, reminiscent of FFT, but to the style of the older games. The colors would have to be dulled a bit to fit the style of FFXI. Maybe in my fake GEO inhabited arctic town blue is the color of mystics and the bobble shows that you are specifically a GEO. SE could think of something.

Have I painted any kind of picture for you yet? It makes sense (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Image:AxesariontheWanderer.jpg)to me at least. The light nature of the armor is key, making the GEO rely on JAs and JTs to tank instead of pure defense.

--------------------------------

Job Traits:

Level 1: Elementalist (GEO main only) - Utilize the effects of the environment (meaning weather. We'll get into it later). Named after: FFTA Geomancer ripoff. Sounded like a good name to describe the ability to draw in the influence of the environment.

Level 5: Poison Frog - Reverses the effects of "Poison (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Poison_%28Status_Effect%29)." "Poison" ,specifically, is converted to a Regen-like effect at a gain equal to the damage per tick of the poison you are under. Only works if the "Poison" sticks. Not overpowered, but a nice little boon from time to time. Would allow "Regen" to stack onto its effect, which could be a good time for a healer to hit you with it. Hell, you could chug a poison pot and have them give you Regen. Named after: an FF6 geomancy by Mog.

Level 10: Parry Bonus - Improves chance of parrying physical attacks. No job had Parry Bonus, and it would be a good tool to keep mobs from puncturing your geomancy defenses, which would hurt. And suck.

Level 25: Twister - The effect of "Weight (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Weight)" adds the effect of "Haste (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Haste_%28Status_Effect%29)." Like a hurricane or tornado that moves slowly but picks up more internal momentum. Note that you'll have both effects on; lowered movement speed & evasion, quicker attacks. "Haste" would last a little longer than the "Weight" since it would be hard to attack much if you couldn't even catch up to the mob. Named after: a tornado geomancy from FF5.

Level 35: Parry Bonus 2- Enhances the effects of "Parry Bonus"

Level 40: Counterflood - While enfeebled, all melee strikes have a chance to inflict the same status for the duration of that enfeeble. So if you get paralyzed and you slip a hit in, it may paralyze the enemy. Petrify and things like that don't let you attack anyway, so you couldn't be sticking Break on an enemy. Poison would still give you the regen from "Poison Frog" but you would still be shown as poisoned, and still be able to Counterflood it. Named after: FFT reaction ability.

Level 50: Planetary Shield - Gives a boost to elemental resistances. This would be an arbitrary amount added to all your resistances. I'm not sure how much would be good but not overpowered. Maybe +5 is enough, maybe +10. I don't know, but you get the idea. I pulled the name from my ass.

Level 60: Parry Bonus 3 - Enhances the effects of "Parry Bonus"

Parrying, resistances, and reaction abilities. I think these put GEO in a spot where they need to be the center of the mob's attentions to make much use of them. And they aren't adding anything that would be going off constantly, except maybe the parrying. If that was too many boosts to parry, they could always drop the last one. I don't think anything here is outside of the major theme. They all seem like side-effects that could come with practicing geomancy.

----------------------------

Job Abilities:
Meat and potatoes time. Instead of giving GEOs MP (which they've never had), or random abilities (doesn't make sense in an MMO to make your usefulness up in the air; Gambler had to have their abilities set, with only the strength a random thing), I figured I would give them one ability based on each element in the game. Just one. I figured that I could keep GEO out of BLM, elemental caster, area if I did this. They would also be based more on nature and less on the pure element.

This is how it works. Like Skill Chains, Fire-Wind-Lightning-Light are of the light elemental persuasion. Earth-Water-Ice-Dark are the dark elements. So that is how these JAs stack. You can't stack Earth and Fire, or Water with Wind. This also keeps you from having an element on you along with the element the first is weak/strong to. The light elements have protections mostly focused to magic damage, and the dark elements to physical, but that is just in general. I'm fuzzy on recharges and durations, but those are flexible.

Weather will boost the buff of its element by a percentage. I'm terrible at the math, so to simplify we'll say single effect weather gives a 50% boost to that element, and double-weather will give a 100% boost (doubling your buffs strength). But I'm sure that's too high. It's just an example.

Level 1: Harvester - Enhances geomancy. This would give double weather effects to all your active JAs. Obviously this would suck at first when you only have like 1 or 2 JAs, but later on it could be quite useful.
Recast= [2:00:00]
Animation: could be like a big swirl of crap like leaves and dust that shoot down into the GEO.
Named after: a FF6 geomancy.

Level 5: Demon Fire - Counter-attack magical damage with critical hits. This wouldn't be strong like Sneak Attack, but use a STR modifier as SA uses DEX. Just not nearly as strong. Once you were hit with burst damage, the initial sticking of a DoT, or a magical damage ability like Goblin Bomb, your next attack would be stronger. If the idiot kept hitting you with spells, you would keep critting, as long as the JA was active.
Fire based.
Duration= [1:00], Recharge=[1:00].
Animation: could look like a popping bubble of lava around the GEO.
Named after: a FFT geomancy.

Level 15: Carve Model - Absorb a certain amount of damage. Like Stoneskin, but based on a percentage of your maxHP. If the armors GEOs used were puny enough that GEOs bled HP left and right, I could see it being as much as 100% of maxHP. In theory, this move is creating a stone replica of yourself that takes damage until it crumbles. It would take the same damage at the same rate as the GEO. It may have to start at 75% maxHP so weather boosts could take it to 100%-125%. But really, if that sounds like too much, imagine a THF taking damage without any interference. He'd probably soak it up at a pretty good rate. Probably the key ability to main tanking on your own buffs. Anyway, Carve Model would not stack with, and would overwrite: Stoneskin, Metallic Body, Diamondhide. So if a job could give you one of these you may try stacking your other JAs and letting them put one on you, though it wouldn't be as strong alone as Carve Model.
Earth based.
Recharge=[3:00].
Animation: might look like the GEO becomes a white marble statue for a second with tumbling stone sounds and tiny bits of rubble flying off.
Named after: an FFT geomancy.

Level 20: Runic Bolt - Bolt that nullifies the next negative spell that targets you. Rune Knight ftw. This was their main thing; absorbing a spell into their sword. The difference here being that you don't absorb the MP cost of the spell. It just negates the spell like a magical Third Eye. It only works for single target spells, but with one weather boost- absorbs 2 single target spells, and with double-weather - absorbs 2 single target spells or your slice of damage from an AoE spell. I'm really pressed to make this like "Shield Bash" and preface this ability with "With a Great Sword equipped..." but that would be forcing GEO to use GS flat-out. Still....
Lightning based.
Recharge=[1:00]
Animation: GEO holds up his/her weapon and absorbs a big black bolt into it on usage.
Named after: Runic, the ability of Rune Knight (Celes) from FF6 (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/jobs/ff6.shtml#celes)

Level 25: Briny Cannonade - Adds strong water damage to the attacks of allies within range. Basically EnWaterga. A nice way for GEO to do elemental damage without casting a burst or DoT spell. Steals from Magic Knight, acts like an AoE of the RDM Enwater (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Enwater). Shouldn't step on RDM toes too much since theirs is self-targeting, and GEO would only have one of these. Could be useful for getting some magical type damage to pt members attacks. I couldn't give something too powerful to be the first JA stackable with Carve Model. It's good enough alone, so Briny Cannonade shouldn't be too much. Reminds me of the ocean, as opposed to the generic "Water."
Water based.
Recharge=[0:30]
Animation: could look like a circular wave generating from the GEO outwardly.
Named after: a move by Famfrit (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/espmon/summons2.shtml#famfrit) in FFXII.

Level 32: Gust Vacuum - Physical damage against you also damages your attacker's MP. Like Aspir-Spikes, but again you don't get the MP. It just evaporates. I would have no idea how strong this needs to be to actually be useful, but not too far. I have no idea how big enemy MP pools are. However strong SE could make it, it would be useful to soak up hits from an enemy with strong magic. If you did it long enough you *might* be able to destroy their entire pool. But if it was strong enough to do that in less than 10 minutes on regular mage-mobs, it would probably be too strong.
Wind based.
Duration=[3:00], recharge=[5:00]
Animation: Maybe some green whisps of wind funnel into the top of the GEO's head when it's used.
Named after: Pandemonium's ass (http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/espmon/summons3.shtml#pandemona)

Level 40: Glacial Surge - Counter an enemy's special attacks with ice-based attacks. This would be triggered from physically based specials like Goblin Rush. Mob WS basically. And you hit back with ice-damage. Not physical attacks with ice damage, but just ice damage (based on INT?). Like the physical counterpart of Demon Fire. Don't ask me how strong the attacks would be.
Ice based.
Duration=[1:00], Recharge=[2:00]
Animation: a crystal blue hunk of ice would slide into the enemy.
Named after: Surge, a FF6 geomancy

Level 50: Sun Bath - Grants damage resistance. Like Phalanx, but stronger. I don't know how much stronger or based on what. Maybe like (CHR*2)- 10 or something. Doesn't stack with Phalanx.
Light based.
Duration=[2:00], Recharge=[3:00]
Animation: like a golden honey-comb of light forms a wall in front of you for a second.
Named after: a FF6 geomancy

Level 60: Spectral Snare - Creates 2 shadow images that deal dark damage when they are attacked. Like Blink shadows; not Utsusemi. Won't stack with either. Mild-medium dark damage.
Dark based.
Recharge=[0:30]
Animation: 2 little purple and black flames fly out of the GEO and disappear, making a little ghost laugh sound
Named after: Specter and Snare, both from FF6

OK, I'll have to get back to this later. I'm beat.

Ah hell. Finishing that post netted me 30 minutes of OT at work.

I think I covered it all. I only included crap like the JA animation suggestions to help give a good visualization of the job. Most of those JAs would require you to be tanking to make use of them, and a lot of them grab hate in response to getting busted up and losing some in the first place.

The only thing that didn't seem to come across as well as I would have liked is the theme: visually, story fluff, etc. But oh well. If I had any way to use the model viewer (play on PS2, I'd have to get the game for PC and get the model viewer on it, and then learn how to use it to edit crap) I would just make a mock-up.

But I don't think there is anything left to say about it now.

Some cool stuff.
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6528/geojn8.png
Awesome. The ideas, the look, the feel, the mood, the smell, the taste-- wait, no.
. . . they aren't adding anything that would be going off constantly, except maybe the parrying. If that was too many boosts to parry, they could always drop the last one. . . Carve Model - . . .Like Stoneskin, but based on a percentage of your maxHP. If the armors GEOs used were puny enough that GEOs bled HP left and right, I could see it being as much as 100% of maxHP.
If the geomancers' armor is not particularly heavy, then a high parrying rate would be needed to keep them from being an MP sponge when Carve Model goes down. The thing about carve model is I can see it being fairly useless against big-hitters that take off large chunks of HP. This would end up with the Geomancer needing some curebombing, 'cause those are probably going to be NMs or HNMs - not very inaccurate monsters. Perhaps it could be an unusual stoneskin, with a split effect? Something like 35% of the damage being absorbed by the Model until it's destroyed, with the remaining 65% going to the geomancer if it connects through parry? (I don't know about the numbers - same sort of situation you're in, Hantz) That would let the ability mitigate a certain amount of damage, though percent-based defenses might make paladins mad.


On the subject of absorbing the rune knight job and the runic bolt ability, that could be easily explained away. If Geomancer is channeling the power of the world around them (or the area's equivalent place in the astral plane or whatever), then it should be just as easy for them to channel that power back into the world.
Gust Vacuum - I have no idea how big enemy MP pools are. However strong SE could make it, it would be useful to soak up hits from an enemy with strong magic. If you did it long enough you *might* be able to destroy their entire pool. But if it was strong enough to do that in less than 10 minutes on regular mage-mobs, it would probably be too strong.
I heard that a black mage once aspir'd around 2000 MP from a thunder elemental in Qufim. I'm unsure whether this is simply because it was an elemental, but we can be pretty certain that monsters have monster MP pools. This may need tweaking.


I could see the rune bell enhancing most of the job abilities, but this might annoy other jobs whose ability enhancements are spread out among their various armor pieces. Of course, since Geomancer's entire role would be defined by its using its job abilities, anything that enhances them should be an item that isn't terribly hard to work into an equipment setup.

---Edit---

I was thinking that maybe the enhancement for Runic Bolt (with the bell or whatever it would be) could be something like making it an AoE buff! That way, geomancers would be extra useful for monsters that are full of -ga spells or maybe even saving an alliance from a meteor or two.

Also, it seems a shame that the whole special movement ability thing is not really even applicable in FFXI (seeing as travel is one of their timesinks and also adding