Please note that FF2, FF12, all three parts of FF13, most sequels (FF4TAY, FF12RW), and the whole Tactics sub-franchise are left off this list for a variety of reasons - usually it's because the unique characters don't have properties that line them up with a class in particular, or I'm not familiar enough with the characters of the game by default to make a judgment. And yes, FFRK does a decent job of making some of these subdivisions more clear, but they don't always slot into FFXIV classes well enough to not be debatable, so I wanted to go with those that were generally more concrete.
That said, let's get into it.
FF1 -- Pretty straightforward, with the key difference being the offensive/defensive focuses of Fighter and Knight causing a divergence that the other five classes don't have. That said, because of how ill-defined the FF1 classes are, this is principally an academic question more than anything else.
FF3 -- Many of the line-ups established in FF1 carry on here, along with many other franchise mainstay classes being introduced. Special callout for Dark Knight, which is introduced here for the first time but goes through a LOT of different iterations that aren't all encapsulated by the FFXIV DRK. Also our first example of Ranger and Bard as entirely separate classes that are nonetheless blendered together in XIV's Archer/Bard.
FF4 -- First instance of unique heroes that slot into particular archetypes, though some throw some curveballs (Rosa as Archer/White Mage?) Cid's turn as Machinist is more thematic than anything else, since there's hardly any commonality between what he does in 4 vs. what MCH does in 14, so just heading that comparison off at the pass. Notably, school-agnostic casters like Tellah and Fusoya are hard to slot into a particular spot, since the non-elemental focus of ACN wasn't a thing at this stage.
FF5 -- First instance of having Knight without having a Fighter/Warrior analogue as well. Since Berserker encapsulates elements of FF3's Viking, it would make sense for them to be the MRD/WAR analogue here, but the animal themes and the auto-Berserk element make me think twice about that. It should go without saying that Dancer as a debuff specialist (in opposition to Bard as a buff specialist) first shows up here, with no emphasis on them as ranged weapon experts. And naturally, the FF5 Advance jobs are hard to slot into particular jobs, though elements of Cannoneer slot somewhat into MCH.
FF6 -- Charater specific notes to follow.
FF7
FF8
FF9
FF10/10-2
FF10-2 (Dresspheres)
FF11 -- Overall, most of these slot directly into their 14 equivalents without much issue, with some exceptions made for some classes switching up roles. 11 also holds onto pet classes (even DRG is kind of a pet class here) and we know that's not something 14 is every going to engage more than they already have.
Anyhow, lay in with your own takes on where past classes fit into 14's existing archetypes. I wanted to put this here chiefly to centralize discussion about how the fantasies of past characters can inform new class design in 14, but obviously there's a lot more that can be drawn from this.
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That said, let's get into it.
FF1 -- Pretty straightforward, with the key difference being the offensive/defensive focuses of Fighter and Knight causing a divergence that the other five classes don't have. That said, because of how ill-defined the FF1 classes are, this is principally an academic question more than anything else.
- Fighter → MRD/WAR
- Knight → GLA/PLD
- Black Belt/Master → PGL/MNK
- Thief/Ninja → ROG/NIN
- Red Mage/Red Wizard → RDM
- White Mage/White Wizard → CNJ/WHM
- Black Mage/Black Wizard → THM/BLM
FF3 -- Many of the line-ups established in FF1 carry on here, along with many other franchise mainstay classes being introduced. Special callout for Dark Knight, which is introduced here for the first time but goes through a LOT of different iterations that aren't all encapsulated by the FFXIV DRK. Also our first example of Ranger and Bard as entirely separate classes that are nonetheless blendered together in XIV's Archer/Bard.
- Warrior → MRD/WAR
- Knight → GLA/PLD
- Monk/Black Belt → PGL/MNK
- Thief → ROG
- Ninja → NIN
- White Mage/Devout → CNJ/WHM
- Black Mage/Magus → THM/BLM
- Red Mage → RDM
- Ranger → ARC
- Scholar → ACN/SCH
- Geomancer → ???
- Dragoon → LNC/DRG
- Viking → MRD/WAR
- Dark Knight → DRK
- Evoker → ACN/SMN
- Bard → BRD
- Summoner → SMN
- Sage → ???
- Onion Knight → ???
FF4 -- First instance of unique heroes that slot into particular archetypes, though some throw some curveballs (Rosa as Archer/White Mage?) Cid's turn as Machinist is more thematic than anything else, since there's hardly any commonality between what he does in 4 vs. what MCH does in 14, so just heading that comparison off at the pass. Notably, school-agnostic casters like Tellah and Fusoya are hard to slot into a particular spot, since the non-elemental focus of ACN wasn't a thing at this stage.
- Cecil (Dark Knight) → DRK
- Cecil (Paladin) → PLD
- Kain → DRG
- Rydia → SMN
- Tellah → ???
- Edward → BRD
- Rosa → ARC, WHM
- Yang → MNK
- Palom → BLM
- Porom → WHM
- Cid → MCH
- Edge → NIN
- Fusoya → ???
FF5 -- First instance of having Knight without having a Fighter/Warrior analogue as well. Since Berserker encapsulates elements of FF3's Viking, it would make sense for them to be the MRD/WAR analogue here, but the animal themes and the auto-Berserk element make me think twice about that. It should go without saying that Dancer as a debuff specialist (in opposition to Bard as a buff specialist) first shows up here, with no emphasis on them as ranged weapon experts. And naturally, the FF5 Advance jobs are hard to slot into particular jobs, though elements of Cannoneer slot somewhat into MCH.
- Knight → GLA/PLD
- Monk → MNK
- Thief → ROG
- Black Mage → BLM
- White Mage → WHM
- Blue Mage → BLU
- Red Mage → RDM
- Time Mage → AST
- Summoner → SMN
- Berserker → ???
- Mystic Knight → ???
- Mime → ???
- Beastmaster → ???
- Geomancer → ???
- Ninja → NIN
- Ranger → ARC
- Bard → BRD
- Dragoon → DRG
- Dancer → DNC
- Samurai → SAM
- Chemist → ???
- Necromancer → ???
- Cannoneer → MCH
- Gladiator → ???
- Oracle → ???
FF6 -- Charater specific notes to follow.
- Terra → THM/BLM, SMN -- Terra is the first active magic user, and expresses first with an offensive focus, which aligns best with THM/BLM. Elements of her narrative where she is part Esper aligns with SMN's narrative about partially channeling primals in order to do their thing.
- Locke → ROG
- Edgar → MCH -- More of the tool emphasis than the gun emphasis, but if 6 were to be made today, I'd expect gun-type weapons to be more of a thing and for Edgar to be the one who uses them predominately.
- Sabin → PGL/MNK
- Cyan → SAM
- Gau → ???
- Celes → PLD, RDM -- The sword emphasis of Celes from the Runic ability (along with its defensive properties) jives more with PLD at the very least, while the mix of magic and physical combat that Runic also implies jives with RDM. Arguments could be made for BLM.
- Setzer → ???
- Shadow → NIN
- Relm → ???
- Strago → BLU
- Mog → DNC -- Dancer feels very tacked on to Mog, but it carries forth elements of 5's Geomancer and Ranger classes (via battlefield-based random spell effects) alongside. It doesn't feel markedly MORE connected to Mog as a result, but it at least sets up moogles are being more closely connected with the natural world, which we see more of in 14.
- Umaro → ???
- Gogo → ???
FF7
- Cloud → MRD/WAR, DRK -- The DRK element is principally in the big 2-Hand sword than anything else, since otherwise Cloud is really your standard MRD/WAR.
- Barret → MCH -- Probably the first real MCH in the series from the gun perspective.
- Tifa → PGL/MNK
- Aerith → CNJ/WHM
- Red XIII → ???
- Cait Sith → ???
- Cid → DRG, MCH -- The blendering of the Dragoon and Machinist fantasies makes Cid stand out, but the usage of technology (calling in the Highwind, throwing dynamite, etc) covers many of the MCH elements that Barret doesn't provide.
- Yuffie → ROG/NIN
- Vincent → ???
FF8
- Squall → GNB -- It helps that Gunbreaker draws so much from Squall's fantasy that we can backdate it to FF8, since otherwise Squall never fit into any other fantasy cleanly.
- Rinoa → ??? -- Seriously. Offensive magic, but also angelic wings, but also SORCERESS and Angelo, and just what is Rinoa even
- Zell → PGL/MNK
- Quistis → BLU -- There's a temptation to mix in SMN in order to tie her to Rydia with Whips, but since SMN in 14 doesn't use whips it kinda falls flat.
- Irvine → MCH -- It's pretty loose, since Irvine uses a shotgun/rifle rather than the pistols that MCH normally leans into, but the ammo focus is certainly there.
- Selphie → ??? -- Nothing about Selphie makes sense from a class design standpoint.
FF9
- Zidane → ROG
- Garnet → WHM, SMN
- Steiner → GLA/PLD -- This doesn't work well, since Steiner leans into elemental and status attacks with his weapon that matches more with Mystic Knight than it does 14's GLA/PLD, but the fantasy is certainly there.
- Vivi → BLM -- "Black Waltz" as the advanced form of "Black Mage" is honestly something I really wish they'd lift from FF9. Black wings for the goth vibe, the "Waltz" of the three key offensive elements of Fire, Ice, and Lightning... come on, it's RIGHT THERE.
- Eiko → SMN -- There's certainly CNJ/WHM elements in there with Eiko, but SMN feels like the strongest connection.
- Amarant → MNK
- Quina → ??? -- If CUL was a combat class they'd be perfect. An argument for BLU is possible, but with how heavily the cook vibe is pushed with Quina it's hard to apply anything else.
- Freya → DRG
- Beatrix → PLD -- Included because her fantasy is just that strong, even if she's not technically part of the playable cast. But all the elements of PLD that Steiner doesn't get, she essentially has.
FF10/10-2
- Tidus → ??? -- Seriously, he's too lightweight to be a MRD or WAR, he's highly offense-oriented so he's not a GLA/PLD, Auron already takes SAM, and there's just really not a good place for him to slot into.
- Yuna (10) → WHM, SMN
- Yuna (10-2) → MCH -- If GNB and MCH can be separate fantasies despite both centering on guns, there might be an argument for breaking the 10-2 Gunner fantasy into something else as well, since it's TWO guns.
- Lulu → BLM -- Leaning into the part where BLM really DGAF about weapons, so she just rolls in with her stuffies.
- Auron → SAM
- Wakka → ARC? -- Ranged specialist and status attacks kinda sounds like oldschool Ranger concepts, which ARC doesn't take too much of. Wakka may be in a similar spot with Tidus of just not having an overall franchise fantasy he matches with enough.
- Rikku (10/10-2) → ROG, MCH -- The specific blending of Thief with Machinist (such that Stealing from machina-type enemies both steals AND insta-kills) is the chief thing that gets MCH in here. That and Grenades. An argument could be made for Chemist with her Overdrive but it's thin.
- Kimahri → DRG, BLU -- It's a weird blend, and looser still since he's specifically given very little concrete gameplay fantasies beyond collecting attacks BLU style and having some Dragoon flavor. But franchise-first Hrothgar is on it.
- Paine → WAR, DRK -- DRK more as a function of style than anything else, but she's certainly closer to WAR than Tidus is at any point.
FF10-2 (Dresspheres)
- Gunner → MCH
- Thief → ROG
- Warrior → WAR
- Songstress → BRD
- Black Mage → BLM
- White Mage → WHM
- Gun Mage → BLU
- Alchemist → ???
- Dark Knight → DRK
- Samurai → SAM
- Lady Luck → ???
- Berserker → ???
- Trainer → ???
- Mascot → ???
- Festivalist → ???
- Psychic → ???
FF11 -- Overall, most of these slot directly into their 14 equivalents without much issue, with some exceptions made for some classes switching up roles. 11 also holds onto pet classes (even DRG is kind of a pet class here) and we know that's not something 14 is every going to engage more than they already have.
- Warrior → WAR
- Monk → MNK
- White → WHM
- Black Mage → BLM
- Red Mage → RDM -- 11's RDM has a greater focus on status magic than 14's... but if you take RDM11 and blender it with Rune Fencer, I think that's where RDM14 really gels.
- Thief → ROG
- Paladin → PLD
- Dark Knight → DRK -- Key difference being scythes instead of 2-Hand swords, but otherwise pretty spot-on.
- Beastmaster → ???
- Bard → BRD
- Ranger → ARC
- Samurai → SAM
- Ninja → NIN
- Dragoon → DRG
- Summoner → SMN
- Blue Mage → BLU
- Corsair → ???
- Puppetmaster → ???
- Dancer → DNC
- Scholar → SCH
- Geomancer → ???
- Rune Fencer → RDM
Anyhow, lay in with your own takes on where past classes fit into 14's existing archetypes. I wanted to put this here chiefly to centralize discussion about how the fantasies of past characters can inform new class design in 14, but obviously there's a lot more that can be drawn from this.
submitted by /u/unlimitedblack
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...