Disciplines of War: Discussion thread

Archer, Lancer, Marauder, Gladiator, Pugilist.

Archer = Obvious enough!
Lancer = Polearms.
Marauder = Axes.
Gladiator = Swords.
Pugilist = Monk/Thief mixture.

With regards to Lancer/Marauder/Gladiator, I'm interested in seeing how they play out overall. With FFXI, you could equip both axes and swords under a single job, and that wasn't a big deal. With this game it seems it's not as simple as that, and you stick to a certain weapon type if you want to increase your skill as a certain role.

My main point of interest regarding all of this is which will be the damage dealers and which will be the tanks. My first thought is that the Marauder, with the big axes, will be the greatest damage dealers whilst the gladiators will be the tanks. But from what I'm reading, it doesn't sound as simple as that. With ranges being taken into account for weapons, it seems that the pugilist may be first in line for a lot of attacks, especially when you consider area of effect attacks that will inevitably come about. Lancers are possibly the more unique of the roles from what I'm used to in FF games - I know they are similar to Dragoons but the change of description makes me think more of those who would poke at an enemy from distance, so can be weak but still do decent damage. I also wonder if they can 'push' the enemy or keep it at bay. This could, in theory, mean that with a couple of good lancers and a group of archers, you could do some serious work on singular enemies despite a lack of high HP allies. I wonder!

As for tanking, I've looked into the abilities which are listed on FFXIV's wikia site - I'm not sure if these are official or not, but it looks as though Pugilist and Gladiator both have provoke abilities whilst the Marauder has the Defender ability. The lack of a specific role covering both Defender and Provoke abilities means that we may well see a nice variety of jobs tanking in their own ways.

If you build up the defensive stance long enough as a Pugilist, I think they might do pretty well as tanks. :p

Edit: But they'd also make great DDs, and their blindside ability requires that the enemy isn't facing them. And the Steal ability is apparently made better with stealth, which I would assume means the enemy isn't aggroing you. Still, one of their weapon skills also increases Enmity, and another can only be done after an attack has been evaded. Because the defensive stance increases evasion and not defense, I think that it's a weapon skill that will be used most often when tanking.

Edit 2: Speaking of Enmity, the Collusion ability of the Lancer seems like it would help the tank out, since it increases the enmity of whoever is in front of them. The increased range of a lancer shows their position in the fight well. Also, the Comrade in Arms ability, which increases the TP restoration rate for nearby party members, shows exactly where they should be as well. In the back of the huddle, behind the tank who is in center. :p I think the Lancer will pretty much just be a DD that uses lots of Weapon Skills, depending on how long Comrade in Arms takes to use again, and how much it really helps.

Edit 3: Also, the Marauder's defensive ability increases enmity.

Well, they are seemingly monks basically, but apparently they have the 'Steal' ability according to the wiki I was looking at (ffxiv.wikia, the only one I can access from work :p). Chakra is a monk ability in FFV if I recall correctly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

Well, they are seemingly monks basically, but apparently they have the 'Steal' ability according to the wiki I was looking at (ffxiv.wikia, the only one I can access from work :p).

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Yeah, I realized that after looking at their ability list. :p I thought I edited it out. Whooops!

I'm thinking I might start off as either a Pugilist or a Marauder. I don't think Lancer is really my cup of tea, and Gladiator I'm yet to really figure out. It seems like they're a "bit of each" if you know what I mean. Good hit, close range, can provoke, can attack, can defend, etc.

I hope ammo isn't ridiculously expensive, because I'd love to try archer. Lancer sounds interesting too.

Depends on the ammo - they have an ability to search for ammunition in the area they are in at the expense of HP, so if you're not battling and feel like spending some time doing than then it will just be a matter of healing up afterwards.

'You found 10 Wood Arrows'

Gee, thanks...

Probably!

They can also pray to replenish their arrow supply. :D

Well from alpha you start out with two 99 stacks of arrows, and SE said there will be ways to retrieve arrows from a dead foe.