In many MMORPGs, characters are usually made to fill one specific role in parties, giving them certain advantages and disadvantages for the sake of balance. As such, players often need to have more than one character for different tasks. In Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix has addressed this issue by allowing players to switch job classes on the fly. For the last few months, we've known only two of the characters jobsfor a few months now, but the FFXIV website has updated to include two more job classes, a new trade, along with class-specific equipment and other details.
The Gladiator is your traditional knightly character, equipped with heavy-duty armor from head to toe for high physical defense. Gladiators can use a variety of blades and shields including hawktails and bastard swords, wooden round shields, and the hybrid lantern shield, which functions simultaneously as a sword, shield, and light source. For those who think shields just get in the way, shields can be dropped for an all-out offense, in addition to a knife-throwing capability.
Getting even closer in the face of the enemy is the Pugilist, brawlers who rely on their fists and maneuverability to close the distance between themselves and their opponents. Pugilists wield knuckle extensions made of metal, leather, or bone to expand the damage dealt from their hand-to-hand combat and get some extra assistance in the form of throwing items such as chakrams. However, Pugilists do need to be wary of damage, as they appear to wear some very light armor.
A new Culinarian trade was also revealed as one of the many non-battle skills that can be learned in Final Fantasy XIV. Even budding chefs will cook up something mighty, as food intake will buff your character's stats out on the battlefield. In fact, the Culinarian trade is so highly regarded that the skillets are inscribed with runes. Best not to anger your fellow Lalafell cook lest you be introduced to other rune-inscribed utensils in the manner of them being thrown at your head.
The FFXIV website continues to tease more classes to be revealed later, like the Marauder, while the magic-based and item-gathering classes have pending entries. It shouldn't be too hard to guess what some of the jobs will be as the game is a sequel to Final Fantasy XI and shares some remarkably similar elements from it. Still, even FFXI veterans will be surprised as Square Enix already has shown quite a bit that differs from FFXI and some details that are entirely new.
Source:Final Fantasy XIV Online
Sections:Console Games, PC Games, Sony Consoles
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