New Expansion Official Site is online! Let the rumors fly!

[Kahvi]

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/ahturhgan/index.html


looking at what it has...

New monsters:
-Lamina: A bewitching race of beastmen with an upper body like that of a Hume woman and a lower body resembling that of a venomous serpent.
The Lamiae are few in number compared to the other beastmen inhabitants of the Near East. However, they have ensorceled the bones of fallen soldiers, creating an undead army of considerable size to defend their reef settlements.
Lamiae are known to sneak into towns in the depths of night, wielding powerful bows and hunting humans to replenish their armies; hence the Near Easterners' dread of sunset.
According to rumor, Lamiae are not technically a race of beastmen, but actually a form of organic weapon (also known as a chimera), created by alchemists fusing the parts of multiple organisms.

-Imps: A diminutive species of demon, frequently sighted in the Near East in recent times.
Though skilled in the use of elemental and dark magic, these natural-born cowards are not considered a threat when encountered alone. They do, however, carry a horn, from which they produce a deafening noise of a scale completely out of proportion to their tiny bodies, warning their allies and startling enemy forces.
In the time of the Great War, imps were given the roles of scouts and messengers in the Shadow Lord's armies, and are thus well known to veteran soldiers even on the continent of Quon.

-Apkallu: A variety of sea bird that lives in flocks on Near Eastern islands.
On dry land, Apkallu only waddle about on their short legs, but the ocean is a different story. They propel themselves through the water with finlike wings at high speeds, enabling them to catch fish.
In the Near East, the Apkallu are a protected species and are referred to as "The Sages of the Sea." Perhaps that is why Apkallu do not fear people and behave in a friendly manner. However, angering an Apkallu is not recommended.

-Orobon: A species of gigantic fish that inhabits the seas of the Near East.
The orobon attracts its prey with a fluorescent, rainbow-colored appendages that dangle before its mouth. Rigid scales protect it from its thrashing victims, while jaws filled with dozens of tightly packed teeth prevent escape.
As the orobon usually roams the ocean floor, its existence was known only to a handful of Near Eastern fishermen and gourmets. However, since the delicate flavor of this fish was documented in the travel log of an important official, the orobon has become a common topic of conversation. It is said that the Culinarians' and Fishermen's Guilds have begun offering a reward to anyone who can help them acquire a specimen.

New Jobs:
(yes they listed it as plural)

Blue Mage: Employing the legendary arts of Aht Urhgan, these formidable fighter-mages employ elegantly curved blades for close combat, while decimating their enemies from afar with fell magic mastered from their opponents

there is also a screen shot gallery listed as well with SS's from the playtesters.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

Thanks Kahvi.

-Lamina: I want her phone number. I can give it to the people who hit on me crudely and those annoying Taru leg humpers.

[Kahvi]

For People that want rumor fodder:

This is the second time that genetic engineering/bio-enhancements have been listed in the game in relation to monsters. (the first being the bugbears in movalopolis)

This is the second time that Undead are employed as minions. (the first being with those Pirate attacks on the selbina-mhaura ship that everyone knows and loves)

So.. speculation on what the other two jobs for the expansion may be?

[Nekiu]

Hookers gonna be the newest job! oh wait.. we allready have those... *walks away counting her money from her last "client"*

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

So.. speculation on what the other two jobs for the expansion may be?

I don't think we will see Geomancer. Geomancy = Earth magic, and we have eight elements. On top of that, geomancy is strongest in China, and this is a NEAR east setting, not far east.

Two of the four announced new monsters are sea creatures, but I don't think we will see Scuba Diver either.

The new jobs will have a near east flavor to them I think. Add to that player demands and both Pirate and Dancer become possile. No one has been crying for Camel Driver or Terroist so those are right out, and anyway a Terroist 2 hr would mimic the NIN 2 hour.

Astronomy, astrology, and mathmatics owe a LOT to the near east... Hmmmm... Mathmatician anyone? Astrologer?

I do see posibilites for Dervish and Necromancer. Dervish = lightly armored Melee, curved blades or polearms, specalizing in reduced delay with weapons, 2 HR would be Whirl.

/hopefully polishes her dancing shoes

[JediKitsune]

Hm... are we sure there'll only be two more jobs? It sounds like a good number, 3 jobs, but the website is nowhere near done and they could announce stuff we weren't even thinking of at the time.

[Shirai]

I got to say the new job doesn't really interest me yet,
I do hope they will add some more jobs to the new expansion.
I'd hate to see 90% of the server LFG as BUM.

I would also like to see more screenshots of the newer areas since most of the pictures I saw were of seaships and battles between them.

The new mobs do seem very interesting tho but I have a feeling some of them were directly taken out of other/older (MMO)RPGs.

I'm still keeping an eye out for the completion of the subsite tho.

[Kahvi]

Well lamina and imps were in earlier FFs...

the other two im not sure about.

[Dawezy]

Mentioned this at another site earlier, but, long time ago I got word of a "Divine Knight" .. being the excat opposite of the Dark Knight. Using offensive White Magic (maybe make new spells specifically for the job?) as opposed to the DRK and its Black Magic arsenal.

I'd like to see it.

[Karou Ariyen]

BLUE MAGE *dances* I'm ready!

[Kintrra]

Blue Mage does seem interesting enough, but I'm especially curious to see what these other new jobs are going to be. Something else that's got me curious...all the characters shown in the screenshots were wearing AF2 or equivalent level armor...hopefully that won't be the only level people who can live in these new areas. ><

[Nobodyreal]

Astronomy, astrology, and mathmatics owe a LOT to the near east... Hmmmm... Mathmatician anyone? Astrologer?

Hmmm... Calculator? Would be a great job but just like in FFT a compete pain to master.

[Keavy]

"Yeah, I was gonna level Calculator but the Jeuno AH is sold out of Abacuses."

[Nobodyreal]

Assuming that they're going to stick with jobs that have been in previous jobs, there's still a lot to choose from.

• Chemist (tactics) Pretty much only useful for using items on other characters. In FFXI I can see them as being a very expensive (gilwise) healer/support class.
• Berserker (5 and 6) Very powerful melee class but once they engage in battle there's no controlling them. Probably popular with lazy players who don't want to worry about keeping track of skillchains or job abilities.
• Master, Knight, Black, White, and Red Wizards (1) Upgraded versions of the original FF1 jobs. Not sure how to work this into FFXI, I'd like to have some sort of non-job that you can set as your subjob to upgrade to the better jobs. Get access to higher-grade spells, weapons, or abilities that aren't otherwise available. (The FF1 Thief class upgraded to Ninja, which we've already got, maybe upgrade it to an Assassin?)
• Geomancer (tactics) Uses the elements of the ground they and the monster are standing on for attacks. Can we say heavy competition for the best camp spots and people complaining about how the monster needs to be two feet to the left?
• Calcluator (tactics) Literally worthless at low-levels, no weapons and has to learn at least 3 spells before doing anything. Playing a Calculator class was bad enough in turn-based FFT when you could check your math and make sure that your attack wasn't going to wipe out half the party, I don't want to think about doing it on the fly unless things are simplified a lot.
• Dancer (tactics) Probably won't happen. This discussion has already happened many times across many boards, so I won't repeat it here.
• Mystic Knight (5) More melee based version of a RDM, who's more of a mage than a melee. En- spells, (Probably a second level) and swords.
• Mime (5, 6, and tactics) Copies the actions of other characters or monsters. Could be insanely powerful, completely worthless, or anywhere in between, really.
• Time Mage (5 and tactics) Specializing in buff/debuff spells. Pure support class, mostly redundant though.

[Kahvi]

dont forget these:

Onion Knight: The "jobless" job

Sage: FF3 God Of Magic (need i say more?)

Scholar: The FF3 idea that prolly became Calculator in FFT...

Um for mime, wouldnt it just be easier to have you mimic an attack done by a party member? like.. if a war in the party does Raging Rush, you mime that for SC?


But ya.. with everything that it "could" be... i think we will have an easier time figuring out what it "Cant" be

and SE always shows off new jobs in thier AF, so that really wouldnt affect what levelrange the new areas are.

[Sheala]

Hi Kitties! Just taking a quick break from the insane amount of homework I have over the Thanksgiving break. The more information SE reveilles, the more excited I become. It look to me like there will be more jobs add besides blue mage. I would be most interested in dancer if it came out. But some jobs suggested will probably not come out. I will try to go over some of them and explain why I don't think they will be released.

• Sage, Scholar, Calculator: The bard, through her or his songs, are the first true support character. It is also one of the least popular classes to level. Everyone want a bard in their party, but how many players want to be a bard? Now expand this to Sages, Scholars, and Calculators/Astronomers/etc. Let's say after a few levels they can start casting enfeebling and enhancing spells. Read Mages and bards are already the enfeebling, refreshing, enhancing experts. Bards and white mages already have area enhancements. Sage, Scholar, and Calculator would be redundant and weaker. So why have them?
  
  Mime: They copy the attacks and abilities of other jobs and monsters, correct? Blue mage (which we know is coming out) copies the special attacks of monsters. If you have blue mages coming out, why would SE release another job that does the exact same thing?
  
  Chemist: Alchemy and cooking anyone? Further more these crafts are not job specific so any of the existing job can employ them.
  
  Master: What are monks?
  
  Black, White, Red Wizards: They already exists as black, white, and red mages.
  
  My favorite for new possible jobs, dancer: As I was thinking about this job, I realized how hard it would be for the SE programmers to pull this off. Let's say it works similar to bard. The bard sings a song, you hear a little tune, see a tiny animation, and the effect goes off or gets resisted. The dancer does a dance, no special music, but the dancer has a dance routine. The dancing would involve longer more complex animation. Further more each dance might have to have a separate animation. It would be a sight to see, but SE would not want to put in the thousand of programmer hours to pull it off. Squaire-Enix is in business to make money, not blow it.

I think we can expect some fighter class with a Middle East flavor. Nobodyreal suggest of time mage seams interesting. What ever new jobs SE should be fun and exciting!


Edited Nov. 25, 2005 for spelling.

[Sheala]

What I think SE needs to think of is how jobs fit into sub-jobs. Dragoons, dark knights, paladins, bards, and samurai are not used as sub-jobs any more. Thief is now starting to make a come back as a sub-job outside of farming.

The situation is still sad. If SE could concentrate on dragoons jump and accuracy abilities, DDs could use them as sub-jobs more. Imaging a better hit rate and hate control for dark knights. A change to dark knight could let people who sub it do more damage. The samurais' TP gain abilities could be increased and still be below pre-nerf levels. SE has a lot of room to improve the existing jobs. The Dragoons and paladins on these forms keep pointing this out.

[Naru Fugihara]

I like the Idea of a Berserker (never played FFT but they have one on X-2). In X-2 it was my best job doing ubber damage and being able to stay alive without the aid of a WHM.
The 2hr could be an ability called Beserk Rage and it would double or triple your attack, lower DEF, and you can no longer enter commands until either the mob is dead or you die. A regular Job ability could be one called Hurt and it'll do damage equal to the difference between your max HP and your current HP where DEF doesn't matter (probably a 20 Min ability). Another could be Howl (a 2 min ability) which will either Stun the mob for a little while or lower it's DEF for one of your attacks.

It'd also be interesting to see the Lady Luck from X-2 being made for XI. *pictures a job ability that has the ruletwheels and each thing will do something different in different commbinations*
The 2hr could be Bribe where you and/or your pt must give something (an amout of gil or an item) to make the mob go away and act "defeated" to where you still get some xp. (very handy if you or your pt bites off more than you can handle and could help to save ppl from needlessly dieing).

Dancer.....*pictures a Galka with no gear on in Jeuno shouting: "(Dance) for (Reward)* o.O Dear God.......

That's all I've got to say right now.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

I don't think we will see a Time Mage either. Reasons? Well we have Haste, Slow, and Hastega already, and the Blue Mage will get Slowga. What else is left? It would need perhaps 10 - 20 spells that no one else gets or realy define the job. What would they be?

A Riku like Chemist or Artificer? Could be done. Would be different. One could chose to specalize in damage, healing or support, or just bring the things to make what the party lacks. Bet you would have to /WHM though /grumbles. Things you least want to hear an Atifacer say "Oh noes I'm out of Lizard Tails!!"

Gambler like the Lady Luck or ummmm.... whatshisface from FF X. Dead easy to implement. Could have a 2 Hour that spins a wheel and then picks another job's 2 Hour. Things you least want to hear a gambler say "Oh noes I got Chainspell"

Pirate. Kind of a THF - RNG hybird. Weapons, Knives - daggers, curved or straight one handed swords, polearms, most all ranged types. Gets TH 1 at 25 or 30, maybe TH 2 at 70. More melee capable than either THF or RNG though as they wouldn't have SA or Sharpshot. It would be hard to get those Erol Flynn like moves into the game though. Has a totaly usless parrot. OK, maybe not totaly, the parrot could give emnity +1.
/em snatches the anyoing feathered rat off <t>'s shoulder and bites its head off

Sheala, you are probably right about Dancer. Darnit.

/looks wistfuly at her dancing shoes.