Highlights
- For a handful of reasons, a ranged physical DPS and a caster DPS are the likely roles of any upcoming jobs.
- Popular guesses based on possible hints and speculation include Geomancer and Blitzball-inspired Jobs.
- Geomancer is supported by hints that Meracydia could be the next expansion's setting, while a Blitzer would possibly be supported by the Hildibrand quests.
As the North American Fan Fest for Final Fantasy 14 draws near, players have been speculating on what path the game will take following the events of Endwalker. With a new expansion comes talk of what Jobs could come to Final Fantasy 14 in the near future, but this time, the vibe around that topic is a little different. Considering the fact that there are 19 Jobs that can do endgame content such as the Pandaemonium raids, and the fact that Blue Mage is the lone Limited Job at the time of writing, Final Fantasy 14 already has enough Jobs to try to balance with each content update.
Given the fact that this year's Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest will be the game's first in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic, speculation surrounding this convention has reached a fever pitch. Earlier this year, Fan Fest tickets sold out quickly despite being handled across both a player-exclusive lottery and a random queue for the public. While the opening keynote may touch upon the pending graphical update and show some snippets about the yet-unnamed expansion, the hype surrounding new Jobs can be tempered with some expectations.
FF14: Knowing Their Role
As for which Jobs could make it into Final Fantasy 14 next, Square Enix is likely to tease which roles they will fill first. During the Endwalker reveal event in early 2021, Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida revealed that Endwalker's new Jobs would be a Healer and a Melee DPS, with their identities as Sage and Reaper revealed at later events. To date, Final Fantasy 14 has yet to announce a new Job within the same roles as the preceding expansion, so it seems unlikely that another Healer or Melee DPS would be announced.
Both the Tank and the Healer roles are among the trickiest to balance in Final Fantasy 14. As such, adding a fifth Tank without a fifth Healer is also unlikely following the release of the Gunbreaker in the Shadowbringers expansion. With those caveats in mind, there is also one other factor to consider. With 19 Jobs to balance at max level, the Final Fantasy 14 development team may have its hands full with more Jobs thrown into the mix. Nevertheless, this leaves both the ranged physical DPS and the caster DPS roles as the most likely to receive a new Job in Final Fantasy 14.
FF14: The Case for Geomancy and Blitzball
Were Final Fantasy 14 to add a new caster DPS, the Geomancer is among the more popular guesses players have made. Drawing upon the surrounding land to deal damage from a distance, the Geomancer has been seen in Final Fantasy 14 as the Far East's equivalent of both an Astrologian and a White Mage, which are Healers. However, players have speculated via hidden objects in the main story of Final Fantasy 14 that the land of Meracydia may be the main setting of the next expansion, which could serve as a starting point for potential Geomancers.
Recent chapters of the Hildibrand quests have shown the Warrior of Light pulling off impressive feats of athleticism, ranging from volleyball to soccer and basketball. But, only one sport in the Final Fantasy series has served as a combination of these real-world sports. That sport is Blitzball, which originated in Final Fantasy 10 as Spira's main spectator sport. While Blitzball has been a long-requested feature for the Manderville Gold Saucer, the "Blitzer" could serve as a potential ranged physical DPS Job. Between the Hildibrand quests and the recently released Final Fantasy 14 Aetherobics video, it remains to be seen if anything will come of these plausible hints.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
