Chapter LXI: Nations and Weapon Models

This is a thing that would be nice to see…we having gear and weapon more related to nations and races. This would add some extra lore to the game, also making easier to know where a certain weapon is from and stuff.

Let me use axe models as examples…would be nice if we had bhujs, that are bulky axes, as the lominsan model…after all it does would require way more metal than other places so it does is correct to be the model from where the blacksmith guild is from. Ul’dah seems more Arabian, with more curved blades…for them would be nice the thunderstorm axe mode, a very detailed goldsmithing weapon. For gridania, we can have the bill, which is a much lighter axe, more related to gridanian style. For Ishgard, the labrys, the most classic medieval axe model.

And this can be expanded to all weapons, like having Limsa having falchions as swords, Ul’dah having curved swords like scimitar, Gridania having daggers and Ishgard longswords. About polearms, Limsa having lances since they are heavy on metal, Ul’dah having guisarmes since they are goldsmith-like weapons, Gridania having harpoons and Ishgard Spears.

And this could be expanded even to the other cities that were never unlocked, like having the wooden weapons like the bardiche and macuahuitl models to savage cities or tribes. Maybe even having cetain models bringing additional lore-specific basic attacks that are more related to the weapon lore, flavor text for weapons...the ways of improving this are many!

I did found this very impressive in FFXI, where not only nations but also many of the beastmen tribes had their own culture, which included gear style, area style, weapon style…anyone who looked to a turban knew it was from Al Zahbi...any orcish axe model did had the “orcish” looking, Mamool Jas had their macuahuime (sp.), galkas their harnesses, Mithras their separates…everything was very clear regarding where those items were from.

FFXIV lost a bit of this immersion…while certain sets are clearly related to certain classes, this bond could be way stronger. We see GLAs first shown as haubergeon users but, ingame, they actually use harness (which originally seemed to be MRD gear) at guild and the real gear of it actually is the cuirass, that is more of an ishgardian set. MRDs use haubergeon ingame…but they are pirates…they should never be using heavy armor since if you fall from ship wearing heavy armor you dead.

I think the lore behind each city should be more specific and detailed, also covering gear and weapon...after all, for those who like this stuff (especially hardcore RP’ers) every fraction of lore detail is important when building a character! ^^