(10-21-2015, 10:41 AM)Hammersmith Wrote:The claim still stands that you would still be reliant on carbuncles without the soul crystals.(10-21-2015, 10:19 AM)Vyce Wrote:(10-21-2015, 10:03 AM)Smagon Wrote: Personally I have always thought of them as a hamfisted way of incorporating game play mechanics into lore.And Black Magic which uses your own body's aether reserves will kill you. And Scholars need one to even comprehend Nymeian magic. And Summoners need one to comprehend Allagan magic.
As for the IC side of things, I don't think you NEED one to be any job. Yes, it helps having decades+ of someone elses experience at your disposal but nothing says that you can't be a "fresh" Warrior or a whatever. The first of the jobs had to start somewhere and nothing says you can't try to figure it out on your own. Your skills won't be as refined as those of the guy with a magic stone with several lifetimes of memories on it rammed up his rear end but you can still do it.
Except for White Mage. The elements will summon Odin to kill you if you even try it.
And Bards need one to figure out how to sing aether into battle. You get the singing part down, and the arrow part down, but what you don't know how to do is magically make all the panties drop with a single note. That is what the soul crystal teaches you. It doesn't seem like something someone else could just teach you- you gotta prove you're worthy and then the crystal helps you feel the groove. It basically teaches you how to DRR on extreme mode.
Out of those only BLM requires a soulstone since it's said, explicitly, not using a BLM soulstone while using BLM sets -you on fire and kills you-. (I have no idea about BRD)
Scholar/Summoners need them because there's no one left alive to teach those particular schools of magic use. Â
Scholars were rare, even in Nymian ages, and Allag summoners...well. Â We all know what happened to Allag civilization if you've run the Crystal Tower. Â Â
So you CAN say you need them For SMN/SCH magic since they're the only source of getting the knowledge but, originally, these schools probably didn't need (But probably used) crystals. Â They don't unlock anything. Â They Scholar quest you "find" a fairy, and the SMN job quests are you fucking around with primals to get access to the power.
Nothing soulstone unlocked there, other than the methodology to do the things.
If not to access magic, soul crystals are a rite of passage. The symbol of what makes you who you are. If there is only one warrior stone, it has passed through the hands of your warrior by tradition, perhaps even only for a moment. A Monk with no soul crystal is like a karate expert with no belt. It's like showing up for a military event without all of your ribbons.
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