Dragoon Lore?

[OttoVann]

Ive done some searching here at work but I can't find like a wiki page or long informative article on Dragoon Lore for FFXIV. Any help?

 

I'm going to eventually have Otto 'lite-retire' from business and just start being a Bruce Wayne by day - spear wielder by night sort of thing.

 

I'll need to figure out ways to avoid becoming Mary Sue and OP as well so any advice on that would be grand.

 

edit: I am really NOT trying to become a dragoon - I was just interested in their lore so I could see if there was anything I could / should incorporate or just stick to Lancer-esque stuff. I've said in the past Otto 'knows' how to swing a spear around but its all Academic knowledge and not at all practical.

[Chlodomer]

Don't be a dragoon IC be a lancer.

[Warren Castille]

Echoing that. Lance-wielding is a lot more accessible than somehow trying to explain Otto undergoing formal Ishgardian training and being recognized by Ishgard as having killed a dragon, thus attaining the rank of Dragoon.

[OttoVann]

Im not wanting to be a dragoon IC, I want to read up on the lore though and figure out what to take and leave behind.

[Warren Castille]

The vague bits I can recall that someone else can flesh out:

 

"Dragoon" refers to anyone in Ishgardian service who is recognized as having killed a dragon. The distinction isn't specifically the spear-wielders but it's likely that they adopt it, since it's a better weapon for use against a dragon.

 

Only the Azure Dragoon has access to the super-powers. I'm not sure how the lore on "Jump" and Spineshatter Dive work, but it's safe to say those are developed techniques unique to Ishgard, if they're available to footsoldiers at all. Dragonfire Dive is most certainly locked to the Azure Dragoon.

 

Oh, right. The Azure Dragoon. The first dragoon was "born" when tearing out the eye of Nidhogg ages ago. This dragoon used the artifact (?) to acquire those super powers and every generation, a new Azure Dragoon is chosen by the Eye. Ishgard is currently without a recognized AD because they refuse to recognize the Player Character as having been chosen in the quest line.

 

Gae Bolg's described as being not just a singular relic, but a mass-produced version. There's a specially-made one for every Azure Dragoon but a lot of the rank-and-files have one commissioned as well. The tapering on the spear is said to help aerial maneuvering used with Jump-based attacks.

Gae Bolg - Multiple exist in lore. This is the functional and ceremonial weapon of the Dragoon throughout history. As such, one exists per Dragoon, along with the Drachen armor. In the Dragoon and Relic storyline your character has to pillage the Gae Bolg and the armor from previous dead real Dragoons.

 

Legend holds that the dragoon tradition was born a millennium past, when the founding fathers of the great nation of Ishgard were journeying to the land promised them by the Fury. Upon arriving in Coerthas, the intrepid settlers were set upon by the great wyrm Nidhogg, the then master of that demesne, and a fierce struggle ensued.

The confrontation came to an end when a young man named Haldrath, taking up his slain sire's lance, landed a mighty thrust that prized out Nidhogg's eye, prompting his colossal adversary to take wing and flee.

 

From that moment forth, Haldrath became known by the epithet of the Dragonseye, and is to this day revered by all Ishgardians as the first dragoon.

 

Patch 1.21 saw the introduction of jobs to FFXIV, which allows you to become one of the traditional jobs from the FF series after completing a quest. A Lancer can become a Dragoon by equipping the Soul of the Dragoon item after completing the first quest. The details for this quest are below.

 

http://www.ffxivinfo.com/job/dragoon.php

[OttoVann]

Very interesting stuff thanks Warren.

[Warren Castille]

My pleasure.

 

On the flip side of it, the Lancer's guild is dedicated to discipline with a spear and teach the epithets of determination and fearlessness. The questline basically sets you up as an unshakeable spearman capable of facing down any threat (which was amusing because my under-leveled under-geared sorry self finished one quest fight by running around and using Throw Spear to kill something after being left without enough HP to survive fighting one-on-one) and falls in line with your vigilante concept. Plus, Gridania's far enough away that he could conceivably make the trip and begin learning there without causing much of a commotion.

 

Or at least, as little of a commotion as a rich businessman in Ul'dah can make. The Syndicate does indeed have eyes on all of its resources, after all...

[OttoVann]

My pleasure.

 

On the flip side of it, the Lancer's guild is dedicated to discipline with a spear and teach the epithets of determination and fearlessness. The questline basically sets you up as an unshakeable spearman capable of facing down any threat (which was amusing because my under-leveled under-geared sorry self finished one quest fight by running around and using Throw Spear to kill something after being left without enough HP to survive fighting one-on-one) and falls in line with your vigilante concept. Plus, Gridania's far enough away that he could conceivably make the trip and begin learning there without causing much of a commotion.

 

Or at least, as little of a commotion as a rich businessman in Ul'dah can make. The Syndicate does indeed have eyes on all of its resources, after all...

 

I am definitely going to revisit the cutscenes from Lancer / Goon now. I did a lot of lancer leveling in P4 Beta and right at launch and gave it up since low level lancer is worse than cancer and became black mage etc etc history.

 

But yeah, I'm just finding (through no fault of anyones) a lack of RP that doesn't involve intrepid heroes. Very little business RP, though the RP I have found in relation to Otto taking on special commissions and business has been A+.

 

I'm just trying to take Otto into a divergent direction, he is 28 after all. Maybe I can build a little intrigue when people wonder why he isn't in the thick of politics non-stop, and / or he gets 'pulled out of retirement' for some plot involving Syndicate who knows.

 

He wont change much, he just needs a new hobby that doesn't involving thrusting in the bedroom and snorting coke.

[Seriphyn]

Good lord, Otto is 28? Kale is older, and there he was perceiving him like an older man looool. That was mostly from the beard and face selection anyway.

[Knight Kat]

My pleasure.

 

On the flip side of it, the Lancer's guild is dedicated to discipline with a spear and teach the epithets of determination and fearlessness. The questline basically sets you up as an unshakeable spearman capable of facing down any threat....(snip)

 

I just wanted to add to this that if you are looking to have your character be an "intrepid hero", becoming a Dragoon is really not necessary. Not only do you have to be mindful of a lot of lore bumps, but the IC use of the Dragoon abilities can possibly get you flak from people. I have seen it a lot of times.

 

Besides, Lancers are way cool and way underrated. There are plenty of cool Lancer characters already in the lore to show you how to can be a Lancer and still be quite bad-ass.

 

Lancer's Guildmaster Ywain.

 

I want his weapon damnit!

 

During one quest where your character is about to fight the Lord of the Bramble Patch, which is a massive boar, Ywain stops the monstrosity with words alone. He demonstrates that he already has a bond with the beast who obviously does what Ywain says out of respect.

 

 

 

Landenel.

 

A member of the Company of Heroes. They do not posses the echo, yet they took part in the banishing of Titan and Leviathan.

 

Foulques

 

An antagonist in the Lancer Story quests, but he proves that despite his flawed philosophies, he is very bad-ass. He single-handedly makes many Lancer's guild members look like amateurs, and defeats multiple Wood Wailers at once. During his battle with the main character in the level 30 quest, he even casts AOE ice attacks onto the ground with his spear!

 

 

 

I actually think most of the classes are overshadowed by jobs because the game mechanics make the jobs the next step to power for you character.

 

However, you have Raubahn who is a Gladiator, not a Paladin. Thancred is a Rogue, not a Ninja. The sole survivor of the Darklight Raiders was a Marauder, not a Warrior.

 

It could be just me, but I am getting the feeling that a lot of people tend to think a character is weak or underpowered if they are ICly a class instead of a job. But I reject such a notion because clearly there are renown characters who are classes, not jobs.

 

NOTE: I have nothing against those who ICly play as jobs, I just argue that the job is not necessary to be a strong combat character. IMHO jobs should be played only if such a thing fits the character. For example, Sultansworn should be Paladins, Dragon slayers should be Dragoons, ect.

 

/endrant....

[Sounsyy]

Besides, Lancers are way cool and way underrated. There are plenty of cool Lancer characters already in the lore to show you how to can be a Lancer and still be quite bad-ass.

 

I wanted to add to your list of exceptionally talented Lancers.

 

J'moldva (the Hellfire Phoenix) was an Ala Mhigan lancer who, in 1.0, after only suffering a single defeat after numerous Coliseum tournaments left Ul'dah for Gridania. She later became a Wood Wailer and trained the 1.0 Player Character in the art of the lance. She ranks about a 10 out of 10 on the 1.0 character badass-o-meter.

 

 

I actually think most of the classes are overshadowed by jobs because the game mechanics make the jobs the next step to power for you character.

 

However, you have Raubahn who is a Gladiator, not a Paladin. Thancred is a Rogue, not a Ninja. The sole survivor of the Darklight Raiders was a Marauder, not a Warrior.

 

^ Also, this entirely! Go classes yar!

[K'nahli]

It could be just me, but I am getting the feeling that a lot of people tend to think a character is weak or underpowered if they are ICly a class instead of a job. But I reject such a notion because clearly there are renown characters who are classes, not jobs.

 

NOTE: I have nothing against those who ICly play as jobs, I just argue that the job is not necessary to be a strong combat character. IMHO jobs should be played only if such a thing fits the character. For example, Sultansworn should be Paladins, Dragon slayers should be Dragoons, ect.

 

/endrant....

 

 

Nope, it's 100% not just you. I don't know why but some people don't respect normal classes appropriately; it's as if they were for "beginners" or "non-awesome" players. I don't understand how they arrived to that conclusion. Nothing against people who choose to RP jobs, but for the cases where I have come across such examples, the reason for playing a job as opposed to a regular class seem to be for rather bad reasons. In most cases I think(I haven't seen every quest line and only heard about a few others), jobs are reserved for special and elite cases that are not accessible to anyone who just happens to have a unique or remarkable set of skills.

 

Take Warrior for instance, that has to do with an ancient tribe whom practiced impressive and renowned techniques. There is nothing that really separates a Warrior from a Marauder other than a lore in which you somehow met the sole survivor of a tribe who decided to teach you a few new things that you'll likely never, ever see in normal RP - which, in turn will not distinguish you from any other Marauder around.

 

In the case of Dragoon, it sounds to me like anyone who wasn't of Coerthan heritage and doesn't stay almost exclusively in the area should not try to play themselves off as a Dragoon and expect others to see that they aren't simply giving themselves a shiny title which implies you are better than the average lancer out there.

 

Paladin/Sultansworn are the only class whom I can confidently say are well within their right to play the job as opposed to the class and face little to no flack(the latter for the reasonable). I know some people like to roll with the 'free paladin' part which personally I don't regard as anything other than a simple plot device to excuse your character and their sort-of 'mentor' as an exception to not swearing allegiance and duty to the Sultana but it's not really as big of a stretch as the other classes...

 

(.....only.......... to me, Paladins are practically the same as Gladiators, except that they get special armour which I would assume is unique to their faction, which as a 'free Paladin' I would highly suggest you're not really a part of(?))

 

Please don't feel offended by my opinions, anyone ;w;

[Warren Castille]

(.....only.......... to me, Paladins are practically the same as Gladiators, except that they get special armour which I would assume is unique to their faction, which as a 'free Paladin' I would highly suggest you're not really a part of(?))

 

Please don't feel offended by my opinions, anyone ;w;

 

That's basically it. Free Paladins are just adventurers ordained by Ul'dah as working towards protecting Ul'dah, Ul'dahn citizens and Ul'dah's prosperity. They're not law enforcement, not really, and they hold no real station in the city-state besides being recognized as a worthy adventuring fellow.

[Gegenji]

As an odd addendum, I have to say I like straight classes because of the increase of cross-class abilities, which I find amusing to think about in an RP-kinda way. I find odd enjoyment in weaving the class abilities into the narrative for whatever reason.

 

Like, I can totally see Chachanji using Goad to cheer up an ally and bolster them in battle (not unlike Ramza's Cheer in FFT). It seems thematically appropriate and I have it plugged onto his bars along with Physick, which is a "bookmagics" healing trick he learned from his brother when he hurt himself.

 

If I had him with his Paladin soul crystal (which I'll be getting eventually, of course, but have been putting it off to dork around with Rogue and RP in general), I would be limited to solely the abilities allowed for the Job. Sure, I could refluff Cure to be "Physick", but being able to actually use the ability his brother taught him is much more fulfilling from a role-play angle.

 

... Is that strange of me?

 

But more on the subject of Lancers. I never really thought about it much but those NPCs are pretty swank.

 

 

And I was totally expecting the player character to run to the cliff edge and save Foulques.

 

[Warren Castille]

As an odd addendum, I have to say I like straight classes because of the increase of cross-class abilities, which I find amusing to think about in an RP-kinda way. I find odd enjoyment in weaving the class abilities into the narrative for whatever reason.

 

Like, I can totally see Chachanji using Goad to cheer up an ally and bolster them in battle (not unlike Ramza's Cheer in FFT). It seems thematically appropriate and I have it plugged onto his bars along with Physick, which is a "bookmagics" healing trick he learned from his brother when he hurt himself.

 

If I had him with his Paladin soul crystal (which I'll be getting eventually, of course, but have been putting it off to dork around with Rogue and RP in general), I would be limited to solely the abilities allowed for the Job. Sure, I could refluff Cure to be "Physick", but being able to actually use the ability his brother taught him is much more fulfilling from a role-play angle.

 

... Is that strange of me?

 

Fluff is what makes RP work, for my money.

 

Just don't do that to your parties. :tonberry:

[Gegenji]

Pfff, no no no, of course not. I keep my RP gear separate from my leveling/dungeon gear (at least until I can start glamouring). Only time I've actually done something in my RP gear was do a leve in my "casual outfit" and realized it just as I finished. :lol:

 

Though, if it was an RP run through a dungeon, then that raises a whole new set of questions, but that's neither here nor there.

[K'nahli]

I have extremely little experience with combat RP but do people actually use in-game skills in their RP or do they just reference their effects and use them that way? I always assumed the latter would be done since I would think that melee RP would be completely manufactured on the spot and magic would be practically the same only with some references to existing things, obviously, since that's not as straightforward as mere swordplay or what have you.

[Jana]

I roleplay my character as having a job (SMN), but she only uses it when she thinks she can get away without being seen or identified. Usually she'd be fighting as any of the DoW classes.

 

To answer the original question: I think Otto's position would mean he'd either have to leave for Gridania to learn in the lancer's guild incognito, or he'd have to hire out a teacher to teach him in Ul'dah. Becoming a DRG isn't impossible, I suppose, but it would mean having to pass himself off as an Ishgardian knight long enough to get good enough to kill a dragon and then be recognized for it by the Holy See. Tough for someone in Otto's position.

 

That's basically it. Free Paladins are just adventurers ordained by Ul'dah as working towards protecting Ul'dah, Ul'dahn citizens and Ul'dah's prosperity. They're not law enforcement, not really, and they hold no real station in the city-state besides being recognized as a worthy adventuring fellow.

 

Maybe I'll have Jana pick up that title, she does love puffing up her adventuring resume with meaningless things!

 

 

Edit because I didn't realize there was a page 2: Jana used to pop a lot of cross-class buff abilities when introducing herself to a prospective employer because she thought looking flashy and standing out from the rabble would get her more jobs. These were usually totally unrelated abilities too, but it was kind of silly. And while most skills I would use in combat RP require you to be locked on to a valid enemy target, I do try to do so when I can to make what she's doing more obvious to whoever's RPing her opponent.