Many new details were revealed by Square Enix at the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest 2017 in Frankfurt for their newest expansion, Stormblood.  Among the new details, the opening movie for the new expansion was unveiled, which finally confirmed which new class would be joining the Red Mage DPS that was announced back in late 2016.  That class has been revealed to be Samurai, which will be a melee DPS.  You can check out the opening movie below, the new Samurai makes their debut about 3 minutes in.

This news won’t come as a surprise to most.  The Samurai class was always expected to come to FFXIV, especially given its long tenure as one of the oldest expansion classes back in XIV’s predecessor, Final Fantasy XI.  That said, the timing for Samurai is actually rather strange.  Fans of FFXIV will remember that in the game’s first expansion, Heavensward, three new classes were released, covering multiple roles within the game.  Astrologian was healing, Machinist was ranged-DPS, and Dark Knight was the new tank.  Tanks and Healers tend to be in short supply for Dungeon/Raid/Trial queues, so such a healthy split between new roles helped alleviate the inevitable congestion that tends to arrive with a new expansion. Not so for Stormblood, though.  Both Samurai and Red Mage are set to be DPS classes, so it will be interesting to see how Square Enix plans to handle the inevitably long wait times for players queuing up as DPS.  As a Bard main I can tell you first-hand, those waits can be grueling.

Now then, onto the Samurai details! As noted above, the Samurai class is all about melee DPS.  The starting level for the Samurai will be level 50, with no base class being associated to it.  The Samurai will primarily be utilizing the Strength attribute, and they will be using some of the same gear that Monks use.  Samurai players will be wielding a single Katana in battle.  As such, battles will be fought at close range.

It has been noted that each different Katana in-game will also come with its own scabbard design, which should help players differentiate one Katana from another, even when sheathed.  Samurai will also have access to charge attacks, though not much is known about them at this time.  As shown above, Samurai will be able to utilize multiple different Far Eastern swordplay techniques, and they will also be mastering the art of ‘Sen’ and its three forces ‘Setsu’, ‘Getsu’ and ‘Ka’, which translate to Snow, Moon and Flower.

So, what do you think about FFXIV’s newest melee DPS class?  Is this something you’ve been waiting for? Or have you been holding out for a different, unannounced class, like Blue Mage?  Let us know in the comments section below, and come chat with us about it on Disqus!  As always, stay tuned to DFTG for all the latest Final Fantasy news, and come follow us on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!