Aspiring designers from across the realm have worked tirelessly to create their ideal forms of gear for ranged magic DPS and healers, and today we’re pleased to present the winners that have been selected along with commentary from Art Team Lead Takeo Suzuki.

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Ranged Magic DPS Gear Designs

Grand Prize Winner (To be implemented)

Designer Judge’s Comment Rei We received a wider variety of designs in this category of the gear design contest when compared to the Tank edition. This lead to quite a bit of trouble when it came to selecting a grand prize winner, but in the end, we chose this design based on the fact that it was something we’d never done before. The design will really force the dev. team to answer questions about how they would replicate aspects of this design into the game. It seems the team took up this challenge, and the character designers and animation designers are already racking their brains trying to think how to replicate the cloak and flames. We’re expecting to feature a ranged magic DPS outfit that has never existed before, so please look forward to it!

Runners-up

Designer Judge’s Comment Lucky This entry is outstanding in terms of the feeling it creates, and the beautiful color tone that was chosen. We are amazed that even though it contains various elements and features a very flashy look, they are all well-organized and fit together so well.

Designer Judge’s Comment のえ The fancy and cute design on this entry creates a striking silhouette. A frill around the collar is something we have never had in FFXIV. We can also feel how much care the designer has put into every part of the outfit, such as the half gloves and the boots.

Designer Judge’s Comment Shinjyu The contrast between light and dark, along with the asymmetrical design, is beautiful. We’d love to see red mages don this outfit, as they use magic born from both white and black magic.

Designer Judge’s Comment LUKE This entry expresses an image that is gorgeous yet mysterious very well. It also offers a strong impression of a ranged magic DPS and shows a lot of care was put into the well-detailed decoration.

Designer Judge’s Comment KlobbZA This dark and sexy look is astonishing. I can see the designer’s preferences in not only the gear design but also in the pose.

Designer Judge’s Comment ashley-pinkgir We like how this design looks quite evil, and we could probably use it for the villains. Both the male and female versions of the designs are very cool!

Designer Judge’s Comment ルカ We liked how the hood and scarf is a single piece, as well as how the cloth was used to drape around the sleeve and the back. The dev. team was getting excited discussing if it would be possible to create this type of outfit utilizing the new modeling technique which will be introduced along with samurai’s outfit in Stormblood.

Designer Judge’s Comment Heine We were amazed by the care put into every fragment of this design! It is difficult to implement under the current game system due to polygon count requirements, but still, it is very unique and amazing.

Designer Judge’s Comment でね The melted steel-like design of the half-mask is nice! The outfit seems light; however, it is very interesting to see various caster-like elements such as the dangling straps around the waist and the back, as well as the tattoos.

Designer Judge’s Comment おにぎり太郎 There are flashy elements everywhere and it makes the outfit extremely fancy looking! It has a magician-like feel to it and it’s another of those designs that we have never had in FFXIV.

Healer Gear Designs

Grand Prize Winner (To be implemented)

Designer Judge’s Comment Kare Just like with the ranged magic DPS designs, the healer category also featured a lot of unique designs which led to a lot of difficulties for the judges. In the end, a theme of “light-geared medical wear,” which we’ve never really had, and the difference in volume between the shoulder/chest area and the hip area became the key element that led us to choosing this entry as the grand prize winner. When looking at these types of designs, from a style perspective, this is very difficult design to implement. We haven’t challenged ourselves with these type of designs in the past, but we have started to look into how we can implement it, so please look forward to it!

Runners-up

Designer Judge’s Comment くる An arrangement where the head gear will be placed at the back part of the head is really nice. The red ornaments give a strong impression even if the tiara part gets hidden in the hair is what interesting about this design, and it’d be something unique not just when using short hair like in the illustration but even with the very full hairstyles. Also, since Stormblood will see adventurers traveling to places like Hingashi where this gear should match very well is another plus.

Designer Judge’s Comment あおいん This healer gear is sexy, yet cool-looking, and we believe a lot of work was put into completing this design. This is something we would like to implement someday.

Designer Judge’s Comment ロンメロン将軍 The concept of a medic from the Skysteel Manufactory is a great one! The combination of the white outfit and the blue liquid-filled tubes leaves a strong impression.

Designer Judge’s Comment エイヂーイロ Even though this is a healer gear set, its light-weight, yet strong-looking design is very interesting. It gives an impression of “combat healer” and is really nice.

Designer Judge’s Comment Kaomarston The tone of color is beautiful, and the tribal-inspired design is very cute. This sure is something we’d like to have appear as a crafter recipe!

Designer Judge’s Comment Iva The design of the armor and wings mesh very well together and create a very cool looking design. The well-designed head gear is quite unique, where the face will be shown clearly no matter which hair style you choose.

Designer Judge’s Comment Snacks the Procrastinator A splendid Asian-themed outfit that perfectly meshes Doma and Moogle designs!

Designer Judge’s Comment Kaiser Healer gear designed around a bulky physique is quite novel. Even though it emphasizes a well-built chest and shoulders, it still expresses the look of a healer and is very well done.

Designer Judge’s Comment Virukan We were instantly attracted to the marvelous design that was brimming with uniqueness. From a system perspective, it would be difficult to replicate the semi-transparent skirt but it sure is an interesting idea.

Designer Judge’s Comment Viatasi The design is deceptively simple, yet something we’ve never had before and it looks quite interesting. The fluttering cape on the female gear is very cute.

Prizes

Grand Prize: 1 winner (for each category) Implementation of the winner’s gear design into the game A set of five (5) in-game items:

Gaelicap / “Noble Barding” Chocobo barding / Mandragora Choker / Ahriman Choker / Bluebird Earring



Runners up: 10 winners (for each category) A set of five (5) in-game items:

Gaelicap / “Noble Barding” Chocobo barding / Mandragora Choker / Ahriman Choker / Bluebird Earring



Gaelicap “Noble Barding” Chocobo barding

Mandragora Choker Ahriman Choker

Bluebird Earring

* The development team may make adjustments to the grand-prize-winning design.

* Prizes will be delivered after May 2017.

* In the event that an entry other than the grand prize winning entry is deemed to be excellent, Square Enix may choose to implement it in the future.