Wanted to talk a bit about Taigat’s classes AND how they tie up Legacy with ARR and moving forward. I still don’t handle the lore quite well and I do try to change the bits I don’t like so here goes.

I think after the mess Taigat makes with their family situation they run off to find Dyulgor who is… not thrilled to take care of someone he didn’t want for more than 20 years. But he hides it well and “motivates” them to be independent in a very unkind world, which means learning how to fight. Not learning from him of course but from the different guilds in Eorzea. He pushes them to take disciplines that could save his life in any situation and build him as someone resilient no matter the circumstances.

They learn to be a conjurer, a pugilist and a marauder in the Legacy time period, never obtaining a soul crystal for any of these. 

Now, I want to change Legacy so that instead of being teleported five years in the future, the moving is restricted to being spatial, to a relatively safe space.

And for Taigat, that means back with Dyulgor. The teleportation in such unstable circumstances causes them to get aether sickness and for them it means memory loss and the iris in their damaged eye losing form and becoming infected to boot. Their illness forces Dyulgor to take care of them in the meantime and he kinda sweetens to the idea of being a father like all those stories where middle aged men are forced to take care of someone. Of course I hate those things and he’s inconstant and inconsiderate through it all, always reminding Taigat that they should try again and find something for themself. “Adventurer” is not really a stable career but they do love to protect others and take the spotlight for reasons unrelated to big speeches so they go for it when people look for aid with the calamity’s aftermath and they regain their health.

They remember the knowledge lost in very intense moments when they desperately need them. Conjurer came back when they had to fix or heal Hydaelyn’s shield to withstand Ultima’s last assault. Putting down Emet while merging with Ardbert was easier and more potent because they could remember how to handle an ax. 

And they fucking busted Zenos’ face when they had nothing to fight but their fists.

They don’t go back to polish those abilities but they finally have them back. It stays a very murky period of their life but what they do know is that they failed to contain Bahamut with those disciplines so they go for something new.

At the start of ARR, since Taigat didn’t have Dyulgor pushing them out of the door what with him now playing the role of good dad, they have more time to make a choice and they opt for lancer because of how decisive they are described in battle and that’s what they feel like they lack. To know what you need to do in the right moment and the right way, fast and efficiently. It becomes part of their way of thinking and they do their best to follow it through the rest of their adventures. 

They give up on their lance since it wasn’t enough to save Haurchefant. Dark knight is a way to mourn him along with a reaction against the Holy See. Become what they hate. But they don't adapt to this style. Their physique doesn’t agree with it so they suffer for this choice. They have very bad back aches afterwards and Zenos manages to defeat them. They put their friends at risk by going down that path so when the time comes to retake Ala Mhigo they pick up the lance one last time.

Alisaie is the one who pushes Taigat around the most during that depressive period and they choose Red Mage next as a way to show their admiration for her. It does become highly difficult to manage though because their white magic gauge is always full by the time they almost become a lightwarden (this is a situation where the story and the impact it has on the WoL’s health could be shown in combat by making everything related to light much more difficult to handle).

Reaper becomes perfect to balance that period of excessive white magic even if it comes with a very bothersome avatar to join the ride. Iit also works as a culmination for Dark Knight and Lancer. Something similar that doesn’t bring up a terrible sense of failure. A discipline that is considered heretical in some places. Something that hurts the right people.