The winners of last year’s FFXIV Weapon Design Contest are in. Square Enix conducted the contest from August to October 2021. However, selection of the winners of the weapon design contest happened at the end of March 2022. This week saw the formal announcement via the Lodestone official blog. And thanks to the “astounding number” of entries received, the development team opted to select two grand prize winners for each job in the running. Both winning designs will be implemented in-game in the future, additionally, grand prize winners and finalists received the “Great Paraserpent” umbrella accessory.
There were two exceptions, however: The Reaper and the Sage. This was because the FFXIV weapon design contest was held before Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker‘s official release on December 7, 2021. Since the two jobs weren’t yet implemented at the time of the contest, there were no entries for them. A separate contest for Reaper and Sage weapons will be held at a later date.
Here are the FFXIV Weapon Design Grand Prize Winners for each of the pre-Endwalker jobs.
Tank Jobs:
For Paladin, the winning artists Namipeko and gal created sword and shield sets called “Sea of Night” and “Mandragora’s Kitchen,” respectively.
For Warrior, artist Spark621 created the “Wrath Grinder,” and artist KingWCxix created the “Bombfish Basher.”
For Dark Knight, the FFXIV weapon contest winners were artists Rookdaw and Green Tea Latte. They created the “Blood Rapture” and “A Weapon To Satisfy That Traditional Need.”
For Gunbreaker, artists Matt and Ranitte created the “Cerberus Fang” and “Shark Gunblade”.
Melee DPS Jobs (Excluding Reaper):
Monks get the “Dragon’s Beard Fists” from sana and “The Major-General’s Jaws” from ikei.
Dragoons will receive gear by FFXIV Weapon Design Contest winners Crown (“Jet-Black Wolf”) and Misoradeko (“Green Foxtail Lance”).
Ninja weapons are the “Shinobi Knives (Mystic)” by Chokoko and the “Mandragora Knife and Fork” by Kuropaki.
Samurai can wield the umbrella-like katana “Lavender Bloom” by Kaylie or “Higan-Shigan” by oluris.
Ranged Physical DPS Jobs:
Bards can draw “Blue Bird’s Last Bow” by Nesumi, and on the “Forest Ranger’s Gear” by Havakkuk.
Machinists will get “Victory of the People” by Madqueenmomo, and “Jack-in-the-Bouquet” by gal.
Dancers can set up a routine with the “Twin Moon Dancer” by Shirata and the “Bomb Dancer” by Aji.
Magical DPS Jobs:
Black Mages can light up their leylines with the “Malum Ignis” by Lumi, and “The Great Serpent of Ronka Rod” by Rokusuke.
Summoners and Scholars can flip through the “Encounter Lily Grimoire” by artist Thanks for the Resurrection and “Travel Companion” by artist Shimashima.
Red Mages will be able to cast spells using the “Shepherd’s Crook – Light in the Dark” by Smitten Miqitten and the “Rainpier” by Yui.
Even Blue Mages have a weapon from the FFXIV Weapon Design contest. Winners Keto and Kizashi designed the “Gentle Umbrella” and “Wonder of Showtime” canes.
Healer Jobs:
White Mages can ply their heals with the “Bunny Cane” from Coreyality_Draws and the “Nameday Cane” by Cerberusnoise.
Scholars and Summoners can work with the “Codex of Lost Palette” designed by Shinjyu, or the “Fairy Lover Codex” by Yokaze.
Astrologians can get the “Stargazer” Star Globe by Lune, and the “Bringer of Light” by Roi.
Besides the Grand Prize winners of the FFXIV Weapon Design contest, there were also finalists and runners-up. Those can be seen on the Lodestone blog post.
Final Fantasy XIV is available on PC, PS4, and PS5.
