What would happen if two of the greatest fighters in Final Fantasy XIV battled it out? Estinien the Azure Dragoon and Gaius the Black Wolf have impressive resumes, but who is stronger? Let’s dive into the game and lore to find out. Speculation from A Realm Reborn to Endwalker.
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Well no shit Estinien would win he literally has a portion of the power of the strongest beings in the fF14 universe…
The video was entertaining to watch but at the end it was like duh..
It's like asking whether the WoL could beat a namazu in a fight 🤷🏿♂️
The only fail I see with this video is that you didn't showcase the awesome finisher that Estinien used when he was fighting Lunar Ifrit alongside the WoL and Alphinaud that made all the dragoon mains want that added to their kits in the upcoming Endwalker expansion at the time. Otherwise, I quite enjoyed this video and agree with all of your conclusions despite them being completely obvious given how the story has progressed. Once Gaius gave up his super saiyan armor he clearly lost a large amount of his potential power that his skill was never able to make up for despite it also improving over time.
Love the theorycrafting! this was well researched.
I agree.
You might have forgotten the garlean body of Gaius. But, I think the result would still be the same.
You didn't mention Estinien's new armor he received from Hraesvalgr which is told in one of the short stories on the Lodestone. That story is a wonderful touch and would definitely push Estinien's combat prowess beyond Gaius' from SB onwards
Edit: love this format. Can't wait for the next one!
I already knew from the discussions that this would be a fun video! I like the idea of examining them at different points in time, to reflect on how these characters grow. And I agree with the consensus that Gaius started out stronger than Estinien (if you would have included a pre-ARR section it would have been an even easier win for Gaius haha). The current Estinien is just downright overpowered and could definitely obliterate Garlean Legati for breakfast.
I hope we get to see more of Gaius in the game again, I really liked him once he turned into an "Ascian hunter" and did away with his armor.
I was highly disappointed with endwalkers lack of gaius being used in endwalker hopefully he will be included more in 7.0 as previous garlean it would be awesome to see him come with us in the exploration of the areas we haven't been to the planet incase we run Into any of the other legions we haven't dealt with yet
I do think it’s important to remember how skilled of a commander and tactician Gaius is. The Emerald Weapon fight is based on his combat data, showing a strong use of formations and force multipliers.
He may be outclassed in single combat, but he’s likely one of the best choices for leading soldiers. More so than Raubahn perhaps.
Estinien is more powerful overall, but Gaius has skill. If both continued to grow, raw power will inevitably overcome skill. Estinien is well past that point when it comes to mortal beings. At this point I suspect only the WoL or Zenos could reliably defeat him one on one (same is true for most of the Scions).
As for an interesting match, how about Alphinaud vs Alisae? I also think Hien vs Ameyric would be a fun one too.
I hope that somewhere along the line, a side quest featuring Gaius is in the works. Meanwhile–if there's enough data, would you do an explanation of Urianger's role with the Ascians? I've never quite understood the why & how, as wll as the sudden change back to working for the Scions…was he a double agent by his own choice??? Looking forward to more FF lore!!!
Ok now u gotta do one with with graha vs yshtola. Just as geniuses and magic masters.
You know what… let's throw out some really insane matchups.
Who would win between Godbert and Breygot?
Going back to praetorium, im not so sure the game treats it as us going with 7/3 other people. Yes the description says comrades, but no one ever refers to our friends. Everyone only talks about us and never mentions our friends, everyone is missing during the mech scene, and we’re the only ones who escape.
Now hydaelyn actually doing stuff feels weird in the recton, saving us from primal overload, but fine thats an upgrade old ultima didnt have. The final lb feels more so us just saying fuck the rules we dont need 8 ppl we have plot armor but our dyanamis abilities are weird, specially when u look at the p raids, or even shadow bringer trials (it seems canon we do all the trials save hades and SoS solo, but we can lb 3, and the ppl we fight with in the p raids are just rly good illusions)
Estinian wins a battle of arms. Gaius wins a battle of budgeting.
Great video man I love hypothetical battles
The real issue is that this is a main character vs a side character competition.
Loved this so much, I see a lot of requests for G’raha vs Y’shtola but I think that will be very one sided lol, a fun one would be a VS between the nation leaders like Raubhan vs Hien or Merlwyb vs Lyse etc
I hate to be that guy but I don't believe Estinien did train as a lancer before becoming a dragoon, IIRC the Heavensward Dragoon quests actual try and explore if the Warriors prior training as a lancer made them a better Dragoon
While Estinien wins as the better fighter, I find Gaius the far more interesting character in the long run.