Final Fantasy XIV fans are a passionate group. Many of them not only spend countless hours getting their character to max level and carefully obtaining the perfect Glamour outfit, but some of them bring the game into the real world, like one player who has created a unique controller to play as his favourite Job.

As an MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV uses the classic /Damage/Healer/Tank trifecta. One of the most effective Tanks is the Warrior, a Job associated with getting very angry and swinging a large axe around. Also with massive and probably overpowered self-healing skills, but I digress.

As a fan of the Warrior job, typically abbreviated to WAR by players, player and hardware modder SuperLouis64 decided that a more immersive approach was to properly channel his Inner Rage. So he decided to build a copy of an in-game Battle Axe model that could act as a controller. He’s no stranger to controller mods; his entire YouTube channel focuses on novelty controllers.

The axe resembles the relic axe ‘Bravura', an iconic item for Warrior players. The replica contains a motion sensor and a microphone. This allows Louis to activate moves such as Fell Cleave by simply swinging the plastic axe around. The microphone means that the buff skill Inner Release/Infuriate can be activated by shouting loudly.

This, of course, matches with the class fantasy of playing Warrior in-game, where Warriors are fierce berserkers who channel their boundless rage to accomplish impossible feats and fell tough foes.

Louis does note that swinging a four-foot length of weighted plastic around can be tiring, and your neighbours might object to all the yelling, but that might be worth it to live the dream of being a Warrior in real life.

Details on how Louis built the controller are available on his YouTube channel.

About the Author

Rebecca Hills-Duty

Writing and journalism experience at VRFocus, UploadVR, The Escapist, HTC, PC Gamer, Tech Radar+ and Dexerto. Can sometimes be found playing with retro tech.