There’s a lot to decide at the beginning of Final Fantasy XIV. First, you have to pick a race (full decision guide here), design your character and then give him a job. Essentially a job is going to be your role in the FFXIV universe. Will you be a tank that defends your team? A supportive healer? Or a powerful DPS that takes down the bad guides. Each of these roles plays an important part in the Final Fantasy XIV universe so we’re going to help you decide what to pick here.
Once you’ve decided on your role you can then further focus on a specific job within that role. There are currently 18 jobs available for you in FFXIV. This seems like a lot of pressure to decide but don’t worry because just like life you’ll be able to take on any and every job with just one character. So if you don’t enjoy the class you end up choosing, it’s relatively easy to make a change.
At the very beginning of the game, you only have access to a few character classes, which serve as lesser versions of the jobs they evolve into at Lv. 30. So you still have plenty of time to decide how you want to play your character. Let’s deep dive into the jobs with this guide.
Three Main Job Roles
As we mentioned earlier there are three main roles essential to the game: tank, healer, or damage dealer –DPS. When matching up with other players while playing dungeons, trials, and raids, your team mix will depend on the role you’re playing. Dungeons, for instance, require one healer, one tank, and two DPS players.
Each of the game’s jobs will fall into one of these three archetypes. Use the below as a kind of index to skip to the job or role you’re looking for.
- Tank
- Paladin
- Warrior
- Dark Knight
- Gunbreaker
- Healer
- White Mage
- Scholar
- Astrologian
- Sage
- Melee DPS
- Monk
- Dragoon
- Ninja
- Samurai
- Reaper
- Physical Ranged DPS
- Bard
- Machinist
- Dancer
- Magic Ranged DPS
- Black Mage
- Summoner
- Red Mage
- Blue Mage
Tank
High in HP and trained in defence, a tank serves as the party’s shield. Skilled at keeping a foe’s attention and bearing the brunt of enemy attacks.
Tanks are represented with a blue character icon. They lead the charge in dungeons by taking the brunt of enemy attacks. They can protect themselves with spells and powerful armour. While they can hit hard, their main goal is to withstand enemy attacks so healers and DPS can do their jobs.
If you want to lead the charge in battle, then consider one of the four tank jobs: Paladin, Warrior, Dark Knight, or Gunbreaker.
Paladin
Base class: Gladiator
Weapon: Swords and Shields
Paladins are perfect for players who want an easily understood tank role with powerful defensive options and strong attacks. If you want to play as a Paladin, you must first choose the Gladiator class and get them to Lv. 30.
The Paladin protects the party with shields and holy magic. They also utilise their MP pool for healing teammates and dealing burst damage. The Paladin job is an excellent introduction to tanking, but it can be challenging to master.
Paladins have multiple abilities that can increase their toughness in battle and can even totally negate damage. At higher levels, Paladins can heal themselves and use magic attacks.
To be a paladin is to protect, and those who choose to walk this path will become the iron foundation upon which the party’s defense is built.
Warrior
Base class: Marauder
Weapon: Greataxes
Warriors are a great option for players who want a tank role that shrugs off attacks and overpowers enemies. Perhaps a good switch for those who are used to playing DPS in FFXIV but want to give tanking a go.
Warriors are fierce combatants who cleave enemies with massive axes. Their fighting style involves hard-hitting moves that only get stronger with abilities that amplify their strength. They can boost their health to become even harder to defeat in battle and dish out heavy burst damage. Hard to kill, Warriors also have numerous self-healing abilities, deal decent damage, and pull in mobs of enemies efficiently.
On the northernmost edge of Abalathia’s Spine exists a mountain tribe renowned for producing fearsome mercenaries. Wielding greataxes and known as warriors, these men and women learn to harness their inner-beasts and translate that power to unbridled savagery on the battlefield.
Dark Knight
(Heavensward expansion required)
Base Class: There is no base class for the Dark Knight, but you must reach level 50 as a Disciple of War or Magic before you can try the job out.
Weapon: Greatswords
Dark Knights are great for players who want a well-rounded and edgy tank to play as.
Dark Knights are the mirror image of Paladins: They are dark, brooding, and wield massive swords. Their combat style focuses on keeping up the pressure on enemies with darkness-infused physical and magical attacks to build power. They are not only heavy-hitters but can sustain a great deal of damage with all their skills.
The Dark Knight has the most potent damage mitigating ability in the game. You need to manage your mana and blood usage well to be a good Dark Knight, which can prove difficult when in the midst of battle.
The pious Ishgardian clergy guide the flock, and the devout knights protect the weak. Yet even the holiest of men succumb to the darkest of temptations. None dare to administer justice to these sacrosanct elite residing outside the reach of the law. Who, then, defends the feeble from the transgressions of those meant to guide and protect them?
Gunbreaker
(Shadowbringers expansion required)
Base Class: There is no base class for the Gunbreaker, but you must reach level 60 as a Disciple of War or Magic before you can try the job out.
Weapon: Gunblades
Gunbreakers are an ideal role for players who want to play a tank but also want a play style that’s a bit more involved compared to their counterparts. The Gunbreaker has a straightforward playstyle with some mighty combos that can help increase damage or create shields.
Think of Gunbreakers as tanks with a more involved moveset, that makes them feel a bit like a DPS character. They fight with a gunblade that is, a sword that can shoot bullets. Hello, Squall from FFVIII. The job uses combos to gain resources to do even more combos. But while Gunbreakers have a strong focus on combat, they still have plenty of defensive options to mitigate damage.
The Hrothgar of northern Ilsabard have passed the art of the gunblade from one generation to the next. The weapon itself combines a sword with a firing mechanism, emitting a range of magical effects by utilizing aetherially imbued cartridges.