Within Final Fantasy 14, players can choose between the 18 jobs which function as classes within the game, but which ones are the most worth it. Well, that depends on a variety of factors. What playstyle does the player have? Do they prefer to take on as much damage and defend their party? Do they wish to stand on the sidelines while offering buffs and heals? Or do they prefer to be the main damage dealer?
Choosing a job in FFXIV can be rather confusing as it requires players to know what role they intend to play from the various classes. Furthermore, since each class’ playstyle can differ, players can find it difficult to choose, especially in the game’s early stages. However, once players reach higher levels, it will be easier for them to try out different jobs in FFXIV.
Luckily, the 18 jobs within the game are already broken down in this way a bit. The three main categories of jobs are Tanks, Healers, and DPS. DPS is then broken down into three categories of its own, Melee, Ranged, and Magic. Additionally, with the release of FFXIV: Endwalker, new Sage and Reaper jobs have also been added to the game.
The Top Jobs in Final Fantasy 14
In total, the 18 jobs include the Astrologian, Bard, Black Mage, Blue Mage, Dancer, Dark Knight, Dragoon, Gunbreaker, Machinist, Monk, Ninja, Paladin, Red Mage, Samurai, Scholar, Summoner, Warrior, and White Mage. Among the Tanks are the Dark Knight, Gunbreaker, Paladin, and Warrior. For the Healers, players have the choice of Astrologian, Scholar, or White Mage. The Melee DPS list includes the Dragoon, Monk, Ninja, and Samurai. Of the Ranged DPS, players have the option of the Bard, Dancer, or Machinist. Lastly, for Magic DPS, there is the Black Mage, Blue Mage, Red Mage, and Summoner.
Top Tank: The Dark Knight
Sadly, the Paladin and Gunbreaker sit with basically the same abilities/same damage output or protection. In comparison, the only two very different Tank jobs are the Dark Knight and the Warrior. Between the two, it’s a difficult decision. Dark Knight offers more abilities to steal health from their enemies and is more buff and debuff-based. Whereas the Warrior is straight-up damage output. Based on the idea of a Tank, they are damage dealers, but with a focus on protection. In this case, the Dark Knight wins over, as players wanting to deal heavy damage can look into Melee DPS jobs.
To unlock the Dark Knight job, players will need to be at least level 30 in the Disciple of War or a Magic job, and have access to Ishgard. Begin the quest with the Ishgardian near the Tribunal at (13,8). Players will then travel to meet their new mentor. Speaking with the Punctilious Temple Knight will trigger a cutscene and grant players the Dark Knight job.
Top Healer: The Astrologian
Between the three Healer jobs, players can have a bit of a difficult decision. As most of the different jobs vary but are generally fairly equal. The White Mage is a healer, but their job is also dedicated to dealing earth and wind damage. The Scholar is a healer who doubles as a summoner, mostly using summons as pets to deal damage for them. However, the Astrologian appears to be at the top of their class. This job is purely about healing. While weak in some aspects as they don’t deal as much damage as the others, the Astrologian has many more heals than the other two offering healing to more players who work together.
To unlock the Astrologian, players will want to head to the pillars, marked on the map as Athenæum Astrologicum. Speak with the character Jannequinard inside. Then accept the quest Stairway to Heaven and complete it.
Top Melee DPS: The Monk
There are lots of different small aspects to each of the DPS jobs. The Dragoon is all about Critical chance and damage as well as some minor fire. The Ninja is a rogue-type DPS class. The Samurai works more as an aesthetic over the top of a generalized melee DPS job. Their main focus is dealing damage, buffing, and protection. Finally, the Monk is the heaviest damage dealer of all the Melee DPS jobs, making it likely the best.
To become a Monk, players will need to have 30 levels in the Pugilist job. After that, head to the Monk’s Guild in Ul’dah. Then complete the Steps of Nald to specialize in the Monk job.
Top Ranged DPS: The Machinist
Surprisingly, there is a small three jobs to select from in the Ranged DPS section. The Bard works much like a typical archer, dealing a great deal of bow and arrow-based damage. This makes for a really good DPS character in general, but it isn’t the best damage dealer of the Ranged DPS options. The Dancer is an interesting job, that deals a decent amount of damage alongside buffing the player with this job. For the last option, players can select the Machinist. This job deals with some of the heaviest damage along with increased critical damage.
To gain access to the Machinist job, players will need to have previously reached level 50 with either the Disciple of War or a Magic job. Players will have to get and complete the Savior of Skysteel quest that is given by Stephanivien in Ishgard.
Top Magic DPS: The Black Mage
For Magic DPS, players have four choices to pick between that each has its own special twists. The Summoner is a strong magic-based job that covers the many different aspects of magic including healing, summoning, and siphoning. This can be a difficult job to get the hang of for newer players but can be powerful if run properly. The Blue Mage is a limited job, meaning that it can’t be used in all scenarios. The Red Mage is focused completely on dealing all the different elemental damage types. While the Red Mage does cover this, the Black Mage is a very similar job but with a dark twist and useful debuffs. For this, it is likely the easiest and strongest.
To gain the Black Mage job, players must reach level 30 with the Thaumaturge job. After accomplishing this, players can start and complete the Taking the Black quest from Yayake in Ul’dah.
Top Melee DPS: Reaper
The new Reaper class added with the Endwalker expansion is excellent for players looking to fill the role of a high damage-dealing teammate. The Reaper class can also summon an avatar that helps out in battles. This class is also meant for players looking to play as a fast-moving character that can slip in and out of battles and deal incredible damage in the process.
Final Fantasy 14 is available on PC.