FINAL FANTASY XIV Job Guide

Final Fantasy 14 Classes: Final Fantasy XIV may technically be around 10 years old now, but its ongoing incarnation, emanating from a exhaustive redesign following its failure early on, means it’s easier to jump into than ever before. But it can be overwhelming without useful context.

Classes are split crosswise three (technically four) “disciplines”. There’s your Devotees of War/Magic, Land, and Hand – or battle, control, and crafting respectively. War and Magic classes fight the baddies, while Land and Hand classes turn the world’s talents into useful items like machine guns, food, and fancy plush couches.

There’s a cluttered HUD with dozens of clickable elements, windows out the wazzoo, and a dizzy amount of content to get through. We’ve composed together this guide to hopefully help you on your adventure across one of the first truly popular subscription-based MMOs since World of Warcraft.

Final Fantasy 14 Classes And Jobs

Jobs are an increase of their base classes and require a Soul Crystal to activate. Each job acquires increased role-specific actions depended on the job’s role in group content (Tank, DPS, or Healer). With the release of Stormblood, players are no longer required to level a secondary class and can advance to their various job at level 30. Jobs added with expansions do not have a base class and receive their Soul Crystal as rapidly as they are unlocked. They also start out at higher base levels. Jobs have specialized capacities aimed to perform specific roles in a group setting. Jobs are at the same level as their comparable classes and can be thought of as functional modes of the base classes. There are ten jobs in A Realm Reborn (2.0): Warrior, Paladin, Monk, Ninja (2.4), Dragoon, Bard, White Mage, Black Mage, Summoner and Scholar. Heavensward (3.0) added three new jobs: Dark Knight, Astrologian and Machinist. Stormblood (4.0) further added two more jobs: Samurai and Red Mage. Shadowbringers (5.0), like Stormblood, added two different jobs: Gunbreaker and Ballet dancer. Unlocking a job awards its Soul Crystal, which is required to change from the player’s current class to a more specialized job. Each job has its own crystal which can be prepared via the Armoury Chest.

Jobs have some unique features:

• Primary Class is the class that a job is tied to.
• To switch to a job, qualify its Soul Crystal. Coming back to a base class works similarly by leaving the crystal slot empty.
• Jobs seize all of the abilities and traits of the dominant class and can select five additional actions shared among all jobs of that role.
• Before attaining level 60, Jobs borrow all of their Traits from their primary class. However, any Traits acquired from levels 61 to 70 are restricted to the job upon which they are received.
• Note that while almost abilities are earned through gaining levels, some are locked behind Class and Job Quests.
• The level is shared between job and prime class once that job is unlocked. For example, if you level a Summoner to 40, then swap over to its base class (Arcanist), the latter will also be at level 40. Both the prime class and its respective job will always be the same level, regardless of which you play as.
• Jobs discharged in Heavensward (3.0) – Dark Knight, Astrologian and Machinist – start from level 30 and do not require base classes. Instead, they begin with a full set of abilities of their own.
• Jobs released in Stormblood (4.0) – Samurai and Red Mage – start from level 50 and do not require base classes.
• Jobs released in Shadowbringers (5.0) – Gunbreaker and Dancer – begin from level 60 and do not require base classes.

Final Fantasy 14 Tank Classes

AfterAfter a troubled 2010 launch, Final Fantasy 14 got a new lease on life. In 2013 with A Realm Reborn, Square Enix remade the MMO, saddled players with electing a job and increased the level cap of 50 and added some of the most iconic enemies in the prerogative. That cap increased to 60 with the first expansion, Heavensward, and then again to 70 with the latest extension, Final Fantasy 14: Stormblood, which was released late last month.

It’s a lot of information to take if you’re new or turning. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to get your manners in Final Fantasy 14, from equalizing up to using a control and choice the right job. By the time you hit level 15, multiple options will open up for you to level up. Here are the most effective methods, in order.

Keep in mind that unlike most MMOs you only need one character for Final Fantasy 14 — you merely need to switch jobs by prepare a new weapon if you want to level up another role (more on that later).

There are myriad ways to get to level 70, but the absolute agilest route is by following the main story quest (called the MSQ by players). Kicking off in the financing town that you chose at the very start of the game, this great strand of tasks will transfer you all the way from level 1 to the ending line. That’s all the way through the original Realm Reborn sport, as well as Heavensward and Stormblood.

As soon as you get a main story quest, go to to it (it’s denoted by a large circle with flames around it) and accept it immediately. You’ll be funneled through the appropriate areas for leveling to ensure that you’re always ahead of the curve and unlock new dungeons (called instances) that you’ll need to clear to progress with the story. In recent months, MSQ experience (XP) has been increased, making it imperative that you follow it.

The Stormblood launch patch added in a new UI option that always highlights the next main story quest. Click it if you need some nudging.

Classes Final Fantasy 14

Unlike most MMORPGs, Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn allows players to switch between classes while sticking with the same character. You won’t need to created multiple “toons” if you want to play as a different class or job. However, you can’t change classes until you reach level 10 on your starting class. Therefore, it’s important that you select a class that you’ll enjoy for at least the first 10 levels. In addition, when a class hits level 30, you transition to a job, which may play slightly different than you imagined. With this in mind, here are essential class breakdowns to help you make the best choice.
The Arcanist is the most versatile class in the bunch because it’s the only class that serves two purposes. As one of only two classes with a proper healing spell, the Arcanist may have to back-up heal from time to time. However, an Arcanist is primarily a damage dealing class that uses damage over time (DoT) spells alongside their summoned pet, Carbuncle.
By the time an Arcanist reaches level 15, he or she can summon two versions of Carbuncle. The initial summons (learned at level four) is a ranged damage dealer (DPS). The second summon is obtained at level 15 and serves as a tanking pet. This is especially effective during early dungeons. If a tank dies or is overwhelmed by the number of enemies, an Arcanist can use the tanking Carbuncle to control the hate until the tank gets a handle on things.

When an Arcanist reaches level 30, it can become a Scholar or Summoner (or both). A Scholar is primarily a healing class, trading in Carbuncle for a healing fairy, but retains the ability to use DoTs for damage. A Summoner gains new and better pets, as well as more damaging abilities. However, having a tanking pet available becomes less important in parties as your level increases. It’s still very good for solo purposes, though.

Final Fantasy 14 Starting Classes

As the name suggests, an Archer is a ranged DPS class. It is the only class that can attack from a distance while moving, which makes them very effective in certain battles. They get multiple DoT attacks as they level up, but when they hit level 30, they change to the Bard job. While Bards retain all of the Archer DPS abilities, they gain songs that help the party. Some songs lower their DPS, such as Mage’s Ballad, which replenish MP for all party members within range.

Despite the fact that Bard is more of a support job than Archer, it’s still one of the best DPS jobs in the game. You just need to be aware that supporting the party is your primary job. If the mages are low on MP, you need to play Mage’s Ballad. If the fight has been going on for awhile, you may need to play Army’s Paeon to replenish TP. These songs take priority over dishing out the damage.

A Conjurer is the only primary healer at the beginning of the game. While it has a few damaging spells, including DoT spells, your primary function is to keep the party alive. Fear not, you can still solo just fine with a Conjurer, and since you have the ability to heal, you can solo better than some other classes. Conjurers also gain the Cleric Stance ability at level six, which increases their damage while cutting healing potency. This is your primary tool for soloing, but it also works during dungeons when the party doesn’t need to be healed immediately. At level 30, a Conjurer transitions into a White Mage, but not much changes aside from having more healing options at your disposal.

The Gladiator is one of two tanking classes at the beginning of the game. It’s your job to make sure every enemy looks at you and only you. You won’t party much until level 15, but from that point forward you need to know how to control groups of enemies and keep them focused on you, despite the best efforts of your party members trying to inflict as much damage as possible to the enemy. The difference between a Gladiator and a Marauder (the other tanking class) is that a Gladiator has higher defense, lower health and uses a few spells (mainly Flash) to retain hate.

A Gladiator has to pay more attention than any other job, which makes it less appealing to most people. In fact, if you play as a Gladiator, you will almost never have to wait to enter a dungeon. There are so few tanks in Final Fantasy 14 that anything you do via the Duty Finder (almost all dungeons) provides instant access to Gladiators. When you make the transition to Paladin at level 30, very little changes. You gain a few more tools for holding hate, but you’re still a tanking job.