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Alright, my fellow Warriors of Light, the time has come. The hour of reckoning is at hand, and it is time to know what your FFXIV job or class says about you. By now, you all have a main, and that’s completely fine. But why did you pick it? Was it because of its aesthetic, or is there something deeper? And what about new players? Is there something that drives you to pick a spear instead of a staff? After a lot of analyzing, we’ve made a list of why each player picks a specific class for this evergrowing MMO.
What Your Favorite FFXIV Class Says About You
Before we delve into each job or class of FFXIV, a disclaimer is in order. Our picks have nothing to do with which class is best and which is the worst. It isn’t a tier list; we aren’t ranking how they perform in raids or trials. Instead, we’re delving deeper into the reasons why we pick these jobs and stick with them throughout our journey. So, with that out of the way, let’s get started, shall we?
Astrologian
Outside of FFXIV, you’re an ‘aesthetic’ person. You have your room full of decorations and stick to one style, most commonly something that has to do with the stars and something cozy. Witch and alchemy games are among your favorites, and you even have a few tarot decks at home; you don’t know how to use them, but they’re all for aesthetics, right? The only reason you picked this job is because you thought it had some Yu Gi Oh!-like mechanics, only to discover it is one of the hardest healers to master in the game.
Bard
If I asked you to tell me how a Bard plays in FFXIV, you’d be clueless. The only reason why you and everyone else picked this class is because it allows them to play music. Have you seen the groups of Lalafells playing music in all the main cities? Check their levels; they haven’t even maxed out this job. Chances are your parents never let you study music because being an engineer pays much more, so take out your frustrations with a fancy lute and a tricorn hat.
Black Mage
Your favorite game of the series is Final Fantasy 9, thanks to Vivi, which is why you also picked this job. Besides that, you learned this is Yoshi-P’s main job and thought, “If the director plays it, it shouldn’t be hard?” Well, a big mistake there. It is tougher than a Moogle’s nut, and you will die a lot. Instead of avoiding attacks, you hold your ground and wait for your huge explosion to go off. When your character drops dead, you go out with a smile, knowing you did 2% damage to the boss.
Dancer
Out of all the support classes in the game, you don’t care about what this one does. There are two reasons why you picked this. One, because you love the skimpy outfits. I’m not judging; I leveled up this job for that same reason. Two, you make fan fiction about the last dance partner you had at your party. Once you finish a raid, you start writing about that handsome Hrothgar who died nine times in the Trial, but still, they held your buffs as you fought together. Just another love story in this MMO.
Dark Knight
Edgy is your middle name. Cloud Strife is among your favorite characters of the Final Fantasy series, and once you saw this job in FFXIV poses as the edgy blonde guy, you were sold. Beyond that, you don’t care about the game’s mechanics. You live to spam ‘The Blackest Night’ and stand in AoE indicators, mechanics be damned. You’re a loner in the game. After watching the class story in FFXIV, you didn’t see the need for party members anymore. Still, when you do dungeons, you pull all enemies simultaneously, and when you die, you blame everyone. Talk about a walking dichotomy.
Dragoon
When you heard the promise of an FFXIV job with a huge spear and dragon-slaying capabilities, you didn’t think twice; Dragoon became your main. You fell in love with every skill and the big numbers it does to enemies while staying alive due to how beefy it is. Still, you don’t know a single thing about dodging AoE mechanics. The class with the highest mortality rate in FFXIV is Dragoon for two reasons: they are so immersed in their rotation they forget about mechanics, and they backflip off the arena every time. Oh, how we love having Dragoons in our group; we always get a laugh because of them.
Gunbreaker
You have a toxic relationship with DPS classes in FFXIV in the sense that you want to do damage but want to learn how to tank. Gunbreaker is the job for people like that. It has one combo, inside another combo, inside yet another combo, and you love that. You get a DPS placebo each time you play it and feel like you’re a damage dealer. Remember, you are on top of the aggro list because you’re the tank; don’t get too excited. Furthermore, you have bulky armors, so the only reason you do Gunbreaker quests is to cosplay as Thancred with his slick coat.
Machinist
When your Call of Duty friends told you about an FFXIV job that uses guns and robots, you didn’t think twice and picked Machinist. You quickly discovered it plays exactly as other jobs, and you couldn’t aim down to shoot Moogles in the face. Still, you like to use this class because of how much damage it does. No, really, it is a great job to have if you don’t want to think about supporting others. Still, you quickly realize other melee jobs are more fun, so you just unlock this class for roleplay reasons or to say: “Oh yeah, I totally know how to play Machinist.” We’ve all been there.
Monk
Tifa is your waifu. Your walls are covered with posters of this lady, and you play Monk to be another of the thousands of cosplayers who pose as Tifa. Another reason why you picked this FFXIV class is because you hate rotations. You mess them up a lot, so Monk is a bit more forgiving at times. Or, well, that would be the case, but as soon as you level, you realize there’s an actual rotation, and you’ve been botching the mechanics anyhow. Don’t worry, though. Monks are at the top of the DPS list, so you are doing a great job in any group.
Ninja
People regard you as a mere weeb and otaku, but you’re more than that. You’re a weeb and otaku with a great memory. The time it takes to memorize all Mudra combinations and then pull them off is admirable. Once you master them, you throw all you learned out the window and create a macro. Oh, and you know what’s funny? You want a fourth Mudra to arrive at the game. As if three weren’t enough already, you want to torture yourself more with another input. Sure, go ahead; what could go wrong? After all, Ninja has the most unforgiving rotation in the game.
Paladin
Let’s start with one of the most iconic tanks in the game: the Paladin. If you picked this job, you’re a goody-two-shoes. In the alignment chart, you always shift toward lawful good. Back in school, you were the first one to tell your classmates if they were doing something bad. Yeah, you might not have a lot of friends. Still, you’re the first to jump in front of someone to protect them. You have a heart of gold. In the game, you are someone who can’t let go of healing, especially now that Paladins rarely need a healer. You also picked this class because it has the best invulnerability skill, hands down.
Reaper
While not as edgy as Dark Knight, it still has a dark side that caters to players who played My Chemical Romance in their Hi5 profile. You love this class for the sole reason that it has an entity that possesses your character. Even if it lasts for a bit, you feel like a Twilight character who just activated their glowy vampire self. Back in Endwalker, you felt like the only Reaper in the expansion, only to find out your Alliance Raid was full of players trying this class and performing better than you. Chin up, though; the glamours still look cool on this job.
Red Mage
Out of all mage DPS classes in FFXIV, this is the one that feels least like one. You picked it because you saw Alisaie jumping around, slashing and flinging spells, and wanted to do that, too. Besides, you love roleplaying as a character from the nobility, which makes this job perfect. If that wasn’t enough, Red Mages have the flashiest limit break and are known for blinding everyone with it, thus wiping the raid. Still, you’re needed in every group because you have a free resurrection, which makes you a jack-of-all-trades.
Sage
If you’re a Gundam fan, then this is your main job in FFXIV. To this day, we don’t know why we have flying drones to shoot and heal, but we don’t complain. Everyone who never leveled up a healer picked Sage just because it started at level 70 and then proceeded to wipe every dungeon they were part of. Still, you did your best to learn the ropes, reached max level, and quickly switched to White Mage because it is far better.
Samurai
When you finished Demon Slayer, you ran to FFXIV and picked this class, only to find out it wasn’t as flashy as in the anime. Still, it hits like a truck. While you still mourn the loss of Kaiten, it still does great in many ways. Whenever you meet new Samurai players, you remind them of how the rotation used to work, and they see you like a senile old person, but deep down, you know you left a footprint; you encouraged another player to blacklist you to avoid your ramblings about how this job is in a bad place right now. Newsflash: it isn’t.
Scholar
You’re still mad that Yoshi-P didn’t include a Hunter-like class in FFXIV with pets. So, you pick Scholar because they travel with fairies. They might not be the most reliable companions, but they’ll heal others automatically, and you can focus on the best part about being a Scholar: finding the right glamour that combines the powers of an erudite with the right amount of attractiveness. While fun to use, people only grab Scholar to get quick in the dungeon queue and level up Summoner, which, let’s face it, is the only reason why anyone plays this healer.
Summoner
There are many reasons to pick Summoner in FFXIV as your main job: you want to cosplay as Yuna, you want to harness the powers of the Primals, and you are a teacher in real life and want to bash enemies with your book because if you do that outside of the game, it is a felony. Still, the rework this job got in FFXIV: Endwalker was great, and you can finally feel like the Primal-controlling character you always wanted to be. Yes, we all still long for the day Odin becomes a summon in the game. Hang in there, guys.
Warrior
You fear nothing. When you get out of your house every day, you don’t mind waving your wallet around, even if it means some people want to take it. You love the thrill of the fight. Chances are you were in a few bouts as a kid and didn’t mind. Heck, you boast about them. In the game, you don’t care about who is on your team. Warriors are practically immortal in Endwalker, so if your healer stays behind, that’s on them. At certain parties and gatherings, people always tell you to keep your voice down. We’ve discovered that many Warrior players tend to scream instead of talk in real life; it might be their inner beast talking.
White Mage
To this day, when you hear Aerith’s theme, you break down and cry. How do you cope with it? By becoming a White Mage. You want to follow the steps of that goofy character and keep everyone alive. When you inevitably die at the hands of a boss and because a tank didn’t know how to handle aggro, you feel like Aerith in the hands of Cloud. It only lasts a few seconds because you are resurrected to return to the fight, and everyone blames you for dying. Yes, that’s the life of a healer player in FFXIV.
Picking a job in FFXIV is no easy task. They all have great gimmicks and are balanced enough to make them relevant in any group. Ultimately, it’s up to you to choose the one you like the most or the one that aligns with your personality better. However, if you like them all, level each one simultaneously. You don’t need 19 characters to try all classes; that’s the beauty of this MMO, so don’t be afraid to try them all.
