Confused about Classes and Jobs

I'm currently a Pugilist, level 26. I haven't leveled any other combat classes yet, because I have some questions about how classes and jobs work.

From my understanding, Pugilist lvl 30 + Lancer lvl 15 = Monk. Lancer lvl 30 + Marauder lvl 15 = Dragoon.

So, if I were to level Pugilist and Lancer to level 30, and then level Marauder to level 15, would I be some sort of Monk/Dragoon hybrid and be able to use abilities from both of those jobs with my main class (Pugilist)?

No unfortunately.

When you hit level 30 on a particular class you open a questline that allows you to open up a "Job". These jobs are things like paladin and monk. The requirements to take on these quests are as you stated above.

Once your in a job then you are that job. You can however equip a select amount of abilites from other classes that are set for it. For example Paladin is able to use all the skills from gladiator, and some select skills from marauder and conjurer. You don't however get to use all skills acquired over the course of the game. The classes that each job can use is limited to 2 in addition to the all the skills that the class that it originally came from.

In exchange for losing the variety that you would have with a class you get more powerful abilities that center around that Job's role.

Think of the Job as an upgrade to your Class, because that's basically what it is. Monk requiring Lancer is just an additional prerequisite you need to meet, not a point where the classes suddenly start merging into a super thing. Monk is the upgrade to Pugilist ; Dragoon is the upgrade to Lancer.

Jobs are all 100% separate apart from very specific cross-class skills. You would be a Monk if you equipped your knuckles and soulstone, and a Dragoon if you equipped your lance and soulstone. Absolutely separate down to the bonus attribute points, it's just like logging out and getting on a different character - the only difference is (aside from the obvious like still having gear you earned) you can grab a few of the class skills from Lancer and use them on Monk. For instance, Invigorate. It's a level 22 Lancer skill. Once you reach Lancer level 22, you unlock Invigorate to use on your Monk freely as a cross-class skill.

You can't use all skills as cross-class of course, only select ones that have some use on other jobs. You can't go and use the basic stuff (Heavy Thrust or True Thrust, for example) but you could use buffs like Invigorate (LNC 22, restores 400 TP) or Second Wind (PUG 8, 650 potency heal) on select other jobs that have lancer or pugilist available as cross-classes. You can see what jobs can use a specific skill by looking at the bottom of the action's tooltip.

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Originally Posted by Khai

So, if I were to level Pugilist and Lancer to level 30, and then level Marauder to level 15, would I be some sort of Monk/Dragoon hybrid and be able to use abilities from both of those jobs with my main class (Pugilist)?

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Well, you'd sort of be a Monk/Dragoon hybrid in the sense that your character would be someone who had learned both how to be a monk and how to be a dragoon. You'd be able to unlock both of them and alternate between them any time you like. But at any given moment you're one or the other. They don't merge into a superclass that combines both. You can unlock and level as many of the game's classes and jobs as you'd like, but can only play one of them at a time, with just certain select skills available to use cross-class from other classes you've also leveled.