New Player: Questions

Hello, all! I'm quite enjoying the game so far, it's very similar to the FFXI I played oh so many years ago - at least in the important ways.

I'm the kind of player who wants to be both useful, needed, and wanted in endgame content. This is to ask -generally- what class should I play, given this goal?

I understand that many people have many opinions on what's useful (often times valid classes are ignored by the general populace) - and I understand that many players will say "play what you like".

While I certainly appreciate that point of view, and admit that it makes sense - what I like is what's the *most desired* in endgame groups. I don't pick a first class because its lore or flavor is appealing my tastes - I pick a first class that gets me into the most content because it's the most sought-after.

Later on, once I have access to this well of valuable gear, then I'll pick secondary classes whose aesthetics are most appealing for me, in the hopes they'll be buffed, or that new content will make their roles more in-demand.

So, with that in mind, although I would certainly appreciate your valuable input about classes which are "usable" and "undervalued" and certainly enjoy theorycraft and off-the-wall solutions to problems - I would be most helped if I could be informed which roles/jobs/classes are the ones *most often brought* to any endgame encounter.

I've read that currently the endgame setup demands oodles of caster DPS (Blm or THM, I'm not certain if it matters which), White Mages and warrior tanks. I'm also curious if the most successful groups also want/need bards, but have no knowledge to indicate one way or the other.

Thanks for taking the time to read this ~ I hope to meet you in Eorzea soon!

-S

Most if not all endgame groups run with 1 or 2 bards, their songs (most specifically Ballad of Magi for mage burn parties and Minuet of Rigor overall) are extremely helpful.

Can't ever go wrong with White Mage, as it is there is exactly one healer in the entire game, and that's White Mage. Parties tend to run with two on average, elite guys of the sorts i'll never count myself among can do it with just one but-

Yes, people love caster DD parties, most of what you see in NA-side it's Black Mage/Thaumaturge (both have advantages over eachother, Thaumaturge can offheal and AoE Sanguine Rite, Black Mage can Convert and Freeze).

Recently there's been a rather huge shift in tank choice? I've seen a crapton of Paladin tanks in-game but the overall 'safe choice' as far as forum knowledge goes is Warrior. If you just want whatever everyone's asking the most, pick Warrior for your choice of tank.

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That all said: At times people will want you to throw Monk at things, well-played it's the single-target DPS king. Aaaaand I don't think I ever saw a party deny a Dragoon? Specially with the changes made to Power Surge. I do remember never running out of TP on mine, ever.

+1 Thanks for the info! I was skeptical I'd get any response in the newbie forums.

Pretty much confirms my suspicious ~ although I'm quite intrigued to find out if PLD has become something people really want.

Truth be told my preference was for MNK but I'd rather play something that gets into *every* group, not just a few ~ so whm and brd it is it seems.

White mage. I like to level things evenly, but understood I could use one high level job for doing events and stuff. I picked WHM and so far I've never had a problem attending things. Most people in the game have multiple level 50 jobs, so even IF they already have enough white mages, it's usually not a problem for someone else to change, and there's no fights where the party is going to say "Yeah... we kinda don't need a white mage". Though, I do recommend you start leveling other jobs once you get white mage to 50. After all, variety's good, and some day you may be the guy who needs to change off of white mage so a newer player can participate :)