New to FFXIV: Job Questions - What job?

Hello all,

I am an ex-WoW player that had played WoW for several years. I liked playing any role in raids healer, tank, DPS and support. While I enjoyed the game it has gotten old to me and I do not like some of the "directions" it is heading towards.

I currently have a trial account and thinking about purchasing the full game. So far I have played only 2 days on the trial and it has my attention. I have 4 characters Archer, Gladiator, Lancer and a Thaaumaturge. They all seem pretty cool in their own way. So on with the questions:

What is the least played Job that is lacking in the game currently? (needed Job)

What, in your opinion, is the funnest class to play and why?

Pretty simple questions but I cannot decide on what I want to play and I know only playing to 20 will not give me the full aspect of the jobs or the game.

Thank you for taking your time and reading this lengthy post and any information would be much appreciated.

tank is one that is in dire need all the time. dps are so many you can have upwards 3 hour wait time with pvp, and several minutes with tank/healer. dps usually go to healer after a while and people rarely convert to tank.

Welcome!

To answer your first question, there's not really a class/Job that is less 'needed' in the real sense - you will find though once you start doing dungeons/trial battles/raids via Duty Finder DD style classes and Jobs will have the longest wait and that tanks and healers will be the ones in most demand. This is simply due to there simply being less healing and tanking classes/Jobs in the game, plus the added responsibility and stress playing as one of those roles means a lot of players just can't be bothered dealing with that and just queue as a DD class for ease of play. But again, all classes and Jobs have their use in the game, so it comes down to what you enjoy playing as. :)

As for your second question, that's hard to say - personally I like playing as all roles (tank, healer and DD), but my 'main' is GLA/PLD (tank) and CNJ/WHM (Healer), so those are my personal favourite classes and Jobs. But we're all different and all have different likes and dislikes so you may enjoy something completely different. The beauty of FFXIV though is that unlike other MMOs like WoW is that you are not locked into a single class for the whole game - at level 10 you can unlock the Armoury System which allows you to switch classes at will (by simply equipping that class's weapon or tool). So feel free to experiment with different classes, as I'm sure you'll find one you like.

You can level one or all of them, it's completely up to you (although you will need to level at least one more class to level 15 in order to unlock that class's Job upgrade, plus levelling other classes can be helpful in that you learn abilities to cross class with your 'main' class, which can be a big help in the long run. But it's up to you. :)).

i also would like to add, you siad you have a toon for each class you siad, you can have one toon and be all classes!! once you get a class to lvl 15 you will beable to unlosck the other classes!!

monochromicorn: thanks for the input that is good to know. I see a "debate" on War vs Pld is one better than the other?

Enkidoh: thank you for the answer. I am thinking of going tank as that was my primary role in WoW. This post may just confirm the decision EDITED: sorry didn't thank you for the great info on all classes!!! I will give it a go :)

MikoMiy: That is AWESOME thank you for sharing that!!!

Both are equally valid tanks, with their own strengths and weaknesses. One may be better for a given bit of content, but for most 8-man party content I prefer having one of each in the party. Job diversity is handy!

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Originally Posted by pbandj

monochromicorn: thanks for the input that is good to know. I see a "debate" on War vs Pld is one better than the other?

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Regardless of what other people say, PLD and WAR have the same eHP. Neither is particularly better or worse than the other in the tanking department. Really, the only "big" difference between the two is that WAR does more damage, and PLD has a shield which can partially block damage. The difference is slight though, because PLD has an offensive stance and WAR has various mitigation methods that make up for the lack of a shield (also, since you can't parry and block a single blow, block is only of marginal usefulness anyway).

PLD also has a bit more support (Cover and Stoneskin), but it's difficult to use effectively and rarely gives much benefit. WAR, on the other hand, has better AoE threat generation (both Overpower and Flash vs just Flash).

The most notable difference between the two is that PLD is easier/simpler to play (single rotation, so the skill is in how you utilize your cooldowns), and WAR is more complicated since you have several rotation options. Many people think this makes WAR more fun to play, but personally, I like playing PLD because I can focus on general tanking skill and not worry so much about my rotation.


Remember that you can bring up the skill/action menu and see all skills that your current class can learn and what level you learn them at. All skills scale with level, so nothing ever becomes totally obsolete in this game. You can't see the Job skills though, which are granted by quests every 5 levels starting at 30.

Tank is currently the least played far as I know. Conjurer is funest!

as the others have stated, their isnt a diffeence in theory. the differnence occurs when the person playing is exceptional or terrible. if the tank is bad, like most PLDs i have played with, then you will of course have a bias towards WAR. if the person is good, their really isnt a difference. as stated earlier, in general, warriors are better for group pulls, but a PLD can be just as good with a good player.

in essence, its not the ability to tank, its the people who play those classes that can make the difference. i suck at WAR, but im really good with PLD. as far as im concerned, PLD is better, because i can play it. it is also possible that i wasnt as good with WAR because i was still such a low level. its the skill behind the tank, and not the tank itself..

there are few tanks, so if you want to fill the demand, go with gladiator or maruader as a main. i switched from monk to WHM, to PLD(attempted WAR first because i thought they were better).

A small piece of advice, don't call your character a "Toon". Just call her your character or some other description.

There'll always be someone who's gonna jump your throat for saying "toon" >_>

Also, note that to unlock WAR, you need to get GLA to 15, and to unlock PLD you need to get MRD to 15. Both can use cross class skills from the other. So, you'll get a taste of both, and it's not a bad thing to get both up a bit for cross-class skills. At some point, decide which one you like the feel of more, and go with that. Also, a lot of endgame equipment is shared between the two classes, so if you change your mind later, it's not a huge deal to switch.

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Originally Posted by Nyalia

Also, note that to unlock WAR, you need to get GLA to 15, and to unlock PLD you need to get MRD to 15. Both can use cross class skills from the other. So, you'll get a taste of both, and it's not a bad thing to get both up a bit for cross-class skills. At some point, decide which one you like the feel of more, and go with that. Also, a lot of endgame equipment is shared between the two classes, so if you change your mind later, it's not a huge deal to switch.

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wrong. to get PLD, you have to lvl CNJ to 15, not MRD. i dont know what it takes to get warrior, but you are wrong about paladin.

it is pugilist to 15 for warrior

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Originally Posted by monochromicorn

wrong. to get PLD, you have to lvl CNJ to 15, not MRD. i dont know what it takes to get warrior, but you are wrong about paladin.

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I'm a moron, ignore me!

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Originally Posted by Rikkustrife

it is pugilist to 15 for warrior

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No, it's GLA. I remember this because people are always like, "Make sure you get Flash off of Gladiator for your Warrior!" And I'm all, "It is impossible to become a Warrior without having access to Flash." (Pugilist is the 2nd class Warriors can cross-class skills from, but they're not the class required for unlocking the job.)

@OP - The most wanted Jobs are Tanks, followed by healers

I wish you the best and welcome to Eorzea :D

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Originally Posted by Bixby

No, it's GLA. I remember this because people are always like, "Make sure you get Flash off of Gladiator for your Warrior!" And I'm all, "It is impossible to become a Warrior without having access to Flash." (Pugilist is the 2nd class Warriors can cross-class skills from, but they're not the class required for unlocking the job.)

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Here are the job requirements
http://www.gaiscioch.com/tavern/ffxi...ost_62705.html

PLD - Hard in the beginning, easy in the end.
WAR - Easy in the beginning, hard in the end.

The definitions of "easy" and "hard" are varied from person to person, but in my experience it is as such in terms of simplicity.

Just to chime in on the tank discussion, if you are playing a tank you NEED to get gladiator up to 22 at least. If you don't have Provoke you are severely gimping yourself.

Also, for paladin, getting conjurer up to 34 for stoneskin is really helpful too. I use it all the time during Titan HM to give the healers a break.

The other technical difference between PLD and WAR is that the PLD defensive stance reduces the damage they take while the WAR stance increases their hp. So warriors will look like they have more hp but the paladins take less damage. Some healers prefer working with paladins, some with warriors.

In 8 person content against a single target warrior acts as a good off-tank with a couple of enemy debuff skills. The paladin main combo (only combo really..) generates a lot of aggro so as off-tank they are pretty much limited to helping out with stoneskin and cover.

I swap between the 2 based on the content:

• Planning to be off-tank on single mob= warrior
• Need good group aggro control because I don't trust the dps = probably warrior
• Boss uses 'spike' damage = paladin

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Originally Posted by Sagittarian

The other technical difference between PLD and WAR is that the PLD defensive stance reduces the damage they take while the WAR stance increases their hp. So warriors will look like they have more hp but the paladins take less damage. Some healers prefer working with paladins, some with warriors.

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Please note that this is a flavor difference only. There is no actual difference between the two (well, except PLDs are ~4% easier to heal, but that's really nothing) since they equate to the same eHP and WARs get a healing bonus that (very nearly) makes up for the difficulty healing their extra health.

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Originally Posted by Nyalia

Please note that this is a flavor difference only. There is no actual difference between the two (well, except PLDs are ~4% easier to heal, but that's really nothing) since they equate to the same eHP and WARs get a healing bonus that (very nearly) makes up for the difficulty healing their extra health.

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Agree. Just explaining the visual differences since it is easy to notice a hp difference in the party list but it is harder to know why or what other factors are in place.

I am very appreciative of all the information you all have given me. Thank you all. With all the help and replies this makes me think this is the game for me. Seems like a very good community. I have gone the Paladin route for now, but will definitely check out the Warrior route as well. I can also see what Sagittarian said about the Provoke ability gimping you if you don't have it as I have already tanked 3 or 4 instances and man holding agro, for now, is like trying to hold water in your hands and running when the DPS starts out first lol. I am sure I will get better. Again I really appreciate all the replies and I cannot get over how helpful this community is.

Early on, Flash is the GLA's main hate generating tool in addition to their weaponskill combos, as you don't get the proper tools for holding hate til much later, particularly with the Job upgrade to PLD - as I ran the early dungeons at the start I learned to open a fight with Shield Lob, then when the enemy were close by, to immediately cast Flash, and then hit the main target with Fast Blade and Savage Blade, alternating each second 'round' with Flash.

After about three or four Flashes I was usually able to hold hate on multiple targets in most cases (and if I lost hate, I usually popped another Flash and then switched targets to the enemy whose hate I lost).

Tanking can be very rewarding, especially if you do everything right, but you're inevitably the scapegoat when things go wrong. In those situations it's usually just best to take it on the chin and learn from the experience. Anyway, keep up the good work fellow GLA! Eorzea has need for stalwart defenders like you. :)