I basically just need someone to tell me what Job to play

So let me explain. I have trouble deciding what to play in pretty much any game that has classes, or in this case jobs. Even when you can switch between them at will because I like to pick one thing and stick with it till I reach Max level or whatever the games equivalent is. I also like going through games main stories as one class because it makes it feel more cohesive I guess.

This issue of mine is especially prevalent in MMOs. Back when I played WoW when I needed to pick a new class to level bc my guild didn't need healers and that was the only reason I was my class, I entered an endless loop trying to pick a new one until BFA coming out forced me to play Demon Hunter cause it was the only one I could get to Max level fast enough. Now that I've moved onto this game I've encountered a similar issue despite the fact that I could play all the jobs on a single character. I want to pick one to go through the whole MSQ as. I got this Gladiator I have set as my forum character to 30 but since the server I originally planned to play on became uncongested and 30 didn't take long to reach, I decided to just start over.

I've got a few classes I'm interested in, but every time I narrow it down, another one catches my eye (for example: Ninja rework announced, no longer want to play it until I see how it is reworked. But now Monk got QoL so I might want to play that.)

So now I'm currently stuck trying to decide whether to play Paladin, Monk, Bard or Black Mage.

Paladin has cool looking gear and gameplay wise looks pretty fun. But the fact that it's a tank leaves me conflicted because it gives shorter queues but leading groups and setting the pace has never really been my thing. Plus I like to focus on dealing damage usually.

Monk's greased lighting speeding up the gcd is interesting and the forms instead of combos is quite cool. Not really sure I like the fact that ever attack has positional requirements though as that seems like it might get a bit annoying.

Bard I really like because it is highly mobile. No cast times and at a range. The fact that you rotate between 3 songs and don't really have a set rotation because of RNG also seems kinda cool. I'm just a bit worried about said RNG because not getting procs likely feels terrible. Also I've heard the class is undergoing a bit of an identity crisis currently being more Ranger than Bard.

Black Mage interests me simply because of its animation, as they seem to be some of the coolest in the game. The big damage numbers also don't hurt. And I am a huge fan of the whole powerful mage archetype in fantasy. However, not really a huge fan of cast times. While having to stand still itself isn't a problem, the fact that literally any movement or too much damage cancels the cast just annoys me. I understand that it's how casters are balanced but it doesn't change the fact that it doesn't feel good to lose casts because of a mechanic or even worse because you accidently tapped a movement key.

So yeah, I basically need somebody or multiple somebodys to just take a look at the 4 classes I'm interested in and just go "Play that one" because I'm never gonna be able to decide on my own. Thanks.

This is a dilemma you have to sort out yourself.


It will eventualy make "click" and you settle for a certain profession. I am here since 2013, I started as Bard, then studied Black Magic. As compensation for the killing, I've enlisted as Scholar. Then went I pensioned myself after the Garelean army was "defeated"/fought off in 2015...


Then, 3 months ago, it made "click" and I found the profession that I absolutely love...(See signature). My hype for the Red Mage does not wear off. It is burning like an eternal fire since I turned Level 70 and received my Duelist set and the Murgleis with the Crystal - it was the 5th of June - and the hype is as fresh as on day #1. Everyday I login, I see my Lalafell in his attire and know that I don't want to be anything else (beside Scholar). When "the click" happens, you will know and feel it. A guy from my former FC turned into a massive Gunbreaker freak over night.


I think what also might help is the same thing that helps with sentient beings: Attachment. When I was trough Heavensward, I did that as Scholar. I played Scholar, I progressed the story as Scholar, I saw myself in the cutscene as Scholar - that made me love my secondary profession and "bonded" it to me; in no way I would want to be a White Mage anymore now. The amounts of cool dungeon runs, of close-call boss fights and the party-saving heals I did as Red Mage is bonding me now to that profession.

You, however, ask us basically to repeat the pros and cons you have already figured out yourself. That is like asking as what flavour of ice cream you should eat: The creamy chocolade, or the strong lemon ice cream, or maybe the fruity apple? They all come with calories and diabetes, but it is up to you what you feel like enjoying the most.


Another problem with this kind of selection influed by others is that you will still not be satisfied, because the real love towards a gameplay style comes from the inside. I forgot what that phenomena is called, but you have this very often in other aspects or in other situations. For example, this is a situation you might know: You don't know what songs you want to listen to, so you press "Shuffle" or "Random" (on these old JVC CD players). So you let the device pick a song for you. But you immediately press NEXT, and NEXT, and NEXT. So you immediately are unhappy with the choice of the device because your soul and brain want something else. "Zapping" is another of these things: You don't know what you want to watch, so you zap back and forth but never settle for a programme. You want to watch sports, but a documentary. If you do a coinflip now, you will zap back and forth anyways later...



Sincerely,
https://imgur.com/HTju1aB.png

Tank or Healer is great and offers tons of rewards on the duty roullete scene and fast queues. Melee DPS is probably the worst.

Why not all of them?
Play all 4, see which one clicks via Gameplay and how fun you find it.

It sounds to me like Archer/Bard wouldn't be a bad choice. It's not a tank so no leadership role required, it has instant on the move attacks, no real combos or positionals to worry about, offers group support and is generally not bad.

For a caster dps I would say Red Mage might fit your tastes but it requires you to get to 50 on another job first to unlock. With that said, while it does have cast times, it also has lots of instant casting (basically every other cast is instant) giving you a great deal of mobility. It can also heal and res making it very versatile.

For some real value though maybe try going with the Arcanist class to start since at 30 you unlock both the Summoner (dot-centric caster dps) and Scholar (healer) jobs. It's basically like leveling two jobs at once because its all based on your arcanist level. So no matter which you take to max level the other will also be maxed. It's handy for taking advantage of shorter queues or "adventurer in need" bonuses as a healer too.

So this is a problem I've experienced for all of the nearly six years I've been playing this game, and I assure you, whenever someone tells me anything along the lines of "play what you want", it makes me want to take whatever they're using to play the game and cave their skull in with it just to prove that there's nothing in it.

For Paladin, it's still the go-to job for learning how to tank. While I probably wouldn't recommend you picking it off the bat, I'd say take a look at it after leveling something else.

With Monk, the positionals aren't too terrible to work with, and unlike other melee jobs, it's nowhere near as punishing messing up a positional on a Monk compared to other melee jobs. Of all the jobs you list, if I were you, I'd go with Monk; it might take a while to pick up and for everything to click, but it's in a really good place and fun to play.

RNG on Bard isn't as big of a deal as it might seem, and the RNG actually tips more in your favor as you get near max level. It's another solid choice, and the "identity" issue is also nothing to really concern yourself over.

While Black Mage does have that ordeal of cast times, but it also has a couple of ways to work around it. It's a lot better nowadays, but probably won't be up your alley.

Hope all that helps!

What do you have the most fun playing? /thread

Try running Palace of the Dead on whatever class you are trying out. PotD has a separate (And much faster) leveling system for use inside the dungeon, allowing you to preview a what the rotation is like at higher levels on a given class.

Please note: I don't know if you get your job skills if you run PotD prior to getting your job stone from the level 30 job quest.

You have two options: Play smart or play what you enjoy.

Play smart: Role a tank or healer so you have fast queue times and will more than likely make it into a decent progression fc. During the downtime you can level what you enjoy.

Play what you enjoy: If it isn't the aforementioned Tank/Healer you'll probably have horrible queue times, but you'll be playing what you enjoy while you wait 10+ for a queue to pop. You may find a decent progression FC that's looking for DPS.

Depends on you personally. Here is my perspective on the classes you listed

Pld - Honestly my favorite tank class to play. Lot of defensive abilities, ability to heal better then the other tanks, and in ShB really good dmg for a tank as well. With the not wanting to lead it is not that bad. Every dungeon is basically set up the same. You just dictate if your group pulls 1 set of trash or 2-3 basically. As for boss mechanics tanking is the easiest job in the game bar none, most the mechanics do not target tanks outside tank busters and some positionals.

Mnk - Fastest attack speed job in the game and high dmg... you will see alot of fights are not "Mnk" friendly as the bosses run around, become untargetable, and turn constantly. Or you get fight mechanics that make you run away to avoid killing team members. Makes it annoying to keep up your directional attacks and such.

Brd - Personally I hate this class. Alot of people like it though, so all personal opinion. I do not like the song rotation. I do not have any experience at high levels on this job though, hated it ever since the job was overhauled back in the day. Job at endgame is ok dmg with ok party support. Less dmg then Mch, Less party buffs then dnc, sorta in the middle.

Blm - Massive damage, huge numbers, and best dps in the game currently. The job's dmg comes not only learning your rotation (Which is easy) but learning the fights and how to squeeze out the most nukes possible between dodging circles. Missing nukes due to bad timing while dodging will cost you 1000s of dps. And as you said slow casting class compared to the rest, why missing a nuke hurts more then the other casters.

Play Black Mage as well as Red Mage as soon as you can unlock it.

There is RNG involved in most jobs, with ways to force procs, bard and Empryeal Arrow (?) is no exception.

Honestly from what you've said I think Bard would be your best fit for now. Being a DPS you don't have the burden of leading and coordinating a group, or being responsible for keeping people alive (outside of Troubadour). You have infinite mobility, and so can focus on and learn mechanics without losing any uptime, unlike BLM which is heavily punished for losing casts. Identity crisis aside, you have some simple tools to support the group alongside a relatively simple priority based rotation. Some, myself included, will argue that the RNG keeps encounters fresh and less monotonous despite the dry proc periods.

Seriously though, most jobs don't feel even remotely complete until around the 65-70 mark, so your opinion may change once you hit that point. My friend has admitted that 80 SMN felt worse than 79 since he lost the ability to use Egi Assault weaves during Firebird Trance.

A thing I do is (maybe it helps you with your dilemma):

Always get and level 3 classes/jobs (at least) at the same time. Reasons:

- if you go all the way through msq with one only job soon you will discover that you will be overleveled for each quest (begins around lv16 msq). So, the first thought you have would be: "ok, then, I'll forget the side quests and focus only on msq in order to solve this problem". But you'll miss a fun part of the game. Some side quests teach you more about lore, places, races, cities, events and some secrets of the world. If you allow yourself having more than 1 job/class you just stop on the msq lv using the first and go for the second job doing sides until you clear all the sides of an area. Remember you are paying for those quests as well :3

- I always try to make 2 to 3lvs of gap between each job. When you reach a new place, you can use whichever you want according to your mood on that day. We play this game for more than a month (and years, some of us). So, it's natural for us to change minds, feels and thoughts through time. So, let's do content inside game more accordingly to our mood on that day. If you feel charitable, go as healer. If you feel with the need of kick some az, go for DPS! If you feel protective and decided to risk yourself more, go as tanker. Not a single day will be boring this way :3 Oh, and I always clear side quests after reaching new places first before doing msq. More immersive this way :3

- I like to create my char with a concept in mind. My actual main will be a master magic. She will master all magical classes (summoner, scholar, black mage, red mage, white mage, astrologian). And I intend to finish all msq changing jobs through those. She is at lv21 now and the msq is at lv18. I'll level up my other classes to reach the gap and do msq with them.

I know this sounds a little "methodical", but that is the way I play this game: in my own pace changing jobs and enjoying EVERY single day using jobs that fits my concepts on the char that I am using. :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Feronar

Please note: I don't know if you get your job skills if you run PotD prior to getting your job stone from the level 30 job quest.

---

You do not. If you run PotD on a class, you only ever learn the skills available to the class. No job skills.

You've already started playing, but before I did I started searching online for good jobs for beginners and ARC/BRD came up. I tried it and it suited me well enough. I still keep it leveled and geared though it's now taken a back seat to my SAM, but I still find it enjoyable. Since you're already getting a positive vibe on BRD I say do that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kazrah

So this is a problem I've experienced for all of the nearly six years I've been playing this game, and I assure you, whenever someone tells me anything along the lines of "play what you want", it makes me want to take whatever they're using to play the game and cave their skull in with it just to prove that there's nothing in it.

For Paladin, it's still the go-to job for learning how to tank. While I probably wouldn't recommend you picking it off the bat, I'd say take a look at it after leveling something else.

With Monk, the positionals aren't too terrible to work with, and unlike other melee jobs, it's nowhere near as punishing messing up a positional on a Monk compared to other melee jobs. Of all the jobs you list, if I were you, I'd go with Monk; it might take a while to pick up and for everything to click, but it's in a really good place and fun to play.

RNG on Bard isn't as big of a deal as it might seem, and the RNG actually tips more in your favor as you get near max level. It's another solid choice, and the "identity" issue is also nothing to really concern yourself over.

While Black Mage does have that ordeal of cast times, but it also has a couple of ways to work around it. It's a lot better nowadays, but probably won't be up your alley.

Hope all that helps!

---

This does help a lot thanks. I think I'll be going with Monk then if it's positionals aren't as punishing as other melee because that was my primary concern. I do like the look of Bard and will certainly play it at some point, I don't really think starting with the RNG class is the right call for me. Thanks!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cythil

I do like the look of Bard and will certainly play it at some point, I don't really think starting with the RNG class is the right call for me. Thanks!

---

It's really not the "RNG class" (Dancer holds that title nowadays) since that component no longer makes the bulk of Bard damage these days. It also used to be a lot worse back when it was more reliant on gear, but now that it's a flat amount (I want to say 40% off of dot ticks and then other skills later on), it doesn't feel so bad.

Monk I still recommend over Bard though since it's in a REALLY good place right now and the story for it is a bit better.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cythil

This does help a lot thanks. I think I'll be going with Monk then if it's positionals aren't as punishing as other melee because that was my primary concern. I do like the look of Bard and will certainly play it at some point, I don't really think starting with the RNG class is the right call for me. Thanks!

---

I haven’t played as monk yet, I started out as BLM, and I like it a lot. But once you unlock SAM I suggest giving it a try if you end up liking mDPS. I’ve had a lot of fun with SAM. It has a lot of options: high single target dmg, aoe, gap closers, a bit of ranged option. It’s the most fun class I’ve played.

Patch notes should not affect your decision in anyway as of right now. By the time you reach cap, the job probably underwent more changes.

From your post, I got three points to take way from it:

Quote:

---

leading groups and setting the pace has never really been my thing

---

Quote:

---

I like to focus on dealing damage usually

---

Quote:

---

the fact that literally any movement or too much damage cancels the cast just annoys me

---

Paladin (PLD) - You mentioned you don't like leading groups. Gameplay isn't unique, you're still spamming 1-2-3 combos. So the only thing its got going for it is the aesthetics and queue times. Queue times is not an issue if you find a decent FC or tank friend.

Monk (MNK) - Like you mentioned, level 30 doesn't take long to reach and you get most of your positional skills while you're a Pugilist. Test it and see if you like it, but honestly, you don't get to feel how they actually play until much later.

Bard (BRD) - Does it matter that it's undergoing an identity crisis? You never got a chance to play it before ShB changes, so how does that affect you? Not trying to be mean or anything, just curious. If you don't like static rotations, BRD is a great job.

Black Mage (BLM) - You said you don't like your spells getting interrupted for any reason. It's going to happen...a lot; mobs dying before you get your casts off, getting knockbacked, game mechanics, etc... Otherwise, it's EXPLOSIONS ALL DAY, ER'DAY.

Like what everyone said, this is something you have to figure out yourself, but if you do need someone to recommend a class, I say go with BRD as your first job to complete the MSQ with and kinda experiment with other classes from there.

The beauty of FFXIV is... you can play them all on the same character. Try them all, find which is the best fit/most fun for you.

Just pick whatever for the MSQ. Actually, pick like 3 as it really doesn't matter and you can/will level more then one job in the MSQ anyway because of how many XP the game throws at you. If you only stick to one job you'll be outleveling the quests in no time and wasting all the XP.

Also every Job is very easy to play up until at least level 50, so don't worry too much. Maybe I wouldn't start as tank if you don't know the dungeons yet, but that's up to you. And once you've unlocked the daily roulettes you will get even more xp and will switch classes/jobs even more so don't worry about focusing about a job too much until you reach the endgame, where you really get to know the jobs.

Edit: And if you like to play a ranged DPS without RNG you can pick up MCH as soon as you reach Ishgard in Heavensward.

Personally, between the 4, I'd choose Paladin. Tanks and Healers will always be in demand and it will make getting into queues that much faster. Of course, it's all up to what you find most fun and queues become a non issue if you have a friend or FC with Tanks or Healers to group up with.

Play dragoon. has bare minimum positionals, has the sick jumps, cool armor, and you can evoke the power of the dragons.
Red mage is a nice middle ground for casters, has a melee combo dump after your spell casting, really damn easy to play. pretty decent damage.
you could also try summoner. summon cool "pets", sick asf spell animations, evoke the power of bahamut and phoenix. as a added bonus, you get to level sch at the same time since they share the same base class.

Go gunbreaker. It's pretty fun!