New player - help picking a class/job

[Spurloc]

Thanks for the info. My only concern with summoner is are they wanted in groups/raids? Do they do comparable dps in to other non-pet dps?

Archer sounded very appealing to me but going Bard (which sounds from the description like it's more support/heal) is not.

[elemental10]

Archer sounded very appealing to me but going Bard (which sounds from the description like it's more support/heal) is not.

Bard is support DPS. Your songs will give your team mana regen, tp regen, speed boost or lower enemy magic resistance. If you have a BRD in your raid, there's a bigger chance that your raid will be successful.

Plus, your DPS wouldn't fall behind other DPS also because of your high CRIT chances and Dots.

[Risvertasashi]

Thanks for the info. My only concern with summoner is are they wanted in groups/raids? Do they do comparable dps in to other non-pet dps?

Didn't see this answered so I'll take a shot at it.

There are rumors going around that Summoner is not capable of top tier DPS, and so some people do exclude them from their raid groups. However, they're idiots: Summoners can top the DPS charts depending on the group, and are competitive with other DPS. Moving also doesn't hurt them as much as it does a Black Mage. There are also plenty that will accept a SMN (Aside from DPS, they have some excellent raid utility).

Summoner is also getting a major overhaul with the expansion soon that should hopefully do away with rumors of SMN being subpar.

Good luck!