Strongest class/job lore wise?

[Ferrasper]

I would say machinist for the simple fact we are inventors. Who is to say we won't make a nuclear aether weapon that could dry the planet up in seconds. Also, a bullet travels faster then a fireball.

[Atoli]

Also, a bullet travels faster then a fireball.

That's the thing with magic though - it travels as fast as the one who throws it wants it to. If you really want to get down to it...since no actual substance is burning, the only thing traveling through the air is pure energy (in form of heat and light). No bullet can travel at the speed of light because there will always be air friction no matter how aerodynamic you make your bullet.

(But yeah, of course in general mages are slower than melees because they first have to focus and bend the magic to their will, also known as 'casting the spell'.)

About inventions though: A nuclear aether weapon is not part of the lore. There is no hint on MST being able to invent that kind of thing, about the materials existing that would be required, etc.
I can also go ahead and say "BRD is the strongest class because they could make up a song that makes every living being on the planet kill themselves at once". But I can't do that, because such a song does not exist in the game :x
...although I'd really love that idea to be true xD BRD needs some love :3

[Ferrasper]

I look at the empire. Essentially, they are machinist in nature, and look at what they have created. Yes, they used old technology, but who is to say that SE won't eventually add in Allagan weaponry to the mix?

[Allyrion]

I look at the empire. Essentially, they are machinist in nature, and look at what they have created. Yes, they used old technology, but who is to say that SE won't eventually add in Allagan weaponry to the mix?

I agree MCH is pretty awesome. The Allagans and Garleans show how powerful technology can be.
But we are talking about individuals, a MCH doesn't represent such a broad concept as a technological society.
The OP was talking about stuff like 1 on 1. So we're just talking about one guy with gadgets.
Very strong gadgets, of course, but not the power of the Allagan or Garlean Empires.

I haven't done the new BLM quests so I don't have a good gauge for them.
The quests up to 50 didn't really show them as pure destruction though. That's what they represent in the FF series usually, but the actual quests didn't show that to me.

WHM was shown that they brought the end of an Era, so that's obviously strong.

I think SMN is also very strong.
Harnessing the power of Primals and channeling Bahamut, that's dealing with the things we consider the most dangerous plot wise.
Tapping into a primal's power is akin to becoming a demi-god, and they deal with things that can make or break the world.
It's based in Allagan tech too and one of their most impressive (and tragic) feats but

from the Tiamat conversation, they got that from the Ascians.