*adjusts glasses*
I've been waiting for this topic for a long time. Even if I hadn't realized it. I have all the classes leveled, so I can say with certainty which classes I do and do not enjoy.
1: Summoner
By far my least favorite class. Of all the classes, it's the only one that doesn't fit the fantasy created by previous iterations of the class. Except for bard, but I feel
that summoner had more to live up to.
Previous versions of summoner focused on big attacks. They were slower than black mages, but hit groups harder and had more impressive attacks. But now... poisons? With the most unimpressive spell effect. You make enemies green for a second, and that's it? That's your attack?
Then there's the gameplay. There's nothing satisfying about Summoner, except for Deathflare. You make people green for a second, then you watch bars get smaller. It's thoughtful, but there's never any payoff. Considering summons used to devastate the battlefield, Summoner does almost nothing this game.
FFXIV's Summoner feels less satisfying than FFIII's evoker.
2: Astrologer
I love healing. Probably my favorite role, when I have an excuse to play it. I also love supporting, and doing whatever I can to make sure the party succeeds. I thought Astrologer would be a perfect fit for me, but it's not. Its gameplay is almost exactly like White Mage, except it sacrifices a few great heals and a large amount of DpS ability to be able to buff a party member with a random stat boost. I often feel like I can't DpS as an Astrologer, because their attacks aren't as useful as other classes. And their healing isn't as interesting too. Overall, just the least interesting healer in the game. And their buffs aren't enough to make it interesting.
3&4: Bard and Machinist
I'm putting these together because they're the same class. There's no difference between them. There's also the fact that ranged weapons are my least favorite fantasy, and so you get me being bored playing these classes. Supporting the party is great, but when is that ever needed? These are DpS classes, and they offer little in terms of DpSing. I normally just do the TP thing while AoEing and call it a day.
5: Dark Knight
This class is amazing at low levels, and its animations are incredible. It's only at high levels where I start disliking the class. Its abilities all work against each other, and you have to cancel one to use another. Considering Tanking should be all about situational awareness, and that Dark Knight is all about resource management, I don't think the class is a good fit. At cap, it's by far my least favorite class.
That being said, it's by far my favorite at low levels. And its quests were incredibly satisfying. If they retooled their abilities so they worked better together, then I could find myself enjoying the class. But as it stands, it's the most complicated class in a role where mistakes cause deaths.
6: Monk
This class has the opposite situation as Dark Knight. At low levels, it's too complicated to play. But as you increase the levels, it gains the tools it needs. At cap, it's not too bad to play. And melee is my favorite DpS role, so it's always enjoyable for me to play a melee class.
But again, it's too complicated. Having to worry about positional requirements in every attack makes the class a pain to play, especially considering that enemies spin around all the time for no reason. I can find myself doing half damage because the enemy decides to spin around for an attack, or if the tank has to pick up another add for some reason, or any number of reasons. The class's mechanics work heavily against the game's mechanics, and so the class can be frustrating to play.
But again, the higher level the monk, the less frustrating it is to play. At lv50, I don't have to run around spastically to get all my positional requirements. I can just alternate every combo and get some decent damage in. I'm also punished less when the boss decides to become invincible with abilities the class gains through Heavensward. If I know it'll go away soon, I can Dragon Kick. If I'm not doing anything, I can Meditate.
But, leveling up, it's a pain.
After that, I get into classes I like. I enjoy Paladin because it's simple and I love the fantasy of a selfless combatant. I enjoy Warrior since it lets me contribute to the party in two fronts: Damage and Defense. I enjoy Dragoon because the fantasy is nearly orgasmic. I enjoy Ninja for the same reason. I enjoy Black Mage, because I feel smart for being able to Fire IV spam, and I enjoy the massive payoff for each spell. I enjoy White Mage because I enjoy the selfless fantasy it provides, plus the satisfying gameplay of seeing big numbers from each of my button presses. And I enjoy Scholar because I enjoy contributing a sizable amount of damage while keeping everyone alive, and the fact that I'm providing two roles at once.
But the game still has more classes. I'm not going to number these, but come on! These are horrible!
Fisher
Leves just don't work for this class. And you have no control over what you get. You have to wait a long time to get the item you want, and you can do nothing about it. It's also tied to the most time consuming quest of the game, which is the only one I don't have done. Every time I go to Limsa, I'm always reminded that I haven't done every quest in the game. Because I haven't spend dozens of hours fishing for the six RNG dependent fish the game requires to complete that quest, which I can do nothing to speed up.
Overall, fishing is the least reward/time class the game has.
Culinarian
It requires not only way more inventory space to craft each recipe, but a way larger amount of items to craft all the items in the craft list. Both of these make this craft the only one that's completely unfeasible for me to do anything with, as well as the lack of any permanent rewards. This is the only craft that I got no benefit from capping, except for the cross-class skills.
Alchemist
Same as Culinarian, except at least this has glamours and it requires less materials per craft.
Leatherworking
Any other craft, I can get the resource I need to craft whatever I want. This class, if you want to be self-sufficient, you have to spend way more effort than any other crafting class. Not only that, but while leveling it, the materials tend to be way more expensive than the other crafts. Both of these make Leatherworking more stressful to level than the other crafting classes. Especially when you're worried about running out of money.
Weaving
These require way more crystals than the other crafts. My farming lightning crystals makes me have less pleasant memories compared to the other crafts.
Woodworking
There's nothing to craft. Why is this its own craft? It gives nothing.
That should be about half the classes in the game now. I got my word out.

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