What if Classes were Jobs?

[Kalise]

Imagine you're on the design team for 2.0 and are creating all the current Jobs and instead of recreating the class system, you turned those 9 base classes into full jobs completely unique from their existing "Job Upgrades".

What would you do?

What weapons would each job use?

What role would they have?

Personally, I'd have done something like this:

Arcanist - Magical DPS - Rods
* Uses Dark magic. Focus on skills such as Syphon, Drain, Dark, Gravity, Shadowflare.

Archer - Ranged DPS - Bows
* Deals Piercing damage. Many attacks deal damage in a line.

Bard - Healer - Instruments (Harps, Flutes, Lutes etc)
* Uses songs to empower allies and restore health. Bonus: Skill sounds and animations change depending on what Instrument is currently equipped.

Black Mage - Magical DPS - Staves
* Uses unaspected Black Magics such as Scathe, Ultima, Meteor, Comet, Scourge

Conjurer - Magical DPS - Wands
* Harnesses the power of the Elements to defeat foes. Utilizes various elemental spells such as Fire, Water, Blizzard, Stone, Aero and Thunder.

Dragoon - Melee DPS - Spears
* Utilizes jump attacks to deal devastating damage to foes.

Gladiator - Melee DPS - Sword and Buckler
* An aggressive fighter that puts out constant pressure, even using its shield offensively.

Lancer - Tank - Lance and Shield
* A defensive fighter, able to maintain its shield while still being able to thrust at enemies with their lance

Marauder - Melee DPS - Dual Wield Axes
* A savage fighter that will go into a rage to deal (Also take) bonus damage.

Monk - Melee DPS - Bo Staves
* A methodical fighter that "Dances" between strikes, while empowering them with Chakra.

Ninja - Ranged DPS - Shuriken
* Utilizing Ninjutsu as well as their Shuriken, this job can stay highly mobile while dealing damage from afar.

Paladin - Tank - Flail and Tower Shield
* A stalwart protector that can use curative magics to sustain themselves and their allies.

Pugilist - Tank - Fists
* A highly evasive fighter, that can deal rapid blows to enemies. Can even strike so fast that they create shockwaves in the air.

Rogue - Melee DPS - Daggers
* A blade in the dark, can take advantage of opponents and deal heavy damage while being able to hide in plain sight. Focus on dancing into and out of Stealth to use a variety of powerful skills.

Scholar - Healer - Books
* Research into Fey magics allows this job to summon Fairies and Pixies and utilize their unique magics to heal and harm.

Summoner - Magical DPS - Allagan Tomestones
* Uses ancient Allagan technology to aid them with summoning Demi versions of Primals to devastate their foes.

Thaumaturge - Healer - Spellblades
* A debilitating caster that will siphon the very life out of their opponents to replenish their allies. Focus on spells such as Bio, Poison, Dread Spikes, Zombie, Pain as well as some direct healing skills.

Warrior - Tank - Greataxe
* A ferocious fighter, utilizing their Inner Beast to increase their life total and unleash vicious blows with their axe.

White Mage - Healer - Staves
* Utilizes Holy magic to protect and replenish allies or to smite foes.

[bass9020]

I actually really love all the ideas! I could try and come up with some but so far I think you hit the nail on most!

I would love for the classes to breakaway from the jobs, the original classes were very interesting and had some really unique abilities back in the day.

[linay]

I don't really have any idea about class/job design, but I would say if there is only job or only class (so no upgrade of any kind), I would agree, but the guilds would have to be reimagined. Instead of having specific guilds, I would just have the adventurer guild be the sole trainer for multiple classes/jobs. That way you can add as many new class/job with new expansions and each of them can be the starter class/job instead of having to level a different class/job first.

[MsQi]

If classes were jobs you'd just stay in school forever!!

[Nyvara]

I actually really love all the ideas! I could try and come up with some but so far I think you hit the nail on most!

I would love for the classes to breakaway from the jobs, the original classes were very interesting and had some really unique abilities back in the day.

I would love to stay an archer instead of being shoehorned into bard so I didn't gimp myself.

All really great ideas, OP. It would be like getting new jobs with out really getting new jobs! Lancer seemed interesting it would then give each starting city a tank.

[Kalise]

I would love to stay an archer instead of being shoehorned into bard so I didn't gimp myself.

Yeah... I felt the same way.

Leveling up Archer was cool and I loved shooting things full of arrows (Even if ACH/BRD gameplay is terrible until level 68 >.>)

Then at level 30 my character randomly becomes Prince Herbert

It would be like getting new jobs with out really getting new jobs!

Though, these changes would never happen, as they'd require massive overhauls of the majority of the jobs, all the guilds in the game as well as all the Job quests...

Lancer seemed interesting it would then give each starting city a tank.

I didn't think of it that way... But yeah.

With these changes, each City State has a Tank and Healer from level 1.

Limsa would have Warrior + Scholar
Ul'dah would have Paladin + Pugilist + Thaumaturge
Gridania would have Lancer + White Mage + Bard

It would also flesh out most of the job roles... With only Ranged DPS being a little empty (Aside from the incoming Dancer)

Tanks:
Dark Knight
Gunbreaker
Lancer
Paladin
Pugilist
Warrior

Healers:
Bard
Scholar
Thaumaturge
White Mage

Melee DPS:
Dragoon
Marauder
Monk
Rogue
Samurai

Ranged DPS:
Archer
Dancer
Machinist
Ninja

Magical DPS:
Arcanist
Black Mage
Blue Mage
Conjurer
Red Mage
Summoner

[Shurrikhan]

Well, been rooting for this since 1.2 when I figured "Why 'advance' to a job, if there's literally no other viable choice?". You have my upvote for the concept.

I have to which people would prefer...

1. Having a second job from each class.

   (Two choices per class.) Everything not related to the job's distinct theme, such as Song or Machinery or Ninja Arts or Sword Spirit or Dragon Arts or Dark Arts or Wrath/Abandon, etc, is now carried by the class itself.
   

   Archer -> Ranger / Bard.

   Archer has access to Empyreal Arrow and the like. Bard, however, retains unique access to Iron Jaws and potential extended DoTs through synergy with Foe Requiem or whatnot. Bard's raid and point-support functionality greatly deepened. Ranger instead takes an offensive-support role more similar to Ninja, focused in equal parts on debuffing for damage or harassment and hellish nuking. it has unique access to several other fun and impactful "hunting", "survivalist" and "marksmanship" related skills that distinguish the Ranger from the common Archer.

   Gunner -> Gambler / Machinist

   While the Machinist learns how to, in effect, make more or better guns in the form of turrets and augmentations, the Gambler learns how to put them to better use. A job for all your Statistics majors or those who just want the high of thinking they control the chaos bursting from them. (Technically, you do have quite a bit of control over quite a bit, but there's just so much more now. Design emphasis on feeling the highs of procs made than the lulls of procs failed.)

   Gladiator -> Champion / Paladin

   The Champion builds on his personal defense and firepower, finding the greatest application for lesser but more frequent mitigation and utility where the Paladin instead invests towards raid support and off-tank tools. Neither is a better MT or OT, per se, than the other, save perhaps at certain points in their rhythms as they mesh with their co-tank. However, they play quite differently, with the Paladin having a more stark macrorotation but less variance in the minutia of the rotation strings themselves while the Champion has far more available to it in the short term, though it must prepare itself rotationally to deal with the same things Paladin can often deal with on demand (albeit at cost of a cooldown).

   Rogue -> Thief / Ninja

   All of Ninja's combat skills save for Dream Within a Dream (now revised to take advantage of Shades produced by Ninja's Shadow skills) moved to Rogue. Smokescreen and Shukuchi (renamed Vanishment) also moved to Rogue. Mug remains shared by Thief and Ninja, but Thief takes this way, way further, as the basis for stolen skills (well, technically items), synthesis of said items, and brilliant use of said synthesized items. Ninja compared to Thief as a Monk might compare to Machinist or Dragoon; it's the more sustained option for damage, harassment, and self-preservation. Thief is the more decisive, strategic, and tricky of the two. It deals little damage of its own, but the effects of its actions equate to a great deal of damage, and not just through rDPS. When a Thief says "In 10 seconds, I'm going to blow the mech's arm off" when this would normally require the side-effect of a LB's worth of damage, you take it seriously and get ready for the vulnerability state that this will cause. When you've spent one too many heavy cooldowns and the Scholar's already shielded you, you hope like hell the Thief's held onto the items necessary to build something right now to save you.

2. The class itself acts as a second job.

   (Quite a few choices per class.) Taking the job crystal reduces the number and depth of your choices selectable from among A, B, and C, which in turn could give your Rogue the like of Assassin, Swashbuckler, or Thief and gives you X, Ninja Arts.

3. Classes offer more customization than jobs, including (uniquely) from outside one's own class. One's own classes' traits are enough to meet the total number of traits that can be active at a time, meaning you don't get free skills just for leveling other classes, but you do get far more options... unless you dive fully into optimizing around your own class's toolkit via your Job.

   (Huge number choices per class.) As a Lancer, I can take various gameplay-producing or mechanical traits from nearly every job, and have access to a handful in total. I can become an "Adept" (community name), taking aspects from Pugilist, Rogue, and especially Conjurer via its Wind traits. Taking these costs me some of my own class's trait options, but, honestly, not all of those traits suit my needs and so that's fine. (I mean, I get to be a wind-running spear dude with fun utilities who's viable in most contexts until the cutting edge of play.) But, as a Dragoon, I only get access to two class's skills with which to trade out my own, and all more core class traits are locked in (probably for the best). Every additional slot/choice I'd get is instead automatically spent on Dragoon stuff.

You know what, have a strawpoll for all that.

[Seraphor]

"Well, been rooting for this since 1.2 when I figured "Why 'advance' to a job, if there's literally no other viable choice?".*"

Because Final Fantasy.
It's the job class promotion from FF1, and is supposed to give a sense of progression.
Of course at this stage in the game, level 30 isnt a halfway mark and is in fact the very start of the gane, so its lost its effect.

[ADVSS]

Well a while ago I had come up with a very similar system in my head for what if they had kept the cross class system, added jobs, but threw it in a ff11 esque blender. after creating some obscure number of "prestige jobs" i figured 70 sonething would be way too much
it did, however cover every single niche possible, from turning a fighter to paladin or darkknight, to turning a darkknight into a deathknight(necromancer knight). The idea is very similar to OP but maybe is a bit more extensive, like 7 dow 7 dom and the ff11 thing would be like every 10 -15 levels you add a new "class" onto the spec, eventually having knights that can use xtype of magic, etc.
By new class you can choose to go to another class to learn it too or just get mastery in a higher tier of the same class, granting abilites like dual wield, heavy shields and armor, etc. when enough mixing was going on you would get some prereq "job abilities" that related to your path of mixed classes.

[XenociderOmega]

Math class would be op