Black Mage, Summoner, or Bard?

[Cythil]

The two things I really care about when it comes to picking a job, and one thing I care about a bit less. The two things that are very important are whether or not the class is fun to play (which is obviously subjective and I'd probably have to play them to really find out) and the aesthetic of the class (meaning both their gear and their animations). I also would prefer a more interesting job storyline but that's not as important as the other things.

Black Mage in terms of what I've seen looks pretty fun gameplay wise. Big numbers are always satisfying and it seems quite cyclical. I've heard that while their mobility isn't garbage they do want to move as little as possible, which isn't something I despise but I do like to be able to move around a little bit while in combat. Also the lack of utility is a bit of an annoyance (I get why they lack it, big dps) because I like having utility but it's nothing major. In terms of the gear, out of the three classes it's probably my least favorite because I'm just not big on staves but it definitely has some of the, if not the, coolest animations.

Summoner is the class I really know the least about gameplay wise. I've heard it's rotation is quite long and complicated which could either be fun or not, I'd probably have to play it to really find out. I've heard that having to move for them is less punishing then as Black Mage. Also, they do seem to have some utility (at least as rez) which is nice. In terms of aesthetic it's probably my favorite overall. Their gear is on par with black mage (except the horn thing, it might look good recolored but it looks stupid orange) but in terms of their weapon it's much better, I'm a sucker for spellcasters with books. Their animations are also up their with black mage, not their basic ones but the whole Bahamut orbital laser thing is.

Bard I've heard is reliant on procs to deal good DPS. I believe both off of other abilities for refulgent(?) arrow and their DoT damage for their gauge. I'm not really sure how I feel about that because on one hand not getting procs probably feels really crappy but procs make it a bit more engaging because it's not completely cyclical dealing damage. The three different songs you rotate between doing different things also seems pretty interesting. I believe they are able to be very mobile in combat though due to no casts time which I like, though it's not really that big of a deal. They also have some good utility afaik, though apparently they lost a lot going into Shadowbringers. In terms of their aesthetic, they have the weakest animations by far simply cause spells seem to have a lot more room for having great ones. In terms of their gear, I like their armor more compared to the other two, but I'd say bows fall somewhere between better than a staff and worse than a book for me.

I know nothing about their storylines since that be spoilers so I really don't know which has the best one. Thanks for any help deciding!

[Taranok]

BLM is going to be a pretty laid back but thoughtful class, you need to plan ahead to know what you want to do, and where you want to do it, before you actually do it. That said, if you can plan ahead, it's very rewarding and, while not perfect, BLM's rotation is the best it's ever been right now.

Bard I have less experience on, but if you can multitask and pay attention to a lot of things at once, the class will reward you for it. I can't speak to how tight it is or if it flows well, but they got rid of a lot of the tedium it had in SB by maintaining straight shot as a buff, and it can be fun if you like its multitasking priority-based gameplay.

Summoner, oh boy. Where do I even begin on summoner. The class is not in a good place right now. It has a lot to keep track of, but the class grates and grinds with itself. It doesn't quite know how it wants to play and it's not good at actually playing. It has a ton of different things to keep track of, has to find ways to use a ton of oGCDs at times when it should be hardcasting and can't freely use instant casts, and has to deal with pets that don't quite know how they want to play. It has a number of issues, but the biggest is cooldown drift, which heavily punishes the class, in conjunction with having way too many oGCDs it needs to spend all at once, but not really having the tools to spend them carefully. You can see what the devs were trying to do with the class, but the class exemplifies "The sum of the parts is greater than the whole." Every individual thing it does can be considered amazing, but taken all together the class is a disjointed mess of design.

If you love the style of Summoner, you will find enjoyment in it. But the class has serious issues that relate to the general perception of "clunkiness" and "flow." It plays like a Bard on steroids so expect a lot of multitasking, and its AoE rotation is a hot mess right now that makes me wonder if it was ever actually playtested, because I did the aoe rotation once and knew it was bad at level 60 in a dungeon, before even getting to see how bad it was when you threw in everything it gets by 70 and 80.

To really summarize this: BLM if you want a slow-paced, methodical class. Bard if you want a faster paced, paying attention to cooldowns rotation. And Summoner if you want a John Madden rotation.

[Vercinotrix]

I just got 80 on BLM, and one of the most rewarding things is fight knowledge. If you know when mechanics are going to happen and where you need to be, and place yourself there prior to it all happening? It's so much fun. When content is pretty new to you, or new in general it can be a bit frustrating to play it though. If you're not casting, you're not doing damage. And you can't cast while moving. Using stuff like triple cast and swift cast lets you be mobile in bursts but overall you're a beautiful animation turret. Also a lot of fun if your friend's a healer, queuing with them and standing in mechanics because you know they have your back is great. Wouldn't recommend it on a solo queue tho, would be kinda rude I think.

Last I played bard was in the middle of SB, so I can't say much other than it's not really super rewarding but it can be fun. And rewarding is subjective anyway.

[Warlyx]

if u are a new player go brd , since u dont have to cast anything and can move and avoid mechanics , blm / smn are caster and need to gasp....cast , SMN is complex and blm cast everything

[NovaBismarck]

As Taranok says, do not play summoner right now. We are not in the best place. Hopefully fixes will come, but for now, eh. If you love many, many buttons summoner may be the class for you. However, right now dps is low regardless. I hope we'll get some increases soon, but we honestly also need some rotation fixes. So who knows when that will happen. That's just my opinion, I've seen a handful of people who actually do like where smn is right now (less the dps loss), however many people are not super happy.

[Sakori]

I just got 80 on BLM, and one of the most rewarding things is fight knowledge. If you know when mechanics are going to happen and where you need to be, and place yourself there prior to it all happening? It's so much fun. When content is pretty new to you, or new in general it can be a bit frustrating to play it though. If you're not casting, you're not doing damage. And you can't cast while moving. Using stuff like triple cast and swift cast lets you be mobile in bursts but overall you're a beautiful animation turret.

So much this! I hit 80 on BLM and was farming Mt Gulg for the Forgiven set because I like the look. Knowing the mechanics and moving to the right place as soon as the animation starts is so rewarding. On that same note, The First Beast in Amaurot frustrates me to no end.

[Bahd_Monkey]

BLM is really fun to play now. The timing of the rotations aren't as tight as they used to be, and as you progress you'll gain several abilities that allow you to move around in hectic fights, and a great shield to absorb damage. It destroys on both ST and AoEs. It may take you a couple of runs to learn the mechanics of a new fight, but the same goes for every other job.

From what you've described, I think you would really like playing Red Mage it's got high mobility and high utility, but you can't unlock it until you get to (or maybe just own) Stormblood, and have a job leveled to 50.

Sadly, SMN is a real train wreck right now and I can't recommend it.

On a side note, if you haven't already, be sure to get your chocobo and level him up as a healer main with some dps skills. That will come in handy with any tank or dps job and soloing FATEs with your giant chicken buddy is great fun.

[RoyalBeef]

Bard I've heard is reliant on procs to deal good DPS. I believe both off of other abilities for refulgent(?) arrow and their DoT damage for their gauge. I'm not really sure how I feel about that because on one hand not getting procs probably feels really crappy but procs make it a bit more engaging because it's not completely cyclical dealing damage. The three different songs you rotate between doing different things also seems pretty interesting. I believe they are able to be very mobile in combat though due to no casts time which I like, though it's not really that big of a deal. They also have some good utility afaik, though apparently they lost a lot going into Shadowbringers. In terms of their aesthetic, they have the weakest animations by far simply cause spells seem to have a lot more room for having great ones. In terms of their gear, I like their armor more compared to the other two, but I'd say bows fall somewhere between better than a staff and worse than a book for me.

They changed procs to fixed percentages instead of being crit dependen, that made it way less random, especially if you don't have BIS crit gear. Also the fluctuations aren't too big, especially during scripted fights like Ex Trials I get Refulgent Arrow procs almost at the same times every run, sometimes I get one more, sometimes I get one less, but it feels pretty stable over all. PP seems a bit more random where sometimes I get proc-ageddon and basically have to hammer the button, and sometimes WM is half over and I'm still sitting there at 1 Repertoire lol.