Sprout here, with 3 retainers, are 2 combat retainers a loss of money ?

[True-to-Caesar]

Hey guys,

Basically I wanted to have 2 retainers as PLD and DNC and my third retainer as miner.
Right now I have one as Gladiator (still leveling like the others) then the other 2 as miner and botanist.

I read in many places that it should be gathering classes only to get huge profits etc, others saying it doesn't matter. So I'm not sure what would be best to balance visuals (combat retainers with cool outfits) and money-makers (gathering retainers).

I may be wrong in this due to lack of experience of course, but I wanted to know if some veteran players could tell me if going with 2/3 combat retainers would be a real waste.

[DPZ2]

It depends on whether you are dedicated to crafting and gathering, where it might be convenient to send them off to collect materials at the end of the day.

Don't expect to make a lot of gil using your retainers to gather things, as you and everyone you don't know in the game are already gathering stuff outside of retainers.

Use them for storing items you want to keep around. Two combat retainers is fine. If you have real doubts, and you also took up botany, make them miner, botanist, and combat-of-choice. Note that they can never outlevel you in a particular job or class.

[True-to-Caesar]

Sounds fair, I was mostly aiming to level up the gathering professions and try to make some gil with that. Probably some crafting down the road, but not sure, seems to require so much space and you need to level them up all.
I'll probably just go with 2 combat classes and 1 miner.

[Jojoya]

Sounds fair, I was mostly aiming to level up the gathering professions and try to make some gil with that. Probably some crafting down the road, but not sure, seems to require so much space and you need to level them up all.
I'll probably just go with 2 combat classes and 1 miner.

There is one problem with combat retainers to be aware of, and that's the difficulties involved in switching their jobs.

Once assigned a job, the retainer cannot be directly switched to another job. If you want to assign them a different job, you need to reassign them to a class (beginning at level 1) then level them on that class to the starting level of the new job (or buy a retainer boost from the cash shop).

That means your character also needs to have that class leveled so your retainer can get to the needed level.

You'll be fine as long as you continue to level PLD (since GLA levels with it) but it's something to be aware of if you ever choose to stop leveling PLD and don't level any other jobs with attached base classes. Other players have run into this problem when they abandoned their original job at 50 for DRK/AST/MCH/RDM/SAM then switched to DNC/GNB at 60 but couldn't switch their retainer to DNC/GNB because they didn't have any level 60 classes, only jobs.

Personally, I recommend not assigning retainers a job unless you're positive you'll be leveling that job for the long term and won't want to switch the retainer, or you're certain you'll continue to level a job that has a base class. The only drawback to a class on a retainer is you can't equip artifact gear/relic weapons on the retainer though they can wear any role gear whether it's from dungeons/raids, tomestones or crafting. There's no difference in the ventures available or loot that can be obtained.

Players have asked SE to allow retainers to switch directly between jobs since so many jobs do not have a base class but as far as I know they've never commented on the requests. We don't know if it can/will happen (could be a "spaghetti code" problem as opposed to conscious design choice).

[True-to-Caesar]

Just to confirm, if I want a retainer to become dancer, I have to train her from Gladiator 1-30 > Paladin 30-60 > Dancer 60+ ?
I read I had to buy a special book to unlock GNB/DNC and similar jobs.

I don’t mind a bit of grind, I just got PLD to lvl 66 as my main GNB and I need to work on DNC too.

[DPZ2]

Just to confirm, if I want a retainer to become dancer, I have to train her from Gladiator 1-30 > Paladin 30-60 > Dancer 60+ ?
I read I had to buy a special book to unlock GNB/DNC and similar jobs.

I don’t mind a bit of grind, I just got PLD to lvl 66 as my main GNB and I need to work on DNC too.

If you level Gladiator/Paladin to level 60, I'd say that you leave the Retainer as a Gladiator to that point, and then add the job of Dancer then. For more information, check out this Forum post from December of Last year. https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...the-dancer-job Jojoya's reply to the OP pretty much sums it up.

There is a book you'll need to purchase, Modern Vocation, from a retainer NPC for something like 40 Venture Coins. You can ask that NPC about assigning jobs. Do not just 'reset' your retainer's class.

[True-to-Caesar]

Oh I understand it now ! Thanks a lot, it’s crystal clear now, my retainer is soon lvl 30 and I was going to make a mistake !

[Jojoya]

Just to confirm, if I want a retainer to become dancer, I have to train her from Gladiator 1-30 > Paladin 30-60 > Dancer 60+ ?
I read I had to buy a special book to unlock GNB/DNC and similar jobs.

I don’t mind a bit of grind, I just got PLD to lvl 66 as my main GNB and I need to work on DNC too.

if you want the retainer to be a Dancer, you need to level it 1-60 as Gladiator. Do not switch it to Paladin since that is a job and you'll be prevented from switching tp Dancer.

If you wanted the retainer to be a Reaper or Sage once Endwalker is released, you would need to level it 1-70 as Gladiator.

Just as a general help to anyone with questions who comes across this in the future:

Classes (you can switch a retainer to a job your character has unlocked once the retainer reaches the appropriate level):
Gladiator
Marauder
Lancer
Pugilist
Rogue
Archer
Conjurer
Thaumaturge
Arcanist

Jobs (once selected, you cannot change your retainer to a different job unless you reset it and start leveling it with a class)
Paladin
Warrior
Dark Knight
Gunbreaker
Dragoon
Monk
Ninja
Samurai
Bard
Machinist
Dancer
Reaper (when Endwalker is released)
White Mage
Scholar
Astrologian
Sage (when Endwalker is released)
Black Mage
Summoner
Red Mage

Hopefully SE will make it possible to switch job to job in the future. Unless that happens, be cautious when assigning a job to your retainer.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

One thing not really addressed yet is the benefits of the actual retainer classes/jobs. There are three kinds of Ventures : Targeted Ventures (go get me This Item that your class can gather/hunt), Exploration Ventures (18 hour things with somewhat limited loot pools), and Quick Ventures (hour long trips where anything goes).

All combat Retainers, regardless of class/job, have the same Targeted Ventures, where they can go and get you mob drops. Skins, Teeth, Horns, etc. Similarly, they all share the same Exploration Ventures. It does not matter if the retainer is a Dancer, a Thaumaturge, or any other combat class/job.
Miner retainers have Targeted Ventures for ores and other mined materials. They have their own Exploration Ventures.
Botanist retainers have their own Targeted Ventures, for logs, herbs, branches, fruits, vegetables, etc - anything a Botanist can gather. They also have their own Exploration Ventures.
And Fishing retainers have their own Targeted Ventures and Exploration Ventures.

They all share Quick Ventures, which can return just about anything not dropped in the current expansion. There are few things that cannot be returned (mainly mounts and minions, in my experience) but almost anything else is fair game, depending on retainer Ilevel or Gathering stat.
Targeted Ventures are important if you are into crafting, for you can have retainers passively gathering stuff for you while you go and conduct other activities.
Exploration Ventures are the ones that have specific minions and that can also be a consideration.

I’d suggest, if you want a variety of possible returns, use different retainers : since TC has 3 retainers, one combat, one miner, and one botanist. What the combat retainer is, is totally irrelevant as far as what it can return; but I’d suggest whatever class/job is the main. If the desire is to have multiple combat retainers (heck, I personally ahve 2 miner, 2 botanist, 2 fisher, and 4 combat) I’d suggest them all be the same class/job, rather than multiple jobs. The reason many suggest using different jobs is you can level it up and then give them cast of tomestone gear. Personally, I just give them white gear (ilevel is all that matters for combat retainers) and just enough higher level crafted gear that they bring back the full complement of 10 items at the highest targeted venture. That particular choice is up to the individual. DoL retainers, by the way, use Gathering as their primary stat, but Perception influences the amount of items gathered that are HQ.