If you’re new to the world of Final Fantasy XI, one of the first major choices you’ll need to make is what job to pursue. In FFXI, your job determines your role in battle, the armour, the weapons you can equip, and the abilities and magic spells available. With 20 battle-focused jobs available, it can be an overwhelming decision. This guide will provide an overview of each job, its strengths and weaknesses, and tips to help you choose one that matches your playstyle.
Melee Damage Dealers
Warrior: The axe-wielding Warrior job deals physical damage at close range. Warriors can also serve as tanks with high HP and defence to absorb enemy damage. However, they lack ranged attacks and magic ability.
Monk: The hand-to-hand combat expert Monk dishes out quick physical hits using fists and feet. While lacking weapon skills, Monks have high HP/MP, and their abilities’ usefulness depends on equipment and sub-job. However, their damage-dealing potential is lower compared to other jobs.
Thief: Fast, agile, and adept at setting traps, Thieves rely on daggers and ninja tools to physically damage targets. They can access useful abilities like sneak attack, mug, and flee. However, their light armour and low HP make them vulnerable. A sub-job is necessary to fulfil their damage-dealing role.
Ranged Damage and Support Jobs
Ranger: Wielding a bow and able to equip light armour, Rangers deal ranged physical damage with arrows. They can set traps and have useful abilities like barrage, shadowbind, and camouflage. However, ammunition reliance and long-range only attacks are major downsides. Best used with a tank sub-job.
Bard: Bards provide beneficial buffs, debuffs, and regeneration effects through their songs. Using instruments instead of traditional weapons, they have very little attacking capabilities. Bards work best in a support role in alliances and parties. A damage-dealing sub-job is recommended for solo play.
Magic and Healing Jobs
White Mage: The White Mage’s main role is healing and protecting. Wielding staves and maces, they have access to curative and defensive magic like Cure, Protect, and Esuna. However, their poor melee skills and weak direct damage-dealing potential make it difficult to play solo. As a result, often subbed with a damage-dealing job.
Black Mage: Black Mages employ rods and staves to cast damaging magic spells on enemies from a distance. They can deal impressive magical damage but have limited HP, weak melee attacks, and lack healing abilities. Frequently subbed with a healing or tanking job.
Advanced Jobs
Summoner: Summoners can call forth avatars to deal magical damage and inflict status ailments on enemies. They have lower HP and melee skills but can deal powerful burst damage. Requires completing quests to unlock advanced avatars. Often subbed with White Mage or Scholar.
Red Mage: Red Mages can cast white and black magic and a melee with swords. They balance damage dealing, healing, and support but need more specialization in other jobs. Useful for solo play, but you may need help with some endgame content. Frequently used as a sub-job to complement other jobs.
Dark Knight: Dark Knights sacrifice HP to deal heavy physical damage with scythes and greatswords. They can cast low-level black magic but lack the advanced spells of Black Mages. Requires completion of a lengthy quest to unlock. Often subbed with Warrior for additional HP and tanking ability.
Puppetmaster: Puppetmasters create and control automatons to deal damage, buff allies, and tank enemies. Puppets equip their weapons and armour while the Puppetmaster supports them behind the scenes. Complex job requiring significant time investment to master. Frequently subbed with Ranger or Ninja.
Choosing a Sub-job
Your sub-job provides abilities and spells to complement your main job. Good sub-job combinations include:
⦁ Warrior or Ninja subbed with Thief or Monk for added tanking and damage.
⦁ White Mage subbed with Summoner, Red Mage or Scholar for healing support.
⦁ Black Mage subbed with Summoner or Scholar for additional damage types.
⦁ Bard subbed with Ranger, Ninja or Dancer for solo capability.
⦁ Puppetmaster subbed with Ranger for ranged attacks or Ninja for added tanking.
Consider your main job’s strengths and weaknesses when choosing a sub-job to create a balanced character. For example, a White Mage’s poor melee skills complement a Warrior’s tanking ability. Likewise, a White Mage sub-job supports a Black Mage’s weak healing. Then, mix and match to find a combination you enjoy.
Playstyle Options
In FFXI, you are not locked into any one job or sub-job. You are free to change your job at any time based on the needs of the battle or just to try something new. Some playstyle options to consider include the following:
- Pure job: Playing only one job without a sub-job allows you to focus on maximizing your abilities. Works best for jobs that can operate self-sufficiently, like Red Mage or Puppetmaster.
- Main healing/Support: Choose a healing or support job as your main (WHM, BRD, RDM) with a damage sub-job for balanced soloing.
- Pure damage: Select a damage-focused job (BLM, WAR, MNK) and sub a healing job only when necessary for events.
- Jack of all Trades: For flexibility, level multiple jobs to have the right tools for any situation. Red/Black Mage and Summoner are good starts with their balanced skill sets.
Ultimately, the key to choosing a job in FFXI is to find one that matches your preferred playstyle and complements your strengths. Experiment with jobs and sub-job combinations to discover what works best for you. With time and practice, you’ll be mastering your role in battle and advancing through the challenges of Vana’diel.
Finding it difficult to progress to new levels, enemies are becoming stronger, but your weapon is not. So, don’t wait longer to collect enough Gil, the in-game currency. Instead, easily purchase it from MMOPixel to significantly impact your enemies.
Some good sub-job options for Summoner include:
- White Mage: White Mage sub-job provides healing and defensive magic to complement the Summoner’s damage-dealing abilities. This combination allows the Summoner to heal themselves and party members, increasing survivability. It is a very popular and effective sub-job choice for Summoners.
- Scholar: The Scholar sub-job offers additional enhancing and damaging magic and useful Helix spells. With a Scholar sub, a Summoner gains more magical versatility and tools for every situation. The extra MP provided by Scholar also benefits the MP-reliant Summoner job.
- Red Mage: Red Mage provides a balance of white and black magic and combat skills that can benefit the Summoner. With Red Mage subbed, a Summoner gains self-sufficiency through added healing, enhancing, and damage-dealing magic. The additional melee ability also gives the Summoner options when MP runs low.
- Black Mage: A Black Mage sub-job boosts the Summoner’s damage-dealing potential with additional black magic nukes and debuffs. This combination creates a powerhouse of magical damage that can devastate enemies. However, the lack of healing and support may make soloing difficult. Best for party play.
- Ninja: For added utility, a Ninja sub-job provides the Summoner access to Ninja skills like Utsusemi, Dual Wield and Tonko: Ichi, which can increase damage output and evasion. This unorthodox combination lacks the benefits of other mage sub-jobs but can be an interesting option. However, additional gear and merit points may be required to make it effective.
In summary, the White Mage, Scholar and Red Mage sub-jobs are considered Summoner’s most balanced and new player-friendly options. A Black Mage sub can be effective in some situations. Ninja sub is only recommended for experienced players with high-level jobs and gear. The choice is whether to focus on damage, survival or versatility. Mix and match to find the combination that works best for your playstyle. If you need to buy any gear for your character, you can buy FFXI Gil on mmopixel
Conclusion
Our guide to choosing a Job in Final Fantasy XI lists all the jobs you can do in the game. Some jobs are good and offer a high amount but are less adventurous than others. But it depends on what you want to do and what you want to pursue based on your needs. We have also mentioned the sub-jobs. You can choose a sub-job that complements your main job.
I'm a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.
More Stories
Ubisoft’s New MONOPOLY Digital Game Now Available for PC and Consoles
GTA Online Features Madrazo Hits and Extraction, Oktoberfest Continues, Plus More
Hooded Horse Publisher Sale Now Live on Steam with Amazing Discounts