Like most MMOs, Final Fantasy XIV’s classes can be divided into three roles: tank, healer, and DPS. Past the main story quest, a fair amount of your time in FFXIV will be spent in dungeons, trials, and raids. While its player-friendly approach to classes makes switc༺hing between roles and jobs as simple as equipping a new weapon, new players might find locking in an initial job choice can be incredibly intimidating. What can players expect? What are ꧒the responsibilities of each role? What's solo play like?
Let's break it down.
DPS? Don’t Worry About It
Players just dipping their toes into FFXIV may find DPS classes easier to pick up. Although DPS players will still need to coordinate with their party members and perform dungeon mechanics, their role in 𝄹the party is very simple: hit hard, kill good, and don’t be an idiot. This makes it ideal for folks who want to get in and get going.
Solo play also moves quickly as a DPS. As it turns out,🌠 finishing hunt and fetch quests is pretty easy when your entire ♎kit is based around doing damage. However, being a DPS is not without its downsides. Dungeon queue times tend to be long due to the larger amount of DPS players compared to the other roles, going from about ten to 20 minutes. Not playing carefully can lead to players failing and having to repeat story duties, or worse, losing life and dignity while doing a simple fetch quest.
I Will Turn This Tank Around, So Help Me
A tank’s purpose in FFXIV is to draw aggro and keep mobs from targeting other party members. In practice, this means that tank pဣlayers take point during dungeons, trials, and raids 🅷while the squishier members of the party trail them like ducklings. Early-game dungeons are fairly straightforward, but as tank players unlock more complicated dungeons, they might find themselves relying on guides or more experienced players to figure out what to do.
Solo play tends to be slower simply because tanks aren’t optimized for DPS output, but as a tank, your sheer amount of HP and armo𝄹r stats makes dying almost a myth. Unless you're especially careless or unlucky, the chances of failing a solo duty or dying because one too many monsters decide to accost you on the side of the road are very slim. Additionally, tank queue times are much faster than DPS players’: about five minutes or under, depending on the dungeon.
In summary, playing a tank is basically like being a field trip chaperone. You'll need to know dungeon maps and mechanics, ensure that mobs aren’t thrashing your party members, and survive the boss's tank buꩲsters - it's a lot of work, but players who like taking charge will find this to be a rewarding experience.
I'm A Healer, But...
Healers are the backbone of any MMO, but new FFXIV players really only have one choice if they’re starting out as one. Conjurer is the pure healing starter class, but even healing classes come with their fair share of offensiv⛎e abilities. As such, playing Conjurer won’t hinder your main story quest progression at all. Be warned that much like tanks, healers can expect to take longer than DPS players to finish solo duties. Players that want the best of both worlds might want to look into the Arcanist DPS class, which allows players to specialize in either Summoner or Scholar upon reaching level 30. Summoner is a DPS class, Scholar is a healing class, and as they're leveled simultaneously, players can switch back and forth without penalty to suit their playstyle.
When it comes to partying up, it’s one tank and one healer per dungeon. While most DPS and tank classes have self-healing abilities that can save them in a pinch, healers are more or less solely responsible for keeping the party alive and healthy. That’s a lot of responsibility, especially when your DPS players decide to do some foolishness or the tank pulls more than expected. As such, healer isn’t a recommended starting class for those who aren’t ready to hold the lives of their party members in their hands. However, players who want nothing more than to be an essential member of the party should definitely give 𒊎healing a try. Healers generally get the bulk of player commendations after dungeons too, so if you like validation - healer's the class for you.
Party Communication Is Key
All in all, each role comes with its fair share of pros and cons, further diversified by the sheer number of jobs that become available after advancing the stoꦺry. Players don’t need to be too concerned with which role they start out with—it’s not a permanent decision, and most players eventually end up leveling a class in each role. Communicating with your party about how 🍎much you're pulling, asking for clarification about mechanics, and so on can make even a difficult dungeon an easy clear.
