We sort through advice for new players given in our YouTube comments. After finding some real gems, Garrett and Kyle want to share their discoveries with any other players starting their FF14 journeys!
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OK. Time for my essay on the jobs
First a note about roles. The advantage to sticking to one or two roles is the ability to share most of your gear between them. The advantage of leveling a variety of roles is both a varied experience and the fact that starting in Shadowbringers role quests largely replace role quests and both Shadowbringers and Endwalker will have questlines locked behind the completion of all the role quests. This is what motivated me to level a tank.
The first batch of jobs to consider are the ones that are available to you right now. By role
Caster: Black Mage – This is the most “goth” of the casters dabbling in forbidden magics. Aesthetically the job sets favor black robes and pointy hats that usually cover one eye. Gameplay wise they have a damage phase with fire spells and a recovery phase with ice spells. While this changes at high levels of play they are also the most “turret” like of the casters and are probably the job most frequently rescued by the healer to yoink them out of the way of a mechanic because they are trying to complete their cast. You can pick it up at the Thaumaturges’ guild in Ul’dah.
Tanks – Right now your options are Marauder/Warrior and Gladiator/Paladin. I’ve found it hard to get past the goofy story for Marauders. Paladins play very smoothly and have your standard sword and shield Paladin look. Marauders’ guild is in Limsa and Gladiators’ guild is in Ul’dah
Melee – There are several available to you right now, but I found Lancer/Dragoon to be the most accessable. They are known for dramatically leaping into battle with their spear and just as dramatically backflipping off of boss platforms to their death. A bonus is that the 30-50 job quests give you a bit of an intro to the backdrop and characters of the Heavansward expansion. You can start this job in Gridania
Ranged Physical – The only option at your level of progression is Archer/Bard At lower levels this feels a lot like a WoW marksmanship hunter. When it becomes Bard at level 30 you start gaining a lot of party buffs. Also with Endwalker Bard will be the only DPS with multiple DoTs. You can start this job in Gridania.
Healers – As a Summoner you will share level with Scholar. I recommend at least keeping up with your job quests on that in case you ever want to dabble, however Conjurer/White Mage is usually a better introductory healer. As an aside if you have any desire to bring in @joceplays you might mention that Conjurers get a pretty unicorn mount at level 30. Conjurers start in Gridania.
The next batch of jobs are available on the free trial. You have to gain access to the primary city in the Heavansward expansion to learn them. Machinist is Ranged Physical and Astrologian is a Healer. However of most interest to you I think will be Dark Knight. Dark Knights are the “goth” tanks and are the ones who wield the oversized swords.
Jobs introduced in Stormblood are available at level 50 in areas you currently have access to, but they require you to have purchased the game but if you purchase the game can actually be accessed before the Heavansward jobs. Samurai for melee and Red Mage for Caster. Red Mage is a build and spend job that builds up power through casting spells before leaping into melee and spending in a melee combo before backflipping either to safety or off a platform. Their dual cast feature allowing them to cast everyother spell instantly gives them a lot of mobility. They also improve their DPS by wearing bright red and big feathered hats. Both jobs start in Ul’dah.
Shadowbringers and Endwalker jobs are going to be out of reach for some time for you, but I will note that Reaper being introduced in Endwalker is a Melee DPS job that is expected to steal the Edgelord title from Dark Knight. They wield a huge scythe and if their job armor design is anything to go by they have murdered a Black Mage to steal their hat.
Right now, my favorite jobs are:
1. Dancer (DNC) because it has an easy basic rotation for relaxing with in basic content, but you can also min-max the stuffing out of it in endgame. I also like it because it's one of the few support jobs in the game… But generally i like it because it's very chill.
2. Machinist (MCH) is a job I hated until the Shadowbringers changes to MCH. Now it's a fun pure DPS ranged job (it gets knocked for being "selfish," but all DPS is good DPS imo), and it has a fun burst window mechanic. Also, guns!
3. Warrior (WAR) for the Fell Cleave x 6 action. I'm tanking, but I'm also smacking the crap out of things with my giant axe. I channel my inner beast and be the barbarian i want to be.
4. Samurai (SAM) IS something you should try when you hit 50, because if you're going to play a weeb game, you gotta play a weeb job. Pure DPS, also gets a bad rap for being selfish in terms of not buffing other party members, but it's kinda fun in a cheesy way. I enjoy the sword draw techniques, but some people may not enjoy them.
5. Dark Knight (DRK) isn't one is my personal favorite jobs, but damn, you need to do that simply for the story of the job quests. And I will say no more. I think you need to be in Heavensward to unlock that one… I don't remember anymore.
Otherwise, just try stuff and do the thing you like to do.
The jobs in this game are so ruthlessly evenly balanced that it literally doesn't matter what job you play, only that you enjoy it.
you want emo/goth mele?! Dragoon is the job for you!
Paladin – Your survivability as a tank is insane. Often times you can carry a fight to the end when the whole rest of the party is dead to mechanics.
Dancer – tons of fun, highly mobile. It's great for your first time in a fight because you can move so much. Great party utility too.
Edgy tank with the big ass sword = Dark Knight (need to unlock Heavensward expansion and it starts at level 30). The job quest storyline is amazing and the rotation abilities are very fun for a tank class.
Edgy melee class with big ass pointy stick = Lancer/Dragoon. The beginning seems a bit slow but once you unlock the "job" of Dragoon, the abilities really become enjoyable (leaping attacks, etc.). It also comes with its own memes being known as the floor tank since you can get animation locked and die to AEs quite easily.
Enjoy!!
I'm currently playing Dark Knight but I'm not a fan of the new changes(I miss Dark Arts) and I don't believe Endwalker will fix that. Maybe it might. If you want to play a Tank and want to feel like you have a lot of things to do while DPSing like a Tank, I suggest Gun Breaker.
Dark Knight has that dark magic tank feeling and using the Blackest Knight(Allows you to block 10% of damage to an ally) is rewarding of itself but it feels too similar to a Warrior a little. I really hope Endwalker changes that a little.
New subscriber here. I just found your chanel today and as a former WoW fanatic myself I started my FF journey just about 3 weeks ago. It was fascinating to hear about your experiences about the game since most of them I can relate too aswell. I hope you guys enjoy FF just as I do right now. Good day.
the GCD kills the game for me
i main MNK & NINJA they are epic but alot of Combo and potional that why most ppl don't like them
Advice on jobs: Watch Larryzaur's video on jobs: Shadowbringers. Watch JoCat's Crap Guides to FFXIV – Tanks, Healers and DPS. All of these are REALLY good for getting an idea of what the different jobs do and feel like.
RDM is very satisfying, flashy and just plain FUN. You get good damage, a GOOD heal and a rez as well as the whole melee aspect of the class, so think jack of all trades type thing.
Quality intro guys! <3
I started playing summoner, then picked up red mage and absolutely loved it. I thought it was easy to learn and it taught me a lot about how jobs work generally in the game. Plus it's f a n c y.
Now maining machinist because of how crazy fast paced it is – it's just a joy to be constantly shooting ridiculous weapons and being able to move as much as you please. And we have a mech and a blight thrower so that's neat.
If you just follow the msq you can level at least two jobs simultaneously which makes it easy to browse.
Enjoy the game!
Play what you're curious about and if you like them, keep playing them. That's the beauty of the game: being able to play whatever you want on the same character. All the jobs are good. For jobs that are introduced in expansions, you will not start them at level 1. So for Red Mage, Samurai, Gunbreaker, Dancer, Astrologian, Dark Knight, and Machinist, you're going to get a ton of skills/abilities thrown at you when you unlock them. Personally, I <3 Machinist.
Just to note, yes the rule of thumb is you can go back into where you were standing after a cast telegraph BUT it is good to know that there are some attacks that will damage you if you walk back into the animations but these are rare. For example channeling type skills like flame throwers.
The job quests can be really good stories themselves. For example the Dark Knight story is great.
For oGCDs and GCDs, in yoru footage you were actually messing up in maximizing throughput. (That's ok, you are new.) Check out Joonbob's battle basics. It includes GCD stuff, clearer animation information, and more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdcQyp8JcqQ
Bane (which is going away for EW), Fester, Energy Drain are all oGCDs. Ruin II and IV (not I or III), Bio (going away in EW), and Egi Assault are instant GCDs that allow you to weave.
Ninjas are not trash, but Ninjas are the ones you can most obviously tell are screwing up. They're super great in end-game content b/c of Trick Attack, which makes the entire team do 5% more damage to the boss for 15s. They can apply this debuff every minute. So, if you have a high potency spell, you may be thinking "Where's trick? Where's trick?" as you are looking for a chance to use it. And then you may be like "omg this Ninja is bad b/c Trick is 3 GCDs late." You don't need 3rd party applications to judge Ninjas. And, to be fair, NIN is kinda hard.
BLM is the class my friends meme on. They have to learn the fight differently than other players, and it's easy to be a bad black mage. We raided w/ a BLM most tiers tho, so we were just making fun of our friend.
If you're playing Summoner, may want to consider picking up an alternative job due to the complete re-work coming with End walker
Been listening to you two since Summer 2011 and this is probably the most I've been excited for you guys. I only started FF14 back in July and played for maybe two months then stopped but I want to start back now. I was playing a Dragoon btw, pretty fun. Bard was going to be the next thing I try
kudos to your pronunciations you guys try so much harder to nail names than anyone else that plays. as a veteran FF player im really enjoying your content. im glad you could find your vibe in eorzea 🙂 i know the saying gets old but.. keep chugging along. it. really. gets. better xD stay awesome and instant subscriber here 🙂
Red Mage is jokingly known as Rez Mage.. A DPS that can swiftcast resurrect spell multiple time like a boss
I highly recommend you go watch JoCat's video "A crap guide to dps". It gives a general break down of information that honestly opens up XIV's idea of roles.
And then try out gladiator, it's getting some amazing Upgrades in Endwalker and boy at later levels it's not your normal sword and board. It's a Tank role, intimidating at first BUT tanking is probably one of the best experiences in the game by far, to be the driver of the group in a dungeon. As well if you dont feel like doing it just switch back to your Summoner as that is getting an amazing rework come Endwalker. Honorable mentions goes to Warrior (Axe Class in Limsa), Dragoon (Lance class in Gridania) and Machinist (Gun Class from Heavensward Expansion)
You guys are great, Keep on enjoying at your leisure!
So about the overlevelling thing: The MSQ is in a bit of a weird position, XP balance wise. Doing MSQ is actually more than the XP required to completely max out one job, however, it is not enough to max out two jobs. Something you can do is start to consider is if you want to start learning a secondary job and balancing out XP that way (such as doing MSQ on your main, but throwing some roulettes at your secondary), but you have to play it a bit by ear in case you put too much XP in your secondary job that you accidently level gate your main for MSQ progression. (This is also why I suspect so many people want you to max out XP right now, in case you run into this issue for secondaries).
Of course, given that a lot of classes have different level starting points, this will also lead to some weird XP differentials here or there. Dark Knight, Astrologians, and Machinists are especially disadvantaged here, because you can't unlock them until you reach the Heavensward city (requiring more than level 50 as prereq), but only start at level 30 themselves.
As a newer player myself, I barely got enough to max out two jobs by the time I finished out the base Shadowbringers campaign, but this was because both of my chosen jobs were level 60 starters (Gunbreaker and Dancer), so this meant I had a bit of an XP lead for my secondary.
I enjoy quite a few jobs!
Machinist became my main back in 2019 before I left till recently as I was left on my own and while I love tanking, I hate pug tanking when I don't know the instances and MCH is a blast (quite literally); very mobile while attacking, summons a mech at high level, and lots of firepower!
Dancer is really good and more party friendly than MCH as you have some buffs to help out. The minigame for dance moves is far easier to do than I first thought, and the dash move is amazing in big fights to get out of AoEs, as long as you don't go too far!
I like all 4 tanks a lot. Gunbreaker is my only 80 but the others are all 62-68. I was a warrior main than DK main back before GNB existed and I tanked for our little group, but all of them are enjoyable for me. GNB may be best if you really like DPS but want to tank, once you hit 70 that combo is so satisfying!
I haven't healed much till recently as it's a different animal from EQ, WoW, or SWTOR. But Astrologian isn't bad if a bit difficult to get used too.
Red Mage is one of my 80s (along with MCH, DNC, GNB, and some crafting and gathering jobs) and I really liked it at first but it feels a bit weird now and I hope the mana changes coming in Endwalker can smooth it back out again; from 50-70 it was really fun, just watch your disengagements so you don't land in the ouch or fly off the edge!
I don't see this mentioned in the comments but when guides say that you need to be a certain level, what they mean most of the time is the level of the MSQ you are at. Like when they mention you can unlock mounts at lvl 20, they really mean that it is unlocked at MSQ lvl 20.
Everything in this game is locked behind a combination of your character level and MSQ progression. This is why the most important thing to do is your MSQ progression. The next important is to do your class/job quests because they will lock skills/abilities for you class/job behind those quests.
I went thru MSQ as a healer main and by the time I got to Shadowbringer I took a break to level ninja. At that point I knew how the game worked so it was easier for me to pick up and understand positionsals, weaving oGCDs thru combos. And the likely reason they're tossed around tier lists is that they have a 15sec debuff (5% extra team damage to boss) called Trick Attack on a 60sec cooldown and a ninjas effectiveness is based on the consistency of its uptime. And that there's a good bit of damage lost on missed positionsals.
But weaving ninja hand signs and shooting out ninjutsu feels awesome af. 10/10
Don't forget to do all the blue quest! After level 50 MSQ a lot of them unluck ^-^ A lot of dungeons and raids and fun quests