Every Role’s best Class (Job) for beginners in FFXIV

Despite coming out over a decade ago, Final Fantasy XIV maintains its steady influx of new players with the ebb and flow of each patch cycle. For new Warriors of Light, figuring out an initial Job, or even just their preferred Role, can be tricky.

When starting A Realm Reborn, you’ve only got a handful of Classes available, which eventually upgrade into Jobs. There are 20 Jobs in total, and that number climbs with every expansion. If you’re set on a Role — like Healer, Tank, or DPS — that’s already half the battle. DPS Jobs also split into more Roles, like Physical Ranged, Melee, and Caster.

During my time in FFXIV, I toyed around with various Jobs, with some becoming clear favorites. Players can swap between Jobs, too, so they aren’t restricted to any one Role. While newcomers can stick to what they begin with, much of FFXIV’s joy comes with dabbling in various vocations. The list below may not be your preference, but they’re good Jobs for learning a new Role.

Best beginner-friendly melee DPS (Lancer)

If you’re eyeing Melee DPS, Lancer’s likely your best bet to begin practicing. They’ve got one of the slower starts among Melee DPS, but you won’t have to worry much about positional attacks for a while. They’ve got some pretty flashy moves to boot, too.

Before evolving into the Dragoon job, Lancer introduces new players to basic, easy-to-grasp combos for extra damage. Dragoon is worth your — relatively — slow start as it adds logical combos, introduces positionals, and even party buffs. Also, you get Jump. Of any ability, it’s the most satisfying because nothing beats descending on enemies like a devastating humanoid missile.

Best beginner-friendly ranged DPS (Archer)

As FFXIV’s only Physical Ranged Class, Archer eventually becomes Bard, making it one of three Jobs in the Role. While Dancer may be the easier Job for the Role, starting as an Archer and working your way into Bard is far less overwhelming than that entire explanation.

Similarly to the Lancer class, Archers primarily focus on dealing damage without worrying much about placement early on. However, the difference is you’ll never worry about positionals and boss proximity as you progress. Archers attack at a safer distance, giving players a better opportunity to acclimate to FFXIV‘s controls.

Archer abilities will lack some flashiness other classes might start with, but they more than make up for it for the straightforward abilities and distance kept from enemies. Another bonus is being able to poison enemies at level six and obtaining a wide AOE by level 18 with Quick Nock. Besides, the flashiness returns when Archers upgrade to Bards because Bards inherently have style.

Best beginner-friendly Healer (Conjurer)

Players wanting to focus on supporting their party in the Healer Role can only begin A Realm Reborn as the Conjurer Class, but its evolution into the White Mage Job would also be our pick for the overall Role. Although they start with an offensive spell, Conjurers quickly build a healthy selection of various healing spells.

They most notably obtain Raise at level 12, allowing Conjurers to bring downed players back from the dead. Despite their focus on healing, they defend themselves and allies early on with Aero and Stone. It’s an easy kit to get started with, arming you with supportive tools while introducing the idea those in the Healer Role should do damage, too.

Best beginner-friendly Tank (Marauder)

Honestly, players can’t go wrong with either the Gladiator or Marauder starting Tank Classes, but I’m giving the nod to the latter for having somewhat better early-game skills. What makes Marauders great tanks for new players is a nice balance of effective damage on top of being effective defenders.

Berserk, in particular, is a great early skill as it guarantees at least three critical hits. Marauders also have more variety in attacks as Tomahawk grants them a ranged attack Gladiators lack.

Their upgrade path into Warrior only amplifies this, as attacks using their Beast Guage deal devastating damage. It doesn’t get more complicated from there, and both variants of this class still remain fun to play. If you’re looking to Tank and want the easiest Job path later on, Marauder’s Warrior upgrade is the more straightforward playstyle over Gladiator’s Paladin.