FFXIV Classes Guide - Explore All the Possibilities!

FFXIV Classes Guide

There are multiple reasons why players love MMORPGs. The enormous array of possibilities in terms of developing your character is definitely one of them. Lots of these games allow you to customize your hero by providing multiple races, combat classes, professions, factions, subclasses, build paths, and other options to choose from. More often than not, the primary class choice is the most consequential of them all.

In Final Fantasy XIV, classes are a term that applies to the standard combat archetypes, as well as the crafting and gathering professions. As you probably know, the main battle specializations in FFXIV are called jobs. However, all 10 of the original, pre-expansion jobs have specific classes assigned to them. Only after hitting a certain level threshold, you’ll be able to acquire the proper Soul Crystal and advance your class into a job. All the FFXIV classes may be divided into Disciples of War (physical DPS and tanks), Disciples of Magic (caster DPS and healers), Disciples of the Hand (crafters) and Disciples of the Land (gatherers).

Class System in FFXIV

The whole class and job system in Final Fantasy XIV can be somewhat confusing. There are classes that work as entry-level jobs, but there also are multiple ones that aren’t combat-oriented and don’t advance into any jobs. Moreover, the expansions have introduced a few jobs that aren’t connected to any of the classes. As you can see, it’s not that easy to follow. The class or job that you have active determines what skills, abilities, attacks and other actions you're able to use. Earlier on, classes were able to share certain skills through the cross-class ability system. However, this feature has been removed from the game.

To explain it as clearly as possible, we’re going to divide all that into fighting classes and non-fighting classes. This will make the whole system a bit easier to understand. We will also describe each specific class and talk about its function within the game and the unlocking process. Let's go right into the overview of all FFXIV Classes! 

FFXIV Combat Classes

As we already mentioned, all 10 original Final Fantasy XIV jobs have specific classes that can specialize into them. They can be divided into Disciples of War and Disciples of Magic. While creating a new character, the player has to choose one of these classes. Besides determining their starting skillset and initial development path, it will also decide the city that they start in. It’s important to note that this choice in Final Fantasy XIV is much less definitive than in other MMORPGs. Each FFXIV character can level up all the jobs and professions within the game. Obviously, doing so requires a lot of time and effort, but technically – nothing stops you. Final Fantasy XIV is one of the few games where not many players make alt characters because you can literally do everything on your main. In the current state of the game, combat classes act almost exclusively as the pathway to unlocking the much more important jobs.    

Disciples of War

This category includes both of the original tanks and all the physical DPS FF14 classes in the game.

Gladiator is one of the tank classes. They have their guild in the City of Ul’dah – that’s where you’re going to start if you choose this as your first class. They fight with swords and shields while wearing the heavy plate armors. At level 30, Gladiator can specialize into a Paladin – one of the most standard tanks in FFXIV.

Marauder is the second tanking class in the game. They also wear plate armors, but they strike their opponents with two-handed greataxes. The location of their guild is in Limsa Lominsa’s Upper Decks. After hitting level 30, Marauders are allowed to advance into Warriors. It’s a strong, self-sufficient tank job with a lot of sustain that allows them to easily duel a strong enemy.

Archer is the only ranged physical DPS in the original game. They wear leather armors and shoot their enemies with bows. If you choose it as your starting class, you’ll begin your adventure in New Gridania since that’s where their guild is. Archer can specialize into a Bard – a DPS job that can empower and support its party members with various songs. It offers an interesting physical ranged playstyle with lots of utility.

Lancer is one of the melee DPS classes in FFXIV. They wear plate armors and hit their targets with polearm weapons. They can later advance into Dragoons. The Lancer’s Guild is located in Old Gridania. Dragoon is a great melee damage dealer with relatively simple, but fun playstyle, spectacular skills, and a high personal DPS.

Pugilist is another melee DPS class. They have their guild in the city of Ul’dah. These martial artists wear leather armors and fight with fist weapons. After reaching level 30, they’re allowed to advance into a Monk. They’re interesting, but somewhat difficult characters that rely on positioning and switching stances.

Rogue is the last melee damage dealing class. It wears leather armor and assassinates its opponents with daggers. Their guild is placed in Limsa Lominsa’s Lower Decks, and at level 30, Rogues can specialize into Ninjas. Their playstyle is somewhat different than in most other MMORPGs. Most people imagine a quick character that sneaks up on their target and deals absurd amounts of burst damage. Instead, they’re a unique supportive DPS, with relatively low personal damage and some of the most difficult combos in the entire game. Instead, they're able to vastly increase damage dealt by their allies. 

Disciples of Magic

This group includes all the magical DPS and healing classes. It’s significantly smaller than the previous one.

Conjurer is the most standard healer class in Final Fantasy XIV. They wear cloth armors and amplify their spells with canes. You can find their guild in Old Gridania. Upon getting to level 30, this class can advance into White Mage. Conjurers are the only characters that get access to a quest called Unicorn Power after reaching level 30. It allows them to unlock a free Unicorn mount. It's a great choice if you want to play a simple character that can heal their allies. 

Arcanist is an incredibly interesting class. It’s the only one in the entire game that has two specialization choices. They can either pick a utility-focused, shielding healer in Scholar, or a DPS pet mage called Summoner. Even before the advancement, Arcanists have access to summoning minions. They wear cloth armors and use books to cast their spells. Their guild is located in Limsa Lominsa.

Thaumaturge is a damage-dealing mage class that utilizes the power of fire, ice, and thunders. They use scepters and staves to empower their spells and wear cloth robes. At level 30, Thaumaturge can become a Black Mage. They’re some of the most powerful DPS characters in the entire game. While they don’t provide any buffs or utility to their team, they have an incredibly high personal DPS output. Their spells often have long casting times and high damage values.

Jobs that don’t have assigned classes

As we mentioned, the FF14 jobs that have been added to Final Fantasy XIV in the expansions are connected to none of the classes. In order to play any of them, you’ll have to reach level 50 or level 60 at any of the combat classes and complete a specific quest. These jobs are Dark Knight, Gunbreaker, Astrologian, Samurai, Machinist, Dancer, and Red Mage. There's also a unique limited job called Blue Mage, but you can only play it in special content designed for this job. 

Non-Combat Classes

We have already covered all the battle-focused classes in Final Fantasy XIV. Now, let’s take a look at the Disciples of the Hand and Disciples of the Land – the crafters and gatherers of this game. In order to unlock them, you must progress your main combat class to level 10 and enter the guild of the profession that you want to learn.

These classes are mainly focused on the economic side of the game. Players decide to level them to collect valuable resources or craft expensive items. The crafting and gathering disciplines have their own questlines, as well as multiple side quests. In order to level up these classes, you have to successfully gather or craft specific items and complete these quests or special orders from NPCs. The repeatable levequests and beast tribe quests, as well as custom deliveries, play a huge role in the way of leveling all the crafters and gatherers in FFXIV.

Interestingly enough, the Disciples of the Hand and Disciples of the Land are interconnected – they can collect resources or create equipment for other crafters and gatherers. We’re going to cover it more thoroughly when we describe each of the classes. These professions also have special mechanics that allow them to craft or to gather High Quality and collectible items.

Disciples of the Hand

There are eight crafting classes in Final Fantasy XIV. Each one of them has a few specific types of items that it can produce. There’s merit to unlocking, progressing, and getting a perfect mastery over all of them, but you should probably prioritize the ones that are relevant to your main job. Crafting classes utilize two special attributes – Craftsmanship and Control. Another great aspect of DoH is desynthesis. It allows them to break down certain items into their components. 

Alchemist is a class that’s capable of creating various potions and elixirs. It’s incredibly valuable since all the characters in the game can make good use of these consumables. Moreover, Alchemists can also make wands and books – Arcanists and Conjurers use these weapons. The Alchemist’s Guild can be found in the city of Ul’dah. They use alembics and mortars as their crafting tools.

Armorer is an equipment crafting class that’s capable of producing plate armors and multiple gear pieces that are made of metal. They can craft alembics, frying pans, bucklers, and heavy shields. Armorers use hammers and pliers as their tools. Their guild is placed in Limsa Lominsa. It’s a really useful Disciple of Hand for the tank jobs, especially Paladins that use both plate armors and shields.

Blacksmith is a class that’s able to craft multiple weapons for many physical classes. They can craft swords, daggers, greataxes, fist weapons, greatswords, katanas, and more. They can also make tools for other crafters and gatherers like scythes, saws, hatchets, hammers, and more! Blacksmith is one of the most useful and versatile Disciples of Hand in FFXIV since it can produce equipment used by so many different characters. Their guild is located in Limsa Lominsa.

Carpenter is a class that crafts various wooden objects out of timber. These items include staves, bows, fishing poles, grinding wheels, wooden shields, masks, and more. They can also produce furniture that’s used in housing. You can find the Carpenter’s Guild in Gridania. This profession uses saws and claw hammers as main equipment. It’s a useful class for jobs that use wooden weapons. Moreover, furniture crafting is one of the best ways to earn money off of Disciples of the Hand.

Culinarian is another crafting class that specializes in consumable items. It’s able to prepare all kinds of meals and beverages out of various ingredients. Unlike Alchemists, Culinarians don’t produce any types of equipment. Ingesting their products provides the player with temporary stat buffs. They’re able to obtain some valuable resources from using desynthesis on fish. Culinarian’s guild is located in Limsa Lominsa, and this class utilizes frying pans and culinary knives in their crafting process. This profession is equally useful to all characters since it doesn’t create any gear, and everyone can use consumables.

Goldsmith is mainly the jewelry crafting profession, but they can also create some other items. They can create scepters, staves, and needles as well as some furniture. They use ornamental hammers and mallets, as well as grinding wheels to craft their products. Every FFXIV character uses jewelry, so being able to make it is pretty valuable. Selling furniture can also be very lucrative. You can visit the Goldmith’s Guild in Ul’dah. They use various metals and precious stones as crating materials.

Leatherworker is a crafting class that creates items from various hides. They’re mostly making leather armors, used by almost all the physical DPS classes and jobs, but they can also create some shields, fist weapons, and furniture. They utilize special knives and awls in their crafting process. You can find the Leatherworker’s Guild in Gridania. Unsurprisingly, this class is really useful for characters that wear leather armors.

Weaver is the final armor-crafting class in the game. They can use various cloth fabrics into robes and light armors for Disciples of Magic, as well as crafters and gatherers. They use needles and spinning wheels as crafting tools. The Weaver’s Guild is located in the city of Ul’dah. It’s a very useful class for players who main mages or healers, and for people who want to level up multiple crafting and gathering professions.

Disciples of the Land

Finally, let’s talk about gathering classes. The general idea is pretty obvious - their purpose is to collect multiple valuable resources without engaging in combat. Similarly to crafting, these professions utilize two attributes. In this case, they’re called Gathering and Perception. In order to acquire their materials, most gatherers have to find special nodes.

Botanist is responsible for harvesting all kinds of plant-based materials. This category includes all types of wood, herbs, plant fibers, fruit, flowers, and some other interesting stuff. It means that Botanists can provide resources that can be used by multiple Disciples of the Hand – Weaver, Carpenter, Alchemist, and Culinarian. They use hatchets and scythes as their gathering tools. The Botanist’s Guild can be found in Gridania. There are two types of Botanist nodes – Lush Vegetation Patches can be harvested with scythes, and Mature Trees can be cut down with hatchets.

Miner is a Disciple of the Land that focuses on extracting all kinds of ores, fossils, precious stones, and other minerals from many deposits around Eorzea. These materials can be used by Goldsmiths, Armorers, and Blacksmiths. This profession utilizes pickaxes and sledgehammers as its main tools. Miners also have two types of gathering nodes – Mineral Deposits can be extracted with a pickaxe, and Rocky Outcrops require a sledgehammer. Their guild is located in the city of Ul’dah. If you’re planning to play a tank as your main job, Miner is an incredibly useful profession. You’re going to need a lot of metal ores to craft all the required armors and weapons.

Fisher is a special gathering profession that works significantly differently than the other two. It only has a single type of tool – the fishing rods. However, these poles can be loaded with different types of tackles and baits. Obviously, these items are consumable – you’ll need a lot of tackles for a long fishing session. Besides the standard fishing in lakes and rivers, you will also be able to unlock cloud fishing, volcano fishing, and spearfishing on higher levels. Later on, you’ll also unlock a trait called Double-Mooching, which enables you to use a caught fish as bait for catching an even bigger fish. The only crafters that can make use of this gathering class are Culinarian and Alchemist. That being said, you can get some valuable and useful materials by desynthesizing fish as a Culinarian.

As we said earlier, many crafting and gathering classes are connected to each other. The point is - Disciples of the Land collect many great materials that are required to make items, while Disciples of the Hand can produce gear for gatherers and other crafters.

Final Fantasy XIV Classes

Hopefully, this guide helped you understand the huge Final Fantasy XIV class system. If you’re interested in the combat specializations, you might want to check out the Jobs Guide too! FFXIV features tons of combat and non-combat classes, and you can unlock them all on a single character! There's a whole world of possibilities! 

Final Fantasy XIV is a successful subscription-based MMORPG that has been developed and published by Square Enix. It was initially released in 2010, but it has later undergone multiple adjustments and improvements only to be re-released in 2013 as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Since them, the game has gathered a massive following and received three major expansions – Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers. It’s one of the most interesting MMORPGs in today’s market – FFXIV has a lot to offer for casual and hardcore gamers. Make sure to check out our other guides and search through our site, if you're looking for more content related to the top MMO games.

FAQ

When can you change the class in FFXIV?

In order to unlock another class, you have to progress your initial base class to level 10, and then visit another guild (of the class that you want to learn). They will give you a short and simple quest that will give you access to the new class. After that, you can freely swap between the unlocked classes simply by equipping weapons associated with these classes. Just don't forget about your main story progression! 

How many classes can I unlock in Final Fantasy XIV?

You can unlock all of them. There are no limitations in terms of a maximum number of classes, available skill points, or anything like that. As long as you’re ready to put in the time (we're talking months, not days) and work required to do it, you should be able to max out all the classes in FFXIV.

Does FFXIV have a monthly fee?

Yes, it does. Final Fantasy XIV has a monthly subscription. There is a very limited free version of the game, but if you’re looking for the full FFXIV experience, you’ll have to pay the subscription.

Is there a trinity of classes/jobs in FFXIV?

Yes, Square Enix is very strict about trying to keep the holy trinity of combat roles in Final Fantasy XIV. All specializations can be divided in DPS jobs, healer jobs, and tank jobs.