Class Roles: What are they?

[TheNightmare]

As we all know each class has a role or a duty in which they carry out in a party. I think it would of a great service to the FFXI Community if those knowledgeable could write a summation on what each job contributes and the primary role that class executes.

It would help those new to the game to determine what class to be, and to help others understand how various classes around them, work.

If people could make a sticky out of this, I think that it is LONG overdue.

Thanks alot.

The Nightmare

[Bamce Sylph]

3 roles, damage, support, tank

tank,

paladin
war (situational)
ninja (unless your grouping w/ a gimp who doesn't use ninjitsu or sub war)

damage

monk
ranger
darkknight
samari
blackmage
war
goon (yes i refuse to call them dragoons)
thief

support
whitemage
redmage
bard
summoner

usualy a group will have 1 tank, 3-4 damage, 2 support. (if one of the damage is a blackmage, maybe just use blackmage +white/red)

normally accepted subs are

paladin, war, and only war
war for tanking, ninja or monk depending on lvl
ninja warrior

damage

monk, warrior or thief
ranger, ninja 99% of the time
darkknight warrior, post 60, thief
samari warrior, post 60 theif or ranger
blackmage whitemage, maybe redmage depending on lvl (ie dispel)
war, monk, ninja, sam, thief,
goon, war, thief
thief, ninja or war sometimes

support
whitemage, blackmage, summoner
redmage, blackmage, whitemage (nice to have both lvled)
bard, whitemage,
summoner, whitemage

[Omena]

What the hell is a samari?

Anyway, thief isn't a primary damage dealer. They can do great damage if played and equipped properly, but the main purpose of thief is hate control. Every party with a nin tank should have a thief to help with holding hate.

[EFigaro]

Really you can almost sub divide the Melee into two groups: Heavy Hitters and Support Hitters.

Rng, Blm, Thf, War and Monk would all be heavy hitters. Great Axes and Knuckles do lots of damage and have sick Weapon Skills.

Support Hitters would mostly be Dragoon and Samurai...there not so much for damage, though Lances do do pretty well except on bones and higher defense monsters like beetles and crabs. They're there mostly to set up Skill chains, at least Samurai definetly are and Dragoons only somewhat are. But at higher levels for level 3 Renkeis Dragoons do nicely even if Wheeling Thrust is horribly gimp for damage.

Otherwise the discussion earlier is pretty much set. I'd rather have a War for damage though than Tanking. Leave that to Pld, Nin...and the occasional Rng/Nin when they pull to much hate.

[Kailo]

Huh!? I find it sad you've left out the lovely DRK (T,T) Anyway, here's my 2 gil:

I don't think you can classify all of the classes into only 3 specific jobs. For instance, the forgotten DRK (EFigaro :spin: ). These are typically considered melee, and heavy hitters at that, but they can also be classified as support in some ways, with their Absorb-XXX and subbed THF hate control. Each job has a much more specific role than just "damage", "support", and "tank". Here, have another for instance. Sure, NINs are tanks, and so are PLDs, but each present very different ways to tank. The PLD tanks through taking less damage and healing him/herself to lessen the WHMs healing duties, while the NIN (with Utsusemi) tries to avoid it altogether and prevent the WHM from ever curing. The PLD keeps hate through healing himself, voking with subbed WAR, and through his 2 Hour if need be. The NIN keeps hate through increased damage (shurikens), voking with subbed WAR as well, and through dodging the mobs attacks (mobs hate wears away after every hit it lands off the person that has it's hate). Yes, both are "tanks", but there is more to it that that. However, Bamce, you did a fine job to start off the thread and I am by no means scolding you. Maybe if I had enough time and energy to explain each and every jobs role in detail I would, and then I could scold you :spin: But, alas, I don't, so good job for now

[ZQM]

Originally posted by EFigaro
Rng, Blm, Thf, War and Monk would all be heavy hitters.

A WAR can also be a support DD if they spam Break Series (expecially 60+ when they can sub SAM. Spam Breaks and SC).

[Anakijeri]

Samurai are there to facilitate and create skill chains. Skill chains= Magic burst opporitunities = more Damage from Baclk Mages= dead mobs fast.

Though thier damage isnt stellar on a hit to hit basis, the potenial damage they can cause with the help of others is immense.

[Bamce Sylph]

i didn't sub section the dd melee because post 60 EVERYONE of them can sub theif and do the theifs job, which is why theif didnt' get any special recognition yeah they can do it at lvl 30, however most of the time pt's at that lvl are misinformed and stupid and don't always take well to critisim/advice. perhaps after work i'll come back and go more in depth.

[Dano]

Warrior
Job Role: Primary Damage Dealer,Primary Tank, Backup Tank, Support Damage dealer
Note: Nothing can best describe war as versitile, they can be any role depending on subs and situations. They can tank with defensive equipments, nin subs, they can be primary dmg dealers with offensive gears, any sub is good imo (thf,sam,nin,mnk), they can support wif breaks as well. They are also shell crushers, as great axe are very good against shell type monsters

Monk
Job Role: Primary Damage Dealer, Backup Tank
Note: Nothing much about this class, all they do is just beat stuff up, and they do it especially well wif war subs, they are also bone crushers, they are not popular at early levels but soon excel and become one of the most demanded jobs. Popular subs are war,thf,sam. They have huge HP pool but wears paper armor and mostly geared towards offensive but when shit hits the fan they are the ones to do the backup tanking and their 2hr ability is quite good for tight situations.

Thf
Job Role: Primary Damage Dealer, Hate Controller, Treasure Hunter
Note: They can do damage and control hate at the same time thanks to SA TA, treasure hunter allows better drop rates on items which will benefit the whole party, they do very tiny amount of normal dmg, attacks frequently (triple attack) does huge burst attack when the time is right. popular subs are war,thf,sam,nin

Whm
Job Role: Primary Healer, Support
Note: they heal and buff melees, they have access to cure spells much earlier in the game compare to other mages, there are some negative status that only they can cure (ie: petrify, so dont fight lizards if you dont have a whm) They can burst cure off undeads, which is fun to watch sometimes (MB cure4 500). Popular subs, Blm,rdm,smn

Rdm
Job Role: Primary Healer, Support Healer, Support
Note: Thou they use swords but they don't really melee, they are a very tedious job at later lvls, as they need to keep the mages refreshed, debuff the monsters, buff the melees, occasionally mb, support heal. They are a must in xp parties for their dispel, refresh. Depending on the situations they can be primary healers, but that'll only make them even more tedious to play. Convert is just a god send, which allows a rdm to have almost infinite mp. Since they have the highest enfleeble cap their debuff stick often.
Popular subs, whm, blm, smn, nin(soloing purpose)

Blm
Job Role: Nuker, Support Healer, Support
Note: They nuke, they can be support healers if things get ugly, they can also debuff with frost, burn.. etc. Only Blm can access ancient spells, these spells cost tons of mp and deals hella dmg, but later on the ga series spell can pretty much replace them. They are extreme at damage dealing but has limit defensive abilities, it's a trade off (once i saw a taru blm got one shot when his blink went out). Popular subs, whm, rdm, smn.

Pld
Job Role: Primary Tanker, Hate Generator
Note: nothing much they do than tank, the job is covered with defensive abilities. They are the guardian of the party, they protect other, putting themselves on the frontlines. In addition to their defensive abilities they gain cure spells as they progress. They and Nins are key tankers at the end game, against HNMs. Popular subs, War all the way, Nin sometimes

Drk
Job Role: Primary Damage Dealer, Support
Note: Opposite of Pld, they dish out dmg like no one else, but they cant just do that as it'll cost them their lives. While having a very good offensive abilitity (exchange hp for more dmg), drks tend to hold back since it's really unwise to endanger themselves and the whole party. Very popular class, one of the good end game jobs as well. Their absorb spells allows them to do some support, and their stuns are highly useful for tight situations. At higher lvls they can play the role of hate controlling with thf sub, they are most sorted like mnks at higher lvls. Popular subs, war, thf.

Sam
Job Role: Secondary Damage Dealer, Skill Chainer, Back Up tank
Note: While having a lower attack abilitity, they make it up with their skill chains, which opens up for more potential dmg. They are basically good frens with blms. They can be back up tanks, as they can wear medium armor, and 3rd eye comes in pretty handy at times. Even with meditate i personally think they are still weak, SE needs to add more abilities to them. Popular subs, War, Rng, Thf.

Drg
Job Role: Primary Damage Dealer
Note: They are just too fast, and they hits are just too accurate, plus there's even a wyvern attackin at the same time. Thou they cant do burst dmg like drks, they are like mnks that heavily depend on DoT, and sometimes they surpress the mnk. They start out nicely, excels at mid levels, but soon goes down as their weapon skills gets weaker and weaker. Their spears are good against flying monsters. Popular subs, war, thf

Nin
Job Role: Blink Tank, Secondary Damage Dealer, Support
Note: They can tank, they can deal damage, they can debuff, most of all, they can do them all at the same time, in exchange they need to burn some gil on ninjutsu powders. They hit rather frequent with their dual wield enchance(like monks), so they're also good at DoT, There are however some monsters that NINs cant tank (mnk type monsters, stuff that does AE dmg) Another End game job. Popular subs, War

Rng
Job Role: Primary Damage Dealer
Note: Much like the Nins, they burn gils in exchange of dealing extreme dmg. The Damage they do are almost if not sometimes higher that of an Blm, but like the drks they need to hold back abit or they'll end up dirt napping. But even with normal attacks they draw aggro like no other class. One of the classes that requires insane equipment to make it work. Popular subs, war, nin

Smn
Job Role: Support, Secondary Nuker, Support Healer
Note: It's really hard to judge this class, they seem to be able to do good healing, support and dmg. They are one of those rare classes, and they require summons so they can work properly. Highest mp pool, depending on the avatar they use, they can be offensive or defensive or support.
Carbuncle: Defensive support, low dmg dealing
Ifrit: Offensive support, moderate dmg dealing (generally useless me thinks)
Ramuh: Offensive support, moderate dmg dealing
Titan: Defensive support, moderate dmg dealing
Garuda: Defensive support, hastega support, good special attacks.
Fenrir: very good group support, good special attacks
Leviathan: group healing support, very good special attack (800-900 spining dives)

[EFigaro]

Well Dark's need no introduction....yeah....or something like that... <.< >.>. Hey! Look over there! *Runs the other way*

[BuriGuri]

Post 65-66, this is how I like to divide my PT into :

Refresher : Self explanatory, first choice Bard, second choice rdm (yeah its a sad fact ) >_<

Healer : rdm, whm or smn. Also self explanatory.
things to consider here, :
1. Nin tanks and brd as refresher, pick smn and you will lose haste. Haste control is a big part of hate management in ninja based PT, might/might not work.

2. Some areas need whm, for stona which you cannot get by subbing whm. in which case none of the other would work.

Tank : Self explanatory. Usually ninja or paladin, and in very rare case war. In my experience paladin is better in bone PT (simply for renkei compatibility), and samurai based PT.
(BLMs often get huge hate at the beginning). On most others, ninja work just as well if not better.

BLM : In my opinion simply irreplacable at this level. Kills just simply dont go fast enough without them. If you really have to, replace with rdm (usually need rangers or the like in PT)

that leaves us with the damage melees, the highly debated areas.

lvl 3 skillchain comes starting at this level, and IMHO it adds too much to be ignored in forming your PT.

1: the opener, usually subs war. Responsible for opening the chain and doesnt get the glory of using their most powerful WS.
ranger, war, monk, post71-samurais, dragoon,.

My preference : monk for the all wonderful bone PTs (hate crowding in boyahda during peak hours), ranger for everything else. Post 71, I personally think samurai is king ^^ Tachi kasha is great, and 2 lvl3 chains to boot. war/nin is very nice for thf partner too.

2: the closer, gets the glory of ending the chain, doing shitloads combined damage from WS and the resultant light/dark damage.
Should sub thfs to maximize WS damage and hate control.
drk, monk, thf, samurai. (supposedly war/thf with the GA 250WS is decent here, but never actually see it in action)

preference : monk for bone PT, drk for almost anything else.

I'm sure there are sometimes those odd PTs that happen to work really well. In a random pickup situation though, most of the times, these are what most jobs end up doing.

[Mursk]

Left out Bard :spin: