Heh, so... the pros and cons of each class.

i am going to copy paste what i wrote a while ago, keep in mind that if you want the entire information about each and every job, it would take a HUGE book to cover them all and will take a long read.

Terms:
SC-SKillchain where appropiate weapon skills are used at the right time in the right order in order to create a combo and do more damage.

Weapon skill- upon hitting you get TP, when reaching 100-300% TP you can execute a WS.

Magic burst- Every Skillchain has an element, if you use the right element spell a few seconds after the skillchain SFX comes out, you can do more damage with that spell than used without. The trick is cast times and coordination.

DoT- Damage over time

Quote:

All melee damage dealers can deal high ammounts of dmg. Most of em are pretty equal in power. It just depends your set up and what you are fighting and the camp you are in. There is, to my knowledge, no one true better damage dealer for the most part especially now with the Ranged Attack change. Equal gear is also not availible since different jobs use different gears. So i will assume top end gear. As well these are party related only.

THFs are actually not that liked when you have a PLD tanking. PLD dont really need a THF in their party to hold hate well. THF also dont work unless you play with a proper Transfixion Weapon Skill partner as their SATA are prime for Distortion and no other WS. So DRG RNG NIN, high lvl MNKs(60s) and DRKs (50s if Scythe onry) are proper partners. They do subpar dmg on every strike, but burst out big numbers when they SATA and transfer hate to the tank or melee equivalent. Transferring hate is a big part, not just the damage.

MNKs are damage over time, their fists alone dont do alot of huge numbers but they add up(remember to count BOTH fists). Their blunt weapons make them hard to attack hard shelled enemies, but they excel in killing bone type enemies in which end-game has tons of. So they are pretty good espcially during the endgame. Can semi-tank medium hitters with WAR sub and most of their WS are multi-hit making it so using Sushi is important to boost Acc so all hits land. Some even say at end-game, they are overpowered vs bones and certain HNMs.

WAR are very versitle. A differently subbed WAR can spell different things. Say if you sub MNK you will be very good at holding hate(not as good as PLD course), and you take hits like one. You also gain the power of Counter and Boost which are good hate holders as well as Dodge helping you(using a Hauby of course that wouldnt matter..but it still helps) along with Focus for Rampage.

a THF sub is great for closing Skillchains. Its the WAR's choice for DD most of the time and can deal good dmg per Weapon skill stacked with SA. They arent that good for tanking however.

a NIN sub is versitle as in that with a BRD and the right set up you can tank with Utsusemi Ichi(shadows that eat damage for you with a small enimity loss) alone. They can also dual wield viking axes and get good Acc so they can focus more on other gears. Good damage, however to bring out maximum performance requires a BRD most of the time. However as a WAR it would be wise to get both tanking AND attacking gear for your party when needed. Most WARs at high lvl refuse to tank and some say they cannot even. That is not true and is a reason why i do not invite WARs as much. However they are some of the top dealers that can adapt and thats their strong point.

A DRK at lower lvls is inferior to a WAR. However as they go higher they get on par if not a little better at times. They can Stun which is a DRK's job and Aspir and use Dark magic, however their power lies in doing a huge ammount of dmg on a WS. However after 60 because of the WS they get are so dmging, they sub THF to transfer hate and do less dmg when using GSword, and Scythes are fine with WAR sub. However skilling up both GSword and Scythe are hard things to do. Their power lies in that Scythe and GSword are on equal dmg terms to just about all monsters, and that they can do good dmg if they hit and WS. However their price is of course, long delay between swings.

DRG are shunned by some people. Why i would never know. DRG are really fast TP Gainers, if they Time Jump and High Jump they can gain TP really quick. Even when a WAR with Kraken club he was able to keep up with TP and SC twice in a battle which is really amazing. They do good DoT as in that lances swing faster than most other two handed weapons. The lance is also exclusive to DRG only and they do great dmg on flying enemies with a Piercing + bonus. However unlike the MNK they are detrimented against bones where MNK are good vs.

Their wyvern make excellent damage over time that while it doesnt do a lot of dmg per hit, its reletively fast and consistant and goes through mob DEF. Their wyvern is essenstial to mantaining dmg and that with it can outdmg most other classes in the long run, but stumble without it. Key is the DRG and Wyvern are one unit and should be considered as so and not just the DRG alone. Post 60 most DRGs with good gear can do a 607 dmg Skewer along with a 140 dmg breath attack from the wyvern totaling up to 700dmg which is not bad at all(although lower than some other figures). Just do not exclude the Wyvern... and dont take a DRG to a bone fight without their blunt lances. Also note AoE is not good since it can hurt the wyvern if its too damaging, and their WS are not as high number as other DDs at later levels, however that makes it up with consistant wyvern dmg.

SAM is a typical 2her pre 30, then afterward they can do good dmg through skillchains til the higher levels. For a large portion of their life, SAMs cannot do HIGH dmg, and usually do medium acceptable dmg. However their strength lies in doing many skillchains with two different partners with Meditate and more magic burst and culmatively they do more dmg in that sense. After a certain point, if they sub THF and load up on STR, their dmg can exceed alot of other DDs in WS dmg. They lose DoT however for switching WAR to THF. GKatana also gain the most TP back per strike and Store TP helps argument that.

RNG lately has been changed, before they were god DDs, now they are still very much god but require more skill to play. They do great dmg when they are smart about the weapon they use and can find their spot that does more Acc and Dmg. However they arent so good in cramped camps where they have trouble adjusting their ranged atks and are kinda not so good like DRGs vs bones. They excell at doing consistant dmg if they are in the right spot and can pull hate with their WS(however their light DEF doesnt make it a smart idea..lower than mage def) if standing at right distance and are great vs flying enemies. If you got a PLD tank and a competent RNG the RNG can let lose their power more better.

RDM is always welcomed in parties yes. However lately there are a ton of bad ones. The main problem is, that RDMs melee alot. They should not melee in experience parties as it benefits the party nill(past the Valkurm Dune stages). They also insist that they melee and that they should, but that is a mistake and it also adds onto a bad name for RDMs Sure they can wield a sword, however they are better off using a sword soloing or doing anything outside experience parties and boss fights/critical fights. Wands and Elemental Staves are better for RDMs and staying in the back line with the mages. Red Mage is a mage first, melee last(however some dont even count it). Theres many reasons why but i wont go into them unless you are interested. . (long post otherwise)

RDMs main draw at lower levels is the same a WHM, at a reletively low level you get higher level Cures. Its not as early as WHM but its good enough that RDM can main heal, and that is your biggest draw. It will continue to be your biggest draw until you get to level 33 where you learn Dispel(77K at vendors) which is very good vs DEF up mobs at those levels and the levels beyond. Watch those status buffs. Around level 25 you will find that your enfeeblement skill is greatly better than every other mage, hence you are to fill that role as well. Around 41 you will learn Refresh and that will be your primary draw from then on, as Refresh is MP regen. Using Refresh and proper conservement of MP and Convert(which switchs MP and HP) you can get theoretically unlimited ammount of MP and therefore more exp and faster chains.

So the role of a RDM should they level past 41, would be to do a Refresh Cycle for all magic users(with good priority i hope), Enfeeble the monster(later on other mages cannot enfeeble as well as RDM, as a 64 WHM i swear RDMs are much much better), back up Cure, and the occasional Nuke and Magic Burst(in order of priority). However you could be asked to do many mage duties as well that might make you neglect one or two of these and you have to adjust according to your party, the strength is flexibility as a mage.

Thats all i had copying from another post i did. Anyone can debate those claims however and we can discuss them, by no means is this the only way things are viewed as, the job is what you and the community makes of it. If you dont like it try to prove that what you are doing is not normal, but can work better than what is being used currently.

PLD- PLDs do not do a huge ton of damage, however they are the KING of holding hate from the monster. They can and should sub WAR for Provoke, Defender, Berserk(WS dmg, cancel after), and Warcry for hate. PLDs themselves can use Sentinel, Shield Bash, Flash, Cure spells, and Rampart to keep alot of hate. What they lack in damage they make it up on being able to defend their opponents. And NEVER underestimate the power of Cover. PLDs use Swords.

NIN- NINs were not originally made for this, but by player innovation it was turned into a tank. They use their spell Utsusemi, 1 and 2 to avoid getting hit. Utsusemi generates shadows that the monster will hit instead of hitting the NIN themselves(1-3 hits but long cast time, 2- 4 hits but really fast casting). The problem comes is when area spells and attacks or special attacks that wipe out entire or multiple shadows at once. Then comes juggling the recast of these spells, how many shadows are still on you[game wont say, you gotta count yourself], while subbing WAR to mantain hate with other Ninjutsu. Because the Ninjutsu and Provoke itself usually is not that hateful to the monster, NINs in general cannot hold hate as well as PLDs. I seen some amazing NINs that can do very well, but that is the exception and not the norm, and needs alot of skill. Ninjutsu uses items and therefore with these consumables, costs alot of money to mantain. Their hate gain is reletively gradual as well, and they do subpar damage until the higher levels where they can do more with Blade: Jin. DoT is great however.

White Mage- They cannot do a huge ton of damage usually, however their healing spells are second to none. They have access to all status cures, group buffs, and teleports and the strongest of Regens out there as well as the strongest Cure and Raise(Life) spells to make back exp including ones for themselves in case of party wipes. Against undead, their Banish spell can temporarily (very short) weaken undead as well as damage them greatly, and are invaluable with PLDs or WAR tanks in which they will take more damage than NINs(good ones anyway).

Black Mage- The Artilery, they do huge chunks of damage over a short period of time, in trade they lose alot of defense so they need a capable tank to keep them alives. However in terms of magic bursting and utility, they are second to none in damage in chunks.

Bard- The ultimate support, they lack almost any kind of offensive tool. With their only offense the ability to stack damage over time songs, elemental weakening songs to enemies, slow, and sleep. However their buffing is the best, they can buff your ATK, DEF, Evasion, MP Regeneration, HP Regen, and other little quirks that make them great support. They are invaluable, however i personally feel they are too monotoneous to play. Songs are limited to two on PCs, and 3 on monsters.

Summoner- They can do a special move with their Summons every 1 minute that can be decreased with proper gear. Summoners can Heal with WHM sub, perform Skillchains with their Avatars, Magic Burst, as well as Group buff the party with unique buffs. Basically they can do everything reletively well as a mage every 1 minute, and take 0 hate for it once they dismiss their Avatar.