So I didn't wait until 6-months like I said, instead I waited 7-months!

Earth Crystal

Black Belt - The upgrade to the Monk class, Black Belt's sport the highest Vitality and can do high damage with their unarmed attack their special ability Boost doubles their attack power even more.

Strengths - Where to begin, the class is a pretty good upgrade with high stats, a huge vitality stat, and with a few Job Levels can start hitting close to the game's damage cap. Since they have the highest vitality, they are the perfect job for getting max HP since it's the only stat that is affected by what class you have. Black Belts are pretty damn powerful and snazzy dressers as well. Under the right circumstances, the Black Belt can take down Cloud of Darkness in a single hit because despite the damage indicator, the class can actually break the damage limit.

Weaknesses - Well, despite good defense and the ability to get high HP, the Black Belt has a terrible magic defense so expect this class to lose health quickly when the spells start flying. Getting the class to really shine requires grinding for levels and Job Levels, and until you start hitting the damage cap indicator, Boost is kind of useless since you can do the same amount of damage by just attacking for two rounds instead of wasting a turn with it. Its a high level abusive class, so if you're not playing that type of game then you may want to switch over to the more user-friendly easily exploited classes.

Special Item - Master Dogi

Devout - The upgraded White Mage class, the Devout gains a larger MP pool and gets access to the higher tier magic. It is the ultimate Magic Defense/Support unit. It also has the cutest outfit, which inspired the Cat-Ear-Hood item in later installments.

Strengths - More MP which is balanced around to make it so mid-tier spells get more charges and that even Tier 7 and 8 magic get several casts. This makes using the class beyond emergency healing/raising situations more beneficial and you can finally play around with its defensive skills. The class also has a huge Magic Defense boost and a fairly decent physical defense for a mage making her quite the healing tank in a party. You would be crazy to not have one in your final party.

Weaknesses - Um... you have to go through Eureka to get its last set of spells including the always useful Arise? Seriously its biggest hang-up is that its an 11th hour upgrade and while this job can easily outclass a high Job Level White Mage with a few upgrades it still doesn't change the fact most players would have loved to have this class several hours before it unlocks.

Special Item - Holy Wand

Magus - The upgraded Black Mage class, the Magus gains a larger MP pool and gets access to the higher tier magics. It is one of the most flexible Damage Dealers/ Status Casters in the game. It also has a snazzy outfit.

Strengths - More MP which has been balanced around allows this class to utilize its mid to late tier spells more effectively meaning throwing around more -ara and -aga spells in normal battles. The class also gets access to the potent Flare and Meteor spells and a wide range of status spells that actually work often than you would think and debuffer spells for some of the games peskier enemies.

Weaknesses - Summoners can do most of the Damage dealing payload with little fuss and due to the Magus being downgraded from its NES incarnation the Summoner is largely more effective as well in this regard cause MP isn't as much of an issue. The Magus also loses some of the equipment options its Black Mage counterpart had and while the Devout has a fairly obvious stat boost in defense capabilities, the Magus doesn't making the class easy fodder if you don't have a Knight or Viking taking point for it. This class is debatably the worst of the set.

Special Item - Millennium Rod*

* No relation to Yu-Gi-Oh!

Summoner - The debut of our Eidolon summoning badass class. The Summoner is the upgrade to the Evoker class and instead of summoning spells from the beasts with random chance, the summoner simply summons the beast to lay waste to its enemies.

Strengths - This class, along with the Red Mage, probably got the biggest upgrade from the NES version, a high MP pool, good stats to allow the summons to do consistent and great damage, the Summoner really is the ultimate magical damage dealer. The Summoner is the only class that can use the full powered summon spells.

Weaknesses - You have to track down its best summons, making this class its own mini-sidequest. While it has a good MP pool, its still not a class that can be used for random encounters.

Special Item - Astral Bracers


Ninja - The Ultimate Melee class, Ninja's excel at physical combat and they use their Throw skill to deal high levels of damage. The class has high attack power and speed, but also decent defenses as well. This class was originally a special class not associated with any of the Crystals.

Strengths - One of the fastest jobs in the game and it hits as hard as the Dark Knight. Even with low Job Levels, this class is a force to be reckoned with and can outclass other melee classes. It's Throw ability is also quite powerful and the class can equip some of the best weapons in the game.

Weaknesses - Got seriously nerfed from the original. The class can no longer equip every weapon meaning it doesn't have access to the Knights really powerful weapons. The classes stats have also been lowered a bit in terms of agility and and vitality as well. While the class is still pretty great, the other melee classes have been retooled enough to break even with this class so its no longer as dominating as it used to be.

Special Item - Muramasa


Sage - The Ultimate Mage class, the Sage can cast both White and Black magic, as well as evoke the power of the Eidolons. This class was originally not associated with any of the Crystals.

Strengths - A diverse mage class with high stats in the magic field. The sage is distinct because it can use both White Magic, Black Magic, and the Evokers version of the summoners. This makes the class both powerful and flexible, giving the player a reason to overlook the Devout or Magus job classes.

Weaknesses - Got seriously nerfed in this version by both losing the ability to use full summons but more importantly getting its MP pool drastically reduced to the point where if you were hoping to use White or Black magic you might be better off using their specialized classes over this one. The Evoker spells are also not nearly as useful so the class kind of comes across pretty crippled. Its no longer the dominating class it once was.

Special Item - Sage Staff


Onion Knight - The starter class in the original, is now a special class unlocked through a side quest. The Onion Knight is a Jack of all Trades class that can fight or use spells. It also maintains its secret from the original.

Weaknesses - May b the worst class in the game*. While they get some exclusive gear that is the strongest in the game, said items are dropped randomly from rare and incredibly powerful Dragons that roam the final dungeon. Their stats remain under 15 points in each category even by level 90, and they have a very limited MP pool rivaling the Sages. This makes them physically and magically the weakest class and you should completely ignore them until...

Strengths* - ...you get to level 91 and their stats begin to skyrocket. At level 99, they have maxed stats in all categories. Their exclusive equipment also raises their stats and gives them full immunity to status effects. The class can also the ability to use all of the White and Black magic in the game making them potent mages as well despite their low MP pool. It is basically the strongest class in the game.

Special Item - Onion Blade

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So there you have it, all the classes from FFIII DS.