Rank the Job Classes

[Wolf Kanno]

Six jobs, we all have our preferences, so how would you rank them? No ties. Just ranke them from worst to best and maybe give a reason why.

[Ayen]

Red Mage - It takes three men just to do what he do
Warrior - Because I'm a sucker for physical damage
Monk - After a while his fists of fury are ridiculously useful
White Mage - 'Cause I need healing, and I always been a sucker for the WM outfit
Black Mage - MAGIC! MORE POWERFUL MAGIC! But weak stick
Thief - I never cared for thieves or stealing

[Colonel Angus]

Warrior/Knight- Pwns it from beginning to end.
Monk/Master- Best Physical attacker from about Lvl. 10>.
White Mage/Wizard- Exit & Life Spells. Good against undead. In the original a sucky attack.
Black Mage/Wizard- Good assortment of spells. Ok attack w/ Cat Claw. In original many spells bugged.
Red Mage/Wizard- Overtly Balanced Character. Doesn't stand out after Class Change, as he doesn't receive any really good spells.
Theif/Ninja- Opposite of Red. Kind of useless until Class Change. High Evasion Rate & Escape Rate bugged on the NES version, making him a poor man's Warrior. Doesn't steal.

[Saber]

Ok I was dumb when I first started the game. I thought I was being Elite but was gimped. The obvious winners are the default Knight, White Mage, Black Mage, Thief. Cause the upgrades allow 100% of the characters to use every skill perfectly.

In the beginning I used Knight, Red mage, Red Mage, Monk. It got me through the game but these classes are not the best when upgraded. The knight can use some white magic, the thief can use some black magic.

From Best to Worst. (if you used all four of the same class.)

Red Mage - He can attack pretty well and he casts both white and black magic. Independently the Red Mage is perfect to go through the game and succeed.

Black Mage - Also on an all four Black Mage challenge, he gets four chances to cast his powerful magic. He is slow but a great damage dealer.

Thief - If you aren't tough you can run away faster. With an all thief style of fighting you use a lot of potions. He makes training easier when he gets upgraded to Ninja. You can use some Black Magic.

Monk - He can be the least costly but after a while his lack of defense is embarrassing. With all four you got the team that can attack the hardest. I think I attacked Chaos with 1000 damage.

Knight - He is too expensive. He can end fights real quick but the best thing to do is upgrade him to use magic. His high HP and low Magic stat doesn't let his cure spells go too far.

White Mage - This is the class you want to give the best sword in the game to. it has no strength to kill enemies without proper help. The best thing you could do is kill zombies until you level up.

[theundeadhero]

Fighter- You should only bring one in the top spot to soak up most of the damage, although that's not necessary. His high damage is especially useful though.

Monk- Best damage. If you throw a pro-ring on him first then putting armor on doesn't lower his stats, so you can follow with a ribbon, opal bracelet, and whatever.

Red Mage- Mostly for a bit of diversity. The extra healing slots with okay damage make him a class I usually take.

White Mage- Heal and Harm and Thor's Hammer and eventually Masamune. Keeps people alive until you don't need heals so much then AOE's LIT2 every turn with Thor's Hammer. Usually throw a heal staff on him too for when the AOE isn't needed.

Thief- As utterly useless as they are, at least they can do a little damage attacking every turn.

Black Mage- Physically and defensively weak. The occasional AOE spell doesn't carry enough weight to make it an advantage over pretty much anything but a second White Mage.

[Wolf Kanno]

Fighter/Knight - Outside of expensive gear, there is nothing to not love about this job class. Best defense, second best physical damage and cool looking to boot.

Monk/Master - Best Physical fighter in the game with great HP to soak damage. These guys make boss battles a breeze once they get going.

White Mage/Wizard - All of the healing magic, enough said.

Red Mage/Wizard - Access to most of the Black Mage spells and some access to a few White Mage ones packaged in a decent fighter makes this a good versatile class. Not as good in games that fix the INT Bug though.

Black Mage/Wizard - I learned in my last playthrough that I have not been using this class properly. This is not a boss killer, most boss monsters actually have high resistance to offensive magic. No this class is all about getting through dungeons by blasting through the monster hordes in this high encounter rate nightmare. They basically make sure you don't spend too much time taking hits from random monsters and then use their useful buff spells in boss battles. This class is even better in games that fix the INT Bug and some of his spells.

Thief/Ninja - Thief is an absolutely trashy class but Ninja is actually pretty good though it loses some of its usefulness in the non-NES entries. The problem with Ninja is that it's a third rate fighter and mage and having access to a few of the useful Black Mage support spells is kind of redundant when a Black Mage and Red Mage already have them and more.

[Vasher]

Fighter/Knight: team leader, tank, if anyone is going to survive the fight, or win it, it's him.

WM- I have to place her (pretty sure it's a "her) second, because one WM/WW for support and 3 Fighters is a very solid winning team, one to handily finish the game at moderate levels.

BM/BW- the only reason that I place him below the WM/W is that the WM keeps the team alive, while the BM helps finish things off. He's a devasting addition to the team, regardless of what some might think (using him wrong).

Thief/Ninja- the game is a lot easier now, but if you find yourself compromised, he's the one to get you out of it. His ability in the black arts is also an attribute that is noteworthy. Again, the game is far easier now, but I believe that his accuracy (especially with the Katana) would ensure a hit, when all else would fail.

Monk/Master- he places low because of his piss poor defense. He ranks higher than the RM/RW because he can at least hail one attribute as "The Best". His claim to fame, damage, but you can't cause damage if you've already been slain.

Bottom of the Barrel;
Ram/RW- if you're just mediocre at something, why even bother. He's the McDonald's of RPG characters. Sure, he has a little bit of everything, but nothing worth mentioning. Being "average" you might stand out if this were "Idiocracy" ("Not Sure"), but when there are masters that dominate every aspect of your ability, it's best to throw in the towel, accept defeat, and take up knitting classes (hey, someone needs to dress the "Light Warriors" when they return victorious). Sadly, I'm sure the Red Seamstress would be mediocre at best. As I said in the other thread, "Jack of All, Master of None". Fact.

[Peter1986]

I am going to rank them based on how well I think they would be able to survive on their own without any extra help;
in other words, if all 4 characters were the same Class.

1. FIGHTER
Great HP and Defense, plus very powerful physical attacks;
they can even learn some basic White Magic if you have them do a Class Change.
These guys can easily survive on their own simply because of their tank nature and their access to spells like CUR2 etc.
They don't really have any pure all-round attack spells, but their tank capabilities make up for that.

2. RED MAGE
Even though the Red Mage isn't "excellent" in anything, he is still by far the most well-rounded Class in this game.
He is a competent fighter and can also use a lot of White and Black Magic, and after Class Change they can even cast some fairly advanced stuff, like LIFE and EXIT.
That's awesome!
A worthy addition to any party.

3. BLACK MAGE
The complete opposite of a Fighter, but that doesn't mean that they are "weak".
Their Black Magic will obliterate most enemies in seconds, especially if all Black Mages team up on the same enemy.
They will, however, need to be at a slightly higher Level that the Fighters and Red Mages.

4. BLACK BELT
These guys have excellent attack power, however they also have poor defense and no access at all to any spells to make up for that.
Make sure that they kill any enemies as quickly as possible, and have as many HEALs as possible available at all times.

5. THIEF
The Thiefs are mediocre in everything except running, and they won't be able to survive that long on their own.
They become much better after Class Change, since this gives them much better weapons and also some meaningful Black Magic (particularly the LV2 elemental spells and FAST), but they won't get access to that stuff until about halfway through the game.
Again, make HEAL potions a big priority.

6. WHITE MAGE
These guys will have no problem healing themselves, obviously, however they have terrible physical attacks.
They can deal some serious damage to undead enemies, however only a few of the enemies are undead.

[FFNut]

1. Fighter. This guy deals damage, tanks, and is a main stay at your front lines when it comes to taking on the monsters of the world. Without him you are in for a tough game.

2. Black Mage. He is a high power offence from the back. He can't take a hit, but he packs a big punch!

3. White Mage. They are very useful in the new ports of FF giving you a good mix of Defense and healing. Though there isn't many undead enemies the ones that are he dispatches with a flick of the wrist. He makes the game much easier.

4. Black Belt. He isn't tough but his attacks are really that good. He will take down foes with his quickness and his fists. Great secondary person to put into the mix

5. Theif. Most will kill me for not putting the Theif last, but after he becomes a Ninja he becomes a great secondary in a party. Not overly useful though throughout the game.

6. Red Mage. Ok fanboys of Red Mages go ahead and hate on me. The only thing he has going for him is he has a pimping hat. People will argue he can replace two mages, plus deal like a fighter which is true very early but as the game goes on his weapons die out and his damage is easily replaced. The later spells he can learn are much weaker than that of his full fledged mages and can't learn them as quick as the others. Plus his magic is really very weak. A Knight and a Ninja will match his magic power. Also he can't learn the big spells which you need to help take down Choas. At the end of the game you may as well tug a dead body around with you because he brings less then nothing to the table. He is dead weight from the half way point on.

[Lamia]

Fighter - Fighter is the MVP of any party, given his high ATK and DEF. In most fights, he will have both dealt and absorbed the most damage.

Red mage - He's the king of utility, having access to both white and black magic and therefore having the buffs from both schools. He's also got a decent ATK.

White mage - Going without the white mage would make for a very tough playthrough. Her healing magic is virtually essential. Every once in awhile she does some acceptable damage with her hammer (critical hit!) - well, at least more than the BM, until he gets cat claws anyway.

Black mage - You'll be glad you have him around when you accidentally step back on that panel in front of that treasure chest and you're having to fight that difficult encounter again. Those encounters placed in front of the treasure chests need to be handled with care and the black mage's spells can help you be done with them quickly before your party members take too much damage. There's also nuking bosses. Oh, and he's good for taking out large enemy groups with his AOE spells, too.

Black belt - At least he hits hard and is cheap to outfit.

Thief - Maybe he wouldn't suck if he actually did what he was supposed to... if he actually successfully dodged a lot of enemy attacks and had his attacks land more often than the Fighter's. Truth is, I've seen him miss too many times and I've rarely seen him dodge an enemy's attack. Throw those things in with the fact that he's squishy and has kinda crappy ATK, and you've got a true loser.

[Peter1986]

6. Red Mage. Ok fanboys of Red Mages go ahead and hate on me. The only thing he has going for him is he has a pimping hat. People will argue he can replace two mages, plus deal like a fighter which is true very early but as the game goes on his weapons die out and his damage is easily replaced. The later spells he can learn are much weaker than that of his full fledged mages and can't learn them as quick as the others. Plus his magic is really very weak. A Knight and a Ninja will match his magic power. Also he can't learn the big spells which you need to help take down Choas. At the end of the game you may as well tug a dead body around with you because he brings less then nothing to the table. He is dead weight from the half way point on.

Red Mage is an excellent support character.
In fact, I would say that 2 Red Mages are significantly more powerful than 1 White Mage and 1 Black Mage.

A party of 2 Fighters and 2 Red Mages is probably one of the best overall parties that you can get in this game.
Yes, you will miss out on spells like FADE, NUKE and LIF2, but will you even really need those spells with a party like this?
Probably not.

[maybee]

Red Mage - 10/10 that hat !
Warrior - Basically becomes the " main character class " 8/10
White Mage- If it wasn't for the White Mage, y'all be dead. My fav FF class. 10/10
Black Mage - Super fun class. 9/10
Monk-Nice, but this class doesn't really shine till later FFs 7/10
Thief - From memory in FF1 they don't even steal. That doesn't even make any sense. 0/10

[Peter1986]

Thief - From memory in FF1 they don't even steal. That doesn't even make any sense. 0/10

There was no room for the "Steal" command since the Thief evolves into a Ninja, and that job uses "Magic" spells.
Some people might say that Thief could have access to Steal until it was replaced by Magic, but I personally really dislike when skills are replaced like that - I prefer when you get a straight up improvement without losing anything.

The Thief's main skill is his amazing Run ability, which is guaranteed to work in any run-able battle, and this is also somewhat related to a Thief, since thieves often run away.
I am also pretty sure that the Thief has great Agility, which would make him very good at acting quickly, and this would of course also be a great advantage when you need to run away from enemies as quickly as possible.

As for the Ninja, that job is great;
he is a drastically better fighter than Thief and with a much better weapon selection, and he also gets a bunch of useful black magic spells, like FAST.

[theundeadhero]

I agree with your assessment of the Kn, Kn, Rm, Rm party. I've actually done a Kn, Ma, Rm, Rm playthrough and it was one of the easiest times I've ever had in the game.

[Peter1986]

I agree with your assessment of the Kn, Kn, Rm, Rm party. I've actually done a Kn, Ma, Rm, Rm playthrough and it was one of the easiest times I've ever had in the game.

I have always wanted to try a party like that, but for some reason I never do.
I guess I have become too attached to the Fighter/Thief/White Mage Black Mage party, probably because it feels like a very "standard" party and also strongly reflects the jobs for the first full "main character party" Zidane, Vivi, Dagger and Steiner in FF9, which is one of my all-time favourite games.
The Fi/Th/WM/BM party also shines after the Class Change, at which point you will have two strong fighters with some access to white and black magic, respectively, and also the ultimate magic users.

But strictly speaking, I should probably consider the default party Fighter/Thief/Black Belt/Red Mage to be the "standard" party in this game, so I might try that one out next time.