Final Fantasy XIV uses a job system where each class evolves into a more powerful job at level 30. Jobs fall into four roles: tank, healer, melee DPS, physical ranged DPS, and magical ranged DPS. Uniquely, a single character can level every job, so you never need an alt to try something new — just swap your weapon.
Tanks include Paladin (sword and shield), Warrior (great axe), Dark Knight (greatsword), and Gunbreaker (gunblade). All four are viable at every level of content. Tanks manage enemy aggro using their tank stance and mitigate damage with defensive cooldowns. FFXIV expects tanks to pull large groups in dungeons and chain their mitigation abilities.
Healers are White Mage (pure healing), Scholar (shields and fairy), Astrologian (cards and flexibility), and Sage (barrier healing). In FFXIV, healers are expected to deal damage when the party is healthy — standing idle is considered poor play. Learning to balance healing and damage output is the key skill for this role.
DPS jobs are the most numerous. Melee options include Monk, Dragoon, Ninja, Samurai, Reaper, and Viper. Physical ranged jobs are Bard, Machinist, and Dancer. Magical ranged jobs are Black Mage, Summoner, Red Mage, and Pictomancer. Each has unique mechanics — Black Mage focuses on turret-style casting, Dancer buffs allies, and Ninja weaves ninjutsu combinations. For beginners, Dancer and Red Mage are forgiving choices, while Samurai and Black Mage reward optimization with high damage ceilings.